Savino named vice chairman of key committees
Lawmaker to lead Finance, Codes panels
State Sen. Diane Savino is going to have a seat at the head of the table when key decisions are made about how New York state spends its money and how it cracks down on crime.
Savino (D-Coney Island-Bensonhurst, Staten Island) has been named to serve as vice chairman of two important state Senate committees: Codes and Finance. State Sen. Andrew Lanza, a Republican, is chairman of the Codes Committee. Another Republican, Catharine Young, will head the Finance Committeee with Savino.
The appointments were announced last week by the Senate Majority Coalition Leaders, Republican Majority Leader John Flanagan and Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) Leader Jeffrey Klein. Savino is a founding member of the IDC, a group formed in 2011 when Klein, Savino and other Democrats broke away from Democratic leaders in the state Senate to form their own caucus.
Since its formation, the IDC has entered into power-sharing arrangements with Republicans to enable the GOP to maintain control over the state Senate. The IDC wields enormous power, since there are 32 Democrats and 31 Republicans in the 63-seat Senate, giving the Democrats a one-seat advantage. But thanks to the IDC’s partnership with the GOP, the Republicans enjoy control of the chamber. The IDC has seven members.