Empty nest syndrome

It is spring break, my kids are off from school and hanging around the house and many New York lawmakers are having fun at the beaches and golf courses in Florida.

Now I don’t begrudge anyone a vacation. My attitude is: God bless ‘em and they seem to cause less trouble when they are not in Albany

At the same time, it probably ought to be noted that, so far at least, it’s been pretty quiet legislatively in Albany this year.

Even though this is an election year, there’s very little action. There simply hasn’t been the normal level of hearings, news conferences, rallies, etc.

In fact, someone told me the other day that fewer bills have been introduced this year than any time over the last decade. Of course, bill introductions aren’t a measure of success, but it probably is an indication of the level legislative activism.

This got me to thinking: What’s going on? Why the lull?

Now I don’t have an answer here. This post is like a Seinfeld episode in which I keep saying “hmm.”

Could it be that redistricting is the only thing that matters to lawmakers this year? Hmm.

Could it be that the Governor’s agenda now trumps everyone else’s? Hmm.

Have we entered a new era of post-partisanship? Hmm.

It occurs to me that after four years of a really raucous political climate in Albany, we now have an era of stability and calm.

Now that I think about it my kids have grown up as well, they’ve become calm and stable and the house this spring break is pretty quiet.

I guess this is good thing, but it seems so … weird.