Wednesday, May 18, 1994

3794 1 2 ALBANY, NEW YORK 3 May 18, 1994 4 2:17 p.m. 5 6 7 REGULAR SESSION 8 9 10 11 SENATOR JOHN R. KUHL, JR., Acting President 12 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 3795 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Senate will come to order. Ask the members to 4 join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. 5 (The assemblage repeated the 6 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ) 7 In the absence of clergy, I would 8 ask that we all bow our heads in a moment of 9 silence. 10 (A moment of silence was 11 observed. ) 12 Hearing no objection, the journal 13 -- excuse me. I'm jumping along too soon 14 here. Reading of the Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Tuesday, May 17th. The Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment, Senator Kuhl in the Chair upon 18 designation of the Temporary President. The 19 Journal of Monday, May 16th, was read and 20 approved. On motion, Senate adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing 22 no objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 3796 1 Presentation of petitions. 2 Messages from the Assembly. 3 Messages from the Governor. 4 Reports of standing committees. 5 Reports of select committees. 6 Communications and reports from 7 state officers. 8 Motions and resolutions. Senator 9 Farley. 10 SENATOR FARLEY: I've got a lot 11 of motions here, Mr. President. 12 On behalf of Senator Cook, on 13 page 27, I offer the following amendments to 14 Calendar Number 880, Senate Print Number 2283-A, 15 and I ask that that bill retain its place on the 16 Third Reading Calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 18 objection, so ordered. 19 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 20 Senator Trunzo, on page 4, I offer the following 21 amendments to Calendar Number 213, Senate Print 22 Number 1374, and I ask that that bill retain its 23 place. 3797 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 2 objection, so ordered. 3 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 4 Senator Seward, on page 5, I offer the following 5 amendments to Calendar Number 269, Senate Print 6 6749-A, and I ask that that bill retain its 7 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 9 objection, so ordered. 10 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 11 Senator Levy, on page 30, I offer the following 12 amendments to Calendar Number 912, Senate Print 13 6993, and I ask that that bill retain its place. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 15 objection, so ordered. 16 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 17 Senator Seward, on page 28, I offer the 18 following amendments to Calendar Number 889, 19 Senate Print 7508, and I ask that that bill 20 retain its place. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 22 objection, so ordered. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 3798 1 Senator Larkin, on page 13, I offer the 2 following amendments to Calendar Number 597, 3 Senate Print 7042, and I ask that that bill 4 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 6 objection, so ordered. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 8 Senator Wright, please place a sponsor's star on 9 Calendar 988. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Sponsor's 11 star on Calendar Number 988. 12 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 13 Senator Libous, please place a sponsor's star on 14 the following Calendar Numbers: 1035, 1036 and 15 1038. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Sponsor's 17 stars are placed on Calendar Numbers 1035, 1036, 18 and 1038. 19 SENATOR FARLEY: Very good. On 20 behalf of Senator LaValle, please place a 21 sponsor's star on Calendar Number 1067. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Sponsor's 23 star on Calendar Number 1067. 3799 1 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 2 Senator Levy, please place a sponsor's star on 3 911. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Sponsor's 5 star on 911. 6 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 7 Senator Levy, please remove a sponsor's star 8 from Calendar Numbers 433 and 1023. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Sponsor's 10 stars removed on Calendars Number 433 and 1023. 11 SENATOR FARLEY: All right. On 12 behalf of Senator Skelos, Mr. President, I wish 13 to call up his bill, Senate Print 208-A, that 14 was recalled from the Assembly which is now at 15 the desk. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 17 will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 19 Skelos, Senate Bill Number 208-A, an act to 20 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation 21 to requiring the Department of Motor Vehicles to 22 retain the registration plates of a repossessed 23 motor vehicle. 3800 1 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, I 2 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 3 bill was passed, and I ask that the bill be 4 restored to the order of third reading. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll on 8 reconsideration. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 bill's before the house. Direct to third 12 reading. 13 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, I 14 now move to discharge the Committee on 15 Transportation from Assembly Print 752-A, and I 16 substitute it for Senator Skelos' identical 17 bill. The Senate bill, on the first passage, 18 was voted on unanimously. I now move that the 19 substituted Assembly bill have its third reading 20 at this time. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 22 Substitution is ordered, and read the last 23 section. 3801 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 6 THE SECRETARY: Unanimous. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 8 is passed. 9 SENATOR DALY: Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Daly. 12 SENATOR DALY: Mr. President, 13 would you star Senate Bill 944, Calendar Number 14 944, Senate 7785. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Sponsor's 16 star on Calendar Number 944. 17 Senator Johnson. 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. President, 19 on page 41, please put a sponsor's star on 20 Calendar Number 1040, S. 7387-A. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Sponsor's 22 star is placed on Calendar 1040. 23 SENATOR JOHNSON: And on the 3802 1 calendar today, on page 42, is Calendar Number 2 1050, I'd like that bill to be laid aside for 3 the day. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 5 Number 1050 will be laid aside for the day. 6 Senator DiCarlo. 7 SENATOR DiCARLO: Senate 8 Resolution Number 684, I'd like the title read 9 and waive the reading of its entirety, and I'd 10 like to open it up for co-sponsorship. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 DiCarlo, we are being told by the Secretary at 13 the desk that we don't have a resolution at the 14 desk. 15 SENATOR DiCARLO: O.K. I withdraw 16 it. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: When it 18 arrives, we'd be happy to take it up. 19 Senator Present. 20 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 21 can we take up the non-controversial calendar. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Clerk 23 will read the non-controversial calendar. 3803 1 THE SECRETARY: On page 13, 2 Calendar Number 585, by Senator Trunzo, Senate 3 Bill Number 3526-A, an act to amend the 4 Retirement and Social Security Law, in relation 5 to investments by public pension funds. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 7 last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 715, by - 18 SENATOR GOLD: Lay aside. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 20 bill aside. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 746, by Senator Hannon. 23 SENATOR GOLD: Lay aside. 3804 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 2 bill aside. 3 SENATOR PRESENT: For the day. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 5 bill aside for the day. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 840, by Senator Maltese, Senate Bill Number 8 7445, an act to amend the Executive Law, in 9 relation to awarding crime victim compensation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 bill's passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 892, by Senator - 22 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay aside for 23 the day, please. 3805 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 2 bill aside for the day. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 903, by Senator Levy, Senate Bill Number 7692-A, 5 amend Chapter 314 of the Laws of 1984, amending 6 the Public Health Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53, nays 15 one, Senator Kuhl recorded -- excuse me. Ayes 16 52, nays two, Senators Farley and Kuhl recorded 17 in the negative. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 908, by Senator Levy, Senate Bill Number 1405, 22 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 3806 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 8 the results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 10 the negative on Calendar Number 908 are Senators 11 Daly, DeFrancisco, Farley, Kuhl and Saland. 12 Ayes 49, nays 5. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 921, by Senator Holland, Senate Bill Number 199, 17 an act to amend the Judiciary Law, in relation 18 to increasing the allocation of funds. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 20 last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 22 SENATOR GOLD: Lay aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 3807 1 bill aside. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 922, by Senator Cook, Senate Bill Number 3034-A, 4 an act to amend the Executive Law, in relation 5 to state aid to rural areas. 6 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside 7 for the day, please. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 9 bill aside for the day. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 990, by Senator Cook, Senate Bill Number 2915-B, 12 an act to amend the Social Services Law, in 13 relation to the New York State Rural Human 14 Resources Networking. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3808 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1005, by Senator Lack, Senate Bill Number 40 - 4 SENATOR GOLD: Lay aside. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 6 bill aside. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1011, by Senator Padavan, Senate Bill Number 9 5904-B, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 10 Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 12 last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 16 roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 20 is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1041, by Senator Padavan, Senate Bill Number 23 1853-A, Agriculture and Markets Law, in relation 3809 1 to spectators at exhibitions of animal 2 fighting. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1042, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Bill Number 15 3539-C, an act to amend the Agriculture and 16 Markets Law and the - 17 SENATOR GOLD: Lay aside, please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 19 bill aside for the day. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1047, by Senator Tully, Senate Bill Number 170, 22 Education Law and the General Business Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 3810 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1055, by Senator LaValle, Senate Bill Number 12 3721-A, Education Law, in relation to enacting 13 the Higher Education Community Service Act. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54, nays 22 one, Senator Johnson recorded in the negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3811 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1061, by Senator LaValle, Senate Bill Number 4 5428, Education Law, in relation to the 5 definition of income. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 7 last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1066, by Senator Skelos, Senate Bill Number 18 7202, Education Law, in relation to massage 19 advertisements. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Road the 21 last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 3812 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1070, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Bill Number 9 7581. 10 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay aside. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 12 bill aside for the day. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside 14 temporarily. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 16 bill aside temporarily. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1071, by member of the Assembly Pillittere, 19 Assembly Bill Number 6116-A, an act to amend the 20 Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3813 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 7 is passed. 8 Senator Present, that completes 9 the non-controversial calendar. 10 Senator Present. 11 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 12 let's try the controversial calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Clerk 14 will read the controversial calendar. 15 THE SECRETARY: On page 19, 16 Calendar Number 715, by Senator Daly, Senate 17 Bill Number 1093-A, an act to amend the 18 Environmental Conservation Law. 19 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Daly, an explanation has been asked for by 22 Senator Gold. 23 SENATOR DALY: Mr. President, as 3814 1 we know, the Department of Environmental 2 Conservation has been entrusted with the $1.1 3 billion Superfund. What we're asking for in 4 this bill is an annual report from the 5 Department of Environmental Conservation, not a 6 new report, but in addition to their existing 7 annual remedial plan update, of what monies are 8 being used, how they're being used, particularly 9 as to the use in specific and the specific sites 10 that are being cleaned up. 11 The reason for this bill, Mr. 12 President, is that, as I said before, DEC has a 13 $1.1 billion Superfund under its responsibility 14 and we're hearing from DEC and from other groups 15 that the Superfund will run out of monies 16 somewhere in the '90s, in the late '90s, and 17 there's no way we can make that determination 18 and this bill, in asking DEC to provide an 19 accounting of the monies that it's spending from 20 the Superfund, I think, is timely and would be 21 quite helpful to us in determining whether or 22 not we have enough money in the Superfund -- in 23 the Superfund to clean up all the sites needing 3815 1 clean-up in the state. 2 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Gold. 5 SENATOR GOLD: Would Senator Daly 6 yield to a question? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Daly, do you yield? 9 SENATOR DALY: Certainly, 10 Senator. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 yields, Senator. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Senator Daly, is 14 this the same bill from last year? 15 SENATOR DALY: No, it was 16 amended. 17 SENATOR GOLD: How was it 18 amended? 19 SENATOR DALY: In that the 20 quarterly report required by the legislation is 21 not now required. We just require the annual 22 report. We've worked this out with, for 23 example, Senator Leichter, and he's been 3816 1 interested in that part of the bill, and we now 2 have a match with the Assembly with that 3 amendment. 4 SENATOR GOLD: You now have a 5 match with the Assembly? 6 SENATOR DALY: Yes. 7 SENATOR GOLD: Two-house bill. 8 SENATOR DALY: Yes. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, will you 10 yield to one more question? 11 SENATOR DALY: Yes. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 continues to yield. 14 SENATOR GOLD: I have a memo from 15 the Department that says it's strongly opposed 16 and they make reference in here to quarterly 17 basis accounting. Now, is that amendment wrong? 18 SENATOR DALY: Well, yes. 19 SENATOR GOLD: This is -- oh, 20 excuse me one second. I'm sorry. Let me 21 correct the question. Their amendment was on 22 your original print? 23 SENATOR DALY: Yes. 3817 1 SENATOR GOLD: Now, the "A" print 2 does not have the quarterly? 3 SENATOR DALY: That's correct. 4 SENATOR GOLD: And when was the 5 amendment -- when was the bill amended? 6 SENATOR DALY: I don't have the 7 date, Senator. I can find out. 8 SENATOR GOLD: I have a stamp - 9 SENATOR DALY: May 10th. 10 SENATOR GOLD: So this memo isn't 11 any good. 12 SENATOR DALY: You have this 13 problem all the time, Senator. 14 SENATOR GOLD: Is that what 15 you're telling me? 16 Last section. 17 SENATOR DALY: Again, we have a 18 similar problem. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 3818 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 921, by Senator Holland, Senate Bill Number 199, 8 an act to amend the Judiciary Law. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President, 10 would you read the last section. I just want to 11 explain my vote. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Gold. 14 SENATOR GOLD: I just want to 15 explain my vote, if I could. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: O.K. 17 Clerk will read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3819 1 Gold to explain his vote. 2 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President, 3 this bill was around last year and when it was 4 first brought to our attention by Senator 5 Holland, I tried to point out that, while I was 6 very grateful to Senator Holland, the problem is 7 much more serious than this bill really deals 8 with, and I don't want to pass the bill without 9 again reminding the house as to what's 10 involved. 11 When we created this attorney's 12 bi-annual registration, one of the reasons was 13 to create a fund so that, if people were 14 defrauded by their own lawyers, the fund would 15 be available. Since that time, there have been 16 extensions of the amount of money taken from 17 lawyers and, with each extension, less and less 18 money was given to the client fund and the 19 Office of Court Administration and others would 20 take from that. 21 The Holland bill very rightfully 22 would increase from 60 to $100 the amount of the 23 lawyers' fees that go to the fund, but 3820 1 understand that from what I am told, that will 2 not make the fund solvent. More of that money, 3 more than the hundred has to go if the people 4 who are innocent victims pf lawyers, their own 5 lawyers, are to be compensated. 6 Right now, the effect of all of 7 this is that people have filed claims and don't 8 get their claims taken care of because the fund 9 doesn't have the money, so there is now a delay 10 of maybe six months, a year or something like 11 that, before the claims are even discussed and 12 it's not because of a backlog in cases. It's a 13 failure to have the money, and I think that's a 14 disgrace of the Legislature's as well as other 15 people, to allow that to happen. 16 The lawyers are paying in the 17 money, and the injured clients are not getting 18 it. 19 I vote in the affirmative. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Gold in the affirmative. Announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3821 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1005, by Senator Lack, Senate Bill Number 4 4044-A, an act to amend the Public Authorities 5 Law. 6 SENATOR GOLD: Explanation. 7 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside 8 for the day. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 10 bill aside for the day. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1070, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Bill Number 13 7581, an act to amend the Navigation Law. 14 SENATOR GOLD: Can we get a day 15 on this? 16 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside 17 temporarily until we check with the sponsor. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 19 bill aside temporarily. Senator Present, that 20 completes the non-controversial -- or 21 controversial calendar with the exception of 22 Calendar Number 1070. 23 Now, we have a Resolution 3822 1 Calendar, and I think a privileged resolution at 2 the desk. No? 3 SENATOR PRESENT: I move that we 4 accept the Resolution Calendar, copies of which 5 are on our desks. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 7 motion is to accept the Resolution Calendar. 8 All those in favor, signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye." ) 10 Opposed nay. 11 (There was no response. ) 12 The Resolution Calendar is 13 adopted. 14 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 15 can the Senate stand at ease for a few moments. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 Senate will stand at ease for a few moments. 18 (Whereupon at 2:39 p.m., the 19 Senate stood at ease. ) 20 ... At 4:25 p.m.... 21 SENATOR PRESENT: In behalf of 22 Senator Levy, I'd like to announce an immediate 23 conference of the Majority in Room 332. 3823 1 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 2 Senator Present is authorizing me to say a few 3 words. 4 SENATOR PRESENT: That's it. 5 At 5:26 p.m. 6 SENATOR PRESENT: There will be 7 an immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in 8 Room 332. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LIBOUS: 10 Immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in 11 Room 332. 12 At 6:04 4 p.m. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 14 Senate will come to order, members take their 15 seats. 16 Senator Present. 17 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 18 can we return to reports of standing 19 committees. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Return to 21 reports of standing committees. Clerk will 22 read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Senator Stafford, 3824 1 from the Committee on Finance, reports the 2 following bills directly for third reading: 3 Senate Bill Number 8456-A, by 4 Senator Holland, legalize, validate and confirm 5 certain proceedings and actions of the 6 proceedings of the town of Orangetown in the 7 county of Rockland. 8 Also Senate Bill Number 8480, by 9 the Committee on Rules, an act to provide for 10 payments to certain municipalities under the 11 medical assistance program. 12 Also Senate Bill Number 8482, by 13 the Senate Committee on Rules, an act to amend a 14 chapter of the laws of 1994, as proposed in 15 Legislative Bill Number 8480. 16 All bills reported directly for 17 third reading. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All bills 19 reported directly to third reading. 20 Senator Present. 21 SENATOR PRESENT: May we have the 22 third reading on these bills starting with 23 Calendar Number 1078. 3825 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Clerk 2 will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1078, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 5 Bill Number 8480, an act to provide for payments 6 to certain municipalities under the medical 7 assistance program. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Present. 10 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 11 is there a message of necessity and a message of 12 appropriation at the desk? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 Present, both messages are here. 15 SENATOR PRESENT: I move that we 16 accept the messages. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All those 18 in favor. 19 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Gold. 22 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, on the 23 motion for the moment, Mr. President. It's been 3826 1 along day. It's now six o'clock, and I 2 appreciate, and I say this with total sincerity, 3 the cooperation of the Deputy Majority Leader in 4 running today, but today was a day where we had 5 a number of breaks in the day in order to do the 6 people's business, and I would like the record 7 to reflect that it is now five after six, and 8 that as a result of some very significant work 9 in the district, Senator Dollinger has had to 10 fly back to Rochester, and I requested that he 11 be excused from voting or at least be marked 12 absent on the three bills we have to go, and I 13 was told by Senator Present that, for some 14 reason, that could not be done. 15 I also realize that there are 16 other members who are on legislative business 17 and, for reasons which are very, very 18 appropriate, are not in the chamber and because 19 of the significance of these three bills, I will 20 not call a slow roll call, but I think it's 21 important that the record reflect that Senator 22 Dollinger is not here because of appropriate 23 business and I would, therefore, ask that he not 3827 1 be voted. 2 I think that would be 3 appropriate, and I want the record to indicate 4 that, if the three roll calls we're about to get 5 into were to reflect a vote on behalf of Senator 6 Dollinger, that those will not be accurate roll 7 calls because unfortunately he is not here, 8 having had to fly back to Rochester. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All those 10 in favor of the motion, signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye.") 12 Those opposed, nay. 13 (There was no response. ) 14 The messages are accepted. Clerk 15 will read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 19 roll. 20 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: I have a 21 question for Senator Present. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We're on 23 a roll call, Senator. If you have a point of 3828 1 order to raise? 2 SENATOR GOLD: No, I'm sorry. We 3 asked a question properly, and we're not on a 4 roll call, or I ask that it be withdrawn. I 5 think that without disturbing the speed with 6 which we all desire to conclude our business, 7 Senator Stachowski has the right to ask one 8 question. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Present, do you yield to a question from Senator 11 Stachowski? 12 SENATOR PRESENT: Sure. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 yields. 15 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Senator, is 16 there a message on the next bill, 8482? 17 SENATOR PRESENT: 8428? 18 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Because it 19 wasn't here just a moment ago. Thank you. 20 SENATOR PRESENT: Yes, there is. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Clerk 22 will call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 3829 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Now, Mr. 5 President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Gold. 8 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, on a point 9 of order now. Has Senator Dollinger been voted 10 on that roll call? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The clerk 12 indicates that Senator Dollinger was recorded as 13 an affirmative vote. 14 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. Well, I 15 would ask, Mr. President, that you direct the 16 clerk as a point of order not to vote Senator 17 Dollinger as he is not in the chamber nor is he 18 in Albany. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Gold, I don't believe the Chair has the power to 21 do that. I certainly would accept any statement 22 from the acting Majority Leader in regard to 23 that. 3830 1 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 2 I believe that the only one who would vote no 3 would be Senator Dollinger. 4 SENATOR GOLD: No, Mr. 5 President. Senator Present, as usual, is 6 correct, and I'm not suggesting that Senator 7 Dollinger be recorded in the negative or any 8 other way. I think that he should be recorded 9 as absent because indeed he is absent and not in 10 Albany for very good reasons, but that he should 11 not at this point be recorded. 12 This session has been delayed for 13 a number of hours for good and valid reason and 14 I am not questioning the motivation or the 15 running of the session by the Majority. I am 16 questioning the voting of Senator Dollinger when 17 I have stated for the record that he is not in 18 the chamber, he is not in Albany and is not 19 attending this session, and I think that it is 20 the most simplest of administrative functions to 21 correct the roll call and not have Senator 22 Dollinger vote. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3831 1 Present. 2 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 3 the practice has been, and I would suggest that 4 Senator Dollinger use it on Monday when he 5 returns, that he make the statement that's often 6 made in this chamber that had he been here he 7 would have voted no. 8 SENATOR GOLD: Well, again, I 9 appreciate Senator Present, who is as always 10 cooperative. This is a little different 11 situation because we now know, I mean there are 12 times, Senator Present, when Senators walk in 13 and out of the chamber, and we allow that 14 process, as you have very accurately indicated, 15 Senator Present. 16 This is a different situation. 17 It's a situation that resulted as a result of a 18 delay in the session and one member had to leave 19 town to attend to matters in his own district, 20 so in this situation it's a little different 21 because we know, as the vote is being cast, that 22 the member is not in the chamber, not in Albany, 23 and I would again request, Mr. President, that 3832 1 he not be recorded on the vote. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Present. 4 SENATOR PRESENT: His request is 5 denied. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Doesn't 7 seem to be any agreement to your request, 8 Senator Gold. 9 The clerk will continue on the 10 roll. 11 SENATOR GOLD: I'll appeal the 12 ruling of the Chair. 13 Call the roll. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 question is on the appeal of the ruling of the 16 Chair, whatever that ruling might have been. 17 All those in favor of sustaining the ruling of 18 the Chair, please cast their vote in the 19 affirmative; those opposed in the negative. 20 All those in favor of sig... 21 sustaining the ruling of the Chair - 22 SENATOR GOLD: Party vote. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: - 3833 1 signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 Opposed nay. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Party vote in the 5 affirmative; party vote in the negative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Clerk 7 will record the party line votes. Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 34, nays 11 23. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 ruling of the Chair is sustained. 14 SENATOR DALY: Mr. President, how 15 did Mr. Dollinger vote? Forget it, Mr. 16 President. (Laughter). 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Clerk 18 will read Calendar Number 1079. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1079, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 21 Bill Number 8482, an act to amend a chapter of 22 the laws of 1994, as proposed in Legislative 23 Bill Number 8480. 3834 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Present. 3 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 4 are there two messages at the desk, message of 5 necessity and message of appropriation? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Present, the clerk indicates there is. 8 SENATOR PRESENT: I move that we 9 accept the message. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All those 11 in favor of accepting the message, signify by 12 saying aye. 13 ((Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed nay. 15 (There was no response. ) 16 The ayes have it. The messages 17 are received. The clerk will read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect on the same date as a 21 chapter of the laws of 1994. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 23 roll. 3835 1 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 4 is passed. 5 We've got one more, I think. 6 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 7 do we have any housekeeping? 8 THE SECRETARY: Yes. 9 SENATOR PRESENT: Can we take 10 care of that now? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Velella. 13 SENATOR VELELLA: Mr. President, 14 on page 49, I offer the following amendments to 15 Calendar Number 433, Senate Print Number 80-B on 16 behalf of Senator Levy. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: So 18 ordered. Bill will retain its place on the 19 Third Reading Calendar. 20 SENATOR VELELLA: On behalf of 21 Senator Levy, Mr. President, on page 54 I offer 22 the following amendments to Calendar Number 23 1023, Senate Print 7991, and ask that said bill 3836 1 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: So 3 ordered. 4 SENATOR VELELLA: On behalf of 5 Senator Seward, on page 17, I offer the follow 6 ing amendments to Calendar Bill -- Calendar 683, 7 Senate Print 5230-B, and ask that said bill 8 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: So 10 ordered. 11 Senator Present, that concludes 12 the housekeeping. 13 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 14 there being no further business, I move that we 15 adjourn until Monday, May 23rd, at 3:00 p.m., 16 intervening days to be legislative days. The 17 members should be advised that they are subject 18 to a call of the Majority Leader for session 19 upon 24 hours notice. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senate 21 stands adjourned until Monday at 3:00 p.m. 22 (Whereupon at 6:15 p.m., the 23 Senate adjourned. )