Update 2: Late last night, the Assembly re-passed marriage equality legislation, 86-51.
Update:The Senate will not go into session tonight, and will reconvene at 10 am tomorrow.
A senior Democratic Senate aide just told me that the New York State Senate will be voting on marriage equality, mostly likely either very late tonight (the Senate goes back into session at 9 pm) or tomorrow. As expected, the vote will, at some point, follow the passage of the long-debated deficit reduction package. I also was told that the Senate Democratic conference leader, Sen. John Sampson, privately told staff he expects it to pass "with a high degree of confidence". Another indicator that it will likely pass is Sen. Ruben Diaz, a vocal opponent of marriage equality, says he has retreated to his office to pray.
Like I wrote before, the Assembly has already previously passed legislation and Gov. Paterson will sign the bill. The chances are near-zero for the bill to be repealed at the ballot. So this would be in the bag in the third-most populous state in the union, and same-sex couples in New York State would earn full respect and equality.
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