While New York State Senate Democrats have reached a power-sharing deal between Senator Malcolm Smith and Senator John Sampson, after Senator Hiram Monserrate returned to support the party, the battle with the GOP over Senate leadership continues.

The deal allows Smith to retain his title of Senate majority leader/president pro temp, while Sampson will take on the role of conference leader.

Sampson said he is ready to work with Republicans to put the Senate back to work.

Standing alongside the senators during the announcement was State Senator Hiram Monserrate, who said earlier today that he would once again throw his support behind his fellow Democrats.

Last week, he joined with Democrat Pedro Espada Jr. to throw their support behind a GOP-led coalition, tipping the balance of power in the Senate.

With Espada remaining with the GOP, the Senate is deadlocked at 31-31 – throwing into further doubt the already murky question of who’s in charge.

This is all the more complicated because there is no lieutenant governor, who would typically break the tie.

Governor David Paterson set a deadline of 1 p.m. for a deal to be reached. Without the agreement, Paterson is calling a leaders’ meeting in his office later this afternoon to forge an agreement.

“Under the circumstances of a 31-31 tie, nobody is going to have a quorum to begin this session at any moment so there much be a power sharing agreement for the Senate to operate,” said Malcolm Smith’s attorney, Richard Emery. “That requires at lot of negotiation, a lot of give and take between the parties, and hopefully that’s what’s about to happen. The judge is looking forward to seeing progress on that front.”

Paterson said he has informed State Supreme Court Judge Thomas McNamara of his intention. McNamara was set to rule this afternoon on whether last Monday’s power grab was legal.

The State Senate is expected to reconvene this afternoon.

During last Monday’s session, Espada and Monserrate voted with Republicans to oust Smith. The GOP then named Dean Skelos Majority Leader and Espada president pro tempore of the Senate. Democrats sued over the power grab, saying it was illegal.

(Source: Capital 9 News)