Hometown News: Albany Tug-of-War

The second round of the Albany power struggle is expected to play out this afternoon. Republicans will call the state Senate back into session as the majority coalition. But the state Senate chamber remains locked with Democrats holding the keys. Democrats are vowing to take back control after the unexpected take over caught party leaders off guard. Billionaire Sabres owner Tom Golisano, who worked behind the scenes to orchestrate the political coup, says Senate Democrats should admit defeat.

Senator Dean Skelos vows to make restoring a tax cut to New York homeowners one of his first actions as Senate Majority Leader. Skelos plans to bring back the STAR program. The rebates were cut under the current state budget package to close New York's 17-billion-dollar budget gap. Skelos says new leadership was formed to turn back Democratic overspending and overtaxing.

One of the organizers behind the shake up of the state Senate could be in line for a top position. Steve Pigeon is a former Erie County Democratic Party leader who could become top counsel to Senator Pedro Espada, the Bronx Democrat who helped engineer the coup, and is now the new Senate president. Espada is currently first in line to succeed Governor Paterson, should the need arise.