Senate Ends Session With No Decision on Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Senate Republicans ended another marathon session late Thursday without taking up the issue of same-sex marriage, which has been languishing in legislative overtime in Albany for days.

Around 11 p.m., the Senate adjourned for the night, saying they still had not reached agreements with the Assembly on major issues including a property tax cap, renewal of New York City’s rent laws and mandate relief.

Republican leader Dean Skelos said earlier in the day that the Senate planned to have a "lengthy and thoughtful" conference on the bill.

"We're going to conference on the language of the amendments," Skelos said Thursday. "We're going to conference the whole issue. And I expect that's going to take a little time."

The bill will either be sent to the Senate floor for a vote — where it appears one vote shy of passage — or be killed.

The Senate remains evenly divided at 31 for same-sex marriage and 31 against. No new Senators have publicly come forward to say the back the bill.

Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, who introduced the bill last Tuesday, said if it were brought to the Senate floor he believed it would pass. The Democrat-led Assembly has already supported the bill.

With the Associated Press