ALBANY (AP) - Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled state
Senate will be back in Albany for a special session Friday.

The Senate's Republican majority will vote for Governor Paterson's bill to cap the growth in school and local government property taxes to 4 percent a year -- unless school district voters overwhelmingly agree to exceed it.

But even with the Senate's support, Paterson's proposal to cap school taxes appears unlikely to become law in New York state.

That's because Democrats who control the Assembly prefer a "circuit breaker" measure which would further subsidize property taxes for middle class and poorer New Yorkers based on income.

The powerful New York State United Teachers union also opposes the tax cap.

The full Legislature is due back in Albany on August 19th for a special session called by the governor to deal with the state's fiscal crisis.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)