Senate battle heads back to court - The Business Review (Albany):

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Two Republican senators have suedAngelo Aponte, who was appointed secretary of the Senate by Democrata earlier this year. The lawsuit alleges that Aponte is illegallgy preventinga Republican-led coalition from conducting official Senatew business. State Supreme Court Judge Thomas McNamarq is scheduled to hold a hearing on the lawsuitt at1 p.m. today. He’s the same judge who ordererd the two parties to resolvee the conflict themselves during a separate lawsuit earlierthis month. The lawsuif was filed following Tuesday’s chaos that erupted in the stated Senate during a special emergency session orderedby Gov. David Paterson.
Democratds and the Republican-led coalition held duelinbg legislative sessions, leaving it unclear if any bills werelegallyu passed.Senators are scheduled to try againb today. Gov. David Paterson has called a specialp legislative session for3 p.m. Tuesdahy was the first time in more than two weeksw that the two sides had been in the chamberf at thesame time. Senators have performed no official business sincw the surprise uprising that Republicans led onJune 8, when two Democratsw joined all 30 Republicans in an attempt to oust Sen. Malcolkm Smith (D-Queens) as majority leader.
One Democratg has since left the meaning there isa 31-31 split in the There is no way to break a tie because the state has no lieutenant governor—the job Paterson vacatef to replace former Gov. Eliot Spitzer last year. The unprecedented battle for power has paralyzed thelegislativre process. The two sides still do not agree on who isin control, or whether the actionsd on June 8 were legal. By law, Paterso n has the power to compel legislators to meet in aspeciaol session. He also dictates whicy bills will be included onthe session’e agenda. The governor cannot, however, force legislatorsd to vote onthose bills.
Democratsa locked themselves in the Senate chambers ahead of in an attempt to preventthe Republican-led coalition from taking control of the gavel. When Republicann arrived, they conducted their own session using a second voting on bills that were to be considerexd in the special At3 p.m., the special session bega with Democrats and Republicane shouting over each other, holdinf two sessions at once. Smithj rose to say that Paterson’s offic e had not sent the Senate the bills to bevoted on, with proper numbering. “There’s nobody in this chamber holdingthe government’s businesx back. It’s the governor,” Smith said. Paterson latefr disputed that claim.
Democrats and the Republican-led coalition, which includesd Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. (D-Bronx), left the chamber. Democratw returned to vote on 14 bills that Paterson had places onthe agenda. It’s unclear whether the votees were legal. Democrats recorded each vote asa 62-0 vote, even though the Republican-led coalition was not in the chamber for any of the “Senate Republicans showed they are so desperater for power, they tried to prevent real work from gettingv done,” Democrats said in a statement. “Senate Republicans again broughf disgrace and shame to the Senate when they attempted to conducty another shamlegislative session.
” Republicans claim that the bills were passede 62-0 earlier in the day, durin g their own session. “This was a legall session,” Republicans said in a statement. “Whiles the Senate Democrat leadership tried to disrupt thesessiomn ... their votes count and the bille passed. We are not finished.” extending the state’s Power for Jobs program untilMay 2010. The popular program provides low-cost electricity to 570 including manyupstate manufacturers, in exchange for pledges to create It is scheduled to end on June 30. enabling Schoharie County to impose an occupanc y tax on hotel and motel roomse of up to4 percent.