Dean Skelos, (R) New York Senate Leader, Will Vacate Post (Corruption charges)
Dean Skelos, New York Senate Leader, Will Vacate Post
By THOMAS KAPLAN MAY 11, 2015
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Dean G. Skelos, Republican of Long Island, entered his office at the Capitol in Albany on Monday. CreditNathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
ALBANY — Dean G. Skelos, the majority leader of the New York State Senate, will step down from his leadership post after his arrest last week on federal corruption charges.
The move, which was disclosed by a Republican with knowledge of the matter, followed days of escalating pressure on Mr. Skelos, 67, who has professed his innocence and sought to stay on as the Senate’s leader.
Mr. Skelos’s Republican colleagues originally stuck with him. But as newspaper editorial boards around the state demanded his ouster, and a growing number of his colleagues went public with calls for him to step down, it became clear that Mr. Skelos would likely be unable to keep his grip on power.
The decision was reached after the Senate Republicans held a closed-door meeting on Monday. Mr. Skelos’s replacement was said to be Senator John J. Flanagan, 54, from Long Island.
Mr. Skelos, who has led the Republicans since 2008,was arrested last week along with his son, Adam B. Skelos. The senator, from Long Island, was accused of using his influence to extort payments for his son, who is said to have collected more than $200,000 as a result, mostly through a consulting position arranged for him at an environmental company.
Mr. Skelos’s downfall adds a chapter to what had already been a tumultuous year in Albany. It was barely three months ago that Assemblyman Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, was forced to give up his post as Assembly speaker after facing his own federal corruption charges. In that case, too, Assembly Democrats first rallied around Mr. Silver, before deciding days later, amid calls for his ouster, that he could no longer continue as speaker.
Last Monday, after Mr. Skelos and his son were arrested, Senate Republicans emerged from a closed-door meeting to announce that there was a “strong consensus” that Mr. Skelos should remain as majority leader. That ended up being the high point in his effort to keep his post.
In an effort to force rank-and-file Republicans to declare their support for Mr. Skelos’s continued leadership, Democratic senators sought on Wednesday to force a floor vote on the matter, resulting in a parliamentary squabble. Republicans blocked the effort, but Democrats vowed to try again on Monday, when the Senate was due back in session at 3 p.m.
Many Republican senators appeared eager to avoid discussing Mr. Skelos’s future in recent days. To avoid reporters, some even zigzagged around the Capitol using back doors and passageways. They also faced increasing concerns back in their districts; several influential Republican county chairmen called for Mr. Skelos to step down.
In an apparent bid to show that Mr. Skelos still had a base of support, a group of 16 senators — 15 Republicans and a Democrat who caucuses with the Republicans — released a statement on Wednesday expressing their support.
But the Republican conference has 33 members, and the statement only served to highlight the senators who were missing. By Monday, at least nine Republican senators had publicly called for Mr. Skelos to step down.
Mr. Skelos’s second-in-command, Thomas W. Libous, whose district includes Binghamton, would under normal circumstances be a natural successor. But he was indicted last year on accusations that he lied to federal authorities in a corruption investigation, and has been fighting cancer.
Mr. Flanagan was first elected to the Senate in 2002 after serving for more than a decade in the Assembly; he leads the Education Committee. He was one of two senators who sought the post; the other, John A. DeFrancisco, 68, from Syracuse, serves as chairman of the Finance Committee.
The change in leadership in the Senate occurs with less than two months remaining in this year’s legislative session. A number of major policy issues have yet to be resolved, including the future of rent-regulation laws and mayoral control of the city’s schools.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/ny...in-albany.html
