Spin Cycle

FROM ALBANY CORRESPONDENT M. MANSFIELD:

State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) remains his party’s leader in the legislature’s upper chamber.

Republican senators held a private dinner meeting in the Capitol Wednesday night. Asked if a leadership vote had been taken, as Democratic senators did this past week, Skelos said, “there’s no discussion about that. We’re really discussing the budget and the [governor’s deficit-reduction] proposals.”

The GOP will lose control of the Senate - for the first time in 43 years - come January because of the defeat of incumbents Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood) and Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens). Skelos has led Senate Republicans since June when long-time leader Joseph Bruno announced his retirement.

Skelos said the conference opposes Paterson’s call for midyear budget cuts. “We can’t do midyear cuts in education. They’re going to result in higher property taxes and quite honestly we’re looking to protect out kids … we’re also looking to protect the real-property taxpayers.”

Skelos described Paterson’s $2 billion cutting plan as lacking creativity. “I don’t seen anything creative in this budget. Its just hack away, hack away. I don’t see anything that proposes business tax cuts or programs to stimulate the economy,” Skelos said.

“When Gov. Pataki came in to office the percentage of the deficit was probably worse, and we cut taxes, we handled the deficit and the economy started moving forward," he said. "I don’t know whether the governor just doesn’t have the staff to come up with creative solutions or he’s not interested.”

Skelos also called out Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan), asking where he stood on Paterson’s proposed budget cuts. “Where’s the speaker? And of course at some point he’ll blame the Senate but we haven’t heard from him. He’s in hiding somewhere,” Skelos said.

Earlier Tuesday, Silver released a statement saying the fiscal crisis may be “even greater than the governor projects and it will get worse before it gets better.” He also said the Assembly “will not shrink from tough choices and plans to confront New York’s fiscal crisis head-on, based on the principle of shared sacrifice.”