ALBANY — Republicans in the state Assembly are charging that Democratic Speaker Sheldon Silver is trying to wipe out evidence of their existence.
GOP Assembly members — who are outnumbered in the chamber more than 2-to-1 — say their names are being stripped from bills as co-sponsors even when they had a hand in drafting the legislation.
And they’re placing the blame squarely on Silver.
Several Republicans told The Post they were informed by Democrats that the speaker told his members not to allow Republicans to get credit for bills.
“The majority members flat-out told us he said it,” said one Republican assemblyman.
One Democrat told The Post that Silver made an “interesting” remark during one recent closed-door conference.
“It’s the end of session. Remember, the Republicans are not your friends, even though they’ll act like it,” the source quoted Silver as saying.
At least six Republicans complained about the bill snub, saying it made little sense.
The entire Assembly is up for election in November. But there’s no chance of Republicans gaining control since they hold 40 seats to 100 for Democrats. Ten are vacant.
The only two Republicans in the Assembly from New York City, Nicole Malliotakis and Joe Borelli, were bearing the brunt of Silver’s new edict, sources said.
In the latest hit, both Staten Island lawmakers were removed from a bill giving $4 million in property-tax relief to homeowners rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.
Many live in districts represented by Malliotakis and Borelli.
The bill was signed into law Thursday by Gov. Cuomo at a ceremony on Staten Island.
Silver sponsored the bill and Malliotakis and Borelli said they made several requests to get their names on as co-sponsors but failed.
The sponsor of a bill decides who is listed as co-sponsor.
“To play politics with a Hurricane Sandy bill affecting hundreds of families in my district is beyond shameful,” Malliotakis told The Post. “This is the type of partisan game that disgraces the Legislature and makes New Yorkers sick of government.”
Borelli took the high road.
“If he wants to take us off the bill, go ahead. The important thing is it passes,” Borelli said.
A spokesman for Silver claimed both members asked to sponsor the bill after it passed and “did little to nothing to support its passage.”