N.Y. Governor Calls Special Session to Tackle Marriage
The Democratic governor of New York, David Paterson, has issued a proclamation calling for an extraordinary session of both houses of the New York State Legislature to tackle a handful of issues. Specifically included is "marriage equality."
The issue has been on the front burner of the Empire State for at least a year. Paterson has been a vocal proponent of gay marriage. One of his first acts upon becoming governor was to recognize out-of-stage marriages as legal and binding. Paterson is an accidental governor. He was appointed after his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, was caught in a prostitution scandal.
Paterson's action on behalf of gay couples married elsewhere effectively legalized gay marriage in New York. In addition, several municipalities, including New York City and the surrounding suburbs, already have domestic partnerships.
Actual gay marriage in the Legislature has been tied up in the State Senate. The lower house, the Assembly, passed such a measure twice, the second time by a large margin. But the Senate has only fallen into Democratic hands for the first time in decades with this session. Then, earlier this year, a cabal of more conservative Democrats pulled a coup that resulted in the pro-gay marriage leader of the Senate being toppled.
Paterson, however, has continued to champion the issue. This directive, significantly dated two days after an election that saw a Republican resurgence and the defeat of gay marriage in Maine, serves as a call to activists on both sides.
The proclamation mentions the following hot-button issues that the Legislature has been skirting: the state's budget, in a state of disrepair; a reform of the public pension system that some say is bankrupting the state and New York City; reform of the quasi-public authorities, which have been a cesspool of party patronage; "and Marriage Equality." There are some other issues, like drunk-driving laws, as well.
In accordance with the proclamation, the Legislature will convene an extraordinary session on November 10 at noon.
"The time to act is now. The Deficit Reduction Plan, while painful, is necessary to keep our state afloat," Governor Paterson said. A press release from the governor's office added that the session is meant to address "providing same-sex couples the same opportunity to enter into civil marriages as opposite-sex couples."
The big "if" is whether pro-gay forces have the Senate votes. The state's main gay political group, the Empire State Pride Agenda, has been giving a full-court press to those Democrats who oppose it. At least one state senator, in the Queens borough of New York City, has reportedly been considering relenting under the barrage of criticism, and may be changing to a "yes" vote.
Selvena Brooks, a spokeswoman for Senator John L. Sampson, the leader of the Senate Democrats, told the New York Times that she wouldn't speculate on whether there would even be a vote on same-sex marriage. Noting that it could be tabled by the Senate leadership. Brooks would only say that Sampson was speaking with "members of the Republican and Democratic conferences to move along the issue of same-sex marriage."
But Senate President Malcolm Smith told the Times, "If it's on the proclamation, I would assume we would bring it out for an actual vote. I don't want to prognosticate about that," he added when asked if it would pass.
He referred to a contentious congressional race in the North Country in which a moderate Republican candidate got burned so much she dropped out in favor of the Conservative Party candidate. With Democrats at a bare two-vote majority, and some Democrats vocally opposed, at least a very few GOP members will have to vote "yea."
Sen. Ruben Diaz, a Pentecostal minister from the Bronx, "has been the Legislature's most outspoken opponent of same-sex marriage," the Times reports. Diaz warned told the paper that lawmakers "should learn the lesson that happened this election with the Republican assemblywoman that was running for Congress. They should all learn that people are fed up, the conservative movement is fed up, and they should stop playing games."
For its part, the Pride Agenda has sent out an urgent message to New Yorkers to contact their state senators immediately. The pressure is--for both sides. And the great American marriage debate now moves into the Empire State. Stay tuned.