ALBANY – Municipal and county leaders from across New York State met in Albany on Tuesday to take part in a press conference held by Governor David Paterson. The municipal leaders, including City of Norwich Mayor Joseph Maiurano, attended to support Paterson’s call for the senate to take action.

Several critical pieces of legislation, previously passed by the Assembly, were set to expire at midnight on Tuesday unless the Senate took action.

The Senate has been at odds in the past weeks trying to determine who the president of the Senate will be. During Tuesday’s press conference, Paterson ordered the Senate back into a special session at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night to handle the time-sensitive bills.

Maiurano explained the purpose of his trip to Albany. “We were there yesterday to urge the Senate to get together and start passing legislation for the good of the taxpayers of the state. They need to work out their differences and get back to work,” Maiurano said.

According to Maiurano, several of the bills set to expire last night were critical to Norwich and Chenango County. Two of those bills included the Power for Jobs bill and a bill addressing the 1 percent sales tax that is granted to counties.