Calling him an “important and influential voice for the Hudson Valley, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos praised outgoing Sen. Stephen Saland for pushing bills regarding domestic violence and child abuse.
Saland, a Poughkeepsie Republican first elected to the Senate in 1990 after serving a decade in the Assembly, officially conceded to Democrat Terry Gipson today in the 41st Senate District.
In a statement, Skelos, R-Nassau County, called Saland a “highly-respected lawmaker and a dear friend.”
“This chamber will miss Steve Saland’s clear and steady voice, most notably in the areas of criminal justice and victim’s rights,” Skelos said. “Steve was the author of more than 350 laws, and he has been a fierce advocate for the victims of domestic violence and child abuse.”
With Saland’s loss, Republicans will conference with 31 senators (including Simcha Felder, a Brooklyn Democrat who said he will join the GOP caucus). That’s one shy of a majority in the 63-seat chamber, but the GOP and the five-member Independent Democratic Conference announced a deal last week to share control over the chamber, keeping Senate Democrats in the minority.
(The 46th district race between Republican George Amedore and Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk is still tied up in the courts.)
You can read Skelos’ full statement after the jump:
“I join all New Yorkers in wishing Senator Steve Saland the best as he completes a 32-year career in the State Legislature, the last 22 as a distinguished member of the New York State Senate. Steve is a highly-respected lawmaker and a dear friend.“This chamber will miss Steve Saland’s clear and steady voice, most notably in the areas of criminal justice and victim’s rights. Steve was the author of more than 350 laws, and he has been a fierce advocate for the victims of domestic violence and child abuse.
“Senator Saland was the driving force behind legislation requiring school district employees to be fingerprinted, so that extensive criminal background checks could be done. Just last year, Steve won passage of a landmark domestic violence bill, later signed into law by Governor Cuomo, which included the most significant and far-reaching changes to the State’s domestic violence laws in a decade. There is no doubt that women and children are safer today because Steve Saland never stopped fighting for them.
“Steve Saland has been an important and influential voice for the Hudson Valley, and his shoes will be difficult to fill. In addition, he has been a valuable member of the Senate Republican Conference on key issues for more than twenty years. His leadership and his friendship will be sorely missed.”
1 Comment
Saland should be remembered for casting the deciding vote for gay marriage, something which his constituents were against. Unfortunately, Saland listened to Bloomberg and all of Bloomberg’s money couldn’t save Saland’s seat. And Cuomo’s promise to protect Saland against having to run against a strong Democrat never materialized. There is no reason to legalize gay marriage except the gay community wants to force the 99.4% of the normal population in accepting the gay life style as normal and various politicians want the well-to-do gay community to write out large campaign checks. In retrospect, Saland would have been better off if he followed the practice of the new State Senator Simcha Felder and just walked out during the vote and hid the bathroom until it was over.
Skelos could have and should have blocked the vote on gay marriage and if he did, the Republicans would still be in control of the Senate. What NYS is now left with is a useless state-wide republican party which has sold out what ever remains of its soul to a hanful of clowns and misfits from the Democrat side of the aisle in order to get better and larger offices in the State Senate Building. New leadership is needed for the Republican Party to make NYS a two party state – what is needed is a modern day Al D’Amato.