Elaine Rivera
Elaine Rivera joined the WNYC staff as the politics/economic development reporter in August. Prior to her arrival, Elaine had worked as a staff reporter at the Washington Post. From 1995 to 2001, she was a ...
On the Senate Docket Today: Mayoral Control and Rules Reform
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
New York, NY –
After weeks of deadlock, the New York State Senate will hold another regular session today.
The agenda is expected to include legislation that would renew mayoral control of New York City schools, and rules reform. But Blair Horner, of the New York Public Interest Research Group, says the real test for bipartisan reform, will come with how senators choose to distribute 85-million dollars in member items. Those are funds that go to senators' districts for special projects.
HORNER: Usually, 90 percent of the money would go to the Senate majority party and only table scraps to the minority. It's fundamentally unfair and an outrageous system.
REPORTER: The Democrats regained the majority last week after dissident Democrat, Pedro Espada, chose to come back to the party fold after three weeks of legislative gridlock.
But Democrats will be down by at least one Senator today: freshman Senator Daniel Squadron got married over the weekend and is not expected to be there.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.