New York is headed for even deeper unchartered legislative waters.

First, you had an attempt last week to change leadership and majority control in the state Senate, with two Democrats switching sides to join with the 30 Republicans in the 62-seat house. Two is all it took to change a 32-30 Democratic majority.

Then, later in the week, one of the two Democrats, Sen. Hiram Monserrate, had second thoughts about his switch. It turns out that no other Democrats were bolting and, faced with unrelenting pressure from fellow Democrats in Albany and Washington, Sen. Monserrate is now back in his party's fold.

That means that in a 62-member house, it is 31 Democrats on one side, and 30 Republicans and Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. on the other side, as of today, at least.

Now, a new name has surfaced: Sen. John Sampson of Brooklyn, who is being spoken of as the new leader of the 31 Senate Democrats, to replace Sen. Malcolm Smith, who may end up technically remaining as President and Majority Leader if the court upholds his claim. This change was reportedly demanded by Sen. Monserrate as his price for rejoining the Democratic side.

At this writing, the Appellate Division court in Albany is hearing arguments from both sides about who the real Senate leaders are, either Sen. Smith as President and Majority Leader or, on the other side, Sen. Espada as President with Republican Dean Skelos as Majority Leader.

It is unprecedented for a 31-31 tie in the Senate. Added to this perfect storm is the absence of a Lieutenant Governor to break any tie. It takes 32 votes to approve any bills and to decide on the Senate leadership.

Obviously, more news will follow. If the court upholds the current make-up of the Senate leadership decided last Monday, then Senators Espada and Skelos will control matters, sort of. They can decide what bills go to the Senate floor, but cannot determine the outcome without the other side agreeing since there will be every incentive for the 31 Democrats to stick together and do nothing to legitimize the takeover.

Negotiations between sides will continue to make something out of this hash. With the time it will take to sort this through, it's hard to envision anything getting done this month as the legislative session is scheduled to conclude.

Mayoral control of city schools expires June 30th. To avoid the chaos of that control lapsing, the Senate could well adopt whatever the Assembly passes, then get outta dodge.

Unchartered waters, indeed.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard