Tuesday, February 1, 1994

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 February 1, 1994 11 3:53 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. Senators will please 4 find their seats. Please rise with me for the 5 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 6 (The assemblage repeated the 7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Today, 9 in the absence of clergy, would you please bow 10 your heads for a moment of silent prayer. 11 (A moment of silence was 12 observed.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 14 Secretary will begin by reading the Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Monday, January 31st, the Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment, Senator Farley -- Senators Farley 18 and Kuhl in the Chair upon designation of the 19 Temporary President. The Journal of Sunday, 20 January 30th, was read and approved. On motion, 21 Senate adjourned. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Hearing 23 no objection, the Journal will stand approved as 1 read. 2 The order of business. 3 Presentation of petitions. 4 Messages from the Assembly. 5 Messages from the Governor. 6 Reports of standing committees. 7 We have a report of a standing 8 committee. Secretary will read it. 9 THE SECRETARY: Senator Cook, 10 from the Committee on Education, reports the 11 following bills directly for third reading. 12 Senate Bill Number 4237-A, by 13 Senator Stafford, an act to amend the state aid 14 to the North Warren Central School District. 15 Senate Bill Number 4788-A, by 16 Senator Cook, an act to amend the Education 17 Law. 18 6042, by Senator Larkin, an act 19 to amend the Education Law. 20 6523, by Senator Skelos, an act 21 to amend the Education Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All 23 those -- we have some more. Hold on. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Tully, 2 from the Committee on Health, reports the 3 following bills directly for third reading: 4 Senate Bill Number 6551, by 5 Senator Tully, an act to amend Chapter 735 of 6 the Laws of 1992 amending the Public Health 7 Law. 8 Senator Maltese, from the 9 Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and 10 Correction, reports the following bills directly 11 for third reading: 12 Senate Bill Number 245-A, an act 13 to amend the Executive Law. 14 2754, by Senator Cook and others, 15 Correction Law and the Civil Practice Law and 16 Rules. 17 3797, by Senator Maltese, an act 18 to amend the Executive Law. 19 44 -- excuse me. Senator Lack, 20 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 21 following bills directly for third reading: 22 Senate Bill Number 442, by 23 Senator Stafford and others, Real Property Law. 1 Senate Bill Number 1936, by 2 Senator Maltese, an act to amend the Court of 3 Claims Act. 4 2670, by Senator Lack, an act to 5 amend the Real Property Law. 6 And 6396, by Senator Marino, 7 proposing amendments to the Constitution, 8 filling the vacancy in the office of the 9 Comptroller and Attorney General. 10 All bills reported directly for 11 Third Reading. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All 13 bills are reported directly for third reading. 14 We have a substitution, Senator 15 Present. Secretary will read it. 16 THE SECRETARY: On page 5 of 17 today's calendar, Senator Velella moves to 18 discharge the Committee on Insurance from 19 Assembly Bill Number 6289-B and substitute it 20 for the identical Third Reading 59. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 22 Substitution is ordered. 23 Reports of select committees. 1 Communication and reports from 2 state officers. 3 Motions and resolutions. 4 Senator Present. 5 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 6 I move that we adopt the Resolution Calendar, a 7 copy of which is on our desk. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All in 9 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar, 10 please say aye. 11 (Response of "Aye".) 12 Those opposed, nay. 13 (There was no response.) 14 The Resolution Calendar is 15 adopted. No motions on the floor. We're ready 16 for the calendar. 17 Senator Present. 18 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 19 let's take up the non-controversial calendar, 20 please. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 22 Non-controversial. Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: On page 4, 1 Calendar Number 36, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate 2 Bill Number 2507-A, an act to amend the Vehicle 3 and Traffic Law. 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 37. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Excuse me, ayes 15 36, nays 1. Senator Wright recorded in the 16 negative. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 40, by Senator Bruno, Senate Bill Number 6300-A, 21 an act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 22 designating a portion of the state highway 23 system as the C.V. Whitney Memorial Highway. 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 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: That 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 54, by Senator Volker, Senate Bill Number 13 4944-A. 14 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 16 that bill aside. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 55, by Senator Skelos, Senate Bill Number 1156, 19 an act to amend the Executive Law and Penal Law. 20 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 22 aside. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 1 65, by Senator Kuhl, Senate bill Number 5... 2 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 4 that aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 67, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Bill Number 3413-A, 7 an act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law 8 and Economic Development Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 12 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 36, nays 1. 17 Senator Leichter recorded in the negative. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 72, by Senator Tully, Senate Bill Number 6419, 22 New York State Medical Care - 23 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 2 aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 83, by Senator Bruno, Senate Bill Number 2186, 5 Real Prop... 6 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside for 7 Senator Dollinger, please. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 9 that bill aside. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 88, by Senator Levy, Senate - 12 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside, 13 please. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 15 aside. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 103, by Senator Stafford, Senate Bill - 18 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside for 19 Senator Dollinger. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 21 that aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 111, by Senator Skelos, Senate Bill Number 6548, 1 amend Chapter 208 of the Laws of 1992. 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 40. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 11 bill is passed. That's the first time through. 12 Senator Present. 13 SENATOR PRESENT: Let's take up 14 the controversial calendar, please. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 16 Controversial, page 4. 17 THE SECRETARY: On page 4, 18 Calendar Number 54, by Senator Volker, Senate 19 Bill Number 4944-A, an act to amend the Civil 20 Rights Law, the Criminal Procedure Law and the 21 Executive Law. 22 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay the 1 bill aside temporarily. 2 THE SECRETARY: On page 5, 3 Calendar Number 55, by Senator Skelos, Senate 4 Bill Number 1156, Executive Law and the Penal 5 Law, in relation to the payment of fees by 6 persons sentenced to probation. 7 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 9 Explanation, Senator Skelos. Senator Gold. 10 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside 11 temporarily. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay it 13 aside temporarily. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 65, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Bill Number 535-A, 16 an act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 17 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 19 Explanation, Senator Kuhl. 20 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside 21 temporarily. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay 23 this bill aside temporarily. 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 72, by Senator Tully, Senate Bill Number 6419, 3 amend the New York State Medical Care Facilities 4 Finance Agency Act. 5 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it - 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 9 This - 10 SENATOR GOLD: I'm sorry. 11 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside 12 temporarily. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Lay the 14 bill aside temporarily. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 83, by Senator Bruno, Senate Bill Number 2186, 17 Real Property Tax Law, in relation to 18 residential improvement exemption in certain 19 cities. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 21 the last section. 22 SENATOR LEICHTER: Explanation. 23 ACTION PRESIDENT FARLEY: 1 Explanation, Senator Bruno. 2 SENATOR BRUNO: Yes, Mr. 3 President. This bill is introduced at the 4 request of the city of Troy, and the intent is 5 to enable people to upgrade their property 6 residentially, one- or two-family homes within 7 the city limits of Troy, and when they improve 8 their property, there will be no tax liability. 9 For example, someone owns a 10 $100,000 home, they spend 10,000 to renovate it, 11 rehab' it, beautify it, all the good things that 12 neighbors like to see happen in a municipality, 13 there will be no increase in their tax liability 14 for having done that, unless, Senator, and 15 hopefully in anticipation of your question, the 16 property changes hands. 17 If the property changes hands, 18 then they go back and re-assess or do whatever 19 is normally done that relates it to market 20 value. If the inhabitants are increased, if it 21 goes from one-family or two-family, is upgraded 22 from there, well, then we start over with the 23 tax liability. 1 So the bottom line is that in 2 Troy, many properties are not improved because 3 people living on fixed income, limited incomes, 4 can't afford the high taxes that they presently 5 pay, never mind the potential of increasing the 6 taxes on top of the cost of upgrading the 7 property. A great bill, Mr. President. 8 Hopefully we will have the support of this body. 9 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 11 Leichter. 12 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yeah. Would 13 Senator Bruno yield to a question on his great 14 bill? 15 SENATOR BRUNO: With great 16 pleasure. 17 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, 18 suppose I take a shack, two-room shack, and I 19 make it -- I rehabilitate it, renovate it, alter 20 it, becomes a million-dollar mansion. Now it 21 has 30 rooms and gilded marble plates, gold 22 faucets, and so on. Are you telling me there 23 will be no increase in my tax? 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Within the city 2 of Troy, I am telling you that what you have 3 just done is you have upgraded the property of 4 everyone around you, the entire municipality in 5 Troy, by having spent that million dollars 6 upgrading that shack. We applaud you. There 7 will be no tax consequences to you as long as 8 you own it. 9 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, now 10 as you say, I bestowed this enormous benefit on 11 all of my neighbors, none of whom have altered 12 their property. Are they going to get a tax 13 increase because the assessment in the community 14 of houses is so much better because they're all 15 living next to the Leichter Mansion? 16 SENATOR BRUNO: Senator, as you 17 know, when people do comparables, they will look 18 at a comparable and they will say this shack is 19 not increased at all in its tax liability. 20 Consequently, we have no additional liability, 21 so I would guess not, Senator, so live there in 22 great comfort and, Senator, think about all of 23 the jobs that are created by the million-dollar 1 rehab' project that you have just accomplished. 2 Congratulations to you, Senator Leichter. 3 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, can I 4 ask another question? 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Yes. 6 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, has 7 the city of toy asked us to pass this bill? 8 SENATOR BRUNO: Yes. 9 SENATOR LEICHTER: There's a home 10 rule message? 11 SENATOR BRUNO: We have a great 12 sponsor. This is at the request of -- this 13 legislation is introduced at the request of the 14 city of Troy, and I guess the best demonstration 15 of that would be that the Assembly sponsor is a 16 great colleague, good friend, fellow Democrat, 17 Ron Canestrari, who serves on the Ways and Means 18 with great distinction, and he sponsors this 19 bill in the Assembly and has full intent of 20 seeing it become law with your support, 21 Senator. 22 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator Bruno, 23 let me say, I think the bill is -- to my mind, 1 is badly flawed, but if the city of Troy wants 2 it and it has such a distinguished sponsor -- I 3 don't know about the Assembly sponsor, but 4 certainly the Senate sponsor - 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you. 6 SENATOR LEICHTER: -- I'm going 7 to vote for it. 8 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 10 Jones. 11 SENATOR JONES: Yes, Mr. 12 President. Would the sponsor yield to a 13 question, please? 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Yes. 15 SENATOR JONES: Senator Bruno, 16 could you just clarify for me. The city of 17 Rochester had requested for -- a bill last year 18 for the similar kinds of property exemptions. 19 We then passed a statewide bill, and the city 20 agreed that they would abide by that even though 21 they had different conditions in their bill. 22 I'm wondering why the city of Troy, the 23 statewide bill we passed isn't applicable and 1 what are the differences now that we need 2 another bill? 3 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, 4 Senator. 5 The statewide bill that we did, 6 my recollection is that it was similar at the 7 beginning, but as you went forward each year 8 after you spend a million dollars rehabing' that 9 shack, as Senator Leichter just did, the next 10 year, you lose by the statewide application, 11 twelve and a half percent of the benefit, and 12 you lose twelve and a half percent every year 13 for years until eight years later, you are then 14 on the tax rolls for that million instead of 15 where you started. So the city of Troy sees 16 that as some inhibition, because maybe the 17 average income levels are different there than 18 Rochester, but it just seemed like an additional 19 liability to those people that they are trying 20 to encourage to upgrade their properties, so 21 that's why we're asking for special legislation, 22 Senator. 23 SENATOR JONES: Mr. President, 1 would the Senator yield to one more question? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 3 Bruno, would you yield to another question from 4 Senator Jones? 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Yes, Mr. 6 President. 7 SENATOR JONES: Senator, would it 8 be your recommendation then that each city then 9 would resubmit, because Rochester didn't want 10 those same conditions either, then they should 11 resubmit a new bill this year for themselves and 12 ignore the statewide then? 13 SENATOR BRUNO: Senator, I think 14 each person that represents a constituency has 15 to make their judgments on what they see as the 16 best interests of the majority of their 17 constituency, and in your great wisdom, if you 18 think that approach is worth bringing to the 19 floor, then if I were you, I would be doing 20 that. 21 SENATOR JONES: Thank you, 22 Senator. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Last 1 section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 47. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 9 bill is passed. 10 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 11 can we take up Calendar 72, please. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 13 Calendar Number 72, by Senator Tully, on page 14 6. Secretary will read it. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 72, by Senator Tully, Senate Bill Number 6419, 17 New York State Medical Care Facilities Finance 18 Agency Act. 19 SENATOR JONES: Explanation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 21 Explanation has been asked for, Senator Tully. 22 SENATOR TULLY: Yes, Mr. 23 President. Who asked for the explanation? 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: I think 2 it was Senator Jones, as I recall. 3 SENATOR TULLY: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. 5 This bill deals with the 6 financing of Life Care Communities and it deals 7 basically with development costs of the 8 projects. The bill was unanimously passed in 9 the Senate last year also in the Assembly and 10 the Governor, in his less than infinite wisdom, 11 chose to veto it last year. In his veto message 12 which I have somewhere here, the Governor 13 indicated that he anticipated having no 14 objection to making development cost loans 15 available through state public authorities where 16 appropriate. If I understood the nature of his 17 veto message, as we sometimes have to read 18 between the lines, he thought it was a great 19 bill but last year wasn't the time for it. This 20 year is. I would expect that, after it passes 21 this house and passes the Assembly, that he will 22 then sign it because it might be the appropriate 23 time for this excellent legislation. 1 SENATOR JONES: Mr. President, 2 would the Senator yield for a question, please? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: I'm 4 sure he will. Senator Tully. 5 SENATOR JONES: Senator Tully, 6 could you clarify for me, I just saw the figure 7 of 7 million mentioned in the memo. Is this in 8 addition to MCFFA's already, their allotment, or 9 is it just a reallocation of the money they 10 already - 11 SENATOR TULLY: Under existing 12 law, MCFFA has a cap of $3 million. This is an 13 additional 7 million, so it will be 7- on top of 14 the 3- giving the ability to extend the cap to 15 $10 million. 16 SENATOR JONES: Would the Senator 17 yield to another question? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 19 Tully. 20 SENATOR JONES: Senator, it has 21 come to my intention from some people that there 22 has been some problems with Life Care 23 communities, in that they basically have become 1 financially insolvent. Do you have any evidence 2 of this, or have you looked into this issue? 3 SENATOR TULLY: Mr. President, 4 that's not really accurate. In 1989, my 5 legislation was passed additional bills, one of 6 which passed and signed by the Governor which 7 provided for the development of Life Care 8 communities. This bill is one of a part -- of a 9 group of bills, the first one of which is to 10 provide for the development costs as this bill 11 does. The additional bills, one of which passed 12 through the Local Government today, which 13 provided for financing through one of the 14 mechanisms that we recommended which is the IDA, 15 utilizing IDA for the loans. Additional bills 16 will come through that will also provide for 17 long-term financing through utilization of 18 pension funds as well. 19 SENATOR JONES: On the bill, Mr. 20 President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On the 22 bill, Senator Jones. 23 SENATOR JONES: I still find 1 myself a little bit concerned about the debt, 2 that I think there is some potential there for 3 lost revenue. However, the potential cost 4 savings to the state and local governments and 5 Medicaid, I think is worth the risk, but -- I 6 will support the bill, but I'm glad to hear what 7 you said, Senator Tully, that we are looking for 8 long-range ways of funding this as we continue 9 in our efforts to cut Medicaid costs. 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 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 18 Tully to explain his vote. 19 SENATOR TULLY: Yes, Mr. 20 President. 21 Just to allay the concerns of 22 Senator Jones and anyone else that might be out 23 there. It really is a disgrace that this state 1 which leads in so many things is so far behind 2 in this most essential area, that -- the 3 development of Life Care communities. Too many 4 times our seniors in this state have been forced 5 to reduce themselves and lose their dignity by 6 virtue of transactions that some people might 7 call fraudulent to avoid the constraints that 8 come for providing for themselves in their later 9 years. 10 This bill is specifically 11 directed to precluding any concern with respect 12 to fraud and concern with respect to the loss of 13 senior citizens' money. The economic impact on 14 this state would be somewhere in the area of $2 15 billion. 16 Right now, youngsters are forced 17 to visit their parents, if you will, in other 18 states, and the other states are gaining the 19 benefit of the economic development that these 20 Life Care communities provide and all of the 21 jobs -- jobs, Mr. President, that we need so 22 much and so urgently in this state. 23 I think I can say with some 1 degree of certainty that this is legislation 2 that everyone knows is sorely needed, and I 3 think probably this year we'll see it signed by 4 the Governor, hopefully as expeditiously as 5 possible. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote 7 aye. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 9 Results. 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 12 bill is passed. 13 Senator Present. 14 SENATOR PRESENT: Calendar 54, 15 please. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 17 Calendar 54, on page 4, Senator Volker. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 54, by Senator Volker, Senate Bill Number 20 4944-A, Civil Rights Law. 21 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 22 this is a bill that has passed this house in the 23 past, and by the way -- pardon? 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 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 10 bill is passed. 11 SENATOR PRESENT: Calendar 55, 12 please. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 14 Calendar Number 55, on page 5. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 55, by Senator Skelos, Senate Bill Number 1156, 17 Executive Law and the Penal Law. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 20 Explanation, Senator Skelos. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: This bill which 22 we discussed on other occasions, states that 23 subject to a court order, non-indigent criminals 1 sentenced to probation shall reimburse the 2 county or the city for the actual cost of their 3 supervision during the probationary period. 4 It's estimated that in counties like Nassau, 5 this could save them 3- to $4 million a year. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Hold it 11 up. 12 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President, as 13 a courtesy to Senator Skelos, we won't have to 14 really redebate this, but I just want to refresh 15 some recollections, last year Senator Connor and 16 Espada and Galiber and myself, Leichter, 17 Markowitz, Montgomery, Ohrenstein, Onorato, 18 Smith, Stavisky and Waldon voted in the 19 negative. There he is. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 5 the negative on Calendar Number 55 are Senators 6 Gold, Leichter, Markowitz, Ohrenstein, Smith and 7 Waldon. Ayes 44, nays 6. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 9 bill is passed. 10 Senator Present. 11 SENATOR PRESENT: Calendar 65, 12 please. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 14 Calendar 65, by Senator Kuhl. 15 SENATOR KUHL: Senator Waldon. 16 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you, Mr. 17 President. I respectfully request unanimous 18 consent to be recorded in the negative on 19 Calendar 54. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 54, 21 Senator Waldon will be in the negative. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 23 Kuhl's bill, Secretary will read it. I'm 1 sorry. Senator Stavisky. 2 SENATOR STAVISKY: May I be 3 recorded in the negative on Calendar 55. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 55 - 5 SENATOR CONNOR: Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 7 Connor. 8 SENATOR CONNOR: May I have 9 unanimous consent to be recorded in the negative 10 on Calendar Number 55? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Without 12 objection. 13 Senator Onorato. 14 SENATOR ONORATO: May I have 15 unanimous consent on Calendar Number 55? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Without 17 objection, Senator Onorato's in the negative. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 65, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Bill Number 535-A, 20 an act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 21 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 23 Explanation, Senator Kuhl. 1 SENATOR KUHL: Yes, Mr. 2 President. This is a bill that mandates -- and 3 I underscore the word "mandates" -- a 4 comprehensive review of regulations and rules as 5 they might relate to the agricultural industry 6 and the harmful effect they might have on that 7 industry and also provides a detailed procedure 8 by which those bills or those regulations would 9 be reviewed and dealt with. 10 SENATOR GOLD: Is that it? 11 Will Senator Larkin yield to a 12 question? In other words, that was an 13 unauthorized - 14 Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 16 Gold. 17 SENATOR GOLD: Last year we had 18 17 people voting in the negative, and I just 19 want to point out without making the same speech 20 I've made so many other times, that we have the 21 capacity for legislative oversight. If - 22 If -- Senator Kuhl, if you think 23 that there are regulations of agencies that are 1 adversely affecting agriculture, and you want to 2 make a study of it, then you should talk to the 3 lady in red. When you see the red flag, you'll 4 see Administrative Regulations Review will go 5 right into it, but these mandates on departments 6 and having them do studies -- my colleague from 7 Nassau County is not here, so I won't mention 8 Senator Levy by name, but we're always telling 9 departments to make studies, and then we're 10 complaining about the cost to government, and 11 maybe one of the ways you cut the cost of 12 government is not passing bills telling them to 13 study things that maybe the Legislature ought to 14 be doing. 15 At any rate, Senators Connor and 16 myself and Senator Espada, Galiber, Gold, 17 Gonzalez, Halperin, Leichter, Markowitz, Mendez, 18 Montgomery, Ohrenstein, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 19 Paterson, Smith, Solomon and Senator Stavisky. 20 Last section. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 6 the negative on Calendar Number 65 are Senators 7 Connor, Gold, Leichter, Markowitz, Ohrenstein, 8 Onorato and Smith. Ayes 43, nays 7. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 10 bill is passed. 11 Senator Present. 12 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 13 on behalf of Senator Nozzolio, I would like to 14 announce an immediate meeting of the Elections 15 Committee in Room 332. We'll stand at ease 16 awaiting that committee's report. Upon receipt 17 of the report, we'll adjourn until Monday at 18 3:00 p.m. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Senator 20 Present, we have another committee before it, if 21 we may read that. 22 SENATOR PRESENT: Let's read 23 that. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: There 2 will be an immediate meeting of the Elections 3 Committee in Room 332. Is it all right to read 4 this standing committee's report? 5 SENATOR PRESENT: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Senator Larkin, 7 from the Committee on Local Government, reports 8 the following bills directly for third reading. 9 Senate Bill Number 219, by 10 Senator Farley, an act to amend the County Law, 11 in relation to county office hours of work. 12 281, by Senator Hannon, 13 authorizing the county of Nassau to accept an 14 application for real property tax exemption. 15 362, by Senator Farley and 16 others, Real Property Tax Law. 17 371, by Senators Bruno -- Senator 18 Bruno and others, Real Property Tax Law. 19 379, by Senator Volker, General 20 Municipal Law and the State Finance Law. 21 438, by Senator Stafford and 22 others, Real Property Tax Law. 23 1153, by Senator Larkin, Real 1 Property Tax Law. 2 1428, by Senators LaValle and 3 others, General Municipal Law. 4 2449, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 5 amend the County Law. 6 2523-B, by Senator Stafford, an 7 act to amend the County Law, in relation to 8 authorizing the county of Franklin to appoint up 9 to three public defenders. 10 2537, by Senator Present, Real 11 Property Tax Law. 12 2702, by Senator Cook, Real 13 Property Tax Law. 14 3180, by Senator Cook, Real 15 Property Tax Law. 16 3412, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 17 amend the Real Property Tax Law. 18 3867-A, by Senator Cook, County 19 Law, in relation to appointment of deputies. 20 4066, by Senator Larkin, Real 21 Property Tax Law. 22 6318, by Senator Stafford, an act 23 to amend the Town Law, authorizing the town of 1 Indian Lake, county of Hamilton, to appropriate 2 certain monies. 3 And 6327, by Senator Tully and 4 others, General Municipal Law, in relation to 5 Life Care Community. 6 All bills reported directly for 7 third reading. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All 9 bills are reported directly for third reading. 10 Senator Present. 11 SENATOR PRESENT: Senator 12 Galiber. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Let's 14 please have a little order in the house. 15 Senator Galiber. 16 SENATOR GALIBER: Mr. President, 17 I would ask unanimous consent to be recorded in 18 the negative on a number of bills. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: On what 20 number? 21 SENATOR GALIBER: On a number of 22 bills. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: All 1 right. Could you give us the numbers? 2 SENATOR GALIBER: Yes. 54, 55, 3 65 and 67, Calendar Numbers. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Without 5 objection. 6 SENATOR GALIBER: Thank you, Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Any 9 other - 10 Senator Present, the Legislature 11 will stand in recess and - 12 SENATOR PRESENT: Stand at ease. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: Hold 14 on. Senator -- I'm sorry, Senator Santiago. 15 SENATOR SANTIAGO: Thank you. 16 I'd ask unanimous consent to be recorded in the 17 negative on Calendar 55, please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: 55, 19 without objection. 20 Senator Present. 21 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 22 stand at ease awaiting the report of the 23 Elections Committee. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: And 2 then we'll adjourn with that report, intervening 3 legislative days. 4 SENATOR PRESENT: Until Monday, 5 3:00 o'clock, intervening days to be legislative 6 days. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT FARLEY: The 8 Senate will stand at recess. 9 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 10 ease from 4:23 p.m. to 5:09 p.m.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 Senate will come to order. 13 Senator Montgomery. 14 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 15 President. I would like unanimous consent to be 16 recorded in the negative on Calendars 55 and 65. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 18 objection, so ordered. 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you. 20 SENATOR PRESENT: Can we return 21 to reports of standing committees? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We will. 23 Clerk will read. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Nozzolio, 2 from the Committee on Elections, reports the 3 following bills directly for third reading: 4 Senate Bill Number 6315-A, by 5 Senator Nozzolio and others, Election Law, in 6 relation to false registration. 7 6316-A, by Senator Nozzolio and 8 others, an act to amend the Election Law, in 9 relation to giving consideration for franchise. 10 6332-A, by Senator Nozzolio and 11 others, Election Law, in relation to influencing 12 the vote on the day of an election. 13 6336-A, by Senator Nozzolio and 14 others, Election Law, in relation to corrupt use 15 of position or authority. 16 And 6527-A, by Senator Nozzolio 17 and others, State Board of Elections to conduct 18 a special study to combat voter fraud. 19 All bills reported directly for 20 third reading. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: So 22 ordered. 23 Senator Present. 1 SENATOR PRESENT: Stand at ease 2 for a minute. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 Senate will stand at ease momentarily. 5 Senator Paterson. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 7 with unanimous consent, I would like to be 8 recorded in the negative on Calendar Numbers 54 9 and 55. Why is it that I can't talk when 10 there's no one in here? 11 THE SECRETARY: 54 and 55? 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Right. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 14 objection. 15 SENATOR PRESENT: No objection. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: So 17 ordered. 18 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 19 there being no further business, I move that we 20 adjourn until Monday, February 7th, at 3:00 21 p.m., intervening days to be legislative days. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 Senate stands recessed until Monday, 3:00 p.m. 1 SENATOR PRESENT: Stand 2 adjourned. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Stand 4 adjourned, excuse me. 5 (Whereupon, at 5:17 p.m., the 6 Senate adjourned.) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16