Dark Day in Albany-- Deliberative Body Deliberates on Whether to Deliberate

I was in Albany most of the day today, and as you can see from this photo I took (click to enlarge), clouds are both literally and figuratively hanging over the State Senate Chambers. Pedro Espada, Jr. who had run for the Senate as a Republican, then as a Democrat, and who has now defected to the Republicans once again (On the ballot, when he runs again, instead of a donkey or an elephant they will use a chameleon to designate his party affiliation) has asserted that he can vote at least twice on a bill.

He says he can vote wearing his Senator hat (what kind of a hat does a Senator wear? Laurel wreathes? Pork pie? Jester? 1950's Washington baseball cap?).
Then, if there's a tie (i.e., everyone votes the party line), he can put on his tie breaker Lt. Governor hat and vote once again to break the tie (His Lieutenant Governor hat must have a single gold bar on it, since he is the Second Lieutenant governor we've had since the election). Then, if the Governor goes out of town for the weekend, he can sign the bill into law as the acting governor.

Wow, what an economical savings for the people of New York (unless, of course, he demands both his Senator salary and the Lt. Governor's as well), and as far as the lobbyists are concerned it's like a buy one get two free deal in the supermarket. About the only thing he hasn't figured out (yet) how to do is vote on the bill as an Assemblyman, too. New York is a bicameral state, meaning that our camerals have two humps-- and Senator/Lt. Gov. Espada has become one of the biggest humps in Albany (Here is a definition of "hump" from the Urban Dictionary : "an acronym for "Higher Up Management Person", generally used in a mildly derogatory but loving sense, much as one might feel about a three-legged puppy .")

What ever happened to the Supreme Court's decision in Reynolds v. Sims "One person, one vote?" Two votes on the same bill ? As my Contracts Professor in law school used to say "He can't do that, can he?" In New York were not only bicameral, we're tripartite. Can't it be argued that the moment Mr. Espada votes as the Lieutenant Governor he becomes a member of the Executive Branch ( the latest grafted bud--use your own imaginative definition of "grafted")? He can no longer be in both branches, so by his tie breaking vote he has resigned his Senate seat. Maybe his Senate vote then no longer counts--since on the issue and the bill a person can only be either a member of the Legislative or Executive Branch.

The Governor has threatened a special session of the Legislature for next week--since the ordinary ones don't seem to work. His grade for the Senate this year is "incomplete." He intends to punish them by making them stay in Albany over the Summer, since they have flunked out this term it's summer school in Albany--capitol punishment--not summer vacation for the Senate.

And speaking blogging of Senates (smooth segue), The United States Senate passed a resolution today apologizing for slavery. It is unclear who they expect to accept the apology. Personally, I am still waiting on the Government of Egypt to apologize to me for enslaving my ancestors (see Exodus for the whole story) --maybe the apology will come by next Passover.