Friday, March 26, 1993

1646 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ALBANY, NEW YORK 9 March 26, 1993 10 11:39 a.m. 11 12 13 REGULAR SESSION 14 15 16 17 SENATOR HUGH T. FARLEY, Acting President 18 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 19 20 21 22 23 1647 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 3 Senate will be in order. The Senators will find 4 their places. 5 If you will rise with me for the 6 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 7 (The assemblage repeated the 8 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Today 10 in the absence of clergy, we'll bow our heads in 11 a moment of silent prayer. 12 (A moment of silence was 13 observed. ) 14 The Secretary will begin by 15 reading the Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Thursday, March 25th. The Senate met pursuant 18 to adjournment, Senator Farley in the Chair upon 19 designation of the Temporary President. Prayer 20 by the Reverend Robert Hess of Delmar. The 21 Journal of Wednesday, March 24th, was read and 22 approved. On motion, Senate adjourned. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Hearing 1648 1 no objection, the Journal will stand approved as 2 read. 3 The order of business: 4 Presentation of petitions. 5 Messages from the Assembly. 6 Messages from the Governor. 7 Reports of standing committees. 8 Reports of select committees. 9 Communications and reports from 10 state officers. 11 Motions and resolutions. 12 Senator Present. 13 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 14 I move we stand at ease. There will be an 15 immediate meeting of the Majority in Room 332. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 17 Immediate meeting of the Majority in the 18 Conference Room 332. 19 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: The Minority 20 will conference immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: And an 22 immediate conference of the Minority. 23 The Senate will stand at ease. 1649 1 (Whereupon at 11:40 a.m., the 2 Senate stood at ease. ) 3 (The Senate reconvened at 1:33 4 p.m.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senate 6 will come to order. 7 Senator Present, we have the 8 motions, if that's your pleasure. 9 SENATOR PRESENT: Take them now. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 11 DeFrancisco. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Mr. 13 President, I wish to call up my bill, Print 14 Number 1921, recalled from the Governor which is 15 now at the desk. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 17 Secretary will read the title of Senator 18 DeFrancisco's bill. 19 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 20 DeFrancisco, Senate Bill Number 1921, an act to 21 amend the Highway Law, in relation to 22 designating a portion of the state highway 23 system as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial 1650 1 Highway. 2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I would 3 move to reconsider the vote by which this bill 4 was passed. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 6 the roll on reconsideration of the bill. 7 (The Secretary called the roll on 8 reconsideration. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 48. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 11 bill is before the house. Senator DeFrancisco. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I would now 13 offer the amendments that have been filed. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 15 Amendments are received. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Also, there 17 was one other matter. I was out of the room 18 when the vote was called on Number 261 19 yesterday, the Bill Number, Print Number 3156, 20 and had I been here, I would have voted in the 21 negative. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 23 record will so indicate. 1651 1 Are there any other motions on 2 the floor? Senator Present had something. 3 SENATOR PRESENT: Would you 4 recognize Senator Marchi, please. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 6 Marchi. 7 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President, 8 there is a privileged resolution at the desk. 9 May the title be read? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 11 title will be read of Senator Marchi's 12 resolution. 13 THE SECRETARY: Legislative 14 Resolution, by Senator Marchi, honoring the 15 memory of Nicholaus B. Labeau of Staten Island 16 and Warren County, New York, a Civil War Greek 17 American upon the occasion of Hellenic Pride Day 18 in New York State. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All in 20 favor of adopting the resolution, say aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 Those opposed, nay. 23 (There was no response.) 1652 1 The resolution is adopted. 2 We have some substitutions, 3 Senator Present. What's your pleasure? 4 SENATOR PRESENT: On behalf of 5 Senator Marino, I hand up the following Minority 6 committee assignment changes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 8 Secretary will read those Minority committee 9 reassignments. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senator Marino 11 hands up the following Minority committee 12 assignment changes: Senator Waldon assumes 13 membership on the Committee on Investigations, 14 Taxation and Government Operations. Senator 15 Galiber relinquishing membership on the Energy 16 Committee. Senator Solomon assumes membership 17 on the Energy Committee. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Those 19 committee assignments will be filed in the 20 Journal. 21 Secretary will read the 22 substitutions. 23 THE SECRETARY: On page 7 of 1653 1 today's calendar, Senator Spano moves to 2 discharge the Committee on Mental Health and 3 Development disabilities from Assembly Bill 4 Number 6130, and substitute it for the identical 5 Calendar Number 319. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 7 Substitution is ordered. 8 THE SECRETARY: On page 24, 9 Senator Goodman moves to discharge the Committee 10 on Elections from Assembly Bill Number 813-A, 11 and substitute it for the identical Third 12 Reading 220. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 14 Substitution is ordered. 15 Senator Present. 16 SENATOR PRESENT: Then let's go 17 to the non-controversial calendar. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 19 Non-controversial. The Secretary will read it. 20 THE SECRETARY: On page 14, 21 Calendar Number 231, by Senator Tully, Senate 22 Bill Number 3400-A, an act to amend the Public 23 Health Law, procedural requirements for issuance 1654 1 of non-hospital orders not to resuscitate. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 238, by Senator Tully. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 15 aside for the day. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 264, by Senator Saland, Senate Bill Number 2377. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 20 aside. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 265, by Senator Saland, Senate Bill Number 2378, 23 an act to amend the Social Services Law. 1655 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 8 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 10 that aside; withdraw the roll call. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 266, by Senator Saland, Senate Bill Number 3334, 13 an act to amend Chapter 542 of the Laws of 1988, 14 amending the Social Services Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 1656 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 267, by Senator Saland, Senate Bill Number 3378, 4 an act to amend the Domestic Relations Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 12 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 14 that bill aside; withdraw the call. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 269, by Senator Saland, Senate Bill Number 3383, 17 an act to amend the Social Services Law and the 18 Executive Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 1657 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 271, by Senator Volker, Senate Bill Number 1539, 8 an act to amend the Executive Law, in relation 9 to Community Services Block Grant Program. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 272, by Senator Stafford, Senate Bill Number 22 2021, an act to amend the State Finance Law, in 23 relation to filing authorizations for direct 1658 1 deposit. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 273, by Senator Kuhl. 14 SENATOR KUHL: Lay it aside for 15 the day, please. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 17 that bill aside for today. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 274, by Senator Daly, Senate Bill Number 2635, 20 an act to amend the Executive Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 1659 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 275, by Senator Levy, Senate Bill Number 72, an 10 act to amend the Transportation Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 276, by Senator Levy, Senate Bill Number 193, an 23 act to amend the Railroad Law and the Public 1660 1 Authorities Law. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 278, by Senator Sheffer, Senate Bill Number 14 1021, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 15 Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 17 the last section. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 20 aside. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 279, by Senator Volker, Senate Bill Number 1136, 23 an act to amend the Highway Law. 1661 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 2 bill has a home rule message here at the desk. 3 You can read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 280, by Senator Levy, Senate Bill Number 1245, 14 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 1662 1 bill is passed. 2 Senator Present, that's the first 3 time through. 4 SENATOR PRESENT: Let's take up 5 the controversial. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 7 Controversial. Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: On page 14, 9 Calendar Number 264, by Senator Saland, Senate 10 Bill Number 2377, an act to amend the Family 11 Court Act. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take - 16 SENATOR GOLD: Hold on one 17 second. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Hold it 19 up for just a moment. 20 SENATOR GOLD: Senator Saland 21 yield for one question? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 23 Saland, will you yield? 1663 1 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, sir. 2 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, I was 3 just given a copy of a memo in opposition by the 4 Association of the Bar of the City of New York. 5 SENATOR SALAND: I'm sorry, the 6 Association of... 7 SENATOR GOLD: The Bar of the 8 City of New York, and I haven't had a chance 9 really to read it through. I gather that just 10 from taking a quick look, that there may be just 11 some technical questions. Have you seen the 12 memo? 13 SENATOR SALAND: No, I haven't. 14 SENATOR GOLD: Would you be 15 interested in maybe laying it aside a day and 16 looking at it? I don't think -- it's up to you. 17 SENATOR SALAND: If you would like 18 me to, I certainly will. 19 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, I just think 20 it would be useful, if -- you know, I trust your 21 judgment. Lay it aside. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Are you 23 going to lay that bill aside? 1664 1 SENATOR SALAND: Lay it aside. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 3 aside. 4 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Gold, 5 let me lay it aside temporarily and at the 6 conclusion of the calendar, we can - 7 SENATOR GOLD: That's fine. 8 Splendid. That's fine. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 265, by Senator Saland, Senate Bill Number 2378, 11 an act to amend the Social Services Law. 12 SENATOR GOLD: Senator Saland, 13 this one, could I perhaps get one day on this? 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay the 16 bill aside. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 267, by Senator Saland, Senate Bill Number 3378, 19 an act to amend the Domestic Relations Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 1665 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 278, by Senator Sheffer, Senate Bill Number 9 1021, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 10 Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 12 the last section. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 15 Explanation has been asked for. Let's just hold 16 up for a minute. Senator Sheffer. 17 SENATOR WALDON: Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 19 Waldon. 20 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you, Mr. 21 President. While there's a pause, would you 22 allow the record to reflect that inadvertently 23 yesterday I voted yes on bill 2547. I would 1666 1 have wished to have been able to vote no on 2 that. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 4 record will so indicate. 5 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you. 6 SENATOR SHEFFER: An explanation 7 has been requested, is that right? 8 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. 9 SENATOR SHEFFER: Is there some 10 detail - 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 12 Senator, hold on a second. What do we have 13 here? 278, Senator Sheffer an explanation has 14 been asked for on your bill. 15 SENATOR SHEFFER: Sure. It's 16 simply to add funeral directors to the rather 17 lengthy list that we have of professions that 18 are authorized to have distinctive license 19 plates, obviously in response to a specific 20 request that we had, and one of the rationales 21 being that in many cases in, for example, 22 funeral processions as opposed to the old days 23 where they were almost invariably accompanied by 1667 1 local police, that isn't always the case any 2 more and at least it's some distinctive 3 indication of what's proceeding on the street. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Will the Senator 5 yield to a question? 6 SENATOR SHEFFER: Sure. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 8 Sheffer. 9 SENATOR GOLD: In other words, 10 Senator, I want to get this right. In other 11 words, if you have a procession of about 15 cars 12 all with their lights on, with a big hearse with 13 a dead body in it, people don't know that that's 14 a funeral today? 15 SENATOR SHEFFER: Well, I mean 16 that that -- we're not really talking just a 17 hearse here, but a car. I guess the issue is of 18 given the fact that this is something that they 19 believe would be helpful, is there a basis on 20 which to deny them when so many other groups and 21 professions, not the lease of which is state 22 legislators, have the right and ability to do 23 that and, of course, unlike some plates we're 1668 1 not giving them any gift here, they're -- they 2 need to pay the charge for doing it. 3 SENATOR GOLD: Well, Senator, 4 will you just yield to one more question? 5 SENATOR SHEFFER: Sure. 6 SENATOR GOLD: I mean I feel if 7 people want to pay extra money and we can raise 8 revenue, it might not be a bad idea. I mean I 9 know that, for example, there's a fellow in my 10 district who sells fresh fish and he'd like to 11 have, you know, Fish Seller on the plate because 12 when he goes down to the Fulton Fish Market he 13 wants to get that stuff back to the district as 14 fresh and as quick as possible. 15 I mean you think maybe we just 16 should have legislation that anybody who pays a 17 fee can put anything they want on the license 18 plate? Why wouldn't that be a good revenue 19 measure for the state instead of breakin' this 20 all up? 21 SENATOR SHEFFER: Well, Senator, 22 if you wanted to pursue that bill, I think that 23 you should. I, in my own mind, can distinguish 1669 1 between someone going to get a load of fish and 2 a very solemn procession of a funeral. 3 SENATOR GOLD: Last section. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 13 bill is passed. 14 Are you negative? 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: No. I'm 16 not, to explain my vote. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 18 Oppenheimer to explain her vote. 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I'm 20 standing up. 21 I'm in favor of this bill -- but 22 I -- as came up in committee, and I'm not sure, 23 I wasn't in here a couple of minutes ago, but 1670 1 what concerns me is the varying charges for 2 these -- the special license plates. I think 3 that it's necessary for us to look at the 4 plethora of plates we have now with different 5 charges, some 15, 10, 25; we're talking 40. I 6 think there ought to be some regulation and 7 standard, and I would urge that we move ahead on 8 that in Transportation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 10 Marchi. 11 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President. 12 Am I on the proper order for the explanation of 13 my vote? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: You're 15 always in order, Senator Marchi. 16 SENATOR MARCHI: I have an 17 ongoing antipathy to this type of bill, but not 18 necessarily this particular bill. But in my 19 district I have the honor of having an attorney 20 who puts the word "Acquittal" on his plate and 21 it just illustrates, at least in my impoverished 22 point of view, the depths to which my profession 23 has sunk. 1671 1 But this bill, I think, is not - 2 doesn't labor under the same strictures that we 3 all always assume an honorable profession 4 follows and by virtue of the work they're 5 doing. This is something else, and it's basic 6 public information, and I find nothing immoral, 7 fattening or illegal about it, and I explain my 8 vote but, again, my basic antipathy is deeply 9 rooted, and it surfaces every time I hear one of 10 these things. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 12 Marchi votes in the affirmative, with 13 reservation. 14 The bill is passed. 15 Senator Present, I think that 16 completes our controversial calendar. 17 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 18 can we just stand at ease for a moment? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 20 Senate will stand at ease. 21 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 22 would you recognize Senator Larkin, please. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 1672 1 Larkin. 2 SENATOR LARKIN: Mr. President, 3 I'd like to star Bill Number 1159, Calendar 296. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Is that 5 your bill? 6 SENATOR LARKIN: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: It's 8 starred at the request of the sponsor. 9 Senator Hoffmann. 10 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I have some 11 motions at the desk. Are they in order at this 12 time? 13 SENATOR PRESENT: Will you hold 14 just a minute. 15 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Yeah, sure. 16 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, Mr. 17 President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 19 Gold, why do you rise? 20 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. With 21 Senator Saland's permission, if we could take 22 264 now and ask to put it over one day. Thank 23 you for the courtesy. 1673 1 SENATOR SALAND: Certainly. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 264 is 3 laid aside for the day. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. No other 5 business except the motions; is that correct? 6 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 7 would you recognize Senator Hoffmann, please. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 9 Hoffmann. 10 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 I believe I have some motions at 13 the desk. Are they there, and are they in order 14 at this time? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: They're 16 here. The desk would like to know what number 17 motion. 18 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Let's do them 19 in a little different order. Would you please 20 take the last one, 3509, first, the open 21 meetings bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 23 Secretary will read the title of the 3509. 1674 1 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 2 Hoffmann, Senate Bill Number 3509, an act to 3 amend the Public Officers Law, in relation to 4 exempting political committees, conferences and 5 caucuses from the provisions of the Open 6 Meetings Law in certain instances, and repealing 7 subdivision 2 of Section 108 of such law 8 relating thereto. 9 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 11 Hoffmann. 12 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I find myself 13 in an even more constrained situation than I 14 usually am when I'm trying to bring such motions 15 to the floor or try to have a hearing for them 16 in our committee procedures because this year 17 through some -- for some unknown reason, the 18 Senate Majority Leader apparently made a 19 decision within the last 48 hours that bills 20 that are subject to motion to discharge will now 21 have to be presented on the floor on the day 22 that they are fully aged. The first available 23 opportunity now necessitates the sponsor 1675 1 bringing them forward. In the past, we had the 2 courtesy of picking a date within a window 3 previously defined by the Majority Leader, but 4 today is the day, and I apologize to all of my 5 colleagues who would like to be out in the sun 6 shine, as I would, and be on my way home, and I 7 will keep my remarks brief in deference to our 8 good weather and other activities. 9 We've all been here for five 10 days, and I anticipate the outcome on some of 11 these measures based on what's happened in past 12 years, but I intend to go through the procedure 13 today, and I have a faint hope that we may see a 14 somewhat changed vote this time, and I can 15 assure you that I do not consider this the end 16 of this process because these bills are all 17 sitting within a committee, a committee duly 18 constituted in the Senate. These bills will 19 remain live and available for consideration as 20 long as this Senate remains in session. So 21 throughout this year, I will continue to do my 22 utmost to bring them to the attention of all of 23 my colleagues and of the taxpayers around the 1676 1 state who have raised issues about the need for 2 legislative reform in this chamber. 3 A few years ago I, like many 4 other people in this chamber, witnessed a marked 5 change in the way this Legislature regarded open 6 meetings for local governments. We amended a 7 state law in 1985 which not only kept our party 8 conferences closed to the public and the press 9 but also extended the closed party conferences 10 to local government as well. 11 I'm happy to report that many 12 local governments around the state, in their 13 wisdom, have adopted resolutions in which they 14 rejected the notion of secret decision-making by 15 people organized under a political banner, and 16 yet that continues to be the norm for the way 17 business is conducted in this state 18 Legislature. 19 Virtually every significant 20 decision that is arrived at in this Capitol is 21 reached in secret either between the Governor 22 and the top legislative leaders meeting some 23 place on the second floor, or later ratified 1677 1 within a closed-door party conference by the 2 majority members of either house of the 3 Legislature. 4 The abuses are the same in both 5 houses. My criticism is not reserved only for 6 the Senate, but this is the body where I serve 7 and I have no choice except to bring the issue 8 up here, and I continue to seek co-sponsors in 9 the Assembly for these same measures. In the 10 meantime, I am thrilled with the amount of 11 support across the state that has developed for 12 a true open meetings law. 13 Organizations as diverse as 14 Change New York, the New York State Grange, 15 Common Cause, NYPIRG, the League of Women 16 Voters, to name just a few, have now publicly 17 committed themselves to changing the way we do 18 business here. It's not the people don't want 19 us to meet in private. We're certainly entitled 20 to, but we should have the decency to put up a 21 message that says we are now talking about 22 political business, and we will be public once 23 again when we talk about the public business. 1678 1 We have a committee procedure 2 that should be adequate if it were followed 3 fairly for the deliberation of all of our 4 legislation. If every member had an opportunity 5 to openly debate the bills, to amend them within 6 our committee process, this would be a far 7 better Legislature. That's the way that most 8 states conduct their legislation. That's the 9 way the federal government conducts itself. I 10 won't use Congress as a model for all of their 11 activities, but in this area alone they are 12 vastly more open than we are. 13 So I will urge all of my 14 colleagues to join me today in bringing to the 15 floor for a vote the motion to discharge the 16 open meetings bill, Number 3509, and I 17 particularly hope that some of my newly elected 18 colleagues who have campaigned on a theme of 19 openness and fairness and indicated a desire to 20 support legislative reform of this chamber and 21 the other chamber as well, will join -- join 22 hands with members across the aisle in 23 supporting this discharge motion. 1679 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 2 Dollinger. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 4 President, I rise in support of the motion to 5 discharge. I, too, will be brief because of the 6 weather. It seems to me that there's been a lot 7 of discussion already in my brief tenure in this 8 chamber about the concept of mandate; that is, 9 instances in which the state requires local 10 governments to spend its money or to engage in 11 certain programs and doesn't provide the funds, 12 and where we don't provide the funds we don't 13 provide the leadership. 14 I dare say that the Open Meetings 15 Law seen in that light becomes the cruelest of 16 mandates, because we mandate that local 17 governments be open, we mandate that they 18 conduct their proceedings in public, all of it 19 based on the public interest that the more you 20 know about government, the better enlightened 21 the voter is, the better the decisions that are 22 made by government. 23 I submit to you to not vote for 1680 1 this motion, to not put it before the floor and 2 enact it into law makes the Open Meetings Law 3 the cruelest and most hypocritical mandate of 4 them all. 5 I'd ask that my colleagues sup 6 port this motion. Let's bring it to the floor. 7 Let's make us subject to the same thing that, 8 for 15 years, we've required of local 9 government. Let's stop the hypocrisy. I'm in 10 favor of the motion. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On the 12 motion, all in favor say aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Those opposed nay. 15 (Response of "Nay.") 16 The motion is not accepted. 17 Senator Hoffmann. Do you have 18 another motion, Senator Hoffmann? 19 SENATOR GOLD: One moment. 20 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Number 3508. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 3508. 22 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 23 Hoffmann, Senate Bill Number 3508, an act to 1681 1 amend the Legislative Law, in relation to the 2 time for debate on matters before the 3 Legislature. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 5 Hoffmann. 6 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I think that 7 the common sense aspect of this bill is some 8 thing that all of our constituents understand. 9 Let's just face it, we're not too sharp 10 sometimes at four or five or six o'clock in the 11 morning, and the work product of this chamber 12 reflects that. We've got some of the strangest 13 legislation, some of the most unusual quick 14 fixes and taxes and fees any place in the world 15 coming out of of this Capitol in the wee hours 16 of the morning. 17 I'm glad to know that I'm not 18 alone in attempting to end the all-night 19 sessions. I was delighted when I received a 20 phone call last summer or last fall from a 21 member of the Syracuse city government, the City 22 Clerk there called me, and said he had just 23 gotten the newsletter from one of my colleagues 1682 1 and he congratulated me on having Republican 2 support for ending the late night sessions, and 3 then he provided me a copy of a newsletter from 4 Senator Saland, and this newsletter, which has a 5 lovely letter at the front, Dear Friend, stating 6 that "business as usual can no longer be 7 tolerated. It has not served us well," and 8 Senator Saland, in his newsletter, which 9 apparently was mailed to many people in other 10 parts of the state, including city clerks and 11 other public officers, Senator Saland has a 12 beautiful article talking about under the 13 headline, "We need to end the all-night session" 14 and I was -- I was so pleased when I saw this, 15 but I'd never had any contact with Senator 16 Saland on this subject and I remembered that he 17 had been part of a party vote to deny this bill 18 from coming to the floor last spring, so upon 19 investigation I was a little startled to learn 20 that the bill would accomplish virtually the 21 same thing, but it would take years to do it 22 because it was a Constitutional Amendment. But 23 Senator Saland, Senator Hannon, Senator Larkin, 1683 1 Senator Seward and Senator Sheffer and Senator 2 Spano, are all at least committed to the concept 3 according to this legislation, of the ending the 4 all-night legislative sessions, and I would make 5 this offer to them: 6 I would be happy to remove my 7 name from the bill that I have filed. I would 8 take my name off 3508 and offer prime 9 sponsorship to one of them or all of them. I - 10 even though I don't think that the bill that 11 they have prepared is as practical a bill 12 because it deals with a Constitutional Amendment 13 to accomplish something that we can accomplish 14 fairly simply with legislation, I would be happy 15 to support that as well. 16 So I would urge all of my 17 colleagues who have indicated a desire to end 18 the late night sessions to bring this issue to 19 the floor so that we can discuss it in greater 20 detail now and join me in moving 3508 to the 21 floor for a vote. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On the 23 motion. 1684 1 SENATOR GOLD: Hold on a second. 2 Yes, will the Senator yield to one question? 3 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Certainly. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, Senator, 5 we're doing 3508 right now, is that correct? 6 SENATOR HOFFMANN: That's right. 7 SENATOR GOLD: That's the one 8 which would limit our sessions? 9 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Right. 10 SENATOR GOLD: Would Senator 11 Saland yield to a question? 12 SENATOR SALAND: Certainly. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, it's my 14 understanding that you have a bill in to do this 15 but by concurrent resolution, constitutionally. 16 SENATOR SALAND: Proposed 17 Constitutional Amendment, correct. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, if you 19 will yield to a question, I mean a Constitution 20 al Amendment obviously takes a period of time. 21 Is there anything that you know in the law that 22 -- or in the Constitution that would bar us 23 from doing this by statute, the way it's being 1685 1 proposed by Senator Hoffmann? 2 SENATOR SALAND: I wasn't here 3 for Senator Hoffmann's comments. I'm familiar 4 with her proposal. She is certainly free to see 5 fit to attempt to accommodate her ends the same 6 way I intend to accommodate mine. 7 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, but I mean 8 when we say "accommodate an end". 9 SENATOR SALAND: I didn't -- I 10 didn't know that Senator Hoffmann had the 11 exclusive domain on attempting to reform the 12 procedures in this house and, if so, perhaps 13 what we ought to do in the future, if we have 14 any bills, we should send them to her first to 15 see if she approves. 16 SENATOR GOLD: Well, Senator, I 17 appreciate very much the nastiness in that 18 comment, which was unnecessary. But, Senator, 19 the fact that Senator Hoffmann or Senator 20 Dollinger or Senator Jones or others take 21 leadership roles, as you point out, doesn't stop 22 anybody else, and I'm delighted that you are 23 addressing this issue. 1686 1 I'm just curious, Senator Saland, 2 whether or not you are of the opinion that, for 3 some reason, there's something in the 4 Constitution today that would bar us from 5 passing a law to accomplish this very end. 6 SENATOR SALAND: Well, once we've 7 concluded with this motion to discharge process, 8 and once we've determined whether or not this 9 measure is going to be on the floor, I'll be 10 more than happy to debate the merits of the 11 bill, might be something I'd even be willing to 12 consider supporting, but what we're doing at the 13 current time, as I understand it, unless I mis 14 understand the rules, we're here basically 15 dealing with a motion to discharge. Motion to 16 discharge doesn't even get to the question of 17 the merits of the bill. It merely gets to the 18 question of whether or not this bill is going to 19 be entertained by the house at this time. 20 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, I'll -- on 21 the bill, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On the 23 bill; on the motion to discharge. 1687 1 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, Mr. 2 President, the world, thank God, does change, 3 and I remember a number of years ago that was 4 the ploy, it's only a motion to discharge and, 5 no matter what you did, no matter how horrible 6 the vote was cast, it was only a motion to 7 discharge. 8 I think you gentlemen on the 9 other side really should start reading your own 10 newspapers. You don't have to read my newspaper 11 and I don't write your newspapers, but people 12 are -- they understand that kind of nonsense 13 now. You need to -- these are serious issues. 14 Senator Saland, you put in a 15 constitutional resolution, and it's co-sponsored 16 by six people on your side. Senator Hoffmann 17 has a bill that would do the exact same thing 18 right away, get it done, and we can give you 26 19 votes in final passage for this, plus your six 20 is 32 votes. 21 Not only that, Senator Saland, 22 but you want to put yours out, I'll give you 26 23 votes for that, even though I think it's a waste 1688 1 of time. But this "good guy/bad guy" business 2 is really going to end, and this business of 3 hiding behind "it's only a motion to discharge" 4 is nonsense. 5 I guarantee you, Senator, that 6 there's nobody in Forest Hills who buys that 7 nonsense any more. They're not going to buy it 8 in Syracuse; they're going to have enough sense 9 in Syracuse to know that Senator Hoffmann is 10 serious about reform and, unfortunately for the 11 gentlemen on the other side, they're going to 12 understand statewide that you're not serious. 13 All right? You want to put in 14 these bills and then bury them in your own 15 committees, well, you're going to find out that 16 people in your communities are going to be 17 wondering why your votes on this floor vary from 18 your campaign promises, and I think we ought to 19 cut it out. 20 I would like nothing more than to 21 happen what Senator Leichter mentioned the other 22 day and that we get these out of here as 23 political issues. They shouldn't be political 1689 1 issues. You resent the fact that we're on the 2 right side of these issues. You're the 3 majority; steal the issue, pass the bill and 4 we'll be out of here. 5 This is something that is so 6 basic, so basically wrong with our system that 7 the head of our Ethics Committee, Senator 8 Saland, wants to stop it. So does Senator 9 Hannon want to stop it and Senator Larkin and 10 Seward and Sheffer and Spano, all want to stop 11 it. 12 Baloney, you want to stop it! 13 Baloney! You have a chance today to vote to 14 stop it, without any nonsense, on this motion, 15 and I hope it prevails. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 17 Hoffmann. I'm sorry, Senator Dollinger. 18 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. Chairman, 19 I rise to speak in favor of this one. I didn't 20 think I would so much talk about it because I'm 21 not familiar with the actual substance of the - 22 of the law, since I hadn't been here for one of 23 those late night sessions, and I don't quite 1690 1 understand how we make decisions at that time 2 but I'll defer to my colleague who has been here 3 before, and my other colleagues who have been 4 here in the wee hours of the morning. 5 I just want to address the issue 6 of using the Constitution as a way to bypass the 7 power of body. It seems to me that by proposing 8 the Constitutional Amendment, what you're saying 9 is that this is the right thing to do. We ought 10 to do it, but what you're then saying is we 11 don't want to do it ourselves; we want the 12 people to tell us to do it. 13 Well, I'd submit you don't need a 14 Constitutional Amendment. You don't need the 15 approval of the people. You've got the elected 16 majority. You represent a majority of the 17 people in this state. You've got the power to 18 do it, just by putting this motion to discharge, 19 approving it, putting it on the floor and taking 20 into effect, vote for the motion when it gets 21 there. 22 There's no need for a 23 Constitutional Convention or a Constitutional 1691 1 Amendment on this issue. I'd simply point out 2 that there's another bill hiding in committee, 3 which will probably never see the light of day, 4 a bill that I've prepared, which calls for a 5 full Constitutional Convention so we can prepare 6 a new Constitution in this state and deal with 7 the greater issues of reform in that context. 8 My point is, don't make the 9 constitutional mess -- amendment the last refuge 10 of an off-track reformer. Let's do the reform 11 here. We've got the power to do it. You've got 12 the power to do it. You've got the votes to do 13 it. Don't hide behind the flimsy excuse of 14 coming up with a Constitutional Amendment. If 15 you think it's the right thing to do, just as 16 Nike says, just do it. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 18 Hoffmann. 19 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Senator Saland 20 was out of the chamber at the time I spoke 21 earlier, and I want to make sure for his benefit 22 that he understands -- Senator Saland -- Mr. 23 President, I just wanted to address Senator 1692 1 Saland for a moment. Would that be permissible? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Are you 3 ready to yield, Senator Saland? She wants to 4 address you. I think she can do that with your 5 permission. 6 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I might -- I 7 might even ask Senator Saland to yield for a 8 question. I'd like -- I'd like to ask Senator 9 Saland to yield for a question, Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 11 Saland? 12 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 13 President. 14 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Senator 15 Saland, reading your newsletter, which is 16 excellent, by the way, graphically and from an 17 information perspective; it's just marvelous. I 18 just really compliment you on this and just tell 19 you it was read with much delight by people all 20 over the state who mailed it to me and congrat 21 ulated me on the apparent working relationship 22 we had developed, and I only wish that it were 23 true. 1693 1 SENATOR SALAND: It was as much a 2 surprise to me as it was to you. 3 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. I 4 just want you to know -- Mr. President, I want 5 Mr. -- Senator Saland to know that I share his 6 enthusiasm to achieving this goal. His conclud 7 ing comments under the "we need to end the all 8 night session" article state, "Our democracy 9 would be much more responsive to public concerns 10 if it is forced to operate in the light of day 11 and under normal circumstances. My legislation 12 would help achieve this goal, and I am going to 13 fight for its enactment into law," which I think 14 is eloquent and right on target and, as a result 15 of reading this, I think perhaps you are better 16 suited than I am to carry this -- this issue 17 forward. 18 SENATOR SALAND: Oh, I couldn't 19 possibly believe that. 20 SENATOR HOFFMANN: So I am 21 willing, Senator Saland, to withdraw my name or 22 to offer you prime sponsorship, co-sponsorship, 23 whatever is your pleasure, to bring this about. 1694 1 I am so pleased, and I know that other people 2 around the state are so pleased that we at least 3 share conceptually the idea that all-night 4 sessions should be terminated. So I offer my 5 services in whatever way possible to work with 6 you on that. 7 SENATOR SALAND: I can assure 8 you, Senator Hoffmann, I will work as genuinely 9 as you have to accomplish that end. It may take 10 me as long as it has taken you to get it this 11 far, but I will continue to pursue it. 12 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you, 13 Senator. 14 SENATOR SALAND: I will continue 15 to pursue it as genuinely and with the same type 16 of aggressiveness that you have lent to the 17 cause, for which I commend you. 18 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 19 One last question, Mr. President, if Senator 20 Saland would yield for one further question. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 22 Saland, are you still yielding? 23 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Senator 1695 1 Saland, would you like me to remove my name from 2 this bill and in that case... 3 SENATOR SALAND: Oh, I wouldn't - 4 but of course not. 5 SENATOR HOFFMANN: -- would you 6 be willing to sponsor it yourself? 7 SENATOR SALAND: But of course 8 not. No, I -- there's no reason we cannot 9 pursue this as we have been. I certainly 10 wouldn't want you to somehow or other - 11 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Well, I'm not 12 sure it's productive - 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Just a 14 moment; Senator Saland is still answering. 15 SENATOR SALAND: I wouldn't want 16 you to withdraw from a cause that's so important 17 to you and I'm glad that we will be pursuing it, 18 perhaps not in the identical fashion, but 19 pursuing it nonetheless. 20 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you very 21 much. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 23 Hoffmann. 1696 1 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you, Mr. 2 President. I am greatly relieved to hear that 3 Senator Saland is enthusiastically supporting 4 this concept, and I hope this particular bill as 5 well. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On the 7 -- on the motion to discharge, all in favor say 8 aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 Those opposed, nay. Party vote, 11 Senator Present? Party vote. Call the roll on 12 a party vote. 13 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 16, nays 35, 15 party vote. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 17 motion is not accepted. 18 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Were there any 19 exceptions, Mr. President? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: There 21 were none. 22 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 23 I'd like to call up 3506, please. 1697 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 3506. 2 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 3 Hoffmann, Senate Bill Number 3506, an act to 4 amend the Election Law, in relation to 5 statements of campaign receipts. 6 SENATOR HOFFMANN: This 7 particular bill would make it much easier for 8 people to know around the state who is financing 9 a campaign. It would allow single-form filing 10 so that regardless of how many campaign 11 committees are authorized to make expenditures 12 for an individual candidate, it would be readily 13 accessible information to the public. People 14 would be able to go and see that 200- or 15 $300,000 had been spent in sum total on a 16 candidate, rather than people sometimes having 17 the misconception that a much smaller amount of 18 money has been spent because only one campaign 19 filing of one authorized committee is readily 20 accessible, and unless people are given the 21 information well in advance, they don't even 22 know where to look. Many of the reporters who 23 regularly conduct Freedom of Information 1698 1 requests and pore through the voluminous 2 documents at the Board of Elections have 3 indicated great frustration in answering the 4 question, who is paying to elect this person and 5 the subsequent question, therefore, is the 6 person indebted to anyone upon his or her 7 election. 8 I think, in the interest of 9 fairness and openness and a willingness to 10 exercise the highest level of democratic 11 principles, everyone in this chamber should want 12 individual campaign records to be readily 13 available and easy to read. Therefore, I would 14 ask that we would have full support for number 15 3506 and the companion piece, 3507, and I will 16 accept the same vote for both pieces, Mr. 17 President, if that is all right with the Chair 18 because they are linked, unfortunately required 19 to be severed because one deals with finances, 20 the other deals with the filing of campaign 21 literature exclusively. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On 23 motion 3506 and 3507, I guess we can take the 1699 1 vote at the same time. Senator Present, what's 2 your -- voice vote or how -- what do you want to 3 do? 4 SENATOR PRESENT: Voice vote. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All 6 those in favor, say aye. 7 SENATOR GOLD: Party vote in the 8 affirmative. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Did he 10 say party vote? I can't hear. Party vote on both 11 of them. Call the roll on party vote on 3506 12 and 3507. 13 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 16, nays 35, 15 party votes on both bills. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 17 motions are not accepted. 18 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Mr. President, 19 were there any exceptions? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: There 21 were no exceptions. 22 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I didn't hear 23 you. 1700 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: There 2 were no exceptions. 3 SENATOR HOFFMANN: There were no 4 exceptions. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: There 6 were 16 in favor and 35 against. 7 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I'm so 8 disappointed and surprised to hear that. I 9 thought surely there would be some exceptions 10 this time. 11 I'd like to call up 3505. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 3505, 13 the Secretary will read the title. 14 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 15 Hoffmann, Senate Bill 3505, an act to amend the 16 Legislative Law, in relation to Senate and 17 Assembly officers. 18 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Mr. President, 19 this -- this piece of legislation really cuts to 20 the heart of how we have achieved such an 21 unusual spoils system in this state government, 22 and there really aren't any other examples 23 around the country that we can cite that have 1701 1 done what we have done here in New York State to 2 reward people for political activities conducted 3 in conjunction with their legislative responsi 4 bilities. It's unbelieveable to most people 5 that I speak with, but nevertheless very real 6 when I tell them that we pay, out of taxpayer 7 dollars, $700,000 in stipends for people who 8 hold political titles. 9 Now, there's a very important 10 distinction between committee responsibilities 11 which carry a legislative stipend and the 12 political titles. The press refers to these as 13 "lulus"; that's their euphemism, but just to be 14 consistent with the vernacular, I think I'm just 15 going to adopt that same expression for this 16 afternoon. 17 These -- these particular lulus, 18 very often have no clear definition. There may 19 be a title, and there has been in the past no 20 published job description for most of them, no 21 indication about the time that is spent 22 exercising the responsibility for which the 23 political "lulu" is given, and the sad fact of 1702 1 the matter is that, in the aggregate, the 2 compensation for political "lulus" is much 3 higher than the compensation to members for 4 legislative "lulus" for committee 5 responsibilities; and this is wrong. 6 We're not here to conduct 7 political operations. We're here to craft and 8 move and enact legislation, and those of us who 9 work with our committees should be reasonably 10 compensated for any additional time spent with 11 that specific committee. 12 I don't think anybody that I -- I 13 know of in central New York would have ever ob 14 jected to the late Senator Jim Donovan receiving 15 additional compensation for his chairmanship of 16 the Education Committee. During the years that 17 he chaired that committee, it was well under 18 stood that he traveled all over the state, in 19 fact around the country in that capacity, and he 20 was greatly respected and his expertise in the 21 area of education was often cited by many people 22 around the state and certainly in his district. 23 He earned that additional compensation. And to 1703 1 be very blunt about it, at the time the whole 2 "lulu" concept arose, it was for good reason. 3 The Legislature, at that time, 4 was part time as it is today, but while some 5 members were asked to do considerably more than 6 others, they would then lose the ability to earn 7 outside income, many of them practicing law, so 8 it is not unreasonable to compensate someone 9 reasonably for doing the work of the taxpayers 10 in developing legislation through a specific 11 committee responsibility. I support that, and I 12 certainly support the idea of a part-time 13 Legislature. I do not think that it is in our 14 best interests to go to a highly paid full-time 15 Legislature, even though many of us have pretty 16 much given up outside activities and do make 17 this pretty much a full-time job. 18 But I just can't justify, and I 19 have looked at this so many times, I just can't 20 justify this whole long list of titles, many of 21 which were created only within the last few 22 years, nor the $700,000 in taxpayer money that 23 goes with them, and this particular piece of 1704 1 legislation that I hope that we can bring to the 2 floor today through this discharge motion will 3 put an end to those political titles. 4 Let me just read something that I 5 think is useful in the record. This is from the 6 Buffalo News. This is an editorial all the way 7 back in March of 1991, and it said: "Blame 8 tired Albany blues on mismanaged Legislature. 9 It's ponderous, secretive and undemocratic with 10 leaders holding far too much power," and you see 11 that really cuts to the heart of how this "lulu" 12 business works, because when leaders can give, 13 they can also take away, and members understand 14 that, and a few of us have observed this at 15 various times, so we then have a spoils system 16 evolving in the state where people feel 17 remarkably beholding to leadership whose power 18 becomes stronger and stronger. 19 Reading from the Buffalo News, 20 this wonderful editorial, and I'll just read a 21 little excerpt of it because I don't want to 22 take too much of anybody's time, but it says, 23 "The responsibility for many of the problems of 1705 1 state government comes back to rest with the 2 state Legislature, a ponderous institution, too 3 large and insular, weaned on perq's and 4 privilege and governed autocratically through a 5 system that gives too much authority to the few 6 and not enough to the many. Essentially the 7 buck in state government stops with the Albany 8 lawmakers. The authority to enact and repeal 9 the laws is enormous and fundamental, and in any 10 society and New York's constitutional language 11 means this authority rests is with the whole 12 Senate and the whole Assembly. Unfortunately, 13 that is not how it works today. Time and custom 14 have centralized power and decision-making so 15 tightly that only two leaders, the Speaker of 16 the Assembly and the Majority Leader of the 17 Senate, exercise consistent legislative 18 influence in what should be a broadly 19 deliberative, democratic branch of government. 20 Such a concentration of influence, which dilutes 21 the actual representation of scores of other 22 elected legislators cannot be justified and 23 should be changed." 1706 1 Well, I just don't think that I 2 can add much more to what the Buffalo News said, 3 but I want to share with my colleagues that that 4 is just one of many editorials that have 5 appeared all over the state and, by golly, I am 6 pleased to tell you that the editorial writers 7 are anxious to write more about why we need to 8 change this ponderous, secretive and undemocrat 9 ic system. And what better way, especially in a 10 time of severe fiscal constraints for the 11 taxpayers of this state could we bring about 12 this change than by enacting this bill today 13 after its discharge to the floor, of course, and 14 say that we will give up the practice of using 15 taxpayer dollars to fund these undemocratic, 16 political "lulus". 17 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Voice 18 vote, or what do you -- all those in favor, say 19 aye. 20 (Response of "Aye.") 21 Those opposed, nay. 22 (Response of "Nay.") 23 The motion is not accepted. 1707 1 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Mr. President, 2 I have one more; I'm an optimist. I have one 3 more motion up there on the desk, 3504. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 5 Secretary will read 3504. 6 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 7 Hoffmann, Senate Bill 3504, an act to amend the 8 State Finance Law, in relation to requiring that 9 budget bills making appropriations or 10 reappropriation to the Legislature contain 11 specific categories and amounts of 12 expenditures. 13 SENATOR HOFFMANN: You know, we 14 have done this before. We have attempted to do 15 it before, and it just hasn't passed yet but, 16 again, I just think that it's always worth 17 giving it one more shot. 18 This budget of ours is a little 19 bit more, I gather, than the budget that Senator 20 Levy wanted to make sure had an open budget 21 hearing and was carefully understood. Calendar 22 280 today, under his sponsorship, requires under 23 the Public Authorities Law that the Transit 1708 1 Authority in New York City hold a public hearing 2 so that all kinds of detailed information would 3 be readily available for that budget, and I 4 don't see how we can do any less for our own 5 budget. 6 Let's send a message out to the 7 countryside that we are willing to open up our 8 books, and we are willing to let people examine 9 how the decisions to use the resources of the 10 state taxpayers to fund a $169 million state 11 Legislature are actually being used and I'd like 12 to also add, Mr. President, that there are a 13 number of organizations that have expressed 14 their support of this concept along with the 15 other bills, most of the other bills that I have 16 filed at the desk before today. 17 Among the groups that I think 18 deserve special recognition for their ongoing 19 commitment to these issues, Change New York, 20 NYPIRG, the New York State Grange, the New York 21 Citizens for a Sound Economy and the League of 22 Women Voters are all very much in favor of this 23 particular measure that would itemize our 1709 1 legislative budget. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On the 3 motion, all in favor say aye. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Party vote in the 5 affirmative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Party 7 vote. Call the roll on party vote. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 16, nays 35, 10 party vote. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 12 motion is not accepted. 13 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Were there any 14 exceptions, Mr. President? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 16 vote was 35 to 16. 17 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you, Mr. 18 President. 19 Senator Present. 20 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 21 there being no further business, I move we 22 adjourn subject to a call of the Majority 23 Leader. We anticipate our next meeting will be 1710 1 Monday, March 29th, at 2:30 p.m. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 3 Senate will stand adjourned. 4 SENATOR PRESENT: Intervening 5 days will be legislative days. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 7 Senate will stand adjourned, intervening 8 legislative days, all members may be subject to 9 the call of the Majority Leader over the week 10 end, but the session is expected to start at 11 2:30 Monday. 12 (Whereupon at 2:25 p.m., the 13 Senate adjourned.) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23