The Senate stalemate has been resolved with Senator Pedro Espada switching back to the Democrats, thus giving them the 32-30 edge they held before the June 8 coup. But while Espada has been named majority leader, it's my understanding that it's the president of the Senate who gets the vote on the racino operator at Aqueduct. And that, at least for now, is Senator Malcolm Smith. So, in effect for our purposes, nothing has changed (and I imagine that makes at least one of the bidders happy). More on the settlement to follow..
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Friday, July 10, 2009
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6 Comments:
Amazing. several days ago it looked like Shelly and Paterson were going to push a vlt decision on the senate, now maybe they will give Smith, with Espada getting an assist, a shot at getting this thing at Aqueduct going. Why not let the Senate chiefs determine what plan works best in concert with the Governor, and then get Silver to capitualte? It didn't work the way it was handled the last time.
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2009/July/10/New-York-Senate-moves-toward-naming-Aqueduct-VLT-operator.aspx
Maybe the Senate can jump start this thing. Charlie seems to think it might be o.k.
Excuse me but that is a Paul Post article from the TTimes. Honestly that guy can't tie his own shoes. Comically enough, do a search on the TTimes for his articles. You will quickly see that he copies and pastes the same paragraphs from article to article. That's the reporting we rely on? I hope to hell not!
That quote from Charlie is from months ago! Also the entitlement of the article is completely bogus. Because the Senate is semi resolved, we can expect a decision? Bull. Were is the source?
Also, he writes "On Thursday, however, Espada returned to the Democratic conference and took the title of majority leader. Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), however, who had held the post, retains the position of Senate president—the one charged with choosing Aqueduct’s gaming operator."
Is this true? According to all sources the Sen Leader has the sign off, not the President...
TTimes really needs to get a real reporter in NY.
It's my understanding that Post is right in that it's the Senate president rather than the majority leader who will be one of the three deciders. And I do think that Post generally does a good job reporting for the Saratogian and sometimes for the Thoroughbred Times. However, I wholeheartedly concur that this particular article is nothing but a fluff piece - just some filler that reports no news whatsoever.
PPost relies upon what Charlie tells him, time and time again. I never heard the Hayward "water over the dam" remark before when referring to the NYRA's old plan with MGM?
I agree with Alan, Senate President is the "man in the room" with Silver and the Governor.
Just want to clarify for those who may not follow this as closely that the Senate Majority Leader and the Seante president are, in normal times, the same person, so it's not generally an issue as to which one of them does what. These are not normal times though.
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