With the end of the legislative session
looming, The New York Times is reporting that the New York
Senate could vote on a proposed gay marriage bill as early as
Thursday.
The paper quotes unnamed sources as
saying that Republican Senate leaders will discuss the subject by
Wednesday.
Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose office has
spearheaded the campaign to make New York the sixth state to legalize
gay marriage, has called leading proponents to Albany for a
closed-door meeting on the marriage legislation on Monday.
Two or three of the undecided Democrats
in the Senate – Shirley L. Huntley, Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. and Carl
Kruger – are expected to endorse marriage equality in the next 48
hours, the paper also reported.
Five Republicans remain on the fence,
and proponents of marriage equality remain six votes shy of a
victory. That is, a minimum of three GOP senators are needed for the
chamber to approve the measure.
“Those close to the governor's office
believe that if Senator Dean G. Skelos, the Republican majority
leader, allows a vote, there will probably be enough support for the
gay marriage bill to pass, though they caution that the situation is
fluid and could change,” the
paper wrote.
The plan to legalize gay marriage in
New York is opposed
most virulently in the Senate by Democratic Senator Ruben Diaz Sr.
New York's legislative session ends
next Monday.