August 8th is the day Skelos scheduled his session with the Senate to vote on the property tax cap and other issues including the Grand Island Bridge toll legislation.
I don’t know what we have to do to force the Assembly to comply with going back into session. Would there have to be a complete fiscal and economic collapse before Silver gets on board?
NY Senate to vote on property tax cap – Business First of Buffalo:
The New York state Senate will convene a special session in August to address property tax reform, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said Tuesday.
Skelos, a Long Island Republican, issued a brief statement saying senators would return Aug. 8 to approve Democratic Gov. David Paterson’s property tax cap.
Senators will also pass bills that cut costs for school districts, Skelos said, which could be a concession to the Democratic-led Assembly.
The Assembly has not announced if, or when, it would return for a special session. A call to the Assembly’s press office was not immediately returned.
Paterson introduced legislation that would cap annual increases in property taxes by 4 percent, or 120 percent of the consumer price index, whichever is smaller. A super majority of a school district’s voters could opt to override that cap.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, has maintained he will not support any cap on property taxes unless he’s assured school districts would not lose funding.
Powerful labor unions, such as the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers, have lobbied against the bill since Paterson introduced it last month. But the New York State Business Council supports a tax cap.
Democrats hold a commanding edge in the Assembly while Republicans have just a one-vote majority in the Senate.
