Gov. Paterson is expected to call a final lame-duck ses sion of the Legislature two weeks from today — but there’s doubt anything of consequence will be accomplished, sources said yesterday.
The Nov. 29 session, originally slated for today, was put off after Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) called for more time to resolve the post-election question of who will be in control of the Senate on Jan. 1.
The delay was also called because at least one of the three Democratic senators defeated on Election Day is expected to skip the legislative session, thereby denying Democrats a majority vote. Such a boycott could occur on Nov. 29 as well.
Aides to Paterson, Silver and Senate Democratic leaders plan to meet today in hopes of agreeing on a session agenda.
Paterson wants the session to give routine approval to spend $700 million in new federal education aid, as well as to take the far more controversial step of reducing state spending to confront yet another looming budget deficit.
He also wants the Senate to confirm more than 100 final nominations for a variety of important state jobs, a move that’s unlikely to be approved unless a Democratic majority is present.
Meanwhile, several top Democrats are privately predicting that the GOP will control the Senate in January by a 32-30 majority once three ongoing recounts are completed.
Senate Democrats, however, insist they’re optimistic about the outcome, and they were buoyed Friday when recount data showed Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson of Nassau County cutting Republican Jack Martins’ lead in half, to 246 votes.
Senate Democrats also touted the hiring of nationally known election lawyer Ken Gross, the leader of powerhouse law firm Skadden Arps’ political practice, as their new top election lawyer.
Ironically, many Democrats, including some close to Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo, hope the GOP recaptures the Senate because, they argue, Senate Democrats are so divided into warring factions that they won’t be able to muster majorities to pass controversial legislation.