Legislative replay: Clarification & addendum

After reading over my post yesterday about the Dutchess Democrats' vote on mortgage tax distribution, I realized at least one detail might not have been clear: The measure passed, even with all 12 Democrats voting no. So the county's 30 municipalities will continue to receive the money they were expecting to balance their budgets.

But what does this mean for party politics and the proper functioning of county government? You could make the argument that it doesn't matter what the minority Democrats do. As long as the Republicans do the right thing, all is well because they have the majority. You also could make the argument that the Democrats, though in many ways powerless, have an important role in a 13-12 Legislature – the role of the opposition, putting pressure on the party in power. After all, they only need one Republican defector to become a majority.

A completely different dynamic occurs when the Legislature votes on bond resolutions, which need 17 votes for approval. The May 14 board meeting offered a perfect example. All 13 Republicans and Bill McCabe, D-LaGrangeville, voted in favor of borrowing money for improvement projects at Dutchess Community College. The measure failed because the other 11 Democrats voted against it. What does this mean for the projects? More on that soon.