ALBANY—Not surprisingly, Republicans are seizing upon the dismissal of the Democratic lawsuit against the coup they hatched last week to call upon their colleagues to join them for session at 3 p.m.
State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., the defecting Democrat who has joined the Republicans in a "coalition" government, asked David Paterson to clean up his mess.
"As a good Democrat, I must advise the head of my party to come out forcefully and ask these Democratic senators to come help him and help the state of Yew York move forward with an agenda of reform and vital bills such as school governance," he said. "So I ask the governor, as the head of the Democratic party in this state, to demand that, not that we stand around and debate this anymore, but that the 32-30 vote stands."
He called the 3 p.m. start of session a "deadline," said if the Democrats didn't show up there would be "legal implications."
Paterson has instead called for a stipulated session without a leader to deal with non-controversial matters.
Reporters pressed the Republicans to explain how a court affirmed their leadership when it was not explicitly spelled out in Justice Thomas McNamara's decision. The basic answer was this: a 32-30 vote was taken last week.
"You know what? I don't believe in mulligans," Republican Leader Dean Skelos replied. "Again, it's 32-30. We will be happy when they acknowledge that and come to session to discuss the legislative agenda moving forward."
