State Senate passes fewer bills in 2009; power struggle cited

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

The New York state Senate has passed 640 bills so far this year — well off the 1,794 passed in 2008 before Democrats took control of the chamber.

The New York Public Interest Research Group says 554 of those measures were also approved by the Assembly and likely to make it into law. That’s down from 811 two-house bills in 2008.

The shortfalls were partially due to a power struggle that paralyzed the Senate for more than a month.

But Democrats started off slow, and didn’t pass a single bill in January. They said at the time they’d ultimately pass more bills that would be signed into law.

Austin Shafran, a spokesman for Democrats, says June is usually the most productive month for the chamber, and they lost that time due to the coup.