A late night here at the Capitol turned out to be a relatively early night after deals quickly crumbled and fell apart.

Everyone here was gearing up for a debate into the wee hours of the morning and a private-closed door conference on same-sex marriage.

But it was not to be.

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos adjourned the Senate this evening citing disagreements over mandate relief in order for local governments to live within a 2 percent tax cap.

But the canary in the coal mine this evening was the health-insurance exchange bill not being taken up in the Senate and disagreements with the Assembly remain over rent control.

UPDATE: Senate GOP sources said the conference balked at the idea of codifying so-called “Obamacare” by passing the health exchange legislation approved by the Assembly. I’m told that slang for the health care reform law favored by the right was in fact used during the closed-door discussion.

That does not bode well at all for moving the same-sex marriage bill out onto the floor – the a health care exchange bill is too liberal to come up for a vote, how will gay marriage ever make it?

Cuomo administration aides (I spotted at least three of them on the third floor as the Senate was adjourning) sought to downplay the blowup, insisting the main problem here is that it’s taking longer than expected to print bills. But it appears that things might be a fair bit more serious than that. As the Senate was spinning out of control, the Assembly Democrats were conferencing mandate relief – another big sticking point in the big ugly.

Republican lawmakers plan to meet at 9:30 a.m. and then hold session at 10 a.m.

Deputy Majority Leader Tom Libous said that the same-sex marriage issue will now be discussed Friday, postponing a determination on whether it would be brought to the floor for a vote.

Libous also indicated the SUNY 2020 measure could be re-inserted in the omnibus “big ugly” bill afterall. But this, in a way, is classic Albany. Everything must fall apart several times before a deal can be struck.

Meanwhile, rent control will expire for New York City. This is the second time in as many weeks an extension hasn’t been approved.

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