Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced a measure that would schedule party primaries for local and state races for June 26, extending a long-running dispute with majority Republicans in the Senate who want an August date.

The bill comes after U.S. District Court Judge Gary Sharpe declared June 26 as the primary for Congressional races in order for the state to comply with a law governing timely access to military and overseas ballots.

The federal MOVE Act requires states hold primaries no later than 44 days prior to the general election. New York traditionally holds its primaries in mid-September and up until late last year was granted waivers by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Sharpe’s ruling sets up the possibility of three primaries in New York: April 24 for the GOP presidential primary, June 26 for Congressional races and Sept. 11 for the state primaries.

It’s a potentially costly option for local governments, though Sharpe did leave some wiggle room in his ruling that would allow the state Legislature to set a date itself as long as it was held within the confines of federal law.

“There is no good reason why our local governments should be asked to spend an extra $50 million to hold three primary elections in one year,” Silver said in a statement. “That’s why we should be holding both state and federal primaries on the same day.”

The Assembly legislation would move the filing deadline for petitions in 2012 to April 16, reduce the number of designating signatures for Assembly ballot access from 500 to 375. The bill would reduce the number of filing signatures for a Senate seat by 250 to 750.

Silver said the measure will be taken up this week in the Assembly Elections Committee.

Republicans had pushed for an August date, arguing that a June primary — typically when the Legislature wraps up its business — would create chaos.

In a show of frustration, Sharpe last week ruled that he would accept a Democratic-backed calendar for accepting petitions. The plan would allow for fewer petition signatures in the compressed political calendar.

Swirling around the process is the ongoing dispute over redistricting. The Legislative Task Force on redistricting is yet to release new Congressional lines and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has vowed to veto the boundaries drawn by lawmakers.

Cuomo so far has stayed away from declaring if he supports an August or June primary (perhaps in order to not spoil the on-the-surface goodwill with both chambers), but has said three primaries isn’t ideal.

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