Onion for State Vegetable

The onion is poised to become the official state vegetable if a proposal (SB 4295) from Independent Democratic Senator David Carlucci becomes law.
His bill argues that onions are "one of the most important vegetable crops in New York." It goes on to elaborate about the principle type of onion, notes the preferred soil and mentions the high costs of producing onions compared to other vegetables.
This bill currently doesn't have a companion in the Assembly, but if it does, hopefully its bill memo won't be littered with as many spelling mistakes (keeps spelling "aye" instead of "are" and writes "muck" instead of "much"). It is enough to make a person cry, or maybe that's the state's new vegetable...
(Editor's Note: All spelling mistakes were noticed on Monday and hopefully have been fixed)

Chance of Marriage? Carlucci Edition

The passing of Republican Senator Tom Morahan made his district at play for a Democrat, which made it possible that a yes vote for same-sex marriage could emerge. With the win by Democrat (excuse me, Independent Democrat) David Carlucci in Novemeber, Morahan's no vote switched to the affirmative, as his seat is now being filled by a social progressive.
Carlucci, who was endorsed by the Empire State Pride Agenda, is the third new yes vote for same-sex marriage, joining Avella and Kennedy. If the rest of the Senate remained static, this means same-sex marriage would now have 27 votes in its favor and be only 5 away from becoming law.
Unfortunately for proponents of this future, we've already covered two yes votes that have become no votes with the victories of Zeldin and Grisanti, with one more new no vote to cover.
But there remains a handful of no votes that have since announced that they're influx, so definitely stay tuned, as we wait for a same-sex marriage to be introduced in either chamber.

Senate Shakeup

Following the escape of four Senators from the Democratic Conference, Senator Neil Breslin remains hopeful that they'll come back.
It was shortly after 10 a.m. that Senators Jeff Klein, Diane Savino, David Carlucci and David Valesky announced that they were leaving the Democratic Conference to form their own Independent Democratic Conference .
"I hope we convince them that they're part of a team," said Breslin. He argued that if the Democrats all stick together they'll be back in the majority.
Breslin, who is a moderate, said he wasn't approached by the four Senators about joining their Conference. He said he wasn't surprised either, because they know he is part of a team (The Democratic Dodgers?). As part of a team, Breslin said it is your duty to stick it out when you don't agree with the direction and try to change things internally.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see what role the new Conference has on the floor. Additionally, I'm wondering who the next floor leader will be for the Dems, as Klein is probably losing that post. It will probably be a lawyer, with one person close to the state Senate suggesting it could be freshman Senator Mike Gianaris.