Tuesday, January 23, 1996

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ALBANY, NEW YORK 9 January 23, 1996 10 3:00 p.m. 11 12 13 REGULAR SESSION 14 15 16 17 LT. GOVERNOR BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS, President 18 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 19 20 21 22 23 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 come to order. 4 Would you please rise and repeat 5 with me the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the Senate and those 7 present joined in the Pledge of Allegiance to 8 the Flag.) 9 May we bow our heads in a moment 10 of silence. 11 (Whereupon, there was a moment of 12 silence.) 13 The reading of the Journal, 14 please. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Monday, January 22. The Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment. Senator Kuhl in the chair upon 18 designation of the Temporary President. The 19 Journal of Friday, January 19, was read and 20 approved. On motion, Senate adjourned. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved as read. 23 Presentation of petitions. 1 Messages from the Assembly. 2 Messages from the Governor. 3 Reports of standing committees. 4 The Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Sears 6 from the Committee on Consumer Protection 7 reports the following bills: 8 Senate Print 9 193B, by Senator Gold, an act to 10 amend the General Business Law, in relation to 11 requiring child safety devices; 12 1665A, by Senator Sears, an act 13 to amend the General Business Law, in relation 14 to the award of costs; 15 2674, by Senator Farley, an act 16 to amend the Personal Property Law and the 17 General Business Law, in relation to the taking 18 of a purchase money security interest; 19 3790, by Senator Sears, an act to 20 amend the General Business Law, in relation to 21 penalties for violation thereof; 22 3839A, by Senator Sears, an act 23 to amend the General Business Law, in relation 1 to false price comparisons; 2 5753, by Senator Velella, an act 3 to amend Chapter 694 of the Laws of 1995, 4 amending the General Business Law. 5 Senator Seward from Committee on 6 Energy and Telecommunications reports: 7 Senate Print 8 1626, by Senator Seward, an act 9 to amend the Public Service Law, in relation to 10 telephone blocking services; 11 2014, by Senator Seward, an act 12 to amend the Public Service Law, in relation to 13 restricting access; 14 3422, by Senator Seward, an act 15 to amend Public Service Law, in relation to 16 extending the period of time; 17 3432A, by Senator Seward, an act 18 to amend the Public Service Law, in relation to 19 increasing the statutory ceiling. 20 Senator Cook from the Committee 21 on Education reports: 22 Senate Print 23 568, by Senator Farley, an act to 1 amend the Education Law, in relation to 2 efficiency study grants; 3 1303, by Senator Cook, an act to 4 amend the Education Law, in relation to defining 5 nonresidents; 6 4864A, by Senator Cook, an act to 7 amend the Public Officers Law, in relation to 8 the defense and indemnification of members; 9 5435B, by Senator Cook, an act to 10 amend the Education Law and the Local Finance 11 Law; 12 5616, by Senator Saland, an act 13 in relation to providing additional state aid. 14 Senator Levy from the Committee 15 on Transportation reports: 16 Senate Print 17 1290, by Senator Farley, an act 18 to amend the Public Authorities Law, in relation 19 to annual commuter car pool permits; 20 3240, by Senator Maltese, an act 21 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 22 relation to increasing the penalty for 23 obstructing access; 1 4337, by Senator Levy, an act to 2 amend the Transportation Law, in relation to the 3 creation of regional citizens advisory councils; 4 4435B, by Senator Maziarz, an act 5 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 6 relation to fees received by county clerks; 7 5765, by Senator LaValle, an act 8 to amend the Highway Law, in relation to the 9 Long Island Suburban Highway Improvement 10 Program. 11 Senator Volker from the Committee 12 on Codes reports the following bills: 13 Senate Print 14 197, by Senator Volker, an act to 15 amend the Penal Law, in relation to resisting 16 arrest; 17 388, by Senator Levy, an act to 18 amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to 19 providing that commission of the traffic 20 infraction "driving while ability impaired" 21 while under the influence of a probation or 22 conditional discharge; 23 503, by Senator Present, an act 1 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to unlawful 2 possession of weapons; 3 561, by Senator Cook, an act to 4 amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to 5 denial of recognizance or bail; 6 587, by Senator Volker, an act to 7 amend the Penal Law, in relation to theft of 8 telecommunication services; 9 637A, by Senator DiCarlo, an act 10 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to unlawful 11 possession of a box cutter; 12 667, by Senator Padavan, an act 13 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to making 14 citizenship document fraud a Class E felony; 15 670, by Senator Padavan, an act 16 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to making 17 unlawful immigration a Class C felony; 18 692A, by Senator Saland, an act 19 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to minimum 20 period of imprisonment; 21 1088A, by Senator Spano, an act 22 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to the crime 23 of criminal employment; 1 1113, by Senator Volker, an act 2 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to the crime 3 of false impersonation; 4 1967, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 5 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 6 relation to the collection of court imposed 7 financial obligations; 8 2228A, by Senator Volker, an act 9 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 10 relation to admissibility into evidence; 11 3769, by Senator Volker, an act 12 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 13 to prohibiting a request; 14 3818, by Senator Volker, an act 15 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law and others, 16 in relation to the authorized destruction of 17 dangerous drugs; 18 4521A, by Senator Maltese, an act 19 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 20 increasing the penalty for serious assaults; 21 5499, by Senator Volker, an act 22 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law -- an act to 23 enact the Criminal Procedure Law Reform Act of 1 1995. 2 Senator DiCarlo from the 3 Committee on Aging reports the following bills: 4 Senate Print 5 25B, by Senator Levy, an act to 6 amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation to 7 granting a graduated real property school tax; 8 1847, by Senator Johnson, an act 9 to amend the Real Property Tax Law; 10 3314, by Senator Trunzo, an act 11 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 12 to exemption from real property taxation; 13 3871, by Senator Leibell, an act 14 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 15 to partial real property tax exemptions; 16 5134, by Senator Marcellino, an 17 act in relation to granting a retroactive senior 18 citizen tax. 19 All bills ordered directly for 20 third reading. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Without 22 objection, all bills directly to third reading. 23 Reports of select committees. 1 Communications and reports from 2 state officers. 3 Motions and resolutions. 4 Senator Marcellino. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes. Madam 6 President. On behalf of Senator Stafford, 7 please place a sponsor star on Calendar Number 8 79. 9 SENATOR RATH: The bill is 10 starred. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: And, Madam 12 President, on behalf of Senator Larkin, on page 13 number 10, I am offering the following 14 amendments to Calendar Number 84, Senate Print 15 Number 5803, and ask that said bill retain its 16 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Thank 18 you. Amendments are received. 19 Senator Bruno. 20 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President. 21 May we, at this time, adopt the Resolution 22 Calendar. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: All in 1 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar, 2 signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 Opposed, nay. 5 (There was no response.) 6 The Resolution Calendar is 7 adopted. 8 Senator Bruno, are you ready for 9 the calendar? 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President. 11 Can we at this time take up the noncontroversial 12 calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Secretary 14 will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 4, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly 17 Print 8229C, an act to amend the Banking Law, in 18 relation to interstate branching. 19 SENATOR FARLEY: Lay it aside. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay the 21 bill aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 36, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly 1 Print 8422. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay the 4 bill aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 37, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 34, an act 7 to relocate the Spring Valley Toll Plaza. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay the 10 bill aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 52, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 5779. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay the 15 bill aside. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 54, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 2108, an act 18 to amend the Family Court Act, in relation to 19 judicial notification of child care agencies. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay the 21 bill aside. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: No. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: No. Did 1 you say, "Lay the bill aside"? No. 2 All right. Fine. Read the last 3 section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 7 roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 11 is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 55, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 2594, an act 14 to amend the Social Services Law, in relation to 15 child abuse and maltreatment hearings. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect on the first day of 20 January. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 62, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 3459B, an 6 act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation to 7 the definition of surety insurance. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 71, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 623, an 20 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 21 abandonment of certain town highways. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay the 23 bill aside. 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 72, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 1075, an act 3 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 4 relation to the enforcement of handicapped 5 parking regulations. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Read the 7 last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 77, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 4952, an 18 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 19 relation to special number plates. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Read the 21 last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 6 is passed. 7 Senator Bruno, that completes the 8 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 9 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President. 10 Can we at this time take up the controversial 11 calendar. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: 13 Certainly. 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 4, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly 17 Print 8229C, an act to amend the Banking Law, in 18 relation to interstate branching. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: 20 Explanation. Senator Farley. 21 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 22 message of necessity at the desk? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Yes, 1 there is, Senator Bruno. 2 SENATOR BRUNO: Move that we 3 accept the message. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: It's been 5 moved that the message be adopted. 6 All in favor, signify by saying 7 aye. 8 (Response of "Aye.") 9 Opposed. 10 (There was no response.) 11 The message is adopted. 12 Explanation has been requested. 13 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 14 President. This is a very significant bill. 15 It's a Governor's program bill, one that passed 16 unanimously in the Assembly yesterday. 17 It's a bill that's been under 18 negotiation for close to a year. It involves 19 interstate branching and ATM safety or security, 20 which is automatic teller machines. 21 In 1992, New York enacted an 22 interstate branching law. This will amend that 23 law to enable us to opt in to the federal law 1 which will insure the state-chartered banks will 2 branch interstate. Within the past year, twenty 3 states have opted in. There's going to be about 4 forty, and probably all of them very shortly. 5 New York is still the financial 6 center of the world. We regulate more banks 7 than the rest of the nation, practically, 8 combined. Our banks are the finest. 9 This interstate branching 10 provision bill is unchanged from a bill that was 11 passed unanimously by this house last year on 12 June 29. Federal law will enable all national 13 banks to branch in June 1997. 14 Opting in will insure that the 15 state charter and the state system of bank 16 regulation remains attractive and viable. It 17 will also insure a level playing field and allow 18 state-chartered banks to compete with the 19 national banks. It will insure that all New 20 York banks, state and national are able to 21 compete with banks from other states. 22 Banks that are already beginning 23 to restructure themselves to take advantage of 1 the cost efficiencies and benefits of interstate 2 branching, they no longer have to wait to act; 3 otherwise, we will be placing our state 4 chartered banks at a competitive disadvantage. 5 In order to maintain New York's position as the 6 world's financial center, it is important that 7 New York be one of the states to act quickly and 8 decisively in updating its law to allow 9 interstate branching. 10 As with most banks, there's no 11 objection to this interstate branching except 12 there's things that have been attached to it. 13 The thing that has been attached to this 14 particular bill and making it a comprehensive 15 bill is the Attorney General's ATM safety bill. 16 Incidently, Attorney General Vacco has worked 17 very hard and made this possible to come forth, 18 and this is the area that the general public is 19 interested in because interstate branching is 20 kind of arcane and difficult for them to 21 understand, but they do understand the ATM 22 security. Incidentally, the ATM security bill, 23 there is no known opposition to it that I know 1 of. It's been accepted by the banking community 2 statewide, and we've worked very hard to bring a 3 consensus together on this, and I'll talk about 4 this for a moment. 5 ATM security has been a major 6 problem in some of your urban areas, 7 particularly New York City. There is a 8 significant ATM security law in effect in New 9 York City. That bill will be grandfathered or 10 grandmothered or grandparented, or whatever you 11 want to call that, and will remain in effect. 12 The only difference is some of the penalties 13 will be increased. 14 What this does is require, 15 throughout the state, surveillance cameras at 16 sites, adequate lighting, locking entry doors, 17 an exterior wall that provides an unobstructed 18 view of the facility's interior and requirement 19 for banks to provide written safety precautions 20 to consumers. 21 This bill is based on and very 22 similar to the ATM laws in effect in New York 23 City and Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk. The 1 lighting standards are also the same as the 2 standards enacted by several other states. The 3 state law will be more strict than most other 4 state laws because it includes additional 5 measures such as surveillance cameras and so 6 forth. 7 Any objections to the bill that 8 were there last year have been removed. That 9 was in the area of limited liability and so 10 forth. As I said, 75 percent of all the money 11 that is dispensed in the United States is 12 dispensed through ATMs. Some day you are going 13 to see banking done very much electronically and 14 by computers. 15 With that, I offer the bill and 16 be happy to answer any questions if there are 17 any. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Is there 19 any further discussion? 20 Senator Dollinger. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Will the 22 sponsor yield to just a couple quick questions? 23 SENATOR FARLEY: Sure. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 2 Farley will yield. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: First of all, 4 since you finished on the point of the ATM 5 safety, just one question about that. 6 Is there anything in the bill 7 that requires a bank that maintains an ATM to 8 disclose to its customers whether there have 9 been crimes at a particular ATM? 10 I only raise that question 11 because I was involved in a lawsuit relating to 12 some crime at an ATM, and one of the questions 13 which was asked in the context of that lawsuit 14 was whether the bank had an obligation to its 15 customers who were visiting that branch of the 16 bank to put some kind of notice that says 17 there's been robberies at that ATM on prior 18 occasions. 19 Is there anything in this bill 20 that requires some notice to the consumer, to 21 the customer about criminal activity at the 22 ATM? 23 SENATOR FARLEY: No, there isn't, 1 Senator. There is no requirement on that point 2 of view. Most of the crimes that are committed 3 at ATMs, unfortunately, is somebody that is 4 robbed after they have gotten money, sometimes 5 away from the site. 6 Incidentally, a question was 7 asked -- I'm not going to anticipate your next 8 question -- kind of quietly by my neighbor here 9 to my left, as to whether this applies to 10 supermarkets, malls and indoor ATMs? It does 11 not. They are exempted from that because 12 there's adequate lighting and so forth. 13 But, no, there's nothing that 14 says that the ATMs have to provide consumers 15 with crimes that have been committed at a 16 particular ATM. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I guess I'm 18 not prepared to offer an amendment or anything, 19 but I think that is something we should look at, 20 perhaps, as this whole concept of ATM safety 21 matures. I found out, in the case that I was 22 working on, the Appellate Division in the Fourth 23 Department held that there was no liability on 1 the part of the bank because they had no duty to 2 maintain the ATM facility in such a way as to 3 provide greater safety for the customer. 4 And I -- I think this bill moves 5 in that direction to establish standards that a 6 bank will have to operate under to provide 7 greater protection to consumers. So I think it 8 moves in the right direction. But we just may 9 want to keep track of the fact that the bank 10 would have to put out a mailing or in its usual 11 statements to customers to say, "You bank at 12 branch ABC. You should be aware that the ABC - 13 people taking money out of the ABC teller have 14 been robbed on a periodic basis," something like 15 that to, again, give consumers greater notice if 16 one of these ATMs becomes a hot spot for 17 criminal activity. 18 SENATOR FARLEY: Let me give you 19 something in this bill that might answer your 20 question. I think it's something that's changed 21 in this bill from the prior proposal. In the 22 prior proposal, there was some objection to this 23 by trial lawyers and a few others that limited 1 the liability of a bank that had serious 2 problems with an ATM. That has been removed. 3 So if there has been serious problems at an ATM, 4 a bank could be liable. 5 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Just one 6 other question, through you, Madam President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Will you 8 yield, Senator Farley? 9 SENATOR FARLEY: I will. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator. 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I've had 12 conversations with the chairman of the Banking 13 Committee before about my concern about home 14 office protection, the notion in New York law 15 that we provide some special protections for 16 small town banks, small community-based banks 17 that provide that important deposit base that 18 local communities need. 19 I understand in the wave of 20 interstate banking and other changes that this 21 bill is perhaps necessary because of our federal 22 counterparts and the changes that they have 23 made. My question is, how does this bill affect 1 that notion of hometown or home office 2 protection if it's still part of New York law? 3 SENATOR FARLEY: I concur in all 4 of your feelings on that. I think hometown 5 protection is important. It does nothing to 6 diminish that or abate that. Let me just say 7 something about the concern the little small 8 bank will be eaten up. I don't see it as that, 9 as chairman of Banking. The merger mania, if 10 you will, that's going on in banking can make 11 the small or "the hometown bank," quote - 12 incidentally, I think Trustco has a copyright on 13 that phrase -- the hometown bank can move 14 better, closer to the community, and they have 15 done very, very well and will do well and they 16 have been doing well. 17 Generally speaking, interstate 18 branching might have been a slight concern to 19 the small -- to the independent bankers. That's 20 the ones we call the smaller ones Upstate and so 21 forth. But they are in support of this bill and 22 they don't have any quarrel with it -- I'm 23 speaking of the interstate branching -- and, 1 also, the ATM security, which is not a great 2 problem in Upstate New York and in the smaller 3 communities. Most of them are doing all of 4 these things right now voluntarily, and they are 5 happy to have a standard. 6 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. Again, 7 Madam President, I concur with the chairman of 8 the Banking Committee; that my concern has been 9 since I have come to this chamber, because of my 10 own past experience as a lawyer, to preserve 11 small community banks, small community banks 12 that may exist Upstate in small towns or may 13 exist Downstate in small communities that make 14 the investment, that achieve the goal of small 15 town lending, lending from small banks. I 16 continue to believe that, at least Upstate, that 17 at the heart of our small town communities are 18 those small town banks, and I just wanted to be 19 assured that nothing in this bill would tamper 20 with that notion, and I continue to believe and 21 continue to be an advocate, while the bank 22 merger mania goes on and big banks change their 23 form and shape, that we make sure that small 1 town banks and small community banks have a 2 place in this state. I think they'll be an 3 important part of our future, and I'm pleased to 4 see that this bill will not affect their status. 5 I will be voting in the 6 affirmative. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 8 Senator Dollinger, and let me say that that is 9 something Senator Dollinger and I both agree 10 upon. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Thank 12 you, Senator Farley, for that editorial comment. 13 Is there any further discussion? 14 Senator Leichter. 15 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Madam 16 President, just on the issue that Senator 17 Dollinger raised and Senator Farley responded to 18 about the effect on the small banks. 19 This bill is not going to have a 20 good effect on small banks in this state. I'm 21 supporting the bill because, frankly, we don't 22 really have any choice. For all practical 23 purposes, we now have really just a national 1 banking system, and we're very limited in what 2 we can do here in New York State, but I think 3 all of us have to be very much concerned about 4 what is happening to the small bank or to the 5 branches in neighborhoods. Those branches are 6 closing. The small banks are closing. 7 These are really the banks that 8 built up their communities. They were run by 9 people from the community. The monies, the 10 deposits in those banks came from the community 11 and they lent in the community; and, 12 undoubtedly, we are losing that capacity. I 13 wish there was some way that we could control 14 it, but no more than King Kanute could stop the 15 tide could we stop that trend. We're dealing 16 here, after all -- we're acting under the sword 17 of federal legislation. If we don't do this, 18 the interstate banking is going to go into 19 effect anyhow, but I don't think that we should 20 have any illusion. 21 I don't think anybody ought to 22 get up and say this is a wonderful thing for the 23 people of the State of New York. We're doing 1 this under duress, if you will, and if you take 2 a look at what has occurred in banking, it's 3 been terrible for most banking consumers. I 4 don't blame Senator Farley for it, but I 5 don't -- I mean I don't -- I don't see any 6 benefit in saying when you are losing a football 7 game 63 to nothing to get up and cheer and say, 8 "Look how well we're doing." 9 You're doing terribly. We're all 10 doing terribly. I issued a report on what I 11 called "merger mania," which is a term that 12 Senator Farley appropriately used, which showed 13 that we've lost branches, we've lost jobs in New 14 York State. The recent merger of Chemical and 15 Chase is going to cost New York State 12,000 16 jobs. It's terrible. Nothing we can, frankly, 17 or very little we can do about it. Citibank 18 just announced they're closing more branches in 19 New York. Fleet is in a merger with 20 Westminster. They are going to close more 21 branches. Upstate banks are going to be 22 acquired. They're going to be run out of 23 offices in Columbus, Ohio, or San Francisco, or 1 at least their policies will be set there. 2 But we've lost control of the 3 banking system as we knew it, and which was, I 4 think, very supportive of New York State's 5 economy. People may say, "Well, look, we still 6 have some of the biggest banks and they are 7 located right in New York." But their vision, 8 their interest is now to a large extent 9 overseas, national, and so on. 10 I think one of the things that we 11 ought to really try to direct more of our 12 attention to, and I just met with the 13 Superintendent of Banking on it, is to try to go 14 back and develop the community banks, develop 15 credit unions, develop lending institutions that 16 will have some connections with their 17 communities. In that respect, there may be some 18 things that we can do, and I hope Senator Farley 19 and the Banking Committee will play some role in 20 that. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 22 Farley. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: I'm grateful for 1 your vote on this bill. I am concerned when 2 you're voting in favor of it because something 3 must be wrong with it. 4 But let me just say this, Senator 5 Leichter, you're wrong on this, for a very 6 bright fellow that you are. 7 Let me just say something about 8 the small independent banks that Senator 9 Dollinger and I both were promoting. They are 10 doing very well. 11 Just a few short years ago, while 12 you served in this house and I was also here, 13 you recall that New York City banks could not 14 come Upstate. They came Upstate, and guess 15 what? They didn't do well at all. They closed 16 most of their offices, and most of them that 17 live Upstate can remember. They did not do well 18 up here. Those small little banks cleaned their 19 clocks. 20 And, quite frankly, when you are 21 talking about merger mania, it does exist. 22 There's a lot of mergers going on. This is an 23 evolving system. This is an evolving -- you 1 can't stop that. You can't stand in the way of 2 it. Like with the credit card industry, we 3 tried to capture it. They all went to South 4 Dakota or Delaware. They are not a captive 5 audience any more. 6 It was interesting to hear 7 Chairman Farrell talk about what happened with 8 Citibank. They just packed it up and left. 9 They will do that. 10 Today, we are still the financial 11 center of the world. We've got to get with it. 12 We're leaders in this area. The debacle that 13 has happened in banking with the S&L scandal did 14 not happen in this state. We've got the finest 15 Banking Department, the best regulated banks and 16 the finest banks in the nation, and I think we 17 should keep them that way. 18 I think this is a good bill for 19 the consumer. It's a good bill for the banks. 20 It's something we have to do, and I think what 21 you are talking about is something of twenty 22 years ago. Times have changed. 23 I urge the support of this bill. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 2 Dollinger. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you, 4 Madam President. I have just one word to add to 5 Senator Farley's voice, and, again, perhaps we 6 may both find it unusual to be agreeing so 7 strongly on this, but my concern is not so much 8 with the infrastructure of the banking industry 9 in this state as the deposit base, because 10 that's where the loans for -- and I know Senator 11 Leichter has been a leader on the community 12 reinvestment portion, certainly in the Chase and 13 Chemical merger -- but I'm concerned about the 14 hometown deposit base. 15 I believe that the notion that a 16 deposit -- the money made by John Smith in 17 Canandaigua, New York, or Irondequoit in Monroe 18 County, that he has the notion that his 19 deposits, his hard-earned money that he has 20 saved, is going to be reinvested in his 21 community and that the decision about where to 22 invest that money is going to be made by 23 somebody who lives down the street or lives in 1 his neighborhood, and that may be Pollyannaish, 2 but I still believe that the critical ingredient 3 is in the system of hometown banking. 4 I have a bill that I have 5 carried -- I have talked to the chairman of the 6 Banking Committee about it -- that would lower 7 the capital requirements to creating new banks, 8 because I think we could use more small town 9 banks and not create such an enormous capital 10 hurdle for them to get in the business of 11 banking, and I think we would encourage more 12 people to develop community-based lending, the 13 kind of lending that helps our neighborhoods, 14 the kind of lending that's needed in the City of 15 New York, the kind of lending that's needed in 16 my community in the city of Rochester. 17 We would encourage that kind of 18 hometown lending by using hometown deposits to 19 make that local economy tick. I know I've 20 talked about it with the chairman of the Banking 21 Committee. I know he supports that idea. He is 22 absolutely right. Small town banks in New York 23 State have done much better than their 1 counterparts that have invested in other places 2 in the world and perhaps got stuck with huge 3 deficits as a consequence. 4 So I think that the banking 5 system as it goes through this final evolution, 6 my concern is that we keep New York as a 7 financial center with big banks. I think that 8 that is important for our economy. I also think 9 it's important to keep those small town banks 10 healthy and encourage their growth and 11 development so that the local deposits stay in 12 the local communities and help everybody in this 13 state get capital when they need it. That could 14 be the solution. 15 We talk about creating jobs. We 16 can have all the tax cuts in the world; but if 17 you take your tax cut and put it in savings in 18 your local bank, you want your local bank to use 19 that savings to leverage loans that will drive 20 the capital, the job growth and the next 21 century. 22 So we can debate forever the 23 changes that are going on at the federal level, 1 the international capital markets, the local 2 capital markets. I think this is a good bill, 3 and I think we've got to keep our eye on the 4 primary target which is providing a structure on 5 which our national banks can stay here and our 6 local banks will continue to thrive. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 22. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 36, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly 19 Print 8422, an act to amend the Tax Law, in 20 relation to the imposition of sales and use 21 taxes by the County of Erie. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 23 Volker. 1 SENATOR VOLKER: Where is Senator 2 Stachowski? Can you wait just a minute, please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 4 Volker. 5 SENATOR VOLKER: Madam President, 6 just briefly. Senator Stachowski wanted to have 7 a comment on this bill. 8 This is the extender of the Erie 9 County sales tax which both houses have passed 10 for a number of years. As I said before, this 11 bill does not enact the sales tax but merely at 12 the request of the Erie County Legislature gives 13 them the ability to make the decision, which 14 they have already made, actually, and put it in 15 their 1996 budget and allows them to put the 16 entire amount of the additional one percent in 17 the Erie County budget. Once this bill passes 18 and is signed into law, then the legislature can 19 formally pass a resolution incorporating the one 20 percent extender for the next year. So that's 21 what this is. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 23 Stachowski. 1 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: If you want 2 to call the roll, I just want to explain my vote 3 and that's - 4 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 12 Stachowski to explain his vote. 13 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Madam 14 President, to explain my vote. I'd just like to 15 point out that, obviously, as Senator Volker 16 said, we don't pass the sales tax. But we're 17 all, from Western New York, aware of the 18 financial problems that the City of Buffalo had; 19 and when Rochester was faced with a similar 20 problem, the County of Monroe and the City of 21 Rochester worked out an agreement to help 22 Rochester through their financial woes. 23 So far, the City of Buffalo and 1 the County of Erie haven't been able to work out 2 a similar agreement. We would hope that before 3 we vote on this next year that the City of 4 Buffalo and Erie County would continue to sit 5 down together to continue to negotiate with each 6 other and try to find a way that this ever 7 growing one percent of the extra sales tax could 8 somehow be used to help alleviate some of City 9 of Buffalo's financial problems. 10 I would hope that the fact that 11 the new majority leader of the county 12 legislature is a city county legislator that he 13 would help to move that process along and that 14 the mayor and the county executive, if they 15 can't work out a way to share this, that they 16 could at least find a way to work out sharing 17 other programs or other facilities that would 18 take some of the burden off the City of Buffalo 19 and the problems they are currently facing. 20 I vote aye. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: May we 22 please have the vote announced. 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 2 is passed. 3 Continue with the calendar, 4 please. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 37, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 34, an act 7 to relocate the Spring Valley Toll Plaza of the 8 New York State Thruway. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: 10 Explanation has been requested. 11 SENATOR BRUNO: Lay it aside for 12 the day. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay this 14 aside for the day. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 52, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 5779, an act 17 to amend the Civil Service Law, in relation to 18 providing jurisdiction to the Public Employment 19 Relations Board. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: 21 Explanation has been requested. 22 Senator Trunzo. 23 SENATOR TRUNZO: Madam 1 President. What this bill really does is this 2 legislation would give the Public Employee 3 Relations Board jurisdiction over disputes which 4 have reached impasse in the course of collective 5 bargaining between the City of New York and the 6 police and fire fighters, and, basically, that's 7 what it does. In other words, if the 8 negotiations in the City reach a point of 9 complete impasse, then they can go to PERB to 10 have a decision rendered by the people at PERB. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Thank 12 you, Senator Trunzo. 13 Anyone else wishing - 14 Senator Paterson. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: Madam 16 President. New York City has issued a memo 17 opposing this legislation; and in the 18 memorandum, they contend that passage of this 19 bill would disrupt the relationship that New 20 York City has. It would disrupt the collective 21 bargaining agreement that the City has and would 22 diminish the City's control over its labor 23 relations disputes. 1 So the question lies in whether 2 or not, in 1977, when the language that formed 3 the Public Employees Relations Board was 4 actually written into law as to whether or not 5 there is a mandate that the Public Employees 6 Relations Board take into account the fiscal 7 ability of the City and the means to actually 8 pay the wage increases? If Senator Trunzo would 9 yield for a question, I would like to try to 10 establish whether or not it exists in law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator, 12 would you yield for a question? 13 Senator Trunzo. 14 SENATOR TRUNZO: Yes, I will 15 yield. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator 17 yields. 18 SENATOR PATERSON: That's the 19 question. 20 SENATOR TRUNZO: What's the 21 question? 22 SENATOR PATERSON: The question 23 is, does it stand in the law as it was written 1 forming the language that created the Public 2 Employee Relations Board that there is attention 3 to the fiscal ability of the entity -- in this 4 case, New York City -- and its means to pay the 5 actual wage increases that are negotiated? 6 SENATOR TRUNZO: Section 209, 7 Senator, indicates that ability to pay is part 8 of the -- Section 209 of the Civil Service Law, 9 and it's in there, and the arbitrators have to 10 take that into consideration. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you very 12 much, Senator. If you will continue to yield? 13 SENATOR TRUNZO: Yes. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: The memorandum 15 that the City has offered also is maintaining 16 that because the collective bargaining 17 agreements that the City now seeks takes four 18 years and the Public Employees Relations Board 19 might negotiate two-year contracts that this 20 would create a bifurcated process; and in this 21 process, it would allow for higher wage 22 increases on the part of what would be the 23 police and fire fighters who would be the 1 beneficiaries of legislation as it stands now; 2 and that if that were to go into effect, you 3 would have a situation with the other unions 4 that would destabilize the dispute settlement 5 relationship, and the other unions would then 6 seek the same legislation. 7 Also, the City estimates -- I 8 don't know whether this is true or whether this 9 is hyperbole -- that it would cost the City over 10 $200 million. 11 A voice in the wilderness told me 12 it is hyperbole, but I would like to know what 13 you feel the result of passing this legislation 14 would be on bargaining disputes? 15 SENATOR TRUNZO: Well, on your 16 point, first of all, Senator Paterson, are you 17 referring to the first memo that the City wrote 18 or the second memo that the City wrote? There 19 were two different memos, and one sort of 20 contradicts the other one. 21 But at any rate, the $200 million 22 that you are talking about, from what we can 23 gather by the various figures that we have been 1 able to determine, that if a one percent 2 increase in negotiations were to happen, it 3 would cost $11 million. To go up to $200 4 million, you are talking about a 20 percent 5 increase which would not be probable of 6 happening at all. 7 So the figure seems to be very 8 well bloated by the mayor's people. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator, 10 have you completed your questions? Do you want 11 Senator Trunzo to yield? 12 SENATOR PATERSON: If Senator 13 Trunzo will yield for just one last question? 14 SENATOR TRUNZO: Yes. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Senator, 16 do you yield? 17 Senator Paterson. 18 SENATOR PATERSON: On the other 19 subject about its destabilizing the relationship 20 between the City and its other unions, do you 21 think passage of this legislation will produce 22 that effect? 23 SENATOR TRUNZO: I don't believe 1 so because this particular section of law has to 2 do with every police and fire department in the 3 State of New York; and every one, except the 4 fire and police of the City of New York, are 5 involved in Section 209 of the law; and, 6 therefore, it's not probable. In fact, you 7 might understand that up until the merger last 8 year of the police departments, the New York 9 City Transit Police were covered by Section 209, 10 and also the United Teachers. That's also 11 covered by PERB. Therefore, there's no reason 12 why the police and firemen should not be 13 included in this entire process. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: There 15 being no other questions, read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: 22 Negatives? Can you announce the vote, please. 23 There are a couple of others. 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. Nays 2 4. Senators DiCarlo, Goodman, Leichter and 3 Montgomery recorded in the negative. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 71, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print - 8 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: 9 Explanation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: An 11 explanation has been requested. 12 SENATOR BRUNO: Lay it aside for 13 the day. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Lay the 15 bill aside for the day. 16 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President. 17 Can we at this time have the committee report 18 from the EnCon Committee. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator 22 Marcellino from the Committee on Environmental 23 Conservation reports: 1 Senate Print 2 418, by Senator Cook, an act to 3 amend the Environmental Conservation Law, in 4 relation to permitting certain directional 5 signs; 6 614, by Senator Stafford, an act 7 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, in 8 relation to nonhazardous municipal landfill 9 closure; 10 620, by Senator Stafford, an act 11 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, in 12 relation to permitting certain advertising in 13 the Adirondack Park; 14 629A, by Senator Stafford, an act 15 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, in 16 relation to nonhazardous municipal landfill 17 closure projects; and 18 3501, by Senator Saland, an act 19 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, in 20 relation to the definition of the term 21 municipality. 22 All bills ordered directly for 23 third reading. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Without 2 objection, all bills directly to third reading. 3 Senator Bruno. 4 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President. 5 Are there any other items at the desk that we 6 should take up at this time? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: There are 8 no other items, Senator Bruno. 9 SENATOR BRUNO: Then there being 10 no further business to come before the Senate, I 11 move that we stand adjourned until 11:00 a.m. 12 tomorrow morning. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT RATH: Without 14 objection, the Senate stands adjourned until 15 Wednesday, January 24, at 11:00 a.m. 16 (Whereupon, at 3:45 p.m., Senate 17 adjourned.) 18 19 20 21 22 23