The Massachusetts legislature today gave final passage to the law providing for a temporary appointment to Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat — but without the two-thirds margins for the legislature to formally declare it an emergency statute.
The vote was 95-59 in the House, and 24-16 in the Senate. What this means is Patrick will have to declare it an emergency, in order for the law to take effect immediately — as opposed to 90 days from now. As we found out yesterday, this could leave the state Dems vulnerable to a court challenge under the state’s constitution.
That said, the local media does seem to be treating this as a done deal, so we’ll see what happens.
The current media buzz is that Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick will appoint Kennedy family friend Paul Kirk, though Patrick’s office has officially said that no decision has been made.
