Phillip gave us an announcement earlier that the "Gang of Three" had reached a deal with Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith. Courtesy of Liz, here are some more details about the agreement that was reached today:
- The positions of Senate majority leader and president pro tempore, which were both held by former Majority Leader Joe Bruno, have now been bifurcated. Senator-elect Pedro Espada Jr. will be the majority leader while Smith is president pro tempore.
The majority leader post in other legislative bodies in New York, the City Council and the Assembly, for example, is not one with a lot of power. Espada told me he has been assured by Smith that his position will "have absolute substance," and, as a result, "the Latino empowerment issue has been substantially enhanced."
Espada said he will have a "meaningful role" (Nick Confessore reports it's vice chairman) with the Senate Rules Committee, arguably one of the more powerful committees in the chamber and the last stop for all the bills before they go to the floor for a vote. He'll also have a part to play in the next big fight coming down the pike: Redistricting.
- Sen. Carl Kruger will not get the Housing Committee, as some activists like ACORN's Bertha Lewis, had feared, but he will chair a pumped-up Senate Finance Committee. Recall that this was something the Republicans proposed in an effort to woo the Gang of Three to their side. The committee will have an enhanced staff and a fair degree of independence.
- Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. will chair the Aging Committee.
A few things here: Espada got a nice deal. It must be nice to walk into a legislative body and be anointed someone who will wield a certain amount of power. How much exactly remains to be seen. But Espada got a nice deal here.
Naming Kruger to the Senate Finance Committee is interesting, especially considering here in Western New York we were pushing during the campaign that Sen. Bill Stachowski would become the Chairman of the Finance Committee. In fact, Stachowski was the ranking minority member of the committee. Kruger jumped Stachowski, plus two other members of the soon-to-be majority to get the chair. I don't like this deal, considering Stachowski's service in the Senate, and I hope that Stachowski receives some sort of post in return.
Giving Diaz the Aging Committee isn't a huge deal. Diaz was in line to chair that committee anyway considering his ranking minority member status.
There is one other notable part of this deal. According to Liz's report, senators will be seated in alphabetical order instead of by party. Espada argues that this could mean the end to party-line voting, although I'm not sure how much a New York State Senate game of musical chairs matters to how senators vote.
I'm sure there is more to this that we haven't been told yet. But we will see what details come out over the next day or two. |
