Tuesday, January 25, 1994

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 January 25, 1994 11 3:29 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR HUGH T. FARLEY, Acting President 19 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 20 21 22 23 1 P R O C E E D I N G S. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 3 Senate will come to order. Please rise with me 4 for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 5 (The assemblage repeated the 6 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 7 Today we're pleased to have 8 Reverend Peter G. Young, Pastor of Blessed 9 Sacrament Church of Bolton Landing give us the 10 opening prayer. 11 REVEREND PETER G. YOUNG: Let us 12 pray. 13 Almighty and ever loving God, You 14 have given us this good land for our heritage. 15 We humbly ask You that we may always prove 16 ourselves a people mindful of Your favor and 17 glad to do Your will. Bless our land with 18 honorable endeavor, sound learning and pure 19 manners. Save us from violence, discord and 20 confusion, from pride and arrogance and from 21 every evil way. Defend our liberties and 22 fashion us into one united people, the multitude 23 brought here out of many nations and tongues. 1 Endow us with the spirit of wisdom here in this 2 Senate chamber so that the Senators to whom, in 3 Your good name, we entrust the authority of 4 government, that there may be justice and peace 5 and that, through obedience to Your law, we may 6 show forth Your praise among all of the people 7 of the state of New York. In time of 8 prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness. 9 In the day of trouble do not allow our trust in 10 You to fail. Now and forever. Amen. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Thank 12 you, Father Young. 13 The Secretaary will begin by 14 reading the Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Monday 16 January 24th. The Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment, Senator Spano in the Chair upon 18 designation of the Temporary President. The 19 Journal of Friday, January 21st, was read and 20 approved. On motion, Senate adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Hearing 22 no objection, the Journal will stand approved as 23 read. 1 The order of business: 2 Presentation of petitions. 3 Messages from the Assembly. 4 Messages from the Governor. 5 Reports of standing committees. 6 We have a report of a standing committee, 7 Senator Present. Secretary will read it. 8 THE SECRETARY: Senator Kuhl, 9 from the Committee on Agriculture, reports the 10 following bills directly for third reading: 11 Senate Bill Number 537, by 12 Senator Kuhl and others, an act to amend the 13 Agriculture and Markets Law; 14 4654, by Senator Kuhl and others, 15 Agriculture and Markets Law, in relation to 16 agricultural assessments; 17 535, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 18 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law; 19 3336, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 20 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law; 21 3413, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 22 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law; 23 4426-A, by Senator Kuhl and 1 others, an act to amend the Agriculture and 2 Markets Law. 3 Also Senator Tully, from the 4 Committee on Health, reports the following bills 5 directly for third reading: 6 Senate Bill Number 26-A, by 7 Senators Tully and Larkin, Public Health Law; 8 3137, by Senator Daly, an act to 9 amend the Public Health Law; 10 4943-A by Senator Spano, an act 11 to amend the Public Health Law; 12 6419, by Senator Tully, New York 13 State Medical Care Facilities Finance Agency 14 Act. 15 Senator Skelos, from the 16 Committee on Aging, reports the following bills 17 directly for third reading: 18 Senate Bill Number 324, by 19 Senators Levy and Hannon, authorizing the 20 Department of Transportation to survey areas of 21 the state; 22 1357, by Senator Johnson, Real 23 Property Tax Law; 1 1422-B, by Senator Skelos, 2 Economic Development Law; 3 1605, by Senator Skelos, Public 4 Health Law and the Correction Law; 5 1703-A, by Senator Johnson, Real 6 Property Tax Law. 7 Senator Cook, from the Committee 8 on Education, reports the following bills 9 directly for third reading: Senate Bill Number 10 1654-A, by Senator Cook and others, Education 11 Law; 12 2014-A, by Senator Farley and 13 others, Education Law; 14 2802, by Senator Johnson, 15 Education Law; 16 4794-A, by Senator Daly, an act 17 to amend the Education Law; and 18 6215-A, by Senator Kuhl and 19 others, Education Law. 20 Senator Padavan, from the 21 Committee on Cities, reports the following bills 22 directly for third reading: 23 Senate Bill Number 2186, by 1 Senator Bruno, Real Property Tax Law; 2 5059, by Senator Maltese, Real 3 Property Tax Law; 4 6183, by Senator Farley, Real 5 Property Tax Law. 6 Senator Levy, from the Committee 7 on Transportation, reports the following bills 8 directly for third reading: 9 Senate Bill Number 74, by Senator 10 Levy, Highway Law, and the Executive Law; 11 Senate Bill 78, by Senator Levy, 12 General Business Law; 13 191, by Senator Levy, Vehicle and 14 Traffic Law; 15 192, by Senator Levy and others, 16 Highway Law; 17 2778, by Senator Stafford, 18 Vehicle and Traffic Law; 19 2999, by Senator Johnson and 20 others, Vehicle and Traffic Law; 21 3026, by Senator Cook, Vehicle 22 and Traffic Law; 23 3945, by Senator Bruno, Vehicle 1 and Traffic Law; 2 4850, by Senator Levy, an act to 3 amend the Highway Law. 4 Senator Johnson, from the 5 Committee on Environmental Conservation, reports 6 the following bills directly for third reading: 7 661, by Senator Johnson, 8 Environmental Conservation Law; 9 1303, by Senator Johnson and 10 others, Environmental Conservation Law; 11 6067-A, by Senators Daly and 12 others, Environmental Conservation Law; 13 6371, by Senator John... excuse 14 me. 6371, by Senator Johnson, Environmental 15 Conservation Law. 16 Senator Farley, from the 17 Committee on Banks, reports the following bills 18 directly for third reading: 19 Senate Bill 475, by Senator 20 Johnson and others, an act to amend the Banking 21 Law and the Tax Law; 22 4953-A, by Senator Farley, an act 23 to amend the Banking Law; 1 6525, by Senator Farley, an act 2 to amend the General Business Law. 3 Senator Goodman, from the 4 Committee on Investigations, Taxation and 5 Government Operations, reports the following 6 bills directly for third reading: 7 Senate Bill Number 1616, by 8 Senator Farley and others, Public Officers Law; 9 6384, by Senator Stafford, an act 10 to amend the Tax Law; 11 6490-A, by Senator Libous, an act 12 to amend the Tax Law. 13 Senator Saland, from the 14 Committee on Children and Families, reports the 15 following bills directly for third reading: 16 Senate Bill 2377, by Senator 17 Saland, Family Court Act; 18 2378, by Senator Saland, Social 19 Services Law; 20 3379, by Senator Saland, Family 21 Court Act; 22 4373-A, by Senator Libous and 23 others, Social Services Law; and 1 4868, by Senator Saland, Family 2 Court Act. 3 All bills reported directly for 4 third reading. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All 6 bills are reported directly to third reading. 7 Continuing the order of 8 business: Reports of select committees. 9 Communications and reports from 10 state officers. 11 Motions and resolutions. Senator 12 Present. 13 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 14 I hand up -- Senator Marino hands up the 15 following changes of minority leadership assign 16 ments. I'd ask they be read and properly filed. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 18 Secretary will read the minority leadership 19 assignments and file them in the Journal. 20 THE SECRETARY: Senator Marino 21 hands up the following changes in minority 22 leadership assignments: 23 Senator Stachowski replacing 1 Senator Joseph Galiber as Assistant Minority 2 Leader for Policy and Administration; 3 Senator George Onorato as 4 Assistant Minority Leader for Conference 5 Operations; 6 Senator Martin Connor replacing 7 Senator William Stachowski as Assistant Minority 8 Leader for Floor Operations; and Senator Leonard 9 Stavisky replacing Senator George Onorato as 10 Assistant Minority Whip. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All 12 changes will be filed in the Journal. 13 Motions and resolutions. Are 14 there some motions, Senator Present? 15 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 16 I move that we adopt the Resolution Calendar 17 which is on our desks. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All in 19 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar which 20 is on our desks, say aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 Opposed nay. 23 (There was no response.) 1 The resolutions are adopted. 2 Are there any motions on the 3 floor? Seeing none, Senator Present, what's 4 your pleasure? 5 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 6 let's take up the non-controversial calendar, 7 please. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 9 Non-controversial. The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: On page 4, 11 Calendar Number 13, by Senator Levy, Senate Bill 12 Number 1313. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Lay aside. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 15 that bill aside. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 48, by Senator Johnson. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 20 that bill aside. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 49, by Senator Marino, Senate Bill Number 23 3237-A. 1 SENATOR GOLD: Lay aside. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Laid 3 aside. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 57, by Senator Skelos, Senate Bill Number 5321. 6 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Laid 8 aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 60, by Senator Velella, Senate Bill Number 11 3583-A, an act to amend the Insurance Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 21 bill is passed. 22 That's the first time through, 23 Senator Present. Controversial? 1 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 2 controversial calendar, please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 4 Controversial calendar. The Secretary will 5 read. 6 THE SECRETARY: On page 4. 7 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay aside. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 9 aside. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 48, by Senator Johnson, Senate Bill Number 3059, 12 an act to amend the Penal Law. 13 SENATOR JOHNSON: Star the bill, 14 please. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Did you 16 say star the bill? 17 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Star 19 the bill at the request of the sponsor. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 49, by Senator Marino, Senate Bill 3237-A, an 22 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 23 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Laid 2 aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 57, by Senator Skelos, Senate Bill Number 5321, 5 an act to amend the Correction Law and the 6 County Law. 7 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 9 Explanation has been asked for. Senator 10 Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Senator Gold, 12 this bill establishes a procedure to determine 13 whether a person has sufficient means or is able 14 to earn such means to reimburse a county or a 15 city for housing, food and medical care incurred 16 by the county or city during the period of 17 imprisonment. 18 Now, the court will make the 19 award for reimbursement and, in doing so, the 20 court will consider the prisoner's financial 21 resources, health, age and other obligations. 22 SENATOR GOLD: Will the Senator 23 yield to a question? 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Sure. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 3 Skelos. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Senator - 5 Senator, are you -- are you an attorney, sir? 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Am I what? 7 SENATOR GOLD: An attorney. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: I am an 9 attorney. I'm admitted to practice law in the 10 state of New York. 11 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, but you 12 don't practice in Queens County, is that 13 correct? 14 SENATOR SKELOS: I don't practice 15 where? 16 SENATOR GOLD: Queens County. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: No. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Because I want to 19 point out, last year Jerry Weinstein voted 20 against this, and he's now a judge in Queens 21 County. 22 Mr. President, we've debated this 23 before. Last year I think it died in committee 1 and the year before Senators Galiber, Markowitz, 2 Montgomery, Paterson and Walden were in the 3 negative. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. 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 52. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 13 bill is passed. 14 Senator Present. 15 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 16 there - 17 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Hold 18 on. We're still on that roll call. Senator 19 Markowitz, you wish to be in the negative on 57, 20 by Senator Skelos. 21 Senator Present. 22 SENATOR PRESENT: Would you 23 recognize Senator Rath, please. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 2 Rath. 3 SENATOR RATH: Mr. President, I 4 would like the assembled Senators, guests, 5 staff, dignitaries, friends to note that today 6 is the last time the Senate will be meeting 7 before all of us have an opportunity to cheer on 8 once again the world's -- the soon-to-be world 9 championship Buffalo Bills. 10 I'd like you all, when the Bills 11 on Sunday win, say, Yea Bills; yea, Buffalo. I 12 can hear you from over at the other end of the 13 state. 14 Thank you. 15 SENATOR GOLD: Where is my 16 ticket? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Without 18 objection. 19 Senator Dollinger. 20 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 21 President, I just rise -- I'm not sure it's in 22 order, but I know there is an exhibit down 23 stairs which members of the Legislature have 1 offered, and I would like to commend Senator 2 Farley for his work in doing that and commend it 3 to all of you for your attention. 4 It's done in a real bipartisan 5 spirit, Mr. President. When you have two 6 members of the same family bearing the last name 7 of Roosevelt, both of whom not only left this 8 body or left the chamber and became President of 9 the United States, and when you find out that 10 one is a Democrat and one is a Republican, it's 11 a true testament that bipartisanship occurs even 12 in those who were members of this body. 13 So I commend the President that 14 it's a good exhibit and interesting. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Thank 16 you. 17 Senator Present. 18 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 19 there being no further business, I move that we 20 adjourn until Monday - 21 SENATOR GOLD: Will you hold on? 22 SENATOR PRESENT: Going to hold 23 it for one minute. 1 Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 3 Stachowski. 4 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Just to make 5 it bipartisan well wishing, since Senator Rath 6 wished the Bills well, it would be incumbent on 7 myself for this side of the aisle to also say 8 that obviously we from Buffalo are tickled and 9 we're the first team ever to go to four straight 10 Super Bowls. However, we wouldn't want to just 11 say four in a row because some people might get 12 the wrong impression, particularly those Giant 13 and Jet fans that happen to share this chamber 14 with us, and we'd like to say this: Four times 15 we're going but this year it will be different. 16 So, although we don't like the 17 past, we don't dwell on it; we'd rather look 18 forward to the future, and we hope that this 19 year Buffalo brings the football championship 20 back to the state of New York. 21 Thank you very much. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Are you 23 guaranteeing a win? 1 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: There's no 2 guarantee of anything only to die and pay taxes 3 hopefully. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 5 Present, you still have the floor. 6 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 7 there being no further business, I move that we 8 adjourn until Monday, January 31st, intervening 9 days to be legislative days. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: This - 11 the Senate will stand adjourned until Monday, 12 the 31st, intervening legislative days. 13 (Whereupon at 4:46 p.m., the 14 Senate adjourned. ) 15 16 17 18 19