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The Majority Leader of the New York State Senate is elected by the majority of the members of the New York State Senate. The position usually coincides with the title of Temporary President of the State Senate, who presides over the session of the State Senate if the Lieutenant Governor of New York (who is ex officio President of the State Senate) is absent. The Temporary President of the State Senate becomes Acting Lieutenant Governor for the remainder of the unexpired term in case of a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor.〔Special elections for Lieutenant Governor were prohibited by a constitutional amendment after the death of Lt. Gov. Thomas W. Wallace and the subsequent special election of Joe R. Hanley. Lieutenant Governors may be elected now only "at the same time of election of a governor."〕 In case of a vacancy in the offices of both the governor and lieutenant governor at the same time, the Temporary President of the State Senate becomes Acting Governor. If the double vacancy occurs until three months before the mid-term state elections,〔This election occurs in the middle of the gubernatorial term, in presidential-election years; regularly the members of the state legislature are elected.〕 a special election for Governor of New York and Lieutenant Governor is held. If the double vacancy occurs later, the Temporary President of the State Senate acts as governor until the end of the unexpired term. The Temporary President of the State Senate retains both his majority leadership and his seat in the State Senate while acting as lieutenant governor or governor. There was a lengthy dispute over the leadership of the Senate during June and July 2009. On June 8, 2009, Democrats Hiram Monserrate and Pedro Espada, Jr., joined the 30 Republican members of the State Senate to attempt to issue a motion to replace current Majority Leader Malcolm Smith with Minority Leader Dean Skelos.〔()〕 Following the precedent of 1913, the temporary presidency and the majority leadership would have been separated again under this scenario. Since the office of Lieutenant Governor fell vacant after Lt. Gov. David Paterson succeeded to the governorship upon Gov. Eliot Spitzer's resignation, the majority leaders (Bruno, Skelos and Smith) have acted as lieutenant governors. The motions put forward on June 8 also sought to select Pedro Espada as Temporary President of the State Senate, which would have installed him as acting lieutenant governor. The Democrats have disputed the legitimacy of the motions put forward on June 8. The New York State Senate has been providing a (running update ) of the legal proceedings since June 11, 2009. The dispute ended July 9, 2009, when Senator Espada announced he would return to the Democratic caucus and take on the position of majority leader, while it was also announced that former majority leader Malcolm Smith had assumed the title of president pro tempore, and John Sampson would serve as Democratic conference leader with the understanding he would assume the presidency at an undetermined future date. Following the 2010 election and the Republican victory in the Senate, Senator Dean Skelos from Long Island serves as both Temporary President and Majority Leader. ==History== The position of President pro tempore of the New York State Senate was created as a standing office by a constitutional amendment in 1873. The President pro tempore was elected for the duration of the biennial senatorial term which comprised two sessions, the first in an even-numbered year, the other in the following odd-numbered year. Before this time, a President pro tempore was elected only in case of vacancy (the President pro tem acting as Lieutenant Governor for the remainder of the term), or if the Lieutenant Governor was absent. In practice, this new arrangement transferred much power from the Lieutenant Governor to the President pro tempore, whose political position became comparable to that of the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. After the impeachment of Governor William Sulzer in October 1913, Lt. Gov. Martin H. Glynn became Governor, and President pro tempore Robert F. Wagner became Acting Lieutenant Governor. At the time Wagner - as Acting Lieutenant Governor - was considered to be President of the Senate and it was deemed necessary to elect another member as President pro tempore/Majority Leader,〔(in NYT on October 18, 1913 )〕 and John F. Murtaugh was chosen. The precedent of 1913-14 caused some confusion after the death of Lt. Gov. Thomas W. Wallace in 1943. It was unclear if the Majority Leader had to give up his post upon becoming Acting Lieutenant Governor, and if such an Acting Lieutenant Governor became President of the Senate for the remainder of the unexpired term.〔(in NYT on July 18, 1943 )〕 Traditionally, the positions of Acting Lieutenant Governor and Acting Governor were considered to be tied to the post of Majority Leader. This means that if the Majority Leader resigns,〔This happened when Joseph L. Bruno resigned on June 24, 2008, and Dean Skelos was chosen the new Majority Leader.〕 or is ousted from office, or if the majority changes〔This happened on January 7, 2009, when the newly elected Democratic majority chose Malcolm Smith.〕 and a new Majority Leader is chosen, the offices of Acting Lieutenant Governor or Acting Governor were transferred at the same time to the new Majority Leader. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Majority Leader of the New York State Senate」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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