Cuomo vows same-sex marriage vote Monday

ALBANY -- The State Senate left the Capitol on Friday without tackling same-sex marriage and other key issues, but Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo insisted lawmakers are on track to take action before the end of the legislative session -- slated for Monday.

The governor, who has met continuously with Republicans who are undecided on the issue, said they are making progress to include language in the bill that GOP senators say is necessary to protect church-based agencies from discrimination claims.

Similarly, Cuomo said they are moving forward on the intertwined issues of rent regulations for New York City apartments and a statewide 2 percent property-tax cap. Together with same-sex marriage, these are Cuomo's top priorities for this, his first session as governor. Rank-and-file legislators have said these items will have to be resolved before the Senate takes up a gay marriage bill.

Still, Cuomo said the wrangling won't undo the march toward adopting a gay marriage law -- which would make New York the sixth, and largest, state to do so.

"Do I believe it's going to pass? It's going to pass at the right time," the governor said at an impromptu news conference just before the Senate and Assembly adjourned for the weekend.

A moment later, he added: "Right now, I don't see anything in trouble. I don't see any of the critical initiatives in jeopardy."

He backed off an earlier threat to keep lawmakers in Albany through the weekend and said they would return Monday -- the last scheduled day of the 2011 legislative session -- to settle the major items. Negotiations were a bit of a roller coaster over the past two days.

Earlier in the week, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) had suggested the Republican-led Senate would take up the marriage bill Friday. But that plan snagged when the rent laws expired midnight Wednesday -- because of a falling out over what seemed to be a straightforward, two-day extension of the laws through Friday.

Things got back on track late Friday when the two houses passed a bill to extend the rent laws until midnight Monday.

Sounding as confident as Cuomo, Skelos predicted the rent/tax cap issue would be settled. "Now, it's just a matter of tying all these pieces together," the Republican said.

Meanwhile, Cuomo continued his personal effort to woo some senators on the issue of legalizing same-sex marriage. The Democrat-controlled Assembly passed the bill Wednesday. In the GOP-led Senate, 31 of 62 members have said they favor it; that includes 29 of the 30 Democrats in the chamber and two of the 32 Republicans.

A number of Republicans have trekked from the third floor of the Capitol (legislative chambers) to the second (governor's offices) to discuss the issue over the past two days, including Sens. John Flanagan (R-East Northport), Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City) and Steve Saland (R-Poughkeepsie). The lawmakers said they discussed other issues as well.

Skelos also met with Cuomo for about an hour Friday. "We are making progress with the issue of religious exemptions," Skelos said.

Said Cuomo: "It's balancing two needs: we want to bring marriage equality and we also want to protect religious freedom in this state . . . I believe we can address their concerns without going over the line."