After a month of intraparty tension led to a stalemate in the New York state Senate, control returned to Democrats when Bronx Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr., returned to the Democratic caucus, restoring their thin 32-30 edge.
Espada's stunt really threw a wrench into the notoriously creaky gears of New York government.
The turmoil in Albany had bottled up important legislation. Local governments around the state are running short on cash, and the impasse left them unable to implement planned sales tax hikes. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) was forced to delay the swearing-in of a new police academy class, and to appoint a new school board after his control of the city's schools expired at the end of June. Gay activists have been waiting for the Senate to act on a bill, already passed by the legislature's lower chamber, that could make New York the seventh and largest state to legalize same-sex marriage.
Disingenously, Espada tried to spin this as an attempt to bring all 62 senators together (though he kept to himself how he thought order and unity would come out of scrambling the entire partisan makeup of the state Senate), but in the end, it came down to power:
African Americans assumed top leadership positions when Democrats took control of the Senate last November, while Hispanic lawmakers, including Espada, demanded a greater share of the power and perks. The compromise put both blacks and Hispanics in the top jobs, with Malcolm A. Smith, who is African American, taking the Senate presidency.
Whether by accident or design, we may have Gov. David Paterson to thank for this, by announcing (threatening?) to appoint a new lieutenant governor. His authority to do so is nebulous at best, with both Republicans and Democratic Attorney General Andrew Cuomo saying such a move would be unconstitutional.
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Shame on Mr. Espada for deciding that petty ethnic conflict and a naked power play were more important than the issues facing New York.