Only through the bizarre hybrid power-sharing deal with IDC Democrats do Republicans get to share some of the perks of their now-and-again-gone majority -- And it looks like it won't be long before that's gone too
Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk will join the state Senate after election officials in Ulster County opened 90 ballots in her close race against George Amedore ( "Tkaczyk wins after picking up 54 votes in Ulster Co.", posted by Jimmy Vielkind, 1/18/13 Albany Times-Union [http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/176331/tkaczyk-wins-after-picking-up-tk-votes-in-ulster-count/ ]). Tkaczyk added a net of 54 additional votes as election commissioners opened 90 new ballots in the race — enough to erase Amedore’s prior 35-vote lead. There is one ballot in Albany County that remains to be counted Friday afternoon and one ballot in Montgomery County that was found this week, hoever neither will change the outcome.
According to Liz Benjamin ( "Now The Senate Coalition Means Something," YNN Capitol Tonight, 1/18/13 [http://capitaltonightny.ynn.com/]), part of the IDC-Republican alliance is that both IDC Leader Klein and Republican Leader Skelos must agree on which legislation comes to the floor for a vote and, just as important, when. The coalition showed how it could work with the passage of Governor Cuomo's S.A.F.E. gun law, which passed the senate when Republicans added provisions that included various anti-crime measures that were key for it to get a vote on the floor.
It remains to be seen if the IDC-Republican coalition can hang together on various other Democrat-favored measures, such as campaign finance reform and an increase to New York State's Minimum Wage Law; especially when liberal advocacy groups aligned with the Democratic conference point to the Democrats clear numerical majority in the Upper Chamber.
When the democrats had the Senate it seemed like they've been herding cats ever since. Gone are the days of Manny Ohrenstein and his Luca Brozi, Frank Sanzillo.
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