Tuesday, March 12, 1996

1990 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ALBANY, NEW YORK 9 March 12, 1996 10 3:00 p.m. 11 12 13 REGULAR SESSION 14 15 16 17 LT. GOVERNOR BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS, President 18 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 19 20 21 22 23 1991 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 come to order. 4 Would everyone please rise and 5 join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the Senate and those 7 present joined in the Pledge of Allegiance to 8 the Flag.) 9 The invocation today is by Father 10 Peter Young, Blessed Sacrament Church, Bolton 11 Landing. 12 FATHER YOUNG: Please let us 13 pray. 14 We pray for all of our New York 15 State people, that their wealth and their power 16 might become a force for peace rather than 17 conflict; a source of hope rather than 18 discontent; an agent of friendship rather than 19 enmity. 20 May the actions of this Senate be 21 that example. 22 We ask You this now and forever. 23 Amen. 1992 1 THE PRESIDENT: Amen. 2 The reading of the Journal, 3 please. 4 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 5 Monday, March 11. The Senate met pursuant to 6 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, March 10, 7 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 8 adjourned. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Without 10 objection, the Journal stands approved as read. 11 Presentation of petitions. 12 Messages from the Assembly. 13 Messages from the Governor. 14 Reports of standing committees. 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senator Tully, 17 from the Committee on Water Resources, reports 18 the following bill: 19 Senate Print 5850, by Senator 20 Johnson, an act to amend the Environmental 21 Conservation Law, in relation to excluding from 22 the definition of facility. 23 Senator Sears, from the Committee 1993 1 on Consumer Protection, reports the following 2 bills: 3 Senate Print 1243B, by Senator 4 Skelos, an act to amend the General Business Law 5 and the Education Law, in relation to the 6 registration of hearing aid dispensers; 7 Senate Print 3603, by Senator 8 Cook, an act to amend the General Business Law, 9 in relation to licensing of barbers; 10 4114, by Senator Cook, an act to 11 amend the General Business Law, the Education 12 Law, the Business Corporation Law, and the 13 Not-For-Profit Corporation Law; 14 4457, by Senator Libous, an act 15 to amend the General Business Law, in relation 16 to unlawful possession of tobacco; 17 4493, by Senator Libous, an act 18 to amend the General Business Law, in relation 19 to storage, sale, and rental; 20 5760, by Senator Cook, an act to 21 amend the General Business Law, in relation to 22 requiring certain notification; 23 5772, by Senator Marcellino, an 1994 1 act to amend the General Business Law, in 2 relation to conversion of oil; 3 5941, by Senator Velella, an act 4 to amend the General Business Law, in relation 5 to prohibiting discrimination; 6 6066, by Senator Sears, an act to 7 amend the Personal Property Law, in relation to 8 exclusion of certain transactions. 9 Senator Padavan, from the 10 Committee on Cities, reports the following 11 bills: 12 Senate Print 3159, by Senator 13 Cook, an act to amend the General City Law and 14 others, in relation to the creation of the 15 position of zoning enforcement officer, reported 16 with amendments; 17 6084, by Senator Padavan, an act 18 to amend Chapter 890 of the laws of 1982, 19 relating to the establishment of certain water 20 charges. 21 Senator Stafford, from the 22 Committee on Finance, reports the following 23 bills: 1995 1 Senate Print 1423, by Senator 2 Saland, an act to amend the Executive Law, in 3 relation to fees and expenses; 4 4837, by Senator Skelos, an act 5 to amend the New York State Printing and Public 6 Documents Law, in relation to requiring 7 vegetable ink printing; 8 5729A, by Senator Seward, an act 9 to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 10 energy purchasing programs; 11 5756A, by Senator Hannon, an act 12 to amend the Social Services Law, in relation to 13 services of emergency physicians; 14 5764, by Senator Johnson, an act 15 authorizing the Commissioner of Transportation; 16 5949, by Senator Seward, an act 17 to amend the Abandoned Property Law and the 18 Cooperative Corporations Law, in relation to the 19 disposition. 20 Senator DiCarlo, from the 21 Committee on Aging, reports the following 22 bills: 23 Senate Print - 1996 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hold on. 2 Excuse me. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: If I could just 4 interrupt for a moment. There will be an 5 immediate meeting of the Local Governments 6 Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol, and there 7 will be a meeting of the Transportation 8 Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol at 3:30, 9 not 3:32. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Immediate 11 meeting of the Local Governments Committee in 12 Room 332, the Majority Conference Room; and at 13 3:30, there will be an immediate meeting of the 14 Transportation Committee in Room 332, Majority 15 Conference Room. 16 Secretary, continue to read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Senator DiCarlo, 18 from the Committee on Aging, reports the 19 following bills: 20 Senate Print 4497, by Senator 21 Libous, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 22 Law, in relation to authorizing senior citizens; 23 4632B, by Senator Goodman, an act 1997 1 to amend the General Business Law, in relation 2 to additional civil penalties. 3 Senator Volker, from the 4 Committee on Codes, reports the following 5 bills: 6 402, by Senator Skelos, an act to 7 amend the Penal Law, in relation to the monetary 8 standards; 9 1436, by Senator Saland, an act 10 to amend Chapter 505 of the Laws of 1985, 11 amending the Criminal Procedure Law; 12 1972, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 13 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 14 relation to access to sealed records; 15 2445, by Senator Volker, an act 16 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 17 relation to limitations; 18 3450A, by Senator Skelos, an act 19 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules in 20 relation to methods of commencing; 21 3695A, by Senator Volker, an act 22 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 23 relation to the jurisdiction limit; 1998 1 3768, by Senator Volker, an act 2 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 3 relation to objections to service; 4 3784, by Senator Volker, an act 5 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 6 relation to the recording of judicial rulings; 7 3811, by Senator Volker, an act 8 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 9 relation to the nonjoinder and misjoinder of 10 parties; 11 4439, by Senator Libous, an act 12 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 13 to venue; 14 4633A, by Senator Volker, an act 15 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 16 relation to personal service by mail; 17 4686, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 18 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 19 relation to the time limitations; 20 5740, by Senator Volker, an act 21 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 22 relation to product liability actions; 23 5743, by Senator Goodman, an act 1999 1 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to computer 2 network. 3 Senator Marcellino, from the 4 Committee on Environmental Conservation, reports 5 the following bills: 6 Senate Print 608, by Senator 7 Stafford, an act to amend the Environmental 8 Conservation Law, in relation to increasing the 9 criminal penalties; 10 4531, by Senator Libous, an act 11 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, in 12 relation to taking of pheasants; 13 5104, by Senator Saland, an act 14 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, in 15 relation to the composition of the Hudson River 16 Valley Greenway Communities Council; 17 6113, by Senator Marcellino, an 18 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 19 in relation to interfering; 20 6213, by Senator Marcellino, an 21 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 22 in relation to the drawing off of water from 23 storage reservoirs; 2000 1 6316, by Senator Marcellino, an 2 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 3 in relation to permitting the hunting of game on 4 Sunday; 5 6345, by Senator Marcellino, an 6 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 7 in relation to providing for the revocation or 8 suspension of a hunting license. 9 Senator Hoblock, from the 10 Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs, 11 reports the following bills: 12 Senate Print 218, by Senator 13 Holland, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 14 Law, in relation to alternative veterans 15 exemption; 16 256A, by Senator Maltese, an act 17 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 18 to an optional school tax; 19 441, by Senator Maltese, an act 20 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 21 relation to authorizing distinctive plates; 22 1963, by Senator Larkin, an act 23 to amend the Education Law, in relation to 2001 1 expanding student aid programs; 2 2092A, by Senator Maltese, an act 3 to amend the Education Law, in relation to a 4 program for graduate student aid to Vietnam 5 veterans; 6 2984, by Senator Leibell, an act 7 to amend the Education Law, in relation to 8 student aid programs for Vietnam veterans; 9 3493A, by Senator Hoblock, an act 10 to amend the Military Law, in relation to the 11 deputy commander of the New York Army National 12 Guard; 13 5796, by Senator Hoblock, an act 14 to amend the Civil Service Law, in relation to 15 the use of credits for veterans and disabled 16 veterans; and 17 5844, by Senator Marchi, an act 18 to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 19 designating a portion of the state highway 20 system. 21 All bills ordered directly for 22 third reading. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 2002 1 objection, all bills are reported directly to 2 third reading. 3 Reports of select committees. 4 Communications and reports from 5 state officers. 6 Motions and resolutions. 7 Chair recognizes Senator Farley. 8 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, 9 on behalf of yourself, Senator Kuhl, I wish to 10 recommit Senate Print Number 3535, Calendar 215, 11 that is on the order of the third reading to the 12 Committee on Housing and Community Development. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 14 Number 215 is recommitted, enacting clause is 15 stricken. 16 Senator Farley. 17 SENATOR FARLEY: I don't know 18 that it -- it blanked out the enacting clause on 19 this. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: That's 21 all right. We'll just recommit Calendar Number 22 215. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: Just -- I don't 2003 1 know whether they want to strike the enacting 2 clause. They do not. 3 On behalf of Senator Nozzolio, on 4 page 18, I offer the following amendments to 5 Calendar 376, Senate Print 3537, and I ask that 6 that bill retain its place on the Third Reading 7 Calendar. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 9 Amendments to Calendar Number 376 are received 10 and adopted. Bill will retain its place on 11 Third Reading Calendar. 12 Senator Farley. 13 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 14 Senator Padavan, on page 17, I offer the 15 following amendments to Calendar 367, Senate 16 Print 669, and I ask that that bill retain its 17 place. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 19 Number 367, the amendments are received and 20 adopted. The bill will retain its place on 21 Third Reading Calendar. 22 Senator Skelos. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 2004 1 would you place a sponsor's star on Calendar 2 Number 347. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 4 Number 347 is starred at the request of the 5 sponsor. 6 Senator Marcellino. 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, Mr. 8 President. On page number 9, I offer the 9 following amendments to my bill, Calendar Number 10 249, Senate Print Number 4529C, and ask that 11 said bill retain its place on Third Reading 12 Calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 14 Amendments to Calendar Number 249 are received 15 and adopted. Bill will retain its place on the 16 Third Reading Calendar. 17 Senator Holland. 18 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. President. 19 On page 18, I offer the following amendments for 20 Senator Cook, Calendar Number 375, Senate Print 21 Number 3153, and ask that the said bill retain 22 its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 2005 1 Amendments to Calendar Number 375 received and 2 adopted. Bill will retain its place on the 3 Third Reading Calendar. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 6 At this time, may we please adopt the Resolution 7 Calendar. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 motion is to accept and adopt the Resolution 10 Calendar. 11 All those in favor signify by 12 saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (There was no response.) 16 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 Resolution Number 2656, which concerns Greek 20 Independence Day, if anybody wishes to sponsor 21 it, you're more than welcome to do so. It's the 22 Skelos-Onorato Resolution. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Those 2006 1 members who would like to sponsor Resolution 2 Number 2656, by Senator Skelos, please indicate 3 to the clerk that they would like to indicate or 4 have such done. 5 Senator Skelos, it appears that 6 most members would like to be on it. Would you 7 like to put everybody on it, and those who don't 8 want to be a sponsor of the resolution, please 9 indicate to the clerk that they don't want to be 10 on it. 11 Senator Skelos, that brings us to 12 the calendar. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 14 at this time, if we could take up the 15 noncontroversial calendar. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 17 will read the noncontroversial calendar. 18 THE SECRETARY: On page 10, 19 Calendar Number 263, by Senator Padavan, Senate 20 Print 3089B. 21 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 23 bill aside. 2007 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 308, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 6038. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 5 bill aside. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 311, by Senator Present, Senate Print 1931A. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 11 bill aside. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 312, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 3073, an 14 act to amend the State Administrative Procedure 15 Act, in relation to requiring that agencies 16 conduct and include a formal cost/benefit 17 analysis. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 Secretary will read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the first day of 22 October. 23 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 2008 1 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside at 2 the request of Senator Paterson. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 4 bill aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 313, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 3137, an 7 act to amend the State Administrative Procedure 8 Act, in relation to requiring that state rules 9 not - 10 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 12 bill aside. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 319, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 1618A, an 15 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 16 consecutive terms of imprisonment under certain 17 circumstances. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 Secretary will read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the first day of 22 November. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 2009 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 328, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 3521, 8 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 9 relation to attendance of defendants confined in 10 institutions. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 Secretary will read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 16 roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 20 is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 330, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4297, an 23 act to amend the Civil Rights Law, in relation 2010 1 to access to personnel files of parole officers. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Secretary will read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 7 roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 11 is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 338, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 5833, an 14 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law, in relation 15 to authorizing the Commissioner of Mental Health 16 to fingerprint certain patients. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 SENATOR GOLD: Lay it aside. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 21 bill aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 341, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 4643, 2011 1 an act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation 2 to the premium or compensation for giving bail 3 bond or depositing money or property as bail. 4 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 6 bill aside. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 343, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 6004, an 9 act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation to 10 expanding provisions relating to insurable 11 interest. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 Secretary will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 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 54. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 344, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 6125, an 2012 1 act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation to 2 continuing authorization for certain prepaid 3 legal services plans. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 Secretary will read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 349, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 4805, an 16 act to amend the Public Health Law, in relation 17 to notification of patients upon sale, closing 18 or disposal of a practitioner's practice. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 Secretary will read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect in 120 days. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 2013 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 4 the results when tabulated. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53 -- ayes 6 50, nays 4. Senators Connor, Leichter, Paterson 7 and Stavisky recorded in the negative. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 356, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 3974, an act 12 to amend the Labor Law, in relation to licenses 13 to possess, sell, manufacture and store 14 explosives. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 Secretary will read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 18 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 2014 1 bill aside. 2 SENATOR SPANO: Lay it aside for 3 the day, please. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 5 bill aside for the day at the request of the 6 sponsor. 7 Senator Skelos, that completes 8 the noncontroversial calendar. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Lachman, why do you rise? 12 SENATOR LACHMAN: Yes, Mr. 13 President. I would like to ask permission, 14 unanimous consent, from this distinguished body 15 to be recorded in the negative on the following 16 calendar items: 263, 311, 312, 313 and 349, 17 five items. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Lachman, Calendar Number 263, 311 and 313 have 20 not passed the house at this point. They are on 21 the lay aside controversial calendar, but 22 without objection, and hearing no objection, 23 Senator Lachman will be recorded in the negative 2015 1 on Calendar Number 349. 2 Senator Skelos, that brings us to 3 the controversial calendar. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Senator Libous 5 would like to have Calendar Number 338 laid 6 aside for the day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 8 Number 338 will be laid aside for the day at the 9 request of the sponsor. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Could we go to 11 the controversial calendar now. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 13 will read the controversial calendar beginning 14 with Calendar Number 263. 15 THE SECRETARY: On page 10, 16 Calendar Number 263, by Senator Padavan, Senate 17 Print 3089B, an act to amend the Education Law, 18 in relation to the exclusion of illegal aliens 19 from attending public post-secondary educational 20 institutions. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 Padavan, an explanation of Calendar Number 263 23 has been asked for by the Acting Minority 2016 1 Leader, Senator Paterson. 2 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, Mr. 3 President. This bill would preclude illegal 4 aliens from attending State University and City 5 University. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 7 will read the last section. 8 Senator Paterson. 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 10 President. If Senator Padavan would yield to a 11 question? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Padavan, do you yield to a question from Senator 14 Paterson? 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 Senator yields. 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Could you 19 explain this bill in a little more detail, 20 Senator Padavan? 21 SENATOR PADAVAN: Well, Senator, 22 I don't know how to do that, except to tell you 23 very directly if you are an illegal alien, you 2017 1 cannot under the provisions of this bill, if it 2 were to become law, attend City University and 3 State University. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Paterson. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: If Senator 7 Padavan would continue to yield? 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 continues to yield. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, right 12 now, federal law does in many ways restrict the 13 reporting of certain information deemed to be 14 private by school authorities, and would it not 15 be correct to assume that this statute may be in 16 violation of the federal law? Not the reporting 17 of illegal aliens, because that's something 18 that's against the law. So I assume between the 19 two values that the one that would exclude 20 illegality would be the favorable one, but that 21 because this system that we're setting up would 22 force, at times, entities to report that 23 individuals are not illegal aliens, that in and 2018 1 of itself would be a violation of the law. 2 SENATOR PADAVAN: There are two 3 parts to my answer to that question. 4 First, if you had occasion to 5 look at an application for State University or 6 City University, and I have one in front of me 7 which you can certainly look at on your own, but 8 let me just, for the general information of 9 those in attendance here -- one section of it 10 asks, "Are you a U.S. Citizen? Yes__ No__. 11 If no, please state country of birth. Country 12 of citizenship. Immigration status: U.S. 13 permanent resident? Alien registration card?" 14 et cetera, et cetera. So right on the City 15 University and State University application for 16 admission, the information that you are 17 referring to is asked for. 18 Secondly, the federal statute or 19 federal law that I think you were referring to 20 indicates, and I quote, education records as not 21 including records maintained -- this is the 22 quote, "records maintained by a law enforcement 23 unit of the educational agency or institution 2019 1 that were created by that law enforcement unit 2 for the purpose of law enforcement." So, in 3 other words, if we pass this law, the federal 4 statute would not preclude this information. 5 But in any event, I repeat, it's 6 already asked for today but ignored. We have 7 some 4,000 by best estimates that are available 8 to us, and a recent report from City University 9 seems to confirm that, students in State and 10 City University who are in this country 11 illegally and in City University, they are 12 allowing them to pay resident rates, not 13 out-of-state rates. The total subsidy from the 14 taxpayers of this state is approximately, at 15 minimum, 35 million. It could be as high as 40 16 million. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Paterson. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 20 President. If Senator Padavan would continue to 21 yield. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 continues to yield. 2020 1 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, I 2 understand your answer, but I'm still a little 3 confused about the reporting that would exist 4 when the school answers where an outside agency 5 is seeking the information and it is later 6 determined that the individual is a legal 7 permanent resident or is a resident or a citizen 8 or is, in some way, not an illegal alien. 9 So what I'm saying to you is that 10 while you would be correct with respect to 11 illegal aliens, what I am concerned about is the 12 stigma that would occur for individuals who 13 would not fit within that classification. As 14 you are aware, it is really the spirit of our 15 law that we are trying not always to find the 16 guilty as much as to preserve the rights and 17 privacy of the innocent. That's why we have the 18 federal Rights and Privacy Act. And so, what 19 I'm saying to you is, it would seem to me that 20 what your legislation would do would be to go 21 right in the face of that. 22 Now, we had this discussion last 23 year, and since that time, in November, November 2021 1 20th in fact, a Federal District Court in 2 California overthrew the elements of Proposition 3 187, which I think speak to what you are 4 addressing here, and at that time, a judge by 5 the name of Failzer, commenting on this, pretty 6 much in his dicta states what I'm trying to tell 7 you right now, which is, that it would be 8 important to identify and remove from our tax 9 rolls the support of illegal aliens. However, 10 to use the educational system as a policing 11 agency and to use health care workers, in other 12 types of legislation, for this purpose is 13 exactly the kind of action that seems to be held 14 to be unconstitutional by a number of courts 15 around this country. 16 So what I'm asking you again is 17 not the part about how much we're spending on 18 illegal aliens but the issue of jeopardizing 19 those individuals who have a legal right to be 20 here because they are permanent residents or 21 because they are citizens who by virtue of some 22 stigma can be affected under your legislation. 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: Senator, with 2022 1 all due respect, what is your question? 2 SENATOR PATERSON: My question is 3 don't you think that this legislation impinges 4 upon the rights of those who have a right to be 5 here by, in a sense, creating a situation where 6 the revealing of that information may not be in 7 conformity with our Constitution? 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: No, I don't 9 believe that. And as I indicated to you 10 earlier, we already -- when I say "we," the 11 State and City Universities already require that 12 information to be provided. However, policies 13 that they have adopted, particularly City 14 University, are such that when someone does not 15 provide information as to their immigration 16 status, visa, green card, temporary visa and any 17 other category that the federal government 18 provides, are still allowing thousands to attend 19 the university, even charging them resident 20 rates. 21 Now, if there's anybody suffering 22 here, it's the students in City University who, 23 as you know, today are laboring under 2023 1 circumstances that are not ideal, not enough 2 courses being provided, many, many shortcomings 3 that we are attempting to deal with in this 4 budget, as in the past, and it seems to me that 5 we should be doing everything we can to see that 6 those monies are being spent wisely and, in my 7 view, they are not being spent wisely when they 8 are used to provide tuition subsidy to people 9 who are in this country illegally. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Paterson. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. Thank Senator Padavan for his 14 answer. 15 On the bill, Mr. President. 16 What I still feel is that Senator 17 Padavan is not incorrect in what he is trying to 18 address. He is not incorrect in identifying a 19 problem. What I feel is incorrect is the manner 20 in which we're trying to reach a solution. If 21 we are experiencing the devastating budget cuts 22 and the other obstacles to a realized education 23 that Senator Padavan referred to, I think we may 2024 1 be unnecessarily burdening the already 2 dilapidated economic base by expending greater 3 amounts of money investigating to determine who 4 is and who is not an illegal alien. 5 We have an immigration and 6 naturalization service that provides that; and 7 to whatever extent they need to come on the 8 scene and conduct investigations there, I don't 9 have an objection to that. But what we are now 10 doing is we are passing this information along 11 to other institutions, denying rights, denying 12 privileges and denying certain protections that 13 have been set forth in our law to such an extent 14 that I think we're bordering on tampering with 15 the rights granted in our Constitution. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Gold. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Yes, Mr. 19 President. Just briefly. 20 I appreciate Senator Padavan's 21 patience in explaining the bill again since we 22 have been through it before. But I adopt 23 everything that Senator Paterson says, and I 2025 1 just think that in some areas we're going in a 2 very, very difficult direction. 3 We had a bill earlier today in 4 one of the committees which was talking about 5 breaking the confidentiality, the relationship 6 between a patient and his or her doctor. We've 7 had too many bills, I think, which put people 8 into jobs that they didn't bargain for and 9 things which are not their jobs, and this is 10 perhaps another one, and there is a memo I have 11 from the State University of New York where they 12 say they are opposed to this. They do not know 13 where they would get the money to do it and, 14 basically, in effect, they say it is just not 15 their job. 16 I think that as much as I can 17 understand the motivation of Senator Padavan and 18 I understand that there are some people who 19 resent money being spent in certain ways, I 20 think that we, as the Legislature, in some of 21 the bills that we pass set broad principles, and 22 we're getting into areas which, I think, are 23 very muddy and very dangerous waters when we 2026 1 take people and try to give them jobs which are 2 outside the scope of what their job is. 3 Let the universities teach 4 children, and let the INS and others do their 5 job, and let them keep it separate. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Dollinger. 8 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Would Senator 9 Padavan yield to a question? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Padavan, do you yield to a question from Senator 12 Dollinger? 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 Senator yields. 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Senator, as I 17 recall this bill from last year, one of the 18 complaints of SUNY and CUNY was this would 19 create a huge administrative burden for the 20 state and city universities, and you and I 21 discussed this bill. I agree with the notion 22 that illegal aliens shouldn't be permitted to go 23 and enjoy the benefits of a publicly-funded 2027 1 college education. 2 My question is, how does this 3 bill achieve that goal? And that is one of the 4 things I believe they raised in their memo last 5 year -- I don't have it in front of me this year 6 -- is that the cost in the administrative 7 burden of actually doing this would be very 8 substantial. I would be interested in your view 9 on it. 10 SENATOR PADAVAN: That 11 administrative burden disturbs me, when I keep 12 hearing it, for two reasons. 13 Excuse me. I'm getting advice 14 from my counsel here. 15 I will spare you a reciting. But 16 if you look at the State University application 17 on page 32, items 43 through 49 deal entirely 18 with the issue at hand. It says you must fill 19 this out if you are not a U.S. citizen. That's 20 already the case. 21 Similarly, on the City University 22 application, which I also have here, there are a 23 number of questions which must be answered by 2028 1 every applicant. Now, what is happening is 2 students are not providing that information and 3 being enrolled, by the thousands. 4 So when you talk about an 5 administrative burden, I don't quite follow you, 6 in that the current applications provide 7 administratively for a student identifying his 8 status in this country if he does not check off 9 the block, "Are you a U.S. citizen?" If he says 10 no, the current application requires that he 11 indicate his visa, his expiration date, et 12 cetera. So that's the issue here, Senator. 13 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Fine. Mr. 14 President, will Senator Padavan yield to just a 15 couple more questions? 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: This statute, 18 this bill uses the phrase "verify," and my 19 question is -- the question is asked on the 20 application. Is this going to require the 21 student to bring additional information, be it 22 birth certificate, citizenship paper, passport, 23 whatever it is, in order to verify for the 2029 1 public institution -- to verify the accuracy of 2 the disclosures made in that application? 3 SENATOR PADAVAN: Well, you say 4 verify. If there is any question about the 5 appropriateness of the information, that would 6 be required in any case. A student must bring 7 his transcript from high school. He must prove 8 many other things, his SAT scores. A whole host 9 of information must be provided with every 10 college application. Having gone through that 11 with both my children, I can vouch for that. 12 So if there is any question about 13 his status, how much more difficult is it to 14 provide the visa or green card application, a 15 copy of it, or whatever, or the information or 16 the number, along with all the other information 17 that is required for a college application, 18 particularly in view of the fact that there is a 19 section in the applications of SUNY and CUNY 20 that facilitate this currently. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again, 22 through you, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2030 1 Padavan, do you continue to yield? 2 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 Senator continues to yield. 5 SENATOR DOLLINGER: The bill on 6 page 2 and line 13 says that the institution has 7 the obligation if it learns that the person is 8 not a legal alien in this country. In other 9 words, if there is evidence or -- and this is 10 the critical question, "A person who is under 11 the reasonable suspicion of being..." Could you 12 tell me what's intended by that phrase and what 13 circumstances in which an educational 14 institution would have a reasonable suspicion of 15 a person being an illegal alien, which I presume 16 if this bill took effect would require them to 17 produce information to show that they weren't? 18 SENATOR PADAVAN: The phrase 19 "reasonable", of course, is subjective. The 20 institution would make that determination. If 21 reasonable in their mind, just to use a 22 hypothetical case, a student who filed an 23 application indicated they were not a U.S. 2031 1 citizen and did not provide the information 2 that's currently required. They refused to do 3 so. It might be reasonable, then, to assume 4 that person is here illegally. 5 However, that would be a judgment 6 they would make. We're not trying to tell them 7 how to act in that fashion. But we do think 8 it's appropriate for a state-funded entity, 9 whatever it may be, that if they are made aware 10 of an illegal alien situation to report it to 11 the appropriate authority. They are violating 12 our laws. They are law breakers. 13 On top of that, they are trying 14 to get a subsidized education at our expense 15 when they have no right even to be in the 16 country. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again through 18 you, Mr. President, if Senator Padavan would 19 continue to yield just to one more -- two more. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Padavan, do you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2032 1 continues to yield. 2 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Two other 3 very quick questions. 4 First of all, what is the penalty 5 if the educational institution does not perform 6 the obligations contained in paragraph 3 of the 7 bill? 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: There is no 9 penalty. 10 SENATOR DOLLINGER: There is no 11 penalty on the educational institution? 12 SENATOR PADAVAN: No. 13 SENATOR DOLLINGER: They just 14 disregard it. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: No, there's no 16 penalty. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: In addition, 18 Senator, why would -- it says here that they 19 will tell the Commissioner. What authority does 20 the Commissioner have over this? Why is that? 21 Is that just for statistical gathering purposes 22 or is that in there for some other reason, that 23 the Commissioner of Education would need to know 2033 1 whether the student was. 2 SENATOR PADAVAN: I don't know if 3 he needs to know. I think it would be desirable 4 for us to have an idea for future actions or 5 reference or whatever. However, I don't believe 6 there is a need if that's your question. 7 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through you, 8 Mr. President, one final question? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Padavan? 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: How does the 12 B print differ from the A print, Senator, if you 13 know how that amendment was made or what 14 amendment was made? 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Well, we had to 16 change the dates. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. 18 Just briefly on the bill, Mr. 19 President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Dollinger on the bill. 22 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you, 23 Senator Padavan. I have voted for a number of 2034 1 these measures which have come out in the last 2 year to deal with the concept of illegal 3 aliens. I share Senator Padavan's concern that 4 those who come to this country illegally at a 5 time when we still allow, I believe, abundant 6 legal immigration to this country and when there 7 are many avenues to come to this country, those 8 who come here illegally we do not have an 9 obligation to, and they can become legal. There 10 are many options for that. 11 And, at least from my 12 perspective, I think we can draw a line between 13 access to the CUNY system and the SUNY system 14 for legal aliens and those who are illegal; but, 15 nonetheless, I think this bill is still flawed 16 because it shifts to the administration of SUNY 17 and CUNY the notion of being the tattletale; 18 that they are going to be involved in the 19 detection and enforcement of the Immigration and 20 Naturalization Law. 21 I do think and I agree with SUNY 22 that it will create a very significant unfunded 23 mandate. I think for that reason and the fact 2035 1 that without a penalty attached, there is no 2 real reason why, at least in my judgment, SUNY 3 and CUNY would even abide by the statute, unless 4 there's some way that it could be enforced. 5 So I think there are a whole host 6 of technical problems that, at least in my mind, 7 would militate for a vote against it. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The chair 9 recognizes Senator Espada. 10 SENATOR ESPADA: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. I certainly do not rise to debate 12 this bill. Quite honestly, I don't think it's 13 worthy of debate. We did that last year. We've 14 done it a couple of times before that. 15 It's not just this bill. There 16 has been a campaign. This is a package of 17 bills, much like Proposition 187 in California, 18 much of it struck down. Many of these 19 propositions deny health care, education. 20 Turning institutions that ought to help people 21 into immigration check points has been 22 determined to be unconstitutional. 23 This is no debate here. It is 2036 1 ugly, it's evil, it's hurtful. It reminds one 2 of the Buchanan campaign that made a brief stop 3 here in New York State. It was rejected by New 4 York State. It has no role in our public policy 5 debates. It would risk federal funding; would 6 turn teachers, social workers, and others into 7 enforcers for a federal function that needs to 8 be addressed. Most definitely needs to be 9 addressed, needs to be funded, needs to be 10 enforced. 11 Again, this is not our role 12 here. This will never become law. If it 13 becomes law, the courts will deal with it. I 14 really wish that we would see the end of these 15 kinds of bills because really, again, they are 16 ugly and serve no good public purpose, Mr. 17 President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 19 will read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 23 roll. 2037 1 SENATOR GOLD: Slow roll call. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Slow roll 3 call has been requested. Are there five members 4 in the chamber wishing to do that? Will they 5 stand up? 6 Okay. There are five members 7 requesting a slow roll call. 8 Secretary will call the roll 9 slowly. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senator Abate. 11 SENATOR ABATE: No. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Alesi. 13 SENATOR ALESI: Yes. 14 THE SECRETARY: Senator Babbush. 15 (There was no response.) 16 Senator Bruno. 17 (Indicating "Aye.") 18 Senator Connor. 19 (Indicating "Nay.") 20 THE SECRETARY: Senator Cook. 21 (There was no response.) 22 Senator DeFrancisco. 23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. 2038 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator DiCarlo. 2 SENATOR DiCARLO: Aye. 3 THE SECRETARY: Senator 4 Dollinger. 5 SENATOR DOLLINGER: No. 6 THE SECRETARY: Senator Espada. 7 SENATOR ESPADA: No. 8 THE SECRETARY: Senator Farley. 9 (There was no response.) 10 Senator Gold. 11 SENATOR GOLD: No. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator 13 Gonzalez. 14 SENATOR GONZALEZ: No. 15 THE SECRETARY: Senator Goodman. 16 (There was no response.) 17 Senator Hannon. 18 (There was no response.) 19 Senator Hoblock. 20 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Yes. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Hoffmann, 22 excused. Senator Holland. 23 SENATOR HOLLAND: Yes. 2039 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson. 2 SENATOR JOHNSON: Aye. 3 THE SECRETARY: Senator Kruger. 4 SENATOR KRUGER: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Kuhl. 6 SENATOR KUHL: Aye. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lachman. 8 (There was no response.) 9 Senator Lack. 10 SENATOR LACK: Aye. 11 THE SECRETARY: Senator Larkin. 12 SENATOR LARKIN: Aye. 13 THE SECRETARY: Senator LaValle. 14 SENATOR LAVALLE: Yes. 15 THE SECRETARY: Senator Leibell. 16 SENATOR LEIBELL: Aye. 17 THE SECRETARY: Senator Leichter. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: No. 19 THE SECRETARY: Senator Levy. 20 SENATOR LEVY: Aye. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Libous. 22 (There was no response.) 23 Senator Maltese. 2040 1 SENATOR MALTESE: Aye. 2 THE SECRETARY: Senator 3 Marcellino. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Aye. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Marchi. 6 SENATOR MARCHI: Aye. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator 8 Markowitz. 9 SENATOR MARKOWITZ: No. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senator Maziarz. 11 (There was no response.) 12 Senator Mendez. 13 (There was no response.) 14 Senator Montgomery. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: No. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senator Nanula. 17 SENATOR NANULA: No. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator 19 Nozzolio. 20 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Aye. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Onorato. 22 SENATOR ONORATO: Aye. 23 THE SECRETARY: Senator 2041 1 Oppenheimer. 2 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Aye. 3 THE SECRETARY: Senator Padavan. 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Paterson. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: No. 7 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Gold, why do you rise? 10 SENATOR GOLD: Senator Weinstein 11 is having trouble hearing. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Present. 13 SENATOR PRESENT: Aye. 14 THE SECRETARY: Senator Rath. 15 SENATOR RATH: Yes. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senator Saland. 17 SENATOR SALAND: Aye. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator 19 Santiago. 20 SENATOR SANTIAGO: No. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Seabrook. 22 (There was no response.) 23 Senator Sears. 2042 1 SENATOR SEARS: Aye. 2 THE SECRETARY: Senator Seward. 3 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. 6 THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith. 7 SENATOR SMITH: No. 8 THE SECRETARY: Senator Spano. 9 SENATOR SPANO: Aye. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senator 11 Stachowski. 12 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Yes. 13 THE SECRETARY: Senator 14 Stafford. 15 (There was no response.) 16 Senator Stavisky. 17 SENATOR STAVISKY: No. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator Trunzo. 19 SENATOR TRUNZO: Yes. 20 THE SECRETARY: Senator Tully. 21 SENATOR TULLY: Aye. 22 THE SECRETARY: Senator Velella. 23 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes. 2043 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Volker. 2 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes. 3 THE SECRETARY: Senator Waldon. 4 SENATOR WALDON: No. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Wright. 6 SENATOR WRIGHT: Aye. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 8 will call the absentees. 9 THE SECRETARY: Senator Babbush, 10 excused. Senator Cook. 11 SENATOR COOK: Yes. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Farley. 13 (There was no response.) 14 Senator Goodman. 15 (There was no response.) 16 Senator Hannon. 17 SENATOR HANNON: Yes. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lachman. 19 (There was no response.) 20 Senator Libous. 21 SENATOR LIBOUS: Aye. 22 THE SECRETARY: Senator Maziarz. 23 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Aye. 2044 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Mendez. 2 SENATOR MENDEZ: No. 3 THE SECRETARY: Senator 4 Seabrook. 5 (There was no response.) 6 Senator Stafford. 7 (There was no response.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 9 the results. 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38, nays 16. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 12 is passed. 13 Senator Stafford, why do you 14 rise? 15 SENATOR STAFFORD: Mr. 16 President. I was in a meeting outside the 17 chamber and came back to vote on the last bill. 18 It should be pointed out, please, that if I had 19 been in the chamber, I would have voted aye. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Stafford, the record will reflect that had you 22 been in the chamber when the roll call was 23 completed - 2045 1 SENATOR STAFFORD: Aye. Thank 2 you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 4 will announce the results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 39, nays 16. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 7 is passed. 8 Secretary will continue to call 9 -- before we do that, Senator Abate, why do you 10 rise? 11 SENATOR ABATE: Mr. President, I 12 ask for unanimous consent to be recorded in the 13 negative on Calendar Number 349. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 15 objection, and hearing no objection, Senator 16 Abate will be recorded in the negative on 17 Calendar Number 349. 18 Senator Paterson, why do you 19 rise? 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 21 I'm just a little unclear about procedure. Did 22 we just add an affirmative vote after the slow 23 roll call? 2046 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Paterson, the determination of the chair was 3 that Senator Stafford was in the chamber. He 4 was walking through the door before the roll 5 call was announced, and so we gave him the 6 opportunity to register his vote, which we have 7 done for a number of members on both sides of 8 the aisle in the past, and the courtesy was 9 extended to Senator Stafford. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: We could have 11 done it for no member as distinguished as 12 Senator Stafford. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 14 Appreciate your bringing that to the Chamber's 15 attention, Senator Paterson. It's always 16 enlightening to have you participate. 17 I would note for the record that 18 we are a little noisy this afternoon so, so that 19 we can proceed with the business in an orderly 20 way, could we quiet it down, please. 21 Thank you. 22 Ask the Secretary to continue to 23 call the controversial calendar. 2047 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 308, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 6038, an act 3 to amend the Railroad Law, in relation to police 4 officers of a commuter railroad police force. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 6 the day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 8 bill aside for the day. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 311, by Senator Present, Senate Print 1931A, an 11 act to amend the State Administrative Procedure 12 Act, in relation to regulatory relief. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 Present, an explanation of Calendar Number 311 15 has been asked for by Senator Gold. 16 SENATOR PRESENT: Senator Gold? 17 SENATOR GOLD: Everybody. 18 SENATOR PRESENT: Everybody. 19 Mr. President, we have addressed 20 this bill before in the chamber, passed it, I 21 think, several years. 22 This bill would require state 23 agencies who promulgate rules and regulations to 2048 1 submit a regulatory impact statement for those 2 new rules that contain specific costs to the 3 regulated parties. I think it's about time that 4 we require agencies who promulgate rules and 5 regulations to analyze their proposed rules to 6 determine what the cost will be on those whom 7 they are attempting to regulate. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 9 any other Senator wishing to speak on the bill? 10 Senator Leichter. 11 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Mr. 12 President. I think we debated this bill fully 13 last year, and I just wish to point out that a 14 number of members decided that the bill did not 15 deserve an affirmative vote, and those members 16 included Senators Abate, Connor, Dollinger, 17 Espada, Galiber, Gold, Kruger, Leichter, 18 Markowitz, Mendez, Montgomery, Onorato, 19 Oppenheimer, Paterson, Smith, Solomon, 20 Stachowski, Waldon, Goodman, Levy, and Tully. 21 So both sides of the aisle 22 thought, Senator Present, that as well 23 intentioned as the bill was it needed a little 2049 1 more work, and I gather this year's version 2 still needs a little more work, so - 3 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Present on the bill. 6 SENATOR PRESENT: The good 7 Senator named off those who voted against it, 8 and I won't attempt to name off all those who 9 voted for it. Apparently, it was a majority of 10 the necessary votes. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 Secretary will read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 14 act shall take effect on the first of October. 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 311 are Senators 22 Connor, Dollinger, Espada, Gold, Kruger, 23 Lachman, Leibell, Leichter, Marcellino, 2050 1 Markowitz, Montgomery, Onorato, Paterson, 2 Santiago, Seabrook, Stachowski, Stavisky, Tully, 3 Velella and Waldon, also Senator Abate, also 4 Senator LaValle. Ayes 37, nays 22. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 6 is passed. 7 Secretary will continue to call 8 the controversial calendar. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 312, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 3073, an 11 act to amend the State Administrative Procedure 12 Act, in relation to requiring that agencies 13 conduct and include a formal cost/benefit 14 analysis. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 Wright, an explanation of Calendar Number 312 17 has been asked for by the Acting Minority 18 Leader. 19 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Mr. 20 President. The act provides for amendments to 21 the Administrative Procedure Act and formalizes 22 the requirement that a cost/benefit analysis 23 will be prepared as part of the regulatory 2051 1 impact statement that's currently provided. All 2 too often the current regulatory impact 3 statements are exceedingly brief. This will 4 provide greater detail, a formal comparison and 5 evaluations of cost/benefits and, more 6 importantly, require that methodology is made 7 available for those questioning the regulatory 8 impact to have the opportunity to challenge 9 that. This bill has been before the house 10 before and, in fact, successfully passed the 11 Senate last year 60 to nothing. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 13 recognizes Senator Paterson. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you very 15 much, Senator Wright. I just wanted to advise 16 the members that the Environmental Protection 17 Lobby, who did not oppose this legislation last 18 year, opposes it very strongly this year, since 19 it's a change -- there were three chimney 20 stacks, and this was an issue that has changed 21 in terms of the advocacy. As it is similar to 22 the last bill, I thought I would bring that to 23 the body's attention. 2052 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 Secretary will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect on the first day of 5 October. 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 Chair recognizes Senator Wright 12 to explain his vote. 13 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Mr. 14 President. 15 I would like to explain my vote. 16 Since the memo of opposition from the EPL 17 certainly has had a compelling argument among 18 some of my colleagues, I would like to point out 19 that the National Federation of Independent 20 Businesses, the small business organization in 21 this state, is very supportive of the bill, as 22 is the New York State Conference of Mayors and 23 Municipal Officials. 2053 1 Just so the record notes, my vote 2 is being influenced by those two organizations. 3 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote 4 aye. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Wright will be recorded in the affirmative. 7 Announce the results. 8 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 9 the negative on Calendar Number 312 are Senators 10 Abate, Connor, Dollinger, Espada, Gonzalez, 11 Kruger, Lachman, Leibell, Leichter, Levy, 12 Marcellino, Markowitz, Nanula, Onorato, 13 Paterson, Santiago, Smith, Stavisky, also 14 Senator Seabrook, also Senator LaValle, also 15 Senator Gold, also Senator Stachowski. 16 Ayes 37, nays 22. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is passed. 19 Secretary will continue to read 20 the controversial calendar. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 313, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 3137, an 23 act to amend the State Administrative Procedure 2054 1 Act, in relation to requiring that state rules 2 not impose standards higher than those of 3 federal law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Leichter, why do you rise? 6 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 7 President. I would like to just make a brief 8 comment on the bill and then maybe ask Senator 9 Wright to yield to a question. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Leichter on the bill. 12 SENATOR LEICHTER: This is 13 another bill that received a good airing last 14 year and some 18 members voted against it. I 15 think the main focus of the discussion was its 16 impact on environmental regulations and 17 regulations that might be necessary to protect 18 the health and the welfare of New Yorkers. 19 What this bill does, as you can 20 readily see, is to limit state regulatory 21 agencies from enacting regulations that are 22 considered stricter than federal regulations 23 unless specifically authorized by the 2055 1 Legislature and we pointed out, first of all, 2 it's a difficult test of what is specifically 3 authorized. 4 We may pass a law that says that 5 we want our air and our water protected. Now, 6 the federal government, as we know, has water 7 and air standards. Have we specifically 8 authorized actions by DEC to protect air and 9 water in a way that might be appropriate for New 10 York but it might be considered stricter or 11 different than the federal standard? So I think 12 it raises a lot of problems. 13 But the thing that occurred to 14 me, Senator Wright, is that this doesn't just 15 apply to DEC or the environment. This would 16 apply to the Health Department. It would apply, 17 as I read it, to the Banking Department, a 18 number of state agencies that act in areas where 19 there is, if you will, concurrent jurisdiction 20 with the federal government, and I wanted to ask 21 you some questions on that, because I think this 22 may raise some additional problems that this 23 body may want to consider. 2056 1 Would you be so good as to yield, 2 Senator? 3 SENATOR WRIGHT: Certainly I will 4 yield to the question. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 yields. 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, am I 8 correct that this bill applies to any state 9 agency so that it will also apply to the 10 Department of Health; it would apply to the 11 Department of Banking? 12 SENATOR WRIGHT: Yes, it does, 13 Senator. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: It just 15 occurred to me, Senator, and I wanted to ask 16 you. As you know, we have a dual system of 17 banking. We have action that's taken by the 18 Federal Reserve or action that's taken by the 19 Comptroller of the Currency, action taken by the 20 Superintendent of Banking of the State of New 21 York. Do you mean by this bill to restrict the 22 authority of the Superintendent of Banking to 23 conduct banking examinations, to take actions 2057 1 that he feels are necessary and appropriate to 2 protect New Yorkers who may deposit monies in 3 banks or credit unions? Is that the intent of 4 this bill? 5 SENATOR WRIGHT: No, Senator. 6 The intent is not to restrict the Banking 7 Department from pursuing those issues, if those 8 issues are authorized by federal statute and New 9 York State conforms or, in turn, if it does not, 10 then we specifically authorize the Superintend 11 ent of Banks or any other commissioner to 12 achieve federal compliance or to exceed federal 13 compliance. 14 It was not too long ago in this 15 very chambers that we were adopting banking 16 legislation, in fact, conforming New York State 17 statutes to existing federal banking require 18 ments, and that was a very conscious decision on 19 our part and, in fact, that's the underlying 20 theme to this legislation, that the Legislature, 21 the duly-elected people elected to represent 22 this state make those decisions in terms of 23 exceeding national or federal standards. So 2058 1 nothing precludes us from doing that. 2 SENATOR LEICHTER: Well, Senator 3 Wright, if you would be so good as to continue 4 to yield. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Wright, do you continue to yield? 7 SENATOR WRIGHT: Yes, I will, Mr. 8 President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Senator continues to yield, Senator Leichter. 11 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, the 12 example you gave, in fact, was forced by federal 13 legislation, but I'm concerned about a situation 14 that we had some years ago where the federal 15 government's regulation and its supervision of 16 thrift institutions was so careless and 17 negligent that we ended up with one of the 18 biggest losses that the federal treasury ever 19 had, whether it was 300 billion or $500 billion, 20 it was enormous. 21 Now, in this state, in large 22 measure to -- due to, I think much closer 23 monitoring by the Department of Banking, we 2059 1 didn't have that thrift crisis. I'm just 2 concerned that your bill will, in some respects, 3 limit New York agencies that all of us are very 4 satisfied with, whether it's the Department of 5 Banking or Health Department, in the way that it 6 regulates clinics which may be stricter than 7 federal action. 8 Now, to require the Legislature 9 now suddenly to authorize actions that these 10 regulatory bodies have taken that all of us are 11 very satisfied and happy with and are needed for 12 the protection of New Yorkers, whether their 13 health through their Health Department or their 14 financial health through the Department of 15 Banking, I think that could result from this 16 bill. 17 Now, I want to say in fairness, 18 the example I gave about the thrift crisis, of 19 course, those were federal institutions and you 20 could make the argument, "Well, those regula 21 tions wouldn't apply to New York thrifts 22 anyhow", but under this bill, somebody may well 23 say, "Well, wait a second. There are federal 2060 1 rules as to how thrifts are to be regulated, and 2 you can't have the Department of Banking act to 3 impose stricter requirements absent some 4 specific action of the Legislature." 5 So that while I know that you aim 6 this at the environment, I just want you to 7 think of the consequences that this could have 8 for state agencies that, as I said, are totally 9 non-controversial and that all of us agree are 10 really very necessary for the welfare and the 11 protection of New Yorkers. 12 SENATOR WRIGHT: Senator, I do 13 not aim this at the environment. Those are 14 examples that in prior debates you've chosen to 15 elucidate but, in fact, I aim it at all 16 regulations that diminish New York State's 17 elected officials from making the decisions in 18 deciding the appropriate standards that New York 19 State will require. Nothing in this bill 20 diminishes our ability to exceed the federal 21 standard, to have requirements in excess of the 22 federal government's requirements, regardless of 23 whether it's in the field of health, banking, 2061 1 environment or any other area that is authorized 2 to implement regulations. 3 What this bill says in its 4 essence is as an appointed bureaucrat, you do 5 not have the authority to unilaterally exceed 6 the federal standard. If you believe that to be 7 in the best interests of New York State based on 8 your professional knowledge, your scientific 9 background, your experience, et cetera, you 10 recommend that to the commissioner who, in turn, 11 recommends that to the Governor or convinces the 12 Legislature that there is a compelling need for 13 New York State to exceed those federal minimums, 14 that that is in New York State's best interests 15 and you convince the majority of the state 16 Legislature of that. 17 If, in fact, those circumstances 18 are appropriate and warrant that kind of action, 19 I don't anticipate that there would be any 20 difficulty achieving that within the state 21 Legislature, but the distinction would be that 22 rather than that appointed bureaucrat, elected 23 officials would be making the policy for the 2062 1 state of New York. 2 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 3 President - 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Leichter. 6 SENATOR LEICHTER: -- on the 7 bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Leichter on the bill. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Wright, I just really don't think that this bill 12 is in the real world, and I'll tell you why. 13 First of all, I'm somewhat amused 14 that you take the federal standard as being one 15 that is sufficient and should be the guide for 16 the state of New York because, as I understand 17 the viewpoint of your party or certainly a lot 18 of people in your party, Washington is not the 19 one to make the standards. Standards are to be 20 made in the state. Now, I understand your 21 answer is "Well, I want the state to make it, 22 but I want the elected representatives to make 23 it", but initially, whether or not the elected 2063 1 representatives must act depends upon what the 2 federal standards are. I reject that. I think 3 that standard ought to be established here in 4 New York based on our circumstances and not on 5 laws that are enacted or federal standards that 6 are enacted with an entire country in mind. We 7 have different needs, whether it comes to acid 8 rain, whether it comes to protection of our 9 waterways, which is different than waterways on 10 the West Coast. We ought to be able to do it 11 ourselves. 12 Now, to meet your argument, Well, 13 if it requires action in New York State, let the 14 Legislature do it instead of the regulators, 15 Senator, we would be in session 365 days a year 16 and probably 20 hours a day if we had to pass 17 the myriad of regulations where there is a 18 variation between the state and the federal. 19 There are thousands and thousands of regulations 20 because, indeed, regulations have to be very 21 precise. They have to be very extensive. They 22 certainly ought to be done under broad 23 guidelines that are laid out by the Legislature, 2064 1 but your bill would require specific action by 2 the Legislature, and why I say to you -- and I 3 say it respectfully -- it's not the real world. 4 You know, in day -- in a society now where just 5 in the environment alone, or take the area of 6 health, or take the area of banking, or take the 7 area of insurance where, if you ever take a look 8 at the regulations, there are books and books 9 and books. Well, this reflects the fact that 10 there's many more people. They interact in 11 different ways. It's a different world. We 12 can't as a Legislature enact all of those 13 regulations where they happen to be more 14 strenuous or stricter than the federal 15 standards. 16 So I respectfully submit to you 17 that this bill would not work, would impose an 18 impossible burden on the Legislature. We don't 19 have the time. We don't have the expertise, and 20 it's based in large measure -- or in the first 21 instance on the fed's telling us, in effect, 22 "Yes, you can't act in this area." I mean, the 23 fed's aren't saying that, but the fed's have set 2065 1 forth what you have accepted as the standard 2 which determines whether or not the Legislature 3 has to authorize our regulatory bodies to act. 4 I respectfully submit this is just not 5 workable. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 7 recognizes Senator Dollinger. 8 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Would Senator 9 Wright yield to a question? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Wright, do you yield to a question from Senator 12 Dollinger? 13 SENATOR WRIGHT: I yield, Mr. 14 President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 Senator yields. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Senator, are 18 there any emergency provisions contained in this 19 bill that would allow the state, on an emergency 20 basis, to have stricter regulatory requirements 21 than the federal government? 22 SENATOR WRIGHT: There are no 23 specific emergency provisions in this 2066 1 legislation, Senator. The emergency provisions 2 for emergency rulemaking are contained in the 3 State Administrative Procedures Act, and we are 4 not amending any provision of that relative to 5 the emergency rulemaking. Therefore, they would 6 supersede this particular legislation. 7 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Well, again 8 through you, Mr. President, I guess I posit the 9 following emergencies. Suppose up in Watertown 10 or Alexandria Bay in a part of the world where 11 you and I have both spent a part of our time - 12 you more so than I, but suppose we ran into a 13 Lyme Disease infestation or rabies outbreak or 14 an explosion of the population of zebra mussels 15 or for that matter, the goby and the ruff which 16 are the two predatory fish that are coming into 17 Lake Ontario attacking our forage base and 18 attacking our sports fishing industry, and 19 suppose it was, I don't know, the 15th of August 20 and the state Legislature wasn't going to be in 21 session until January 1st, and the State 22 Department of Environmental Conservation said we 23 have to come up with emergency regulations to 2067 1 control the infestation of all of these 2 predators or these diseases, and yet there were 3 federal regulations adopted for the entire 4 nation that did not have the same kind of 5 effectiveness that DEC wanted. What happens to 6 those regulations in this -- if this bill 7 becomes law? 8 SENATOR WRIGHT: Well, first of 9 all, you proceed with a review of whether or not 10 there is a federal minimum that warrants being 11 exceeded, and in this instance, I'm not sure 12 that the scenario, albeit rather extreme for 13 purposes of debate -- I don't believe that that 14 scenario would be into an emergency category 15 that would warrant the kind of early, quick 16 response that you're implying. 17 Secondly, then the procedures 18 within the emergency -- the emergency procedures 19 within the State Administrative Procedures Act 20 would be applied and you could move ahead, and 21 if it specifically required exceeding the 22 federal standard -- which I don't believe would 23 be warranted in this situation -- then, yes, you 2068 1 would require specific authorization from the 2 state Legislature to exceed that standard, and 3 if you truly had that kind of emergency need, 4 I'm sure that then there would be a legislative 5 response. 6 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. On the 7 bill, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Dollinger on the bill. 10 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I think what 11 I tried to highlight through my question was the 12 fact that we could have a rabies outbreak; we 13 could have a Lyme Disease outbreak up in the 14 North Country, up in Senator Stafford's area, 15 Senator Wright's area, where the State 16 Department of Environmental Conservation could 17 reasonably sit down and say, "Wait a second. We 18 can't wait for the state Legislature. We can't 19 wait a week for the state Legislature much less 20 five months, and we've already scanned all the 21 federal regulations and we've decided -- we 22 found that the federal regulations would 23 prohibit us from aggressively seeking to treat 2069 1 or attack the causes of Lyme Disease or rabies 2 or fish infestation. Name the problem." It 3 seems to me one of the things that we give the 4 State Department of Environmental Conservation 5 is the ability to intervene in those instances 6 to protect the public good. 7 This bill says -- and I agree 8 with Senator Leichter. For some reason this 9 bill seems to move in what I believe is the 10 absolute contrary direction from everything I've 11 heard from the Republican Party for the last 12 decade. All I've heard is "Give it back to the 13 states. The states know best. Give it back to 14 the local communities. The local communities 15 know best. Give it back to the lowest possible 16 level of government." 17 This bill suggests somehow that 18 Washington knows best and frankly, I guess, as a 19 befuddled Democrat, I can't quite figure it 20 out. Does Washington know best or does 21 Washington know least? It seems to me all the 22 rhetoric I've heard suggests that the further 23 you get away from the people, the least -- or 2070 1 the less confidence you should have in their 2 decision-making. This bill works -- almost 3 turns the phrase of block grant on its head. 4 It's almost like a block-headed grant because 5 what it suggests is that Washington somehow 6 knows better. 7 I can just see this: I think 8 what we're doing is playing hot potato with the 9 issue of regulatory environment. No one likes 10 intrusive regulations. I don't like them. No 11 one in this room likes them, but there are 12 certain instances in which we as a state empower 13 the people in our administrative agencies to 14 make decisions in the public interest. They are 15 close to the people. They're going to go out to 16 Watertown. They're going to come into 17 Rochester, size up the situation, issue 18 emergency regulations, figure out how to protect 19 the public good. This bill says that somehow, 20 someone, somewhere in the bowels of an agency in 21 Washington should make that decision instead. 22 With all due respect, Senator, I 23 can't understand how this pushes the role of 2071 1 states' rights any further. This seems to take 2 away states' rights, and it seems to me that 3 moves in the opposite direction of your party, 4 many people have talked in the last decade and 5 frankly, I'm just confused, and I'm going to 6 vote no in my confusion. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Johnson. 9 SENATOR JOHNSON: Will Senator 10 Wright stand for a question? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Wright, do you yield to Senator Johnson? 13 SENATOR WRIGHT: Yes, I will. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 Senator yields. 16 SENATOR JOHNSON: Senator Wright, 17 have you heard about the tripartite structure of 18 government, Legislative, Executive and 19 Judicial? 20 SENATOR WRIGHT: Yes, Senator, I 21 vaguely recall that in civics class at one point 22 in time. 23 SENATOR JOHNSON: And have you 2072 1 heard the arguments today for the Executive 2 Branch making law from the other side of the 3 aisle? 4 SENATOR WRIGHT: I believe that's 5 the interpretation one could make. 6 SENATOR JOHNSON: Do you agree 7 that the Legislature or the Executive should 8 make law in the state? 9 SENATOR WRIGHT: I believe that 10 the Executive proposes and the Legislature 11 disposes. 12 SENATOR JOHNSON: And the 13 bureaucrats make regulations in accordance with 14 the laws we pass, is that correct? 15 SENATOR WRIGHT: Bureaucrats are 16 appointed to carry out the wishes of elected 17 officials. 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: Not to make 19 law. 20 SENATOR WRIGHT: That is correct, 21 Senator. 22 SENATOR JOHNSON: Do you perceive 23 the other side desires the Legislature - 2073 1 rather, the Executive Branch, the bureaucrats to 2 make law in instances where it's not authorized 3 by this Legislature and by law? 4 SENATOR WRIGHT: That is 5 correct. That is exactly how I perceive it. 6 SENATOR JOHNSON: You think 7 that's proper? 8 SENATOR WRIGHT: I don't believe 9 that's the real world either. 10 SENATOR JOHNSON: Thank you, 11 Senator. 12 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, 13 Senator. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 15 any other Senator wishing -- Senator Dollinger. 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: After 17 cross-examination by Senator Johnson, may I ask 18 Senator Wright one other question? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Wright, do you yield to a question from Senator 21 Dollinger? 22 SENATOR WRIGHT: I will be glad 23 to yield to Senator Dollinger, Mr. President. 2074 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 Senator yields. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Is it also 4 true, Senator Wright, that any regulation 5 created by a bureaucrat that is not consistent 6 with legislation passed by this Legislature and 7 signed by the Governor is not proper as a matter 8 of law because it's outside the scope of the 9 authority delegated to the bureaucrat? 10 SENATOR WRIGHT: Well, Senator, 11 that's certainly an issue we've had much more 12 extensive debate on as we've tried to curb just 13 that issue because we've had several examples in 14 this state where there are a number of us, and 15 specifically the Majority of the Legislature 16 that took a particular direction and established 17 what they felt was a very clear policy statement 18 as to the direction of the state of New York 19 only to have previous commissioners of 20 Environmental Conservation proceed in a 21 direction on their own, thereby necessitating 22 the Legislature to take that commissioner to 23 court to carry out the will of the Legislature 2075 1 as articulated in law. 2 So, unfortunately, there are 3 circumstances just as you presume they will not 4 occur that have occurred in the past and, in 5 fact, we've had to rely on the courts to clarify 6 the role that the Legislature has just the 7 authority to state that. 8 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again through 9 you, Mr. President, are you referring to 10 Commissioner Zagata who was taken to court 11 because he overstepped his bounds in the - 12 SENATOR WRIGHT: No, sir. I was 13 referring to Commissioner Jorling in the air 14 quality standards. 15 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. So 16 maybe we've had that problem both in the prior 17 administration and in the current one. Wouldn't 18 that be a fair statement? 19 SENATOR WRIGHT: No. I wouldn't 20 draw that conclusion at all, Senator. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 Secretary will read the last section. 2076 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect on the first day of 3 October. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Wright to explain his vote. 9 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Mr. 10 President. 11 To clarify the perspective of the 12 Republican philosophy, if I may since I've had 13 it articulated several times. 14 First of all, we, of course, 15 believe in states' rights, and that's exactly 16 what this bill does. It articulates the right 17 of the state to specifically decide whether or 18 not the state will increase the standards as 19 established by the federal government. Further, 20 consistent with that philosophy of state rights, 21 we happen to believe that if the federal 22 government passes no standard, that would be 23 beneficial and the state of New York could, in 2077 1 turn, meet its obligations and requirements 2 quite well. 3 However, in those instances where 4 the federal government does decide to establish 5 a standard to create a level playing field in 6 the nation, then that and only then do we 7 establish that as the minimum in New York 8 because New York is interested in being 9 competitive, and then we, again, would exercise 10 our state rights as to whether or not we would 11 exceed that standard. 12 So I think it's very consistent 13 with what we're trying to do here and in 14 Washington and most importantly, it's very 15 consistent with our belief that we need to 16 create a competitive environment for New York 17 State because the real world in New York State, 18 as pointed out by the health care providers and 19 others, is overly excessive in its regulatory 20 environment and, unfortunately, the scenarios 21 articulated where the Legislature could be in 22 session 365 days passing regulations, in fact, 23 has been part of the problem we've had in this 2078 1 state, that many regulations and many people, 2 including the business community and the health 3 care providers, are rejecting that and saying 4 the Legislature should intercede and extend its 5 legislative prerogatives. 6 And on the issue of emergency, I 7 would point out to my colleague who visits the 8 Thousands Islands, we, in fact, do have a rabies 9 emergency and we are not waiting on the state of 10 New York for regulations. We're waiting for 11 adequate funding, and I'm sure you will support 12 that initiative in the future. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Wright will be recorded in the affirmative. 16 Senator Leichter to explain his 17 vote. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes. Mr. 19 President, if Senator Johnson had asked Senator 20 Wright who vaguely remembered that there are 21 three branches of government, and had asked him, 22 "Is there a federal and a state role", I don't 23 know what the answer would have been, because I 2079 1 still have difficulty understanding the logic of 2 why, if your concern is about having so-called 3 unelected bureaucrats make the decision, it's a 4 right for unelected federal bureaucrats to 5 decide for New York State. If you were 6 consistent, you would say that any action would 7 re... regulatory or otherwise, must be 8 specifically authorized by the Legislature, and 9 I must say that it's rare to find both Senator 10 Johnson and Senator Wright had this faith in 11 Washington bureaucrats. You trust Washington 12 bureaucrats but you don't trust New York 13 bureaucrats. 14 Of course, the fact of the matter 15 is that you must give direction to the 16 bureaucrats but the details, the dotting of the 17 i's and the crossing of the t's cannot 18 conceivably be done by the Legislature. It 19 doesn't work in the environmental field. It 20 doesn't work in the health care field. It 21 doesn't work in the banking field, and the 22 effect of this bill really is to take away 23 needed protections of New Yorkers in the 2080 1 environment, in the health field, in the finance 2 field. We need these regulators. We have 3 specific circumstances in New York. We're also 4 proud of the fact that New York is not Montana 5 or Dakota or West Virginia, and so on. We want 6 to govern our own affairs, and you can only do 7 that if you're free to have under rules or 8 guiding principles laid out by the Legislatures, 9 have your regulators function. You would 10 cripple the regulators, Senator Wright, and you 11 would place every New Yorker's health and 12 welfare and well-being at risk. 13 I vote in the negative. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Leichter will be recorded in the negative. 16 Senator Gold to explain his 17 vote. 18 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 I feel obligated to stand here 21 and defend the honor of a former colleague, who 22 is somebody that I like very much, a 23 compassionate man who has been abused all 2081 1 afternoon by the Republican Party, and George 2 Pataki doesn't deserve that. He doesn't deserve 3 that. 4 Why you want in an election year 5 to prove to every one of your constituents that 6 the Clinton administration has more sense than 7 the Pataki administration, I don't know, but 8 it's been an interesting year because I remember 9 when New York was the leader, and we would pass 10 laws -- and I was very proud of some of them. 11 The "Son of Sam" Law was one which I did. I 12 know we saw former Senator Weinstein here. His 13 father passed, I think, the first crime victims 14 bill in the nation. New York led. 15 Now in the budget debates that we 16 have had this year, all I've heard from the 17 Republican Party is, Well, gee, New York is - 18 is here and these other states are there, and 19 we've got to adjust what we do for education to 20 lower it because everybody else is spending 21 less, and we've got to give our poor people less 22 because other states -- and we are finding the 23 worst areas, I think, to follow what other 2082 1 states do. 2 I think that this bill gives away 3 too much initiative and, Senator Wright, when 4 you say the bill gives us a right, it's giving 5 us the right to say, "I'm going to do whatever I 6 want to do as long as I'm following you", and 7 that's a strange way of acknowledging a 8 leadership role. 9 I vote in the negative. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Gold will be recorded in the negative. 12 The Chair recognizes Senator 13 Marchi to explain his vote. 14 SENATOR MARCHI: I understand the 15 Senator's concern and it's genuine, and I 16 believe that he does make a point, but I'm not 17 fully convinced. 18 The first term I was here, we had 19 a Democratic governor and two houses Republican. 20 Later on we had a Republican governor with two 21 houses Democratic. Then we -- then we've had 22 splits, and I'm not always sure that the 23 Legislature, for noble reasons or less than 2083 1 noble reasons, are ever ready to make 2 corrections that are enlightened. So I'm a 3 little concerned. 4 I see here in the memos that we 5 have the Healthcare Association of New York in 6 support. I'm not -- I don't think I know too 7 much about the Healthcare Association and the 8 National Federation of Independent Businesses. 9 The Trial Lawyers are against it. Again, the 10 reasons -- this is what -- escape me, but all 11 these variations and combinations also suggest 12 that the Legislature may not be in a position to 13 respond for noble or less than noble reasons, 14 and for that reason, I -- I'm constrained not to 15 support this bill. I should have realized this 16 earlier, but this is the way I feel, and I can't 17 support this bill under these circumstances. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Marchi will be recorded in the negative. 20 Announce the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 313 are Senators 23 Abate, Connor, Dollinger, Espada, Gold, Goodman, 2084 1 Kruger, Lachman, LaValle, Leibell, Leichter, 2 Levy, Marcellino, Marchi, Markowitz, Mendez, 3 Montgomery, Nanula, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 4 Paterson, Santiago, Seabrook, Smith, Stachowski 5 and Stavisky. Ayes 33, nays 26. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 7 is passed. 8 The Chair recognizes Senator 9 Goodman. 10 SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President, 11 may I ask to be recorded in the negative on 12 Calendars 311, -12 and -13, please. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 14 objection. 15 (There was no response.) 16 Hearing no objection, Senator 17 Goodman will be recorded in the negative on 18 Calendar Number 311, 312 -- 313 you are recorded 19 in the last vote, Senator Goodman, in the 20 negative, yes. 21 SENATOR GOODMAN: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2085 1 Montgomery, why do you rise? 2 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 3 President. I would like unanimous consent to be 4 recorded in the negative on Calendar 312. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 6 objection. 7 (There was no response.) 8 Hearing no objection, Senator 9 Montgomery will be recorded in the negative on 10 Calendar Number 312. 11 Senator Oppenheimer. 12 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I would 13 like to follow that great leader, Senator 14 Goodman, and also be recorded in the negative on 15 the three that he mentioned, -11, -12 and -13. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Oppenheimer, you are currently recorded in the 18 negative on Calendar Number 313 which just 19 passed this house. 20 Without objection. 21 (There was no response.) 22 Hearing no objection, you will be 23 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 311 2086 1 and 312. 2 The Secretary will continue to 3 call the controversial calendar. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 341, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 4643, 6 an act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation 7 to the premium or compensation for giving bail 8 bond. 9 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Explanation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 DeFrancisco, an explanation has been asked for 12 by the Acting Minority Leader, Senator 13 Stachowski. 14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: What this 15 bill does is increase the cost of a bail bond 16 from the current five percent for bonds up to 17 $1,000 to ten percent for bonds up to $3,000 and 18 then increasing the increments thereafter, 19 basically providing a higher cost to individuals 20 using bail bonds than presently exist. 21 Right now, if one is incarcerated 22 under -- and the bond that must be posted is 23 $1,000, a bail bondsman's fee is $50. I think 2087 1 these fees that were set in the '70s aren't even 2 substantial enough to do the paperwork that has 3 to be prepared in order to get the individual 4 released from jail, and all I'm doing is 5 basically conforming our laws with what more 6 than 40 states have done since 1970 and place 7 the bail bonds at a reasonable figure so that we 8 will still have a bail bonds business in the 9 state of New York available for defendants. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 11 recognizes Senator Abate. 12 SENATOR ABATE: Yes, Mr. 13 President. Would Senator DeFrancisco yield to a 14 question? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 DeFrancisco, do you yield? 17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 Senator yields. 20 SENATOR ABATE: Senator, I 21 understand your good intentions in terms of 22 requiring that bail bondsmen get a good wage for 23 their work, but has your office -- or are you 2088 1 aware of any study, what would be the impact of 2 raising the premiums in terms of the numbers of 3 people who could not afford to make bond and, 4 therefore, would have to remain in our local 5 jails? What would be the impact? 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, in 7 most cases -- I didn't do any studies, nor do I 8 know of any studies to answer your question 9 directly, but usually when bail is set, it's set 10 in either a $1,000 bond or cash, for example. 11 Obviously, it's easier for an individual to come 12 up with a bond premium, in most cases, if you're 13 indigent or poor, than it is to come up with 14 $1,000 cash, but on the other hand, we're find 15 ing increasingly, at least in my jurisdiction, 16 that $50 isn't enough to compensate a bondsman 17 for the risk that they're taking in posting a 18 bond for an individual. So I think the system 19 that we have right now is ultimately headed for 20 a system where there are no bondsmen at these 21 lower bonds that are being required of 22 defendants, and it's going to be an impediment 23 to those in lower income situations and they'll 2089 1 have to find cash sources as opposed to a bond. 2 Secondly, there are other means 3 to get released from jail, including release on 4 your own recognizance or released through what 5 we have in Onondaga County, a probation program 6 where there's supervision by the Probation 7 Department for individuals who do not have funds 8 and are a good risk. So there are other options 9 and secondly, it's easier to post a bond cash 10 wise than it is to put the entire amount of cash 11 forward. So I think it will help someone in the 12 category you're concerned about. 13 SENATOR ABATE: Would the Senator 14 yield to another question? 15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 Senator continues to yield. 18 SENATOR ABATE: I can only speak 19 of the New York City jails, but I don't know 20 whether you're aware that there are huge numbers 21 of people in jail because they cannot make $500 22 bail or less, and that means they cannot come up 23 with the 500 or $250 cash, nor do they have 2090 1 sufficient dollars to pay the premium and get a 2 bond, and so these are situations where the 3 judge has felt these aren't individuals at 4 serious danger, the risk level is limited and 5 they've set a very low cash alternative or low 6 bond. Would you -- if you learned that there 7 would be -- that number would be even more 8 increased by this, would you take another look 9 in this legislation? 10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Sure, I 11 would take another look, but if we're not making 12 bonds available to those people who can't raise 13 500 or $1,000 cash, I think we're providing them 14 a disservice. If - 15 SENATOR ABATE: But wouldn't this 16 exacerbate that situation or make it more 17 expensive for indigent defendants, people 18 accused of crimes -- we're still talking about 19 people in detention. If you increase that 20 premium, you may now have some people who can 21 make that $500 bond and now -- but under this 22 legislation would have to stay in jail, and what 23 I'm suggesting is -- this is a good intentioned 2091 1 bill. I might be able to support it, but I 2 would need to know the answer to the question: 3 What would the impact of this change in 4 legislation have on sheriffs and local jails 5 throughout the state? 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I really 7 can't answer that question other than to say 8 that my experience is with my jurisdiction and 9 we're finding bondsmen that don't want to go 10 through the bother of $1,000 bond, $2,000 bond 11 for a $500 fee, take a risk, plus do the paper 12 work, and I'm more concerned about the bonds 13 system drying up so more people have to raise 14 cash bail, and if I found that you were correct, 15 if you have some empirical data, I would be more 16 than happy to revisit the bill, but I think the 17 bill will do the thing you're most concerned 18 about. 19 Secondly, I would recommend to 20 your jurisdiction, I would be more than happy to 21 get our Probation Department in contact with 22 yours. We do have an excellent probation 23 pretrial release program for individuals in 2092 1 those situations, because it seems senseless for 2 a $500 cash bail to put somebody in jail and not 3 be able to be released, and that's how we deal 4 with it in our county. 5 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. On the 6 bill. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Abate on the bill. 9 SENATOR ABATE: The -- and I 10 thank the Senator for the offer. I'm sure the 11 Probation Department in New York City would like 12 to hear from the Syracuse Probation Department 13 and, yes, they've had programs such as that, but 14 they deal with defendants on the margins. 15 There's still a huge number of indigent 16 defendants in jail because they cannot make low 17 level bonds or cash alternatives. 18 I cannot support this bill at 19 this time until I understand what the impact of 20 this legislation would have on the local jails. 21 This is a complaint that I have over and over 22 again about legislation that we pass around 23 criminal justice. It sounds good. It certainly 2093 1 makes sense that we want to pay bail bondsmen an 2 adequate wage. We want to keep them in 3 business. We want to be able to make bonds 4 available to more people when it's appropriate. 5 My concern is that the intent of this 6 legislation will not necessarily have that 7 effect and that the reverse effect may be fewer 8 people will be able to utilize bail bondsmen. 9 My understanding is because there 10 are increasing numbers of people being arrested 11 while the bail bonds person isn't making a lot 12 of money when they negotiate every bond, they 13 have a greater population. We're seeing more 14 and greater numbers of people in our jails. So 15 over the years while their wage hasn't 16 increased, they have a larger population upon 17 which to draw from. So I would like to look at 18 those statistics to see if, in fact, this is the 19 way to ensure that they stay in business and get 20 an adequate wage. I believe without this 21 independent study, without this independent 22 documentation, we may be doing more harm than 23 good. So I hope if this does rear its head 2094 1 another year in the interim, Senator, we could 2 get some more data and see if this is the right 3 solution. 4 In the meantime, I have to vote 5 no. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 7 recognizes Senator Gold. 8 SENATOR GOLD: First of all, I 9 would like to thank Senator Abate for asking 10 some questions because I really didn't focus on 11 this, but if Senator DeFrancisco would yield to 12 a question - 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator, 14 do you yield? The Senator yields. 15 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, I have 16 been reading the -- the sponsor's memo, but I 17 was wondering, are there any other memos from 18 the industry or anything? 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: No. I 20 haven't received any memos. 21 SENATOR GOLD: And I'll tell you 22 why, Senator, if you would yield for a 23 question. I think that the concern of the bill 2095 1 is an important concern, and while I don't do so 2 much of it anymore, there was a time when I was 3 doing a lot of criminal work and I was in the 4 criminal courts, and I know that there were many 5 changes over the years, and in the federal 6 courts, for example, they have done a lot of 7 things which have probably hurt the bail bond 8 business more than the cost of bail bonds, 9 having people sign themselves out, having 10 spouses sign over houses as security, and they 11 do all kinds of things like that -- God bless 12 you -- and I'm wondering -- I don't want to hurt 13 any business. I think the bail bonds people are 14 -- it's a legitimate business, but perhaps as 15 Senator Abate has suggested, we could maybe even 16 lay over the bill a day. I don't know what your 17 scheduling is, and I respect whatever answer you 18 give, but I would feel a lot more comfortable if 19 we had some more information on it, because if 20 there is a problem -- I'm not adverse to helping 21 people. We've had bills in the past, for 22 example, helping pawn brokers and people said, 23 "Oh, pawn brokers, you don't want to go near 2096 1 those people", and we found out that there was 2 some legitimate concern to keep them in business 3 so that they would be helping poor people, and I 4 and others did vote for those bills, and I have 5 no problem voting for a bail bond bill, if 6 that's what's really necessary, but I would like 7 to see it in a bigger and a broader picture, and 8 it's only a suggestion, Senator. If you're 9 comfortable and you move it, I would respect 10 you, but I would personally like to see some 11 more. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I 13 understand. Last year this bill passed 57 to 0 14 with no bill memos in the last 12 months. You 15 know, if there was a ground swell of activity 16 shortly before this bill hit the floor, I would 17 say there would be a reason to go forward and 18 hold it for awhile, but I really don't see the 19 reason since it's been out there for so long and 20 there's been no memos to date; I don't see why 21 there would be some that would all of a sudden 22 pop up. So I would prefer not to hold it at 23 this time. 2097 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 Secretary will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 9 the results when tabulated. 10 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 11 the negative on Calendar Number 341 are Senators 12 Abate, Espada, Gold and Leichter. Ayes 55, nays 13 4. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 15 is passed. 16 Senator Skelos, that completes 17 the controversial calendar. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 could we please return to reports of standing 20 committees. I believe there's a report of the 21 Finance Committee at the desk. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is, 23 Senator Skelos. We'll return to reports of 2098 1 standing committees. 2 I'll ask the Secretary to read 3 the report of the Finance Committee. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator Stafford, 5 from the Committee on Finance, offers the 6 following nomination: Banking member of the 7 State Banking Board: Charles J. Hamm of 8 Bronxville. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 move the nomination. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 question is on the nomination of Charles J. Hamm 13 to become a member of the New York State Banking 14 Board. All those in favor signify by saying 15 aye. 16 (Response of "Aye".) 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (There was no response.) 19 The nominee is confirmed. 20 Senator Levy, why do you rise? 21 SENATOR LEVY: Mr. President, I 22 would like unanimous consent to be recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar Number 311. 2099 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 2 objection. 3 (There was no response.) 4 Hearing no objection, Senator 5 Levy will be recorded in the negative on 6 Calendar Number 311. 7 We're still on reports of 8 standing committees, the report of the Finance 9 Committee. The Secretary will continue to 10 read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Member of the 12 State Athletic Commission: Melville Southard, 13 Esq. of Manhasset. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 15 recognizes Senator Tully on the nomination. 16 SENATOR TULLY: Thank you, Mr. 17 President. 18 My colleagues, I rise to ask your 19 support of the nomination of Melville Southard 20 as a member of the State Athletic Commission. 21 Mr. Southard is a constituent of 22 mine. He's married with three children. He's a 23 practicing attorney and a community activist. 2100 1 He has been vice-president and general counsel 2 to the New York Yankees and is head of the 3 sports law department of several prominent law 4 firms, has also represented the Houston Astros 5 and the Cincinnati Reds. He's affiliated with 6 the Nassau County Sports Commission, and he's a 7 director of the New York City Sports Development 8 Corporation. 9 I applaud the Governor's 10 nomination of this extremely qualified nominee 11 and urge my colleagues to join me in confirming 12 him, and he is up in the gallery, Mr. President. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 15 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 16 nomination? 17 (There was no response.) 18 Hearing none, the question is on 19 the nomination of Melville Southard, Esq., to 20 become a member of the State Athletic 21 Commission. All those in favor signify by 22 saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye".) 2101 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (There was no response.) 3 The nominee, Melville Southard, 4 Esq., is confirmed. Mr. Southard, we appreciate 5 your being here. Congratulations on your new 6 job. We appreciate the effort that you're going 7 to put forth on behalf of all of us here. Thank 8 you for being here. 9 (Applause) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 Secretary will continue to read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Member of the 13 Allegany State Park, Recreation and Historic 14 Preservation Committee: Dalton J. Burgett of 15 Bemus Point. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 17 nomination. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 question is on the nomination of Dalton Burgett 20 to become a member of the Allegany State Park, 21 Recreation and Historic Preservation Committee. 22 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye".) 2102 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (There was no response.) 3 The nominee is confirmed. 4 The Secretary will continue to 5 read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Member of the 7 Port of Oswego Authority, Robert L. Raby of 8 Oswego. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 10 recognizes Senator Wright on the nomination. 11 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Mr. 12 President. 13 I would move this nomination and 14 request adoption by my colleagues. Mr. Raby is 15 a leader in the business community in the Oswego 16 area and, in turn, will be a valuable addition 17 to the Port of Oswego Authority as to continue 18 to move ahead with economic development 19 initiatives in the community contingent upon the 20 Port. I encourage all my members to seek their 21 support. 22 Thank you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2103 1 question is on the nomination of Robert L. Raby 2 to become a member of the Oswego Authority. All 3 those in favor signify by saying aye. 4 (Response of "Aye".) 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (There was no response.) 7 The nominee is confirmed. 8 The Secretary will continue to 9 read the nominations. 10 THE SECRETARY: Member of the 11 Empire State Plaza Art Commission: Amy Solomon 12 of Delmar. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 14 nomination. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 question is on the nomination of Amy Solomon to 17 become a member of the Empire State Plaza Art 18 Commission. All those in favor signify by 19 saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye".) 21 Opposed, nay. 22 (There was no response.) 23 The nominee is confirmed. 2104 1 The Secretary will continue to 2 read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Member of the 4 Small Business Advisory Board: Harold H. Connor 5 of East Aurora. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 7 -- Senate -- Senator Volker. 8 SENATOR VOLKER: That's me. Mr. 9 President, I would like to move the nomination 10 of Harold H. Connor who is a constituent of mine 11 and a friend who has been on the -- a member of 12 the Small Business Advisory Board. This is a 13 reappointment. I would like to ask for his 14 reconfirmation. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 question is on the nomination of Harold H. 18 Connor to become a member of the Small Business 19 Advisory Board. All those in favor signify by 20 saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye".) 22 Opposed, nay. 23 (There was no response.) 2105 1 The nominee is confirmed. 2 The Secretary will continue to 3 read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Member of the 5 Small Business Advisory Board: Craig H. Van 6 Cott of Norwich. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 question is on the nomination of Craig H. Van 9 Cott to become a member of the Small Business 10 Advisory Board. All those in favor signify by 11 saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye".) 13 Opposed, nay. 14 (There was no response.) 15 The nominee is confirmed. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 17 at this time if we could take up Calendar Number 18 426, Senate 5756-A, which was reported from the 19 Finance Committee. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 426, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 5756-A, an 2106 1 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 2 relation to services of emergency physicians 3 under the Medical Assistance Program. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 Secretary will read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 59. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 13 is passed. 14 Senator Skelos. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 16 is there any housekeeping at the desk? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Skelos, we have three committee reports we would 19 like to have read in. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Please have them 21 read. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 Secretary will read. 2107 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Rath, 2 from the Committee on Local Government, 3 reports: 4 Senate Print 509, by Senator 5 Cook, an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, 6 in relation to the imposition of charges; 7 1372, by Senator LaValle, an act 8 to amend the Town Law, in relation to exemption 9 from the spending limits of fire districts; 10 1465-B, by Senator Lack, an act 11 in relation to the real property tax assessed by 12 the town of Smithtown; 13 1893-A, by Senator Volker, an act 14 to amend the County Law, in relation to the 15 financial responsibility of the defendant; 16 3160, by Senator Cook, an act to 17 amend the County Law, the Highway Law and the 18 Town Law, in relation to the alternative 19 classification; 20 3553, by the Senate Committee on 21 Rules, an act in relation to permitting the 22 establishment of the town of Champlain sewer 23 benefit; 2108 1 3735, by Senator LaValle, an act 2 to amend the General Municipal Law, in relation 3 to creating the town of Southampton Industrial 4 Development Agency; 5 3736, by Senator LaValle, an act 6 to amend the General Municipal Law, in relation 7 to creating the town of Southampton Community 8 Development Agency; 9 5224, by Senator Seward, an act 10 to amend of General Municipal Law, in relation 11 to authorizing municipal corporations; 12 5822, by Senator Farley, an act 13 to legalize, validate, ratify and confirm 14 certain proceedings; 15 5845, by Senator Stafford, an act 16 to amend the Town Law, in relation to publicly 17 fund in the town of Wilmington; 18 5900, by Senator Leibell, an act 19 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 20 to allowing municipalities; 21 5903-A, by Senator Johnson, an 22 act to amend the Local Finance Law, in relation 23 to temporary alternative methods; 2109 1 5966, by Senator Cook, an act to 2 legalize, validate, ratify and confirm the acts 3 of the village of the board of trustees; 4 6057, by Senator Larkin, an act 5 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 6 to school districts; 7 6145, by Senator Saland, an act 8 to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation 9 to authorizing mortgage investing institutions. 10 Senator Levy, from the Committee 11 on Transportation reports: 12 Senate Print 359, by Senator 13 Levy, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 14 Law, in relation to criminal history checks; 15 911, Senator Goodman, an act to 16 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation 17 to allowing parking violation bureaus; 18 2083, by Senator Farley, an act 19 to amend the Canal Law and the Public 20 Authorities Law, in relation to the definition 21 of the New York State Canal System; 22 4344, by Senator Maltese, an act 23 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, the 2110 1 Criminal Procedure Law and the Tax Law, in 2 relation to penalties; 3 4957, by Senator Padavan, an act 4 to amend the Public Authorities Law, in relation 5 to collection of tolls; 6 5342-B, by Senator Levy, an act 7 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 8 relation to establishing an advisory committee. 9 Senator Nozzolio, from the 10 Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction 11 reports: 12 Senate Print 5965-B, by Senator 13 Nozzolio, an act to amend the Correction Law, in 14 relation to the custody and supervision of 15 persons; 16 6067, by Senator Maziarz, an act 17 to amend the Correction Law, in relation to the 18 definition of county; 19 And 6174, by Senator Nozzolio, an 20 act to amend Chapter 887 of the Laws of 1983. 21 All bills ordered directly for 22 third reading. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 2111 1 objection, all bills are ordered directly to 2 third reading. 3 The Chair recognizes Senator 4 Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any 6 other housekeeping? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: No. Our 8 housekeeping has been taken care of, Senator. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Before we 10 adjourn, I just wanted to congratulate Senator 11 Gold's new counsel, Judy, for keeping him under 12 control today and the fact that we'll be able to 13 leave at 5:00 and have a reasonable dinner 14 rather than 7:00 or 8:00, which is the normal 15 situation. We thank you, Judy. 16 Would you please recognize 17 Senator Mendez. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 19 recognizes Senator Mendez. 20 SENATOR MENDEZ: Thank you, Mr. 21 President. 22 There is going to be an immediate 23 meeting of the Minority Conference in Room 314. 2112 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 2 will be an immediate meeting of the Minority 3 Conference in the Minority Conference Room, Room 4 314. Immediate meeting of the Minority in the 5 Minority Conference Room, Room 314. 6 Senator Skelos. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 8 there being no further business, I move we 9 adjourn until Wednesday, March 13th, 1996 at 10 11:00 a.m. sharp. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 12 objection, the Senate stands adjourned until 13 tomorrow, March 13th at 11:00 a.m. 14 (Whereupon, at 4:59 p.m., the 15 Senate adjourned.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23