GOP leaders: Tension mounts in NY Legislature under Democrats

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Democratic control of the New York State Legislature is cause for celebration for many, but for others — including a number of Republican lawmakers— there is concern.

Before the 2018 election, Democrats already controlled the State Assembly, 106-43, and have had control of the Legislature’s lower chamber for years. Meanwhile, the GOP had controlled the State Senate since 1965, except briefly in 2009, when the Democrats won the majority, which they lost a year later. This past election, however, Democrats rode a so-called “blue wave” and swept into the Senate, winning the majority, 40-23.

Assemblyman Michael Montesano, a Glen Head Republican, said Democratic lawmakers are fired up, but as far as he is concerned, they have not, to date, been working in bipartisan fashion.

“By running both houses, the governorship, attorney general and comptroller, it doesn’t bode well for democracy,” he said, leaving the Assembly chamber briefly on Tuesday to speak with the Herald Gazette. “I don’t think they are giving any thought to the actual bills they are passing.”

Newly elected Senator Jim Gaughran, a Democrat from Huntington, said lawmakers are fulfilling their campaign promises to get things done by passing the legislation they had promised.

Republicans, Montesano said, made suggestions and proposed changes to recently passed election laws. “We had lengthy debates and offered amendments, but they voted against every one,” Montesano said. “The Democrats just wanted to jam it through.”

Not so, said Gaughran. “A lot of the stuff we passed had already been debated for years and years,” he explained. “And a bunch of Republicans voted for these bills.”

Voter reform bills were passed on Monday in the Assembly and Senate. If signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, they will change election law dramatically, allowing for early voting and holding state and federal primaries on the same day in June. Cuomo is expected to sign the measures.

Montesano sees problems ahead, however. He said Republicans had suggested that the laws become effective next year, and for the primary election to be held in August, instead of June. But, he said, Democrats refused to consider the suggestions.

He noted that the Legislature is in session in June, when primaries are to be held, so incumbents will have a harder time mounting primary campaigns at that time than their challengers. Holding a primary in June will also require petition signatures to be collected earlier, beginning on Feb. 26, meaning that those collecting the signatures will have to go door to door in winter. Montesano noted that it was 6 degrees in Albany on Tuesday.

The Legislature’s focus between January and April is passage of a budget, Gaughran explained. Then lawmakers take a break. In June, crucial legislation is passed, which is the reason why, Gaughran said, some leaders disagree with a June primary. “That should not be a reason to disenfranchise voters,” he said. “One of the current Legislature’s goals is to move voting on legislation to earlier in the year.”

There is another reason to move the primary to June, he said — to allow for early voting. “The problem with a September primary,” he said, “is when there is a close race, it has to go to court, and a decision is often too close to Election Day. Our military then get defective ballots or no ballot at all.”

Montesano said that early voting would be costly. He worries who will pay for the additional equipment, personnel and voting books that will be needed at the local polling places opened 10 days ahead of Election Day. The expected $7 million from the governor’s budget will go to the state, he said, not the counties.

Gaughran said that the county would save $25 million by combining the September and June primaries, which can be used to fund early voting. “We are also going to budget for this,” he added.

Former Republican Sen. Carl Marcellino, who was defeated last November after serving the North Shore’s 5th District for 23 years, can still remember what it was like when the Democrats had the majority in the Senate in 2009. “The Democrats had the city in mind more than Long Island,” he said, because they were from the city. “It was not an easy time in that respect.”

Republicans, he said, have long been more aligned with the suburbs, and have traditionally had close relations with one another. “The Democrats were new to power in 2009,” he said, “and they didn’t have that relationship with each other that we have. Senators from the city didn’t get along with those from the suburbs.”

Six Democrats now represent Long Island’s suburbs. Gaughran was the Democrat who defeated Marcellino last November. Gaughran, Marcellino said, “is from Long Island, and I wish him all the best. Our constituents need all the help they can get. Long Island is complex, with every race and ethnicity represented here.”