Senators are expected to spend July Fourth at the state Capitol after the warring sides Friday met privately with Gov. David Paterson, but failed to reach an agreement to end the nearly four-week leadership fight.

“We’re going to be here for the July Fourth celebration,” Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, said after emerging from an hour-long leaders’ meeting with Paterson at the Capitol.

The sides said they continue to work to end the stalemate that started June 8 after Espada and Sen. Hiram Monserrate, D-Queens, joined Republicans to overthrow the Democratic majority. Monserrate since rejoined the Democratic conference, leading to the 31-31 deadlock.

“We want to restore the pubic confidence that we can get something done,” said Sen. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, who was ousted as majority leadersip in the coup.

But senators remains at odds over who is in charge. Republicans continue to insist on a long-term agreement to share power but want to maintain the control they say they won June 8.

Espada, who was voted as Senate president in the coup, said he and Republicans floated to Paterson a proposal that would swap the Senate presidency every six months until the end of 2010—when the next Senate elections are held.

Democrats want a short-term deal that would allow the sides to pass critical legislation, such as tax extenders for local governments. The city of Yonkers said it will run out of money in a few weeks if the Senate doesn’t extend some local taxes.

Paterson has ordered senators to attend special sessions every day over the holiday weekend. Ones are scheduled Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.

On Thursday, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said he will withhold senators’ pay until the leadership dispute is resolved.

They won’t get pork-barrel money and per diems, and now Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said he’s going to move to withhold senators’ pay during the leadership standoff.

Democrats already said they’ll take the matter to court.

“We don’t think there is any legal justification for withholding the pay,” said Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran.

DiNapoli’s office had indicated last week that legislative pay could be off limits because the state constitution says their pay can’t be altered during their term.

But DiNapoli thinks it’s doable.

Here’s DiNapoli’s statement:

“Shortly after the Senate leadership controversy arose, I directed my staff to stop processing any Senate vouchers, including those for Senators’ travel. To date, we are holding more than 250 vouchers, totaling $560,000.

The question of withholding Senators’ pay has raised complicated legal and constitutional issues. My staff has been meeting with Governor Paterson’s staff to resolve those issues. These discussions are ongoing.

Out of respect for the separation of powers, I have strived to avoid inserting my office into what is essentially an internal matter within a separate branch of government. But the deadlock in the Senate is undermining the ability of state government to function. Taxpayers are paying a very high price. The stalemate is costing taxpayers across the state millions of dollars a day.

As the state’s fiscal officer, I have a responsibility to taxpayers to safeguard their interests. These are difficult fiscal times. The state needs leadership and action.

I have instructed my staff to initiate the process to hold Senators’ pay. I have also filed suit in Supreme Court seeking declaratory judgment to clarify the Constitutional and statutory obligations surrounding this matter.

Every elected official has a duty to serve the people of this great state. I urge Senators to resolve their differences now. The people of New York deserve no less.”

In late afternoon meeting behind closed doors, Senate leaders met with Gov. David Paterson in hopes of trying to reach a compromise over their ongoing leadership fight.

They said there is progress, reports GNS reporter Heather Senison.

“We think the governor has brought us together,” said Sen. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens.

But Democrats continued to talk about a short-term solution, while Republicans talk about a long-term deal through 2010.

“It’s clear the governor has a unique opportunity here to be in receipt within 10 minutes of a long-term agreement, a global agreement that would last through 2010,” said Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, who is sided with the Republicans.

“We’re going to provide that for him, he’s going to peruse it, review it and we’ll be back in here meeting and making progress tomorrow.”

The warring Senate sides can’t even negotiate to sit down together in public session to discuss their differences.

After saying yesterday that they were open to a public leaders meeting, Democrats didn’t convene a meeting today with Republicans.

Senate Democratic spokesman Austin Shafran said Democrats don’t want to be subjected to Republicans showing more videos, as Republican Sen. Dean Skelos and rogue Democrat Pedro Espada did yesterday when they replayed the June 8 coup. Democrats didn’t show up.

But Senate Republican spokesman John McArdle said no videos were planned. He said the staffs talked last night about the terms of a public leaders meeting, but the talks have broken down.

“The Democrats refuse to meet,” he said.

Senate Republicans asked Gov. David Paterson to intervene yesterday, saying he should call the sides together and either have a meeting in public or call them together behind closed doors. But no response from the governor on whether he will do that.

   Democrats referred to Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Queens, today as “courageous” for walking into the chamber while they were conducting session yesterday. He became the 32nd senator they needed in order to have a quorum and pass bills. Democrats and Republicans, who have one Democrat on their side, have been deadlocked in a 31-31 split for a few weeks and haven’t been able to take up legislative business.

   Padavan (pictured in photo) said he was on his way to get a cup of coffee in the members’ lounge and made his way through the chamber because the hallway outside the Senate was blocked by a crowd of reporters. (In other renditions of the story, Padavan was getting a soda or a V-8.) He and other Republicans have called the Democrats’ session “fraudulent” and are disputing its validity.

   But Democrats see it a little differently.

   Sen. Craig Johnson, D-Nassau County, said Republicans have been calling Democrats—or at least one of them—to join them in the Senate chamber so they could get a quorum. “It just takes one of you to walk into the chamber, one of you to walk into chamber, just one courageous senator,” Johnson parroted.

   “Frank Padavan is that one courageous senator,” Johnson said. “Whether it’s for a V-8, a Coca-Cola or a cup of coffee, a 37-year veteran … walked in and didn’t just walk in and walk out, walked across the chamber.”

   Johnson said it would have been great if more GOP senators had “joined Sen. Padavan’s courage” yesterday.

   That led to the following question from one reporter: “With all due respect, do you really think Sen. Padavan was being courageous when he came in or just thirsty?”

Gov. David Paterson confirmed this afternoon what most senators expected: He’s keeping them in town through the July 4th weekend. He said he signed proclamations for special sessions through July 6.

“Yes, the legislators are spending the July 4th weekend in Albany, hopefully resolving this conflict,” he said at his daily news conference on the stalemate.

The sessions will start at 3 p.m. each day. The governor’s proclamation convenes the Senate to act on legislation that would extend mayoral control of New York City schools, authorize a higher sales tax in New York City, and implement a collective bargaining agreement for the City University of New York. Those three items appear on each day’s agenda. He also included taking action on gubernatorial nominations to state authorities and commissions on the proclamations.

Paterson faces questions about whether he will sign legislation that Senate Democrats claimed they passed legally yesterday when Republican Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Queens, entered the chamber briefly.

Paterson said he would not sign bills that are in dispute because it could cause the measures to face legal challenges. But he also didn’t say he would veto the legislation if it’s returned to the Assembly, which already passed the measures, and put on his desk.

“Even if I signed the legislation, it’s still in dispute,” he said.

Senate Democrat and Republicans gaveled in and out of session again this afternoon without taking any action.

The whole thing lasted a few minutes before the 62 senators left the chambers.

Senators said they are preparing to be in Albany for the Fourth of July weekend, expecting Gov. David Paterson to continue to call daily special sessions.

He’s holding his daily press conference at 4:30 p.m. today.

Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, said the special sessions are useless.

“It’s nothing more than a continued opportunity by Governor Paterson’s pollsters to think that they will increase their favorable rating, and the evidence on that is pretty much in. It’s not working for them,” Espada said.

A Marist College poll yesterday found that Paterson’s approval rating is still at record lows, with 21 percent of New Yorkers approving of the job he’s doing.

With no agreement on the horizon, the warring state senators were back at it today, with Republicans holding a leaders meeting without Democrats and Democrats claiming that yesterday’s votes on bills were legal.

Since Democrats decided not to show up to the leaders’ meeting, Republicans and Sen. Pedro Espada, D-Bronx, went ahead anyway. They showed a video clip of the June 8 coup to reiterate that it was legal, then released documents that they claim show that Democratic secretary to the senate Angelo Aponte altered the Senate Journal to delete the leadership vote.

“I will not back off from the June 8th election,” Espada said, adding he’s willing to have a new vote on the Senate floor between himself and Sen. Malcolm Smith, D-Queens, who was ousted as majority leader in the coup.

Sen. Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said the fact that Democrats didn’t show up is illustrative of the fact that Democrats are fractured.

“Again, the frustration that we have with that conference is that we don’t know who is in charge of the conference and who we negotiate with,” he said.

Meanwhile, Democrats held their own sessions with the media. Democrats claimed that yesterday’s vote on more than 100 bills was legal because Sen. Frank Padavan, R-Queens, entered the room when they were in session.

“Our legal team has concluded that yesterday’s procedures were entirely proper under the New York state Constitution, the laws of the State of New York and long standing Senate rules and procedures,” the Democrats memo reads.

The bills were to be forwarded to the state Assembly, which has already voted on the measures. But yesterday the Assembly refused to accept the bills. But Democrats said negotiations with the Assembly are continuing.

Gov. David Paterson said yesterday he would also not sign the bills.

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