Friday, October 02, 2009

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Bloomberg Says Senate Leaders Promise Action

Head Democrat, Republican in Albany pledge to take marriage equality bill to their caucuses

Published: Friday, October 2, 2009 12:30 AM CDT
BY PAUL SCHINDLER 
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Following up on comments that he made two weeks ago regarding the near-term prospects for enactment of a marriage equality law in New York State, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg told a large and enthusiastic crowd of LGBT supporters on October 1, “I actually think in my heart of hearts that this is going to get done.”

Acknowledging that “we have not gotten to where we want to be and we have to work every day harder and harder to get this done,” the mayor, addressing a campaign event at the City Winery in Soho, next told the crowd about Albany lobbying he had personally carried out earlier in the day.

“Just today I talked to Dean Skelos, the head of the Republicans, and John Sampson, the head of the Democrats in the Senate, and I kept telling them, ‘This is our number one priority,’ and both promised me today that they would take this to their caucus. So maybe we are starting to make some progress.”

With a razor-thin 32-30 Democratic edge in the Senate, advocates across the board agree that votes from both parties will be needed to pass Governor David A. Paterson’s marriage bill, which was approved in the State Assembly earlier this year.

In the years leading up to the Democratic takeover of the Senate in the 2008 election, Skelos and his GOP predecessor as majority leader, Joe Bruno, had resolutely refused floor consideration of marriage equality. However, this year, Skelos, who has stated his personal opposition to a law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry, said he would not enforce party discipline on his members, but rather allow them to vote their consciences.

Both the Empire State Pride Agenda, the lead LGBT lobby in Albany, and out gay Democratic Senator Thomas K. Duane, the chief marriage equality sponsor, have said they are confident of winning Republican votes for the bill.

In an interview on September 17 with Gay City News, Bloomberg, noting that he is the “main funder” of the State Senate Republicans, predicted that he could even win over Brooklyn Senator Martin Golden and Queens Senator Frank Padavan, two outspoken marriage equality opponents. Following that interview, a top aide to Padavan said that the mayor had never spoken to his boss about the question.

During the same interview, Bloomberg put the chances of passing the marriage bill this fall at “zero, zero.” In what seemed an effort to revisit that formulation, the mayor told the crowd at City Winery, “I was asked by one of the newspapers if I think it’s going to pass, and I said, ‘You know, I am so worried about it. I don’t think it’s going to pass, but I think we have to work as hard as we can to make it pass.’”




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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of chelseanow.com.

ng1260 wrote on Oct 2, 2009 11:35 AM:

" We were promised gay marriage (or a vote on a gay marriage bill) in September. I'm just saying... "

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