On 1.3.18, the Times Union, an Albany newspaper, reported on possible directions the State Senate could take in 2018. The article reviewed State Sen. Felder’s potential power to shape the body. From the piece, in italics:
There is also a tenuous balance in the state Senate, where Republicans hold a bare majority with support from Brooklyn Democratic state Sen. Simcha Felder, who conferences with the Republicans.
A Cuomo-led deal to reunify the Independent Democratic Conference and the state Senate Democrats — which is not expected to materialize at least until after budget season ends in March — will rely on several factors. For one, Democrats must pick up two open seats in special elections, including a competitive one for the seat formerly held by Democrat George Latimer in Westchester County, who won a race to become the county’s executive.
The deal between the Senate Democrats and the IDC — in which each conference will not support primaries against the other’s members — only holds if Democrats take the majority sometime during the 2018 session. For that to occur, Felder would also have to rejoin the Senate Democrats.
Felder has said he’s open to that prospect, and would likely have more leverage within the Democratic conference if he is the person to become the 32nd vote that’s needed to flip the chamber to Democratic control. If he joins after the 2018 elections — and if Democrats pick up a number of seats in an anti-Donald Trump wave — his vote would be far less critical.
Republicans note that Felder has won legislative victories while conferencing with the GOP, including nonpublic education spending and the demise of the New York City plastic bag tax. Felder has said he will conference with whichever side is best for his district.
Read the full story here in the Times Union.
— Posted on 1.3.18 by JVS
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