State Senate Ordered To Work On The 4th Of July

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By Dave Bullard

Story Published: Jul 2, 2009 at 8:37 AM EDT

Story Updated: Jul 2, 2009 at 8:37 AM EDT

Governor David Paterson's going to rain on a lot of hometown 4th of July parades.

The Governor has ordered the State Senate to be in session every day through July 6 to try to end the impasse over who's in charge.  That includes the 4th of July holiday.

"Yes, the legislators are spending the July 4 weekend in Albany, hopefully resolving this conflict," Paterson said at a news conference.

Some senators say they have no intention of showing up.

Paterson also urged State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to withhold Senators' pay, something DiNapoli said he would not do.  Paterson thinks they don't deserve to get paid as they've missed deadlines on important legislation.

Meantime, the Governor said he would not sign the bills that the Senate Democrats claimed had 32 votes for approval.  The 31 Democrats rushed to pass bills while a Republican Senator used the Senate chambers as a short-cut to get to a soda machine.  They claimed he was present for the votes; he said he wasn't.  Paterson thinks the bills are illegal and won't sign them.

Republicans asked Paterson to bring the leaders of both parties together for a mediation session aimed at working out who will run the Senate.  Early in this crisis, the Republicans told Paterson they didn't need his help.

The Senate will be in session again today, for a few minutes anyway, but without an agreement on how the Senate will be run, it's likely nothing will be done.

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