UPDATE: Feud costs keep rising as one Senator defies Paterson

UPDATED 7:00 p.m.

The state comptroller says his office is moving to block state Senators from getting paychecks as they continue their inter-party feud.

"The question of withholding Senators' pay has raised complicated legal and constitutional issues," Tom DiNapoli acknowledged, adding that his staff has been meeting with Governor Paterson's staff to resolve those issues.

And while he's tried to stay out of the Senate's political affairs in an effort to maintain separation of power, DiNapoli said, "the deadlock in the Senate is undermining the ability of state government to function."

"Taxpayers are paying a very high price," said DiNapoli in a statement. "The stalemate is costing taxpayers across the state millions of dollars a day. As the state's fiscal officer, I have a responsibility to taxpayers to safeguard their interests."

DiNapoli added that he has filed suit in Supreme Court seeking a declaration to clarify the Constitutional and statutory obligations surrounding the issue of withholding Senators' pay.

To date, DiNapoli's office has already held more than 250 Senate voucher, totaling $560,000.

How much is the Senate feud costing taxpayers?
Since New York's senators stopped passing legislation and started passing insults, they've cost taxpayers at least $94,400 for staying in Albany during their protracted power struggle.

That total includes only the $160 daily expenses paid to the 59 senators from outside the Albany area for staying in town since the regular session ended June 22. The meter is ticking to the tune of $9,440 each day for those expenses, which don't include the unknown cost of stacks of late-night pizzas and the comp time they'll eventually give their weary staffers to cover overtime.

The Senate has been deadlocked 31-31 since Republicans and dissident Democrats tried to seize a majority on June 8. The factions have defied Gov. David Paterson's orders to act together on legislation.

Paterson continues to pressure Senate; meets defiance
After a closed-door meeting for an hour this afternoon, both sides of an embattled New York Senate say they are closing in on an end to the nearly four-week standoff over control of the chamber.

Neither the Democratic conference nor the Republican-dominated coalition that mounted a June 8 coup for power will comment on details. Neither say there is a deal.

But they are providing a short-term plan for power sharing and a permanent plan to Gov. David Paterson. The Democratic governor is planning to mediate on Friday to try to mesh the two proposals.

The Democratic conference is pushing for a short-term arrangement to pass some critical bills for New York City and local governments statewide. The coalition seeks a power-sharing deal to run through the end of the Senate term in December 2010.

What if there's no agreement before weekend?
Governor David Paterson is continuing to press the state Senate to work out a power-sharing deal quickly, even if it means working through the holiday weekend -- but at least one Senator has already told CBS 6 he has no plans to be at the Capitol on July 4th. 

Democratic Bronx Sen. Rueben Diaz told CBS 6 reporter Marci Natale this morning he will not be at any Senate session this weekend and dared the Governor to send State Police to come and arrest him at his church picnic.

Diaz -- who's had no shortage of media attention during the Senate shake-up for making provocative statements -- then accused Paterson of "slave labor" for forcing Senators to convene without getting paid.

Senate GOP disputes Sen. Smith's declaration of self as 'Temporary President'
Republican senators released a statement at around 1:30 p.m. disputing Democratic Senator Malcolm Smith's declaration of himself as Temporary President.

Smith had sent a memo to state senators earlier in the day regarding holiday pay for state Senators and staffers: "Pursuant to Article XIII, SSI of the Senate's Time and Attendance: Rules and Regulations of the Temporary President, I hereby designate Friday, July 3, 2009 as the official holiday in observance of Independence Day," said Smith's statement.

"Please notify all of your employees and remind them that they are entitled to use the 'Holiday Time' column on their time and attendance records for this day," the memo continued. "In addition, any employee required to work on Friday, July 3rd, may record both work time and holiday time for that day. Additionally, employees required to work on Saturday, July 4th or Sunday July 5th, should record the hours worked on their time and attendance record."

The GOP responded to Smith's memo by insisting it was unauthorized as "he is not Temporary President of the Senate." The- conference said, "On June 8th a majority of Senators elected Pedro Espada, Jr., Temporary President. "Governor Paterson has called the Senate to be in session, therefore it cannot be considered a holiday.

"If Senator Smith wishes to give people a day off, he should not delude his conference and staff into thinking that he is still in power.

"Rather, he and his colleagues should work diligently to negotiate a resolution to the current gridlock, do the people's business in a real session, and then people can have a day off."