A year ago today, State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. and then-Senate Hiram Monserrate ditched the Democrats and joined the Republican minority to give the Republicans the majority in a crazy coup that paralyzed the Legislature, thanks to drama, locked chambers and infighting—and a lack of a lieutenant governor! And you know what, Espada, who ended the coup when he was made Senate Majority Leader, says he doesn't mind shutting down the government again.
According to the Associated Press, Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., a Bronx Democrat, says "he won't give the Democratic majority the 32nd vote needed next week to pass a short-term spending bill that would keep government running in the absence of a completed budget. Instead, he says he'll force the Senate leadership -- which he says has been out-negotiated in the budget process -- to work through the weekend to seal a deal with the Assembly and governor." Uh, what took him so long?
Espada also claims that the coup brought reform. The Times Union notes some examples of that, "Some agreements to more equitably allocate funding between the majority Democrats and minority Republicans and share centralized resources like photographers and website developers already were under way, but were codified in mid-July as the Democrats regained control. Videos of committee hearings and floor sessions began to be posted on the Internet. New parliamentary rules were enacted that allow members to advance bills through a committee, or to allow a supermajority of members to force a floor vote on any bill." Senate Conference Leader John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) also issued a video outlining the changes:
Espada's coup partner Monserrate rejoined the Democrats after less than a week since initially defecting. Of course, now he's not even in office anymore.
