And with the governor and the Democratic-led Assembly very close in their approaches to school financing, the advocates could train their attention on the Republican-led State Senate, which is wary of the governor's proposal.

The Republican-led State Senate passed virtually the same bill today, with one minor technical difference that legislative leaders said could be easily ironed out.

Take the Republican-led State Senate, whose base of power is in the suburbs and upstate.

A bill that would require clergy members to report suspected child abuse to the state authorities passed the Republican-led State Senate yesterday, giving new life to an initiative that died last year despite support in both houses.

Gov. George E. Pataki has pushed for an all-crimes DNA database for years and the Republican-led State Senate has approved such a bill, first introduced seven years ago.

But officials of the Republican-led State Senate and members of the Pataki administration stressed that the governor's call for the budget's swift passage was not an indication that he actually supports it.

Governor Cuomo is taking an unjustifiably dim view of the state's finances that would needlessly cost the state millions of dollars, the chief financial analyst of the Republican-led State Senate said today.

In the Bronx, efforts by the Republican-led State Senate to keep control of an open Senate seat faltered when their handpicked candidate lost not one but two primaries.

That endorsement should send a loud message to the Republican-led State Senate, which continues to block a similar plan for the state.

The Republican-led State Senate passed its version, the Democratic-led Assembly passed its version, and compromise has, so far, been elusive.