Now Democratic state senators will attend joint session

ALBANY -- Facing a break in their ranks amid criticism they were snubbing the governor during a fiscal crisis, the Senate's Democrats now plan to attend Gov. David Paterson's speech to a joint session of the Legislature on Monday.

Senate Majority spokesman Austin Shafran says Friday the senators will be there.

The announcement comes after Sens. David Valesky in central New York and Neil Breslin in Albany County said they would attend the speech intended to galvanize support for addressing the state's budget deficits.

State officials said Thursday that the Democratic majority leaders decided against attending. One dismissed the speech as a "photo op" because there are no agreements in place. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak for the senators.

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