Senate Democratic Conference Leader John Sampson said his 32-member majority conference will be voting “yes” on the budget extender bill next week – even if it includes public employee furloughs, as Gov. David Paterson has threatened – because he is “not in the business of shutting downs state government.”

“I’m not about to play that game,” Sampson told reporters this afternoon, including Capital Tonight’s Kaitlyn Ross.

“So, if this Monday the extenders have furloughs in them, I will vote for them. My conference will vote for them. I’m not shutting down state government.”

Sampson Q&A

UPDATE: You can listen to the entire Q&A above. Sampson insisted he believes the furloughs would be “an illegal act,” and stressed he would prefer to see a “holistic” budget deal, not something that is worked out “piecemeal.”

That said, Sampson insisted he “wouldn’t rule out” the possibility that there will be a budget deal by Monday, sparing lawmakers the pain of having to choose between angering the public employee unions and a government shutdown (of nonessential services, that is).

If, in fact, the three sides manage to get a deal before the extender bills come up for a vote, it will be something of a bittersweet victory for Paterson.

He’ll be able to declare that his threats spurred the legislative leaders to stop bickering and come to the table, but once the ink is dry on the budget, he’ll officially be a lame duck and attention will officially turn to the campaign to fill the seat he’ll be vacating at the end of December.

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