Wednesday, May 1, 1996

4323 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ALBANY, NEW YORK 8 May 1, 1996 9 11:00 a.m. 10 11 12 REGULAR SESSION 13 14 15 16 SENATOR JOHN R. KUHL, JR., Acting President 17 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 18 19 20 21 22 23 4324 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senate 3 will come to order. Ask the members to find 4 their places, the staff to find their seats. 5 I would ask everybody in the 6 chamber to rise and join with me in saying the 7 Pledge of Allegiance. 8 (Whereupon, the Senate and those 9 present joined in the Pledge of Allegiance to 10 the Flag.) 11 In the absence of clergy, may we 12 bow our heads in a moment of silence. 13 (Whereupon, there was a moment of 14 silence.) 15 Reading of the Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Tuesday, April 30. The Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. Prayer by the Reverend Peter G. 19 Young, Blessed Sacrament Church, Bolton 20 Landing. The Journal of Monday, April 29, was 21 read and approved. On motion, Senate adjourned. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing 23 no objection, the Journal stands approved as 4325 1 read. 2 Presentation of petitions. 3 Messages from the Assembly. 4 Messages from the Governor. 5 Reports of standing committees. 6 Reports of select committees. 7 Communications and reports from 8 state officers. 9 Motions and resolutions. 10 Chair recognizes Senator 11 DiCarlo. 12 SENATOR DiCARLO: Mr. President. 13 On page 22, I offer the following amendments on 14 behalf of Senator Nozzolio, Calendar 257, Senate 15 Print 5951, and ask that said bill retain its 16 place on Third Reading Calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Amendments to Calendar Number 257 are received 19 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 20 the Third Reading Calendar. 21 Senator Bruno, there's a couple 22 of substitutions at the desk if we could take 23 those. 4326 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Please make the 2 substitutions. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 4 will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: On page 5, 6 Senator Trunzo moves to discharge from the 7 Committee on Aging Assembly Bill Number 7522A 8 and substitute it for the identical First Report 9 822. 10 On page 9, Senator Volker moves 11 to discharge from the Committee on Codes 12 Assembly Bill Number 4304 and substitute it for 13 the identical Calendar Number 856. 14 On page 10, Senator Cook moves to 15 discharge from the Committee on Children and 16 Families Assembly Bill Number 8529A and 17 substitute it for the identical First Report 18 Calendar 867. 19 On page 11, Senator Johnson moves 20 to discharge from the Committee on Education 21 Assembly Bill Number 6132E and substitute it for 22 the identical First Report Calendar 875. 23 On page 14, Senator Present moves 4327 1 to discharge from the Committee on Finance 2 Assembly Bill Number 8844 and substitute it for 3 the identical First Report Calendar 889. 4 On page 15, Senator Tully moves 5 to discharge from the Committee on Environmental 6 Conservation Assembly Bill Number 7505C and 7 substitute it for the identical First Report 8 Calendar 895; and 9 On page 16, Senator Nozzolio 10 moves to discharge from the Committee on Crime 11 Victims, Crime and Correction Assembly Bill 12 Number 8856 and substitute it for the identical 13 First Report Calendar 907. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 substitutions are ordered. 16 Senator Bruno. 17 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. I 18 believe we have a privileged resolution at the 19 desk. I would ask that the title be read. It 20 is a resolution that I sponsored, and I would 21 move for its adoption. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 23 will read the privileged resolution. 4328 1 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno, 2 Legislative Resolution, commemorating the 50th 3 Anniversary of the Uniformed Fire Fighters 4 Association to be celebrated on May 3, 1996. 5 The question is on the 6 resolution. All those in favor signify by 7 saying aye. 8 (Response of "Aye.") 9 Opposed nay. 10 (There was no response.) 11 The resolution is unanimously 12 adopted. 13 Senator Bruno. 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. I 15 would like to ask for an immediate meeting of 16 the Rules Committee in Room 332. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 18 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules 19 Committee in the Majority Conference Room, Room 20 332. 21 Immediate meeting of the Rules 22 Committee, Majority Conference Room, Room 332. 23 Senator Bruno. 4329 1 SENATOR BRUNO: I believe, Mr. 2 President, that there is another privileged 3 resolution at the desk, by Senator Holland. I 4 would ask that its title be read and that we 5 move for its adoption. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 7 will read the title of the privileged resolution 8 introduced by Senator Holland. 9 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 10 Holland, Legislative Resolution, commemorating 11 the 120th anniversary of the Samuel W. Johnson 12 Steam Fire Engine Company Number 1 to be 13 celebrated on May 4, 1996. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 question is on the resolution. 16 All in favor, signify by saying 17 aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 Opposed, nay. 20 (There was no response.) 21 The resolution as adopted. 22 Senator Bruno. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: And, Mr. 4330 1 President, I believe there is another privileged 2 resolution by Senator John DeFrancisco. I would 3 ask that the title be read and that we move for 4 its adoption. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6 will read the privileged resolution at the desk 7 by Senator DeFrancisco. 8 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 9 DeFrancisco, Legislative Resolution honoring the 10 students of grades K through 5 of the Onondaga 11 Road Elementary School participating in the 12 friends of Gilly Lake Jump-a-thon for winning 13 first place in the Elementary Division of the 14 49th Senate District's "Good News! Goods Kids!" 15 Student Recognition Program. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 17 recognizes Senator DeFrancisco on the 18 resolution. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. This is the last of the three 21 winning groups in our "Good News! Good Kids!" 22 Project in Onondaga County in the 49th Senate 23 District. This is the Elementary Division. 4331 1 They are from the West Genesee School District, 2 and it's the Onondaga Road Elementary School, 3 and what they have done is a very unique project 4 for any age group but especially for an 5 elementary age group. 6 They have raised money, including 7 $25,840 to make improvements to a park, the Town 8 of Camillus Park, and what they have done and 9 what they are doing now by raising money from 10 various projects and getting pledges from 11 various individuals, they are going to have the 12 options of what to do with these funds, and some 13 of the things that they are contemplating are 14 doing such things as providing docks, pavilions, 15 picnic tables, and biking trails for this park. 16 Now, this is a perfect example of 17 the good things, the good news that we have from 18 students that we don't normally hear about 19 throughout the State of New York, and they are 20 here today and I want to congratulate them, and 21 I'd move for the unanimous adoption of this 22 resolution for these outstanding students, these 23 outstanding citizens in my communities. 4332 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 question is on the resolution. 3 All in favor, signify by saying 4 aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 Opposed, nay. 7 (There was no response.) 8 The resolution is adopted. 9 Senator Bruno. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. I 11 believe there's another privileged resolution at 12 the desk by Senator Farley. I would ask that 13 the title be read, and that we move its 14 adoption. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 16 will read the title of the resolution by Senator 17 Farley. 18 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 19 Farley, Legislative Resolution, honoring Frank 20 and Mary Battaglia upon the occasion of their 21 50th wedding anniversary. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 question is on the resolution. 4333 1 All those in favor, signify by 2 saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 Opposed, nay. 5 (There was no response.) 6 The resolution is adopted. 7 SENATOR BRUNO: Recognize Senator 8 Connor, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 10 recognizes Senator Connor. 11 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 12 President. I have a privileged resolution at 13 the desk, and I would like to call it up and ask 14 that it be read. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 16 will read the privileged resolution at the desk 17 by Senator Connor in its entirety. 18 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 19 Connor, Legislative Resolution, honoring 20 Michelle Maratto recipient of the New York State 21 Bar Association's 1996 President's Pro Bono 22 Service award in the Second Judicial District on 23 May 1, 1996. 4334 1 Whereas, it is the sense of this 2 Legislative Body to honor those individuals of 3 the State of New York whose magnanimous 4 contributions have made a substantial impact on 5 the quality of life in their communities; and 6 Whereas, attendant to such 7 concern and fully in accord with it's long 8 standing traditions, it is the sense of this 9 Legislative Body to honor Michelle Maratto, 10 recipient of the New York State Bar 11 Association's 1996 President's Pro Bono Service 12 Award in the Second Judicial District at a 13 luncheon to be held at the New York State Bar 14 Center in Albany, New York, on May 1, 1996; and 15 Whereas, as pro bono attorney, 16 Michelle Maratto's commitment and humanitarian 17 concern for her clients is inspirational; 18 Michelle Maratto has been a 19 prominent member of the Brooklyn Bar 20 Association's Volunteer Lawyers Project whose 21 pro bono work focuses upon helping clients with 22 terminal illnesses, including AIDS, and usually 23 involves homes or hospital visits to provide 4335 1 assistance; 2 Since joining the Volunteer 3 Lawyer's Project, Michelle Maratto has handled 4 25 matters, donating over 150 hours to clients, 5 accepting 13 referrals in 1995 alone, as well as 6 spending countless additional hours mentoring 7 new volunteers on the home and hospital panel; 8 Whereas, the cases handled by 9 Michelle Maratto involve multiple trips to 10 distant and dangerous neighborhoods and dealing 11 with emotionally distraught clients, and the 12 services provided by Michelle Maratto are not 13 limited to the discrete matters referred to by 14 the Volunteer Lawyer's Project but include 15 tremendous involvement in dealing with all 16 clients' problems, including landlord/tenant, 17 divorce, wills and estate work; 18 Michelle Maratto's work as a 19 mentor has had a positive impact on the ability 20 of the Lawyer's Volunteer Project to recruit 21 volunteers, involving not only answering 22 substantive questions but also accompanying new 23 volunteers on first visits and recruiting 4336 1 volunteers herself; and 2 Whereas, this Legislative Body is 3 greatly moved to extend its highest commendation 4 to Michelle Maratto for her generosity of spirit 5 and humanitarian concern; now, therefore, be it 6 Resolved, that this Legislative 7 Body pause in its deliberations to honor 8 Michelle Maratto, recipient of the New York 9 State Bar Association's 1996 President's Pro 10 Bono Service Award in the Second Judicial 11 District on May 1, 1996; and be it further 12 Resolved, that a copy of this 13 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 14 to Michelle "Mickey" Maratto. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The chair 16 recognizes Senator Connor on the resolution. 17 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 18 President. 19 I think the resolution sets forth 20 why Michelle Maratto deserves the State Bar 21 Association award. For myself, as her 22 representative in this body, as a lawyer and as 23 a member of the Brooklyn Bar Association myself, 4337 1 I am indeed proud of her efforts and proud that 2 she is being so recognized by the New York State 3 bar association. Indeed, her efforts have been 4 largely responsible for the success of the 5 Volunteer Lawyer Project because, as the 6 resolution points out, she not only undertook 7 work on behalf of many clients herself on a pro 8 bono basis but she has been active in recruiting 9 and mentoring other lawyers who were willing to 10 provide these free legal services. 11 And, indeed, this idea of 12 voluntaryism, of providing service to those who 13 are in need and can not afford to pay for it is 14 one of the oldest American traditions and 15 certainly one of the highest traditions and 16 responsibilities of the bar, and I am indeed 17 delighted, Mr. President, to introduce to this 18 body Michelle Maratto, who is here today with 19 her husband, John Stella, with her family, and 20 to extend on behalf of this body our 21 congratulations and our heartfelt thanks for her 22 efforts as a volunteer. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 4338 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 2 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 3 resolution? 4 (There was no response.) 5 Hearing none, the question is on 6 the resolution. 7 All those in favor signify by 8 saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 Opposed, nay. 11 (There was no response.) 12 The resolution is unanimously 13 adopted. 14 Senator Bruno. 15 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. I 16 believe there is one more privileged resolution 17 at the desk by Senator Goodman. I would ask 18 that the title be read and that we move for its 19 adoption. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 21 will read the title of the privileged 22 resolution. 23 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 4339 1 Goodman, legislative resolution, honoring Kitty 2 Carlisle Hart. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Goodman on the resolution. 5 SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President. 6 This resolution evokes a combination of feelings 7 on the part of many of us, feelings of warm 8 appreciation and at the same time sadness 9 because, after a tenure of 25 years working for 10 the New York State Council on the Arts, our 11 beloved friend Kitty Carlisle Hart has chosen to 12 retire from that post. 13 Mr. President. Kitty Carlisle 14 Hart has served this state with the greatest 15 distinction and integrity and with complete and 16 noble dedication, first as a member of the New 17 York State Council appointed by Governor Nelson 18 Rockefeller and, subsequently, as the chair of 19 that organization appointed by Governor Hugh 20 Carey. 21 She has served under six 22 Governors, and she made it clear yesterday as we 23 named "the Egg" in her honor, which took place 4340 1 at a ceremony at "the Egg" itself, which is now 2 known as the Kitty Carlisle Hart Performing Arts 3 Center -- she made it clear that she has always 4 called each of the governors for whom she has 5 served "Darling." And she said to Governor 6 Pataki yesterday, as he presented her with her 7 plaque commemorating this great occasion, 8 "Governor Darling, I appreciate this, and, by 9 the way, may I have permission to call you my 10 sixth Governor Darling?" -- a request which was 11 readily granted. 12 As we all know, Kitty Carlisle 13 Hart is an extraordinary personality, an 14 individual of wit, taste and grace, for which 15 she is justly famous, and a style that combines 16 warmth, intelligence, responsiveness and 17 compassion. During her tenure, the Council has 18 become the most famous and the most professional 19 of any state's arts council and has served as 20 the model for every other state council as well 21 as for the federal National Endowment for the 22 Arts on which, as you know, I have the privilege 23 to serve. 4341 1 I can tell you that frequently, 2 in the conduct of the affairs of the National 3 Endowment for the Arts, reference is made to 4 Kitty Carlisle Hart and to the New York State 5 Council on the Arts which is truly that of our 6 Empire State and the foremost of all of the Arts 7 Councils, having set the pattern for government 8 assistance to the arts through matching grants, 9 not simply give-aways but the presentation of 10 monies to worthy causes on the condition that 11 they will match either two for one, one for one, 12 or in some cases even three for one, local 13 effort exceeding that of the federal government. 14 During her tenure and due to her 15 efforts, the Council presided over an 16 extraordinary increase in the numbers and kinds 17 of arts organizations providing services to the 18 people of this state. It has fully implemented 19 the legislative intent of the Council insuring 20 that the role of the arts and the life of our 21 communities will continue to grow and will play 22 an ever important part in the welfare and 23 education experience of our citizens and in 4342 1 maintaining the paramount position of this state 2 in the nation and in the world as a cultural 3 center and of assuring the Council's activities 4 be directed toward encouraging and assisting 5 rather than in any way limiting the freedom of 6 artistic expression. 7 Mr. President. Kitty Carlisle 8 Hart has been an activist chairperson visiting 9 every part of the state, developing a personal 10 relationship with virtually every arts 11 organization in the state, creating and 12 implementing policies and procedures that assure 13 that every region of New York is well served by 14 the Council. She's never been too busy to 15 listen nor too tired to care and, as a result, 16 has won the affection, friendship and devotion 17 of all who work in the arts community. 18 Her rigorous schedule in 19 discharging her duties as chairman is legion. 20 She has taken on myriad other roles, also, as 21 friend of performing artists, advocates, 22 strategists, technicians, thinkers, doers. 23 She's a conscience and a guide far exceeding the 4343 1 requirements of her position. 2 She has fulfilled all these roles 3 because she truly believes in the power and 4 importance of the arts and artistic imagination; 5 and while all of this has been going on, be it 6 noted that she has also personally appeared on 7 the Broadway stage where she had originally 8 started her career many years ago, and I know it 9 will be recalled by the members of this house 10 most fondly that the name Kitty Carlisle Hart 11 derives from the fact she was married to the 12 great, one and only Moss Hart, one of Broadway's 13 leading lights until his untimely death some 14 years ago. 15 Mr. President. Kitty Carlisle 16 Hart is truly the darling of this Legislature, 17 and we are very sorry indeed to see her leave, 18 but we understand, of course, that having served 19 for a quarter of a century, she does have a 20 desire to proceed with other interests. She 21 will soon be seen again on the Broadway stage. 22 It's my hope that she will appear here often. 23 She has graciously pledged her full support to 4344 1 the new Chairman of the Endowment recently 2 appointed by the Governor, and I know that we'll 3 have the benefit of her wisdom over many years 4 to come. 5 We salute her. We love her, and 6 we cherish her. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Gold on the resolution. 11 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you very 12 much. 13 Mr. President. One of my early 14 assignments in the Legislature was to be on the 15 Arts Committee, which at one point we all know 16 Senator Lombardi was very involved with, and I 17 want to, if we're saying nice things, 18 congratulate Senator Goodman, who has also shown 19 great concern in that area. 20 I would have to agree with 21 absolutely everything that Senator Goodman said 22 today. If you had a dictionary and you opened 23 the dictionary up to the word "class," you will 4345 1 find Kitty Carlisle's picture there. This woman 2 is class. 3 And, I will never forget the 4 first time after her appointment when she 5 appeared before the legislative financial 6 committees to talk about money for the arts, and 7 I don't think there was one member on that panel 8 that didn't expect to hear about how wonderful 9 it is to enjoy the classics and how wonderful it 10 is to hear about Broadway and music and poetry, 11 and that wasn't what she talked about. She 12 looked at this panel of legislators who were 13 concerned about money, and she talked the 14 economic interest of this state, and she talked 15 about tourism as a major business, and she 16 knocked us all right off our feet because, if 17 there was one argument that was attractive to 18 that committee, she understood it. 19 She understood that people didn't 20 have to know the merits of the arts. She talked 21 about finances, and that, I think, is to a great 22 extent one of reasons she was so successful 23 because she understood the bottom line and what 4346 1 her job was. 2 She is a major asset to this 3 state, and I am delighted, as Senator Goodman 4 indicated, that she is not walking away from us 5 but merely changing a little bit of her 6 responsibility. 7 She is a fabulous, great lady and 8 we were lucky to have had her in that position 9 as Chair of the Arts for as long as we did. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Farley on the resolution. 12 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. 14 I rise to say thank you to Kitty 15 Carlisle Hart, who has been an absolute treasure 16 to this state, and, you know, she served in some 17 very, very difficult years. I think we all 18 remember that, back when there was a lot of 19 financial problems, as there are still today, 20 but she always spoke eloquently on behalf of the 21 arts and she always delivered for the arts. 22 Kitty Carlisle is a lovely 23 woman. Senator Gold, you used the word class, 4347 1 but I guess I have to emphasize that also 2 because she is such a woman of breeding and 3 culture and class that just to be around her 4 convinces anybody that we must support the 5 arts. 6 She's a lovely person. She's 7 done a great job for New York State. She's a 8 friend of this Legislature. She's a friend of 9 the entire state, and we're very, very proud of 10 her and we're grateful for what she's done. 11 She has served us for many, many 12 years, and she still is a bright and shining 13 star, and we wish you well, Kitty, and all the 14 best, and thank you very much for all that 15 you've done for New York State. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Lack on the resolution. 18 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 I, too, rise to thank Kitty 21 Carlisle Hart for everything that she has done 22 for this state, but in somewhat more of a 23 personal sense. 4348 1 I can recall how I first really 2 met her. I went to an arts function here in 3 Albany. It was held across the street in the 4 State Education Building. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Lack, could you pardon a interruption? 7 (There was a pause in the 8 proceedings.) 9 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 10 President. 11 So I went across the street to 12 the State Education Building to attend a 13 function, and as I walked in, someone said, "Oh, 14 Ms. Hart would like to meet you; you have old 15 friends in common," and I found out through my 16 family we did, and she was so gracious. This 17 was about ten years ago. I immediately became 18 captivated with her. She invited me to sit at 19 her table that evening. She started to explain 20 to me, in some of the same manner in which 21 Senator Gold spoke, about the economic 22 significance of the arts in this state and what 23 the arts can do not only in New York City but 4349 1 throughout. 2 When she learned where I was from 3 in Long Island and lived in the Town of 4 Huntington, she spent about 15 to 20 minutes 5 extolling the virtues of the local arts council 6 in my town, even down to some of the smallest 7 performance groups that existed in the town, 8 explained to me how she had attended their 9 performances, had met the parents in the cases 10 where there were young kids, and how she was 11 taken with the type of work they were doing, 12 even knew the first names of the secretaries who 13 worked in the Arts Council's local office. 14 And as I later become interested 15 in the arts, attended performances and exhibits 16 and went to museums in my district, I was not 17 surprised after the first three times to walk in 18 to a performance or to an exhibit at a museum 19 and find not only my constituents but Kitty 20 Carlisle Hart, who had come out on behalf of the 21 state's Arts Council because there was either a 22 financial interest or an artistic interest in 23 what was going on in that exhibit or that 4350 1 performance, and she wanted to be there on 2 behalf of the state. 3 She has been a more than tire 4 less worker, and as I go around the country now 5 in my capacity as President of NCSL and people 6 talk about the type of arts involvement we have 7 in New York, there is no doubt that every last 8 dime that we spend on it and every last ounce of 9 commitment that we have put into the arts stems 10 from the involvement of Kitty Carlisle Hart. 11 So, Ms. Hart, I thank you for 12 what you have been and for what you have made 13 the rest of us who have gotten involved with you 14 in the arts program, and I will continue that 15 involvement, and I thank you for opening its 16 horizons to me. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Oppenheimer on the resolution. 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, "To 20 Tell The Truth," I have to tell the truth about 21 Kitty Carlisle Hart. Most of us do remember 22 back "To Tell The Truth," and some of the people 23 probably in this chamber remember her first for 4351 1 that. But to talk about her just in that 2 capacity would be just an infinitesimally small 3 part of her life. 4 She has been a lifetime champion 5 of the arts, and I remember one of her finest 6 hours was when there was an attack on the Arts 7 Council because of some art, not performing art 8 but art paintings that were coming under attack 9 because the art had been drawn by a homosexual, 10 and she stood up to the greatest attack I have 11 seen on the arts, and she was magnificent. She 12 was a wonderful champion. 13 Her activity has included not 14 just the large groups that we all know about but 15 the small groups, the aspiring artists, the 16 young people, educating them because it is only 17 through educating our young that we can expect 18 our arts to continue into the -- into the 19 future, and one of the grave situations I see 20 occurring when I go to Lincoln Center is that so 21 many, many people there are gray-haired and that 22 there are not enough young people involved, and 23 that is why I'm so concerned to bring art into 4352 1 our elementary schools and our high schools 2 because, if children are brought up with the 3 arts, they will pursue them the rest of their 4 lives. 5 I sometimes wonder if my calculus 6 has much value to me today, but the arts that I 7 was brought up with from early childhood have 8 meaning for me every day of my life. 9 The fact that we have all 10 mentioned her great charm, her great 11 graciousness, her great intellect. In singling 12 out the importance of the arts to the economy of 13 New York City -- and the state, but principally 14 New York City -- she has contributed mightily to 15 our understanding of what that impact is. 16 And I must say she has been a 17 great friend to me and to my husband, who is so 18 involved at Lincoln Center. 19 So all I can say is thank you 20 from the bottom of my heart and our collective 21 hearts here in the Senate, Kitty, and lots of 22 good luck on Broadway. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4353 1 Leichter on the resolution. 2 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 3 President. I, too, want to join the resolution, 4 and I assume Senator Goodman will put every 5 member of the Senate on the resolution? 6 Senator, is this resolution open 7 to all members of the Senate? 8 SENATOR GOODMAN: Yes. Thank you 9 very much, Senator Leichter. I trust and hope 10 that you will all feel you would wish to 11 participate. It is indeed open. 12 SENATOR LEICHTER: Good. Thank 13 you, Senator Goodman. 14 I'm not going to talk about what 15 Kitty Carlisle has meant for the arts because 16 that is so well known and covered by some of the 17 previous speakers. I just want to mention just, 18 very briefly, her unfailing, courtesy, 19 cooperation, friendship. She really made you 20 feel so at ease. She had that ability to 21 communicate with you to make you feel that she 22 was really interested in you as a person, as 23 indeed she was. I'll always remember once being 4354 1 at her house and she took me around and showed 2 me these wonderful pictures of her and Moss 3 Hart. This is a person who has had such a rich 4 legacy, has been so much part of the culture of 5 this country. We were, indeed, fortunate to 6 have her serve as head of the State Council of 7 the Arts, and I hope for many, many more years 8 we will have the ability of seeing her 9 participate in the richness of the life, the 10 cultural life of the City and the State of New 11 York and, indeed, of the whole nation. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 Marchi on the resolution. 15 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President. 16 The remarks that have been elicited by Kitty 17 Carlisle Hart are so justified and so widespread 18 and so widely felt. 19 My wife, Maria Luisa, and I - 20 she's a dear friend of our family, has been in 21 our home many times, and we revel in her 22 friendship, that warm humanity that 23 characterizes her. She has a genuine love of 4355 1 people, a sense compassion that she just rejects 2 things that are mean-spirited and narrow-minded 3 and certainly is a role model for young and old, 4 whatever age. This is a young heart at work. 5 Senator Oppenheimer has mentioned 6 the siege that she suffered on several 7 occasions, and on each and every occasion she 8 rose with great dignity, recognizing the fact 9 that mortal institutions have some frailties. 10 But the majesty of the service that she was 11 rendering and that the Council of the Arts was 12 rendering was worth defending and promoting and 13 enlarging because it adds so many dimensions to 14 our life. 15 I might say that most of my 16 conversations with her, Mr. President, have been 17 in Italian of all things and even our 18 correspondence, and her Italian is impeccable 19 better than almost anybody in the capital or the 20 State of New York with minor exceptions. 21 But this is a great human being, 22 and I believe that if you go out on the highways 23 and byways -- and not only in this country, Mr. 4356 1 President. She studied in Rome for many years 2 and studied opera. I have heard her name 3 mentioned with great admiration and esteem 4 outside the Western Hemisphere such is the 5 magnitude of her -- the esteem with which anyone 6 who has ever come in contact with holds her. 7 So we wish her well and only on 8 the condition that we exact the promise that she 9 is not going to be scarce. I mean she is going 10 to be available and with us on many, many 11 occasions from now on. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Mendez on the resolution. 14 SENATOR MENDEZ: Mr. President. 15 I also want to say thank you to Kitty Carlisle 16 Hart. 17 Many wonderful things have been 18 said about her here today -- you know, for 19 example, the kind of a lovely person that she 20 is, her social graces, and I want to just 21 mention to you her sensitivity to other people. 22 Many, many years ago -- about 12 23 or 14 years ago, I received a call from an 4357 1 organization, from a group of Puerto Rican and 2 Hispanic organizations. They were very 3 distressed because they felt that they were 4 being discriminated against in terms of funding, 5 lack of understanding, or their expression of 6 art. 7 So I called Mrs. Hart. She was 8 so gracious. She invited all these individuals 9 to her home. We had a meeting, and she worked 10 very hard and resolved the problems. 11 One thing that has not been 12 mentioned here is that this lovely human being, 13 Mrs. Hart, is not only intelligent and has this 14 tremendous amount of talent but she's also an 15 excellent problem solver. 16 So we are all going to miss her. 17 We wish her well and, once more, we all say 18 thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 question is on the resolution. 21 All those in favor signify by 22 saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye.") 4358 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (There was no response.) 3 The resolution is adopted. 4 All members are on the 5 resolution. 6 Senator Skelos, that brings us to 7 calendar. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 9 If we could take up the noncontroversial 10 calendar. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 12 will read the noncontroversial calendar. 13 THE SECRETARY: On page 25, 14 Calendar Number 359, by Senator Skelos, Senate 15 Print 520A, an act to amend the Education Law, 16 in relation to notification to parents. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect on the first day of 21 September. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 23 roll. 4359 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 4 is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 386, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 5954A, an act 7 to amend the Tax Law, in relation to extending 8 the authorization for imposition of a hotel and 9 motel tax. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 Secretary will read the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 508, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 6298A, an 22 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 23 implementing an exchange of highways between the 4360 1 state and the county of Washington. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 3 a home rule message at the desk. 4 The Secretary will read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 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 53. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 547, by Member of the Assembly Sidikman, 16 Assembly Print 8911, Concurrent Resolution of 17 the Senate and Assembly, proposing an amendment 18 to Article 6 of the Constitution. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 question is on the resolution. 21 All those in favor, signify by 22 saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye.") 4361 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (Response of "Nay.") 3 Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 Announce the results when 6 tabulated. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. Nays 8 2. Senator Gold and Maziarz recorded in the 9 negative. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 resolution is adopted. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 605, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 2992A, an 14 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to 15 permissible fees in connection with open end 16 loans. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4362 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 618, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 3863A, an 6 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, 7 in relation to summary judgment. 8 SENATOR VOLKER: Star that bill, 9 please. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 11 will be starred at the request of the sponsor. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 627, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 6446, an act 14 to amend the Transportation Law, in relation to 15 payment of fees and other charges by credit 16 card. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4363 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 629, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 6532, an act 6 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 7 relation to the use of radar and laser 8 detectors. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Secretary will read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 12 act shall take effect on the first day of 13 November. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 642, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 6241, an 22 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 23 relation to permanently excluding persons from 4364 1 eligibility. 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 53. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 11 is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 648, by Senator Sears, Senate Print 1394, an act 14 to amend the County Law, in relation to 15 additional enhanced emergency telephone system 16 surcharge. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4365 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 649, by Senator Sears, Senate Print 2711, an act 6 to amend the County Law, in relation to 7 additional enhanced emergency telephone system 8 surcharge provisions. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Secretary will read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is -- Senator Waldon, why do you rise? 19 SENATOR WALDON: Excuse me, Mr. 20 President. I was regrettably preoccupied when 21 Calendar 642 was passed. I request unanimous 22 consent to be recorded in the negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 4366 1 objection, hearing no objection, Senator Waldon 2 will be recorded in the negative on Calendar 3 number 642. 4 The bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 652, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 5969, an 7 act to amend the Local Finance Law, in relation 8 to the sale of bonds and notes of the city of 9 Buffalo. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 11 a home rule message at the desk. 12 The Secretary will read the last 13 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 53. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 653, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6179, an 4367 1 act to amend the Town Law, in relation to 2 providing for the election of a third town 3 justice. 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 53. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 752, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 6256, an 16 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 17 designating a portion of the state highway 18 system as the Disabled American Veterans 19 Memorial Highway. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 Secretary will read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 4368 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 6 is passed. 7 Senator Bruno, that completes the 8 noncontroversial calendar. 9 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. 10 Can we return to reports of standing 11 committees. I believe that there is a report 12 from the Rules Committee at the desk. Can we 13 have it read. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We will 15 return to reports of standing committees. 16 The Secretary will read the 17 report at the desk. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno 19 from the Committee on Rules reports the 20 following bills direct to third reading: 21 7478, by Senator Bruno, an act to 22 amend the Tax Law, in relation to enacting the 23 Tax Reduction and Economic Incentive Act of 4369 1 1996. 2 Senate Print 7486, by the Senate 3 Committee on Rules, an act to amend Chapter 261 4 of the Laws of 1993, relating to the Nassau 5 County accelerated adjudication program. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 7 objection, the bills are reported directly to 8 third reading. 9 SENATOR BRUNO: May we accept the 10 report. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 motion is to adopt the Rules Committee report. 13 All those in favor, signify by 14 saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (There was no response.) 18 The Rules report is adopted. 19 Senator Montgomery, why do you 20 rise? 21 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. Mr. 22 President. I would like unanimous consent to be 23 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 359. 4370 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 2 objection, hearing no objection, Senator 3 Montgomery will be recorded in the negative on 4 Calendar Number 359. 5 Senator Wright, why do you rise? 6 SENATOR WRIGHT: Mr. President. 7 I would request that we place a sponsor star on 8 my bill, Senate 3186A, Calendar Number 46. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 10 Number 46 will be starred at the request of the 11 sponsor. 12 Senator Bruno. 13 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. 14 Can we now take up Calendar 910. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 16 will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 910, by Senator Bruno, Senate Print 7478, an act 19 to amend the Tax Law, in relation to enacting 20 the Tax Reduction and Economic Incentive Act of 21 1996. 22 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Explanation. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4371 1 Bruno, an explanation of the bill has been asked 2 for by the Acting Minority Leader Senator 3 Stachowski. 4 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Mr. 5 President. Colleagues. Approximately a year 6 ago, we were in this chamber and we were 7 contemplating one of the biggest tax cuts ever 8 passed in New York State, biggest tax cut, 9 personal income taxes and business taxes, in the 10 United States. 11 Governor George Pataki proposed 12 the largest personal income tax cut, 3.9 billion 13 over three years. That became part of the 14 budget that we adopted in this state. At that 15 time, when we debated this tax cut package, 16 conversations on the floor were that we couldn't 17 afford to cut taxes in this state. We couldn't 18 afford to cut taxes. So we like to say, let's 19 look at the record. 20 Before the tax cut went into 21 place, over the previous 12 years during the 22 administration that was in Albany, New York was 23 50th in job creation in all of the United States 4372 1 -- 50th. Highest taxed per capita in all of 2 the United States. In one short year, we have 3 moved from 50th in job creation to 6th in job 4 creation. Over 102,000 new jobs created in New 5 York State last year, about 26,000 this past 6 February. For the first time in anyone's 7 memory, including Senator John Marchi's, Site 8 Magazine that is used by major industries in the 9 world to site plants has New York as one of the 10 ten top sites -- tenth -- in places to locate 11 your business. 12 So we are doing some things 13 right. But are we and have we done enough? The 14 answer is no. How do we know? Because, Mr. 15 President, we are in a very competitive 16 society. New York has to compete with all the 17 other states and every country in the world for 18 jobs, and jobs are the most important things 19 that any of us in government can focus on, 20 because if people are working, they are off 21 welfare, they are off unemployment, they are off 22 the streets where they commit crimes, and they 23 are being productive. So we have to focus on 4373 1 job creation. 2 We're competing with other 3 states; and what do other states do? 4 Ohio, which is number 1 in Site 5 Selection Magazine as a place to locate your 6 business -- Ohio, one of the more unlikely 7 places in the United States -- number 1. Why? 8 They incentivize business. 9 Michigan, 21 tax cuts in five 10 years. Michigan has done a turn, going from one 11 of the worst places to be in business to one of 12 the most desirable. Why? They recognize that 13 you have to do things to be competitive, and 14 they have done them. 15 Virginia. We weren't even in 16 contention when Motorola and Toshiba located a 17 plant to employ up to 5,000 people. New York 18 wasn't even at the table. Why? Virginia had an 19 incentive package of $165 million. 20 So we have got to be competitive 21 if we are going to create jobs and continue the 22 economic development policies that Governor 23 George Pataki and we in this chamber have been 4374 1 partners in through last year and into this 2 year. So we have a tax cut package that we are 3 proposing here in this chamber, and I am hopeful 4 that everyone in this chamber will see fit to be 5 supportive of this package to continue to 6 stimulate the economy of New York State, because 7 there isn't anything that we can do that is more 8 constructive or more positive to meet the 9 deficit that we have in this state, 5 billion, 10 following a 5 billion. We have got to create 11 revenue. 12 How do you create revenue in a 13 state? Unlike the federal government, we can't 14 print money. So we in the state make our money 15 from taxes, tax revenues, personal income and 16 business taxes. 17 Common sense would tell you that 18 if we encourage business growth by being 19 competitive to the rest of the world, businesses 20 will locate here. They will expand here. They 21 will pay taxes here, and they will employ people 22 that will pay taxes here in New York State. 23 So this past year, we stopped the 4375 1 exodus to every other state. We stopped it. 2 While New York lost three-quarters of a million 3 people three years ago, Texas gained a quarter 4 of a million people. But we stopped it. We 5 have made the turn. 6 This package will stimulate the 7 economy of this state, and that's why it's 8 critically important that we support it. 9 We start with -- now listen. I 10 know you want to hear this. We start by phasing 11 out the gross receipts tax on utilities. One of 12 the things that you hear from businesses is that 13 they can't grow here. They can't locate here 14 because of the high cost of energy. We have a 15 20 percent gross receipts tax. Whether the 16 utilities make money or not, the consumer pays 17 on top of an already noncompetitive utility 18 cost. We're going to phase that out over four 19 years, freezing it the first year. 20 We want to phase out the estate 21 tax. We want to make us in New York State 22 conform with the Feds and the other states and 23 repeal the gift tax that we have here in New 4376 1 York State. Why? People move to Florida and to 2 other states so that when they pass their 3 estate, the people that -- they have worked hard 4 and so the people that they love will receive 5 the benefit of their labors while they were on 6 this earth. Now, common sense tells me that we 7 have to encourage people to stay here. Why 8 would we want to encourage people to move to 9 Florida to die? I can't answer that question, 10 and I don't think anyone in this chamber can. 11 That's in this package. 12 There is one tax in this state 13 that all of us that were here have to be ashamed 14 to have participated in and that is capital 15 gains tax on properties over a million, the 16 so-called Cuomo tax. Cuomo tax. Think about 17 this and I'm asking you, Senator Skelos, and my 18 colleagues to just use common sense. 19 When that tax went in 12 or 13 20 years ago, the revenue from properties over a 21 million dollars were almost $800 million to the 22 people of this state, and those revenues paid 23 for education, for welfare, for Medicaid, for 4377 1 higher ed', for roads, for bridges. What did we 2 do with the Cuomo tax? Since it went in, the 3 revenue to the state went from 800 million, 600 4 million, 300 million to a low of 83 million. 5 It's back up to about 105 million. 6 Now, again, common sense would 7 dictate that if you have done something wrong 8 you fix it. Some people will say, Oh, that's a 9 tax break for the wealthy. Well, it isn't a tax 10 break for the wealthy because that revenue from 11 800 million to 100 million has deprived people 12 from welfare benefits, from higher ed' 13 supplements, secondary educational aid. That's 14 where that 700 million has gone. Down the 15 drain. We have to fix it. This package fixes 16 that. 17 And, by the way, for those of you 18 from New York City, listen to this. We asked 19 and we're supported in a study that was done on 20 the Cuomo tax. If that tax leaves, the study 21 shows, 7.7 billion of property transfers will 22 take place in a fairly short order, creating up 23 to 7,000 new jobs, and the taxes from that 4378 1 transfer will produce about $200 million to New 2 York City -- $200 million to New York City that 3 isn't there today. The hit at the state level, 4 about 20 million. Cheap enough initially. 5 Petroleum business taxes. We 6 have got to help our truckers be competitive. 7 We have been encouraging truckers to locate in 8 Jersey, Mass', Vermont, anywhere but New York. 9 We have been encouraging truckers to gas up 10 anywhere but New York. That is in this package, 11 the petroleum business tax: 10 cents a gallon 12 off diesel fuels, 6 cents a gallon and 3 cents a 13 gallon off home heating. Critically important 14 to make businesses more competitive in this 15 state. 16 Now, this is one, Senator, Mr. 17 President, that I know you have been a party to 18 as chairing agriculture. It's a circuit breaker 19 for farmers. It's a 20 percent credit for 20 farmers on their property taxes. Now, that is 21 critically important. We are an agricultural 22 state. All of us in this chamber know that 23 farmers have been out of business having to put 4379 1 their land up for development. Why? Because 2 they can't compete. We have got to cut taxes 3 for farmers, one of the largest industries here 4 in New York State. 5 Truckers are presently taxed on 6 gross receipts. We have to make them 7 competitive; and a gross receipt tax is the most 8 onerous tax. Why? I know Senator Gold knows 9 why because he is making notes. Why? Because 10 it's a tax on revenue. Whether you make a 11 profit or not, you pay a tax. That is wrong. 12 We have to tax truckers on their bottom line. 13 If they are profitable, they pay a tax. If they 14 are not profitable, they don't pay a tax. We 15 help them become profitable. Got to do that. 16 We have a container tax. We took 17 one cent off of two. There's another cent. We 18 have to remove that. That's in this package. 19 Why do we have to remove that? Because we put 20 that tax in in 1990, for what purpose? Senator 21 Connor knows that that tax went on to fund the 22 interest on the Environmental Bond Issue, and 23 the Environmental Bond Issue didn't pass. So 4380 1 what did we do with that two cents and 10 cents 2 per gallon on beer? What did we do with it? We 3 spent it. We put bottlers out of business is 4 what we've done. Got to get rid of it. Just 5 like the Environmental Bond Issue that went 6 down, this tax has to go down. Senator Mendez 7 agrees with that. 8 The alcohol beverage tax. My 9 neighbors -- I live about 20 miles from the 10 Vermont border, 15 miles. My neighbors go to 11 Vermont to buy their alcoholic beverages that 12 they drink, only on festive occasions like 13 holidays. 14 SENATOR CONNOR: In moderation. 15 SENATOR BRUNO: In moderation. 16 And what happens when they go to Vermont -- what 17 happens when they go to Vermont -- think about 18 this. Now, these are, you know, senior 19 citizens. They make it an excursion when they 20 go to Vermont. They go to Bennington, a 21 beautiful little community out of New York 22 State. So they buy their beverages for the 23 holidays; and while they are there, they buy 4381 1 clothing. They buy food, they gas up, they go 2 into restaurants; and guess what? They do that 3 regularly. Why do we want to encourage people 4 to drive out of our state, when we have the most 5 beautiful state in all of the United States? 6 Isn't that true? There is no question about 7 it. 8 There are sales taxes that we 9 have levied on businesses that are 10 unconscionable. How on earth we have allowed 11 these taxes to stay on these businesses is 12 beyond my imagination, and I am sure that we 13 will correct it this year. There are vendors - 14 think about this. Senator Onorato, you like hot 15 dogs. 16 SENATOR ONORATO: Let me make 17 notes. 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Right. If you go 19 to a vending machine, you will pay a tax on 20 beverages and some of what you buy in the 21 vending machine. You pay a tax. Now, if 22 instead of going to the vending machine you go 23 to a counter and at the counter you buy the same 4382 1 things, guess what? There is no tax. There is 2 no tax. Now, some of us didn't realize that so 3 we can be forgiven for allowing that situation 4 to exist here in this state. But now we know 5 it, we got to remove it. We got to be 6 competitive. 7 There are a whole litany of taxes 8 just like that, automatic car washers. You get 9 your car washed, Senator Lachman. You have a 10 nice clean car. You have to pay a tax if you go 11 through a vending device. If you don't, you 12 don't pay a tax. It's wrong. What's the hit to 13 the state? Maybe 2 million. But you know 14 what? Some of the people, again, that live all 15 around the borders, Massachusetts, Vermont, New 16 Jersey, do you know what they do? While they 17 are out getting their festive beverages and 18 shopping, they get the car washed. Makes sense. 19 This is the last one that I'm 20 going to share with you, but this one I saved 21 until last because it is really one of the 22 biggest mistakes that we've made that we will 23 now correct. 4383 1 There are printers here in New 2 York State who print promotional material. One 3 of the plants is located, coincidentally, in my 4 district, employs 1600 people. They have plants 5 in Michigan; and guess what? If they produce 6 certain materials here in this state that they 7 are going to ship around the country and around 8 the world, we tax them in a way that is like 20 9 times what they would pay if they produced the 10 same material and mailed it out of Michigan or 11 one of their other plants. Now, why do we do 12 that? We might just as well get a bus, load the 13 employees that are in my district on that bus, 14 and bus them out of the state. It is crazy. It 15 makes us noncompetitive. 16 So, as you are making your notes, 17 as you are preparing to debate, as you are 18 preparing to amend this beautiful package of job 19 creation, think about the common sense approach 20 of helping make businesses in this state more 21 competitive, creating more jobs for the people 22 who support us, who work hard, businesses that 23 locate here. 4384 1 The more tax a business pays, the 2 more business they are doing. The more business 3 they are doing, the more taxes they pay, and we 4 in this chamber are public servants. We are 5 here to serve the public. We all know that. We 6 will perform the greatest public service by 7 following the lead of Governor George Pataki, 8 who put forth the biggest tax cut package in the 9 United States last year. 10 We will follow that up this year 11 by doing something that will continue to 12 stimulate the growth in this state that we in 13 this chamber -- most of you voted for the 14 budget. We did it last year. You on this side 15 of the aisle, my left, coincidentally, are 16 partners in all of the good things that have 17 happened in this state, so I am confident that 18 you will continue to partner as we, Mr. 19 President, together move this state forward. 20 Thank you. 21 SENATOR CONNOR: Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 Connor, why do you rise? 4385 1 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 2 President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Why do 4 you rise? 5 SENATOR CONNOR: On the bill. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I have a 7 list going, Senator Connor. Senator Goodman 8 asked to speak, then you would be next. 9 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 10 President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Goodman. 13 SENATOR GOODMAN: Very brief, Mr. 14 President. 15 Mr. President. I rise to speak 16 in strong support of the remarks that have just 17 been made by the Majority Leader and would like 18 to simply point out that there are several areas 19 of sensitivity in our tax structure which have 20 been repeatedly brought to our attention which 21 might be worth mentioning in this particular 22 debate. 23 First of all, broadly, we should 4386 1 point out that there is, I think, a consistent 2 strand of disagreement between our sides of the 3 aisle on the matter of tax policy, and on almost 4 any occasion when the Republicans seek to 5 advance cuts in taxes which will in some way 6 benefit those of higher income brackets, the 7 charge is made that this is a "soak the poor to 8 give to the rich" proposal. 9 That, I think, may exaggerate it 10 slightly, but there is a sense between us that 11 there is a desire on our part to feather the 12 nests of the most affluent and, often, at the 13 expense of the poor. I, respectfully, reject 14 that and point out to you that our view of this 15 is quite different. 16 It is our view that in order to 17 stimulate the economy and in particular to 18 assure the jobs in the future will be able to be 19 enriched rather than depleted as they have been 20 so egregiously over the last decade, that tax 21 policy plays a crucial part in this whole 22 undertaking. I'm going to take one of the most 23 controversial and sensitive parts of our package 4387 1 and try to hit the nail on the head, and that's 2 the estate tax. 3 Now, the estate tax applies, as 4 we all know, to the estates of those who have 5 accumulated wealth during their lifetime and who 6 have some hope of passing it on to the next 7 generation of their families, and the assertion 8 is suggested that the estate tax is the 9 quintessential example of how we're trying to 10 help the well-to-do at the expense of poor. 11 I would point out to you that the 12 estate tax and the strategy connected with it is 13 possibly one of the most important things we can 14 do to develop the entire state economy for the 15 benefit of the less fortunate, and the reasoning 16 is very simple. I have had innumerable calls 17 from people who say we are about to move to 18 Florida, and we would like you to know that the 19 reason we're moving to Florida is that the 20 estate tax makes it impossible for us to remain 21 here, because Florida has rates that do not 22 punish those who have accumulated capital during 23 their lifetime and, as a result, we're leaving. 4388 1 Now, are these people all with 2 one foot in the grave and one foot on a banana 3 peel? No. They are people with significant 4 amounts of time left in their lives who would be 5 paying income tax to the State of New York and 6 all the other taxes which people who have some 7 income are able to pay, and yet we're losing 8 that entire tax base prematurely by literally 9 driving them out of the state. 10 The amounts involved relative to 11 the total state budget of $63 billion are 12 minuscule, yet we are skimming the cream off of 13 our tax base by having the shortsighted view 14 that to bring the estate tax schedules into 15 conformity with the federal is in some way 16 making an improper gift to the affluent. 17 I think we can apply similar 18 reasoning, as Senator Bruno has very lucidly 19 done, to a number of the other taxes which we're 20 writing up this morning. It is our belief that 21 an enlightened tax cut policy applied to the 22 sensitive karate chop points or nerve centers of 23 the tax structure will unquestionably permit us 4389 1 to stop the job hemorrhage which has so depleted 2 our state. 3 This underlies the Governor's 4 strategy in seeking a long-term tax relief 5 package, and I think we've already had quite an 6 extensive debate earlier this year in regard to 7 one piece of this and we need not go over all of 8 these points again. I know Senator Leichter and 9 I had an extensive and cordial but disagreeing 10 discussion with regard to that earlier measure, 11 but I think the same principles apply. 12 We want to build a state. We 13 want to build it on the solid concrete block of 14 enlightened policy, and we want to send a 15 message that when you come to New York you will 16 not be nibbled and chiseled away as an 17 individual capable of earning income. You will 18 not be in an uncordial environment which has 19 permitted New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 20 Massachusetts, Vermont -- all of the states 21 which abut New York have managed to suck out of 22 New York some of the marrow from of our bones 23 economically because they have congenial and 4390 1 consistent policies which send a signal to 2 people which says, "Come in to our state and we 3 won't tax you to death. 4 So I think this is a basic point, 5 and it's my belief that the voters in the last 6 election did send a very specific message on 7 that in New York State. There was a distinct 8 dichotomy between the offerings of the two 9 candidates for governor. The taxpayers did opt 10 and the voters did opt for a cut in taxes and 11 it's simply a fulfillment of that will as 12 expressed at the polls which you see a portion 13 of here in the debate this morning. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Connor, I'm informed by the desk that you have 16 seven amendments proposed. Just so we know, 17 orderly, how you want to deal with this. Do you 18 want to take them one at a time now? Because 19 there are some other members on your side of the 20 aisle who have indicated a willingness to speak, 21 too. 22 SENATOR CONNOR: We can call up 23 the first amendment, if you want, my amendment. 4391 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All 2 right. We'll waive the reading of that. 3 SENATOR CONNOR: Waive the 4 reading of that, and I will explain it. In my 5 remarks, I'll address the overall tax policy 6 issues raised by the Majority. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Fine. 8 SENATOR CONNOR: Let me say, Mr. 9 President, that there is one myth that's been 10 propagated in this state, and that's that 11 somehow or other Democrats are against tax 12 cuts. 13 Let me say right here and now the 14 Senate Democrats are for tax relief for the 15 middle class and working people and the 16 businesses who employ and train them in New York 17 State. 18 And, there are some features in 19 this tax package that Senator Bruno has 20 presented that I agree wholeheartedly with. It 21 does, though, look very much like an exercise 22 that I have seen virtually every year for the 23 last 18 years; and that is, the Republican 4392 1 majority brings before the house its often one 2 house tax package. 3 And, for years, I didn't get it. 4 For years, when that happened, Mr. President, I 5 worried, "But where is the money for this?" How 6 do we pay for this, and how does it fit into the 7 whole budget negotiations that are going on? 8 Well, Mr. President, I get it. 9 It's actually nothing more than a statement of a 10 wish list. Perfectly legitimate statement by 11 the Majority of who they are for, what they 12 would do if they could do it, and that's 13 legitimate. 14 And, today, Mr. President, the 15 Senate Democrats will present ways to make this 16 bill better and also to show who we're for and 17 what we would do if we could do it. You will 18 hear amendments, Mr. President, that will 19 provide to Sally and Harry in Oswego County 20 relief for their property taxes. That's what we 21 stand for in contrast to the obsession with 22 repealing the mansion taxes on people who buy 23 and sell real estate residences over a million 4393 1 dollars. 2 It's a matter of priorities, Mr. 3 President. We're not against tax cuts, but we 4 think it's important that the tax cuts be 5 focused on the people who need the help most. 6 Now, in general, what we hear from the Majority 7 is what I believe is a discredited theory. I 8 once thought it worked; and that is, provide 9 overall tax relief, provide tax relief to 10 businesses, and it will trickle down and provide 11 jobs and income for average New Yorkers. It 12 once worked. 13 But today the trickle-down 14 theory, the old theory -- and it was a theory 15 Democrats ascribed to. John Kennedy when he was 16 President pushed a tax cut. Why? Well, he 17 believed a rising tide lifts all boats. But 18 we're in a different hyper-technical, hyper 19 efficient economy today, and what we've seen is 20 an economy where a rising tide lifts all yachts, 21 and Sally and Harry are stuck in that leaky row 22 boat of life and they are not being lifted. 23 They are being laid off. They are seeing no 4394 1 growth in real income. 2 And, indeed, I know Senator Bruno 3 said 102,000 new jobs -- is that the number? 4 102,000 jobs, and we've debated before whether 5 you look at the employer statistics or the 6 household statistics and how it may actually be 7 that maybe there are more people working in New 8 York State, but they live in Pennsylvania, New 9 Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and it's not a 10 real job growth for New Yorkers. 11 But I pose a question for New 12 Yorkers. You have had the tax cuts of last 13 year, and, yes, many of us supported them after 14 we negotiated and made a better -- better 15 package for middle class New Yorkers. But I ask 16 New Yorkers: Do you really feel safer in your 17 jobs; and if this tax package passes, will you 18 really feel that you will never be laid off? 19 Will you really feel that suddenly your income 20 -- you'll have real growth? You won't be stuck 21 flipping burgers? You'll hold that job? Do you 22 feel in Monroe County you'll keep that white 23 collar job? There won't be any more layoffs? 4395 1 If this passes, can we really tell New Yorkers 2 that? 3 New Yorkers need relief today. 4 They need relief from taxes, and they need job 5 security and real jobs. They can't wait for 6 some theory that used to work that says let's 7 give tax cuts to businesses and they will grow 8 as businesses and they will employ more people 9 down the road. Why, Mr. President? Because 10 we've seen businesses get more and more 11 profitable and, once upon a time when we all 12 studied economics, that meant more people would 13 work; and we all knew when companies were laying 14 off people, it meant times were tough. The 15 company was losing money. Probably the CEO 16 would forego part of his income. Sales weren't 17 good. Recession was on the way. 18 That's not where we are today. 19 Now we see profits go, CEO compensation go 20 through the ceiling, and the average worker laid 21 off. Now when you hear about 10,000 layoffs, 22 people rush to buy the stock. It must be a good 23 year. 4396 1 Well, that doesn't serve the 2 working men and women and the middle class men 3 and women in this state, and that's why this 4 discredited theory -- which I would have 5 ascribed to ten years ago, that giving these 6 corporations tax breaks will somehow or other 7 benefit average New Yorkers. 8 And it's not the fault of the 9 Majority. It's not the fault of their economic 10 theorists. It's the economy we're in today. We 11 have to wake up. The world has changed and the 12 amendments we're offering address that very 13 problem because it may take longer and it may 14 never happen that this trickle down when you do 15 away with taxes on business will somehow benefit 16 the workers. 17 Because, I ask you, we have seen 18 a radical, extremist Republican majority in 19 Washington refuse to reach out and tax 20 billionaire Americans who park themselves in the 21 Cayman Islands to avoid all taxes, estate taxes 22 and other taxes. Why? Why protect them? 23 You know, I am not from the old 4397 1 leveling theory of break up all the accumulated 2 wealth and somehow distribute it, but I ask 3 this, Mr. President. Where are the 4 entrepreneurs? Where are the people who 5 accumulate wealth and still call it capital and, 6 by capital, meaning they will invest it in 7 businesses that grow and employ people? We 8 don't see that now. 9 They take all that wealth and 10 they put it in their pocket and they keep it in 11 their pocket. They put it in passive -- passive 12 investments that create no jobs, and then they 13 lay off more people so they can have more 14 passive investment money coming into their 15 pocket. 16 I am perfectly willing to give 17 incentives to true entrepreneurs, to businesses 18 that are willing to grow and employ New 19 Yorkers. That's why, Mr. President, the first 20 amendment I have called up, which will cost 21 nothing from the Governor's budget, is taken 22 from a proposal the Senate Democrats put forward 23 called ESCRA, the Employment Security and 4398 1 Corporate Responsibility Act, which has many 2 features, including a raise in the minimum wage 3 which hopefully we will deal with later this 4 year. 5 But one of the features in there 6 is a tax credit for corporations. Yes, 7 Democrats want a tax credit for corporations, 8 for corporations that retrain their workers in 9 the new technologies and put them to work rather 10 than laying them off and move off somewhere else 11 looking for the properly trained people. And do 12 you know what? We put that out and labor unions 13 said this is very interesting; we can support 14 this. And business, business came forward and 15 said, you know, we kind of like this. We will 16 take a look at that; we can support this. 17 So let's make this tax proposal 18 better. Now, I say it won't cost anything 19 because we have earmarked -- the Governor in his 20 budget has a pot full of money, $50 million, 21 unassigned, really, but to go to the Empire 22 State Development Corporation for job 23 development, and we say let's use our 4399 1 legislative prerogative and tell them exactly 2 how to use that. Use it for tax credits for 3 businesses that really train or retrain and 4 employ New Yorkers, not for big give-aways for 5 companies to come in and make big promises, "Oh, 6 we're going to have 600 jobs here," and two or 7 three years later the town and the county is 8 holding the bag when they pull up stakes and 9 leave and lay off the 100 -- not 600 -- the 100 10 people they managed to employ for two or three 11 years. We've all heard it. 12 Haven't all your IDAs and your 13 job development schemes and your counties and 14 your towns been ripped off that way? We're for 15 the companies that promise and deliver jobs, and 16 we want to help those companies, and that's what 17 this economy is about, and that's what the 18 average New Yorker wants. 19 Mr. President. This amendment 20 would spend that money. It's already in the 21 budget for those tax credits for those 22 businesses, those responsible businesses who in 23 my mind and in the mind of my colleagues 4400 1 represent the kind of opportunity and 2 entrepreneurial spirit that we Democrats have 3 always supported even in the dark days of the 4 '60s and early '70s, when Republican majorities 5 in both houses and a Republican Governor drove 6 New York's taxes through the ceiling. 7 I recognize it's a new Republican 8 Party now, undoing the wrongs of the past, you 9 know. I remember Senator Bruno -- I remember 10 him standing alone on that side against taxes, 11 but I also remember in 1990 all the Democrats on 12 this side of the aisle standing with Senator 13 Bruno against many of these petty taxes that 14 were put in then. 15 So I tell you, Mr. President, 16 it's a new Democratic Senate here. We're for 17 tax cuts. We just want better tax cuts because 18 we're concerned about that homeowner Upstate. 19 We're concerned about that middle class taxpayer 20 who is earning less. We're concerned about the 21 people who are afraid for their jobs -- blue 22 collar and white collar, afraid for their jobs. 23 We want to reassure them, and we want to focus 4401 1 not on business as a whole, not on people that 2 already got it so they can have more and not 3 invest it or put it in passive investments. 4 We're concerned about the companies that really 5 deliver the goods, that really employ New 6 Yorkers, that want to grow and make money, and 7 make money and share it by growing and growing 8 and employing more and more New Yorkers. 9 That's why we proposed these 10 amendments, and each one of these amendments - 11 and I have talked about the first one, Mr. 12 President -- will focus the tax relief that the 13 Majority wants to give much more focused, not on 14 special interests, not on the beverage industry 15 or not on some in particular but on middle class 16 and working people in New York State and those 17 who wish they could work, those who want jobs, 18 those who had jobs and lost them, those who had 19 good paying jobs and now have underpaying jobs 20 or part-time jobs or no-benefit jobs. 21 These are the people we want to 22 provide tax relief to and to the companies that 23 employ them. Very, very important. We're for 4402 1 business. Business creates jobs. We understand 2 that business creates jobs. We want to focus on 3 businesses that create jobs not on giving relief 4 to people who have accumulated enormous wealth 5 and are so comfortable they dropped out of the 6 old entrepreneurial spirit. They don't invest. 7 They don't take chances. They don't take 8 chances to grow this new economy. 9 And we say the old trickle-down 10 theory won't work because of that phenomenon, 11 because companies lay off tens of thousands of 12 people and their profits go up. So we have to 13 have a new approach to how we help the right 14 kind of businesses to employ New Yorkers. 15 So, Mr. President, in general, I 16 say we're with you on tax cuts, but let's pay 17 attention to who gets the benefit. Let's make 18 sure, not because of some theory that says 19 somehow or other a couple of years from now it 20 will land in their pockets. Let's make sure 21 now, the year after we do the tax cut that 22 working New Yorkers, that middle class New 23 Yorkers, that our families, our homeowners - 4403 1 not our large real estate holders, not our 2 mansion owners -- our homeowners get that 3 benefit now so they have hope for the future in 4 New York. 5 So these amendments, I think you 6 will see as the sponsors explain them, as I have 7 explained the first one, will have that focus. 8 It's not that we disagree about tax cuts. 9 Believe me, we don't disagree. It's who is 10 going to benefit. Who gets the money, and 11 that's what it's about, Mr. President. 12 I urge the adoption of my 13 amendment to provide those tax credits to 14 corporations that employ New Yorkers, that do it 15 now. I know Senator Bruno hopes it will happen 16 because of economics. We're saying reward those 17 companies now. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 19 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 20 amendment by Senator Connor? 21 Senator Bruno. 22 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. I 23 would just stand and congratulate Senator Connor 4404 1 on his foresight and, I think, an excellent 2 proposal and something that I think we in the 3 majority here would certainly embrace in the 4 proper format, and we will discuss that with you 5 as we go forward. But as these amendments are 6 presented here in the lateness of the hour, I 7 would recommend that we pass the tax package 8 that is on the floor, and then we will work with 9 you and the Speaker to see if we can't enhance 10 because, Senator Connor, we agree. 11 We are in agreement, and I have 12 never seen a tax cut that I don't like. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 14 question is on the amendment. 15 SENATOR CONNOR: Party vote in 16 the affirmative. 17 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in the 18 negative. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 20 will call the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 Record the party line vote. 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 20. Nays 4405 1 35. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 amendment is lost. 4 Secretary will read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 82, this 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I have an 12 amendment to the bill, as well. 13 SENATOR CONNOR: Mr. President. 14 I presented the first amendment. Other members 15 have the other amendments. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lest you 17 be confused, gentlemen, there are a couple of 18 members who have another place to go. We are 19 going to take a selective roll call vote. Then 20 we will be right back to you. We'll never 21 slight either of you. 22 Call the roll. 23 Senator Skelos, how do you vote? 4406 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Aye. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Rath, how do you vote? 4 SENATOR RATH: Aye. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The roll 6 call is withdrawn. We're back on the - 7 Senator Mendez, why do you rise? 8 SENATOR MENDEZ: Mr. President. 9 I would like to have unanimous consent to be 10 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 642. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Mendez, I would like to do that after we 13 complete this, if that's okay. 14 SENATOR MENDEZ: All right. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Because 16 we're on debate on the bill. 17 Senator Dollinger, I had Senator 18 Gold as next as presenting his amendment. 19 SENATOR GOLD: No, Senator 20 Dollinger is ahead of me. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All 22 right. Chair recognizes Senator Dollinger. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: My thanks to 4407 1 Senator Gold and my thanks to the President. I 2 ask that my amendment be put before the house. 3 I waive its reading and ask to be heard on the 4 amendment, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 amendment is before the house, Senator 7 Dollinger. The reading of it is waived, and you 8 have the floor to explain it. 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. I will be brief. 11 Consistent with what Senator 12 Connor said about targeting tax relief, this 13 amendment targets tax relief for businesses. 14 This is part of the Democratic attempt to target 15 a reduction in the gross receipts tax for those 16 companies that are most likely to leave this 17 state because of high taxes, the same kind of 18 business customers that Senator Bruno talked 19 about. 20 Under the Majority proposal, they 21 would freeze the gross receipts tax for two 22 years and then gradually phase it out. We can't 23 wait that long for tax relief. Why should the 4408 1 businesses who came to Senator Seward's hearing 2 at the Energy Committee and Telecommunication 3 and begged us to reduce the gross receipts tax 4 -- said this tax is far too onerous. It was 5 devastating to the development of new technology 6 in this state so that New York State could 7 continue to be a leader in telecommunications 8 deregulation and in electrical power 9 deregulation. One of ways to do that was to 10 reduce the gross receipts tax. 11 The people who were complaining 12 were business customers and manufacturers, the 13 entities that have to pay a substantial 14 surcharge on their electrical bills to cover 15 gross receipts tax. 16 This amendment would do four 17 things. First of all, it would create a 18 manufacturers' exemption for the gross receipts 19 tax -- you know, manufacturers like Eastman 20 Kodak Company, like IBM, like Grumman, like 21 General Electric, you name it, the big employers 22 we try to bring to this state, the people who 23 create value, who create jobs. This would 4409 1 create an exemption for them so that they would 2 not be subject to the gross receipts tax. It's 3 what business wanted. It's what the Business 4 Council asked for. It's a tax specifically 5 designed to reduce the cost to manufacturers. 6 That's its first facet. 7 Secondly, it would reduce 25 8 percent the telecommunication portion of the tax 9 on business customers, so that gross receipts 10 tax on telephones used by business customers 11 would go down 25 percent. Ask any one of those 12 business that Senator Bruno has lauded as being 13 critically important to this state what they 14 want. All of them would say reduce my gross 15 receipts tax. I don't have to pay as much for 16 my telephone usage. 17 The third thing it would do, it 18 would give an incentive in this state to 19 continue to be a leader in the nation in the 20 development of high-speed electronic 21 communications because it would create an 22 additional exemption for those telephone lines 23 used in high speed data transmission, tele 4410 1 conferencing, high speed Internet access for 2 businesses and individuals. You want New York 3 State to be the leader in the next round of 4 telecommunications technology? This is your 5 chance, gentlemen. Here's your chance. Take 6 the gross receipts tax off these kinds of wires 7 that we ought to be encouraging the development 8 of in this state rather than discouraging. 9 Lastly, this amendment has good 10 news for the water companies. They now pay $2 11 million in gross receipts tax. Abolished under 12 this bill. Gone. History. In addition, it 13 lowers water bills. In addition, it removes it 14 entirely from the trucking industry. Senator 15 Bruno's proposal says we're going to save some 16 money for the trucking industry. We got to do 17 something good for it. Here it is. Save them 18 $17 million, not sometime in the future, not 19 five years in the future. We can do it now. 20 Let the Senate go on record now. 21 Reduce it for -- eliminate it for water 22 companies, give our trucking companies a break, 23 develop high speed technology in the 4411 1 telecommunications industry, give our business 2 customers a 25 percent reduction in their gross 3 receipts tax and, lastly, give our 4 manufacturers, the people who provide the 5 quality jobs, the high paying jobs that we all 6 want, give them an exemption from the gross 7 receipts tax. 8 Here's your chance. Do you 9 really want to cut taxes? Do you want to do it 10 now? You want to give our businesses some 11 relief? You want to live up to what we now 12 share? When Senator Bruno says we want to cut 13 taxes for business, Senator Connor says we want 14 to cut taxes for business, here's your chance. 15 Vote yes on this amendment, and 16 it will happen. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 18 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 19 amendment? 20 (There was no response.) 21 Hearing none, the question is on 22 this amendment. 23 SENATOR CONNOR: Party vote in 4412 1 affirmative. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 3 will call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 6 the party line vote. 7 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in the 8 negative. 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 21, nays 10 35. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 amendment is defeated. 13 The Chair recognizes Senator 14 Gold. 15 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you, Mr. 16 President. 17 I have an amendment. I'd waive 18 its reading and ask permission to explain it. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 reading of the amendment is waived. The floor 21 is yours to explain the amendment. 22 SENATOR GOLD: I understand that 23 as you used to say, it's a tough crowd. So 4413 1 knowing I couldn't do it all myself, I want you 2 to know, Senator Bruno, I have Spiderman and the 3 Hulk and a few other superheroes. Maybe that'll 4 help. I don't know. Yeah, it's a great tie. 5 It's my son Adam's, Adam Gold, my son Adam. 6 Senator Bruno, first of all, you 7 made a comment that you admired and respected 8 and congratulated our Leader and then made all 9 of us feel very good. You said that because of 10 the lateness of the hour -- that was your words 11 -- that you'd like to go with your package and 12 get it over with. I would just like to remind 13 you, you are the one who runs the Senate and we 14 have legislative days. You could have this bill 15 reprinted. We could have this on the table next 16 week, and I don't think the lateness of the hour 17 would prevent that. 18 What I do believe, though, is 19 that obviously this conversation is a wish list 20 as has been pointed out because we really have 21 no budget, and I say to myself, Is Joe Bruno 22 saying that we take the Pataki budget and cut 80 23 million from that and that's what we're giving 4414 1 the voters? That why we haven't seen a budget 2 this year? I don't know. I know last year you 3 put out a budget and you challenged the Assembly 4 to put out a budget. This year, your side of 5 the aisle, for a good reason, is running away 6 from the Pataki budget, and I think I almost 7 respect you for doing that. 8 Senator Goodman made a comment 9 that there's a difference of tax philosophy 10 between your side of the aisle and ours, and I 11 would, in all fairness to Senator Goodman, have 12 to agree with him. Your side of the aisle votes 13 for five billion in taxes and then tells the 14 public you didn't do it. At least when we do 15 something, we own up to it and we're not ashamed 16 of it, but if you take your votes, Senator 17 Bruno, and not necessarily you but certainly the 18 gentleman you're talking to and other members on 19 your side, if you take your votes over the last 20 four, five, six years and indeed since I have 21 been a member, you're the Majority who voted in 22 all of these taxes. So you go through the 23 ritual of offering tax cuts that's on a day when 4415 1 we don't do the budget and then on the day we do 2 the budget, you vote the tax cuts in, and you're 3 smart enough to know that the press can't put 4 two days together, so you get away with it. 5 With regard to my amendment, my 6 amendment deals with a circuit breaker to 7 protect people on the issue of local taxes, and 8 I think it's interesting that in discussing your 9 package, Senator Bruno, you indicated that New 10 York was 50th in jobs. You talked about 11 everything except local taxes, and I don't blame 12 you because it's got to be a major embarrassment 13 for you. 14 It's a major embarrassment for 15 you because New York is the first in the nation 16 on local taxes, and if it's up to Governor 17 Pataki this year, I don't know whether you can 18 get better than first, but I guess he'll secure 19 our place in history as first forever because, 20 for example, as you go around the state and take 21 a look at the Pataki budget and the impact it 22 will have on local taxes, it's overwhelming. 23 In Delaware County right now 4416 1 where from '88 to '94, the increase was 6.5 2 percent, if you work in the Pataki budget this 3 year, it will go to 11.6. It's going to double 4 the local tax impact in Delaware County. 5 Herkimer County which has been 6 raised by 6.5 percent in the same time is going 7 to go over ten percent if you go with the Pataki 8 budget. 9 Tompkins County where I spent a 10 lovely six years has increased 8.1 percent. 11 It's going to go over 10 percent, almost to 11 12 percent. 13 Let me see, Gus. Do I see you 14 around in here? Let me see. What's a good 15 county for you in here? Well, I'll be glad to 16 show you the list, but all over the place, in 17 Cayuga County, 5 percent up to 10.3 percent. 18 That's what the Pataki budget will do to local 19 taxes, and interestingly enough, part of the 20 main bill here talks about cutting the gross 21 receipts tax on utilities. The Pataki budget 22 opens up the option of local governments to 23 increase it. 4417 1 The whole block grant program is 2 a scam to hide the fact that we are pushing 3 costs down to the localities. That's what it 4 is. It's one of the biggest scams that's ever 5 been attempted to be perpetrated on the state, 6 and I'll never forget that budget hearing when a 7 local upstate welfare official testifying before 8 the Senate and Assembly joint committee sat 9 right up against that microphone and looked at 10 us and said, And we think the concept of block 11 grants is terrific, giving us that local 12 discretion, and then he moved a foot or two away 13 from the microphone and said, As long as you 14 give us enough money. He didn't want that part 15 on the record but he wanted us to hear it. Of 16 course, if you give us enough money, and that's 17 the whole idea of the block grant program, to 18 not give the amount of money, and what's the 19 locality going to do about it? Since we have 20 given the mandates, they're going to increase 21 property taxes. 22 My amendment is going to take 23 that circuit breaker and instead of limiting it 4418 1 to households under 18,000, to raise that 2 threshold to 100,000 because that now becomes 3 some kind of reality throughout this state. 4 Your plan not only makes sure you 5 take care of the very, very highest, but you 6 ignore that middle income group who is 7 struggling. 8 As a matter of fact, one of the 9 -- one of the most tragic pieces of testimony I 10 have ever heard at any hearing I've ever 11 attended in my quarter of a century in this 12 house was in New Paltz, Senator Stavisky was 13 bright enough to set up hearings around the 14 state so that students and others could talk 15 about the impact of the Governor's budget on the 16 college population, and the chancellor testified 17 that as a result of last year's increases in 18 tuition at SUNY, 10,000 students dropped out. 19 Now, that's a tragedy without hearing anything 20 else, but what was even worse is that 8500 of 21 those students were part-time students. 22 Now, think about that. Think 23 about that. Part-time students, Senator Bruno, 4419 1 not bums, not welfare cheats, not this, that, 2 not millionaires' kids. These are young people, 3 some of them, by the way, not so young, some of 4 them middle-aged people who are able to go back 5 to school but, Senator, this is the cream of 6 this state, people who say, I need an education 7 and I'm going to work part of the day and I'm 8 going to go to school part of the day. I'm 9 going to raise my family part of the day and I'm 10 going to improve my life. 8500 of those people 11 were knocked out of their college education 12 right in the middle because of the Pataki 13 program of last year and the increase. 14 Horrifying testimony. 15 What we are doing in my amendment 16 is we are putting in that circuit breaker. We 17 increase the value of the credit for seniors and 18 middle income taxpayers six-fold. We provide a 19 credit for residential and agricultural uses, 20 Senator Kuhl. We increase the property value 21 which is eligible from 85,000 to 250,000, full 22 value. We provide for report to the Legislature 23 from the Tax Department on the impact of this 4420 1 enhanced program. 2 Now, the bottom line is that I 3 ascribe to the philosophies as set forth by my 4 Conference and it's espoused by Senator Connor. 5 I think that you have to change as things change 6 and education changes. You wonder when you 7 listen to some of the philosophies why are we 8 taking education away from our children? Why 9 are we doing these things? Because we are 10 envisioning the Jetsons tomorrow where all you 11 have to know is to go in to work and push a blue 12 button or a red button and put your feet up and 13 get a paycheck because machines are going to do 14 it? I don't think so. 15 I think that the issue of honesty 16 is one which it's about time we came to grips 17 with, and if your party put in these taxes, I'm 18 delighted that at least Senator Bruno will stand 19 up and say, "Look, we did some mistakes. I'm 20 willing to try to help to change some of those 21 mistakes." 22 Senator Bruno, in my years in the 23 Senate, I think it's the first time I ever heard 4421 1 a Republican at least admit that he was part of 2 a tax program. I know that under the secrecy 3 provisions of the Senate, every time there's a 4 vote on taxes, you burn the roll calls because 5 you don't want to have to admit you did it. 6 But this circuit breaker is 7 important. If the taxing philosophy of the 8 Republican Party is such that you're going to 9 force increases again and again on local 10 taxpayers, then you've got to have a circuit 11 breaker and at least protect the categories of 12 people that I have mentioned. You've got to 13 protect the seniors. You've got to protect 14 middle income people. You've got to let them 15 educate their children, and you've got to let 16 them be in a position where they can afford to 17 keep their homes. 18 That's what the amendment does. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 20 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 21 amendment? 22 (There was no response.) 23 Hearing none, the question is on 4422 1 the amendment. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote in 3 the affirmative. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 Secretary will call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 Party vote in the negative by the 8 Democrats -- excuse me -- in the positive. 9 Senator Bruno. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in the 11 negative. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 13 the party line votes. 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 21, nays 35. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 amendment is defeated. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Stavisky, you had an amendment? 19 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes, I do. I 20 believe the amendment is at the desk. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: It is. 22 SENATOR STAVISKY: I'd ask to 23 waive the reading, and I will explain. 4423 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 amendment is before the house. The reading is 3 waived. Senator Stavisky is recognized for the 4 purpose of explaining his amendment. 5 SENATOR STAVISKY: I have been 6 enormously impressed by the air of good feelings 7 in which Senator Bruno praised Senator Connor 8 and Senator Connor responded, and I want you to 9 know that this expression of mutual interest and 10 a desire to solve problems for the benefit of 11 all of the residents of the state is a lesson 12 that should not be lost, and we should build 13 upon that sense of good feeling and cooperation. 14 Accordingly, I learned a very 15 valuable lesson from some Republican members of 16 the state Senate who had the good sense to offer 17 legislation that would accomplish the following 18 result: That would create a personal income tax 19 deduction for college tuition. 20 Unfortunately, the New York Tax 21 Reform and Reduction Act of 1987 resulted in the 22 expiration of a tuition deduction in 1989. 23 Although the 1987 Act increased the standard 4424 1 deduction and reduced tax rates, the loss of the 2 tuition deduction was particularly heart felt by 3 families who have more than one dependent in 4 college at the same time. The reinstatement of 5 this tuition deduction will provide taxpayers of 6 the state with a reinstatement of the tuition 7 deduction and additional financial relief needed 8 to pursue quality education for their dependents 9 and ultimately lead to a more productive work 10 force. 11 I am reading not from a 12 Democratic propaganda piece. I am reading from 13 a memorandum of support given to a Senate bill 14 sponsored by Senator Owen Johnson who was 15 magnificent in the Higher Education Committee 16 meeting today. He and I arrived at the same 17 conclusions with regard to what was a 18 questionable bill, and I was delighted that 19 Senator Johnson had the independence and 20 integrity to question that piece of legislation 21 and to seek improvements, and so I have learned 22 that we should be listening to each other, and I 23 am asking that this piece of legislation, which 4425 1 allows a tax -- a tuition deduction in behalf of 2 dependents attending full time at an institution 3 of higher learning in the state the opportunity 4 to have a maximum deduction of either $1,000 or 5 one half of the tuition less any tuition 6 assistance received, and I think that that's a 7 marvelous concept, and I commend the Republican 8 members of the Senate for having the good sense 9 and judgment to introduce such a worthwhile 10 piece of legislation. 11 Look, if you can convince Leonard 12 Stavisky who is not a Republican that you have a 13 very interesting and worthwhile piece of 14 legislation, I am willing to support it, and I 15 ask Senator Johnson, of course, as the prime 16 sponsor of this bill and Senator DeFrancisco and 17 Senator Farley and Senator Holland and Senator 18 LaValle and Senator Levy and Senator Marchi and 19 Senator Padavan and Senator Present and Senator 20 Rath and Senator Seward and Senator Skelos and 21 Senator Trunzo and Senator Velella and Senator 22 Volker, you did the right thing, and I'm joining 23 with you and I'm introducing as an amendment to 4426 1 the bill before us the legislation that you put 2 forth, and I'm certain that you did it in good 3 faith. 4 So you've convinced me, and I 5 think you've convinced perhaps a number of the 6 members on this side, and I would like you to 7 stand up for the legislation that you proposed 8 and join us. We'll have more than enough votes 9 to make this the law of the state of New York, 10 certainly by action of the Senate, if you 11 re-establish, reconfirm your good sense in 12 sponsoring this legislation. 13 And so, Mr. President, I move 14 this amendment to the bill that is before us and 15 urge every one of the Senate sponsors of this 16 bill, the Johnson, et al bill, to stand up and 17 be counted and to vote for reconfirmation of 18 their commitment to affordable higher education 19 for their children and sometimes for themselves 20 and sometimes even for their parents. It's 21 never too late to learn. 22 Senior citizens are going back to 23 college, and if someone is willing to make that 4427 1 commitment, I think that we should help the 2 taxpayers bear some of the benefits of the 3 Johnson bill which I am fully prepared to 4 support, and I urge every Democrat to follow the 5 lead of our Republican colleagues in supporting 6 this as an amendment to the present bill. 7 I move the amendment. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 9 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 10 amendment? 11 (There was no response.) 12 Hearing none, the Secretary will 13 call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote in 16 the affirmative. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 18 the party line votes. Announce the results. 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 21, nays 20 35. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 amendment is defeated. 23 The Chair recognizes Senator 4428 1 Stachowski. 2 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 3 President, I have an amendment at the desk, I 4 believe, and I would like to waive its reading 5 and explain the amendment. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 7 amendment is at the desk, Senator Stachowski. 8 The reading of it is waived, and you're provided 9 with the opportunity to explain the amendment. 10 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Basically 11 what this amendment would do would -- it would 12 amend the Tax Law to provide that educational 13 assistance of -- granted to an employee by an 14 employer so they could get a higher education 15 would be excluded from the New York State 16 taxes. I think that this is an important piece 17 of legislation in today's marketplace where 18 people are unsure of their jobs and when they 19 have the opportunity to get a higher education 20 and the employer is willing to give them the 21 money, that this would be a great place for us 22 to make a stand and maybe say, We're not going 23 to tax this benefit that the employers are nice 4429 1 enough to grant to their employees. 2 I think it's a very important 3 amendment. I think that not having written this 4 myself and not having thought up this myself, I 5 should give credit to the people that did, and 6 so that I would point out to everybody that just 7 this past year, this was the Nozzolio-Alesi 8 bill, and I know that these are two great people 9 that had foresight when they thought of this 10 exception, and they knew that this was the right 11 thing to do, exclude these taxes, exclude this 12 amount of money from New York State taxes, and 13 seeing that this was the right time to move this 14 bill, I only follow their lead and move this as 15 an amendment and, Mr. President, I would like to 16 move the amendment. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 18 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 19 amendment? 20 (There was no response.) 21 The Secretary will call the roll 22 on the amendment. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4430 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 2 the party line votes. 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 21, nays 35. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 amendment is defeated. 6 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Gold, why do you rise? 9 SENATOR GOLD: I don't think 10 you're giving some of the members on the other 11 side a chance to get their hands up on 12 exceptions. I think you're going too fast. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: That's 14 probably intentional (laughter). 15 SENATOR GOLD: Oh, okay. Thank 16 you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 18 recognizes Senator Oppenheimer for an 19 amendment. 20 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: It's always 21 a pleasure when you're here at the Chair, 22 Senator Kuhl. 23 Well, this amendment underlies - 4431 1 underlines. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Excuse 3 me, Senator. Are you offering up the amendment 4 at this time at the desk? 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, I'm so 6 sorry. Is the amendment at the desk and, if so, 7 I would waive its reading. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 amendment is before the house. We'll waive the 10 reading of it and provide Senator Oppenheimer 11 the opportunity to explain the amendment. 12 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you, 13 Senator Kuhl. 14 This amendment underlines what 15 many of you now know is one of my primary 16 concerns, and it underscores my concern for New 17 York women and at the same time, for the economy 18 of New York. 19 Child care is, in my opinion, a 20 major state purpose, yet our state is only 21 providing for about 30 percent of the need for 22 child care in our state, and I can tell you that 23 parents are very stressed out about this, and it 4432 1 very negatively impacts the quality of their 2 lives not to know that their children are well 3 cared for while they are in the work force. 4 Now, currently New York State 5 does support child care in the form of grants to 6 not-for-profits serving DSS youngsters, but we 7 have to turn our concerns to other centers, 8 profit-making centers, and so I offer this 9 amendment which has the good name of Senator 10 Goodman on it as he was the original sponsor of 11 this, and it would apply to centers which are 12 created inside of corporate headquarters or with 13 several corporations working together to provide 14 a child care center. 15 In these centers would be at 16 least 50 percent -- actually, no, more than 50 17 percent employees' children. The other 50 18 percent would be open to the neighborhood 19 children, to the parents who live nearby, 20 require child care because they work but don't 21 work for these specific employees or particular 22 employer. 23 I can tell you this will retain a 4433 1 lot of top talented women in our work force, and 2 this is something that is prized in our 3 society. We have some of the best educated 4 members of the work force anywhere in the United 5 States, and some of these women are dynamite but 6 they are strapped for child care, and that's 7 where this -- this particular bill -- amendment 8 would serve so well not only the women but the 9 economy of our state. 10 I can tell you that in 11 Westchester County, this is already popular. We 12 have several corporations that have created 13 child care centers. Indeed, last week as you 14 may know, was the Week of the Child in New York 15 State, and I paid visits to several of my child 16 care centers which are located in corporations, 17 and there are some amazing programs going, but I 18 would like to see this offered around the state, 19 not just in limited areas where there is an 20 acceptance of the importance of child care to 21 our economy, to our women and, indeed, to our 22 families. 23 So this amendment would provide a 4434 1 credit against the corporate franchise tax for 2 50 percent of the costs of planning, develop 3 ment, construction, renovation, alteration or 4 improvement of real property or personal 5 property which is used as a child care 6 facility. It would amount to $150,000 per 7 facility and to encourage private giving, 8 there's also a credit of $150,000 per taxpayer. 9 This is a wonderful incentive, 10 and we believe it will result in the 11 construction and creation of additional day care 12 centers in New York State's companies. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 15 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 16 amendment? 17 (There was no response.) 18 Hearing none, the Secretary will 19 call the roll on the amendment. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote in 22 the affirmative. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in the 4435 1 negative. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 3 the party line votes and announce the results. 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 21, nays 36. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 amendment is defeated. 7 Senator Onorato. 8 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. President, 9 I have an amendment at the desk. I waive the 10 reading and ask for the opportunity to briefly 11 explain it. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 13 an amendment at the desk, Senator Onorato. The 14 reading of the amendment is waived, and you are 15 provided at this time with an opportunity to 16 explain the amendment. 17 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. President, 18 this is a very, very short amendment, and I 19 didn't have the opportunity -- had I known 20 earlier that the tax bills were going to be 21 presented today, I would have asked for an 22 opportunity to present it in the Finance 23 Committee, and I'm sure that it was an oversight 4436 1 on your part, an innocent one, I'm sure. I am 2 taking this opportunity to have you rectify it 3 now. 4 My amendment would simply give a 5 tax credit to small businesses that would 6 provide health benefits to their employees. We 7 know how very, very important it is to provide 8 health benefits, and we know how expensive and 9 difficult it is for our small businesses in our 10 state to provide those benefits. It would 11 certainly be extremely beneficial to the entire 12 state, millions of working people who cannot 13 afford to pay for their health benefits, and it 14 would be a tax savings to the state of New York 15 by having people have health insurance whereby 16 not necessitating them going onto a Medicaid 17 roll, and this would encourage more employees to 18 provide this benefit. The soaring costs of 19 health insurance have prevented many New York 20 small businesses from offering such plans to 21 their employees. 22 Now, this bill would help 23 alleviate the financial burden of providing 4437 1 health insurance coverage to employees of small 2 business, relieving some of the strain imposed 3 on profit margins by rising health insurance 4 costs and consequently help to reduce the number 5 of working insured in this state. 6 Ladies and gentlemen, I urge the 7 unanimous adoption of this amendment. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there 10 any other Senator wishing to speak on the 11 amendment? 12 (There was no response.) 13 Hearing none, the Secretary will 14 call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 Own. 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote in 18 the affirmative. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 20 the party line votes and announce the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 21, nays 36. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 amendment is defeated. 4438 1 Senator Leichter, you had 2 indicated a willing -- a desire, I should say, 3 to speak on the bill. You're next on the list. 4 SENATOR LEICHTER: Thank you. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Dollinger? 7 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Is this on 8 the bill itself? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Yes. 10 We're now on the bill. 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Could I be - 12 just talk as well? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We'll add 14 you to the list. 15 The Chair recognizes Senator 16 Leichter on the bill. 17 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 18 on the bill. I think the first thing that we 19 have to do is really deal with this obscure and 20 strange economic analysis that Senator Bruno 21 presented us with. I hate to dispel the 22 illusion and the myth that the Senator and the 23 Republicans live under, but it's time to look at 4439 1 the figures. Let's look at the facts. 2 We're really given what I call 3 the big nonsense by the Republicans on the tax 4 cuts. The fact is that the job growth in 1995 5 in the state of New York was slower than it was 6 in 1994, the last year of the Cuomo 7 administration. The fact also is that at the 8 end of 1995, there were 174,000 fewer New 9 Yorkers working. 10 Let's take a look at the 11 unemployment statistics. The unemployment 12 statistics are -- show that -- and I just want 13 to get the exact figures, if you'll bear with me 14 a moment. The latest unemployment figures in 15 New York released last week by the state Labor 16 Department shows that unemployment increased in 17 March to 6.9 percent from 6.6 percent in 18 February. At 6.9 percent, the state's March 19 1996 unemployment rate is higher than the 20 unemployment rate a year ago and it's higher 21 than the unemployment rate of 5.7 when Governor 22 Cuomo left office. It's also almost a full one 23 percent higher than the national unemployment 4440 1 rate. So I think we've got to dispel this 2 illusion, this myth, that the Pataki tax cuts 3 have generated great economic activity in the 4 state of New York. 5 I will say that the Republicans 6 have done very well in selling a tax cut to the 7 voters, selling it on the basis, This is what's 8 necessary to stimulate the state's economy, but 9 at all the figures you look at, you see there 10 has been no economic stimulus. Fortunately, in 11 this area, we have facts and figures. We know 12 how many people work. We know what the 13 unemployment is, but there's another set of 14 figures which shows the tax cuts as such -- and 15 Senator Bruno has said he never met a tax cut he 16 didn't like, and that's absolutely correct, 17 Senator Bruno. It may be the only thing you 18 said that was correct, but the point -- but the 19 point is that some tax cuts are not helpful to 20 most New Yorkers. Some tax cuts, indeed, help a 21 very small portion of the public. Some tax cuts 22 may help your rich friends, but they don't help 23 the public, and that's why I think these figures 4441 1 are so important. 2 About a month ago, I attended a 3 joint meeting of the Finance Committees plus the 4 Budget Director where various economic experts 5 were asked to give their projections of job 6 growth in the state of New York in the coming 7 year -- this year, actually, 1996 and years in 8 the future -- and the interesting thing is that 9 every one of the analysts predicted that New 10 York State would have a slower rate of growth in 11 job creation than the rest of the nation. In 12 fact, Senator Bruno's representative showed - 13 came, and I believe that the Senate projection 14 is that we would have a job growth of .5 percent 15 less -- less than the national average. I think 16 the Director of the Budget predicted a job 17 growth of about .7 percent less than the 18 predicted national average. The economic 19 experts predicted a job growth that was even 20 smaller. So it's clear that the Pataki tax cuts 21 have done nothing in helping economic growth in 22 this state, and that has to be looked at and 23 considered when you see this tax package. 4442 1 Again, not all taxes benefit New 2 York State. Some -- I'm sorry -- all tax cuts 3 benefit New York State. It may also be that not 4 all taxes benefit New York State, and certainly 5 there are taxes that have not benefited the 6 state. There are regressive taxes. The gross 7 receipts tax is a regressive tax. It should be 8 eliminated. I put in a bill to eliminate it and 9 there are other taxes, and among the Republican 10 proposals, there's no question, there are taxes 11 that are a deterrent to growth. There are taxes 12 that are unfair. 13 Now, why can't we just eliminate 14 all these taxes? Well, we've got a problem that 15 the state also needs revenue in order to provide 16 services. If you take a look at what has 17 happened as a result of the policies that have 18 been pursued by the Pataki administration, more 19 and more of the service burden has been thrown 20 on the locality, and we have seen a significant 21 increase in the real estate tax. So when we say 22 New York State is number one among all the 23 states in taxes per capita, that is primarily 4443 1 due to the -- the local taxes. 2 As far as state taxes are 3 concerned, we're about fifteenth or 4 seventeenth. Now, maybe the Senate and the 5 Assembly can look good in shifting the burden on 6 the localities in saying, We cut taxes, but then 7 the taxes are raised on the local level. Maybe 8 somebody else would get blamed for it. We as 9 state legislators will not get blamed, but we 10 certainly haven't helped the taxpayers and 11 that's, of course, exactly what has happened, 12 particularly in the last year, as you've seen a 13 significant increase in the real estate tax. 14 In fact, over the last ten years 15 -- and some of this trend certainly started 16 under the last Governor -- we have seen the real 17 estate tax grow at a much greater rate than the 18 income tax, and I think all of you hear from 19 your constituents about how high the real estate 20 tax is. Since I represent an urban area, I 21 don't hear it quite to the same extent, but if 22 you look at the figures, you know that's the 23 case. 4444 1 So the question is one of our 2 responsibility to raise proper revenue so that 3 we can provide services and not shift burdens on 4 the localities. 5 What the Pataki tax cut really 6 did was it was an income shift. It really 7 benefited five, ten percent of the population 8 and working people, people of moderate income, 9 middle income people receive very little 10 benefit. In fact, 40 percent of the total 11 benefit of the Pataki tax cut of $6.8 billion is 12 going to go to five percent of the population. 13 Now, in the present tax proposal 14 -- tax cut proposal that we have, there is 15 similarly included items that I would just call 16 a tax shift. I said, yes, there were some items 17 like the gross receipts tax and some of the 18 other taxes which we should eliminate, and we 19 should do that when we can when we know that we 20 have sufficient revenue, or we ought to get rid 21 of those taxes by seeing bad parts of the Pataki 22 income tax cuts not going into effect. That was 23 my proposal, that we not implement the Pataki 4445 1 tax cut for people who make more than 100,000 2 and use that revenue to avoid devastating cuts. 3 You may want to modify that in some respects, 4 and if you bring in more income, then maybe you 5 could do some of these tax cuts which would be 6 in the interest, but I also want to point out 7 that there's some tax cuts proposed here like 8 the estate tax that may benefit Roy Goodman's 9 constituents. It doesn't benefit most of the 10 people in this state. The mansion tax which 11 Senator Bruno called the Cuomo tax is one that 12 has brought in a significant amount of revenue. 13 Senator Bruno says, But look how 14 that revenue declined. Well, it declined at a 15 time when the real estate market was at a 16 recession or depression out of which it hasn't 17 come fully yet and actually the receipts of that 18 tax are now increasing. If you eliminate that 19 tax, really, you're benefiting the wealthy and 20 you're not benefiting most of the people of the 21 state of New York. 22 The problem that I have with this 23 tax package is that we don't have the revenue to 4446 1 do it. It would cost $80 million this year, 2 thereby worsening our deficit and over the years 3 when fully implemented, it would lose us $1 4 billion in revenue, and as we have been here in 5 the last few years battling and struggling with 6 the budget, the reason is deficits that have 7 been driven by tax cuts that were enacted by the 8 Legislature or signed by the Governor that we 9 just did not have the revenue to do, and I 10 believe the very same thing would occur if we do 11 this particular Republican proposed bill, this 12 tax cut, which is sort of an ad hoc proposal. 13 It's not in the context of an overall financial 14 plan where we say, These are the obligations 15 that we have for the people of New York. These 16 are the services we must provide. These are the 17 burdens that we want to lift from the localities 18 and figuring that out, we need so much revenue, 19 and you can either afford certain tax cuts or 20 you may want to increase certain taxes and cut 21 other taxes. That would be a sensible, rational 22 way to proceed. The way you're proceeding, you 23 think is a good, political way to proceed. 4447 1 Well, I submit to you that I 2 think the voters are a lot smarter than that. I 3 think they're going to see that, first of all, 4 it's a charade and secondly, they will see that 5 you're just putting more of the burden, more of 6 the cost of providing services on localities, 7 and if you act in this way and push this bill 8 without knowing that you have sufficient revenue 9 to deal with the needs of the people of the 10 state of New York, you're just going to further 11 drive up the real estate tax. 12 So, Mr. President, let me say 13 while, you know, we like to have it be Christmas 14 every day and give gifts to the public and say, 15 Oh, we cut your taxes; we cut your taxes, the 16 fact is it would be an irresponsible act for us 17 to take at this time, and I will be voting in 18 the negative. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 20 recognizes Senator Nozzolio on the bill. 21 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 23 Mr. President, my colleagues, I 4448 1 rise in support of this measure and in so doing, 2 praise the efforts of our Majority Leader, 3 Senator Joe Bruno, for bringing this important 4 measure before us today and more importantly, 5 for his recognition that this is exactly the 6 medicine that the citizens of this state need to 7 help bring the economic health of our state back 8 to good health. 9 Today is May 1st, Mr. President, 10 a day that begins the springtime. It begins a 11 new month but also connotes what has been known 12 across the country as National Tax Freedom Day. 13 That is a day when citizens across the country 14 celebrate the fact that after four months of 15 working hard, they finally have their state and 16 local taxes completed and paid for. 17 New Yorkers, unfortunately, don't 18 have the opportunity to celebrate Tax Freedom 19 Day in the beginning of the month. Our citizens 20 must work another 30 days at least before we 21 have our combined state, federal and local taxes 22 paid for. 23 That is why this measure is so 4449 1 important. Tax cuts mean less burden for our 2 citizens. They mean jobs for New Yorkers. 3 These taxes that have been placed by prior 4 administrations and prior Legislatures have 5 stunted the growth of economic enterprise in 6 this state. Taking these taxes off our backs 7 provides the citizens the type of security they 8 need to know that the trend begun here in this 9 chamber and supported by Governor Pataki of 10 reducing the burden on our citizens is 11 continuing. 12 Last year, I rose in support of 13 the tax cuts that we pushed very hard for, that 14 those tax cuts in the debate were something as 15 the debate today contested by someone on the 16 other side of the aisle. At that time, I read a 17 letter from president and chief executive 18 officer of Kodak, George Fisher, who indicated 19 that his economic decisions and the economic 20 decisions of business are based on trends. They 21 must renew trends, analyze trends and decide 22 whether the trend was in a good direction or in 23 a bad direction. 4450 1 Well, the trend in this state has 2 been in a bad direction for too long, but we 3 have reversed that trend with actions taken last 4 year and are building upon that trend of cutting 5 taxes this year in New York. It was just 13, 14 6 months ago that we begun that tax cutting 7 effort. Since that time, we've seen executives 8 like George Fisher see good trends in New York 9 and decide to keep business and enterprise in 10 New York State. 11 Last year after we initiated our 12 tax cut, Kodak decided to invest over $300 13 million in New York State, an investment that 14 couldn't be made in any state or in any nation 15 of the world because the trend was in the right 16 direction in New York. That factor led the 17 executives and directors of Kodak to make the 18 decision to invest in New York State. 19 We need to send the right signal 20 to business across New York that we will 21 continue the trend of cutting taxes. Kodak, 22 IBM, in my own district, Gould's Pumps have all 23 been seduced by other states to come to do their 4451 1 business and take our jobs to North Carolina, 2 Virginia or the Sun Belt. We have stopped that 3 trend. Governor Pataki has worked tirelessly in 4 keeping those jobs here in New York State. We 5 must continue to build upon that action. 6 Utility cuts, tax cuts, real 7 estate tax cuts, estate tax cuts, petroleum 8 business tax cuts, agricultural tax cuts, 9 trucker tax cuts, small business tax cuts and 10 sales tax cuts are what we are debating today. 11 Taken together, those tax cuts mean economic 12 revival in New York. 13 We must build upon that revival. 14 We must support what the Governor is trying to 15 do, and this is the right signal, setting the 16 right trend to our businesses across New York, 17 and that is why, Mr. President, it has my full 18 support and, again, I praise Senator Bruno for 19 bringing it to the floor this afternoon. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 21 recognizes Senator Farley on the bill -- Senator 22 Bruno. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, we 4452 1 have two members, I believe, that have to be 2 elsewhere very shortly. So could we suspend the 3 debate and allow them to vote? 4 Senator Leibell, Senator 5 Oppenheimer. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 7 Secretary will call the roll -- read the last 8 section. Excuse me. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 82. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Senator Leichter. 11 THE SECRETARY: This act shall 12 take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Leibell, how do you vote? 18 SENATOR LEIBELL: I vote aye. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Oppenheimer, how do you vote? 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Aye. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 Leichter, how do you vote? 4453 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Nay. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The roll 3 call is withdrawn. We're back on debate on the 4 bill. 5 The Chair recognizes Senator 6 Farley. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr. 8 President. 9 You know, I'm going to rise to 10 applaud the Minority. You know, I've served 11 here for a long time, and you guys are starting 12 to sound more like Republicans than anything 13 I've heard in a long time, except for the friend 14 of the American banker, my dear friend Senator 15 Leichter. You did not join in any of those tax 16 cut amendments. Senator Connor, you've got to 17 work on him, but I do applaud you. 18 I know it hurt an awful lot of us 19 over here not to vote for those amendments 20 because I thought they were -- they had a lot of 21 merit in them, but let me just say a couple 22 things about Senator Bruno's bill which I think 23 is very worthwhile. 4454 1 I can recall Senator Pataki came 2 to Schenectady when he was running for Governor, 3 he says, "One of the reasons I'm running for 4 Governor is that I don't want to have to visit 5 my children in North Carolina." That says a 6 lot, and you know what? A lot of these taxes 7 are onerous and as my colleagues have said, it 8 drives business out of this state, and that's 9 tragic, but let me just talk about one little 10 facet of this bill which I was interested in. 11 I happened to have in my district 12 a very large truck stop along -- for those of 13 you that travel west, you may have seen a truck 14 on top of a tank that they made him take down 15 and that sort of thing, but in Fultonville, 16 there's a number of truck stops that tried to 17 sell diesel fuel and a few other things, and 18 guess what? Because we are so non-competitive 19 with the diesel fuel tax, these truckers don't 20 buy any fuel in our state. They fill up in Ohio 21 or in Connecticut, wherever they're going to so 22 that they get through New York State without 23 buying any diesel fuel. 4455 1 This particular legislation that 2 you've got, Senator Bruno, amounts to about a 3 six percent saving on this tax. Guess what? 4 I'm confident -- I'm confident that we're going 5 to get more revenue as a result of this tax 6 cut. We did it with the airlines and the 7 airports last year. It made a significant 8 difference. You could speak to Senator 9 Present. You could speak to Senator Libous or 10 any Senator -- Stachowski -- that is near the 11 border and ask how they go out of state to buy 12 their fuel and how they avoid New York State in 13 buying their fuel, and incidentally, we're 14 holding captive our trucking companies, and so 15 forth, that have to live and work in this state. 16 I'm confident that with this we 17 can really make a difference and improve 18 revenues, and I think that's very, very 19 important as we're looking for all kinds of 20 revenues to do the good things that everybody in 21 this chamber wants to do. 22 So this is -- I heard it said 23 "Where are we going to find the money?" I 4456 1 think we're going to find some money by 2 stimulating the economy and stimulating 3 business, and I mean that very sincerely, and I 4 would be willing to bet a lunch to somebody that 5 should we take off the tax -- or some of this 6 tax on diesel fuel, that the trucking - 7 truckers passing through this state, just let us 8 be with -- competitive with Pennsylvania, with 9 Ohio or some of our bordering states, and I'm 10 confident they would be willing to stop here 11 instead of buying a cup of coffee, to buy a few 12 hundred gallons of diesel fuel. 13 I'd just bring that up as one 14 point. There's a lot of facets to this bill. 15 It's a good piece of legislation. It is a 16 message. It is a message, and I think that all 17 the amendments that the other side brought up is 18 an example that our message is getting through, 19 not only to you people but to the people of the 20 state of New York, and I think you're going to 21 see us turn this state around, and we're going 22 to -- and, Senator Connor, I applaud you for 23 joining in this tax cut movement. I think it's 4457 1 important. It's one we've got to continue, and 2 if we keep it up, maybe we can even convince 3 Senator Leichter and a few others to join in the 4 tax cuts and move this state forward. 5 I'm going to vote aye and thank 6 you, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 8 recognizes Senator DeFrancisco -- excuse me - 9 Senator Dollinger. Senator Dollinger was next 10 on the list. 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. On this bill. 13 I appreciate Senator Farley's 14 accolade, but I guess I'm called back to an old 15 time story that I once heard about this bill, 16 and it seems it me today that we're under that 17 big top, that big top in which a little old-time 18 religion comes to bear, and how does the old 19 time religion story start off? It always starts 20 off with somebody standing up and saying, "I 21 have been a sinner. I've sinned. I've sinned. 22 I've sinned in the past," and sure enough, I 23 guess that's what I've heard today, is that 4458 1 Senator Farley, Senator Bruno and the Republican 2 Majority in this house, how did those taxes get 3 there? I don't know, Senator Connor. You've 4 been here for a long time. Senator Gold has 5 been here for a long time. I don't know how all 6 these terrible, terrible -- and they are 7 terrible because every tax is terrible -- how 8 did those terrible taxes get here? 9 It seems to me the answer is very 10 simple. There's been -- well, let me -- Senator 11 Gold, you already spoke on the bill, but I'll 12 ask you rhetorically. How did they pass the New 13 York State Senate? It seems to me there's only 14 one way it could have happened, and that is that 15 the Majority on the other side of the aisle 16 decided that these taxes were in the best 17 interests of the state of New York. That's 18 their public policy job is to vote yes or no and 19 figure out what the best interest of the state 20 is and then vote accordingly, and sure enough, 21 all of these very sinful taxes, all of these 22 things that we're now so sorry for are all here 23 because the other side of the aisle put them 4459 1 here, and so the revival starts with someone 2 saying, "I've sinned. I've sinned. I've 3 sinned. I want to be forgiven," and that's the 4 message today, is that the sinners now want to 5 go back and change all the sins and seek 6 repentance for all their sins, so that all these 7 terrible things -- repeal -- they'll repeal 8 their sins and they'll atone for their sins, but 9 it seems to me that the notion is that under 10 this big tent, that somehow all the sinners have 11 to be forgiven. 12 Well, I would suggest if we look 13 around that the way the Democrats have fashioned 14 forgiveness today is a better form of 15 forgiveness. I'm really sorry Senator Nozzolio 16 left because he talked about the biggest 17 employer in upstate New York, Eastman Kodak 18 Company, and I dare say -- I haven't run this 19 out for Eastman Kodak Company, but I dare say 20 one thing. The proposal from the Majority to 21 reduce taxes in this tax package will have a 22 substantially smaller impact on Eastman Kodak 23 Company than the tax package put together by the 4460 1 Democrats. Why? 2 Look through the taxes that the 3 Majority proposal wants to reduce. The gross 4 receipts tax. Great idea. It will affect 5 Eastman Kodak Company, but the power side won't 6 affect Eastman Kodak Company. They generate 7 their own power. They don't pay gross receipts 8 taxes because they generate their own. The real 9 estate gains tax, minimal effect, probably no 10 effect on Eastman Kodak Company at all. The 11 estate tax, that won't affect Eastman Kodak 12 Company. It won't reduce Eastman Kodak 13 Company's taxes. The petroleum business tax, 14 might be some minor influence on Eastman Kodak 15 Company, the largest employer in this state, the 16 company that I want to have stay in this state 17 since it employs almost 19,000 in my district. 18 A great idea to keep them there. Reducing 19 petroleum business tax won't really affect 20 that. May be a minor effect. What about the 21 agricultural circuit breaker? It won't help 22 Eastman Kodak Company. What about the corporate 23 utility tax? It won't help Eastman Kodak 4461 1 Company. The small business capitalization 2 credit, it won't help Eastman Kodak Company. 3 The container taxes won't help Eastman Kodak 4 Company. The alcoholic beverage tax won't help 5 Eastman Kodak Company. The sales tax won't help 6 Eastman Kodak Company, but you know what will 7 help Eastman Kodak Company? 8 Senator Connor, the amendment 9 that you proposed that will provide tax credits 10 for retraining, Eastman Kodak Company is 11 constantly retraining thousands of employees in 12 the Rochester community. They would immediately 13 begin to draw down that tax credit, immediate 14 tax credit and relief for Eastman Kodak 15 Company. George Fisher would want it. 16 What about the tax credit for the 17 reduction in utility taxes that we proposed, 18 that I proposed? They're the manufacturer. 19 They'd get the benefit of the telecommunications 20 reduction right off the bat. 21 What about the tax circuit 22 breaker for real property taxes? Don't kid 23 yourself. If we dropped the taxes for Eastman 4462 1 Kodak Company in their state taxes, they'd pay 2 more real estate taxes. The circuit breaker 3 would reduce their real estate property tax 4 burden. They're the biggest real property 5 taxpayer in Monroe County. They deserve a 6 break. 7 What about the child care credit 8 for employee -- for employees? People at 9 Eastman Kodak Company could put that to work 10 right away. 11 So when you ask me, how do we 12 provide tax credits for Joe and Alice sitting in 13 Rochester, New York, a middle class family; how 14 do we take those income tax reductions for 15 them? We use a tax philosophy on this side of 16 the aisle that helps two people. It helps the 17 business by reducing their taxes, and it helps 18 the individual by obtaining retraining, by 19 obtaining child care, by obtaining things that 20 they need to be more productive workers. You 21 want to help Eastman Kodak Company, don't vote 22 for this plan. Vote for the amendments that you 23 had a chance to vote for an hour ago. 4463 1 Lastly, this event reminds me of 2 a scene from a cartoon film that I watched as a 3 little kid. Remember the scene in Dumbo when 4 Dumbo is up on the top of the tower, and he's 5 told by the little commander in his hat to jump 6 off the scaffold and he's going to land in the 7 big tub of water? Well, it seems to me what you 8 have is you have the elephant up there 9 responsible for all of these taxes, and you have 10 Senator Bruno in his cap saying "Jump, Dumbo, 11 jump", and Dumbo jumps and he starts falling 12 fast, and Senator Bruno, the rest of your 13 colleagues are over there, "Okay, guys. Flap 14 those ears, Dumbo. Don't crash, Dumbo. Keep 15 flapping. Start flying", and sure enough just 16 as he's about to hit the ground, just as the tax 17 impact of all of those taxes imposed by 18 Republicans are about to come to roost in this 19 state and cost us jobs and cost us opportunity, 20 Senator Bruno is able to convince Dumbo to 21 spread his little ears, and sure enough he goes 22 flying around the Senate, and everyone in this 23 state says, "What a fantasy. Dumbo is flying. 4464 1 The Republicans are flying around the room 2 claiming that they're out to cut taxes which are 3 there because they put them there in the first 4 place." 5 It's all fantasy. It's all 6 theatre, and it seems to me that's what this is 7 all about. When we get to a budget, we'll then 8 evaluate whether Dumbo is really flying or not. 9 We'll then find out whether the taxes are 10 repealed or whether they're kept there by the 11 Majority in this house. 12 It seems to me Senator Bruno said 13 that there's something wrong with this format. 14 I don't want to deal with these taxes in this 15 format. I'll tell you what. There's something 16 wrong with this picture. It's that old-time 17 religion of trickle down economics that has 18 frankly become flush down economics where we 19 flush our problems on to other levels of 20 government or we penalize the poor. We penalize 21 the misfortunate by taking away programs that 22 they need. It's all fantasy. It's all 23 wonderful theatre, but when you step back and 4465 1 you stop looking at the cartoon show, you 2 realize that we've got a real problem, a real 3 budget and a real state we have to run. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 DeFrancisco. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: You know, 7 some of the people in this chamber can tell 8 stories and tell about cartoon characters and be 9 cute to the nth degree, but I think what we have 10 here is a very serious issue. 11 The serious issue is whether 12 there are going to be any jobs and whether 13 there's going to be any opportunity for the next 14 generation in the state of New York. For there 15 to be opportunity, no matter what happened in 16 the past which obviously was wrong because we're 17 in a bad economic climate right now, has to be 18 changed, and whoever was responsible for that, 19 so be it. The fact of the matter is we have to 20 take some bold steps so that my children and 21 your children and the generations to come are 22 going to have opportunity, the same opportunity 23 that we had in this state. 4466 1 Last year, we were criticized by 2 many who wanted to spend the money rather than 3 give it back to the taxpayers in the way of 4 income tax, that it won't work. The world was 5 going to come to an end. Well, the world didn't 6 come to an end. We actually ended this year 7 with a surplus. 8 These tax proposals here to cut 9 further taxes cut across the board. Utility 10 taxes, real estate tax cuts, sales tax cuts. 11 The theory is send a message that we are 12 changing the economic rules in the state of New 13 York so it's good to stay here, and it's good to 14 get jobs created here, and it's a good situation 15 for the future generations. That's what this is 16 all about, and it's extremely important that we 17 all support this. 18 I know there have been other 19 proposals made today, many of which are 20 proposals made off of bills that were sponsored 21 by members of this side of the house. They all 22 have merit. They all have merit, but today we 23 have these proposals before us. We should all 4467 1 support it. We should not criticize for who 2 created the problem. We should all join in the 3 solution, and this is part of the solution. We 4 have to pass these tax cuts. We owe it to our 5 children and the children of their children. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Libous on the bill. 8 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 I want to rise and support 11 Senator Bruno's efforts in moving this state 12 forward, because that's what I believe is the 13 responsibility of this house and the membership 14 of this house, and I'm always amused when I hear 15 my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 16 talk about the past, and that's the problem with 17 this state, ladies and gentlemen. You have to 18 leave the past and move forward. You can't 19 dwell on what happened yesterday. There's an 20 expression we use upstate that says once the 21 bell is rung, you can't unring the bell. So you 22 have to move forward, and it's obvious that the 23 business climate in this state is broken, and if 4468 1 it's broken, you have to fix it, and that's what 2 this legislation is intended to do, is to fix 3 the business climate of this state. 4 Now, I'm sure that each one of 5 you -- and I would never challenge or question 6 each one's responsibility as an elected official 7 in the time that you spend with your 8 constituents, but I'll share some stories that 9 -- the time I've spent with my constituents. 10 You know, I live in the Southern 11 Tier which is a border community. We border the 12 state of Pennsylvania, and I have spent an awful 13 lot of time the last couple of years going to 14 businesses in all sizes, businesses that 15 employee 2,000 people or businesses that employ 16 three people, and as I knock on their door and I 17 talk to them about New York State and what can I 18 do to help you as a representative in the New 19 York State Senate, without question, every one 20 of them says, "Get the government off my back. 21 Lower my taxes", and it's not just one tax - 22 and, you know, you talk about different types of 23 taxes. They just want to see some movement 4469 1 because they tell us for the last 20 years, 2 there's been no movement. 3 You talk about the truckers and 4 people filling up with fuel and doing different 5 things. We live on the boarder. They go to 6 Pennsylvania. I have gas station owners coming 7 to me telling me that people are filling up on 8 the other side of the border, people who live in 9 New York State because it's cheaper, because the 10 taxes are cheaper. 11 I have business people telling me 12 that we can't continue. We have to go to New 13 York -- we have to go to Pennsylvania from New 14 York State. I have a number of companies that 15 are going to move 20 miles away just to cross 16 the border because the tax structure hasn't 17 changed. 18 And, you know, last year we 19 passed for the first time an income tax cut, and 20 many people said that, you know, that income tax 21 cut is just going to cost more money and you're 22 going to have deficits, and you're not going to 23 be able to fund all these wonderful programs 4470 1 that people want. 2 Let me tell you a little story. 3 A company called Hadco expanded in our 4 community. They expanded 40 -- 400 new jobs, 5 and I met with the president of that company, 6 and it was between New York State and New 7 Hampshire, and he said there's two reasons why 8 we chose New York State. Reason number one was 9 the fact that you folks have a great work force 10 here in the Southern Tier and, unfortunately, we 11 had a great work force because most of our 12 companies like IBM and others had down-sized 13 because they left the state. So we had a 14 tremendous work force, but he said the second 15 reason that we decided to come here is because 16 for the first time you're addressing your tax 17 problem and that for the first time, New York 18 State voted to reduce the personal income tax. 19 He says, Because you see, my workers in New 20 Hampshire go home with nine percent more of 21 their paycheck in their pocket before they even 22 come to work. That's very important. That's 23 why we chose New York State. 4471 1 You know, that personal income 2 tax just alone in my community this year will 3 put over $18 million back into the community. 4 So, you see, you can talk about what happened in 5 the past, and if you want to live in the past - 6 and you can talk about elephants -- I happen to 7 like elephants. I have a tie with elephants on 8 today -- I'd be willing to jump -- to jump with 9 my Leader today because he's jumping into the 10 future. He wants to change the direction of 11 this state. He wants businesses to prosper and 12 to stay in this state. He wants businesses not 13 to leave. He wants them to grow, and when 14 businesses grow, they pay taxes, and there are 15 people who are working to pay taxes, and then 16 through those tax dollars, we could supply even 17 more programs. So you see when your economy 18 grows, the programs will grow, and that's what 19 this tax cut bill does. 20 So I ask my colleagues on the 21 other side of the aisle to join us, and maybe if 22 you don't believe us, I'll ask you to do one 23 thing. Go home -- and I don't care where you 4472 1 live. I don't care if it's Manhattan or upstate 2 New York -- spend the next week and talk to 3 business owners. Look them in the eye. Don't 4 believe us. Look them in the eye, and you ask 5 them -- you ask them what they think today about 6 the present situation of the tax structure in 7 New York State and what should you do as a 8 legislator, and they'll tell you. They'll tell 9 you to support this piece of legislation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 11 recognizes Senator Maziarz. 12 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 13 much, Mr. President. 14 Just very briefly. I want to 15 rise also in support of this package. Earlier, 16 Senator Nozzolio and Senator Dollinger commented 17 on Kodak generating their own power. The reason 18 that firms, large firms like Kodak, generate 19 their own power in this state and firms like 20 Delco/Harrison Thermal Systems, General Motors 21 employ over about 7,000 people in Niagara County 22 who also generate its own power and Mike Burns, 23 the chairman of -- or the chief executive 4473 1 officer of Harrison/Delco Thermal Systems told 2 me that Harrison had to build its own generating 3 -- power generating station in New York State 4 because they could no longer afford to pay the 5 gross receipts tax for power. 30 percent of 6 their power bill was taxes that had absolutely 7 nothing do with the delivery of power to their 8 particular plant. 9 I think that this is a good 10 bill. I have a small firm, not in my district, 11 Exolon Corporation employs 130 people, and they 12 are going to be moving out of New York State, 13 moving directly across the border into the 14 Province of Ontario because of the cost of power 15 within the state of New York. 16 Senator Bruno, this is absolutely 17 the right direction to take this state in, and I 18 congratulate you and Governor Pataki. I think 19 the most onerous tax that we have on -- both on 20 commercial and residential entities in this 21 state is the gross receipts tax. 22 Thank you, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair 4474 1 recognizes Senator Connor to close for the 2 Minority. 3 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. 5 You know, I'm glad I was here 6 when Senator Libous spoke. I couldn't believe 7 my ears. He wants corporations to make more 8 profits so they can pay more taxes and employ 9 people who pay taxes so we can have more 10 government programs. If that isn't the old 11 thinking, Mr. President, I don't know what is. 12 Let me tell you where the new 13 Democrats are. We're not for government 14 programs. We don't want more programs. We want 15 government to recognize basic values of New 16 Yorkers and Americans and put our money behind 17 those values, provide opportunity for our 18 children. That means education. Provide job 19 security for our workers. That means job 20 training, retraining, tax credits to businesses 21 to retrain workers. Meet our responsibilities 22 to provide for the elderly, the retired and 23 those who absolutely can't work. Encourage our 4475 1 citizens' own responsibilities by providing 2 jobs, jobs, jobs so we don't have any welfare. 3 We have people working and we don't have people 4 underemployed. We have people with good paying 5 jobs with benefits and meet our responsibilities 6 to uphold the tradition in New York to have an 7 accountable, responsible, fiscally prudent 8 government. 9 To think that this is all about 10 somehow pumping up -- pumping up the economy, 11 priming the pump so more money can come flooding 12 out and we can have more programs as Senator 13 Libous put it? That's just not what it's 14 about. We should only have what we need to meet 15 the basic values we ought to stand up for, of 16 opportunity, jobs and responsibility toward the 17 elderly. 18 Now, Mr. President, the Majority, 19 with some kind words, has unanimously seen fit 20 to reject the tax proposals put forth by 21 Minority members and, as Senator Dollinger 22 pointed out, they would be better for some of 23 the largest businesses in our state, but we put 4476 1 them forth because the object -- the object here 2 is not just to get money to businesses. The 3 object is to help businesses so that the middle 4 class and working people in the state of New 5 York are the beneficiaries, beneficiaries 6 because they have the job skills and they have 7 the jobs to do the job. That's the object. 8 The object is not as Senator 9 Libous said, so we can have down the road more 10 income for government programs. That's the 11 Rockefeller years thinking, the Republican years 12 of raise taxes, raise taxes, and I know most of 13 you have gotten religion and gotten away from 14 that. It's a new Republican Party over there, 15 but I want to also say that while that's not the 16 object, the object just isn't to make the rich 17 richer for the sake of making the rich richer; 18 the object is to provide the most immediate 19 priority tax relief to those businesses that 20 will employ our middle class and working people, 21 because you ask the working people in New York 22 State. You ask your constituents. Do you feel 23 safer in your job? Are you really making more 4477 1 money; and the answer is going to be no. Real 2 income is down. Every statistic shows that. 3 Part-time jobs are not the goal here. Part-time 4 jobs with no benefits are not the goal here. So 5 our tax proposals -- and many of the proposals 6 in your bill, quite acceptable. They uphold the 7 values we stand for. Some don't. That brought 8 up the question, do I, the Democratic Leader, do 9 my colleagues -- my colleagues, some will and 10 some won't vote for this -- how do I vote for 11 this? 12 Well, let me tell you what I do 13 and don't like about your bill. You talked 14 about the utility tax, gradually bring down the 15 gross receipts tax. Not a bad idea. I can 16 certainly live with that and it benefits New 17 Yorkers, but not as good an idea as Senator 18 Dollinger's proposal, to eliminate it for 19 manufacturers. Why is our idea better? Because 20 it more directly makes that connection with 21 creating jobs. We need manufacturing jobs in 22 this state. We don't need more fast food 23 restaurant, part-time, no benefit jobs. That's 4478 1 not a success. 2 The real estate gains tax, the 3 mansion tax. I have no problem some day with 4 doing away with that. I really don't. No 5 problem with that down the road, but I really 6 object to this when, as a priority we won't 7 accept the kind of property tax circuit breaker 8 that benefits the average New York family in 9 their home. Our priorities are just different. 10 There's a difference between the 11 two parties here, Mr. President. The Republican 12 Party in this house wants to do away with the 13 mansion tax. The Democrats want to protect the 14 average New Yorker's property taxes when they're 15 home. That is a philosophical difference. I 16 don't like that feature of this bill, not until 17 we do the other. 18 The estate tax. Similarly, any 19 proposal from the Republican Party about estate 20 taxes, frankly, arouses my suspicious after I 21 saw those extremist Republicans in control of 22 the Congress refuse to go after the tax money of 23 those billionaire -- billionaire Americans who 4479 1 moved offshore and contribute nothing. Why 2 protect them? What do they do for our people? 3 The petroleum business tax, I 4 think that's a good proposal. Agricultural 5 circuit breaker, this probably -- the 6 agricultural circuit breaker probably tips the 7 scale for me because I'm for it. I think it's a 8 good program. It's one all Democrats are 9 certainly for. We are an agricultural state, 10 and that's a priority industry. When all the 11 other industries fled, we still have 12 agriculture, not as big as it used to be, 13 regrettably, not as many farms as we used to 14 have, but it's an important industry, and this 15 tips the scale for me because while I don't like 16 some features of your bill, since that's in 17 there, I'm going to vote for this bill. I wish 18 we would have done the circuit breaker for the 19 average homeowner too. 20 I don't understand the container 21 and beer tax repeal. It's not a bad idea, but 22 not my priority, not our priority. Something we 23 would like to do, but I would put that about 4480 1 number fifteenth on the list. I'd certainly put 2 the average homeowner in New York State ahead of 3 that beer and beverage container industry. I'd 4 certainly put job retraining tax credits for our 5 corporations that employ New Yorkers ahead of 6 that, and I understand the border problem with 7 taxes, but why focus on the alcoholic beverage 8 tax? We have a problem all over our borders. I 9 represented part of Staten Island for years. 10 Heck, everybody there, the merchants were 11 getting killed. Everybody was shopping in New 12 Jersey and years ago, I remember speaking to the 13 Chamber of Commerce in Hoosick Falls, Senator 14 Bruno, many years ago and their number one 15 complaint was sales taxes, you know? 16 Why aren't we dealing with things 17 like sales taxes on clothing and other things 18 before -- before we worry about the alcoholic 19 beverage tax or, with all due respect, Senator 20 Bruno, an employer in your district that pays - 21 and I admit, some macabre, weirdo tax on 22 promotional materials that probably never should 23 have been there before. I don't know when that 4481 1 came in. Was that probably one of those 1990 2 taxes that Senator Bruno and all the Democrats 3 voted against, while the rest of the Republicans 4 voted for it. I agree it shouldn't be there, 5 but I think before we take care of that 6 employer, that one business, we ought to focus 7 on some of the other people that absolutely need 8 relief. 9 And so, Mr. President, on 10 balance, particularly because of the 11 agricultural circuit tax breaker, because of 12 some of the other things in this bill that are 13 good -- it may not go far enough, but they're 14 good -- and despite the fact -- and let me say, 15 particularly because today is an exercise -- is 16 an exercise in political discourse, it is the 17 revealing of priorities by both parties, it is 18 the statement of whom we're for by both parties 19 and it's nothing for. This is not part of the 20 real budget. Make no mistake about it. It's 21 not part of the real budget. If, as a part of a 22 final budget, we were to be -- I were to be 23 confronted with a tax bill like this that 4482 1 ignored the kind of priorities the Democrats 2 have set forth in our amendments, I would then 3 vote against it, but today being a good feeling 4 what's your tax policy rhetoric day, I'll join 5 in what I heard, I guess from Senator Bruno. He 6 never met a tax cut he didn't like, and I'll 7 vote for this, but only because of those couple 8 things like the agricultural circuit breaker 9 that I think are very, very essential to a 10 significant portion of New Yorkers, but in the 11 final analysis, unless we -- if there were to be 12 a -- tax cut provisions, unless it addressed 13 that property tax, that property tax burden that 14 are falling on our middle class and working 15 families and unless it addressed in a real 16 significant, direct way, employment, such as tax 17 credits for job retraining, then I wouldn't vote 18 for the final product. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Bruno to close for the Majority. 21 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 23 I want to congratulate Senator 4483 1 Connor in his wisdom for having indicated that 2 he will support this package. I also want to 3 thank the Minority in this house for this debate 4 and for the amendments that they brought 5 forward. Many of them are very constructive, 6 very worthwhile, and they are tax cuts. They 7 are incentives to create jobs, and they will be 8 part of the negotiations that take place as we 9 go forward to do a budget. 10 I'm a little bit disappointed 11 that you didn't have the same fervor during the 12 Cuomo years for tax cuts. I'm a little 13 disappointed in that, because during those 12 14 years, this state -- the Empire State saw an 15 exodus of jobs and it's a fact -- and I don't 16 say this in any political way. It is a fact 17 this state saw 35 to 40 percent of the jobs lost 18 in the country come from New York during the 19 Cuomo years. Better late than never. 20 So we are here together going 21 forward, doing some good work for the people of 22 this state. Many of the proposals that you 23 brought forth today are, as you know, proposals 4484 1 that Republican members have in bill form, and I 2 don't think it's any coincidence that you took 3 those proposals and put them in with your 4 amendments, and that's just good judgment and 5 good thinking. 6 So, again, I applaud you for 7 that. I will recommend that you just stay loose 8 and stay flexible because next week you will 9 have another opportunity to vote in favor of 10 some of the very things that you're talking 11 about that will be in our property tax cut 12 package, coupled with school aid, to keep the 13 lid on property taxes. That will make you happy 14 and this conference happy and, most important, 15 the people of this state happy. 16 We keep hearing, Mr. President, a 17 reference to the mansion tax that we in this 18 state call the Cuomo tax. Senator Connor, call 19 it whatever you want, but that's one that you 20 took issue with. I will ask you to study - 21 just review the study that's done by the Wharton 22 Group -- Financial Group and Cornell that 23 indicates when that tax is rescinded -- and it 4485 1 will be -- it will drive $200 million of new 2 revenue into New York City and create 7,000 3 jobs, not for wealthy people but for laboring 4 people. 5 Senator Connor, your colleagues, 6 look at that one in particular. Don't take 7 issue with it. Don't call it a mansion tax. 8 Call it an economic development package because 9 that's what it is. It never should have been 10 there. We've got to get it off. You need - 11 you need the 200 million in revenue to help the 12 people in your district and in New York City. 13 So if you support any of these 14 proposals, support that one because you help 15 your own constituents more than you help the 16 people in upstate New York. In my district, I 17 don't know of a property that's worth over $1 18 million, a commercial property in Troy or in 19 Saratoga. So it doesn't help me, but it helps 20 the people of this state, and that's why it's 21 there. 22 Mr. President, I'm going to 23 conclude my remarks. This has been very 4486 1 healthy. I think we've had a bipartisan effort 2 here to talk about what's best for the people of 3 this state. I think that is just good 4 government. 5 I'm going to conclude by 6 reminding people that we discussed and debated 7 tax cuts last year, and the question was would 8 they become part of a final budget, or was it 9 just rhetoric? It wasn't rhetoric. It became 10 part of the budget. 11 This year, tax cuts will be part 12 of a final budget. Why? Because you can talk 13 about trickle down. I talk about building up. 14 Tax cuts build up. They don't trickle down. 15 They build up. The $1 billion tax cut that took 16 place last year -- and listen to this - 17 increased the revenues to this state by $600 18 million. That's what Senator Libous is talking 19 about. That 600 million in increased revenue is 20 going to pay to restore school aid in New York 21 City, upstate, on the Island, keep the lid on 22 property taxes. It's going to restore some of 23 the Medicaid cuts that are painful. It's going 4487 1 to restore some of the cuts in higher ed'. 2 How do we get this money? By 3 increasing the revenues in this state. How do 4 we increase the revenues? By making this state 5 more competitive with tax cuts. The biggest tax 6 cuts in all of the United States last year were 7 in New York. 22 percent of all the income tax 8 cuts in the United States were in New York. 42 9 percent of all the business tax cuts in the 10 United States were in New York. As a 11 consequence, with the leadership of Governor 12 George Pataki picking up from the previous 13 administration, this state is moving forward. 14 So thank you for joining us in 15 this effort. Thank you for your kind remarks. 16 Thank you on behalf of the people of this state 17 for helping to continue to stimulate the economy 18 and create jobs. All of us benefit. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 Secretary will read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 82. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 4488 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Abate to explain her vote. 6 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. I think 7 this was a very fruitful debate, and I believe 8 it's a beginning debate, and I will be voting 9 against this because I still believe this is an 10 exercise, and that until we have an opportunity 11 to look at the revenue side as well as the 12 spending side, I am not prepared to vote for an 13 additional tax cut package. 14 I would also be more inclined to 15 vote for a -- business tax cuts, and I 16 understand and I think we all agree that some of 17 the tax cuts stymie the economy, do not 18 stimulate growth. There are tax cuts that maybe 19 when they originated years ago made sense and 20 they no longer make sense today, but I would be 21 looking at a tax cut plan that represented some 22 of my priorities and not -- the package today 23 does not represent them. 4489 1 I would be looking for and others 2 of my colleagues have said a gross receipts tax 3 cut, a tax credit for child care, small 4 businesses, very important for job creation and 5 job retention. I think tax credits should be 6 tied. Businesses -- we want to create 7 incentives so more businesses stay and are 8 created in New York State. We want to see 9 something that actually has a positive impact on 10 our economy, and lastly, a circuit breaker tax 11 cut to reduce the property taxes throughout New 12 York State. 13 When we can look at that in terms 14 of the revenue and spending side and include 15 what I consider should be some of the priorities 16 to New York State, I might then be more amenable 17 to voting for a tax cut package for business. 18 Under these circumstances today, 19 I must vote no. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Abate will be recorded in the negative. 22 Senator Waldon to explain his 23 vote. 4490 1 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 2 much, Mr. President, my colleagues. 3 Some of you know that I grew up 4 in Brooklyn, and those who used to go around 5 Fulton street, Flatbush Extension used to see 6 the three-card monte people working, and no 7 matter what you did -- and at that time my 8 vision was sometimes called 20/10 it was so 9 good. No matter what you did, those guys were 10 so fast that, if you bet your money, you'd lose 11 it. They were great, but they were not as great 12 as some of the things I've seen here in Albany. 13 We have quintessential flimflam artists 14 practicing their art in Albany, and let me tell 15 you what I mean. 16 We have a bill that says this 17 will cut taxes. I'm dutybound by the 300,000 18 people in the 10th Senatorial District to be 19 amenable to their needs to see that their taxes 20 are reduced, but when I looked quickly between 21 the lines of this proposal, I did not see that 22 they would get the kind of relief promised by 23 the rhetoric on the floor. 4491 1 There are no mansions in St. 2 Albans. There are no mansions in Far Rockaway. 3 There are no mansions in Cambria Heights or 4 Queens Village or Rosedale or Laurelton, 5 Springfield Gardens or in Rochdale Village which 6 is a huge Mitchell-Lama. There are no 7 mansions. There are no millionaires that I can 8 account for, to my knowledge, who actually live 9 in the district. Some people are doing well. A 10 lot are professionals, but this tax bill will 11 not benefit those people who I represent. We 12 are creating, in my belief, similar to what our 13 former governor said in San Francisco when I 14 attended the Democratic National Convention, 15 we're creating those who are up on the hill and 16 those who are in the valley with the policies 17 that we're instituting here in this legislative 18 body, the Senate of the state of New York, and 19 because of the inequity of what we're doing, 20 because of the unfairness, because we are taking 21 care of those who are best able to take care of 22 themselves and not take care of those least able 23 to take care of themselves, this particular 4492 1 proposal, I cannot support it. We cannot feed 2 the rich with the poor. 3 I vote in the no. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Waldon will be recorded in the negative. 6 Senator Marchi to explain his 7 vote. 8 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President, I 9 think it's certainly appropriate that we notice 10 what Senator Bruno has done here today. I have 11 not seen in many, many years, I would say 12 decades, a debate of this nature where every 13 single person who spoke to this measure spoke to 14 it in terms that were affirmative, positive, 15 constructive, and when the vote was taken, it 16 ushered in, I think, the premises that have been 17 -- that was created last year and continues the 18 upward movement of this state. 19 What Senator Waldon has said is 20 not a discordant note under ancient Jewish law. 21 A unanimous verdict was never considered unless 22 there was one dissent, because there was always 23 the fear that maybe something had been missed. 4493 1 The fact that he spoke of other concerns is a 2 balancing factor, a seasoning flavor that you 3 have imparted, Senator, but it is something that 4 we can all observe, I think with a great deal of 5 satisfaction because the -- if the statistical 6 prologue is accurate, it promises further growth 7 and development so that the concerns that you 8 express so eloquently, Senator Waldon, will be 9 reflected, and that is the spirit that 10 characterizes this Senate today. 11 I vote aye. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Marchi will be recorded in the affirmative. 14 Announce the results. 15 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 16 the negative on Calendar Number 910 are Senators 17 Abate, Babbush, Leichter, Montgomery, Santiago, 18 Seabrook, Smith, Stavisky and Waldon. Ayes 51 19 -- also Senator Markowitz. Ayes 50, nays 10. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 21 is passed. 22 Senator Mendez, you wanted to 23 request permission to be recorded in the 4494 1 negative on a bill before. 2 SENATOR MENDEZ: 642. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 642. 4 SENATOR MENDEZ: Thank you. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 6 objection. 7 (There was no response.) 8 Hearing no objection, Senator 9 Mendez will be recorded in the negative on 10 Calendar Number 642. 11 Senator Bruno. 12 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 13 can we at this time take up Calendar Number 14 909. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 909, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 19 Print Number 7486, an act to amend Chapter 261 20 of the Laws of 1993, relating to the Nassau 21 County Accelerated Adjudication Program. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 23 a message of necessity at the desk. The motion 4495 1 is to accept the message of necessity. All 2 those in favor signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye".) 4 Opposed, nay. 5 (There was no response.) 6 The message is accepted. 7 The Secretary will read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 16 is passed. 17 SENATOR LARKIN: Can we take up 18 Calendar Number 247 now, please. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 Secretary will read Calendar Number 257. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 257, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 5951-A, 23 an act to amend the Penal Law, the Criminal 4496 1 Procedure Law and the Correction Law. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Larkin. 5 SENATOR LARKIN: Is there a 6 message at the desk? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 8 a message at the desk. The motion is to accept 9 the message of necessity on Calendar Number 10 257. All those in favor signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye".) 12 Opposed, nay. 13 (There was no response.) 14 The message is accepted. 15 Senator Nozzolio, an explanation 16 has been asked for of Calendar Number 257 by the 17 Acting Minority Leader, Senator Paterson. 18 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 My colleagues, I rise with great 21 happiness that this measure has come this far. 22 It's a bill that will enhance the establishment 23 of enhanced Class E felony status for those 4497 1 inmates who participate in a very heinous 2 practice of using their bodily fluids as 3 weapons. 4 It's a historic day for those 5 correction officers, parole officers and 6 correction employees in the state. It's been a 7 long, hard fight. For eight years, I have been 8 proposing this legislation, proposing it first 9 at the behest of a constituent who came to me 10 after she as a nurse in a correctional facility 11 received -- was a recipient of this very, very 12 dangerous and heinous behavior, but we're here 13 today to make this crime just that, a Class E 14 felony. Without the support of Governor Pataki, 15 this certainly would not have happened. Paul 16 Schectman is chairman who is commissioner of the 17 Department of -- the Division of Criminal 18 Justice Services helped us push this measure 19 along. 20 What this bill does is tell the 21 inmates of this state that if they are going to 22 use their bodily fluids as weapons, if they are 23 going to participate in what has heretofore been 4498 1 a degrading behavior after the passage of this 2 legislation will become a felony. 3 It is difficult to work in our 4 correctional facilities under the best of times, 5 but under this extremely growing - 6 unfortunately, in the last three years alone, 7 there were over 600 documented cases of inmates 8 herding their human waste and other bodily 9 fluids on correctional employees. 10 My heartfelt thanks to those who 11 work in our correctional facilities and 12 particularly thank those representatives, the 13 men and women of Council 82 who have worked with 14 us from the outset to raise the public awareness 15 of this issue in assisting us in the drafting of 16 this monumental legislation. 17 It's absolutely deplorable when 18 men and women risk their lives every day to 19 protect the public from dangerous criminals and 20 have to endure this abuse with virtually no 21 legal protection. This action today provides 22 the legal protection necessary, and I want to 23 thank Council 82 for helping us, along with 4499 1 Governor Pataki and Commissioner Schectman in 2 moving this legislation along. 3 Personally, I would also like to 4 thank Senator Abate, our ranking member of the 5 Crime and Corrections Committee, who personally 6 has supported this measure and has been involved 7 as an advisor to me on correctional issues 8 because of her experience in those matters. 9 Inside a correctional facility is 10 one of the most dangerous, rigorous and trying 11 places to work anywhere. I want to thank all of 12 those who were involved to make this legislation 13 possible, to make that workplace a safer place 14 to work for New Yorkers. 15 Thank you, Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 Secretary will read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 19 act shall take effect in 30 days. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 4500 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 2 is passed. 3 Senator Larkin. 4 SENATOR LARKIN: Mr. President, I 5 believe we have four privileged resolutions at 6 the desk. Would you have the titles read and 7 let's move their adoption. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 Secretary will read the titles to the four 10 privileged resolutions at the desk. 11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Alesi, 12 Legislative Resolution commending Raymond Emma, 13 retiring president upon the occasion of his 14 designation for special honor at a testimonial 15 banquet of the Monroe Volunteer Firemen's 16 Association, Incorporated, May 4, 1996. 17 By Senator Alesi, Legislative 18 Resolution, commemorating the ground breaking 19 ceremony of the Fairport Baptist Homes Campus 20 renovation and new construction project from 21 hallways to households, Sunday, May 5, 1996. 22 By Senator Connor, Legislative 23 Resolution commending Mary Nolan upon the 4501 1 occasion of her selection as guest of honor at 2 the annual dinner dance of the Brooklyn 3 Shamrocks Football Club on Friday, May 3, 1996. 4 By Senator Connor, Legislative 5 Resolution commemorating Albany Jerusalem 3000, 6 a gala celebration of the glorious history of 7 city of Jerusalem to be held in the well of the 8 Legislative Office Building, Albany, New York on 9 May 7, 1996. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 question is on the resolutions. All those in 12 favor signify by saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye".) 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (There was no response.) 16 The resolutions are adopted. 17 SENATOR LARKIN: Is there any 18 housekeeping up there? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: No. 20 Senator Larkin, the desk has been swept clean 21 with one exception. The bill that we passed 22 earlier, as you are aware, the Nassau County 23 extender bill passed the Assembly at the same 4502 1 time. So the bill is being recalled so it can 2 be substituted and repassed. We have a national 3 cross that we want to correct before we do 4 anything else -- before we conclude today. 5 SENATOR LARKIN: Stand at ease 6 then. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 Senate will stand at ease momentarily. It 9 should be right here. 10 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 11 ease from 2:15 p.m. until 2:19 p.m.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senate 13 will come to order. 14 Senator Larkin, we do now have 15 the bill at the desk. We would like to 16 reconsider the vote by which the bill passed the 17 house, if that's permissible with you. 18 SENATOR LARKIN: Please do so. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 motion is to reconsider the vote by which 21 Calendar Number 909 passed the house. The 22 Secretary will call the roll on 23 reconsideration. 4503 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 909, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 3 Print 7486, an act to amend Chapter 261 of the 4 Laws of 1993. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 6 roll on reconsideration. 7 (The Secretary called the roll on 8 reconsideration.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 11 is before the house. We have an Assembly 12 substitution. I'd ask the Secretary to read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno 14 moves to discharge from the Committee on Rules, 15 Assembly Bill Number 10571 and substitute it for 16 the identical Third Reading Calendar 909. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 substitution is ordered. We have a message of 19 necessity from the Assembly on the bill. The 20 motion is to accept the message of necessity. 21 SENATOR LARKIN: Accept. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All those 23 in favor of accepting the message of necessity 4504 1 signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye".) 3 Opposed, nay. 4 (There was no response.) 5 The message is accepted. 6 The Secretary will read the last 7 section -- read the Assembly bill. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 909, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 10 Assembly Print Number 10571, an act to amend 11 Chapter 261 of the Laws of 1993. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 Secretary will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 82. 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 60. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 21 is passed. 22 Senator Larkin. 23 SENATOR LARKIN: Mr. President, 4505 1 there being no further business, I move we 2 adjourn until Monday, May the 6th, at 3:00 p.m., 3 intervening days to be legislative days. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 5 objection, the Senate stands adjourned until 6 Monday, May 6th, intervening days to be 7 legislative days. 8 (Whereupon, at 2:21 p.m., the 9 Senate adjourned.) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23