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Latest from NYT: Still no decision from GOP Senators on whether to hold a vote



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UPDATE @ 9:33 PM: Liz Benjamin gives us the current state-of-play at State of Politics:

That now leaves three publicly undecided Republican senators: Mark Grisanti, Steve Saland and Andrew Lanza. The Senate is currently deadlocked at 31-31 on the measure, one shy of what’s needed for it to pass. But it’s likely that 33 or even 34 votes are needed in order to provide political cover for the other GOP lawmakers.

Both Saland and Lanza have met with Cuomo to develop a chapter amendment to the bill for broader religious protections.
Could be a long night via NYT's Nick Confessore:
Lawmakers on Thursday afternoon plowed through votes on a host of measures, but the State Senate had not yet reached a decision about whether to vote on same-sex marriage.Gay-rights advocates remained hopeful that the same-sex marriage bill, which had been approved by the State Assembly and supported by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, would win passage before lawmakers ended their annual session. And Senate Republicans pledged to decide late on Thursday whether to allow a vote after meeting for what the lawmakers said would be their first substantive discussion of the legislation in several days.

But the number of senators who had voiced support for the measure — 31 out of 62, or one short of a majority — had not changed in over a week, and negotiations over protections for religious institutions that oppose same-sex marriage had yielded no final agreement between Republicans and Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, raising the prospect that the Legislature could adjourn without addressing the controversial measure.

“We’re not going to work under time constraints,” Dean G. Skelos, the Republican Senate leader and an opponent of same-sex marriage, said Thursday. “We’ll do it when the conference is ready.”
Senator Greg Ball, who represents District 40, just north of NYC, has really milked this debate. He's been on CNN and MSNBC, obviously loving the face time. Now, we've learned that he's voting no. Ball is a young guy and this vote will haunt him -- and hopefully help end his political career in the next election.

The Buffalo News reports that the Governor is "cautiously optimistic."

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