Bipartisan Senate Cosponsorship of Cuomo Bill

Capitol Confidential, Albany Times Union
By Irene Jay Liu

The legislature is moving quickly to act on the local government consolidation legislation promoted by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Bill A8501/S5661 is being cosponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb. It is on today’s calendars for the Local Governments and Ways and Means Committees and is expected to reach the floor for a vote this week.

As we have mentioned in previous posts, Silver and Kolb have what appears to be a very cordial working relationship so far in Kolb’s short tenure as Minority Leader.

In the Senate, the bill has been introduced by Democratic Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Republican Sen. Betty Little, one of the few, if not the first, bills with bipartisan co-sponsorship in the Senate.

The bill was introduced today in the Senate and has been referred to the Local Government Committee.

Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith is committed to seeing the bill passed this session, said Senate majority spokesman Austin Shafran.

“Senator Smith has long been a vocal supporter of government consolidation as a means to reduce wasteful government spending and to eliminate unnecessary layers of bureaucracy that cost taxpayers money,” he said.