Thursday, June 6, 1996

6722 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 June 6, 1996 11 10:10 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JOHN R. KUHL, JR., Acting President 19 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 20 21 22 23 6723 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Senate will come to order. Ask the members to 4 find their places, staff to find their places. 5 Ask everybody to rise, including those visitors 6 in the gallery, and join with me in saying the 7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 8 (The assemblage repeated the 9 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ) 10 In the absence of clergy, may we 11 bow our heads in a moment of silence. 12 (A moment of silence was 13 observed. ) 14 Reading of the Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Wednesday, June 5th. The Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment, Senator Kuhl in the Chair upon 18 designation of the Temporary President. The 19 Journal of Tuesday, June 4th, was read and 20 approved. On motion, Senate adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing 22 no objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 6724 1 Presentation of petitions. 2 Messages from the Assembly. 3 Messages from the Governor. 4 Reports of standing committees. 5 Reports of select committees. 6 Communications and reports from 7 state officers. 8 Motions and resolutions. 9 SENATOR SEWARD: Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Seward. 12 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes. On page 13 20, I offer the following amendments to Calendar 14 Number 782, Senate Print Number 6538-A, and ask 15 that the said bill retain its place on the Third 16 Reading Calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Amendments to Calendar 782 are received and 19 adopted. The bill will retain its place on the 20 Third Reading Calendar. 21 Senator Wright. 22 SENATOR WRIGHT: Mr. President, 23 on behalf of Senator Stafford, I -- on page 6725 1 number 44, I offer the following amendments to 2 Calendar Number 1253, Senate Print Number 3 5761-C, and ask that said bill retain its place 4 on the Third Reading Calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 6 Amendments to Calendar Number 1253 are received 7 and adopted. Bill will retain its place on the 8 Third Reading Calendar. 9 SENATOR WRIGHT: On behalf of 10 Senator Holland, on page number 20, I offer the 11 following amendments to Calendar Number 772, 12 Senate Print Number 6860, and ask that said bill 13 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 15 Amendments to Calendar Number 772 are received 16 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 17 the Third Reading Calendar. 18 Senator Wright. 19 SENATOR WRIGHT: And on behalf of 20 Senator Velella, please place a sponsor's star 21 on Calendar Number 732. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 23 Number 732 is starred at the request of the 6726 1 sponsor. 2 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Marcellino. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 7 President, I wish to call up Calendar Number 8 580, Assembly Print Number 9075. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 10 will read the title. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 580, by member of the Assembly Tokasz, Assembly 13 Print 9075, an act to amend the General Business 14 Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 Marcellino. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I now move 18 to reconsider the vote by which this Assembly 19 bill was substituted for my bill, Senate Print 20 Number 6097, on June 3rd. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 22 will call the roll on reconsideration. 23 (The Secretary called the roll on 6727 1 reconsideration. ) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Marcellino. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I now move 6 that the Assembly Bill Number 9075 be 7 recommitted to the Committee on Rules and my 8 Senate bill be restored to the order of Third 9 Reading Calendar. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 Assembly bill is recommitted; the Senate bill is 12 restored. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 14 President, I now offer the following amendments. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 16 Amendments are received and adopted. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 18 sir. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Skelos. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 22 yesterday I was out of the chambers when a vote 23 was taken on Calendar Number 1269, Senate 12-C. 6728 1 Had I been in the chambers, I would have voted 2 in the affirmative. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 record will reflect, Senator Skelos, that had 5 you been in the chamber yesterday when a roll 6 call was taken on Calendar Number 1269, that you 7 would have voted in the affirmative. 8 Senator Saland. 9 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Mr. 10 President. 11 Mr. President, I wish to call up 12 Calendar Number 479, Assembly Print Number 13 510-B. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 15 will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 479, by member of the Assembly Christensen, 18 Assembly Print 510-B, an act to amend the Real 19 Property Tax Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Saland. 22 SENATOR SALAND: I now move to 23 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly Bill 6729 1 was substituted for my bill, Senate Print 6145, 2 on March 13th. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 4 will call the roll on reconsideration. 5 (The Secretary called the roll on 6 reconsideration.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Saland. 9 SENATOR SALAND: I now move that 10 the Assembly Bill Number 510-B be committed to 11 the Committee on Rules and my Senate bill be 12 restored to the order of Third Reading Calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 14 Assembly bill will be recommitted and the Senate 15 bill will be restored. 16 Senator Saland. 17 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, I 18 now offer the following amendments. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 20 Amendments are received and adopted. 21 Senator Bruno, we have some 22 substitutions at the desk. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: Please take up 6730 1 the substitutions, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 3 will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: On page 39, 5 Senator Maltese moves to discharge from the 6 Committee on Rules Assembly Bill Number 751-A 7 and substitute it for the identical Third 8 Reading Calendar 1152. 9 On page 45, Senator Hoblock moves 10 to discharge from the Committee on Finance 11 Assembly Bill Number 8751 and substitute it for 12 the identical Third Reading Calendar 1288. 13 On page 45, Senator Tully moves 14 to discharge from the Committee on Rules 15 Assembly Bill Number 8833 and substitute it for 16 the identical Third Reading Calendar 1290. 17 On page 46, Senator Maltese moves 18 to discharge from the Committee on Codes 19 Assembly Bill Number 9099, and substitute it for 20 the identical Third Reading Calendar 1292. 21 On page 46, Senator Skelos moves 22 to discharge from the Committee on Rules 23 Assembly Bill Number 2274-B and substitute it 6731 1 for the identical Third Reading Calendar 1293. 2 On page 47, Senator Alesi moves 3 to discharge from the Committee on Rules 4 Assembly Bill Number 2593-A and substitute it 5 for the identical Third Reading Calendar 1302. 6 On page 47, Senator Cook moves to 7 discharge from the Committee on Consumer 8 Protection Assembly Bill Number 9814 and 9 substitute it for the identical Third Reading 10 Calendar 1305. 11 On page 47, Senator Present moves 12 to discharge from the Committee on Rules 13 Assembly Bill Number 10443-A and substitute it 14 for the identical Third Reading Calendar 1306. 15 And on page 48, Senator Holland 16 moves to discharge from the Committee on 17 Investigations Assembly Bill Number 10572-A and 18 substitute it for the identical Third Reading 19 Calendar 1308. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 21 Substitutions are ordered. 22 Senator LaValle. 23 SENATOR LAVALLE: Yes, Mr. 6732 1 President. I'd like to place a sponsor's star 2 on Calendar Number 1295, please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 4 Number 1295 will be starred at the request of 5 the sponsor. 6 Senator Bruno. 7 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, I 8 believe there is a privileged resolution at the 9 desk by Senator Roy Goodman. I would ask that 10 the title be read and that we move for its 11 adoption. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 13 a privileged resolution by Senator Goodman at 14 the desk. The Secretary will read the title. 15 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 16 Goodman, Legislative Resolution honoring the 17 School for Strings on its 25th Anniversary. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Question 19 is on the resolution. All those in favor 20 signify by saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 Opposed nay. 23 (There was no response. ) 6733 1 The resolution is adopted. 2 Senator Bruno, that brings us to 3 the calendar. 4 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 5 can we now take up the non-controversial 6 calendar. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 8 will read the non-controversial calendar. 9 THE SECRETARY: On page 6, 10 Calendar Number 274, by Senator Saland, Senate 11 Print 3502-C, an act to amend the Real Property 12 Tax Law, in relation to excluding certain 13 expenditures. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 15 will read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 44. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 23 is passed. 6734 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 392, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 3596-A, an 3 act to amend the Family Court Act and the Social 4 Services Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6 will read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 8 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 9 November. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 44. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 584, by Senator Cook, Senate Print 1304, an act 18 to amend the Education Law, in relation to 19 providing shared legal services. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 21 Number 584 is not on the active list. That bill 22 is laid aside. Secretary will read Calendar 23 Number 594. 6735 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 594, by Senator Sears, Senate Print 5973-C, an 3 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 4 in relation to the recycling of used oil 5 filters. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 7 will read the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 9 SENATOR SMITH: Lay aside. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 11 bill aside. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 637, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 5206-A, an 14 act to amend the County Law, in relation to 15 enhanced emergency telephone systems surcharge. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 17 will read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 43, nays 6736 1 one, Senator Kuhl recorded in the negative. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 739, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 6839-B, an 6 act to amend the Soil and Water Conservation 7 Districts Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 9 will read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 44. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 751, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6128, an 20 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 21 relation to eliminating the annual service 22 charge. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6737 1 will read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 44. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 776, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 1434-B, an 12 act authorizing the Commissioner of General 13 Services. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 15 home rule message at the desk. Secretary will 16 read the last section, but lay the bill aside. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 791, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 2779-A, an 19 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 20 mandatory continuing education. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 22 will read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6738 1 act shall take effect January 1st. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 47. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 869, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6894, an 10 act to amend the Domestic Relations Law and the 11 Family Court Act. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 13 will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 47. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 900, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 5019-A. 6739 1 SENATOR LEIBELL: Lay aside for 2 the day, please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 4 bill aside for the day. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 912, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6221-A, an 7 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to 8 granting to the Superintendent of Banks. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 10 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 47. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 913, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6222-A, an 21 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to the 22 penalties which may be imposed. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6740 1 will read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1118, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 6091-A, an 12 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 13 relation to requiring investigations. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 15 will read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 23 is passed. 6741 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1119, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 6243, an 3 act to amend the Domestic Relations Law, in 4 relation to notification. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6 will read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1122, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6642, an 17 act to amend the Family Court Act and the Social 18 Services Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 20 will read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 22 act shall take effect in 90 days. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 6742 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1146, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 4688-D, 8 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 9 relation to sealing motor vehicle repair shops. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 11 will read the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 13 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1154, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 6497, an 22 act to amend - 23 SENATOR VELELLA: Lay the bill 6743 1 aside for amendment. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 3 bill aside for amendment. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1155, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 6742-A an 6 act to amend the Railroad Law and the Penal Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 8 will read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 10 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 11 November. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 48, nays 16 one, Senator Kuhl recorded in the negative. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1228, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 612, an 21 act to amend the Environmental Conservation 22 Law. 23 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 6744 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 2 bill aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1261, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7090-A, an 5 act to establish the library district in the 6 city of Kingston. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 9 bill aside. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1277, by member of the Assembly D'Andrea, 12 Assembly Print 9757, an act to amend the Tax 13 Law, in relation to authorizing - 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Star that bill at 15 the request of the sponsor, please. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 17 Number 1277 is starred at the request of the 18 sponsor. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1280, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 3356, an act 21 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 22 relation to exempting any child. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6745 1 will read the last section. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 4 bill aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1281, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 3519, 7 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 8 the payment of reparations. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 10 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 49. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1282, by Senator DiCarlo, Senate Print 4358-A, 21 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 22 relation to providing for the seizure and 23 forfeiture. 6746 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 2 will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 4 act shall take effect on the 1st day of January. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1283, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 4804-A, 13 an act to amend the Town Law, in relation to 14 certain actions. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 16 local fiscal impact note at the desk. Lay the 17 bill aside. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1284, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 4907-A, an 20 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 21 consecutive sentences. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside, 23 please. 6747 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 2 bill aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1285, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 5418-A, 5 an act to amend the Public Health Law, in 6 relation to authorizing the Hudson Valley 7 Emergency Medical Service Council. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 9 will read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1286, by Senator DiCarlo, Senate Print 5899, an 20 act authorizing the city of New York to reconvey 21 its interest. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 23 home rule message at the desk. Secretary will 6748 1 read the last section, but lay it aside. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1287, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 6049, an act 4 to amend the State Administrative Procedure Act, 5 in relation to regulatory flexibility. 6 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay aside. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 8 bill aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1288, by member of the Assembly Canestrari, 11 Assembly Print Number 8751, substituted earlier 12 today, an act to amend the Public Officers Law, 13 in relation to activities by former state 14 officers. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 16 will read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 6749 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1289, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 6189-A, an 4 act to amend the General Municipal Law, the 5 State Finance Law, and the Municipal Home Rule 6 Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 8 will read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 10 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1290, by member of the Assembly Connelly, 19 Assembly Print 8833, substituted earlier today, 20 an act to amend Chapter 294 of the Laws of 21 1994. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 23 will read the last section. 6750 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1291, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6373, an 11 act to amend the Public Health Law, in relation 12 to the applicability to the city of New York. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 14 will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6751 1 1292, by member of the Assembly Katz, Assembly 2 Print 9099, substituted earlier today, an act to 3 amend the Penal Law, in relation to graffiti 4 removal programs. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6 will read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 9 November. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1293, substituted earlier today, by member of 18 the Assembly Brodsky, Assembly Print 2274-B, an 19 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 20 the Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation 21 Law and the General Municipal Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 23 will read the last section. 6752 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 2 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1294, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 6673, an 11 act to provide retirement credit to Anthony A. 12 Tafuri. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 14 will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6753 1 1296, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 6745, an 2 act to amend Chapter 583 of the Laws of 1995. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 4 home rule message at the desk. Secretary will 5 read the last 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 49. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1297, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 6776, an 16 act to amend Chapter 463 of the Laws of 1995. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 18 will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 20 act shall take effect April 1. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 6754 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1298, by Senator Present, Senate Print 6791-A. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 7 a home rule message at the desk. Lay the bill 8 aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1299, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6794, an 11 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 12 criminal contempt. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 14 will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 17 November. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 23 is passed. 6755 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1300, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 6838, an 3 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 4 relation to authorizing patient discharge. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6 will read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1301, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 6848, an 17 act to amend the Penal Law and the Criminal 18 Procedure Law, in relation to providing for a 19 mandatory three-year minimum sentence. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 21 will read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 23 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 6756 1 November. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1302, by member of the Assembly Robach, Assembly 10 Print 2593-A, substituted earlier today, an act 11 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 12 to allowing family members. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 14 will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 Volker, why do you rise? 23 (Senator Volker gestures.) 6757 1 Senator Alesi, why do you rise? 2 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. If I might just take a moment to 4 explain my vote. 5 This is a very important bill not 6 only for all people in New York State who might 7 have been impacted by a situation where family 8 members have been prevented from speaking at 9 sentencing, especially in cases where there 10 might have been a DWI and the defendant in that 11 case was not charged with homicide. Under 12 existing law, that would have prevented the 13 family members from speaking at the sentencing. 14 We have a situation that occurred 15 in Monroe County, and I'm sorry to say that 16 that's happened across the state today. In the 17 gallery are two people from MADD and two people 18 who have been impacted by this kind of 19 situation, Linda Campion and Mary Bissaillon, 20 who are from Senator Bruno's district. 21 In voting in the affirmative and 22 thanking my colleagues for voting in the 23 affirmative as well, I'd like to recognize the 6758 1 fact that this has done a great service for the 2 families of people who have been victimized by 3 the tragedy of driving while intoxicated and it 4 will now allow those families to be present 5 under new circumstances at the sentencing of 6 those who are charged not with homicide but with 7 some other crime that resulted in the death of a 8 victim of that terrible tragedy of driving while 9 intoxicated. 10 Thank you, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Alesi will be recorded in the affirmative on 13 Calendar Number 1302. 14 The bill is passed. 15 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 16 President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Dollinger, why do you rise? 19 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Like to 20 explain my vote on that bill as well. 21 I want to commend Senator Alesi 22 for picking up this bill. This was originally 23 carried by Mary Ellen Jones, a bill that Mary 6759 1 Ellen worked on. I think Senator Alesi has 2 continued the tradition in Monroe County of 3 seeking out and emphasizing the importance of 4 victims' rights. 5 This was an issue that came up in 6 Monroe County. I think it's one that we've all 7 shared an interest in and I commend him for 8 picking up the bill and getting it passed. I 9 think it's an important thing for all the people 10 of this state to do. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 Secretary will continue to call the 13 non-controversial calendar. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1303, by Senator Present, Senate Print - 16 SENATOR PRESENT: Lay it aside 17 for an amendment. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 19 bill aside for amendments. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1304, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 7104-A, 22 an act in relation to authorizing the county of 23 Suffolk. 6760 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 2 home rule message at the desk. Secretary - 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 5 bill aside. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1305, by member of the Assembly Magee, Assembly 8 Print 9814, substituted earlier today, an act to 9 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law, in 10 relation to the sale of agricultural 11 commodities. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 13 will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1306, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 6761 1 Assembly Print 10,443-A, substituted earlier 2 today, an act to amend the Executive Law, in 3 relation to designation of the New York State 4 POW/MIA Recognition Day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 Secretary will read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1307, by Senator Nanula, Senate Print 7433, an 17 act to amend the Local Finance Law, in relation 18 to the private sale of bonds. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 20 home rule message at the desk. Senator 21 Paterson, you want to lay this bill aside? 22 Read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 6762 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1308, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 10 Assembly Print 10,572-A, substituted earlier 11 today, an act to authorize the sale of real 12 property at the Letchworth Development Center. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 15 bill aside. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1309, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7508, an 18 act to legalize, ratify and confirm certain 19 proceedings and actions. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 21 home rule message at the desk. Lay the bill 22 aside. 23 Senator Bruno, that completes the 6763 1 reading of the non-controversial calendar. 2 SENATOR BRUNO: Can we, Mr. 3 President, at this time take up the 4 controversial calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 6 will read the controversial calendar beginning 7 with Calendar Number 594. 8 THE SECRETARY: On page 14, 9 Calendar Number 594, by Senator Sears, Senate 10 Print 5973-C, an act to amend the Environmental 11 Conservation Law. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 Sears, an explanation of Calendar Number 594 has 15 been requested by the Acting Minority Leader, 16 Senator Paterson. 17 SENATOR SEARS: Last month we 18 passed this bill by a vote of 58 to zero, and 19 after it passed we were contacted by the Filter 20 Manufacturers Association, which is an 21 association that simply advises recyclers of 22 this type of product. 23 Now, the only change that we made 6764 1 was that "or dismantled and hot-drained or hot 2 drained using an equivalent method to remove 3 used oil" and the reason for the suggestion to 4 do that, put that paragraph in there, was 5 because a lot of these recyclers don't have 6 crushers and, if they don't have a crusher, they 7 couldn't do it the way that said, so we allowed 8 them by adding this new amendment if they didn't 9 have a crusher, they could dismantle and 10 hot-drain or hot drain by using an equivalent 11 method to remove used oil. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Smith. 14 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 Would the sponsor please yield 17 for a couple questions? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Sears, do you yield? 20 SENATOR SEARS: Yes. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 yields. 23 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 6765 1 Could you please explain to me 2 how the oil will be removed and what will be 3 done with the oil once it is removed? 4 SENATOR SEARS: Well - 5 SENATOR SMITH: How will it be 6 disposed of? 7 SENATOR SEARS: I can't -- I 8 didn't make out your question. Can you -- you 9 want to know how they do it? 10 SENATOR SMITH: What will be the 11 process of removing the oil and what -- how will 12 it be disposed of? 13 SENATOR SEARS: Well, of course, 14 currently there are no provisions at all in 15 either state or federal regulations, to 16 guarantee the recyclability of used motor 17 filters. This bill would establish statutory 18 requirements, but the -- I guess the answer to 19 your question is that - 20 SENATOR SMITH: There are 21 statutory requirements for the oil. 22 SENATOR SEARS: It would be hot 23 drained and then it would be recycled per the 6766 1 present law. If you're going to recycle oil, 2 you have to turn it in to someone who is in the 3 business of using that recycled oil, who would 4 have to be licensed and be a bona fide receiver 5 of that oil to properly dispose of it or if it 6 had any value for recycling into another product 7 or another use. 8 SENATOR SMITH: Would you - 9 would the sponsor yield for another question? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Sears, do you continue to yield? 12 SENATOR SEARS: Yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 continues to yield. 15 SENATOR SMITH: Are there not 16 regulations on how motor oil is kept once it is 17 removed from the product? Maybe if I -- what 18 I'm trying to get at is most of these recycling 19 companies do not have the wherewithal to store 20 this if they're going to recycle, and it can 21 become a safety hazard and many of these 22 recycling plants are in our communities or the 23 recycling yards are in our local communities and 6767 1 this could become a danger to the community. 2 SENATOR SEARS: I guess the 3 answer to that question, Ada, is this doesn't 4 really -- what we're trying to do here doesn't 5 really deal with what they're going to do with 6 the oil once it's recycled. It deals with the 7 actual recycling of the oil, and using this 8 method. You see, they could do this if the 9 filter doesn't contain any terne, which is a 10 type of lead alloy and if the oil filter is 11 drained and crushed. Whatever laws are 12 presently in effect for storing used motor oil 13 or anything else that would be recycled really 14 doesn't affect -- have any effect on this bill. 15 All this does is -- we had -- as I say, we had 16 it passed once 58 to nothing and we were just 17 asked to amend it for those people who didn't 18 have crushers, and this doesn't really get into 19 what happens to the used oil. That wasn't the 20 purpose of the bill. 21 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. Mr. 22 President, one more question. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6768 1 Sears, do you continue to yield? 2 SENATOR SEARS: Yes. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 continues to yield. 5 SENATOR SMITH: Well, wouldn't it 6 be advisable to know when you're writing a bill 7 how the outcome will affect the residents of the 8 state of New York? 9 SENATOR SEARS: Well, if we - 10 well, I would say that every tax bill we've ever 11 passed would certainly have a bearing on that, 12 how it's going to affect the residents of the 13 state. This -- I don't think - 14 SENATOR SMITH: Well, I think we 15 know how tax bills will affect us. I'm not 16 saying that. 17 SENATOR SEARS: Yes. 18 SENATOR SMITH: What I'm saying 19 is, you're the sponsor of this legislation. 20 SENATOR SEARS: Which was put in 21 at the request of a recycler. 22 SENATOR SMITH: Well, don't you 23 think you should have investigated a little to 6769 1 know how it would affect? I mean it's very nice 2 of you trying to help a recycler or help anyone 3 else in our communities but it may have an 4 overwhelming impact on others as well as the 5 constituents which we were elected to 6 represented? 7 SENATOR SEARS: Well, you're 8 talking about what they do, how they store it. 9 You're talking about used motor oil, is that 10 correct? 11 SENATOR SMITH: That was the last 12 time we were talking, yes. 13 SENATOR SEARS: Well, so your 14 concern then is with used motor oil. 15 SENATOR SMITH: My concern is 16 with the safety and health of those that we were 17 elected to represent. 18 SENATOR SEARS: Well, are you 19 saying that you don't agree with the present 20 method that, if a person drains his own oil 21 we'll say for example? 22 SENATOR SMITH: No, what I'm 23 saying is I don't agree with what your bill is 6770 1 doing since there is nothing in there that 2 prevents -- that dictates how it will be treated 3 and if they have to have the safety precautions 4 to do so. 5 SENATOR SEARS: My understanding 6 is that the safety precautions for used motor 7 oil are already in place. 8 SENATOR SMITH: But there's 9 nothing in this bill that precludes them from 10 using something else, and it doesn't dictate 11 what methods they will use. 12 SENATOR SEARS: That's correct. 13 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 15 will read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce 22 the results when tabulated. 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50, nays 6771 1 one, Senator Smith recorded in the negative. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 776, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 1434-B, an 6 act authorizing the Commissioner of General 7 Services to sell certain land. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote in 9 the negative. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay the bill 11 aside for the day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 13 bill aside for the day. 14 THE SECRETARY: 1228, by Senator 15 Stafford, an act to amend the Environmental 16 Conservation Law. 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 19 the day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 21 bill aside for the day. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1261, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7090-A, an 6772 1 act to establish a library district in the city 2 of Kingston. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Larkin, an explanation of Calendar Number 1261 6 has been asked for by Senator Paterson. 7 SENATOR LARKIN: Senator 8 Paterson, we have received a resolution from the 9 City Council of the city of Newburgh, a letter 10 from the mayor, asking us to afford the 11 opportunity for the individuals utilizing the 12 Kingston library, for them to make a decision 13 whether they would have their own library, 14 separating it from the high -- from the school 15 district. 16 The school district wants this; 17 the City Council has proposed it. This allows a 18 referendum by the people who live in the city of 19 Kingston to make that decision. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Paterson. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 23 if my good friend, Senator Larkin, would yield 6773 1 for one and only one question. 2 SENATOR LARKIN: Very happy, Mr. 3 President, to yield to the distinguished Acting 4 Minority Leader. 5 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator 6 Larkin, is there any cost involved? Is this 7 going to be done by a tax basis, or is this 8 going to -- is there a cost even involved in 9 adopting this and, if there is, how are we going 10 to -- how are we going to achieve paying for it? 11 SENATOR LARKIN: In this 12 legislation, there is no cost, because what this 13 legislation allows them to establish a vote on 14 whether or not they will have a district. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 16 I could think of a number of more questions but, 17 unfortunately, I'm a person of my word. I said 18 there would be one question. So I guess I'll 19 just sit down and wonder what I could have 20 elicited if I'd had more time. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 6774 1 act shall effect immediately: 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1280, By Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 3356, an act 10 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 11 relation to exempting any child. 12 SENATOR KUHL: Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: An 14 explanation has been asked for, I believe. 15 Senator Kuhl. 16 SENATOR KUHL: Yes, Mr. 17 President. 18 This bill has one single 19 purpose. Several years ago, we passed a bill 20 that requires children under the age of 14 to 21 wear helmets when riding bicycles. That 22 presents a practical problem to some of my 23 constituents, those people known as Mennonites 6775 1 or Amish, who are required - 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Excuse 3 me, Senator Kuhl. Could we please have - 4 SENATOR KUHL: Are you asking the 5 Majority Leader to sit down? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: No, I 7 didn't specifically ask the Majority Leader to 8 sit down. Could we please have some quiet. 9 Will the Sergeant-at-Arms please close the 10 door. 11 Senator Kuhl. 12 SENATOR KUHL: Yes, and in my 13 district, I have a fairly large Mennonite 14 community and, as one of their religious tenets, 15 they are required to wear hats if you're a male 16 and bonnets if you're a female. Their primary 17 mode of transportation is either by horse and 18 buggy or by bicycle. They do not use motorized 19 vehicles; and so what we have done in this state 20 is to pass a law that really makes it very 21 uncomfortable for them if they're to comply with 22 the law and, at this point, we think as a state 23 we recognize that we do not want to interfere 6776 1 with their religious beliefs, but yet we are 2 making criminals out of them by requiring them 3 to wear helmets because they can't wear helmets 4 if they're to comply with their religious 5 beliefs. 6 So this bill, very simply put, 7 would allow an exemption for those people who 8 uphold their religious beliefs and part of that 9 religious belief deals with their dress, their 10 dress being that they're required to wear 11 bonnets or hats to keep their heads covered. 12 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 13 President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 15 Senator Stachowski. 16 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Would 17 Senator Kuhl yield for a question? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 19 Senator Kuhl, will you yield? 20 SENATOR KUHL: Absolutely. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 22 Senator yields. 23 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Senator, I 6777 1 don't have any trouble with religious freedoms 2 of these people, but what do we do about the 3 safety issue? The reason we passed the helmet 4 law was for the safety of bicycle riders and 5 what is supposed to be our feeling if we then 6 now pass this exemption and some of these people 7 happen to fall and become involved in bicycle 8 accidents and become injured, and it's pretty 9 much our fault because we're making this 10 exception, although -- albeit religious. 11 SENATOR KUHL: Well, Senator 12 Stachowski, number one, I would be interested in 13 any statistics that you might have that you 14 could provide us that would suggest to us that 15 in this particular community these people are in 16 danger of having accidents that are going to 17 cause them significant or serious harm. I'm not 18 aware of that. 19 What I am seeing is the law that 20 we have passed in this house that actually 21 interferes with their existence, their belief, 22 their being, and they have not requested this 23 law. As a matter of fact, they have requested 6778 1 relief from this law. They don't want to -- and 2 they're not concerned about the safety in their 3 particular community. They don't have any 4 incidence of traffic accidents with bicycles 5 that, in fact, they're concerned about. 6 They're concerned about being 7 made criminals by the imposition of a state law 8 that puts them in a position where they can't 9 comply with their religious beliefs and their 10 religious doctrines, and there is no -- no 11 factual evidence or information that has been 12 brought to me by these people or anybody else 13 that would suggest, in fact, that there is a 14 safety hazard that needs to be dealt with. 15 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 16 President, if Senator Kuhl would yield? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 18 Senator Kuhl, do you continue to yield? 19 SENATOR KUHL: Be happy to. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 21 Senator yields. 22 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Not being a 23 medical expert or not being a safety expert, 6779 1 Senator, my question merely would be then that 2 since I do not have these statistics then, I 3 assume that since this is your position that 4 you're telling us that if these particular 5 people fall off their bike and their head snaps 6 into the ground, they probably won't be 7 injured. The bicycle helmet is designed so that 8 if your head snaps into the ground, the helmet 9 will protect the blow kind of like a football 10 player getting hit in the head and with the 11 helmet he's less likely to have severe injury 12 than without it, and I think it's a medical fact 13 that it's pretty easy for even a fall to cause 14 enough impact that your head hitting the ground, 15 even ground, not necessarily pavement, can cause 16 a substantial injury, and the only purpose for 17 the bicycle helmet was to try to alleviate the 18 risk of those kind of injuries and the medical 19 expenses and the pain and suffering that go 20 along with those kind of injuries and that's - 21 the only question I have is, I'm not saying that 22 this happens all the time there. 23 I'm just saying that we are now 6780 1 putting them in an exposure that we tried to 2 take young children out of, so my question is 3 you don't feel that if these people ever fall or 4 if they, in fact, do fall their heads don't get 5 injured by the blow of the ground. 6 SENATOR KUHL: Senator 7 Stachowski, the information that was given to me 8 by the people in this community is that they are 9 not concerned about the, quote/unquote, 10 potential safety factor that you perceive is a 11 problem. They don't have any -- and suggested 12 to me that they have no incidence of need that 13 the law requiring helmets really needs to be 14 addressed or dealt with in their community. 15 These people, for instance, if 16 you've ever dealt with the Amish or the 17 Mennonite communities, you know that these are 18 not people who go out and buy the most deluxe, 19 the fastest bicycles. As a matter of fact, if 20 you were to look at their bicycles, you would 21 have thought that they probably purchased them 22 about 70 years ago, and that they might go 5 or 23 6 or 7 miles an hour. It's just a mechanism by 6781 1 which they can move from one place to another. 2 These are not racing bicycles; they are not high 3 tech' bicycles. 4 These are not people that put 5 themselves at risk; yet, what we have done as a 6 government that seemingly knows all and wants to 7 protect all, is create a potential problem and 8 amazing difficulty for them. We have put them 9 in a situation where we have made criminals out 10 of them for complying with their religious 11 beliefs. I don't think that's right; they don't 12 think it's right, and they want some relief. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 14 Senator Stachowski. 15 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: On the 16 bill. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: On the 18 bill. 19 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: I'm not 20 going to vote against this bill. I'm going to 21 support the bill, but under Senator Kuhl's 22 explanation, then it would only be logical that 23 the motorcycle people will come in and say, you 6782 1 know, We don't feel in our circumstances that we 2 need to wear helmets because we're not worried 3 about getting injured. We're not concerned 4 about any injuries to our heads. We feel that 5 it's an infringement on our civil rights and our 6 personal rights as U. S. citizens, when the fact 7 is that there's medical documentation in that 8 area too that says that if you fall off a 9 motorcycle, this helmet may prevent some injury 10 from happening that might not have happened if 11 you wore the helmet. Not saying that you won't 12 be injured anyway, and the speed of the bike in 13 this case doesn't make any difference. 14 I'm going to bend to the 15 religious freedom on this one, but I must point 16 out it doesn't matter how fast you're going. If 17 you fall and your head hits the ground in a 18 certain position, you're hurt, and you're hurt 19 seriously, and I just feel bad that we're going 20 to put these people into that exposure, but I'm 21 going to support it since Senator Kuhl pretty 22 much assures us it's not going to happen. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 6783 1 Senator Paterson. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. I want to apologize for standing 4 while Senator Stachowski was talking. I didn't 5 mean to be confused with any other state 6 officials. 7 Would the distinguished Senator 8 yield for a question? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 10 Senator Kuhl, will you yield to a question? 11 Senator won't yield. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: The Senator - 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: The 14 Senator will yield. 15 SENATOR KUHL: The Senator was 16 being distracted momentarily, but the Senator 17 yields. 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 19 Senator. 20 Senator, there are a number of 21 regulations which we have in this state such as 22 seat belts, which I'm sure you and I would agree 23 we should all use but, for a period of time seat 6784 1 belts were made available and people just didn't 2 use them and then basically we had to regulate 3 the use of seat belts, and I would say that the 4 helmets are akin to that, and that anybody 5 riding a bicycle would seemingly be reasonable 6 to assume it would be a lot safer to wear the 7 helmets and then in the specific situation we 8 have had to regulate that. 9 So what I'm -- what I'm asking 10 you is, since there is a substantial number of 11 individuals who live in your district who are in 12 the Mennonite community, is there not a 13 possibility that those who don't want to wear 14 the helmets would then adorn the wear -- and 15 we're talking about children, so a lot of this 16 they might regard as somewhat callow, but at the 17 same point in time, it is a safety hazard that 18 they might adorn the religious wear to avoid 19 wearing the helmets, which everybody finds to be 20 somewhat uncomfortable? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 22 Senator Kuhl. 23 SENATOR KUHL: Well, Senator 6785 1 Paterson, I don't know whether you've ever 2 experienced meeting and talking with a Mennonite 3 community or an Amish community, but you -- if 4 you did, you would know that these people are 5 very conscious about their being, very careful 6 about what they do. They are not reliant upon 7 the government. They don't participate in 8 lawsuits. Many of them do not vote. In fact, 9 most of them do not vote. 10 If, in fact, they were to fall 11 off a bicycle or if, in fact, they were to fall 12 off a ladder or if, in fact, they were to fall 13 off a wagon which was being drawn by a horse, 14 you would find it highly unlikely that they 15 would go and look for any kind of government 16 compensation. They would, in fact, take care of 17 themselves, their own, by their own means. 18 So when you start to deal with 19 this issue and you start to deal with safety and 20 Senator Stachowski has indicated, well, fine. 21 If you just fall off a bicycle you're going to 22 get hurt. I would submit, well, if you just 23 fall down, you might get hurt, and I guess the 6786 1 corollary would be in this particular case where 2 there is no experience, no incidence, where 3 we're suggesting that there might be some safety 4 hazard that maybe we should require everybody, 5 those of you, you and I who walk around here, to 6 require us to wear a helmet because we might 7 fall down. 8 I think that's overkill. In this 9 particular case, what we have done, and that's 10 the reason for the bill, is the fact that we 11 have made outlaws out of these people. We have 12 said is to them, O.K., You cannot -- you cannot 13 continue your religious beliefs, and part of 14 that is dress; part of that is covering up, 15 O.K., "covering up" meaning that the women wear 16 bonnets, the men wear hats. I have never seen a 17 Mennonite without a hat; I have never seen a 18 Mennonite woman without a bonnet. That is part 19 of their religious belief, and so what we have 20 done is we either force them to be outlaws or 21 turn their back on their religion. 22 What this bill says, Fine, we 23 were interfering with you carrying out your 6787 1 religious beliefs. We don't want to do that, so 2 we'll give you a special exemption. Certainly 3 -- certainly these people, if they felt that 4 there was some safety problem could voluntarily 5 by themselves, wear a helmet, but what we have 6 done is we have told them they have to wear a 7 helmet and they have to do this or else they are 8 in violation of the law. So we have put them in 9 a position as most of us say between a hard - 10 between a rock and a hard place. We've put them 11 in an impossible position, and what this law 12 does is try to take us back and acknowledge the 13 fact that they have their beliefs, they have 14 their rights to practice their religion and, in 15 fact, they should be allowed to do that. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 17 Senator Paterson. 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 19 if the Senator would continue to yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 21 Senator, do you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR KUHL: I'll be happy to 23 yield. 6788 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 2 Senator continues to yield. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, 4 you've raised some interesting issues and some 5 compelling ones, and I think you have informed 6 many of us who don't -- have not had the 7 experience of meeting with the Mennonite 8 community and other elements of the Amish 9 community in the state. You've taught us a 10 great deal just from your remarks. But first of 11 all, I get the impression that you may feel that 12 the law itself is excessive, and I'm not going 13 to dispute it because, as Senator Stachowski was 14 unable to, I can't give you the statistics that 15 would -- that would validate that perhaps the 16 law itself needs to be changed. So if you would 17 try to understand the position that those of us 18 are in as we're examining your legislation and 19 would like to be of service to this community, 20 what I'm saying to you is, we feel that there is 21 a standard that has been set, that's uniform 22 around the state, and that what we have 23 happening is that there's now a loophole that 6789 1 doesn't speak to the conduct of the Mennonite 2 community but speaks to the conduct of just 3 children who don't want to wear the helmet, who 4 might be in any area but may be specifically in 5 an area where there is a large contingent of 6 religious group that wears a certain headwear 7 and decides, these younger people, that they 8 don't want to wear the helmet so they adorn the 9 headwear of the religious society and then 10 decide that they're going to ride around in it, 11 in a sense making a mockery out of the law, and 12 that was my question prior and, if you could 13 just give me your reflections on that, then I 14 have a suggestion to you which I think might 15 make it possible to -- for us to pass your bill 16 with a slight change. 17 SENATOR KUHL: Senator Paterson, 18 again let me take you back to an experience that 19 I have had with the Mennonite community, and I 20 mentioned it and - 21 SENATOR PATERSON: If I could 22 interrupt, Mr. President, for just a second. 23 What I wasn't talking about was how the 6790 1 Mennonite community, which seems to have an 2 extremely high standard of conduct and 3 responsibility - 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Excuse 5 me, Senator Paterson. I'm going to ask for 6 quiet again in the chamber. Can everyone take 7 their conversations outside. Let's listen to 8 the Senators. Excuse me, Senator Paterson. Go 9 right ahead. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, and 11 excuse me, Senator Kuhl, because I just wanted 12 to -- to focus on the question that I'm really 13 trying to get an answer is that the Mennonite 14 community apparently has an extremely high 15 standard of conduct and responsibility and is 16 basically independent, but what I'm asking you 17 is about the other neighborhoods where kids are 18 kids and when they see that somebody found a way 19 to get around wearing the helmet are going to 20 perhaps mimic it and in a sense reduce the 21 strength of the law. 22 SENATOR KUHL: Excuse me. 23 Senator, I understand what you're saying and 6791 1 that is certainly -- I guess, if somebody in 2 today's world said that wearing a baseball cap 3 is part of their religious tenet and, in fact, 4 that, because they had to wear their baseball 5 hat in reverse order as we see many of our kids 6 today that said they were supporting the Chicago 7 Bulls or whatever, and that was part of their 8 religious tenet, I think that anybody who was in 9 a position of adjudicating the actual citation 10 that was delivered to that child for not 11 complying, O.K., would in fact, I think, 12 understand that that isn't part of a religious 13 tenet. 14 But you, if you have, again, 15 dealt with a community like the Mennonite 16 community, you know that it is there in 17 writing. O.K. This is a long-established 18 factor. This is what they have done for years, 19 so for somebody to just say, Well, I am going to 20 wear this hat so that I won't have to wear a 21 helmet, I think would be a ridiculous way to 22 approach the issue, and I don't think that 23 anybody who was going to adjudicate the citation 6792 1 that was eventually delivered to these people 2 would, in fact, uphold that. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Excuse 4 me. 5 SENATOR KUHL: So I'm not as 6 concerned about somebody going around or trying 7 to work within this law. I think people 8 generally understand that if, in fact, you're 9 required by law to wear helmets, you do that 10 about if you are a part of a religious sect, 11 Amish, Mennonite, whatever it happens to be, 12 that requires you to wear a hat or a bonnet, 13 that in fact, you will be excused from wearing a 14 helmet. 15 As it is right now again, as I 16 mentioned, these people are not wearing helmets 17 and what we've done by adopting the law is make 18 criminals out of them. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Excuse 20 me Senator Kuhl, Senator Paterson. Senator 21 Lachman, why do you rise? 22 SENATOR LACHMAN: I would like to 23 ask some questions for purposes with some 6793 1 information - 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: First, 3 Senator Lachman. Senator -- Senator Paterson, 4 do you yield to Senator Lachman? 5 SENATOR PATERSON: By all means, 6 Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 8 Senator Lachman. 9 SENATOR LACHMAN: Thank you, 10 Senator Paterson. This is a very complex issue 11 and it's made more complex by the fact that you 12 have two positive givens here, and this 13 frequently happens in our society because the 14 First Amendment and religious liberty. 15 A similar though different case 16 occurred in the state of Wisconsin, Senator 17 Paterson and Senator Kuhl, in 1971. It was 18 called Yodl v. Wisconsin and the issue at hand 19 was should an exemption be made for the Amish 20 population of Wisconsin not to abide by the 21 compulsory education law of the state after the 22 eighth grade. That is, everyone else has to 23 attend high school, but because of the religious 6794 1 beliefs of the Amish, an exemption or an 2 exception was made for them by the state of 3 Wisconsin and unheld by the U. S. Supreme 4 Court. 5 Now, similar cases have been 6 cited by the federal courts in terms of blood 7 transfusions for Christian Scientists, et 8 cetera. This is a much more complex issue than 9 I realized when I looked at it. I thought it 10 referred to Orthodox Jews wearing skull caps. 11 Well, you can easily put a helmet on top of 12 that, but in terms of the Mennonite population, 13 because this is a hat, you cannot do that as 14 easily. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Excuse 16 me, Senator Lachman. Senator Paterson, why do 17 you rise? 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 19 if Senator Lachman would yield just for just one 20 second because that was exactly the point I was 21 -- wanted to make to Senator Kuhl, and I wanted 22 to ask if Senator Kuhl would yield to - 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Well, 6795 1 you don't have the floor, Senator Paterson. You 2 yielded the floor to Senator Lachman. Do you 3 have a question of Senator Lachman or, Senator 4 Lachman, would you yield back? 5 SENATOR LACHMAN: I would yield 6 back to my distinguished colleague from the 7 borough of Manhattan. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, and 9 I will yield back to Senator Lachman, because 10 his information is quite informative, but just 11 very quickly to Senator Kuhl, I was wondering if 12 you might consider laying this bill aside and 13 rewriting the bill specifically to address the 14 concerns of the Mennonite community in your 15 district because I think that would alleviate 16 some of the confusion that we're going to have 17 in other elements of the state where we have a 18 number of different religious organizations or 19 religious groups, the RasTifarians who wear 20 braids and wear the braids up in a hat, and it 21 could be very difficult to figure out who is or 22 who is not, and it wouldn't be the same as 23 wearing a Chicago Cubs hat. In other words, it 6796 1 would almost make it possible for large numbers 2 of young people to ignore our state law and, if 3 we're not going to change the state law itself, 4 if we do recognize the need for helmets in 5 bicycle riding safety, I was wondering if since 6 the situation in your case, as Senator Lachman 7 so appropriately pointed out, is so specific to 8 your district, if not we just write a law 9 specifically that would apply to them. 10 SENATOR LACHMAN: Well, Senator, 11 the - 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 13 Senator Paterson has asked Senator Kuhl a 14 question. 15 SENATOR KUHL: I would yield to 16 Senator Lackman for the answer to that. I think 17 he's perhaps more legally adept at answering 18 something like that. I'm not sure that we can 19 isolate one particular religious group. I think 20 we have to deal with the issue generally. I'm 21 not so sure that whether or not what Senator 22 Paterson is suggesting wouldn't be a violation 23 of constitutional rights, but perhaps Senator 6797 1 Lachman would like to address that issue and 2 answer Senator Paterson's question better than I 3 can. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: First, 5 address the Chair first. First, we have a list 6 of people who wish to speak. 7 SENATOR KUHL: Who is on first, 8 by the way, Mr. President? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: We 10 have a list of people who have asked to speak, 11 so what we're going to do is take up Senator 12 Lachman's answer to the question and then we 13 have Senator Dollinger who has asked to speak 14 and Senator Tully. 15 So Senator Lachman. 16 SENATOR LACHMAN: Senator Kuhl, I 17 believe -- think it would be feasible to do that 18 if we had Senator Lack and Senator Leichter, who 19 was the chair and -- and I believe the ranking 20 member of the Judiciary Committee look into 21 this. 22 In the Yodl v. Wisconsin case 23 there was a general principle for religious 6798 1 liberty opposed to the tyranny of the majority 2 which were one in the Federalist papers, and 3 then there was an exception made specifically 4 for the Amish population, and I think we could 5 do this perhaps in rewriting this legislation as 6 well; but it is a complex piece of legislation. 7 At the same time, I understand 8 the situation of the Mennonites and would bend 9 over backwards to give them their right as a 10 religious minority in our society which believes 11 in religious diversity, and many times those of 12 us who espouse the First Amendment forget that 13 the First Amendment mentions two things: One 14 that America should not have an establishment of 15 religion and, two, that there should be the free 16 exercise thereof, and in this sense I think we 17 are protecting the free exercise of the 18 religious right of Mennonites. 19 So I'd like to, with Senator 20 Paterson, and the -- perhaps the respective 21 judicial heads of our respective parties work 22 out this measure so that they would receive what 23 is coming to them as citizens of the United 6799 1 States and as Mennonites as well as protecting 2 their physical well-being. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 4 Senator Kuhl. 5 SENATOR KUHL: Yes, Mr. 6 President. With that understanding, why don't 7 -- because we are coming close to the end of 8 session, rather than take up time in debating 9 the issue and a serious question has been raised 10 and as long as Senator Lachman is supportive of 11 the concept of giving the Mennonite community, 12 and I assume Senator Paterson is too, relief, 13 then I have no problem with working with them in 14 an attempt to try to rewrite the bill so that it 15 meets exactly the needs of the Mennonite 16 community. 17 So why don't we lay the bill 18 aside until next week when we can revisit it if, 19 in fact, we can't work something out. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: If we 21 might just, Senator Kuhl -- Senator Dollinger, 22 did you wish to speak before we lay it aside? I 23 know they want - 6800 1 SENATOR TULLY: I suggest - 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 3 Senator Tully, why do you rise? 4 SENATOR TULLY: Mr. President, 5 would Senator Kuhl yield to a question? 6 SENATOR KUHL: I'd be happy to 7 yield. 8 SENATOR TULLY: Senator Kuhl, in 9 connection with your question, your statement 10 about the adjudication of this bill and its 11 intent ultimately, as we know when the court 12 seeks to determine what the legislative intent 13 of a bill is, the court looks at the bill jacket 14 which includes the bill, the memo, and any other 15 material that might be sent forward to the 16 Governor in connection with that bill. 17 Would it not be possible for you 18 to make a statement in your memo and in 19 forwarding the bill, assuming it were passed by 20 this house, a copy of the record in which you 21 clearly reflect that the bill is intended to 22 apply only to the Mennonite community? 23 SENATOR KUHL: I think we could 6801 1 probably do that, Senator. My thought was that 2 we may end up doing that next week if, in fact, 3 there is no better offer as far as language 4 goes. So what I'm willing to do is to accept 5 the input from Senator Lachman, Senator 6 Paterson, anybody else, Senator Dollinger, 7 anybody else who wants to offer some 8 constructive ways in which we can accomplish my 9 intended goal through this bill. 10 So I would like to, Mr. 11 President, lay the bill aside for the day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: The 13 bill is laid aside. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 15 President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 17 Senator Paterson, why do you rise? 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Before we - 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: The 20 bill has already been laid aside. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: On the lay 22 aside, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Pardon 6802 1 me? 2 SENATOR PATERSON: On the bill, 3 Mr. President. 4 If I might, having made the 5 suggestion to Senator Kuhl, I just wanted to 6 assure him that in addition to the First 7 Amendment right of religious expression, what I 8 thought that changed my mind actually from his 9 presentation was when he established not just 10 that there was a religious expression but the 11 fact that the individuals who are expressing it 12 have a specific kind of a culture in which they 13 don't really have that many incidents, in other 14 words he doesn't know of any cases where it 15 actually happens and he pointed out that the 16 bicycles that they use are somewhat antiquated, 17 that they don't even go very fast and they're in 18 an area where he doesn't think that there are 19 any injuries, so since the spirit of the law was 20 to establish the -- the bicycle safety and he 21 has demonstrated in this very specific instance 22 that there is no safety problem, I think that 23 the value of religious expression should be 6803 1 favored over the one of public safety and that a 2 specific exemption be made for this particular 3 group, not because necessarily it's just a 4 religious expression because, as Senator Lachman 5 pointed out, there are other groups but because 6 this group can establish that they don't 7 actually -- they don't run the risk of that 8 situation. 9 I think the bill would have to 10 be - 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Senator 12 Skelos, why do you rise? 13 SENATOR SKELOS: I don't want to 14 interrupt Senator Paterson, but I think that 15 bill has been laid aside. Perhaps we should 16 move on. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 18 Senator Skelos is correct, Senator Paterson. We 19 can move on. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Only because I 21 think when a bill is laid aside or we've 22 completed a vote, we should move on and not set 23 a precedent where we can get up and just speak 6804 1 on a bill that just passed or was laid aside and 2 move on to the next bill. It's a most eloquent 3 statement you're making, but I think we should 4 move ahead unless you want to debate laying 5 aside the bill. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: No, Mr. 7 President, but the last thing I wanted to hear 8 was Senator Skelos describing it as an eloquent 9 presentation. If he wanted me to sit down and 10 he's not interested in what I have to say, then 11 we will lay the bill aside and we'll go on to 12 the next bill. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1283, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 4804-A, 17 an act to amend the Town Law, in relation to 18 certain actions. 19 SENATOR LEICHTER: Explanation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 21 Explanation has been asked for by Senator 22 Leichter. Senator Maziarz. 23 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, Mr. 6805 1 President. 2 Mr. President, this bill would do 3 something that many of us in this chamber talk 4 about and that is give mandate relief to local 5 town governments. It repeals various sections 6 in the Town Law that require towns to seek 7 permission of the state Comptroller to expand or 8 create water, sewer and fire districts within 9 the town. 10 What often happens, Mr. President 11 and Senator, is that the town will spend a great 12 deal of time and a great deal of effort in 13 engineering and legal services and costs, get a 14 project in the "go" stage and they will be held 15 up for sometimes several months awaiting for 16 approval from the state Comptroller's office. 17 The Comptroller, of course, still 18 maintains his audit functions over all town 19 appropriations and local government 20 appropriations during the normal course of the 21 audit that the state Comptroller does. 22 I understand in my research of 23 this bill that the genesis of this law was in 6806 1 the post-depression era, when counties were 2 ultimately responsible for any debt incurred by 3 towns located within the county. Since that 4 provision was eliminated from the law many, many 5 years ago, seems like it is long overdue to also 6 strike this clause. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: I 8 neglected to say we have a statement of 9 financial impact. 10 Senator Leichter. 11 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Mr. 12 President. If Senator Maziarz will yield, 13 please. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 15 Senator Maziarz, will you yield to Senator 16 Leichter? Senator yields. 17 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, I 18 find some grounds and, as you explained, for the 19 bill. I understand it. What is the position of 20 the Comptroller on this bill? Have you checked 21 this bill with the Comptroller's office? Do you 22 have some comment from them? 23 SENATOR MAZIARZ: I have not 6807 1 received any memo in opposition. I have not 2 checked directly with the Comptroller himself. 3 I know when I requested expeditious handling of 4 some requests from the towns within my district, 5 and I've spoken to some counsels in the 6 Comptroller's office, they questioned me as to 7 why they have to do this anyway and what their 8 expertise is in the area of fire districts, 9 water and sewer districts to begin with, 10 Senator. 11 SENATOR LEICHTER: Would Senator 12 Maziarz - 13 SENATOR MAZIARZ: There is no 14 open memo in opposition from the Comptroller. 15 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Mr. 16 President, if Senator Maziarz will continue to 17 yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 19 Senator Maziarz, do you continue to yield? 20 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Surely, Mr. 21 President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 23 Senator yields. 6808 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: I don't see 2 any memo in opposition, but it just seems to me 3 we ought to ask the Comptroller what are the 4 reasons for doing this, what benefits are there 5 and he may very well agree with the bill, and 6 I'm going to ask you to lay it aside and just 7 check with the Comptroller. I'm going to urge 8 you to do it. If, for some reason, you can't 9 I'd be happy to do it, but I think we'd all feel 10 more comfortable knowing that the Comptroller's 11 office has, in fact, approved this bill. 12 I mean, as you and I know, 13 allotted of bills get put in, you don't always 14 get offices that are affected by bills 15 commenting on bills because they have no reason 16 to know that the bill is going to be moved, so 17 let's just check with him. If he says the 18 bill's a good bill, I'd be happy to vote for 19 it. If he says, it's not a good bill, let's see 20 what his reasons are. I may still vote for the 21 bill, but I think we ought to get his opinion on 22 it. 23 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Senator, I -- I 6809 1 do think, Senator, because the Comptroller is a 2 very competent individual, he has a very large 3 staff. And I'm sure that he knows what's going 4 on in this house of government and that, if he 5 was opposed to this bill, I think that he 6 probably would have issued a memorandum in 7 opposition. 8 SENATOR LEICHTER: If you'll 9 excuse me. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: 11 Senator Leichter. Senator Maziarz, will you 12 yield? 13 SENATOR LEICHTER: I'm advised by 14 counsel that they checked with the Comptroller's 15 office, and he said they had no objections to 16 the bill. I'd be very happy to vote for the 17 bill. 18 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 19 much, Senator Leichter. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 21 will read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 21. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 6810 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 52. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number - 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: There will be an 11 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in Room 12 332 of the Capitol. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Immediate 14 meeting of the Rules Committee, immediate 15 meeting of the Rules Committee in the Majority 16 Conference Room, Room 332. 17 Secretary will continue to call 18 the controversial calendar. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1284, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 4907-A, an 21 act to amend the Penal Law. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6811 1 Tully, an explanation has been asked for by 2 Senator Paterson. 3 SENATOR TULLY: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. 5 This is a significant piece of 6 legislation in the fight against crime. It's 7 legislation introduced at the request of the 8 Nassau County District Attorney's Office, 9 sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblyman 10 DiNapoli. 11 It does two things, Mr. 12 President, amends subdivision 2, Section 7025, 13 of the Penal Law in providing that when a 14 defendant receives separate sentences for 15 multiple homicides or multiple assaults 16 committed through a single act or omission, 17 these sentences must run consecutively and it 18 also amends subdivision 1 (e) of section 7030 of 19 the Penal Law, the sentence merger statute, and 20 removes the cap on sentencing for two or more 21 crimes other than a Class A felony. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 Abate. 6812 1 SENATOR ABATE: Would Senator 2 Tully yield to a couple questions? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Tully, do you yield for a question from Senator 5 Abate? 6 SENATOR TULLY: Yes, Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 yields. 10 SENATOR ABATE: Senator Tully, I 11 agree with you that there are some situations 12 that absolutely warrant consecutive sentences 13 and there's -- in your justification memo, you 14 cite a number of very egregious situations where 15 a person should be locked up as long as humanly 16 possible. 17 My concern is, Senator Tully, did 18 you consider substituting "may" to -- instead of 19 "must", "may", so a judge in his or her 20 discretion, when there is an egregious case or a 21 heinous case like the ones that are cited in the 22 justification memo, that judge would have the 23 authority to sentence a defendant to consecutive 6813 1 time, but if you have "may", you then leave the 2 authority to the judge in those less egregious 3 cases where there are mitigating circumstances, 4 the time might be concurrent? Did you give some 5 consideration instead of "must" that "may" would 6 have been substituted? 7 SENATOR TULLY: Yes, Mr. 8 President. Senator Abate, we did and in 9 reviewing it, we ascertained that appellate 10 review is available in the event there is a 11 situation where there might be an excessiveness 12 of sentence. 13 SENATOR ABATE: But then you, in 14 so doing, aren't you then substituting the power 15 of the judge to make a decision about what the 16 appropriate sentence is and taking that 17 authority away from the judge and saying, if 18 it's unjust, let the Appellate Division decide 19 it's unjust? 20 SENATOR TULLY: That's not 21 unusual, Senator Abate. As I know you are a 22 practitioner of criminal law, as I have been, 23 been a prosecutor and a defense attorney, and I 6814 1 have no problem with that. I think the public 2 is better served by virtue of the fact that 3 someone who is intent on committing a crime is 4 aware of the fact that there definitely will be 5 a consecutive sentencing situation if they 6 involve themselves in something like a multiple 7 offense such as the Happy Land Social Club or 8 the Long Island Rail Road massacre with Colin 9 Ferguson. 10 I think if they know beforehand 11 that they're going to face multiple consecutive 12 sentences they'll think about it a little more 13 and I think that's the reason the "must" is in 14 the statute. 15 SENATOR ABATE: You would -- Mr. 16 President, if Senator Tully would continue to 17 yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Tully, do you continue to yield? 20 SENATOR TULLY: I do. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 continues to yield. 23 SENATOR ABATE: I absolutely 6815 1 agree with you cases like the Happen Land arson 2 case, that defendant deserves an enormous amount 3 of time and there are other instances; but, 4 Senator Tully, can you conceive of a situation 5 where a judge, a first time offender, and when 6 you're talking about a violent felony that 7 includes burglaries, it includes lots of 8 different things. We're not just talking about 9 assaults, a series of assaults and murders; 10 we're talking about all violent felons. 11 Can you conceive of a situation 12 with a first time person maybe a concurrent 13 sentence would be sufficient? Someone's going to 14 prison and the judge determines and the district 15 attorney also determines a concurrent sentence 16 is appropriate? This law would not give the 17 ability for the D.A. and the judge in that 18 instance to plea bargain that matter in a 19 concurrent fashion. 20 SENATOR TULLY: Yes, Mr. 21 President. The D.A. always has the ability to 22 plea bargain. That's before sentence. This is 23 after sentence. This is when sentence is being 6816 1 made after a conviction. A district attorney, 2 at any time either prior to the case being tried 3 or during the course of trial prior to there 4 being a judgment, has the opportunity to plea 5 bargain; but I believe that when someone is 6 tried by his peers and is convicted of crimes of 7 this nature that the maximum punishment should 8 be exacted, and that's why the statute reads the 9 way it does. 10 SENATOR ABATE: Oh, then one 11 other question. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Tully, do you continue to yield? 14 SENATOR TULLY: I do, Mr. 15 President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 continues to yield. 18 SENATOR ABATE: This does not 19 just cover then -- this only covers convictions 20 as a result of a trial, not a conviction as a 21 result of a plea? 22 SENATOR TULLY: This deals with 23 sentences, Senator Abate, if you read it 6817 1 carefully. It deals with sentences. 2 SENATOR ABATE: So that means 3 that someone could take a plea prior to trial to 4 a number of counts and, as a result of that 5 plea, not necessarily a conviction after trial, 6 the sentence then would be a consecutive 7 sentence, it's not because of a conviction after 8 trial necessarily. 9 SENATOR TULLY: Yes, I mean for 10 those bleeding hearts who might sympathize with 11 someone like, for instance, Mr. Lent who is 12 coming in here from another state and he can 13 take a plea, yes, but in cases involving serious 14 crimes such as the ones here, multiple crimes 15 like the Westbury Diner incident, I don't think 16 there should be any sympathy. I don't think 17 there should be any room to bend or flex. I 18 think they should get the maximum and it should 19 be concurrent, and that's the purpose and 20 legislative intent of this bill. 21 SENATOR ABATE: Mr. President, on 22 the bill. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6818 1 Abate, on the bill. 2 SENATOR ABATE: I agree with you 3 that in very serious crimes there should be no 4 discretion and that we need to throw the book at 5 people, so to speak, and consecutive sentences 6 will be appropriate. 7 My concern is that a better bill 8 -- I will vote for this because on balance, I 9 think it will be utilized hopefully by the 10 district attorneys and judges in a responsible 11 manner, but I can conceive of a situation where 12 the law would be better crafted if the "must" 13 were substituted for "may", so to give 14 discretion to the judges in cases where they're 15 not heinous crimes, where they're not serious 16 assaults, serious arsons, serious homicides, 17 where it may be a first time offender, may have 18 committed a violent felony offense or maybe 19 burglary, and it would not warrant such a 20 sentence. 21 I'm hoping, even though I will 22 vote for this bill this year, if it does not 23 become law, there will be an opportunity for 6819 1 Senator Tully to look at certain amendments to 2 ensure that there can be fairness across the 3 board and that maybe we can isolate out those 4 very heinous cases that you're talking about - 5 the rape, the homicides, so that in fairness to 6 the court and not taking away too much authority 7 from the judge, we'll be producing better 8 justice. 9 I'll vote yes hoping that next 10 year this will become a better bill. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 12 will read the last section. 13 Oh, I'm sorry, Senator Waldon. 14 SENATOR WALDON: Mr. President, I 15 was going to ask Senator Tully a few questions 16 but, in her eminent way, Senator Abate covered 17 the questions I wished to ask, I'll merely speak 18 on the bill. 19 As all of you know, my colleagues 20 and Mr. President, I am absolutely opposed to 21 interfering with judicial discretion, and this 22 is another instance where the capable judge who 23 is sitting viewing the evidence of the trial and 6820 1 all of the dynamics related thereto will be - 2 will have taken away the opportunity to make the 3 most valid decision of the moment. 4 I think that's wrong. I think 5 that is not part of what we should be about as a 6 legislative body. I think there should be some 7 distinction between the power of the Legislature 8 and the power of the judge in regard to the 9 decisions made on the bench during the course of 10 the trial, related specifically and only to the 11 dynamics of the trial. 12 I, at this moment in my life, do 13 not wish to be a judge, so I'm not going to try 14 to superimpose my legislative capability and 15 inclinations on our judges. I think it's a 16 mistake to do so. I would encourage, however, 17 because on balance, as Senator Abate said, this 18 is the way to go with those who are guilty and 19 convicted, even if it's a plea bargaining 20 situation, of committing the most heinous 21 crimes. 22 And so I will support this, but I 23 do so reluctantly and I want the record to show 6821 1 that again this is an interference with judicial 2 discretion. It's a very, very thin sheet of ice 3 that we're skating upon when we did so. 4 Thank you, Mr. President and my 5 colleagues. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 7 will read the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 9 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 10 November. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1286, by Senator DiCarlo, Senate Print 5899, an 19 act authorizing the city of New York. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 21 a home rule message at the desk. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: An 6822 1 explanation has been asked for, Senator DiCarlo, 2 by Senator Paterson. 3 SENATOR DiCARLO: Yes, Mr. 4 President. 5 This authorizes the city of New 6 York to reconvey its interest in Block 3530, Lot 7 95 in Staten Island to Eleanor Salemo. Mrs. 8 Salemo is a widow with three children who lost a 9 job and couldn't pay the taxes on her property. 10 The City has no problem with having her pay the 11 back taxes and the penalty and to reconvey her 12 interest. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 14 will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6823 1 1287, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 6049, an act 2 to amend the State Administrative Procedure 3 Act. 4 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Rath, an explanation of Calendar Number 1287 has 7 been asked for by Senator Paterson. 8 SENATOR RATH: Senator Paterson, 9 the bill before you is a bill that has passed 10 the Senate in '92, '93 and '94 and it's a bill 11 that extends to local governments the same 12 courtesies, if you will, when rule-making occurs 13 that are extended to small businesses. 14 Right now, local governments do 15 not have an opportunity for input when they are 16 going to be impacted by rule-making. The bill 17 is supported by the New York State Association 18 of Counties, the County Legislators and 19 Supervisors Association, and what it does is, it 20 makes New York State a helpful partner with 21 local government when we are working with them 22 in rule-making and gives them an opportunity for 23 a flexibility that they haven't had before. 6824 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Paterson. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you. If 4 Senator Rath would yield for a question. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Rath, do you yield? 7 SENATOR RATH: Surely. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 yields. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, 11 actually, I laid this bill aside for Senator 12 Leichter. We are trying to locate him, but what 13 I am trying to do at this moment is conduct a 14 mind meld, so I can figure out what Senator 15 Leichter would have asked you, and the best I 16 can come up with is that since the local 17 government is part of the whole of the state 18 government as opposed to local businesses that 19 don't necessarily have that duty, would it not 20 be actually correct to leave it the way it is 21 and that the duty is on the local government to 22 understand what the government regulation is, 23 whereas with the business which is perceived to 6825 1 be out of government, we would be giving the 2 business an opportunity to participate in the 3 decision-making process? 4 SENATOR RATH: My understanding, 5 Senator Paterson, is that - 6 SENATOR PATERSON: You understand 7 that? 8 SENATOR RATH: Pardon me? 9 SENATOR PATERSON: You understand 10 what I said? 11 SENATOR RATH: Yes. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Oh, because I 13 didn't, so - 14 SENATOR RATH: I thought it was 15 brilliant actually. 16 My understanding of your point as 17 we've reviewed this legislation has been that, 18 when the state government is silent on issues 19 such as this or state law is silent on issues 20 such as this, the agencies that move forward and 21 develop rules for local government do not 22 consult them in advance and do not consider what 23 kinds of outreach would be necessary in order 6826 1 for them to have input into it, so that the kind 2 of flexibility that will offer them an 3 opportunity to function more efficiently, 4 effectively and economically is not there, and 5 this is what this would ensure. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Paterson. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you. On 9 the bill. I think Senator Rath is - 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Paterson, on the bill. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: I think 13 Senator Rath is correct. Even if there is a 14 distinction between the local government and the 15 small business or any business, the fact is that 16 notification would certainly give the local 17 government an opportunity to come in and provide 18 information that the agency might not be aware 19 of. So it's fine with me. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 21 will read the last section. 22 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Oh, I'm 6827 1 sorry, Senator Leichter. 2 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator Rath. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Rath, do you yield to a question from Senator 5 Leichter? 6 SENATOR RATH: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 Senator yields. 9 SENATOR LEICHTER: As I read this 10 bill, and I didn't have a chance to look into it 11 beforehand, but unlike the bill that we had 12 yesterday from Senator Wright in regard to the 13 economic impact of a proposed rule where there 14 could be delays that could be demanded by the 15 Commissioner of Labor or the Commissioner of 16 Economic Development, as I understand your bill 17 just requires that they pay attention to the 18 impact on local government and give 19 notification, is that correct? 20 SENATOR RATH: Right, Senator. 21 The New York State Association of Counties, in 22 their memorandum of support said, quote, "This 23 bill would help to put an end to the current 6828 1 practices of some state agencies of imposing in 2 determinate costs on local governments without 3 considering the impact of those additional 4 costs," and both the NYSAC and the County 5 Legislators and Supervisors Association have 6 sent memorandums in support, and as chairman of 7 Local Government, my -- my -- one of my very 8 greatest concerns is to be assured that local 9 governments can function as economically and as 10 efficiently as possible, and I think they have 11 been affected through the years by regulatory 12 impacts that could have been lessened and 13 mitigated had there been some discussion and 14 interaction before the fact rather than after 15 the fact. 16 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Mr. 17 President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Leichter. 20 SENATOR LEICHTER: Just briefly 21 on the bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 Leichter, on the bill. 6829 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: I have no 2 difficulty with the bill. Obviously as rules 3 are proposed, all aspects, all sectors, all 4 areas, all economic interests of the state that 5 could be impacted by the rule ought to be 6 considered. 7 I just think that we ought to be 8 careful that, as we try to make rule-making less 9 cumbersome, as we try to avoid delays that ensue 10 as a result of rule-making, that we don't make 11 it even more cumbersome and, very frankly, some 12 of the so-called clarification or simplification 13 of administrative procedures that I find coming 14 from the Majority seem to me to have just the 15 opposite effect, but I have no problem with this 16 particular bill. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 18 will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 20 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 6830 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1298, by Senator Present, Senate Print 6791-A, 6 an act to reopen the special retirement plan. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 8 Present, an explanation has been asked for on 9 Calendar Number 1298. 10 SENATOR PRESENT: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 This is at the request of the 13 city of Dunkirk. They have two police officers 14 who were, through no fault of their own, were 15 placed inadvertently in Section 375 (i) of the 16 retirement plan instead of section 384 (d) and 17 because of that initial error, both officers 18 were denied the opportunity to make a timely 19 election to 384 (e). This will correct that 20 error that was administered by the city of 21 Dunkirk, and the city of Dunkirk would like to 22 assist these two police officers in getting into 23 the right retirement system. 6831 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Leichter. 3 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 4 just on the bill. We - 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Leichter, on the bill. 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: We just passed 8 in the Rules Committee, there were -- was at 9 least one other bill which also dealt with a 10 re-opening of pensions and making eligibility in 11 pension plans available to the people who 12 allegedly had the opportunity and through no 13 fault of their own. 14 Some years ago, two or three 15 years ago, Senator Trunzo, after much urging and 16 I know something that was of concern to him, 17 passed a generic bill to try to take care of all 18 these cases and the bill finally passed. I 19 think Senator Trunzo, for many years, had urged 20 the passage of that bill and had difficulty 21 convincing the Assembly, but he finally 22 prevailed and we put this system in place and 23 for a couple years thereafter we weren't 6832 1 inundated with all of these bills opening up 2 pension plans. 3 For some reason they are all 4 coming back now, and what I suggested in the 5 Rules Committee, is that we -- we take a look at 6 the specific reason why in this particular 7 instance or those instances of the bills that we 8 were considering did the overall system that we 9 set up, which I think we gave the Comptroller 10 the authority to determine the validity of the 11 claim, why didn't that system work, because we 12 shouldn't be put in the position of trying to 13 pass in each of these cases, was it negligent, 14 wasn't it negligent, so what do we do, we just 15 pass all of these bills, ordinarily the Governor 16 vetoes them. It's really just a great waste of 17 time. 18 I'm not saying, Senator Present, 19 that there isn't a reason for your bill, and I'm 20 going to support it just because of my respect 21 for you, but I think that we need to pull back 22 and just take a look to see if, for whatever 23 reason, we're not trying to do an end run around 6833 1 the very system that Senator Trunzo finally 2 prevailed upon the Legislature to set up. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 4 will read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1304, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print Number 15 7104-A, an act in relation to authorizing the 16 county of Suffolk. 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 19 home rule message at the desk. Senator Johnson, 20 an explanation of Calendar Number 1304 has been 21 asked for by Senator Paterson. 22 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. President, 23 this bill would provide that the county of 6834 1 Suffolk can renew an existing lease on a piece 2 of land which they received as a gift some 30 3 years ago which has been dedicated as park land 4 though really never operated as a park. It is a 5 back part of a piece of property which the 6 existing lease which has been on it for that 7 period of time has been through a local 8 not-for-profit conservation/sportsmen group 9 which has been using that as buffer land 10 adjacent to their property so they can control 11 the access there, keep out the dumpers, and so 12 forth. 13 This property is used only for, 14 as I say, buffer purposes in connection with the 15 conservation programs and things of that 16 nature. The property is only used on occasion 17 by Boy Scouts camping out, for the conservation 18 officers hold a program -- conservation program 19 there every year, week end, and things like that 20 so it will essentially remain in the same 21 condition it is. 22 The reason this bill is before us 23 is because park land cannot be alienated without 6835 1 consent of the Legislature. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Last section. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 4 will read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1308, substituted earlier today, by the Assembly 15 Committee on Rules, Assembly Print 10,572-A, an 16 act to authorize the sale of real property. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Secretary 18 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. ) 6836 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1309, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7508, an 6 act to legalize, ratify and confirm certain 7 proceedings. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's a 9 home rule message at the desk. Secretary will 10 read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 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 54. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill 18 is passed. 19 Senator Seward? 20 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes. May we 21 please return to reports of standing 22 committees. I believe that there's a report of 23 the Rules Committee at the desk. 6837 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is 2 a report of the Rules Committee at the desk. 3 We'll return to the reports of standing 4 committees. I'll ask the Secretary to read the 5 report. 6 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 7 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 8 following bills: 9 Senate Print 701, by Senator 10 Padavan, an act to amend the Social Services 11 Law; 12 Senate Print 1019, by Senator 13 Johnson, an act to amend the Public Health Law, 14 in relation to approvals; 15 3092, by Senator Padavan, an 16 acted to amend the Social Services Law, in 17 relation to the exclusion; 18 3654-C, by Senator Bruno, an act 19 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 20 relation to authorizing; 21 3949, by Senator Volker, an act 22 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 23 to the fingerprinting; 6838 1 4004, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 2 to amend the Correction Law and the Executive 3 Law; 4 4231, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 5 act to amend the Public Health Law, in relation 6 to the establishment; 7 4518-A, by Senator Nozzolio, an 8 act to amend Executive Law, in relation to 9 preliminary; 10 4607, by Senator LaValle, an act 11 to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 12 prohibiting; 13 4800-A, by Senator DeFrancisco, 14 an act to amend the Navigation Law, in relation 15 to jurisdiction; 16 5136-A, by Senator Marchi, an act 17 to provide additional service credit; 18 5290-A, by Senator Spano, an act 19 to amend the Real Property Tax Law; 20 5299-A, by Senator Hoblock, an 21 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 22 relation to authorizing; 23 5807, by Senator Marchi, an act 6839 1 authorizing the city of New York to reconvey; 2 5898, by Senator Babbush, an act 3 authorizing the city of New York to reconvey its 4 interests; 5 5961-B, by Senator Skelos, an act 6 to amend Chapter 273 of the Laws of 1939; 7 6214-A, by Senator Marcellino, an 8 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 9 6342, by Senator Wright, an act 10 to amend the Tax Law, in relation to refunds; 11 6394-A, by Senator Marcellino, an 12 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 13 6476, by Senator Maltese, an act 14 to amend the Education Law, in relation to 15 student aid programs; 16 6576-A, by Senator Kuhl, an act 17 to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law and 18 the Tax Law; 19 6638-B, by Senator Marchi, an act 20 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 21 relation to distinctive license plates; 22 6731, by Senator Espada, an act 23 authorizing the city of New York to reconvey its 6840 1 interest; 2 6744, by Senator Stafford, an act 3 to amend the Tax Law, in relation to authorizing 4 the county of Washington; 5 6852, by Senator Alesi, an act to 6 amend the Social Services Law, the Tax Law and 7 the Agriculture and Markets Law; 8 6910, by Senator Alesi, an act to 9 amend the Real Property Tax Law, in relation to 10 permitting; 11 6937, by Senator Hoblock, an act 12 to amend the Transportation Law, in relation to 13 airport preservation; 14 7105, by Senator Skelos, an act 15 to amend the Penal Law and the Criminal 16 Procedure Law; 17 7120, by Senator Holland, an act 18 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to fixing 19 sentences; 20 7178, by Senator DiCarlo, an act 21 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 22 increasing the criminal penalties; 23 7245, by Senator Saland, an act 6841 1 to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 2 including; 3 7298-A, by Senator LaValle, an 4 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 5 creating a temporary task force; 6 7306-A, by Senator Skelos, an act 7 in relation to transfers of certain eligible 8 members; 9 7494, by Senator DiCarlo, an act 10 to amend the Public Authorities Law, in relation 11 to providing; 12 7545, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 13 to amend the Real Property Law; 14 7560, by Senator Rath, an act to 15 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 16 7571, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 17 act authorizing the extension of the Geddes Fire 18 Protection District; 19 7621, by Senator DiCarlo, an act 20 to amend Chapter 602 of the Laws of 1982; and 21 7639, by Senator Kuhl, an act to 22 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 23 All bills ordered directly for 6842 1 third reading. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Seward. 4 SENATOR SEWARD: Mr. President, I 5 move accept the report of the Rules Committee. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Motion is 7 to accept the report of the Rules Committee. 8 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 Opposed nay. 11 (There was no response. ) 12 The Rules report is accepted. 13 Senator Seward. 14 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes. Is there 15 any housekeeping at the desk. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is. 17 Senator DiCarlo. 18 SENATOR DiCARLO: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 On behalf of Senator Farley, 21 please remove the sponsor's star on Calendar 22 991, Senate 7374-A. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The star 6843 1 on Calendar Number 991 is removed at the request 2 of the sponsor. 3 Senator Holland. 4 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. President, 5 on page 27, I offer the following amendments to 6 Calendar Number 964, for Senator Velella, Senate 7 Bill Number 7099, and ask that the said bill 8 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 10 Amendments to Calendar Number 964 are received 11 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 12 the Third Reading Calendar. 13 Senator Holland. 14 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. President, 15 for Senator Rath, on page 53, I offer the 16 following amendments to Calendar Number 944, 17 Senate Print Number 7367-A and ask that the said 18 bill retain its place on the Third Reading 19 Calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 21 Amendments to Calendar Number 944 are received 22 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 23 the Third Reading Calendar. 6844 1 Senator Holland. 2 SENATOR HOLLAND: Also for 3 Senator Rath, on page 42, I offer the following 4 amendments to Calendar Number 1213, Senate Print 5 Number 6536, and ask that the said bill retain 6 its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 8 Amendments to Calendar Number 1213 are received 9 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 10 the Third Reading Calendar. 11 Senator Holland. 12 SENATOR HOLLAND: For Senator 13 Volker, on page 15, I offer the following 14 amendments to Calendar Number 615, Print Number 15 3580, and ask that the said bill retain its 16 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Amendments to Calendar 605 are received and 19 adopted. The bill will retain its place on the 20 Third Reading Calendar. 21 Senator Wright. 22 SENATOR WRIGHT: Mr. President, I 23 have a request that a sponsor's star be placed 6845 1 on my bill, Calendar Number 988, Senate Print 2 Number 2029-C. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Calendar 4 988 is starred at the request of the sponsor. 5 SENATOR SEWARD: Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Seward. 8 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes. There 9 being no further business, I move that we 10 adjourn until Monday, June 10, at 3:00 p.m., 11 intervening days being legislative days. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 13 objection, the Senate stands adjourned until 14 next Monday, June 10, at 3:00 p.m., intervening 15 days to be legislative days. 16 (Whereupon at 11:50 a.m., the 17 Senate adjourned.) 18 19 20 21 22 23