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发帖数: 19713 | 1 By Julie Bolcer
Albanyx390 (Getty) | Advocate.com
New York senate Republicans failed to reach a decision whether to hold a
vote on the marriage equality bill in a Thursday morning meeting that
included a visit from New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg.
New York senate Republicans met Thursday morning to continue their
discussion about whether to bring the marriage equality bill to the floor
for a vote, but afternoon remarks from New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg
, who attended the meeting, suggested that the conference was no closer to a
resolution.
"I believe that if a bill comes to the floor, it will pass," said Bloomberg
to reporters in Albany. The mayor, a major financial contributor to the
Republican conference who lobbied at the capital last month, said he based
his assessment on conversations at various points with the senators. He
mentioned by name John Flanagan, Mark Grisanti and Andrew Lanza, none of
whom publicly supports the bill.
Currently, 29 Democrats and two Republicans have said they would vote yes
for the bill, which needs 32 votes to pass the senate. The decisive vote,
and likely at least one more to provide political cover, must come from
Republicans, with every Democrat on board except the avowedly antigay Ruben
Diaz Sr.
Bloomberg said he believed the bill would pass with more than the “bare
majority,” but acknowledged that he had no personal commitments from any of
the Republican senators. In addition to two visits to Albany, the mayor
delivered a major public speech last month and has contributed $350,000 of
the nearly $2 million raised, mostly from Republican donors, for New Yorkers
United for Marriage, the coalition working with Gov. Andrew Cuomo to pass
the bill this session.
"I can't tell you that anyone has looked me in the eye and said, 'I'm going
to be there,'" said the mayor, who added that all the senators were “
seriously and rigorously” weighing the issue.
Bloomberg, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent, reiterated the
“conservative case” for marriage in his remarks, where he mentioned a
recent op-ed in the New York Daily News by Margaret Hoover.
The mayor, who began to advocate publicly for marriage equality in 2005,
said that he told the senators Thursday morning that what clinched the issue
for him was the Republican principle of “keeping government out of areas
where it does not belong."
The Thursday morning conference followed a four-hour, closed-door
conversation on Wednesday in which the members of the majority party failed
to arrive at a decision on bringing the bill to a vote. The legislative
session is scheduled to end this Monday, although it could be extended, with
the governor and legislature also lacking resolution on other issues.
One excuse for senate inaction on the marriage equality bill disappeared on
Wednesday night, when the Democratic-controlled assembly passed the measure
for the fourth time since 2007 by a bipartisan vote of 80 to 63. Daniel O'
Donnell, the openly gay lawmaker from Manhattan, sponsored the bill. Yes
votes included three New York City Democrats - Karim Camara, Nelson Castro
and Nick Perry - who voted against the bill in 2009.
On Monday, Cuomo, a Democrat with high approval ratings, announced that
three undecided senators from his party who voted no in 2009 – Joseph
Addabbo, Shirley Huntley and Carl Kruger – would support the bill this year
. The news was followed by announcements of support from two Republicans ,
James Alesi and Roy McDonald, who voted against the bill two years ago. The
governor has made calls to other undecided Republicans according to reports.
Majority Leader Dean Skelos said last year that he would recommend that a
marriage equality bill come to the floor for a vote pending consultation
with his conference.
Political considerations rank high on the list of Republican concerns as
they seek to maintain and even grow their slim 32 to 30 majority in the
senate, the last bastion of GOP power in the state, in the 2012 elections. A
series of polls shows that while a majority of voters statewide including
Democrats and independents support the issue, the Republican base still
opposes marriage equality. The Conservative Party of New York State has
vowed not to provide its influential endorsement to any lawmaker who votes
for the bill.
Other Republican senators, notably Greg Ball of Putnam County, have
expressed concerns that the religious exemptions in the bill submitted by
Gov. Andrew Cuomo are inadequate. Ball seems to want language to clarify
that religious organizations should not be required to provide services such
as adoption and foster care against their religious beliefs, a position
that appears to be a non-starter with Cuomo and the advocates. The New York
State Catholic Conference, a powerful lobbying force in the capital, would
not support a marriage equality bill under any circumstances, with
Archbishop Timothy Dolan likening a same-sex marriage law to the tyranny of
Communist regimes.
Bloomberg endorsed the religious exemption language of the bill as it stands
now in his remarks on Thursday.
"There are enough carveouts and protections in the bill," he said. "This
would impinge on nobody." | m******1
发帖数: 19713 | | D**S
发帖数: 24887 | 3 这个会进一步增加大苹果居民对上州的疏远感吧。我假设那些说的GOP Senators主要来
自上州。 | m******1
发帖数: 19713 | 4 纽约的gay们咋还不上街呢？应该给议会施加点压力 |
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