After a drawn out court battle, it's official. New York State has a Lieutenant Governor. The New York Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Governor Paterson did have the power to appoint a lieutenant governor, making Richard Ravitch the capitol's second in command. Capital Tonight's Erin Billups has more.
.jpg)
To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.
Then come back here and refresh the page.
NEW YORK STATE -- "It is indeed a relief to have it settled," said Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch.
The Court of Appeals ruled four to three that Governor Paterson was within his rights to appoint Ravitch as Lieutenant Governor. A sure victory for the beleaguered leader.
"If you keep the attitude that you don't give up you may get to prove people, when the final tabulation is in, that you were doing the right thing," said Governor David Paterson.
"This is a major expansion of the Governor's power vis-a-vis the legislature," said Robert Ward, Rockefeller Institute of Government Deputy Director.
The ruling came as a surprise to the plaintiff, Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, and members of the Republican Party.
"Right now, you have a governor that was not elected by the people, you have supposedly, according to this ruling, a Lieutenant Governor who's not elected by the people. It's not the right way to govern," said Deputy Senate Minority Leader Tom Libous.
But Ward says the state can function now with the question of succession settled.
"For now the governor has given us that clarity by taking a controversial action, a risky step and the Court of Appeals agrees with them," Ward said.
Some have questioned why the Court of Appeals came to a different conclusion than two lower courts, wondering if politics was at play. With exception of one republican appointed justice, Susan Read, the judges voted along party lines.
"She has always shown her belief that it's good to have a strong executive," Ward said.
Now either the legislature can take the appeals court ruling as the final word or they can change the constitution, taking the power away from the Governor to appoint his lieutenant.
"We need to change the constitution. We need to change the way it's set up. The public should have a right to vote," Libous said.
The now official Lieutenant Governor Ravitch says the legislature should pursue a constitutional amendment to avoid a similar situation in the future. He says though, the Senate stalemate made it necessary to make the rare appointment.
"We all, who believe passionately in democracy, would much prefer to see people who hold high office like this, be elected to that office, but that isn't always possible," said Ravitch.
As for whether Ravitch is prepared to take the reins if Paterson were to leave office still remains to be seen.
"That, in my view, is a silly question because I think David Paterson is obviously going to be governor until his term expires," Ravitch said.
The constitution provides that the Lieutenant Governor preside over the State Senate, breaking ties when necessary. Ravitch says he will only assert his power when necessary to get needed legislation passed, remaining sensitive, he says, to the fact that he was not elected to his post.
A spokesman for Senate republicans says it's unlikely they will appeal the decision to the federal Court of Appeals.