EDITORIAL: Could be best for Albany to take a pass

Gov. David Paterson's decision to call the New York State Legislature back for a special session today presents New Yorkers with a dispiriting quandary. Should we hope that the governor and lawmakers lay aside their animosity and tackle some of the state's many serious problems? Or would it be better all around if this crowd just went home?

Chaos and secretiveness over the past two years have inspired little voter confidence. The governor only recently came out with a surprise deal to settle the New York land claims of an Indian tribe from Wisconsin by giving them land for a casino in the Catskills. The far-fetched pact emerged just a month after a blistering report by the state's inspector general on the sordid political dealings behind another gambling deal: the initial contract for video lottery terminals at Aqueduct Raceway.

The governor's agenda for the special session gives some sense of the heavy lifting that remains to be done in Albany. He wants lawmakers to enact a plan to keep the troubled New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. going. He wants them to allocate federal stimulus money aimed at preventing teacher layoffs. He wants a commission to address judicial salaries, which haven't risen since 1999. But most of all, he wants the Legislature to cut spending in order to close a $315 million deficit in the current year's budget - a gap the state's comptroller contends is actually three times larger. But why quibble over a few hundred million dollars when next year's deficit is forecast to reach $9 billion?

Some important work could get done in the session, but it's also a microcosm of Albany's dysfunctional political climate. Paterson, a lame-duck who ascended to the office when scandal engulfed his predecessor, has been weakened by scandals of his own and is unpopular with lawmakers. The Senate Democratic Conference leader is under a cloud from the Aqueduct report, which has been referred to prosecutors for further investigation. Control of the Senate may go from Democrats to Republicans depending partly on the outcome of a disputed seat on Long Island, which makes the fate of any legislation even more uncertain.

In January, New York will have an energetic new governor, Andrew Cuomo, with his own agenda. If the Senate changes hands at that point, the whole dynamic of Albany could shift. In the interim, though, the governor-elect has made it clear he'd prefer the current legislature to close the current deficit.

But given that two Senate Democrats are unlikely to attend because of family illness, not much can happen without Republican cooperation in that chamber. Democratic leaders may even prefer to wait until the GOP takes control, to make sure it shares the blame for the painful cuts ahead.

In other words, it's just business as usual in Albany. It's possible the politicians there will find a way to cut spending and approve the distribution of the long-anticipated federal school money, perhaps the most important items on the agenda. But given Albany's track record, when it comes to this session, forgive us for siding with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers when they sang, "Let's call the whole thing off." hN