Democrats Reach Pact to Lead New York State Senate - NYTimes.com

Wonder what they mean by the marriage bill may be moot for the near future.


Democrats Reach Pact to Lead New York State Senate - NYTimes.com

By DANNY HAKIM
Published: January 6, 2009

ALBANY — After two months of chaotic negotiations, the fractious Senate Democratic caucus reached a deal on Tuesday night that will give the party control of the Senate for the first time in four decades.

But that victory did not come easily — one Democratic senator even said he had to have his arm twisted and face slapped by his son to go along with the deal.

With a thin edge over Republicans — likely to be 32 seats to 30, pending the final outcome of a close Queens race — Democrats will have a tenuous grip on power and are said to be talking to several Republicans about supporting Malcolm A. Smith, a Queens Democrat. He will become the new Senate majority leader — barring a last minute defection — when the Legislature reconvenes on Wednesday.

Mr. Smith’s staff announced Tuesday night that he had struck a deal with three dissident Democrats who had refused to support him — Rubén Díaz Sr. and Pedro Espada Jr., both of the Bronx, and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn. The three men made a theatrical entrance into Mr. Smith’s office shortly before 7 p.m., joining a meeting of other Senate Democrats an hour after it began, signaling that they were ready to throw their support to Mr. Smith.

“This clearly is an historic day for all of us,” said Mr. Smith, who will be the first African-American to lead the majority party in one of the state legislative chambers.

Not that it will make for an easy alliance or for simple voting blocs in a contentious budget year. When Mr. Smith emerged from the meeting with other Senate Democrats to announce he had won the support of the caucus, Mr. Díaz bristled and began complaining to other members during the press conference.

Mr. Díaz, a Pentecostal minister, had sought an assurance that there would be no vote on same-sex marriage this year. He was arguing to the end about what discussions had taken place on the issue. Mr. Smith said no policy issues had been resolved as part of a deal, while Mr. Díaz said that the issue had been discussed and that he was comfortable with the outcome, though he would not be more specific.

Mr. Diaz said he had been persuaded by his son, Assemblyman Rubén Díaz Jr., and Assemblyman Carl E. Heastie, the new head of the Bronx Democratic Party, to support Mr. Smith.

“You want to thank anyone, thank my son and Carl Heastie,” the elder Mr. Díaz said. “My son is my son, my blood, he twist my arm, he come in, he slapped my face a few times.”

Late last year, Mr. Smith said he had reached a deal with the three dissidents, but it dissolved within days. Other Senate Democrats rejected it as overly generous; the latest deal ceded far less power to the men, who had also had talks with Republicans.

The deal reached last month would have divided the Senate’s top titles, leaving Mr. Smith as president pro tempore and making Mr. Espada majority leader. Mr. Kruger would have headed an independent finance committee with its own budget.

The deal unsettled government watchdog groups; Mr. Espada has accumulated tens of thousands of dollars in fines from election regulators for violations.

Under the new deal, Mr. Smith will be both president and majority leader. While Mr. Kruger will become finance chairman, the committee will not get special autonomy, as had been previously envisioned. Mr. Espada will be vice president of the Senate for Urban Policy and chairman of the Housing Construction and Community Development Committee. Mr. Díaz will lead the Senate’s Aging Committee.

Mr. Smith and his staff also said a number of new procedures would be undertaken to make the Senate more transparent and to give its committees real power.

They are said to still be talking with several Republicans, hoping to win their support for Mr. Smith, though they are not asking them to change parties.

“The Republicans realized that in the wake of the original Espada-Díaz-Kruger deal blowing up, the Democrats were troubled at the approach of these three guys,” one Democrat with knowledge of the negotiations said.

“They felt there’d be a wave of retirements and people moving on in February, March, April, May, and they realized now was their leverage. And when they reached across, they found receptivity, and Malcolm deserves credit for that.”

The issue of same-sex marriage was not a sticking point in the discussions among Democrats on Tuesday, several senators said. In fact, it may be moot for the near future.

Though it does not appear that a bill to legalize marriage of gay men and of lesbian couples will be voted on anytime soon, it will not be because of any bargain, senators said. With several Democratic senators opposed to same-sex marriage, there are not presently enough votes to get a bill through the Senate.

“There are still five or six votes against the bill in the Democratic conference,” said Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, who represents parts of Bronx and Westchester County. He insisted that same-sex marriage was not discussed at all among Democrats on Tuesday.

“And I certainly don’t know five or six Republicans who are going to vote for it,” Mr. Klein added. “Everybody understands that.”

Jeremy W. Peters contributed reporting.