ALBANY – The reunification of the state Senate’s Democrats will happen — but not until after this fall’s elections. That’s according to an article today in the Albany Times-Union.
According to the report, an agreement was announced Wednesday afternoon by Sen. Jeff Klein, who serves as the leader of the five-member Independent Democratic Conference. Those five democrats broke away from the main conference at the beginning of 2011.
For the past two legislative sessions, the IDC has been allied with the chamber’s minority Republicans, an arrangement that has kept the chamber functioning but stymied progressive legislation dealing with reproductive rights, campaign finance overhaul, the minimum wage and more.
Klein said the IDC’s members would form a new coalition with the Senate Democratic Conference. He would retain his status as co-leader of the chamber, sharing that role with Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
There are currently 24 mainline Democrats and five IDC members in the Senate. Thirty-two members are needed to hold a majority.
Leave a Reply