If Kruger Takes Finance, What Happens to Stachowski?

HORNELL—A source close to the gang of three offered some details on the deal just reached to support State Senator Malcolm Smith for majority leader, with some interesting implications. According to the source:

-- Senator Pedro Espada will be vice chair of the rules committee and also serve as majority leader. Smith will be president pro tempore.

-- Senator Carl Kruger will "probably" be made the chairman of the finance committee, which the Republicans were hoping to bulk up to make more attractive to Democrats interested in flipping.

(There's a report that Senator Ruben Diaz will be named chairman of the Aging Committee. I asked Diaz this, and he declined to be specific about what may be coming, saying, "I am not currently the chair of anything.")

"I think there will be semi-autonomy for all of the chairs, and there will be more of a sharing of resources with the minority," the source said. (Smith has been talking about this for a while.)

Kruger taking finance would bounce Senator William Stachowski of Buffalo, who was the ranking minority member on the committee. I asked if he new coalition was worried that Stachowski may try to come after Kruger.

"That's a good question," the source said. "But with the looser rules, if people come at you with guns blazing, at least you're armed."

An upstate Democratic source said "if what's reported is true, it would seem they promised too much."

Of course, there are other ways it could be made up to the regionalists.