NY Senate May Lack Votes To Pass Late Budget
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York's Legislature may end up responsible for the latest budget in state history after all.
Senate leader John Sampson won't say if all 32 members of his Democratic majority will attend an extraordinary session called by Gov. David Paterson to pass the final element of the budget.
The Senate was unable to pass the final revenue bill during the last week of the regular session in June because at least one Democrat withheld his vote to force action on other legislation.
Sampson repeatedly refused to tell reporters on Tuesday whether all his members would attend Wednesday evening's session.
The Senate needs 32 votes to pass anything and the Republican minority has voted in a bloc against most budget measures.
The budget was due April 1. The latest ever was passed on Aug. 11, 2004.
