Tuesday, February 27, 1996

1439 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 February 27, 1996 11 3:00 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JOHN R. KUHL, JR., Acting President 19 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 20 21 22 23 1440 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 Ask the visitors to find their 5 seats, members to find their seats. Ask 6 everybody to rise and join with me in saying the 7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 8 (The assemblage repeated the 9 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ) 10 In the absence of clergy, may we 11 bow our heads in a moment of silence. 12 (A moment of silence was 13 observed. ) 14 Reading of the Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Monday, February 26th. The Senate met pursuant 17 to adjournment. Prayer by the Reverend Dr. 18 Evelyn John, Pastor, New Life Center of Truth, 19 Brooklyn. The Journal of Friday, February 23rd, 20 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 21 adjourned. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing 23 no objection, the Journal stands approved as 1441 1 read. 2 Presentation of petitions. 3 Messages from the Assembly. 4 Messages from the Governor. 5 Reports of standing committees. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Leibell, 8 from the Committee on Housing and Community 9 Development reports: 10 Senate Print 5927A, by Senator 11 Leibell, an act to amend the Private Housing 12 Finance Law, in relation to loans. 13 Senator Wright, from the 14 Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse reports: 15 Senate Print 328B, by Senator 16 Levy, an act to amend the Public Authorities Law 17 and the Railroad Law, in relation to operating a 18 self-propelled rail passenger car; 19 2259, by Senator Wright, an act 20 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 21 relation to creating the crime of aggravated 22 driving while intoxicated; 23 4211, by Senator Hoblock, an act 1442 1 to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Alcohol Law, and 2 others, in relation to compensatory service; 3 5960, by Senator Levy, an act to 4 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation 5 to the suspension or revocation of a driver's 6 license. 7 Senator Lack, from the Committee 8 on Judiciary reports: 9 Senate Print 499A, by Senator 10 DiCarlo, an act to amend the General Obligations 11 Law, in relation to exoneration of certain 12 police officers; 13 546A, by Senator Marchi, an act 14 to amend the Judiciary Law, in relation to 15 creating the 13th Judicial District; 16 617, by Senator Stafford, an act 17 to amend the Real Property Law, in relation to 18 authorizing a voluntary administration; 19 1298, by Senator Lack, an act to 20 amend the Real Property Law, in relation to 21 allowing an assignment of mortgage; 22 2145, by Senator Trunzo, an act 23 to amend the Eminent Domain Procedure Law, in 1443 1 relation to acquisition of land; 2 2314, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 3 amend the General Obligations Law, in relation 4 to the liability for negligence; 5 3775A, by Senator Lack, an act to 6 amend the Family Court Act, in relation to the 7 duty to support recipients of public assistance; 8 4614A, by Senator Lack, an act to 9 amend the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act, in 10 relation to witnesses; 11 4615, by Senator Lack, an act to 12 amend the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act, in 13 relation to requirement of filing a bond; 14 6008, by Senator Lack, an act to 15 amend the Judiciary Law and Chapter 397 of the 16 Laws of 1988. 17 Senator DiCarlo, from the 18 Committee on Aging, reports: 19 Senate Print 1413, by Senator 20 Levy, an act to amend the Transportation Law, in 21 relation to establishing the New York State 22 Inter-agency Task Force; 23 3420, by Senator Johnson, an act 1444 1 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 2 to a senior citizen rent exemption; 3 3502A, by Senator Saland, an act 4 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 5 to excluding certain expenditures; 6 6149, by Senator DiCarlo, an act 7 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, the 8 Administrative Code of the city of New York and 9 Local Law Number 1 of the city of New York. 10 Senator Volker, from the 11 Committee on Codes, reports: 12 Senate Print 213, by Senator 13 Holland, an act to amend the Penal Law, in 14 relation to the validity of license to carry or 15 possess a pistol; 16 1189, by Senator Sears, an act to 17 amend the Penal Law, in relation to including 18 the use of a firearm; 19 1321, by Senator Sears, an act to 20 amend the Penal Law, in relation to unauthorized 21 use of an emergency vehicle; 22 1378, by Senator Farley, an act 23 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 1445 1 restitution and reparation; 2 1417, by Senator Saland, an act 3 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law and the 4 Family Court Act, in relation to access to 5 records; 6 1618A, by Senator Goodman, an act 7 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 8 consecutive terms of imprisonment; 9 1966A, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 10 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 11 relation to application for recognizance or 12 bail; 13 1971, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 14 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 15 relation to compliance with orders fixing bail; 16 2335A, by Senator Saland, an act 17 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 18 to expanding the limited list of offenses; 19 2957B, by Senator Volker, an act 20 to amend the Civil Rights Law, in relation to 21 providing for limited immunity; 22 3132, by Senator Volker, an act 23 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 1446 1 to peace officers; 2 3180A, by Senator Volker, an act 3 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules and 4 the Public Authorities Law, in relation to 5 personal service; 6 3327, by Senator Johnson, an act 7 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 8 to requiring certain persons committed to the 9 custody of the sheriff; 10 3494, by Senator Volker, an act 11 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, the Family 12 Court Act and the Penal Law, in relation to 13 crimes involving firearms; 14 3521, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 15 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 16 relation to attendance of defendants; 17 4293B, by Senator LaValle, an act 18 to amend the Civil Rights Law and the Public 19 Health Law, in relation to genetic tests; 20 4297, by Senator Volker, an act 21 to amend the Civil Rights Law, in relation to 22 access to personnel files; 23 4588, by Senator Volker, an act 1447 1 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to issuance 2 of license to carry and have pistols; 3 5170, by Senator Gold, an act to 4 amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to 5 designating officers; 6 6041, by Senator Volker, an act 7 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 8 to the authority of police officers. 9 Senator Rath, from the Committee 10 on Local Government, reports: 11 Senate Print 258, by Senator 12 Cook, an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, 13 in relation to making certain state lands 14 subject to taxation; 15 636, by Senator Cook, an act to 16 amend the Town Law, in relation to the terms of 17 office of elective officers; 18 1546, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 19 amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation to 20 appointments made to the state board; 21 1652, by Senator LaValle, an act 22 to amend the Town Law, in relation to initiation 23 of a criminal history check; 1448 1 3032, by Senator Volker, an act 2 to amend the Town Law, in relation to providing 3 for absentee ballots; 4 4119, by Senator Present, an act 5 to amend the General Municipal Law, in relation 6 to giving municipalities the power to prefer 7 businesses; 8 5762, by Senator Farley, an act 9 in relation to the dissolution of Fire District 10 Number 1; 11 5991, by Senator Lack, an act to 12 amend the County Law, in relation to permitting 13 district attorneys; 14 6010, by Senator Johnson, an act 15 to amend Chapter 492 of the Laws of 1993 16 amending the Local Finance Law; 17 6035, by Senator Rath, an act to 18 amend the General Municipal Law, in relation to 19 permitting the New York State Town Clerks 20 Association, Incorporated to make purchases; 21 6072, by Senator Skelos, an act 22 to amend the County Law and the General 23 Municipal Law, in relation to authorizing 1449 1 counties to provide for a crime case status hot 2 line. 3 Senator Levy, from the Committee 4 on Transportation, reports: 5 Senate Print 178, by Senator 6 Tully, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 7 Law, in relation to authorizing towns and 8 villages; 9 562, by Senator Cook, an act to 10 amend the Highway Law, in relation to the 11 definition of the Southern Tier Expressway; 12 1414, by Senator Present, an act 13 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the Parks, 14 Recreation and Historic Preservation Law, in 15 relation to the registration of snowmobiles; 16 1695A, by Senator Goodman, an act 17 to amend the Transportation Law, in relation to 18 increasing penalties; 19 2670, by Senator Levy, an act to 20 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation 21 to leaving the scene of injury; 22 2883, by Senator Levy, an act to 23 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation 1450 1 to increasing penalties for leaving the scene of 2 an accident; 3 3861, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 4 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the Parks, 5 Recreation and Historic Preservation Law and the 6 State Finance Law; 7 4432, by Senator DiCarlo, an act 8 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 9 relation to proof of notice of suspension; 10 4578, by Senator Tully, an act to 11 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation 12 to providing the issuance of a driver's license; 13 5976, by Senator Levy, an act to 14 amend the Transportation Law, in relation to 15 establishing a demonstration program, reported 16 with amendments; 17 6038, by Senator Lack, an act to 18 amend the Railroad Law, in relation to police 19 officers of a commuter railroad. 20 Senator Present, from the 21 Committee on Commerce, Economic Development and 22 Small Business, reports: 23 Senate Print 1929, by Senator 1451 1 Present, an act to amend the State Adminis 2 trative Procedure Act; 3 1930, by Senator Present, an act 4 to amend the State Administrative Procedure Act 5 and the Executive Law; 6 1931, by Senator Present, an act 7 to amend the State Administrative Procedure Act, 8 in relation to regulatory relief; 9 3073, by Senator Wright, an act 10 to amend the State Administrative Procedure Act, 11 in relation to requiring that agencies conduct 12 and include a formal cost; 13 3137, by Senator Wright, an act 14 to amend the State Administrative Procedure Act, 15 in relation to requiring that the state rules 16 not impose standards. 17 All bills reported directly for 18 third reading. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 20 objection, all bills are reported directly to 21 third reading. 22 Reports of select committees. 23 Communications and reports from 1452 1 state officers. 2 Motions and resolutions. The 3 Chair recognizes Senator Libous. 4 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Mr. 5 President. 6 I move the following bills be 7 discharged from their respective committees and 8 be recommitted with instructions to strike the 9 enacting clause: Senate Numbers 4824. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Said bill 11 will be recommitted, the enacting clause will be 12 stricken. 13 Senator Libous. 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: And on behalf of 15 Senator Volker, on page 10, I offer the 16 following amendments to Calendar Number 228, 17 Senate Print 5209, and ask that said bill retain 18 its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 20 Amendments to Calendar Number 228 are received, 21 adopted; the bill will retain its place on the 22 Third Reading Calendar. 23 The Chair recognizes Senator 1453 1 Seward. 2 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes, Mr. 3 President. On behalf of Senator Sears, on page 4 12, I offer the following amendments to Calendar 5 Number 248, Senate Print Number 3921, and ask 6 that the said bill retain its place on the Third 7 Reading Calendar. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 9 Amendments to Calendar Number 248 are received 10 and adopted; the bill will retain its place on 11 the Third Reading Calendar. 12 Senator Seward. 13 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes. On behalf 14 of Senator Johnson, on page number 6, I offer 15 the following amendments to Calendar Number 129, 16 Senate Print Number 1847, and ask that that bill 17 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 19 Amendments to Calendar 128 are received and 20 adopted; bill will retain its place on the Third 21 Reading Calendar. 22 Senator Skelos, we have a 23 substitution at the desk we'd like to read at 1454 1 this time if that's permissible. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Do the 3 substitutions. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 5 will read the substitution. 6 THE SECRETARY: On page 4, 7 Senator Wright moves to discharge from the 8 Committee on Transportation, Assembly Bill 1900B 9 and substitute it for the identical Calendar 10 Number 46. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 12 Substitution is ordered. 13 Senator Skelos. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 15 if we could adopt the Resolution Calendar in its 16 entirety except for Resolution Number 2531 which 17 I would ask be read in its entirety after we 18 adopt the Resolution Calendar. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 motion is to adopt the Resolution Calendar with 21 the exception of Resolution Number 2531. 22 All those in favor signify by 23 saying aye. 1455 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 Opposed nay. 3 (There was no response. ) 4 The Resolution Calendar is 5 adopted. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 7 recognize Senator Maltese. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Maltese. 10 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 11 with reference to Resolution J.L. 2467, honoring 12 Consul General Franco Mistretta, and J.L. 2468, 13 proclaiming the month of October as Italian 14 American History Month, that is open to all 15 co-sponsors, Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Skelos, do you want to have all of the members 18 placed on those resolutions? Are there members 19 who - 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 21 on Senator Maltese's resolutions, why don't we 22 let the members notify the desk if they wish to 23 be on it, and I believe also Senator Paterson is 1456 1 going to make a similar request. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All 3 right. 4 Senator Paterson. 5 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 6 on behalf of Senator Connor, we would like to 7 open up Resolution Number 2507 and, if you would 8 please recognize Senator Oppenheimer, she has a 9 resolution she would like to bring before the 10 Senate. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Oppenheimer. 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I'm here. 14 This is Resolution 2536. I think you have it at 15 the desk, right? Yes, please. Did it arrive at 16 the desk? O.K. Well, I'd like to make a - 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Oppenheimer, we have adopted Resolution Number 19 2536. It was on the Resolution Calendar. Are 20 you wishing to open it up for co-sponsorship? 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I would 22 like -- there you go. I would like to speak on 23 it for one moment and then open it to the entire 1457 1 body for co-sponsorship. 2 This resolution relates to the 3 Women's History Month and every year in New York 4 we set aside time to recognize the unique 5 contributions that women make, have made and are 6 making to New York State, and in -- in our 7 history though we have not been necessarily 8 recognized throughout our history, the fact is 9 that we have made mighty contributions to most 10 areas -- government, politics, business, the 11 arts, social change, science, literature, 12 religion, philanthropy -- and this opportunity 13 that comes this month is one that we should not 14 miss to -- to inform the general public about 15 what women have done in the past, to talk about 16 suffrage, to talk about the fight of 70 years 17 until we finally did get that in effect, to talk 18 about the strength of women supporting not only 19 themselves but their families, their communi 20 ties, working toward economic independence, 21 working towards personal security, civil 22 rights. 23 These are all things that it's an 1458 1 important thing that we discuss and this year in 2 particular, we have something that is unique to 3 this year and that is in 1996 the women in the 4 state wish to join with women throughout the 5 world to advance and implement in our own 6 communities, our towns, our villages, our cities 7 the Beijing plan of action for equality which 8 was endorsed by the United States at the Fourth 9 World Conference on Women which was held this 10 late summer-early fall in Beijing, and we want 11 to reaffirm our commitment not only to the women 12 of this country but to securing a full role, a 13 full place in society for women across the 14 world, around the world. 15 And so I would like this up 16 lifting message to be supported, if they're 17 interested, by all members of the New York State 18 Senate. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Oppenheimer, for that message trying to request 22 sponsorship. For the benefit of the members, 23 there have been four resolutions which have been 1459 1 opened to sponsorship that have been adopted. 2 There are two by Senator Maltese. Those are 3 2-4-6-7, 2467, 2-4-6-8, 2468; Senator Connor has 4 opened up sponsorship to 2507 and Senator 5 Oppenheimer is opening up sponsorship to 2536. 6 If you would so indicate to the desk that you 7 wish to co-sponsorship those members, they would 8 appreciate it. 9 The Chair recognizes Senator 10 Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 12 at this time, I believe Senator Connor has a 13 resolution at the desk. If we could have it 14 read in its entirety. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Ask the 16 Secretary to read, I believe it's Resolution 17 Number 2531, in its entirety. 18 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 19 Connor, Legislative Resolution Number 2531, 20 paying tribute to the Honorable Barbara Jordan 21 and Dr. Carter Woodson, upon the occasion of the 22 70 Anniversary of the Founding of Negro History 23 Week and the 20th Anniversary of Black History 1460 1 Month. 2 WHEREAS, as the month of February 3 draws to a close, let us pause for a moment in 4 our daily lives to commemorate the 70th Anniver 5 sary of the founding of Negro History Week, the 6 20th Anniversary of Black History Month and two 7 people whose immeasurable contributions deserve 8 recognition; and 9 WHEREAS, the son of former 10 slaves, Carter G. Woodson earned his doctorate 11 from Harvard University in 1912, where his 12 concern culminated that the contributions of 13 African-Americans would be forgotten without a 14 recorded history. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, 15 historian and scholar, established the 16 Association for the Study of Afro-American Life 17 and History and the Journal of Negro History; 18 and 19 WHEREAS, it was his profound 20 devotion to African-American history and his 21 work with the Amsterdam Action Association that 22 led Dr. Woodson 70 years ago to establish Negro 23 History Week in order to promote and encourage 1461 1 the study of African-American history, choosing 2 February because it coincided with the births of 3 Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass; and 4 WHEREAS, with this observance it 5 was Dr. Woodson's hope that all Americans would 6 be reminded of their own heritage while 7 developing a mutual respect for the ethnic roots 8 this country was founded upon. "It's great to 9 know your heritage and your past because it has 10 a bearing on your present and your future. It's 11 important these days to have at least one month 12 out of the year for that;" and 13 WHEREAS, 20 years ago, in honor 14 of Dr. Woodson and his celebrated work, 15 President Gerald Ford declared the entire month 16 of February as Black History Month; and 17 WHEREAS, this year Black History 18 Month would not be complete without a proper 19 tribute to the Honorable Barbara Jordan, another 20 child of February's dawning, and a resonant 21 voice for the Constitution, leaving us this 22 January 17, 1996 without our being able to say 23 goodbye and thank you; and 1462 1 WHEREAS, a woman who made history 2 herself, Barbara Charline Jordan was born into 3 poverty in 1936, received her law degree from 4 Boston University in 1959, was elected the first 5 African-American State Senator in Texas history 6 and then went on to become the first woman 7 elected to Congress, the first African-American 8 from Texas; and 9 WHEREAS, an outspoken woman with 10 undying strength, State Senator Jordan ascended 11 to the post of Speaker Pro Tem six years after 12 she won her first state election with the 13 support of President Lyndon B. Johnson. 14 Congresswoman Jordan was bestowed with a seat on 15 the House Judiciary Committee, her Freshman year 16 in Washington; and 17 WHEREAS, during the political 18 turmoil of 1974, as the nation questioned 19 government and its leadership, Congresswoman 20 Jordan urged the graduates of Howard University 21 not to surrender but to "Reaffirm what ought to 22 be, to get back to the truth. Get back to 23 what's honest; tell government to do that. 1463 1 Affirm the civil liberties of the people of this 2 country;" and 3 WHEREAS, in 1976, Congresswoman 4 Barbara Jordan once again created history when 5 she delivered the keynote address at the 6 Democratic National Convention, riveting her 7 audience on national television. "Many fear the 8 future. Many believe that their voices are 9 never heard, that we will cease to be one nation 10 and become instead a collection of interest 11 groups, each seeking to satisfy private wants. 12 More is required of public officials than 13 slogans and handshakes and press releases. More 14 is required. We must hold ourselves strictly 15 accountable. We must provide the people with a 16 vision of the future." A fine vision 17 Congresswoman Barbara Jordan has given us. 18 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED 19 that this legislative body pause in its 20 deliberations to pay tribute to the Honorable 21 Barbara Charline Jordan and Dr. Carter G. 22 Woodson for their lifelong contributions and to 23 commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the founding 1464 1 of Negro History Week and the 20th Anniversary 2 of Black History Month; and 3 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that 4 copies of this resolution, suitably engrossed, 5 be transmitted to the Honorable George E. 6 Pataki, to Mrs. Arylenne Jordan, with our 7 deepest respect, and to the Association for the 8 Study of Afro-American Life and History, 9 acknowledging that we have not forgotten. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 11 recognizes Senator Connor on the resolution. 12 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. 14 As Senator Skelos noted, this 15 resolution, of course, is open to sponsorship by 16 the entire Senate. 17 I don't know about my colleagues, 18 but I think one of the things that I've enjoyed 19 in these past years has been an increasing focus 20 on Black History Month and you see on television 21 the public service vignettes pointing out some 22 of the most notable accomplishments that our 23 African-American fellow citizens have made to 1465 1 this country. 2 I've certainly found it 3 edifying. Whether -- and it's certainly been a 4 vehicle, and I'm sure when Dr. Woodson first 5 proposed it some 70 years ago, given the climate 6 of the times, he aspired to a week to commemor 7 ate African-American history. We certainly 8 realize as more and more of our fellow Americans 9 became aware of historic contributions and 10 became aware that our pantheon of heroes in this 11 country included many, many people of African 12 American ancestry, that a week was woefully 13 inadequate to cover the heroics and 14 contributions from Crispus Attics to notable 15 Americans who achieved in science, education, 16 through the heroes that have been now recognized 17 in the war between the states and indeed in 18 every conflict from the very beginning, from the 19 Revolution through our most recent conflicts and 20 indeed contributions in the arts, music, 21 academia, all of which for many, many decades 22 because of the sad history of racism in this 23 country's earlier history were ignored in the 1466 1 textbooks, were ignored in the textbooks many of 2 us who are as old as me were given to study in 3 school. 4 And now we know so much more 5 about not just African-Americans, we know so 6 much more about American history because of the 7 efforts that have gone forth to commemorate this 8 wonderful Black History Month, and I think all 9 of us, I dare say there's no one of either party 10 who doesn't recognize that in Barbara Jordan we 11 have a unique American. 12 I remember reading years ago her 13 constant companion was a dog-eared copy of the 14 Constitution that she always carried in her 15 pocket or in her bag. She was certainly a woman 16 of remarkable accomplishment, compassion, 17 certainly one of the most articulate speakers I 18 think any of us have heard in the political 19 forum. 20 She defied stereotypes about 21 women, about African-Americans, about 22 Democrats. I remember some issues I dare say 23 she wouldn't be characterized as liberal on. 1467 1 She had many conservative principles as part of 2 the mix of what made up her political 3 philosophy. But the one thing that she had that 4 I think we all share is a devotion -- I hope we 5 could all emulate is a devotion to the 6 Constitution and to due process and to the finer 7 instincts that all Americans have always given 8 at least acceptance to striving toward, and so 9 her passing certainly was a loss for her 10 country, for the entire country. 11 I think it's remarkable, if you 12 recall, that probably at the height of her 13 influence in Congress, she hadn't really been 14 there really that very long, but she was one of 15 the most respected members, she decided to 16 retire and pursue an academic career and still 17 maintained her involvement in public affairs 18 from that perspective. 19 So again, as we pause in this 20 month of February to commemorate the enormous 21 contributions that African-Americans have made 22 to American history, we also remember a recently 23 departed American hero, Barbara Jordan. 1468 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I 2 understand, Senator Onorato, you were looking 3 for the floor for an introduction. 4 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes, Mr. 5 President. 6 I know it's not the usual custom 7 to introduce people in the chamber, but today we 8 have a group, the Jewish War Veterans of the 9 state of New York came up to Albany to address 10 the joint session of the Assembly and the Senate 11 regarding their legislative program and joining 12 with us today in the gallery is the chairman and 13 the president of the Jewish War Veterans, Mr. 14 William Melnick and William Weinstein. 15 I'd appreciate your recognizing 16 them, Mr. President, and welcoming them to our 17 chamber. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 19 Gentlemen, we welcome you to the chamber, hope 20 you're enjoying the proceedings, hope you're 21 enjoying your time if Albany. Thank you for 22 coming and sharing some time with us today. 23 Senator Gold, why do you rise? 1469 1 SENATOR GOLD: Can we go on 2 Senator Connor's resolution. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: That's 4 correct. Senator Paterson has the floor ahead 5 of you, Senator Gold. 6 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. I wanted to 7 make sure that that happened. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I knew 9 that you did. 10 The Chair recognizes Senator 11 Paterson. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Yielding to 13 Senator Gold, Mr. President, but he told me to 14 keep speaking. 15 Mr. President, I want to thank 16 Senator Connor for his presentation and just to 17 -- looking at the other resolutions that we 18 have adopted here today, Senator Velella and I 19 agree that if we had an African-American woman 20 of Italian descent, then we would fully 21 appreciate all of the history and culture that 22 we have celebrated and adopted this afternoon. 23 The African-American History 1470 1 Month was founded actually -- was actually 2 started as Negro History Week 70 years ago, and 3 I wanted to dispel the feelings that some 4 African-Americans have that, among the other 5 slights that have occurred in American history 6 that the month of February which has fewer days, 7 was actually chosen to be Black History Month. 8 It was not. The reason that February was chosen 9 was because a particular week in February marks 10 the time of the birth of Frederick Douglass in 11 1811 and his death in 1895. 12 What we wish to do is to 13 celebrate those African-American leaders, both 14 the living and the dead, who struggled 15 courageously and unremittingly throughout the 16 past few centuries to build a viable national 17 movement that was directed in the area of 18 creating economic, political and social 19 justice. But what Senator Connor talked about 20 was actually not African-American history when 21 he talked about what he read in the history 22 books and what he now is able to read because of 23 our affirmation and our study of African 1471 1 Americans in this country. 2 When we celebrate African 3 American history, Mr. President, we are really 4 celebrating American history because we are 5 celebrating that part of our livelihood and our 6 lives throughout the past few centuries that 7 have heretofore been deleted from the actual 8 presentation. 9 The founding Constitution in 1777 10 which included Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 11 which was the provision that provided for 12 slavery and also allowed for the Africans that 13 were in this country at that time to be counted 14 as three-fifths of an individual; also Article 15 IV, Section 2, Clause 3 which allows for the 16 recovery of runaway slaves, although in my 17 edition of the Constitution it says in a rather 18 scholarly way that this section probably has no 19 meaning after the passage of the Thirteenth, 20 Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment, but it gives 21 us an idea of what actually existed in our 22 country in its inception to such an extent that 23 in the year 1820, writing in the Edinburgh 1472 1 Review, the great British wit, Sidney Smith, 2 once advised that "which of the tyrranies of 3 Europe systematically tortured and enslaved 4 one-sixth of its population." Also Thomas 5 Jefferson, writing in 1820 in response to Sidney 6 Smith, wrote, never did he imagine so much 7 travail from this source. 8 In the original draft of the 9 Declaration of Independence, slavery was 10 described as the greatest woe to human beings, 11 but because of a coalition between New England 12 slave traders and southern planters, that 13 version didn't make the final cut, and so the 14 first hundred years of American history was 15 really dedicated to a resolution of what to do 16 about African-Americans from the Louisiana 17 Purchase in 1803 to the Missouri Compromise in 18 1820, which allowed for slavery north of the 19 36th parallel in this country, what to do about 20 the African-American was the founding and 21 continuing theme until the compromise 1850 when 22 California was entered as a free state, Texas as 23 a slave state, Utah and New Mexico as neutral 1473 1 territories, and slavery was abolished in the 2 District of Columbia. 3 Finally in 1854, there was a 4 tremendous controversy over that compromise 5 which really allowed for slavery north of the 6 36th parallel, but that was then affirmed in the 7 famous Supreme Court case of Dred Scott. Many 8 people believe that the Dred Scott case ruled 9 that slavery would now be allowed north of the 10 36th parallel. That had actually already been 11 decided five years before in a case called 12 Slater -- Strater v. Graham. 13 What was said in 1857 in the Dred 14 Scott case that since Dred Scott was not 15 considered a human but rather three-fifths of 16 one, that he did not have a right to sue in a 17 federal court any more than a desk or a 18 microphone or a memorandum would, and so it is 19 this historical celebration that gives us an 20 idea of how far we've come in our society but 21 also how far we have yet to go. 22 Some years ago I learned about a 23 burial ground that is approximately at the 1474 1 confluence of Broadway and Duane and Reade and 2 Elk Street in lower Manhattan. It houses those 3 individuals who lived and were buried in New 4 York City of African descent from approximately 5 1710 to 1795; it is the oldest African burial 6 grounds every noted in this country. It is also 7 the only burial grounds that houses the remains 8 of individuals who were indigenous to the 9 African continent, and so by the study of that 10 burial grounds, we were able to learn what of 11 the actual West African countries that African 12 Americans are indigenous. Previously it was 13 just thought, but through the archaeological 14 study from that burial grounds, we now know that 15 Ghana and Angola -- what is now Angola, Nigeria, 16 and also Mozambique were the original homes of 17 the Africans who were then transported, 40 18 million of them of which only 23 million 19 survived, to what is the United States and then 20 were buried in lower New York. 21 We also learned one other thing 22 about Africans that came to this country through 23 their burial grounds, that although we'd always 1475 1 learned about the slave trade 72 percent of the 2 remains found in that burial grounds are those 3 of children, so what they were actually doing to 4 conserve space was putting the smallest people 5 they could in those ships so it even adds to the 6 tremendous torture that we knew that those who 7 were brought to this country endured. 8 And so the concept of African 9 American History Month, which is not only the 10 celebration of great African-Americans in this 11 country who have contributed to our society, but 12 it is also the affirmation of real history in 13 this country for all Americans. It's something 14 that not only gives us an idea of what our 15 history was, but really compels us to go forward 16 to build that national movement, both men and 17 women of all ethnicities, so that we will fully 18 be able to say the Pledge of Allegiance and know 19 that it is the land of the free and the home of 20 the brave. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 23 recognizes Senator Gold on the resolution. 1476 1 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you, Mr. 2 President. 3 Mr. President, as everybody in 4 this chamber, I know, knows, freedom of speech 5 has a price. It's not easy, and that means that 6 if you believe in a freedom of speech, it's not 7 acceptable speech and that people can be out 8 there ranting and raving. They can lie. We 9 have racists out there and it can be getting 10 into your gut, and they've got to talk, but our 11 only defense is to talk back, tell the truth and 12 to educate. 13 Now, having said that, I want to 14 really thank the New York Times for something 15 that was in the paper this last Sunday. If you 16 read the Magazine Section of the New York Times 17 Sunday, there was an article that had to, in my 18 opinion, just send shivers up the spine of 19 everybody. 20 It was an article about some of 21 the racist organizations in America and their 22 attempt to spread the white supremacy 23 philosophies and how they have, many of them 1477 1 have gotten away from the camps with the rifles 2 and the guns and the military which has 3 obviously gotten them some "skinheads", et 4 cetera, over the years, but how they have 5 decided that the way to really encourage and 6 increase their numbers was to stay up with 7 modern times, and they said, Well, what are the 8 youth of America doing today? The youth of 9 America getting excited, like everybody else, 10 about the Internet and computers, and one of 11 these jerks now has a place on the Internet, a 12 page. He plays in a rock group and that music 13 is white supremist, and the article pointed out 14 that, in the last four months, some of these 15 groups have made greater inroads with our youth 16 than they've done in the last four years. 17 I think that one of the 18 importances of Black History Month is that it 19 gets us talking. It gets us talking about the 20 truth, and that's the only defense we have in a 21 country where we cherish free speech. You can 22 not stop these morons from talking. You cannot 23 stop the revisionists from talking about the 1478 1 Holocaust as if it didn't happen. You can not 2 stop white supremists from the nonsense that 3 they say about our African-American brothers and 4 sisters; but we have to wake up to the fact that 5 these scientific advances are for us also, and I 6 think that the parents in our state and 7 throughout America have to understand that just 8 as you don't want your sons and daughters 9 walking around at two, three in the morning, 10 hangin' out in bad places, you'd better watch 11 what's goin' on on that Internet and what is 12 coming into your home. 13 Now, we have had legislation, 14 people talk about pornography, and it depends 15 upon how you define "pornography". To me 16 someone who preaches hatred against another 17 individual because of race, creed, color, 18 national origin, et cetera, is pornographic, and 19 you -- you've got to understand that it's coming 20 into the homes. It's out there on the Internet 21 and as part of Black History Month, which I 22 think is important and I'm proud that my leader 23 is carrying this resolution, I think one of the 1479 1 things we ought to be doing as we go around and 2 talk to our constituents, is to alert them that 3 whatever the computer was doing five years ago, 4 whatever it was doing six months ago, is old 5 news today. 6 There was -- I think it was Bill 7 Gates, but I'm not sure, said that "whatever I 8 said an hour ago is old hat already." That's 9 how quickly this computer age is moving, and the 10 -- and the communities have to be alerted to 11 the fact that those who spew evil and racial 12 hatred and religious hatred are getting their 13 hands on the Internet. They're getting their 14 hands in on these computers, and it's coming 15 into our homes, and just as you would be careful 16 in terms of who your children would deal with in 17 the street and the kind of evils that are out 18 there for your children, you must -- we must 19 preach and tell our people that this is now 20 coming into our homes. 21 So I think that's something 22 affirmative we can do. Very often we pass 23 resolutions and we pay respect to those who are 1480 1 out there working. I think this is something 2 that we ourselves can be a part of too and 3 during Black History Month, as we make our 4 rounds to our political clubs, to our 5 communities, I think that it's a message that we 6 can help to carry. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 8 recognizes Senator Marchi on the resolution. 9 SENATOR MARCHI: I had just two 10 points, one historical in reference to what 11 happened in those early years of the republic. 12 Jefferson abided the -- something that he 13 personally deeply resented. Evidence of that, I 14 think is the Northwest Ordinance where he - 15 that he formulated. It was basically a 16 Jefferson document, and this addressed the 17 question of the development of the Northwest 18 Ordinance in all those states north of the Ohio 19 River right out to Minnesota, and he forbade 20 slavery in that document. 21 And the second thing, I was going 22 to address the point that Senator Gold made 23 except he did it more completely and more 1481 1 effectively. He -- you couldn't have said it 2 better. It couldn't have been stated better. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: If you 4 want to talk, Senator Waldon we're still on the 5 resolution. 6 SENATOR WALDON: Appreciate that, 7 Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Waldon, on the resolution. 10 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you, Mr. 11 President, my colleagues. I ran outside to get 12 some information from Barbara Waldon who, all of 13 you who know me, is the smartest person in my 14 family, and I felt that some of the things said 15 today were great in terms of the history of this 16 country and how we have disparately treated 17 those who arrived here in the holds of ships, 18 who suffocated from the stench of their 19 excrement and were physically challenged by the 20 fact that they were stacked like cordwood in the 21 holds of these slave ships; but I hope you will 22 recognize the beauty of what I'm about to say 23 because what I'm about to share with you are 1482 1 some accomplishments of our people, despite the 2 manner in which we arrived on these shores and 3 despite the deprivation that we suffered in the 4 earlier hundreds of years that we were here when 5 we had no right to our religion, no right to our 6 language, no right to our freedom, no right to 7 marry, no right to own anything, no right to 8 even be called by the names that were our names 9 in the country from which we originated. 10 Despite all of that, these 11 people, these African-Americans, those from the 12 "darkest continent", without language, without 13 religion, without even clothes sometimes on 14 their backs, birthed and gave inspiration to 15 children who did things like this: 16 The shoes that you have on your 17 feet are the result of black genius, a guy named 18 Jan Meisliger, who created the shoe lace. 19 The automatic transmission in the 20 car that you drove here today was the result of 21 the genius of Richard Spikes. He -- and has the 22 patent or had the patent for the transmission in 23 your car and automatic gear shift. 1483 1 Everyone has heard of the real 2 McCoy. He revolutionized the train industry in 3 this nation because at one time trains could go 4 so far they had to stop and, by hand, oil the 5 mechanisms of the train until this brother 6 invented the lubrication cup. 7 When you drove here this morning, 8 I'm sure you have had to stop at a red light or 9 go through a green light. That was invented by 10 a black man. 11 If you're like me and you can 12 look at me and tell that I have eaten too much 13 in my life -- I used to be skinny -- potato 14 chips were invented by a black man. Ice cream 15 was the result of the genius of a black man. 16 The entire industry of whaling was made greater 17 by the toggle harpoon which was created by a 18 black man. 19 If you eat the ice cream, you 20 have to put in in a refrigerator these days. 21 Refrigeration was the result of the genius of a 22 black man. 23 Would we be able to go to 1484 1 Washington D.C., and enjoy the way it is laid 2 out if it had not been for Benjamin Baniker, a 3 young man who had a photographic memory and 4 memorized the plans of L'Enfant when he decided 5 to leave this country in a fit of pique. 6 The lemon squeezer, the folding 7 bed, the fountain pen for you, those of you who 8 still use Mont Blanc, the fountain pen was 9 created by a black man. The rotary engine, and 10 it goes on and on and on. The gas mask which 11 saved thousands upon thousands of lives despite 12 color, in the first World War, was the result of 13 Garrett Morgan's genius, and then there are 14 things like blood plasma and a whole host of 15 other things. 16 So it ain't just about being able 17 to be like Mike and jump higher than everybody 18 else. It ain't just about being to be like 19 James Brown and to sing and dance in a way that 20 no one else can. It's not just about being like 21 Charlie Parker and, as my colleague, Senator 22 Seabrook who plays that act, the saxophone, in 23 terms of our musicality. It's not in terms of 1485 1 being like James Earl Jones, who is just a great 2 actor. It's not even about people who sit in 3 chambers like ours across this country. 4 The way we are able to live today 5 in these United States is the direct result of a 6 people who were deprived but despite that 7 deprivation rose up and made our lives better. 8 I thank you, Mr. President. I 9 thank you, my colleagues, for listening to me. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 question is on the resolution. All those in 12 favor signify by saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed nay. 15 (There was no response. ) 16 The resolution is unanimously 17 adopted. 18 Senator Skelos, that brings us to 19 the calendar. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Mr. 21 President, if we could take up the 22 non-controversial calendar. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 1486 1 will read the non-controversial calendar. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 46, substituted earlier today, by member of the 4 Assembly Bragman, Assembly Print 1900B. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay aside for 6 the day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 8 bill aside for the day. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 214, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 3480A, an 11 act to amend the Administrative Code of the city 12 of New York and the Emergency Tenant Protection 13 Act of 1974. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay aside. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 16 bill aside. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 216, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 3540, an 19 act to amend the Emergency Tenant Protection 20 Act. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 23 bill aside. 1487 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 220, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 425, an act 3 to amend the Business Corporation Law, in 4 relation to corporate finance, proxies, powers 5 of directory and mergers. 6 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay aside. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 8 bill aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 225, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 4746B, an 11 act in relation to authorizing the city of 12 Beacon, county of Dutchess, to opt out of the 13 provisions of Chapter 602 of the laws of 1993. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 15 will read the 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 58. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 23 is passed. 1488 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 230, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 5967, an act 3 to amend Chapter 145 - 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 5 bill aside. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 231, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 5994, an 8 act to amend the Education Law and the Public 9 Authorities Law, in relation to Dormitory 10 Authority financing of certain school 11 facilities. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 13 will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 241, by Senator Saland, Senate Print Number 1489 1 2111, an act to amend the Executive Law and the 2 Family Court Act, in relation to support of 3 children in the Division for Youth. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 5 will read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 7 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 247, by Senator Sears, Senate Print 1355C, an 16 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 17 in relation to prohibiting the feeding of deer 18 within 300 feet of a public highway. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 20 will read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 22 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 1490 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 252, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print Number 8 1740, an act to amend the Executive Law and the 9 Penal Law, in relation to payment of a fee by 10 persons sentenced to probation. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 13 bill aside. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 259, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 539A, an act 16 to amend the Education Law, in relation to 17 student refunds of certain financial aid grants. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 19 will read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 23 roll. 1491 1 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 4 is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 264, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print Number 7 3269, an act to amend the Education Law, in 8 relation to the issuance of limited permits in 9 dentistry. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 11 will read the 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 58. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 19 is passed. 20 Senator Skelos, that completes 21 the non-controversial calendar. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: I wonder if we 23 could take up the controversial calendar at this 1492 1 time. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 3 will read the controversial calendar. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 214, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 3480A, an 6 act to amend the Administrative Code of the city 7 of New York and the Emergency Tenant Protection 8 Act of 1974. 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 10 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. This is - 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Leibell, the floor for an explanation. 14 SENATOR LEIBELL: This is a bill 15 that we had seen last year, and it's an act to 16 amend the Administrative Code of the city of New 17 York and the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 18 1974 in relation to determining primary 19 residency. 20 Currently, in order to be covered 21 by rent regulations statutes, New York State law 22 requires that a residential unit be maintained 23 as a tenant's primary residence. 1493 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Leichter, why do you rise? 4 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, is 5 Calendar 259 still at the desk? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is it at 7 the desk? Yes, it is. 8 SENATOR LEICHTER: Could I ask 9 that we reconsider the vote by which that bill 10 passed, please. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Leibell, will you excuse an interruption? 13 SENATOR LEIBELL: Yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Leichter, why don't we continue with this. 16 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yeah. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: At my 18 direction, we'll take up the motion up to 19 reconsider the vote by which the bill passed 20 this house after this matter. 21 SENATOR LEICHTER: O.K. Thank 22 you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1494 1 Leibell to conclude the explanation. 2 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you. 3 Present case law allows for the 4 inspection of tax returns in determing whether 5 the unit should be eligible for coverage under 6 the applicable rent protection regulations. 7 This bill provides guides for the courts in 8 determining whether or not a person's primary 9 residence is in New York State. It is a method 10 of discovery for the courts. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 12 recognizes Senator Paterson. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 14 if Senator Leibell would be kind enough to yield 15 for a question. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Leibell, do you yield to Senator Paterson? 18 SENATOR LEIBELL: Yes, I do. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 Senator yields. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, what 22 are the other factors the courts consider right 23 now in the determination of the primary 1495 1 residency under the emergency protection laws? 2 SENATOR LEIBELL: What other - 3 I'm sorry, what other elements? 4 SENATOR PATERSON: In other 5 words, you want to limit it to where the 6 personal income tax is filed, and what I want to 7 know is where it stands right now. 8 SENATOR LEIBELL: No, Senator, 9 this does not change any other body of law other 10 than to state that the tax return can be -- can 11 be used to establish primary residency. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: What I'm 13 asking is, is there anything else that can be 14 used to determine the primary residency right 15 now? 16 SENATOR LEIBELL: I think, 17 frankly, there's a body of case law that is 18 pretty diffuse and all over the place, frankly, 19 and this is intended to provide legislative 20 guidance for the courts. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 22 Senator. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1496 1 Paterson. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: This singular 3 identification of the filing of the income tax, 4 as I understand it, was overruled on December 5 28th -- not overruled, but at least it was in 6 that particular case on December 28th, 1995 7 involving the case of the Federal Home Loan 8 Mortgage Association against the Department of 9 Housing and Community Renewal. 10 How can we pass this legislation 11 with a -- an edict from the federal court 12 sitting on it such that if anyone goes to court, 13 even if we pass this legislation, it's likely 14 the legislation would be -- would be defeated? 15 SENATOR LEIBELL: I'm not - 16 Senator -- counsel advises me you may be 17 thinking in terms of the next bill that's up 18 with respect to that case. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Paterson. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: That's because 22 I'm thinking ahead, Senator. 23 SENATOR LEIBELL: It's a good 1497 1 trait, Senator. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Paterson, you still have the floor. 4 SENATOR PATERSON: Well, then, so 5 you're saying a court of competent jurisdiction. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Are you 7 asking Senator Leibell, Senator Paterson, to 8 continue to yield? 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Leibell, do you continue to yield? 12 SENATOR LEIBELL: Yes, I do. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 continues to yield. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: Then you're 16 saying that a court of competent jurisdiction 17 would only view the personal income tax so that 18 individuals, for instance, that have other 19 residences around the country and who are likely 20 to not spend that much time in New York and, 21 therefore, it is definite that even though they 22 might have a driver's license or they might have 23 other identifications in New York, that it's 1498 1 clear that they don't spend that much time 2 there, that they're actually living in other 3 places, and this is - 4 SENATOR LEIBELL: Senator, this 5 does not attempt to change the law in any way. 6 The -- other than to establish a guideline for 7 the courts. What we are attempting to do here 8 is to determine a method to establish clearly 9 where a primary residency is. 10 If you're saying to me, in fact, 11 that a person -- and I think what you're 12 alluding to, Senator is that somebody may, in 13 fact, be living in Florida and may not, in fact, 14 have a primary residency in New York State. 15 That's what we're attempting to deal with. 16 If, in fact, there is a housing 17 crisis in this state, it certainly is not going 18 to be addressed very effectively by having 19 people who do not have a primary residency here 20 or a need for one, to take our rent controlled 21 and stabilized apartments. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 23 Senator. 1499 1 Then, if the guidelines are 2 already set forth, what is the purpose of this 3 legislation? In other words, what is this going 4 to add to what exists right now in terms of 5 establishing of guidelines that's going to 6 enlighten us based on how we are going to 7 appraise where the residency is? 8 SENATOR LEIBELL: I think this 9 would be fairly clear from a reading of the bill 10 that a tax return can be used to establish that 11 primary residency. It certainly is a very 12 convenient way to do it, a very logical way to 13 do it. It's a method to make sure that a fraud 14 does not exist within this system, and this 15 would go to clarify what is or appears to be a 16 good deal of confusion from some of the 17 decisions that have been rendered by various 18 courts. 19 As this legislative body does on 20 a continuous basis, we try and clarify the law 21 and make it such that there will be no confusion 22 within our various courts. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1500 1 Paterson. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you very 3 much. Mr. President, on the bill. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Paterson, on the bill. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: And thank you, 7 Senator Leibell, for your response. 8 SENATOR LEIBELL: You're 9 welcome. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: The reason 11 that I have a problem supporting this bill is 12 that even in the legislation itself, Senator 13 Leibell indicates that the timely filing of 14 income taxes is not a presumption of residency, 15 and so to restrict the definition of residency 16 in a seasonable period to just that filing is - 17 our feeling is not going to really establish 18 residency any more than it does right now and 19 may actually serve to confuse the issue even 20 more. 21 Thank you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 23 any other Senator wishing to speak on Calendar 1501 1 Number 214? 2 Hearing none, the Secretary will 3 read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 7 roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 10 the results when tabulated. 11 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 12 the negative on Calendar Number 214 are Senators 13 Abate, Babbush, Connor, Espada, Gold, Gonzalez, 14 Goodman, Kruger, Leichter, Markowitz, Nanula, 15 Onorato, Paterson, Seabrook, Smith, Waldon, also 16 Senator Lachman. Ayes 42, nays 17. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is passed. 19 Senator Leichter. Senator 20 Leichter, you had a motion relative to Calendar 21 Number 259 which had passed the house. Motion 22 to reconsider the vote by which the bill passed 23 the house? 1502 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Ask the 3 Secretary to call the roll on reconsideration. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 259, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 539A, an act 6 to amend the Education Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Leichter. 9 SENATOR LEICHTER: Would you lay 10 that bill aside, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay 12 Calendar Number 259 -- or call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll on 14 reconsideration. ) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 59. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 17 bill aside. 18 Secretary will continue to call 19 the controversial calendar. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 216, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print Number 22 3540, an act to amend the Emergency Tenant 23 Protection Act of 1974 and the Administrative 1503 1 Code of the city of New York. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 3 will read the last section. 4 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Hannon, an explanation of Calendar Number 216 7 has been asked for by Senator Paterson. 8 SENATOR HANNON: Under the 9 provisions of this proposal, when there has been 10 a foreclosure of a building that originally had 11 been under rent stabilization, lost that status 12 when it became a co-op, and then thereafter 13 there is a foreclosure on the cooperative loan, 14 it changes the law so that that building does 15 not revert back to being a cooperative. It 16 remains in its new status as non-controlled. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Paterson. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 20 earlier I tried to take a court decision that 21 applies to this particular bill and adapt it to 22 anything I wanted it to since there had been so 23 many -- so few court decisions that I've agreed 1504 1 with, I thought I'd try to expand it. 2 If Senator Hannon would yield for 3 a question. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Hannon, do you yield? 6 SENATOR HANNON: Yes, Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Hannon yields. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Since there 11 does appear to be a ruling in that particular 12 case, Senator, where the court speaks to that 13 exact issue and it is a federal court and says 14 that in that case it would be just the reverse 15 of what you're proposing, that the property 16 would go back into rent stabilization, I just 17 wanted to ask you what the merit of this bill 18 would be and whether or not you think it could 19 stand a court challenge since there's already a 20 court ruling on the record? 21 SENATOR HANNON: That court 22 ruling was one of two that are on this that 23 interpret the law correctly. What we're doing 1505 1 here is changing the law. We're changing the 2 law because, when this original law was written 3 we really did not have the entire process of 4 converting buildings into co-ops and the 5 language was never changed. All that the courts 6 did was say this is what the current law 7 states. 8 Why I'm proposing this is that 9 that laugh is no longer good public policy. It 10 inhibits the ability of people to get a 11 cooperative. It actually stops the fact that 12 there will have been -- it stops the process of 13 any bank ever granting a loan on a building that 14 would go into cooperative status because they 15 know that that loan will be valueless should it 16 ever go into foreclosure. They know that the 17 amount of money that would come into that 18 building would go back to the prior level of 19 rent stabilization. It would not even be 20 ticking while the building was in cooperative 21 status, so what you do unless you change the law 22 and adjust to current public housing policy is 23 that you have something that doesn't make any 1506 1 sense and you've effectively repealed the whole 2 co-op'ing process of changing from a building 3 under rent stabilization into a building that's 4 a co-op. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Paterson. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 8 Senator Present, and thank Senator Hannon for 9 his response. On the bill. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Paterson, on the bill. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator Hannon 13 made a very good point involving the cooperative 14 process, but between the cooperative process and 15 the interest that the public - 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Paterson, excuse me just a minute. We've got 18 quite a bit of noise here. There's a group of 19 our colleagues who appear to be celebrating the 20 passage of the last resolution still. I'd ask 21 them to calm down the conversation so that we 22 could hear Senator Paterson. 23 Senator Paterson. 1507 1 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 2 on this particular bill, between the -- those 3 two issues which are being addressed, it is the 4 latter, the issue of housing for the public and 5 particularly in the areas that would be most 6 affected by this that we would presume to 7 favor. 8 What Senator Hannon may say is 9 correct about the co-op'ing process and about 10 the fact that it would be very hard for banks to 11 establish this mortgage, but what is a greater 12 problem in our society right now is the 13 availability of housing; and so what this will 14 simply do is just lower the pool, lower the 15 stock of housing that would become available. 16 The public policy that the court ruled in the 17 issue involving the Federal Home Loan Mortgage 18 Association v. DHCR was establishing a public 19 policy that we think should continue. 20 It's going to serve a lot more 21 people, a lot of people who -- more people who 22 have fewer options than the banks, particularly 23 in this day and age, to receive housing and for 1508 1 that reason, we recommend that this bill not be 2 passed. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Hannon, on the bill. 5 SENATOR HANNON: Yes, Mr. 6 President. 7 I am, with all due deference, in 8 sharp disagreement with the policy enunciated by 9 Senator Paterson. I am in favor of there being 10 more housing of a good quality, of a stock 11 that's maintained, and you're only going to get 12 that if you have the flow of capital into that 13 market, if you have people willing to lend to 14 purchasers who want to buy, whether to buy the 15 whole building or buy their unit, be it a 16 cooperative or a condominium and so long as we 17 have these artificial controls over the supply, 18 we're not going to have the people willing to 19 lend the money. The money is going to go 20 elsewhere; 49 other states, hundreds of 21 thousands of other municipalities, the money 22 will go elsewhere. 23 We won't obviously get a chance 1509 1 to deal with that major public policy until next 2 year, but I think the goals are there but doing 3 it in a regulated way, doing it in a controlled 4 way, doesn't work. It works in reverse, and so 5 I would think doing it this way, this little 6 part of the world, would help immensely. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 9 any other Senator wishing to speak on Calendar 10 Number 216? 11 Hearing none, the Secretary will 12 read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 16 roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 19 the results when tabulated. 20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 21 the negative on Calendar Number 216 are Senators 22 Abate, Babbush, Connor, Espada, Gold, Gonzalez, 23 Goodman, Kruger, Lachman, Leichter, Markowitz, 1510 1 Mendez, Montgomery, Nanula, Onorato, 2 Oppenheimer, Padavan, Paterson, Santiago, 3 Seabrook, Smith and Waldon. Ayes 38, nays 22. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 5 is passed. 6 Secretary will continue to call 7 the controversial calendar. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 220, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 425, an act 10 to amend the Business Corporation Law, in 11 relation to corporate finance. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Leichter, why do you rise? 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes. Mr. 15 President, on the bill. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Leichter, on the bill. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: This is a very 19 significant bill, and I would hope people would 20 focus on it. 21 Now, last year, I see that it 22 passed unanimously. I don't know if I was in 23 the chamber. I well might have voted for it, 1511 1 but this year I've had a chance to look at it 2 and I would really urge all the members to look 3 at it because I think that this bill goes in the 4 wrong direction on something that is really very 5 fundamental to the American economic system and 6 that is corporate democracy, seeing the 7 shareholders, the people who own corporations 8 have a voice in the overall management of that 9 corporation and that they can protect their 10 interests. 11 Now, I think all of us have read 12 and if your reaction was the same as mine, with 13 some dismay, about the very large corporate 14 payments, remuneration that goes to chief 15 executive officers and other top corporate 16 officials, payments of millions and millions of 17 dollars annually, far in excess of what their 18 counterparts are paid in Japan or Germany. 19 But it's not only the big profit 20 able corporations. The Times had an article and 21 I don't know how many of you saw it, of 22 corporate officers of medium size, of small 23 corporations, they were losing money but they 1512 1 were paying themselves millions of dollars in 2 compensation. 3 Now, this bill will make it 4 harder for shareholders to protect the interests 5 of all of the owners of that corporation. 6 One of the things that this does, 7 which concerns me, and maybe Senator Skelos will 8 want to comment on it, but it allows directors 9 to set their own options and their own rights. 10 Can you imagine what sort of a raid that's going 11 to be where these directors will provide that 12 directors may have options to purchase a certain 13 number of shares at a certain price and that 14 price maybe will turn out to be very much lower 15 than the market price at the time that they 16 exercise their option. 17 Now, I've got no problem if the 18 shareholders want to say, "I want to give that 19 sort of compensation to the directors." That's 20 fine. It's their corporation and, frankly, many 21 shareholders have approved these enormously 22 large corporate remunerations. But why take 23 away the power, the power of the shareholders, 1513 1 to protect their interests? Why give directors 2 the right to fix their own options? I find that 3 just a -- a mistake, particularly at a time when 4 we have this really greed capitalism on the part 5 of top corporate officers. 6 You know, one of the best things 7 that can happen to you financially now is to be 8 fired from a corporation, because these golden 9 parachutes that these corporate officers write. 10 We had a former not a colleague but somebody 11 that some of us worked with, Bob Morgado, he had 12 the good fortune to be fired from Time-Warner 13 and his compensation for being fired was $46 14 million. That was the golden parachute that had 15 been set. 16 Now, it's going to be that much 17 more difficult under this bill for corporate 18 shareholders to see that these sort of excesses 19 don't occur. For instance, the bill dilutes 20 really the shareholders' control of the 21 corporation. It removes the shareholder 22 approval requirement for an increase or decrease 23 in the number of preferred shares, issuance of 1514 1 stock rights or options to directors and 2 directors' loans. 3 That's another thing, the 4 directors can make themselves loans and at 5 probably very favorable terms. The bill reduces 6 the required shareholder approval percentage 7 from two-thirds to majority for significant 8 corporate decisions, including amendments to the 9 certificate of incorporation, merger or 10 consolidation of the corporation. 11 With all of the acquisitions and 12 takeovers that are occurring, you certainly 13 don't want to make it more difficult for 14 shareholders to try to protect their interests 15 and, as we know, many of these mergers are 16 worked out where corporations or corporate 17 officers work out their compensations and their 18 arrangements and very frequently the only 19 protection that shareholders have is that they 20 can vote to disapprove the merger. 21 It also reduces the shareholder 22 approved percentage for sale of most of the 23 corporation assets, share exchanges and 1515 1 dissolution of the corporation. 2 I know the argument is going to 3 be made, well, we need this for business and we 4 want corporations in the state -- first of all, 5 it doesn't matter whether a corporation is 6 incorporated in Delaware or it's incorporated in 7 the Cayman Islands or Luxembourg, and so on. 8 What counts is where it has its plants, where it 9 has its facilities. Does it employ New Yorkers? 10 And it can do that with a Delaware charter or a 11 New York charter. That really means absolutely 12 nothing. 13 The argument is also made, well, 14 it's hard. We want to attract the best people 15 to be directors and unless you give them a lot 16 of rights and powers and so on, we're not going 17 to be able to get directors of high quality. I 18 -- I say nonsense to that argument. It's very 19 prestigious to be a director of a corporation, 20 particularly of a large corporation. They get 21 very well taken care of, but let me say, I can't 22 understand somebody saying, Well, I don't want 23 to be a director of a corporation if it's going 1516 1 to be democratically run, and if the people who 2 own the corporation are going to have a say. 3 I don't think that ought to - 4 any director who proceeds on that basis I 5 wouldn't want to have as a director. I question 6 what his fiduciary commitment is. 7 I really don't understand why we 8 would want to dilute shareholder control, why we 9 would want to move away from corporate democracy 10 and why we would allow just further raids, and 11 they have occurred. There have been raids. 12 There has been outrageous compensation that has 13 been paid to corporate officers far beyond 14 anything that can reasonably be said is just and 15 fair compensation. 16 Just this -- this just takes 17 money from shareholders. It takes money from 18 people who live in New York, who work in New 19 York. It makes corporations, to my mind, less 20 attractive to New York. I think that we ought 21 to keep the law as it is and let me tell you, my 22 friends, that law gives so many powers to 23 corporate executives and directors, if anything, 1517 1 we ought to be working to create more 2 shareholder democracy, not to weaken and lessen 3 it. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 5 recognizes Senator Dollinger. 6 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 7 President, just on the bill briefly. 8 I guess I must have been in the 9 same room with Senator Leichter when this bill 10 passed last year. There are some good things in 11 this bill that improve the activities of 12 shareholders and corporations, but there are two 13 provisions that I'm concerned about. 14 One we addressed in a specific 15 bill last time that I voted against and that was 16 the repeal of Section 630 of the Business 17 Corporation Law. That's the provision that says 18 payment of wages is one of the few exceptions to 19 liability on behalf of shareholders of a 20 corporation. 21 We have a law that says limited 22 liability applies. If you're a shareholder, 23 you're not bound by the debts, to pay the debts 1518 1 of the corporation except in one circumstance 2 and that is when someone goes out and works for 3 the corporation, the top ten shareholders are 4 liable for the payment of wages. 5 I note that in the memorandum 6 accompanying the bill, it says it hasn't been 7 utilized in New York since 1989. That's the 8 last reported case from New York on 9 shareholders' liability for wages. 10 I offer an explanation for that. 11 It's very simple. The statute is unequivocal. 12 There's no way to get out of it. If you're a 13 shareholder in a small corporation and you are 14 one of the top ten shareholders and the company 15 doesn't pay the wages of the employees you're 16 liable for them. We said that unequivocally and 17 as a consequence we don't need the courts to 18 interpret them. We didn't need a lot of case 19 law. You sue them, they pay. 20 I think that's a good provision 21 that protects the working class people in this 22 state who have the one thing that we all agree 23 could be the worst thing that could happen to 1519 1 anybody, that's to go to work for a small 2 corporation, work diligently, and then be told, 3 "I'm sorry, the corporation is going out of 4 business; we don't have to pay you." 5 One of the provisions that I'm 6 concerned about in this bill which, again, I 7 didn't take a careful look at until today is the 8 provision regarding loans to directors of 9 corporations. There's a provision in here that 10 says we generally have a ban on loans to 11 corporations unless they're expressly approved 12 by shareholders so that all the shareholders 13 know before the corporation is making a loan to 14 one of its favorite sons, a member of the board 15 of directors, the owner of the corporation's 16 brother-in-law, a closely held corporation of 17 family member, there may be dissident small 18 shareholders who want to know whether the loan 19 is being made. 20 This change says that you can 21 make a loan or guarantee, more importantly, the 22 corporation can guarantee a loan to a director, 23 simply by the corporation determining that the 1520 1 loan is in the best interests of the corporation 2 and represents a reasonable and prudent 3 investment. 4 Well, it seems to me if you have 5 three directors and all three of them say we'd 6 like to guarantee this loan, they can do that 7 without even notifying the shareholders, much 8 less asking the shareholders for their input. I 9 think that's a real danger that will create 10 disincentives for people to make investments in 11 small corporations. I think it will -- you will 12 find that small corporations will find it more 13 difficult to raise capital, especially from 14 venture capitalists if corporations can 15 guarantee or underwrite loans to directors 16 without the direct approval of shareholders. 17 So while I think this bill has 18 some good things that may justify a vote in 19 favor of it, I think the fact that it can leave 20 working people out in the cold and, in fact, 21 would let every corporation in this state leave 22 the people who work for them out in the cold not 23 getting paid and the fact that it would 1521 1 encourage practices that are inimical to the 2 interests of shareholders by allowing approval 3 of loans to directors without shareholder 4 approval, I can't justify an affirmative vote. 5 I'll be voting in the negative, 6 Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 -- any other Senator wishing to speak on the 9 bill? 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 11 President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Paterson. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 After listening to Senator 17 Dollinger, I really have some misgivings about 18 my vote last year and even my vote earlier today 19 when he advises us that in order to -- for loans 20 to be approved that it's something that exists 21 among the other directors and really doesn't 22 apply at all to the shareholders. When you 23 really think about that, you create almost a 1522 1 political arrangement between the directors and 2 that always seems to lead to some of kind of 3 compromise, and since I think sometimes the 4 world is drowning in an orgy of compromise we 5 have a whole circumstance that really leads to 6 what would not be the most prudent decisions. 7 The ten percent of the -- the ten 8 percent largest shareholders being responsible 9 for employee wages is another bill that we 10 passed earlier this session, was something that 11 a few of us voted against, and again we see it 12 appearing in this particular legislation, one 13 that's particularly dangerous when you start to 14 think about the fact, not only as Senator 15 Leichter pointed out that we have corporations 16 that are going out of business but it's still 17 paying high wages to the executives, but now we 18 have corporations that are actually turning 19 great profits who are still laying off large 20 sums of workers really because it's a good 21 corporate decision. It is not a good decision 22 for people. It is not a good decision for 23 workers. It is not a good decision for a 1523 1 greater number of people who will be affected 2 negatively than any who would benefit 3 positively. 4 Finally, the issue I'd like to 5 point out are the rights of preemption where a 6 shareholder that might say have one or two 7 percent of the -- of the entire value of the 8 corporation will lose their rights of preemption 9 if there's a reissue of corporate assets. 10 I think that's actually kind of 11 dangerous, and also the two-thirds to one-half 12 voting rule is one that is probably going to 13 diminish the smaller shareholders from having 14 any control and the larger shareholders who 15 often, when you co-aggregate all of their 16 holdings, it exceeds one-half, it really is 17 something that is moving in a direction; and so 18 the ambience of the legislation, in spite of the 19 fact that it provides for some very positive 20 things but it's kind of an omnibus corporate 21 bill, is one that really is doing nothing but 22 fostering what is a movement in this society, an 23 inertia that is really going to envelop us all 1524 1 if we don't do something to stop it, giving 2 greater advantages to the few, creating greater 3 encumbrances for the many. 4 So I want to thank Senator 5 Leichter for the reconsideration and would 6 advise that he is on a good course. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 8 will read the last section. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Gold. 12 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. Would 13 Senator Skelos yield to a question? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Skelos, do you yield? Yes, Senator yields. 16 SENATOR GOLD: I want to give you 17 an opportunity to defend yourself. No. 18 Senator, the bill has -- I know 19 we've had it before, and I even see on the memo, 20 Senator John Daly, so I guess it's been around a 21 little bit, but there's an eight-page memo. 22 It's a rather comprehensive bill, and my 23 question is, do you know who developed it or 1525 1 where it came from? 2 SENATOR SKELOS: This -- this 3 legislation was worked on by Senator Daly when 4 he was in this house. It was drafted with the 5 assistance of the Corporate Law Committees of 6 the New York State Bar Association and the 7 Association of the Bar of the city of New York. 8 Now, I think one of the points 9 that -- that are being missed in this debate is 10 that this is merely permissive, that it will 11 allow individuals that want to incorporate in 12 New York State to do this. It can be a one-half 13 vote. It can be a two-thirds vote. We're not 14 saying it has to be one-half, and basically what 15 this is doing is it's putting New York State in 16 line with 48 other states in most instances with 17 this legislation so that companies will now 18 start incorporating in New York State rather 19 than Delaware or New Jersey, other states. 20 What that means, filing fees for 21 the state of New York, millions of dollars, we 22 could use the money. It means that when we're 23 incorporating, individuals will go to a New York 1526 1 State attorney rather than a Delaware attorney, 2 so that attorney will make a little money, pay 3 an income tax on it. Again New York State 4 benefits from it. 5 So what we're doing is we're 6 really recodifying the BCL, which has not been 7 done since 1963, bringing New York State in line 8 with the rest of the states and, quite honestly, 9 as Senator Leichter said, it's irrelevant where 10 you incorporate. Well, then if people don't 11 like the law as it presently exists in New York 12 State, they're going to go to other states and 13 incorporate where they can get the benefits that 14 they so desire. 15 But again, the most important 16 thing is this is permissive. You don't have to 17 use 50 percent, two-thirds. You don't have to 18 do the number of terrible things that this 19 legislation was accused of. It's merely 20 permissive. 21 SENATOR GOLD: Will you yield to 22 another question? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1527 1 Skelos, do you continue to yield? 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 continues to yield. 5 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. Senator, 6 one thing that I think is odd and maybe it's 7 just that my notes are incomplete but I would 8 imagine that if the bill were developed by bar 9 associations, subcommittees on corporations - 10 and I'm not denying that it was, but that we 11 would have some memo in support from them which 12 basically says that their committees have met 13 and this is part of their work product or 14 supported by them, and I'm curious as to whether 15 there are any memos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, we could 17 get that for you, but I think they felt that 18 this body in its infinite wisdom would see how 19 important and how good this legislation is, and 20 a memo would not be necessary but, in all 21 honesty, we can provide the memos to you. 22 SENATOR GOLD: All right. And if 23 the Senator would be kind enough to yield to 1528 1 another question. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 continues to yield. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. 5 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, as you 6 know, there are a lot of corporations that 7 actually do get filed in the state of New York 8 and, as a practicing lawyer, I've done a number 9 of corporations and, in all fairness, it's 10 generally one- or two-person corporations and 11 you know, it's nothing very, very elaborate. 12 But, Senator, when you're talking about people 13 who have some degree of sophistication and who 14 may be considering incorporating in Delaware or 15 some other state, aren't there other issues 16 involved, tax issues and monetary issues which 17 are probably more overriding to them in terms of 18 the decision as to where they incorporate rather 19 than - 20 SENATOR SKELOS: That may be 21 something they may consider. I don't know if 22 it's overriding, but it's something I'm sure 23 they consider; but with the new atmosphere that 1529 1 exists in New York State with Governor Pataki 2 reducing the personal income tax, bringing down 3 the corporate taxes, bringing down the burdens 4 of regulation and over-regulation and now with 5 the adoption of the revisions to the BCL New 6 York State is going to be a magnet for people to 7 want to incorporate and have their business 8 located here. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Well, Senator - 10 Senator, and I promise this is going to be the 11 last question. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 continues to yield. 14 SENATOR GOLD: I mean last year 15 this bill came before us, and for whatever 16 reasons, it did not receive the scrutiny that 17 apparently it's receiving today, and I have a 18 great respect for Senator Leichter and Senator 19 Dollinger and others. 20 I am, of course, always 21 interested if people in the professions working 22 through the bar associations have been involved, 23 and have certain beliefs. Would you consider 1530 1 perhaps laying the bill aside and having us get 2 the input, because I know from the point of view 3 of someone like myself, if in fact, you know, we 4 have that kind of support and the business 5 community says that we're not doing anything 6 wrong, or there's other arguments, or perhaps 7 there are things that we all want to weigh, and 8 you know it still, in all fairness, is kind of 9 early in the session and if it -- if it can 10 stand that test, I think it would just be 11 helpful to many of us who don't want to get into 12 a struggle between colleagues, but really we're 13 looking to really just educate ourselves about 14 it. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: You can smile? 16 SENATOR GOLD: At you I always 17 smile. It's only Onorato when I got to pay him 18 money, I don't smile. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Why don't we do 20 this. If we now have an understanding that 21 we've vented on this legislation and we've 22 declared our war on corporations and in New York 23 State, I'd be happy to, at your request, to lay 1531 1 it aside until next week so that we can get you 2 some memos but this bill did pass last year, 3 quite honestly, and I do believe that if there 4 had been any real objection to it, Senator Gold, 5 that we would have heard in the last six, seven, 6 eight months objections to the legislation, but 7 out of respect - 8 SENATOR GOLD: You may actually 9 be right, and I appreciate the courtesy more 10 than anything. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: But I am 12 extending the courtesy. Lay the bill aside. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 15 will lay the bill aside. 16 Senator Santiago, why do you 17 rise? 18 SENATOR SANTIAGO: Mr. President, 19 I would like to be recorded in the negative on 20 Calendar 214, please. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 22 objection, and hearing no objection, Senator 23 Santiago will be recorded in the negative on 1532 1 Calendar Number 214. Calendar 214. 2 Secretary will continue to call 3 the controversial calendar. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 230, by Senator Levy, Senate Print Number 5967, 6 an act to amend Chapter 145 of the Laws of 1995, 7 relating to addressing the situation in the 8 Roosevelt Union Free School District. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 10 will - 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I had asked 12 the bill be laid aside, and I understand Senator 13 Levy will be coming in momentarily just for a 14 quick explanation. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 Levy, an explanation of Calendar Number 230 has 17 been asked for by Senator Dollinger. 18 SENATOR LEVY: Yes. Senator 19 Dollinger, this is a -- this is a bill that was 20 drafted by the state Department of Education 21 relating to the Citizens Advisory Committee that 22 works with the Regents and the Commissioner's 23 representative in overseeing the Roosevelt 1533 1 School District. 2 The first piece of the bill 3 relates to validating the appointment of the 4 chair of the Citizens Advisory Committee, Robert 5 Francis, who does not live in the Roosevelt 6 School District but lives adjacent to the 7 Roosevelt School District, and since the 8 Governor signed the bill into law he has been 9 the president, rather the chair of the advisory 10 committee and has been the driving force in 11 rehabilitating the school from an education 12 standpoint and from an infrastructure standpoint 13 and has worked closely with his panel and with 14 the Commissioner and Regents representatives. 15 So it is important that he stay in the position 16 that he is in. 17 The second at-large position is 18 being created for a highly respected minister in 19 the community who leads one of the largest and 20 most prominent religious institutions in the 21 community, Reginald Tuggle, and Mr. Tuggle had 22 lived in the Roosevelt community -- rather 23 Reverend Tuggle had lived in the Roosevelt 1534 1 community. His wife passed away and he has 2 moved into an adjacent community and all 3 involved, by virtue of the position of respect 4 that he holds in the community, are supportive 5 of adding a position -- of adding a second at 6 large position so that can be filled by Reginald 7 Tuggle. 8 Reginald Tuggle, in addition to 9 being a pastor of the church that I've outlined 10 this for you, he was also previously one of the 11 principal executors of a little tiny newspaper 12 that we have on Long Island called Newsday and 13 now -- now is -- holds a major executive 14 position with Nassau Community College. He was 15 a -- he is a person of extraordinary ability and 16 respect in the community. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Dollinger. 19 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through you, 20 Mr. President, if the sponsor would just yield 21 to a couple questions. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 Levy, do you yield? 1535 1 SENATOR LEVY: Yes, of course. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 yields. 4 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Could you 5 just refresh my recollection as to how these 6 individuals are put on the advisory council. Is 7 it an election process? Is it a selection 8 process, selection process? Who actually makes 9 the decision as to who is on the advisory 10 council? 11 SENATOR LEVY: This is the 12 Regents and the Commissioner do the appointing. 13 SENATOR DOLLINGER: O.K. They 14 have appointive authority under the statute? 15 SENATOR LEVY: Yes, and you asked 16 me before and what has happened here is that 17 after -- and, incidentally, this bill is 18 sponsored by the school district's Assembly 19 representative in the Assembly, Assemblywoman 20 Earlene Hill, who was part of the discussions 21 that led to the state Education Department 22 developing the piece of legislation. 23 What has happened, to bring you 1536 1 up to date because you asked me privately before 2 the bill was called up what has gone on with the 3 school district, and to bring you up to date as 4 to what happened, let me go back in history. 5 Assemblywoman Hill wanted to ab 6 initio have the board removed as a part of the 7 legislation which became law. I felt, and the 8 Regents and the Commissioner agreed with me, 9 that the duly elected board members should have 10 the opportunity to work along with the Regents 11 and the Commissioner of Education in 12 rehabilitating the education process and the 13 infrastructure. 14 The final piece of legislation 15 left the board in place. That was signed into 16 law by the Governor. Unfortunately -- and we 17 still did the right thing the way we handled 18 it. Unfortunately, the board declined to go 19 along with -- with the plans that were outlined 20 by the Regents and Commissioner of Education's 21 representative, Dr. Domenech, and in fact, fired 22 the sitting superintendent without consultation 23 with Domenech, the Commissioner or the Regents, 1537 1 and there were a whole series of other alleged 2 omissions of responsibility both subsequent to 3 and prior to the state intervening in the 4 Roosevelt School District. The Commissioner and 5 the Regents drew up a set of charges, and I 6 think on the first business day in January the 7 Regents ousted the school board. 8 Now, I have to tell you that 9 Assemblywoman Hill and I have had really the 10 pleasure and the privilege a couple of weeks ago 11 to visit the school district and to tour the 12 school district, and there has been enormous 13 progress both educationally and from the 14 standpoint of infrastructure since the 15 Commissioner's people, the Commissioner's 16 representatives are now running the affairs of 17 the school district along with -- along with the 18 Citizens Advisory Committee. 19 Now, under the bill that we 20 passed which became law on May 21st, there will 21 be an election of new school trustees for this 22 school district, and that really brings you up 23 to date. It was really eye-opening, the 1538 1 progress that was made with the team of 2 administrators and educators that have been 3 brought in by the Regents and the Commissioner 4 to run the affairs of the school district. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Dollinger. 7 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through you, 8 Mr. President. I greatly appreciate that 9 update. Senator, could you just answer one 10 question about the election that's upcoming, 11 again through you, Mr. President. 12 SENATOR LEVY: Yes, sir. 13 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Is there any 14 disqualification for those who run in that 15 election that would disqualify them if they 16 previously had held a board seat? 17 SENATOR LEVY: Yes. Let me just 18 bring you up to date on where we are. The 19 counsel to the state Department of Education has 20 advised not only the advisory committee but the 21 Commissioner's representatives and it's also 22 been publicly reported in the press, that in the 23 judgment of counsel to the state Department of 1539 1 Education, that the trustees who were ousted are 2 barred from -- for at least one year from the 3 date of the ouster from running for election to 4 the school board, that is the position that has 5 been taken by the Department through its counsel 6 so if if that issue is not litigated, that is 7 the Commissioner's decision as it relates to the 8 former trustees of the school board. 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again through 10 you, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Dollinger. Senator Levy, do you constitute to 13 yield? 14 SENATOR LEVY: Yes. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 continues to yield. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Did the 18 legislation that we have passed contain that 19 debarment provision that bars them from running 20 for a term or is that - 21 SENATOR LEVY: That was in law 22 according to -- that was the law of the state 23 prior to the legislation that we passed that 1540 1 became law. 2 SENATOR DOLLINGER: O.K. 3 SENATOR LEVY: And that -- that 4 we have been told subsequent to the enactment of 5 the legislation by counsel to the Department and 6 the Commissioner's representatives that that is 7 their interpretation of the law prior to the 8 time that we did the Roosevelt legislation. 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: O.K. 10 SENATOR LEVY: And the trustees 11 are barred. 12 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you. 13 On the bill. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Dollinger, on the bill. 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 17 President, I voted against this bill last year 18 when the decision was made by this Legislature 19 to take over or to engage in a process that 20 could lead to the takeover of the Roosevelt 21 School District. I did so at that time because 22 I believed that the notion of local control of 23 education was so important to this state that we 1541 1 should respect the decisions of local school 2 boards, and I said at the time that I felt it 3 was the power and the responsibility of the 4 parents and those that live in this school 5 district to decide whether they wanted change 6 and use the elected statutory process to make 7 that change happen as, frankly, everyone in this 8 state has the power and ability to change their 9 school boards. We can change it simply by 10 exercising that power, going to the ballot box 11 and electing someone who will do the good things 12 that needed to be done in this district. 13 I was opposed at the time. I 14 still remain opposed to the idea of takeover. I 15 understand the good will, and, frankly, the 16 public good will that drives both Senator Levy 17 and his Assembly counterpart to not only propose 18 this but to see this difficult child through the 19 growth that's necessary to reach quality 20 education in the Roosevelt School District. 21 I would be opposed to this except 22 I guess I concede now that we're in the system. 23 We're in a situation where good things will 1542 1 happen if these members, that we enlarge the 2 group of the advisory council that it will 3 continue to drive it toward a better education 4 system, but I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest 5 again that, because of the importance of this 6 takeover which may presage other takeovers of 7 schools or even school districts in this state, 8 that this process has to be very careful in the 9 way it accommodates local interest. 10 My concern, and I said it at the 11 time, I'll repeat it now, is that when the state 12 leaves, what happens then? Putting members on 13 the advisory council who live outside the 14 district doesn't provide the long-term stability 15 that the community needs to generate inside 16 itself to support schools and, while I agree 17 that it may help the advisory council foment the 18 kind of educational principals, the kind of 19 educational respect that will rebuild this 20 school district, I think it's important that 21 this be done through the parents that have the 22 mower to control this district under normal 23 state law. 1543 1 So I'm going to vote in favor of 2 this, but I think of as we continue down this 3 path, we have to keep very close contact on 4 what's happening in this district and the 5 precedent it sets for all of us. 6 SENATOR LEVY: Senator, let me 7 just point out you that the panel as originally 8 constituted is not going to have two less 9 members than were originally contemplated. This 10 panel is being expanded by two, which will then 11 open up that panel to have two additional local 12 school district residents appointed in addition 13 to the validation of the Francis appointment and 14 the addition of Tuggle. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 16 recognizes Senator Waldon. 17 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 18 much, Mr. President. 19 Would our learned colleague yield 20 for a question? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 Levy, will you yield for a question? 23 SENATOR LEVY: Yes. 1544 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 Senator yields. 3 SENATOR WALDON: Senator, are the 4 schools in this district those which come under 5 the umbrella of SURR, S-U-R-R, Schools Under 6 Registration review to some extent? 7 SENATOR LEVY: I'm sorry. I 8 didn't - 9 SENATOR WALDON: The schools in 10 the district, the Roosevelt School District - 11 SENATOR LEVY: Yes. 12 SENATOR WALDON: -- are they 13 schools which have been labeled or designated, 14 which is a better term, SURR, S-U-R-R, Schools 15 Under Registration Review? 16 SENATOR LEVY: Yes, they have 17 been -- they have been, for a period of time 18 prior to the takeover of the school district, 19 under the special scrutiny of the Regents and 20 the Commissioner of Education because of the 21 deficiencies in the school district. 22 SENATOR WALDON: O.K. And is it 23 true that in 1989 the Regents created this 1545 1 vehicle when schools are chronically ill, 2 meaning they're not teaching the children, the 3 children are not learning at acceptable levels, 4 that they could come in and create a panel to 5 rectify that situation? 6 SENATOR LEVY: All I can tell you 7 is that the wheels that were put in motion that 8 led to the action that we took here in the last 9 night of the 1995 session were triggered by a 10 visit to the school district by Regent Sanford 11 and her team as a result of the deficiencies in 12 the school District and the report that she 13 triggered as a result of what she saw, and we 14 were in session. I wasn't there, but one of my 15 staff people were there and Assemblywoman Hill's 16 staff people were there at the time of the 17 Regent Sanford visit. 18 SENATOR WALDON: If I may, Mr. 19 President, one more. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Levy, you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR LEVY: Yes, sure. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1546 1 continues to yield. 2 SENATOR WALDON: Senator, the 3 panel that's in existence at this moment which 4 will be expanded by two, is that the panel that 5 was appointed by the Regents? 6 SENATOR LEVY: Yes, and pursuant 7 to the legislation we did that last night of the 8 session. 9 SENATOR WALDON: On the bill, Mr. 10 President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Waldon, on the bill. 13 SENATOR WALDON: What Senator 14 Levy is proposing here is, in my opinion, the 15 right thing. Schools Under Registration Review 16 are schools which chronically fail to teach our 17 children, and it's only after a long history of 18 such failure has the Board of Regents, since 19 1989, decided that they will step in and create 20 a panel of persons to replace the failing board 21 in order to rectify that situation and bring the 22 schools up to speed, and I think what he's 23 looking to accomplish here is to that panel to 1547 1 add two persons who will more greatly reflect 2 the community's mind set in terms of dealing 3 with the issue, and I will support that. 4 I'll vote aye. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 6 recognizes Senator Marcellino. 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 8 President, on the bill. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Marcellino, on the bill. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I sincerely 12 support the actions of my colleague, Senator 13 Levy. He's taken, and Assemblywoman Hill has 14 taken great strides to promote good quality 15 education for young people on Long Island. 16 It is a shame, it is a disgrace 17 that a system charged with the responsibility of 18 educating our youth, our future, was allowed to 19 get to the position that this district 20 eventually reached. These two people who are 21 being added to this board will further the 22 effort to make quality education our goal and 23 quality education for the kids of the Roosevelt 1548 1 School District. 2 I would hope as a former 3 educator, that this procedure acts as a model. 4 I disagree with my colleague across the way. We 5 need a more activist state ed' board. There are 6 too many schools on Long Island and throughout 7 the state that are failing our youngsters, that 8 are not living up to their charter, that are 9 not living up to their charge, and state ed', if 10 it's going to stay in existence and if it has 11 any real purpose, should step in and move in 12 with effort, carefully involving those people in 13 the community that are concerned and give a darn 14 and take care and move to quality education is 15 prime. All the other shenanigans that go on, 16 but quality education. Too many districts are 17 failing our young people, and this legislation 18 should be used as a model for that kind of take 19 over. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 21 any other Senator wishing to speak on the bill. 22 Senator Dollinger, why do you 23 rise? 1549 1 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Will Senator 2 Marcellino yield to a question? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Marcellino, will you yield to a question? 5 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Senator, I 6 agree with you we need to improve education in 7 lots of those districts, but isn't the first 8 line of defense the local school board? We give 9 them the power to decide that. 10 SENATOR MARCELLINO: That's 11 right. 12 SENATOR DOLLINGER: If we give 13 them the power to do that and they don't change 14 the composition of the school board, why should 15 we assume that we can do it better? 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: You're 17 absolutely right, Senator. I have sat on a 18 local school board. I ran for election and I 19 sat on a school board and I know the nature of 20 the problems a local school board member has to 21 deal with, and it's not easy. However, there 22 are many instances where the school districts 23 are simply not being run up to what anybody 1550 1 would -- anybody would conceive of quality 2 education for these kids. The primacy must be 3 the kid. The primacy must be quality education 4 for the students. 5 I don't care one iota about the 6 school board members. I care about the kids in 7 those districts and, if those board members are 8 failing to charge -- to do their charge and 9 failing to perform their duty, they should be 10 removed. That is our responsibility here in the 11 state. Education is a state responsibility, 12 it's time we take responsibility, Senator, 13 rather than just talk about it. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Dollinger, you have the floor. 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 17 President, just in response to Senator 18 Marcellino, I agree it's a state 19 responsibility. I hope that, when we have a 20 debate later on this year, we have a debate 21 about how the state is going to fulfill that 22 responsibility by eliminating some of the 23 proposals that came from the second floor that I 1551 1 think will devastate the quality of education in 2 this state, which will devastate special 3 education in this state. 4 There's a whole lot in this 5 budget which I hope, and I think Senator 6 Marcellino will join us, we're going to have to 7 change to achieve that goal, but my concern is 8 about our centuries old system of local control 9 of education. 10 We have procedures in law that 11 allow the removal of school board members if 12 they don't achieve that goal. In the case of 13 the Roosevelt School District, what we did, we 14 didn't remove one member, what we ended up doing 15 was removing them all. 16 My concern -- my concern 17 throughout this has been, if the parents of a 18 community don't stand up and demand quality 19 education for their children, if they don't 20 stand up and demand that the candidates for 21 their school board provide it and have the guts 22 to tax for it to provide it, it seems to me that 23 to have it imposed from the top is the wrong way 1552 1 to do it, and I think local control of that, 2 local control and local quality of education. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Marcellino, you asking Senator Dollinger to 5 yield? 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, I am. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Dollinger, do you yield? 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I will, Mr. 10 President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 yields. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Senator, 14 with all due respect and certainly no animus 15 between us, are you familiar with the percentage 16 of people voting in local school board 17 elections? 18 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I know it's 19 extremely low. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: It is 21 extremely low, and that becomes a problem. You 22 have a minority of a minority of a minority 23 actually getting involved in school board 1553 1 elections and special interest groups, and I 2 don't care what their meaning is, I don't care 3 what titles or acronyms you give them, get 4 involved and start to take over school districts 5 and that's not necessarily always in the child 6 or the children's best interests, and the state 7 must act as a monitor, and it must act and I 8 mean act in a positive way to protect the 9 interests of the children of the district. 10 We've done that here in the 11 Roosevelt system. It's working. I've talked to 12 some of the people over there. I've talked to 13 people in the district. It's not that far away 14 from mine. I've talked to Representative Hill 15 who has, by the way, taken some heat for her 16 courageous stand on this, as has Senator Levy. 17 This is something that had to be 18 done, and it was done in the correct way. I 19 don't say we should walk in willy-nilly and take 20 over every district in town, but certainly 21 districts out there have to know there is a real 22 state ed' department and not some shell out 23 there that pretends that it exists, but a real 1554 1 one. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Dollinger, you have the floor. 4 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Yeah, Mr. 5 President, I'll just conclude. 6 Senator Marcellino, I don't think 7 we disagree on the ultimate objective. My 8 concern continues to be that local judgments, 9 the people closest to those school districts, I 10 agree with you, it's reprehensible that only 10 11 percent of the people vote but the other 90 12 percent have the power to go to the polls, they 13 have the power to influence the process. They 14 simply neglect to do it. 15 My concern is, I said this at the 16 time. I'm in favor of this. I'm going to vote 17 in favor of this, but at the time I said I was 18 terribly concerned about the notion that the 19 people who have the power, who have the 20 statutory power to change that school board, 21 aren't using it and we're assuming because 22 they're not using it we're going to substitute 23 our judgment for theirs. That's my concern. 1555 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 2 recognizes Senator Levy to close. 3 SENATOR LEVY: Let me just clear 4 the record because, number one, we did not 5 remove the school board. We did not remove the 6 school board through the legislation which 7 became law. That's what the Assembly wanted to 8 do. 9 We did not -- we did not want to 10 go in that direction, and the final piece of 11 legislation created a mechanism to remove the 12 school board if certain conditions were met, and 13 the school board was given the opportunity to 14 work with the Regents, to work with the 15 Commissioner, to work with the advisory 16 committee, and finally in January, through an 17 administrative hearing where the Regents sat in 18 judgment on specifications that were drawn up by 19 the Commissioner, after really what was a trial, 20 they then acted and removed the school board. 21 So I wanted the record to be 22 clear. We did not take away the duly elected 23 members of the school board by legislative 1556 1 action that was signed into law by the 2 Governor. It was the process that I've laid 3 out. 4 Now, in fairness to the 5 Commissioner of Education, and the Regents, they 6 wanted a broader power to move as ultimately 7 they moved in the Roosevelt School District with 8 an intervention, to give them that power on a 9 statewide basis, but I have to tell you, I felt 10 that the route that we should go was the route 11 that we went with the Roosevelt School District 12 and not to usurp the powers of the community 13 that elect school board members, that we should 14 not give that power to the Commissioner or to 15 the Regents, that it should be exercised very, 16 very sparingly and only if the duly elected 17 representatives in the Senate and Assembly that 18 represented the school district, certainly after 19 much thought and deliberation and concern and 20 anxiety and communication in the community, were 21 to sponsor legislation on a case-by-case basis 22 to take that action. 23 So the record is clear, the 1557 1 Commissioner did want the generic omnibus 2 comprehensive power to move against any school 3 district in the state; and let me, finally, say 4 so that it's crystal clear, number one, I don't 5 want anyone to draw the conclusion that somebody 6 made a judgment that of all the school districts 7 in the state that weren't meeting their respon 8 sibilities that Roosevelt was number -- number 9 one in the state. I don't think anybody can 10 make that judgment that there weren't other 11 school districts that were more deserving of 12 being the first school district to create a 13 power where the Regents and the Commissioner 14 could intervene and essentially take over that 15 school district. 16 For a lot of reasons, the Regents 17 and the Commissioner of Education and the 18 legislators that represent this district felt 19 this was the district to move forward with on 20 the first initial basis, and that's why 21 Roosevelt was selected by the Regents, the 22 Commissioner, and we went along with it. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 1558 1 will read the 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 60. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 9 is passed. 10 Secretary will continue to call 11 the controversial calendar. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 252, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 1740, an 14 act to amend the Executive Law and the Penal Law 15 in relation to payment of a fee by persons 16 sentenced to probation. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Abate. 19 SENATOR ABATE: Yes, on the bill. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Abate, on the bill. 22 SENATOR ABATE: Last year a 23 number of state Senators and I voted against 1559 1 this bill. 2 If you look at the bill and on 3 first impression the bill seems benevolent. It 4 seems as though it makes a lot of sense, because 5 why shouldn't we ask probationers to defray the 6 cost of probation supervision? 7 However, the way the legislation 8 is drafted, it will become a burden for some 9 probation departments around the state. In 10 fact, it will become an unfunded mandate for 11 some certain probation departments and a benefit 12 for others. 13 So last year, I proffered an 14 amendment that left it as a local option. The 15 county or the city of New York could be in a 16 position to adopt a local law so that they could 17 require probationers to pay a fee. This 18 legislation requires all probation departments 19 to collect these fees. 20 In speaking to a number of the 21 departments and also in my experience as the 22 Commissioner of the New York City Department of 23 probation, particularly in New York City, this 1560 1 kind of legislation would be extremely onerous. 2 And why is that? It's because there would have 3 to be an investment in a large number of 4 administrative staff, staff that does not exist, 5 that has to investigate whether an individual 6 had sufficient means to pay the fee and then 7 there would be required additional staff to 8 collect this fee on a monthly basis, and in New 9 York City, there are about 80,000 people on 10 probation. There are complaints by victims that 11 there are not sufficient probation officers to 12 talk with victims in preparing a victim impact 13 statement. 14 There are complaints by 15 communities that the case loads of 200 or more, 16 probation officer on average has to supervise 17 200, 250 people. If you go around the state, 18 the numbers are less, but certainly there are 19 huge case loads. So at a time when the Governor 20 is proposing a 25 percent cut in probation aid, 21 state aid to probation departments around the 22 state, this kind of legislation which seemingly 23 would produce more revenue for certain 1561 1 departments will become a tremendous burden for 2 others. 3 The better way of dealing with 4 this situation is to change the language of the 5 bill, not mandate it, but give it to local 6 option. I've spoken again to a number of the 7 departments. They would prefer the bill being 8 drafted that way. Again, it's certainly a 9 benefit to departments like Nassau County, where 10 many of the probationers are there because of 11 DWI, driving while impaired or driving while 12 intoxicated. Many of the probationers have a 13 means to pay, and clearly I have no opposition 14 to having those probationers pay a fee to 15 support the expense of the probation 16 department. 17 But, on the other hand, mandating 18 probation departments such as the city of New 19 York which may have at this point I think 80,000 20 people, many of them are felons, most of them 21 are indigent individuals, what this means for 22 that department is that the cost of setting up 23 the administrative apparatus will far exceed any 1562 1 revenue that they can possibly collect in any 2 given year. 3 I hope that this bill will go 4 back to the drawing boards. There was a request 5 last year. I think this bill will receive bi 6 partisan support in both houses if the language 7 was changed and again this year -- I know the 8 sponsor of the bill is not in the chamber. I 9 again hope that he will consider laying it 10 aside, amending this bill so that counties can 11 decide what's in their best interest. We should 12 not be passing along to a county another 13 unfunded mandate that will further burden 14 certain probation departments in the state. 15 For these reasons, as I stated 16 today, I am not supporting the bill. I am 17 asking my colleagues again to oppose this bill. 18 Join me, let's produce better legislation. I 19 think we'll receive full support by every 20 probation department around the state if these 21 changes were made. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 23 any other Senator wishing to speak on the bill? 1563 1 Hearing none, the Secretary will 2 read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 4 act shall take effect on the first day of 5 November. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 7 roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 10 the results when tabulated. 11 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 12 the negative on Calendar Number 252 are Senators 13 Abate, Connor, Gold, Leichter, Markowitz, 14 Mendez, Montgomery, Onorato, Paterson, Santiago, 15 Seabrook, Smith and Waldon. Ayes 47, nays 13. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 17 is passed. 18 Secretary will continue to call 19 the controversial calendar. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 259, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 539A, an act 22 to amend the Education Law, in relation to 23 student refunds of certain financial aid grants. 1564 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Leichter, why do you rise? 3 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 4 I wanted to ask Senator Rath to answer some 5 questions on the bill. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Rath, do you yield to Senator Leichter? 8 SENATOR RATH: Yes, Mr. 9 President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 Senator yields. 12 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, I 13 didn't notice before. You have a cast on. I'm 14 sorry to see that, but I'm not going to ask you 15 about that now. Those weren't the questions I 16 had in mind. 17 Senator, as I read your bill - 18 and I understand that your concern and what it's 19 aimed at is that if some student has illegal 20 income and he hasn't reported that income and he 21 has qualified himself for student aid not 22 disclosing that income, this bill would provide 23 that that student would be declared ineligible 1565 1 and would lose his student aid, and I have no 2 problem with that. But I think as you have 3 worded the bill, I just don't think that it 4 works because what you've also done is that you 5 have included not only the student or the spouse 6 and his parents but you haven't provided any 7 nexus between a spouse or a parent having 8 illegal income and the student receiving that 9 income. 10 So as I read the bill, in an 11 instance where there is a student and let's say 12 his father's an embezzler, embezzles money from 13 the bank, that's never reported on the financial 14 forms, and it's obviously not going to be 15 reported, and the parent gets convicted, even 16 though the student never got a penny of it, 17 under your bill the student would be ineligible 18 for financial aid. I don't think you intend 19 that but, as I read the bill, that seems to be 20 the interpretation. 21 SENATOR RATH: Senator Leichter, 22 the same question was asked by Senator Paterson 23 last year. 1566 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Oh, was it? 2 SENATOR RATH: Yes, and we walked 3 through it, and I have the transcript of last 4 year. But rather than reading through the whole 5 thing, I would tell you that a synopsis of my 6 response to Senator Paterson's question was that 7 at the time of the request, the application for 8 student assistance, the student needs to 9 indicate that they know of no illegal activity; 10 and if a student knows of no illegal activity, 11 then they are not responsible for returning or 12 for the requirements of this bill, which what 13 this bill asks -- what it sets in place is a way 14 for the Higher Education Services Corporation to 15 be able to identify students, because right now 16 there is no coordination between the state's 17 criminal justice system. 18 And if you'll recall, what really 19 brought this bill about was a student on the 20 Buffalo State College campus. You may recall I 21 came in one day passing copies out to everyone. 22 I was so outraged when I found that this young 23 woman who was in a prostitution ring was 1567 1 receiving TAP awards, and there was no way that 2 we could go back and make this happen that she 3 would have to return the dollars; and so, 4 although that was brought about because of this 5 prostitution ring, there are other things that 6 might -- it might be a drug ring rather than 7 prostitution. It could be any number of things. 8 But, again, we did walk through 9 that question last year. 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator - 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Leichter. 13 SENATOR LEICHTER: -- if you 14 would be good enough to yield, and if you 15 convinced somebody as tough and hard as Senator 16 Paterson then maybe I shouldn't be venturing 17 forth, but I must say I don't understand. 18 The fact that the student has to 19 say, "I knew," or whether he knows of any 20 income, suppose the student -- suppose the 21 student has knowledge that his father engaged in 22 criminal activity. In fact, he has to know that 23 because under your bill it only works if there 1568 1 is a conviction, so, obviously, he would know. 2 He says, "Yes, my father was convicted of 3 embezzling a million dollars from the bank"; but 4 where is the nexus? 5 "Yeah, he took that million 6 dollars and took his girlfriend and went off to 7 the Bahamas. I never got a penny of it." 8 I mean where -- where is the 9 requirement in here that the illegal income 10 actually went to the recipient of the student 11 aid? That's what I think is missing here. 12 I have no problem if you want to 13 limit it to students. I think what creates the 14 difficulty in the bill is when you add the 15 spouse and the parent, and you don't make it 16 clear that the illegal monies went to help the 17 student. 18 SENATOR RATH: The understanding 19 that we developed last year as we finished out 20 the debate on the floor was that the application 21 for the tuition assistance was clear enough, and 22 through that process, as the student signs his 23 name on the application for the tuition 1569 1 assistance, that it was clear enough that we 2 would be able to go forward making possible the 3 interaction between the criminal justice system 4 and the higher education system so that the 5 student could be identified and the information 6 could be retrieved and, indeed, the dollars 7 recovered. 8 Because of the obvious need for 9 every dollar that we can give to tuition 10 assistance for students who are deserving and 11 who are crying out for help, to have a student 12 receiving dollars that has parents involved in 13 illegal activities and if the student says they 14 knew about it, they should not have, in the 15 first case, asked for tuition assistance at that 16 point, because this will make it very clear. 17 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator Rath, 18 I, again, commend you for dealing with the 19 problem, but I must say as your bill is written 20 -- and I'm not at all sure that that's cured by 21 the application. I'm not going to make a fuss 22 about it, but it may well be the reason that the 23 bill is here for a second year in a row without 1570 1 getting action from the Assembly is that there 2 may be some problem with the bill, and maybe by 3 trying to make it so broad -- if you would just 4 limit it to the student, then it would be very 5 clear. There would be no problem with it, and I 6 would think that the other house would act on 7 it. 8 It may well be that the other 9 house felt, as, obviously, Senator Paterson did 10 last year and I did this year, that at least 11 reading the bill -- maybe, in some ways or 12 other, the forms will cure the problem, but I 13 think you've got a real problem because you 14 don't make it at all clear that monies that the 15 spouse or the parents may have illegally gotten 16 have to be given to the recipient of the student 17 aid in order for us, in justice, to say, "Wait a 18 second, you got this illegal money. You knew 19 the money was illegal when you got it. You 20 didn't report it. You used it and yet you 21 received student aid." 22 Seems to me without that nexus, 23 the bill seems to be lacking something. 1571 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 2 will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 10 is passed. 11 Senator DeFrancisco. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Do you have 13 some housekeeping at the desk? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Yes, we 15 do. 16 Return to motions and 17 resolutions. 18 The Chair recognizes Senator 19 Present. 20 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President. 21 On behalf of Senator Leibell, on page 10, I 22 offer the following amendments to Calendar 226, 23 Senate Print 5928, and ask that it retain its 1572 1 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 3 Amendments to Calendar Number 226 are received 4 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 5 the Third Reading Calendar. 6 Senator Dollinger, why do you 7 rise? 8 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 9 President. I believe I have a privileged 10 resolution at the desk. I would ask that it be 11 read in its entirety, as it relates to a former 12 member of this body. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 Dollinger, you are absolutely correct. There is 15 a special, very privileged resolution at the 16 desk. 17 I will ask the Secretary to read 18 it in its entirety. 19 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 20 Dollinger, Legislative Resolution, expressing 21 sincerest sorrow upon the occasion of the death 22 of the Honorable Ralph Quattrociocchi, former 23 New York State Senator from the 55th Senatorial 1573 1 District. 2 Whereas, it is the sense of this 3 Legislative Body that those who give positive 4 definition to the profile and disposition of the 5 communities of the State of New York do so 6 profoundly strengthen our shared commitment to 7 the exercise of freedom; and 8 Whereas, attendant to such 9 concern and fully in accord with its 10 long-standing traditions, it is the intent of 11 this Legislative Body to express sincerest 12 sorrow upon the occasion of the death of the 13 Honorable Ralph Quattrociocchi, former New York 14 State Senator from the 55th Senatorial District; 15 and 16 Whereas, Ralph Quattrociocchi is 17 survived by his wife, Sharon, and by four 18 children, Stephen of Washington, D.C., Sue-Ellen 19 of Rochester, Aimee of Pittsburgh, and Andrew, 20 who is stationed with the Navy in Japan; he is 21 also survived by his brothers Peter and John of 22 Rochester and Frank of San Francisco and his 23 sisters, Rose and Jeanette, both of Rochester; 1574 1 and 2 Whereas, Ralph Quattrociocchi was 3 a lifelong resident of Monroe County; after 4 graduating from Edison Technical High School, he 5 served in the United States Air Force, assigned 6 to a unit specializing in radar systems; 7 following the Air Force, Ralph Quattrociocchi 8 took a job with American Telephone and 9 Telegraph, where he worked for more than 30 10 years; and 11 Whereas, Ralph's political career 12 started in 1975 when he was elected to the 13 Monroe County Legislature, representing Greece; 14 he was elected to five consecutive terms; and 15 Whereas, in 1984, Mr. 16 Quattrociocchi was elected to the State Senate; 17 and 18 Whereas, Ralph Quattrociocchi 19 went on to win a third term in 1988; 20 Ralph Quattrociocchi was a leader 21 in the drive to extend Route 531 from Manitou 22 Road to Ogden and was reelected in 1990; 23 Most recently, Ralph had been 1575 1 spending two or three days a week tutoring 2 children at Hope Hall, a private academy that 3 specializes in helping students with learning 4 problems; and 5 Whereas, Ralph Quattrociocchi did 6 so magnanimously labor for the positive and 7 salutory definition of the 55th Senatorial 8 District; and 9 Whereas, Robert Ingersol once 10 wrote these words concerning the death of his 11 brother: "If everyone to whom he had rendered 12 some loving service were to bring but one 13 blossom to his grave, he would sleep beneath a 14 wilderness of flowers"; and 15 Whereas, it is the sense of this 16 Legislative Body that Ralph Quattrociocchi 17 sleeps beneath a wilderness of flowers; and 18 Whereas, through his long and 19 sustained commitment to the ideals and 20 principles upon which this beloved nation was 21 first founded, Ralph Quattrociocchi did so 22 unselfishly advance that spirit of united 23 purpose and shared concern which is the 1576 1 unalterable manifestation of our American 2 experience; now, therefore, be it 3 Resolved, That this Legislative 4 Body pause in its deliberations and express 5 sincerest sorrow upon the occasion of the death 6 of the Honorable Ralph Quattrociocchi, fully 7 confident that such procedure mirrors our 8 commitment to preserve, to enhance and yet to 9 effect that patrimony of freedom which is our 10 American heritage; and be it, further 11 Resolved, That a copy of this 12 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 13 to Mrs. Ralph Quattrociocchi and family, Monroe 14 County, New York. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 Dollinger, the chair has had a couple of 17 inquiries from members already, that they would 18 like to inquire as to whether or not you were 19 going to open it up. 20 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Absolutely, 21 Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: And I 23 would ask the Acting Majority Leader if the 1577 1 procedure will be that we will put all of the 2 members on the resolution unless there is 3 somebody who does not wish to be, if they would 4 notify the desk. So we will take that 5 procedure. 6 The Chair recognizes Senator 7 Dollinger, on the resolution. 8 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 9 President. Ralph Quattrociocchi was the best 10 known man in Monroe County. There are two 11 people in this chamber that know that for a 12 fact. One is me and the other is Guy Velella. 13 We both spent a lot of falls polling the name 14 Ralph Quattrociocchi in Monroe County, and I can 15 tell you that about 93 percent of the people in 16 our county recognize that very distinctive 17 Italian surname, and I can tell you that it was 18 very difficult to run against him. 19 Ralph was a man of Monroe County; 20 and I'm not surprised, I guess, that Ralph, 21 who'd had a heart problem before, died because 22 of a heart problem. He gave a lot of that big 23 heart to Monroe County and to the people there. 1578 1 Although I ran against him, I've 2 worked with him. I worked with him once in a 3 defense fund for him when I think he was 4 unjustly accused of a crime, and unfortunately 5 so. I worked with him in the Democratic Party 6 and then, lo and behold, I ran against him when 7 he was both a Conservative and a Republican. 8 But as I told the newspapers when 9 I learned of his death, there was never any 10 doubt about where his heart was. It was with 11 the people of the county, the working people of 12 the county and the town of Greece, his beloved 13 home. 14 My regrets and sadness go to his 15 wife and his family. I know Ralph was buried 16 today in Rochester. He was an important figure 17 in Rochester because of what he stood for and 18 what he contributed. 19 And, Ralph, I wish you eternal 20 rest. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 22 recognizes Senator Gold on the resolution. 23 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you, Mr. 1579 1 President. 2 First of all, I'm really -- I 3 don't know whether happy is the right word. I 4 am delighted that Senator Dollinger has offered 5 the resolution and said the words that he has 6 said. This is a tough business and we can 7 define the word "tough" with many other 8 adjectives, some not so nice, and it was very 9 difficult for me and for some of our colleagues 10 when politics took the turns that it took, and 11 there was some friction between Ralph and the 12 Democratic Party. 13 But if the truth be told, the man 14 was a very, very sweet lovable man whose company 15 I enjoyed many, many days and evenings when he 16 sat in this legislative body. I didn't agree 17 with him on a lot of political issues, but I 18 could never ever allow anybody to even suggest 19 that any vote he ever made was other than from 20 his heart. 21 As a matter of fact, there were 22 times politically when members of this 23 conference suggested that there were safer ways 1580 1 of doing certain things politically, and there 2 were safer ways of phrasing his political 3 positions, and he really wasn't interested in 4 that. He was interested in saying what was on 5 his mind and letting the chips fall where they 6 may. 7 And, from my point of view, as 8 someone who did not share a lot of his political 9 views, I was lucky to share his company, and the 10 man was absolutely a delight on a personal basis 11 and I will miss him, and I want to extend my 12 personal feelings of remorse to his family. 13 And, I know that wherever Ralph 14 is he is smiling down because he is out there 15 playing golf and George and I aren't. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 17 recognizes Senator Onorato on the resolution. 18 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. President. 19 I rise, too, to join with my colleagues in 20 expressing my extreme sorrow in hearing of the 21 death of Ralph Quattrociocchi. 22 As many of you know, Ralph and I 23 were extremely close while he was serving in 1581 1 this chamber. I got him back to playing golf 2 again, and we had many, many an enjoyable 3 afternoon after session or before session out on 4 that course with many of the members of this 5 chamber. 6 And, Ralph's temperament on the 7 golf course was the same as it was here in the 8 chamber. Nothing fazed him, didn't get excited 9 about anything. He did what he had to do, and 10 he did it with all his heart and soul. 11 And he certainly will be missed 12 not only by his family but by every one of us in 13 here who consider him part of our own family; 14 and to his family, I extend my heartfelt sorrow, 15 and if there's anything that I can do to 16 alleviate their pain, I hope that they will call 17 on me to do so. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 19 any other Senator wishing to speaking on the 20 resolution? 21 Chair recognizes Senator Alesi. 22 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, Mr. 23 President. 1582 1 It's unfortunate that I would 2 have to rise under these circumstances and, yet, 3 I consider it a honor and a privilege to speak 4 about Q, the man whose last name was so 5 difficult for so many people, but it was so easy 6 to know him and to like him. 7 He was certainly a man of the 8 people, someone that could very well be a role 9 model for so many people who were just looking 10 for a politician who was a good man at the same 11 time. I think Ralph Quattrociocchi was someone 12 that all of us, including myself, learned an 13 awful lot from, and, unfortunately, he won't be 14 here for us to learn so much more. 15 Thank you, Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 17 recognizes Senator Smith. 18 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 It is with deep sorrow that I 21 rise to bring condolences to the family of Ralph 22 Quattrociocchi. 23 Some eight years ago when I came 1583 1 here, I met with Ralph's quick wit and his 2 beautiful smile. I will never forget my first 3 night in Albany when we had a dinner, and he and 4 former Senator Donald Halperin had this ongoing 5 joke about a brick; and, somehow, the next day I 6 ended up bringing this brick into the chambers 7 in a briefcase, thanks to Senator Gold. 8 Well, Ralph, you have the brick. 9 We miss you. We loved you, and anything that we 10 can do on behalf of the family, we are here. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 question is on the resolution. 13 All those in favor, signify by 14 saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (There was no response.) 18 The resolution is unanimously 19 adopted. 20 Senator Lachman, why do you 21 rise? 22 SENATOR LACHMAN: Yes. I was 23 temporarily out of chamber when the vote took 1584 1 place on calendar item 252. I would ask the 2 Chair for unanimous consent to be permitted to 3 vote in the negative on calendar item 252. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 5 objection, hearing no objection, Senator Lachman 6 will be recorded in the negative on Calendar 7 Number 252. 8 Chair recognizes - 9 SENATOR DEFRANCISCO: Are there 10 any other housekeeping matters? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: No, sir. 12 SENATOR DEFRANCISCO: If not, I 13 move that we adjourn out of respect for Senator 14 Ralph Quattrociocchi, until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, 15 February 27, 1996. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 17 objection, the Senate stands adjourned until 18 tomorrow, February 28, at 11:00 a.m., in respect 19 to our former colleague, Ralph Quattrociocchi. 20 (Whereupon, at 5:26 p.m., Senate 21 adjourned.) 22 23