Ah, summertime in Albany!

It was another late night at the State Capitol Thursday, and the state Senate still could not bring itself to approve a bill to renew control of the New York City school system by the Mayor.

A very reasonable bill passed overwhelmingly in the Assembly with bipartisan support, but still has not been acted upon in the Senate, even though it has majority support in the Senate and would pass if brought to floor. All 30 Republicans and at least several Democrats support the Assembly bill. Yet it remains in limbo.

Instead, the Senate leadership, which consists of at least three senators (Messrs. Sampson, Espada and Smith), brought an alternative bill to the Senate floor for a vote to renew mayoral control -- except it got rejected, 40-15. All 29 Republicans in attendance voted no, along with 11 Democrats, more than one-third of their majority conference.

It's fine for the Senate to pass a different bill than the Assembly -- happens all the time. Then the leaders of both houses work out their differences and pass a compromise bill for the Governor to sign. That obviously didn't get done either, with the overwhelming rejection of the Senate alternative.

With only 15 votes in favor of the alternative legislation, that means less than half of the majority conference is on record as favoring this bill, yet it was given a vote by the leadership. Meanwhile, the bill passed in the Assembly and favored by NYC Mayor Bloomberg, languishes without a vote, even though it would pass.

Pass Assembly Bill Now; Amend Later
It's way past time for the Senate to be doing all-nighters in Albany in the middle of July, accomplishing nothing. The better way is for it to pass the Assembly's bill and enjoy the rest of the summer in their districts. Come September, both houses of the legislature are expected to return to Albany and the Senate would be in a position to negotiate amendments to mayoral control with the Assembly, or what are known in legislative-speak as "chapter amendments." Happens all the time.

No doubt Sen. John Sampson, the leader of the Democratic Conference, and other senators have legitimate issues they want addressed as far as the City's school system is concerned, be it the terms of office on the school's policy board, or the level of police presence in the schools. But they can and should be addressed either this fall when the Assembly returns to the Capitol, or early next session when the Senate will have more leverage in the horsetrading that goes on when adopting a new state budget.

The beat goes on.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard