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Albany, NY - State Supreme Justice Thomas McNarama directed the warring senators to go back to the drawing board and come up with a solution by 1 p.m. or risk forcing him to settle their differences for them.

After conferring with attorneys for roughly 10 minutes behind closed doors, McNarama emerged to say that he was "directing and ordering each of you to go back across the street and talk to the people you represent...and try to work out a resolution to this matter that will not require court intervention."

"There are 64 members over there who are, in my opinion, hopefully capable of working through what I have every understanding and appreciation of what are serious and difficult matters, but which can be resolved," McNamara said. (It wasn't immediately clear to whom he might be referring, as the Senate only has 62 members).

"...I have no problem providing an answer to this question from a judicial standpoint. As a matter of public policy, you guys should work this out," the judge concluded.

Upon leaving the courtroom, John Ciampoli, an attorney for the Senate Republicans, declined to comment other than to say: "I can only tell you what the judge said; you heard it," indicating that his side would indeed be returning to the negotiation table.

Democratic attorney Richard Emery was slightly more talkative, saying there are discussions underway for an "unprecedented" power-sharing agreement.

"The circumstances of a 31-31 tie, nobody's going to have a quorum to begin a session at any moment," Emery said. "So there must be a power-sharing agreement for the Senate to operate.

"That requires a lot of negotiation, a lot of give and take between the parties, and hoepfully that's what's about to happen."

"I'm not the expert on whether 31-31 can work. I don't think anybody is. It's unprecedented. So, we'll see what develops. As I understand it, the conference is working very hard at figuring out at how a power-sharing agreement can work."