EdVANTAGE Blog

New York Post Albany Bureau Chief Fred Dicker writes today,

Tomorrow’s special legislative session will be an all but certain flop because nervous Democrats, eyeing last Tuesday’s suburban voter revolt, are refusing to back Gov. Paterson’s plan to slash school and health-care spending.

He continues,

“If Paterson had a chance of getting the cuts he wanted, that chance ended last Tuesday,” said a prominent Senate Democrat, adding that there is now “widespread fear of defeat next year” among many Democrats in the wake of the stunning election results.

And adds,

“If any of our ‘marginals’ voted for those school cuts they would be dead next November,” said the Senate Democrat, referring to a half-dozen “marginal” Democrats, including two on Long Island, who have been targeted for defeat by Republicans.

Mr. Dicker also reports that support for the cuts in State Assembly may not be as solid as previously suggested:

While Assembly Democrats, unlike their Senate counterparts, have been publicly supportive of Paterson’s efforts, they privately tell a different story.

Insiders said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) is “unwilling” to go along with the size, scope and distribution of Paterson’s proposed school-aid and health-care cuts because he considers them to be too sweeping and out of fear of their impact on suburban Democrats.

For more on the implications of the election see my weekend post, “Election tea leaves.”