A job-preservation measure passed the State Senate Tuesday, despite continued gridlock as both political parties jockeyed for control.
The Power for Jobs program was extended until May 15, 2010, a measure that State Senator Darrel Aubertine said protects about 400,000 jobs statewide.
The program awards low-cost hydropower to companies in exchange for pledges to create and maintain jobs.
Though the Senate has been stalled in a power struggle for more than two weeks, the Power for Jobs extension passed Tuesday "under difficult circumstances," said an Aubertine press release.
The measure passed as part of the "non-controversial calandar" during which a member's mere attendance in the chamber is a recorded as a "yes."
The Senate was forced to meet yesterday as Governor David Paterson called it into special session.
Though members of both parties ended up in the Senate chamber, Republicans and Democrats generally refused to participate in the proceedings of the opposing party.
The Senate is locked in a 31-31 stalemate after the defection of one Democrat to the Republican side.
