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Home / NY: AG Cuomo Rejects Governor’s Appointment of LG PlanNY: AG Cuomo Rejects Governor’s Appointment of LG Plan
Last Updated on Tuesday, 7 July 2009 10:36 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 7 July 2009 10:36
From The Buffalo News:
Gov. David A. Paterson on Monday was not ruling out trying to appoint a lieutenant governor to break the month-old stalemate in the State Senate, although state Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo dismissed the idea as unconstitutional.
Two government watchdog groups and a Democratic member of the Assembly insisted Monday that a section of state law permits the governor to choose a second-in-command, who would then serve as the presiding officer of the Senate and be in a position to break the current 31-31 tie between the warring factions.
The latest twist in the saga, which continued to evolve with no end in sight, came as Democratic and Republican leaders appeared Monday to be pulling farther apart in talks to try to resolve the gridlock that began June 8.
[…] Despite warnings from the Attorney General of it being unconstitutional, Governor Paterson has appointed a Lieutenant Governor: Mr. Paterson said he hoped the appointment of Mr. Ravitch, a lifelong public servant who was chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority during the late 1970s and early 1980s, would break a tie between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and send them back into session after a month of no work. The lieutenant governor presides over the senate and can break voting ties. […]