One of Sheldon Silver’s NYC Assembly Democrat in-house rocket scientists appears to have come up with a brilliant option to end the stalemate in the State Senate. Hold onto your hats here folks, this one’s gonna blow you away!
Governor Paterson should just appoint a new Lieutenant Governor!
I found this post from Gannett’s Joseph Spector over at Politics On The Hudson covering Gianaris’s shear genius:
Assemblyman Michael Gianaris, D-Queens, and good-government groups this morning said they found a solution to the Senate gridlock: the state Constitution allows the governor to appoint a lieutenant governor, who would be able to break the tie.
They said that the Public Officers Law gives Gov. David Paterson the power to appoint a lieutenant governor who can serve until next year’s elections. The position has been vacant since Paterson left it to take over for Eliot Spitzer in March 2008.
Well hot damn, we have a winner!
Gianaris sent his awesome solution in a letter to Governor Paterson. Gianaris must live in the only part of New York without newspapers, television or the internet, because he would have known that this issue has already been addressed, numerous times. Even Governor Paterson knows the answer to this, here was his response:
Paterson, speaking this morning on CBS radio, said the law doesn’t allow him to appoint a new lieutenant governor. But then he said he would read the letter and then it’s “a determination that would have to be made.”
Somehow, I don’t think Gianaris checked with his boss, Sheldon “the Thumb” Silver before sending this out. If/when the State Senate reaches a conclusion it will obviously include a power sharing agreement. When that happens it’ll only be a matter of time before reforms like this will be expected to occur in the Assembly. I think this is the last thing Silver wants since he is in total control in that house.
Gianaris’s suggestion accomplishes nothing but draws attention to the lack of reform in the Assembly. Or maybe Gianaris is setting the stage for a little coup of his own? Hmmm?
UPDATE:Wow, there’s a shocker. Looks like Assemblyman Gianaris finally found out what everyone else already knew, the Governor of the State of New York cannot appoint a Lieutenant Governor! Cara Mathews with Gannett news service posted this on the D&C website.
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has shot down a proposal from a lawmaker and two good-government groups as unconstitutional. Gov. David Paterson does not have the authority to appoint a lieutenant governor, which proponents said would break the deadlock that has paralyzed the Senate since June 8.
Paterson went on to thank Gianaris, and the groups Citizens Union and Common Cause for bringing up this suggestion. I think he just did that so they wouldn’t look or feel stupid for wasting the better part of a day and Cuomo’s staff time just to rule on something everyone else already had the answer to.
Where do they get these Democrat legislators from anyway?
With elected officials like Gianaris coming out of New York City, I’m all for republicans trying to end the Democrats’ absolute power control of this state.