After grandstanding for several days over religious protections in Governor Cuomo’s Marriage Equality Act and seeing such protections come to fruition, Republican state senator Greg Ball says he’s nonetheless going to vote “no” on the bill. That leaves three tentatively fence-sitting Republican senators to make the 32nd “yes” vote needed for it to pass: Andrew Lanza, Mark Grisanti, and Steve Saland. The Senate GOP rules committee is meeting at the moment, and the session is expected to continue well on into the night. Republican majority leader Dean Skelos has said they’re “waiting for all the other bills” before they “discuss the marriage issue.” Cuomo’s bill “will certainly come to the floor in my opinion,” Ball predicted. “And I think it will pass.” Since no one seems to have the final version of the bill, with the exceptions, others doubt there will be a vote.
