UPDATE @ 12:12 PM: Here's a report on the Bishop's radio address. He's naming names:
Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who is in Seattle for a national conference, says he is hopeful that Senate Republicans won’t pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage._________
During an interview with Fred Dicker on Talk1300AM, Dolan specifically thanked several of the undecided Republican Senators, Greg Ball, Andy Lanza, and Stephen Saland for strongly considering the impact a yes vote on same sex marriage will have on religion.
This could be an historic day in Albany. The pressure is on to get one of the GOPers to become that 32nd vote -- and the other side is doing everything possible to prevent it.
Andy Towle reports that the Senate GOPers wil be holding a meeting today at 10 AM. And, he posted a list of the key Senators. If you live in New York -- or know anyone who lives in New York, we need calls today. From Andy:
New Yorkers, calls these lawmakers, particularly if you are one of their constituents, and urge them to support passage of the bill.Liz Benjamin reports that three of the undecided GOPers met with Governor Cuomo last night:
Senator Gregory R. Ball of Putnam County (845) 279-3773
gball@nysenate.gov
Senator Charles J. Fuschillo Jr. of Suffolk County (516) 882-0630
fuschill@senate.state.ny.us
Senator J. Kemp Hannon of Nassau County (516) 739-1700
hannon@nysenate.gov
Senator Andrew J. Lanza of Staten Island (718) 984-4073
lanza@senate.state.ny.us
Senator Betty Little of Glens Falls (518) 743-0968
little@nysenate.gov
Senator Mark Grisanti of Erie County (518) 455-3240
grisanti@nysenate.gov
Senator Stephen M. Saland of Poughkeepsie (845) 463-0840
saland@nysenate.gov
Senator John Flanagan of Long Island (518) 455-2071
flanagan@senate.state.ny.us
As the effort to pass same-sex marriage in the Senate remains gridlocked, Gov. Andrew Cuomo met privately with three Republican lawmakers this evening: Sens. Kemp Hannon, Steve Saland and Andrew Lanza.That religious exemption keeps rearing its ugly head. Last night, during our live chat, Assemblyman Danny O'Donnell discussed the issues raised by Lanza's colleague, Ball about the religious exemption:
Hannon, who was originally considered undecided vote until, has said he’s a firm no vote on the measure. Saland, a Poughkeepsie lawmaker, won’t say how he’ll vote.
Both Hannon and Saland wouldn’t speak to reporters after meeting with Cuomo.
But Lanza said the discussion with the governor concerned developing broader religious exemptions. And he suggested that research was being done into tweaking some of the language in the bill.
“We are talking in broad strokes right now, so there’s no specific language,” he said. “We just want to go over the case law.”
Ball's issues are without merit. The human rights law is clear on the issues he raises and issuing marriage licenses will have no impact on the status of an institution being either private or public.But, the GOPers are using this issue as a hook. And, guess who they've got pushing the message today? The Catholic Archbishop. Via NY Post's Fred Dicker, we learn that Archbishop Dolan will on the radio at 10 AM this morning to urge defeat of the marriage bill:
Archbishop Timothy Dolan this morning to make last-minute radio appeal to Senate Republicans to reject legalization of same sex marriages.Stay tuned. We'll be tracking Albany from Minneapolis.
