New York Passes Marriage Equality Act: 33-29

After lawmakers reached an an agreement on amended language, a vote is expected Friday night

UPDATE (10:30 p.m.) - The Marriage Equality bill passes. Ayes 33, Nays 29. Same-sex marriage will be instated in 30 days. The crowd outside the chamber erupts in the "USA! USA!" chant.

UPDATE (10:20 p.m.) - Sen. Mark Gristani, who had been undecided, will vote yes. "I cannot legally come up with an argument against same sex marriage," he said when announcing his affirmative vote.

UPDATE (9:55 p.m.) - The religious restrictions amendment package passes 36-26.

UPDATE (9:40 p.m.) - As Sen. Steve Saland explains the religious exemption language, Gannett newspapers reports that he has committed to vote in favor of the bill providing the 32nd vote, the tipping point for passage. Meanwhile, crowds have gathered at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan to await the results.

UPDATE (9:27 p.m.) - The Senate just came back into session, and a vote is expected any minutes. The suspense is intense.

UPDATE (7:56 p.m.) - The New York State Assembly, the other house that passed the bill last week, approved the amended language at a vote of 82-47. The Senate vote is expected to tonight, though the State Senate cannot estimate specific time, yet.

UPDATE (6:30 p.m.) - The Senate briefly went into session around 6:20 to vote on various measures, before taking a recess for finance and rules committee meetings. According to NBC, gay marriage will be the last item on the agenda. Jon Campbell tweets, "It will be hours -- hours! -- before the #samesexmarriage vote comes to the Senate floor. SUNY tuition, omnibus bill come first."

UPDATE (6:07 p.m.) - A vote on the Marriage Equality bill is expected at some point Friday evening, multiple Senators have said. The vote will be close, and rumors are spreading that the Senate Democrats have secured the votes needed for bill passage. "I know they've got the 32nd vote, and I think they've muscled two more people," Mike Long, chairman of the New York Conservative Party chairman told The Weekly Standard.

However, predictions have gone back and forth all week. Many senators in the Capitol admit they don't know how it will pan out. According to The New York Times's latest count, "The marriage measure, which was proposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and approved by the state Assembly, has been publicly endorsed by 31 of the 62 senators--leaving the measure one vote shy of the votes needed for passage in the Senate. The announced supporters include 29 of the 30 Senate Democrats and 2 of the 32 Senate Republicans. Supporters and opponents alike said that anything could happen when the Senate takes its vote."

UPDATE (5:37 p.m.) - New York Times Albany bureau chief Danny Hakim is offering more updates from his sources. He tweeted, "#gaymarriage coming to floor, Senate source says." And followed up a few minutes later, "Senator Alesi on #gaymarriage vote: 'its what I was hoping for' and 'it'll be tonight'." (Senator Andrew Alesi, a Republican from Staten Island, is one of the few undecided votes that could decide the bill's fate.)

UPDATE (4:58 p.m.) - The New York State Senate confirmed The Times report by releasing the updated bill in an announcement. (Read the full language here.) However as Confessore points out on Twitter, "One wrinkle: New #gaymarriage bill contains a "nonseverability" clause. If any part of law got struck down, the whole thing goes down."

ORIGINAL POST - Jon Campbell from Gannett's Albany bureau corroborated Hakim's report, tweeting, "Sen. Maziarz says #samesexmarriage bill will come to Senate floor for a vote."The New York Times is reporting that Governon Andrew Cuomo and State Senate leaders have reached an agreement on the religious exemption language that has kept the bill stalled in negotiations all week. Though this means the negotiations over the measure have cleared one hurdle, there is no news on when or if the bill will be brought to the Senate floor for a vote. According to The Times's Nick Confessore and Michael Barbaro:

Senate Republicans were still discussing the marriage bill among themselves in a close door meeting on .... And it remained unclear whether--and even if--they would permit a vote on the broader legislation. Assembly lawmakers, which approved an earlier version of the same-sex marriage bill last week, would need to approve the new language in a new vote before the full bill could become law.

Governor Cuomo, meanwhile, has vowed not to let the legislation die without coming to a vote and will call lawmakers back to Albany if the legislative session ends before that happens.The same-sex marriage bill still stands in line behind the omnibus bill, also known ans "big ugly"--that includes the rest of the legislation in limbo, including laws on property tax caps, rent regulations and mandate relief--which has been printed.