Following a legal threat Wednesday by Governor David Paterson, state senators from both sides of the political aisle have agreed to be on hand this afternoon when they convene for yet another special session inside the State Capitol.

Paterson said if by Wednesday evening he did not receive the senators' promises to attend Thursday's special session of the State Senate, he would be in court at 9 a.m. to ask for a court order compelling the lawmakers to arrive. Such a measure could by enforced by state police.

The governor also said he would order the State Treasury to withhold the salaries earned by the senators since June 8, when a Republican-led coalition voted to oust Democratic leadership and brought the state lawmaking process to a halt.

The governor's attempt to dock pay, however, falls short since lawmakers have already received checks for their most recent pay period. Their next pay day isn't until July 8th.

Earlier in the day, Republicans boycotted the Senate session and some Democrats said they were returning home Wednesday night from Albany.

"I think the people have had enough. I know I have," said the governor. "And so, what we are simply going to do here is to compel them to work, which is what they swore on their oaths that they would do for the people of the State of New York. And so senators, get to work tomorrow. You're not going home, you're not getting paid, and you're not going to disrespect the people of the State of New York any longer."

At a news conference ahead of the planned 3 p.m. session Wednesday, Republican leaders said they believe binding arbitration may be needed to solve the power dispute.

The governor, however, said he could "care less about the leadership of the Senate," and said that arbitration would further delay action before major legislative deadlines.

"This is the group that can't agree on who the arbitrators would be for two weeks," said Paterson. "So combining arbitration, they suggested one from each side and then a third arbitrator they would mutually agree on. How long will that take?"

Paterson says he will keep the senators in Albany until they settle their leadership dispute. He says the senators need to be punished and should have to stay in Albany every day, including weekends and holidays.

Republican leaders argued that outside arbitration is a necessary step before the Senate can reconvene.

"I don't want to participate in another day of that kind of embarrassment to the institution and all 62 senators," said Democratic State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., a member of the Republican coalition. "We really want to go in and do real business. The question is does it really count for anything other than the circus atmosphere that has been created by our Senate Democratic colleagues."

They said they would follow whatever the outside arbitrators decide.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he supports the use of arbitrators.

"Binding arbitration is something we can support to get us to finish the work that needs to get done before July 1," said Bloomberg spokesman Matthew Gorton in reference to mayoral control of schools, which expires June 30.

On Tuesday, both parties refused to work with each other and essentially held their own separate sessions on opposite sides of the chamber. There were two presiding officers, two podiums, and two sets of bills being voted on.

Republicans created their own podium in the middle of the floor and passed a number of bills.

"That was not a legitimate session," said Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith. "There were no jackets to the bills. There was no journal clerk here. There was no stenographer. They were going through a mock session, kind of what we did earlier today, getting prepared for this."

"The governor was very clear that he had sent the bills to Minority Leader Malcolm Smith to review," countered Republican State Senator Dean Skelos. "And I guess, through the secretary of the Senate, they refused to acknowledge that the governor had actually sent them. And that's very disappointing."

The governor said Wednesday that he would not sign any of the bills that were independently voted on. Both Paterson and his counsel insisted that the governor has a right in the state constitution to call separate special sessions of the State Senate.

"At this point, when we haven't had sufficient time to analyze and look at the tape, read the transcripts and to make some determination as to whether is has the color of validity, we haven't had a chance to do that yet," said Peter Kiernan, counsel to the governor. "But if it creates a lot of legal ambivalence and ambiguity, were the governor were to sign those and to call those laws, I think we would have litigation, and we might have chaos and that's not our intention."

In another escalation of conflict, Republicans took Democrats to court Wednesday, charging that they were treated unfairly by the party during Tuesday's session. Democrats shut off the lights and microphones.

Meanwhile, former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani offered up some advice to lawmakers during an interview on "Road to City Hall" Wednesday.

Giuliani is calling for a state constitutional convention to smooth out procedural issues like replacing the Lieutenant Governor.

"This is a proposal I would have made whether the question of running for governor was out there, it wasn't out there. It's something that should be done," said Giuliani. "It is true that the impasse that has taken place and the embarrassment for the state is the proximate motivation for it, but this is something that should have been done ten years ago."

Giuliani said his proposal, detailed in Wednesday's Op/Ed section of the New York Times, does not mean he's trying to run for governor.

The former mayor also said his input is not a partisan criticism and that there is enough blame for all to share. In the article, Giuliani called for a range of other reforms including budget restrictions, term limits for state officials and more checks on tax increases.

There has not been a constitutional convention since 1967.