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Dean Skelos
Senate Out, Back July 13th? (Updated)
Jul 1st - 1:15 pm
And that’s all, folks….for now.
Shortly before 1 p.m., the Senate finished passing bills and shut down. Speaking from the floor Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson promising his colleagues he will continue negotiating on FMAP and other outstanding issues and call them back at some point in the future when there’s a deal.
Sampson assured senators that the “end is almost near.” He didn’t give a firm date for the Senate’s return, but there has been talk of July 13 or 14.
UPDATE: I stand corrected…As per CapTon’s Kaitlyn Ross, Sampson told reporters he’ll be calling members back when the FMAP contingency plan is negotiated. He did NOT provide a firm date. He insisted overrides remain possible and that he can get GOP support for that, adding: “I refuse to divulge my method, but I will.”
Meanwhile, CapCon’s Jimmy Vielkind reports Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver doesn’t plan to bring his house back for the remainder of the summer.
“During that period of time, I will be continuing my negotiations with all parties so there can be an effective resolution,” Sampson said. “…I just want to let my colleagues know that I will continue to work hard to meet our obligations.”
Sampson’s speech did not sit well with Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, who felt his Democratic counterpart’s words were far too reminiscent of an end-of-session oratory for comfort.
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Skelos: Gov ‘Did The Right Thing’
Jun 30th - 3:47 pm
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos gave a shout-out to Gov. David Paterson today, saying he thought the governor “had no alternative” but to veto the spending added to the budget in the two-way deal struck by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson.
“I think the governor had no alternative,” Skelos told CapTon’s Kaitlyn Ross. “If spending is out of whack, if he can’t balance the budget, then he did the right thing as governor.”
Skelos reiterated that there are “not enough cuts in this budget,” adding:
“Spending is going up, taxes are going up. Our conference from the very beginning of the budget process indicated we would not support anything that increases taxes, increases spending and increases fees.”
In other words: The GOP will vote “no” in a bloc on the revenue bill – assuming it ever comes to the floor – making Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson’s job that much harder.
Senate GOP: Don’t Count On Us
Jun 29th - 11:43 am
The Senate Republicans just released a statement from their minority leader, Dean Skelos, that seems to put the kibosh on any Democratic hopes of getting GOP assistance with an override of Gov. David Paterson’s vetoes.
The statement, which appears in full after the jump, slams the Democrats’ two-way budget deal that passed last night in a party vote, saying it’s not balanced, fails to create jobs, and “taxes too much and spends too much.”
But here’s the key point:
“After a tortured budget process where they violated the budget reform law, negotiated in total secrecy, excluded Republicans from the process and
rejected every alternative we offered to reduce spending, Senator Sampson and Speaker Silver took matters into their own hands and created an irresponsible, unbalanced budget that Senate Republicans unanimously opposed.”“They should not expect or count on Senate Republicans to bail them out of the mess that they have made of this budget and the damage they are inflicting on taxpayers.”
The Assembly Democrats say an override is still under review in their house. The speaker has not yet conferenced the question with his members, but with 107 seats under his control, he would theoretically have no problem hitting the two-thirds mark.
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‘It Doesn’t Matter How You Vote’
Jun 28th - 2:17 pm
Here’s Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos insisting to CapTon’s Mike Whittemore than it “doesn’t matter how you vote” on today’s budget bills because the threat of a government shutdown has essentially been averted by the two-way deal.
“Well, even the governor has said there will be no government shutdown, so I think we’re really beyond that issue,” the Long Island lawmaker said.
As a result, Skelos said his 30-member GOP conference feels perfectly comfortable in voting “no” in a bloc on the four bills that will come to the floor today (absent a last-minute three-way deal, which seems like a remote possibility at this point).
Keep in mind that the revenue bill will NOT be coming to the floor today because it won’t be sufficiently aged for passage until 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.
Also not coming up today: The chapter amendment that deals with the property tax relief/education aid issue; that was introduced late last night and won’t be live until Wednesday.
The Senate Democrats are unlikely to stick around that late, I’m told, and will probably simply take up that bill tomorrow, since the Assembly members have been informed by leadership that they’re going to be here until late Wednesday or early Thursday morning anyway.
This gives the Senate Democratic leadership some time to deal with the same-sex marriage issue that has Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. pledging to vote “no” on the revenue bill.
Johnson, Skelos Welcome Cuomo To Tax Cap Party
Jun 18th - 11:48 am
Sen. Craig Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos wasted no time in reacting to AG Andrew Cuomo’s call this morning for Gov. David Paterson to put a property tax cap into a budget extender bill to force lawmakers to go on the record regarding the controversial proposal.
From Johnson:
“Great minds think alike. Andrew Cuomo’s embrace of my call to include a tax cap in the next budget extender is even more evidence that he is just what this state needs at this very critical time.”
“I once again call on Governor Paterson to heed our call and secure a legacy as a friend to property taxpayers on Long Island and across New York state.”
And from Senate GOP spokesman John McArdle:
“We’d like to remind the Attorney General that we passed a property tax cap almost two years ago when we were in the Majority and had he weighed in then with Assembly Democrats, perhaps it would be law today.”
Senate GOP: We Won’t Support A Shutdown (For Now)
Jun 14th - 11:55 am
Despite the robocalls that went out on Long Island over the weekend, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos has now made heretofore source-based speculation official: His conference will provide sufficient votes this afternoon to pass the 11th budget extender and avoid a government shutdown.
” The failure to produce the votes to pass this latest budget extender is a failure of Democrat leadership by the Senate Democrats. Republicans will not let the Democrats shut down state government.”
“As long as the bill that comes before the Senate does not include new taxes, fees or borrowing, we will assure that government will continue to function.”
Gov Won’t Be ‘Transactional’ In Budget Process
Jun 11th - 2:15 pm
Gov. David Paterson said he’s considering the additional cuts proposed by Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, but warned he won’t be “intimated or threatened” by the Long Island Republican – or anyone else, for that matter – when it comes to the budget extenders.
“We are looking at some of the proposals that we think are good,” Paterson said at a Q&A today that followed a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Lake Champlain Bridge.
“I hope he isn’t saying that we have to accept all of his proposals,” the governor said. “But he does have some good issues on the table, and we’ll respond to him.”
“However, I am not going to be intimidated or threatened by: ‘Do this or we’re going to do that.’ I’m not going to be transactional in this process I’m doing what’s right for the people of New York…I’m following the law.”
Paterson went on to note that the Legislature could, at any time, pass a two-way budget or even give an up or down vote to his full budget proposal.
Skelos: Paterson Is Being ‘Hysterical’
Jun 10th - 11:22 am
Yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos told me after his private meeting with Gov. David Paterson that he and the governor have “always been very fond of each other,” but there the Long Island Republican was displaying very little love on the radio this morning.
Following an interview with Talk 1300 WGDJ-AM, Skelos slammed the governor, accusing him of being “being hysterical rather than being constructive in trying to get a budget done.”
Here’s the exchange between Skelos and NY1′s Erin Billups:
I guess Paterson’s efforts this morning to let the Senate Democrats off the hook and blame Skelos and his GOP conference if a shutdown does occur didn’t sit well with the minority leader.
You Always Hurt The Party You Love
Jun 9th - 4:42 pm
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos confirmed that he did indeed meet with Gov. David Paterson this afternoon after that rather tense leaders meeting and pledged his conference would provide votes for the next round of budget extenders, provided the governor incorporates some proposed GOP spending cuts.
I spoke with the Long Island Republican soon after he returned to his third floor office suite at the Capitol. He told me he had initiated the meeting with Paterson after hearing Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson say he would be able to hold his 32-member conference together to vote “yes” next week.
“Certainly the fact that we have not been voting for the extenders, I think that message came across very clearly that this is not the way to govern,” Skelos said.
“I did go down to see the governor, and I told him that we would come up with a substantial amount of recommendations and cuts to the mental hygiene and human services extender that he is considering for week.”
“…He was delighted,” the minority leader continued. “And, you know, hopefully he’ll accept them all, and I think if he puts them in, there would be potentially substantial Republican support for that extender next week.”
Skelos Blames Silver
Jun 9th - 4:07 pm
Here’s quintessential Albany finger-pointing moment in which Senate Minority Leader Dean Shelos, while being grilled by reporters about whether he really is willing to risk a government shutdown, seeks to blame Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver for the Capitol’s dsysfunction, noting he’s the longest-serving legislative leader still in office.
It sounds to me like Skelos is trying to undercut Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson’s argument that he and his conference can’t be blamed for the mess in Albany because they’ve only been in power since January 2009, while the GOP ruled the chamber for more than four decades prior to that.
It’s a little bit of a tortured argument. See what you think:
“Everybody’s assuming that we are automatically going to shut down government,” Skelos said.
“If government is shut down next week it’s because Senator Sampson, who I have a tremendous amount of respect for, Shelly Silver, and Senator Sampson likes to look back, you know, 20 years.”
“Remember the one constant, the one constant in the last 14 years has been Shelly Silver, right? It’s been Shelly Silver. You’ve had different governors, you’ve had different majority leaders. The one constant has been Shelly Silver.”
“The point is everybody’s assuming that we’re going to vote against the extender next week when we haven’t even seen the extender. But we’re getting some movement from the governor now, at least saying that he would include those $400 million in additional Medicaid cuts that we proposed. That’s a positive.”
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