Tuesday, June 11, 1996

7169 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ALBANY, NEW YORK 9 June 11, 1996 10 10:00 a.m. 11 12 13 REGULAR SESSION 14 15 16 17 SENATOR JOHN A. DeFRANCISCO, Acting President 18 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 19 20 21 22 23 7170 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 I'd like to call the Senate to order. Would you 4 please join with me in the Pledge of Allegiance 5 to the Flag. 6 (The assemblage repeated the 7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 In the absence of clergy, could 9 we please have a moment of silent prayer. 10 (A moment of silence was 11 observed.) 12 Reading of the Journal. 13 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 14 Monday, June 10. The Senate met pursuant to 15 adjournment, Senator Kuhl in the Chair upon 16 designation of the Temporary President. The 17 prayer by the Reverend Jerry Arduini, Pastor, 18 Ossining Gospel Assembly, Ossining. The Journal 19 of Sunday, June 9, was read and approved. On 20 motion, the Senate adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 Hearing no objection, the Journal stands 23 approved as read. 7171 1 Presentations 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 Skelos, we have two 10 substitutions. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Please make the 12 substitutions. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: On page 22, 16 Senator Saland moves to discharge from the 17 Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 10538-B 18 and substitute it for the identical Third 19 Reading Calendar 858. 20 On page 47, Senator Farley moves 21 to discharge from the Committee on Rules, 22 Assembly Bill Number 9537 and substitute it for 23 identical Third Reading Calendar 1382. 7172 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 2 The substitutions are ordered. 3 Senator Skelos, are you ready for 4 the calendar? 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. If we 6 could take up the - 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 Excuse me. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Please recognize 10 Senator Libous. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Senator Libous. 13 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Mr. 14 President. 15 On behalf of Senator Levy, please 16 remove the sponsor's star from Calendar Number 17 108. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 The sponsor's star will be removed. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Take up the 21 non-controversial calendar. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 23 The Secretary will read. 7173 1 THE SECRETARY: On page 4, 2 Calendar Number 130, by Senator Trunzo, Senate 3 Print 3314-A, an act to amend the Real Property 4 Tax Law, in relation to exemption. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 10 Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 The bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 298, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 178, an act 17 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 18 relation to authorizing towns. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 20 Read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7174 1 Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 The bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 375, by Senator Cook, Senate Print 3153-A, an 8 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 9 creating a farm and business transportation 10 program. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 16 Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 20 The bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 422, by Member of the Assembly Lafayette, 23 Assembly Print 8807, an act to amend the 7175 1 Personal Property Law, in relation to the 2 exclusion of certain transactions. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 Read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 The bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 570, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 6301-A, an 15 act in relation to granting the Department of 16 Transportation. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7176 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 The bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 581, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 6197-A - 6 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 Lay the bill aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 740, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 6871-B, an 11 act to amend the Soil and Water Conservation 12 Districts Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 The bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7177 1 746, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 5358 - 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 Read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Excuse me. - 5 Senate Print 3558, an act to amend the Real 6 Property Tax Law, in relation to establishing 7 the dates. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 17 The bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 845, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 7341-A, an 20 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to the 21 power of the commissioner. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 23 Read the last section. 7178 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 The bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 862, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6775, an 11 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, 12 in relation to causes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect on the first day of 17 October. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 23 The bill is passed. 7179 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 991, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7374-A, an 3 act to amend the State Finance Law, in relation 4 to filing authorization. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 10 Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 The bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1039, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 6870-A, an 17 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 18 relation to the effectiveness. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 20 Read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7180 1 Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 The bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1088, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 575, an 8 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to the 9 administrative provisions. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Lay the bill aside. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1102, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6332-B, 15 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 16 relation to firearms. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7181 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 The bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1117, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5732-A, an 6 act to amend the Family Court Act, in relation 7 to proof of a neglected or abused child. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 10 Lay the bill aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1136, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 1696, an 13 act to amend the Transportation Law, in relation 14 to mandating that the commissioner. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 16 Read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 20 Call the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7182 1 The bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1137, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 1753, an 4 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 5 relation to eliminating the additional annual 6 service charge. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 9 Lay the bill aside. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1148, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 55... 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Star the bill at 13 the request of the sponsor. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 15 The bill is starred. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1153, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 6494-A, an 18 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 19 relation to aggravated unlicensed operation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 Read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect on the first day of 7183 1 November. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 The bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1181, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6114, an 10 act to amend the Public Authorities Law and the 11 Real Property Tax Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 Read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 17 Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 The bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1187, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 6801-A, an 7184 1 act to amend the Limited Liability Company Law. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 Read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 22. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 Call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 11 The bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1312, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 701 - 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 16 Lay the bill aside. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1314, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 3092 - 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 Lay the bill aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1318, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 7185 1 4231 - 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay that 3 aside. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 Lay the bill aside. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1320, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 8 Assembly Print 7839, an act to amend the 9 Executive Law. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Lay the bill aside. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1324, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 5299-A, 15 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 16 relation to authorizing. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 19 read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 23 Call the roll. 7186 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 34. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 The bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1333, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 6638-B, an 7 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 8 relation to distinctive license plates. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect on the first day of the 13 calendar month. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 15 Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 34. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 The bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1345, by Senator DiCarlo, Senate Print 7494, an 22 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 23 relation to providing. 7187 1 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 Lay the bill aside. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1361, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 2238-A, 6 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 7 relation to driver education. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 17 The bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1362, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 2278, an 20 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 21 excluding. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7188 1 Lay the bill aside. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1363, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 2586, an 4 act to amend Chapter 576 of the Laws of 1975. 5 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 Lay the bill aside. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1364, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 2743-A, 10 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 11 increasing the penalty. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 Read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect on the first day of 16 November. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 The bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7189 1 1365, by Senator DiCarlo, Senate Print 2835-C, 2 an act to amend the Civil Service Law and the 3 Civil Practice Law and Rules. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 9 Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 The bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1366, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 3538-A, 16 an act to amend the Soil and Water Conservation 17 Districts Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 Read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect April 1. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 23 Call the roll. 7190 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 The bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1367, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 3891, an 7 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 8 providing for eligibility. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 36, nays 1, 17 Senator Wright recorded in the negative. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 The bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35, nays 2, 21 Senators Saland and Wright recorded in the 22 negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7191 1 The bill is still passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1368, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 4160-B, an 4 authorizing the city of New York to release its 5 interest in certain real property. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 8 read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 16 The bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1369, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 4672-C, an 19 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law, 20 in relation to the leasing of state owned lands. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 Read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7192 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 The bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1370, by Senator Smith, Senate Print 5749, an 10 act authorizing the city of New York to reconvey 11 its interest in certain real property. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 14 read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 The bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7193 1 1371, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 5806, an 2 act authorizing the city of New York to reconvey 3 its interest in certain real property. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 6 read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 10 Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 The bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1372, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 5827, an 17 act authorizing the city of New York to reconvey 18 its interest in certain real property. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 20 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 21 read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 7194 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 2 Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 39. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 6 The bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1373, by Senator Present, Senate Print 5908, an 9 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 10 antique slot machines. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect on the first day of 15 November. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 17 Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 Excuse me. Lay the bill aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1374, by Senator Babbush, Senate Print 6058, an 7195 1 act authorizing the city of New York to reconvey 2 its interest in certain real property. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 5 read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 9 Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 The bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1375, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 16 6185-A - 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 Lay the bill aside. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1377, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 63 -- 6483, 22 an act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 23 the transfer of employer accounts. 7196 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 2 Read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect in 60 days. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 6 Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 10 The bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1378, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6540, an 13 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 14 the entry of arrest warrants. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 16 Read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 18 act shall take effect on the first day of 19 November. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 7197 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 2 The bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1379, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 6575, an 5 act to amend the Labor Law, the Tax Law and the 6 Administrative Code of the city of New York. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 16 The bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1381, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6618, an 19 act to amend the Correction Law, in relation to 20 the retaking of absconders. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 22 Read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7198 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 The bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1382, substituted earlier today by Member of the 10 Assembly Vitaliano, Assembly Print 9537, an act 11 to amend the Retirement and Social Security Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 Read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 17 Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 The bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1384, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7091, an 7199 1 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 2 relation to environmental facilities. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 Read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 The bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1385, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 7158, an 15 act authorizing the city of New York to reconvey 16 its interest in certain real property. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 There is a home rule message at the desk. 19 Please read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 23 Call the roll. 7200 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 The bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1386, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7194-A - 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Star the bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 9 The bill is starred. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1387, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 7242, an 12 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 13 relation to authorizing a permit. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 15 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 16 read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 20 Call the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7201 1 The bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1388, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 7248, an 4 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 5 disqualification. 6 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Lay it 7 aside. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 9 Lay the bill aside. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1389, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7303-A, an 12 act to amend the General Municipal Law and the 13 General Obligations Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 23 The bill is passed. 7202 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1390, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 3 7328-A - 4 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Lay it 5 aside. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 Lay the bill aside. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1392, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7376-B, an 10 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 11 relation to bell jar game regulations. 12 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Lay the bill 13 aside. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 15 Lay the bill aside. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1393, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 7423-A, an 18 act relating to permitting non-bargaining unit 19 salaried employees. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 Read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 7203 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 2 Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 6 The bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1394, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 7465, an 9 act authorizing the city of New York to reconvey 10 its interest in certain real property. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 13 read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 17 Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 45. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 The bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1395, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 7472-A, an 7204 1 act to amend the Town Law, in relation to 2 absentee ballots. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 Read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 45. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 The bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1396, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 7518, an 15 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 16 relation to establishing a residential parking 17 system. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 19 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 20 read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7205 1 Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 45. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 The bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1397, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 7535 - 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay the bill 9 aside for the day. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 11 Lay the bill aside for the day. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1398, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 7623, an 14 act authorizing the city of Albany. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 16 There's a home rule message at the desk. Please 17 read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 45. 7206 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 2 The bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1399, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 7631 - 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 6 the day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 8 Lay that bill aside for the day. 9 That completes the reading of the 10 non-controversial calendar. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Stand at ease 12 for a moment. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 14 The Senate will stand at ease. 15 (The Senate stood at ease.) 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 17 at this time if we could return to reports of 18 standing committees, I believe there's a report 19 of the Judiciary Committee. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 The Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 23 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 7207 1 following nominations: Judge, New York State 2 Court of Claims: Phyllis Skloot Bamberger of 3 New York City. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 Senator Lack. 6 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 7 President. 8 It's my privilege this morning to 9 rise to move the nomination of Phyllis Skloot 10 Bamberger as a judge of the New York State Court 11 of Claims. 12 Judge Bamberger is being 13 reconfirmed. She currently sits in New York 14 Supreme Court in Bronx County on criminal 15 cases. She is and was attorney in charge of the 16 federal defender service for the Legal Aid 17 Society from 1972 to 1988, associate attorney in 18 charge of the Legal Aid Society of the Criminal 19 Appeals Bureau from 1967 to 1972 and before that 20 was an associate attorney in the Legal Aid 21 Society. She's very well known within the New 22 York City legal community for her good and 23 scholarly work with respect to criminal matters 7208 1 that are in New York Supreme county, and it is 2 my privilege at this time to yield to Senator 3 Goodman. 4 Senator Goodman, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 6 Senator Goodman. 7 SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President, 8 it is always a particular privilege to be able, 9 Mr. President, to rise in support of names of 10 distinguished jurists who are coming before this 11 body for approval and in this case, my pleasure 12 is to speak to the merits of Phyllis Skloot 13 Bamberger. 14 The judge's record is very 15 extensive and she is noted as a true 16 intellectual of the court with enormous 17 jurisprudential scholarship and capacity. 18 She has had a distinguished 19 record starting in 1980 -- 1963 to '67, during 20 which time she was an associate attorney with 21 the Legal Aid Society and the Criminal Appeals 22 Bureau. 23 From 1967 to '72, she was an 7209 1 associate attorney in charge of the Legal Aid 2 Society Criminal Appeals Bureau in charge of 3 federal -- the federal appeals office. 4 From 1972 to 1988, she was the 5 attorney in charge of the Federal Defender 6 Services Unit of the Legal Aid Society, and in 7 1988 she became a judge of the New York State 8 Court of Claims designated to sit in the New 9 York Supreme Court of Bronx County. 10 Her professional and civic 11 activities are extensive and time does not 12 permit me to give you the full catalog of these, 13 but she has been involved with the Office of 14 Court Administration, Committee on Alternatives 15 to Incarceration and she chairs the Subcommittee 16 on Access to Information. She is also an OCA 17 advisory committee member on criminal law to the 18 chief administrative judge. She also serves in 19 the Bronx Supreme Court anti-discrimination 20 panel and a variety of other highly responsible 21 positions with the Office of Court 22 Administration. 23 Mr. President, it is very 7210 1 reassuring to know that a person of this quality 2 will be sitting on this bench and to say that we 3 are very pleased, indeed, to have the 4 opportunity for this body to give her what I 5 trust will be its unanimous approval. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 Senator Abate. 8 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. I too rise 9 in support of this reappointment. 10 Judge Bamberger deserves the 11 excellent reputation that she's earned over the 12 years. As I described her in the Judiciary 13 Committee, she really is a judge's judge. She's 14 a student of the law and a student of the 15 criminal justice system. Not only is she fair 16 on the bench, but she does everything she can 17 when she's not on the bench, whether it's 18 through Bar Association committees or the chief 19 judge's committees, to look to see how the court 20 can improve its delivery of justice, whether 21 it's improving information systems or whether 22 it's just improving the information that's 23 available to the judge so they can make informed 7211 1 decisions. 2 I've had the opportunity over the 3 course of a decade to work with Judge 4 Bamberger. She's a delight. She's informed. 5 She's intelligent. She's fair. She has all the 6 qualities that we need in terms of what I think 7 is an extraordinary addition to the bench. 8 I hope my colleagues will join 9 with me. She has a wonderful, extraordinary 10 record and we're lucky to have her for another 11 ten years. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 Senator Dollinger. 14 SENATOR DOLLINGER: It's Judge 15 Bamberger we're doing, Judge Bamberger? 16 Mr. President, I just rise to 17 reiterate a point that I made in the Judiciary 18 Committee, and I have to admit that I was 19 extremely gratified to hear Judge Bamberger's 20 answer to a question that I posed about the 21 dispute about judges that has occurred in this 22 state and frankly in this nation in the last six 23 months when judges who have been called on to 7212 1 make decisions have been criticized for them at 2 length by other public officials. 3 I've said before in this chamber 4 that judges are not above criticism, that they 5 deserve in the marketplace of ideas to be a part 6 of our process, that criticism, fair criticism 7 of a judge at times can be appropriate, but at 8 the same time, I'm very concerned that criticism 9 of the judiciary could be interpreted by the 10 judiciary as sending them a message that we want 11 them to change the delivery of justice and the 12 fairness that this state and this nation have 13 long held in a revered place, and I was pleased 14 when I asked Judge Bamberger whether this 15 controversy, these criticisms, these comments 16 had affected her or whether they had affected 17 other members of the judiciary. She said that, 18 although it livened the coffee table 19 conversation among the judiciary, it was not and 20 would not impact their delivery of justice. 21 I believe that's an important 22 message that we send to the people of this 23 state, that the judiciary sends to all the 7213 1 people in this state, that although there may be 2 controversy and debate, our system of justice 3 and fairness in applying the Constitution that 4 we all hold in a high place and the laws that we 5 pass for the good of the public will be fairly 6 and evenly administered in our courts and that 7 judges will continue to do what they believe is 8 the right thing. I guess the whole term "judge" 9 means someone who's called upon to apply law and 10 facts and come up with an equitable and fair 11 result. 12 I'm glad that the judiciary is 13 thinking that way. I'm glad that Judge 14 Bamberger is thinking that way, and I'm pleased 15 that all of these nominees today will continue 16 to deliver the high quality of justice that New 17 York has always been known for. 18 So I congratulate Judge Bamberger 19 and the rest of the members who are being 20 nominated today. They are high quality. They 21 will give Judge Mega tools to continue to 22 provide a high quality justice in this state. 23 I will be voting in the 7214 1 affirmative, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 The question is on the nomination of Phyllis 4 Skloot Bamberger to be a judge of the New York 5 State Court of Claims. All those in favor 6 signify by saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye".) 8 Opposed, nay. 9 (There was no response.) 10 Phyllis Skloot Bamberger is 11 hereby confirmed as a judge of the New York 12 State Court of Claims. 13 Judge Bamberger is here with her 14 husband, Michael Bamberger. We welcome both of 15 you to the chambers and we congratulate you on 16 your confirmation, and on behalf of Senator 17 Bruno and all the members of the state Senate, 18 we thank you for serving and are appreciative of 19 all your prior service and your continued 20 service. Thank you. 21 (Applause) 22 The Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 7215 1 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 2 following nomination: Judge of the New York 3 State Court of Claims: Antonio I. Brandveen of 4 New York City. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 6 Senator Lack. 7 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 8 President. 9 It's my pleasure once again to 10 rise to move the nomination of Judge Antonio 11 Brandveen of New York City who appeared earlier 12 today before the Judiciary Committee, was found 13 eminently satisfactory in all respects, 14 unanimously confirmed by the Committee and moved 15 to the floor. 16 I'm going to yield once again to 17 Senator Goodman, but before I do, since I come 18 from the town of Huntington and Judge Brandveen 19 is a part-time professor at Touro Law School 20 whose advisory board I sit on, I'm particularly 21 pleased to be able to rise today to join in his 22 confirmation and move his nomination, but I will 23 yield to Senator Goodman from New York City. 7216 1 Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 3 Senator Goodman. 4 SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President, 5 I'm delighted to speak on behalf of Justice 6 Antonio I. Brandveen whose experiences really 7 mirrors the remarkable qualities that New York 8 can make available to its citizens when they are 9 diligent and conscientious in the pursuit of 10 their profession. 11 First of all, I take special note 12 of the fact that Judge Brandveen has not always 13 spent his time on the law track. Indeed, he 14 received his B.S. in 1969 from Fordham 15 University and the School of Business 16 Administration, and as one who is not a lawyer 17 and indeed has come up through the ranks of 18 business administration, that's a special 19 delight to take note of, but above and beyond 20 that, he was a graduate of the New York 21 University School of Law in 1972, the National 22 Institute of Trial Advocacy from which he 23 graduated in 1976. 7217 1 In his judicial experience, which 2 is quite extensive, he served as a judge in the 3 New York City housing part of the Civil Court 4 from 1980 to '85, a court which requires 5 considerable strength of character and 6 willingness to intercede in all sorts of tenant/ 7 landlord disputes and went on in 1986 and '87 to 8 be a judge of the New York City Civil Court and 9 Criminal Court. 10 Judge Brandveen has been a 11 justice of the New York State Court of Claims 12 from 1987 to the present and he is also a 13 scholar and teaches as an adjunct law professor 14 at the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center at Touro 15 College as noted by my colleague, Senator Lack. 16 In addition, he was an adjunct law professor in 17 the spring of 1991 at Touro College in legal 18 methods at the same center. 19 Mr. President, this is a highly 20 respected justice. He has substantial roots in 21 the Harlem community and has had a very signif 22 icant service to that community, serving in the 23 Central Harlem Senior Citizens Coalition. He 7218 1 was a past member of its board of directors, the 2 Harlem Legal Services, Incorporated and a 3 variety of other very important and noteworthy 4 ventures in that community and also as an 5 individual who has had military service. From 6 1969 to 1972, he served in the United States Air 7 Force as a first lieutenant. With this excep 8 tional and diversified record, it's a pleasure 9 to second his nomination. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 11 Senator Paterson. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. 14 As usual, Senator Goodman has 15 given us a fair perusal of the educational ex 16 perience and the legal credentials, the admis 17 sions, the professional experience and the 18 teaching experience, the public service and the 19 military service that Judge Brandveen brings to 20 this nomination. 21 I just wanted to speak from 22 personal experience knowing him and also he is 23 the second greatest legal mind in his family. 7219 1 His wife, Fern Fisher Brandveen, is the one who 2 is really the great jurist, but I would say that 3 in his own right, he is distinct and the fact 4 that he can do so well in the shadow of such 5 another great legal scholar is a real test of 6 his ability, but personally, there is no one who 7 is more affable, no one who is more concerned, 8 no one who is more thorough in his delibera 9 tions, and I can't think of really the words to 10 describe the type of human being that Judge 11 Antonio Brandveen has been, and I think it is 12 wonderful that Senator Lack and Senator Goodman 13 -- Senator Waldon wants to say something. 14 There are many who aren't here who -- whose 15 feelings we are reflecting as we confirm him and 16 also confirm him with adulation. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 Senator Waldon. 19 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 20 much, Mr. President. 21 It is good to see someone from 22 the 'hood do extremely well. 23 Tony and I met many, many years 7220 1 ago and his reputation precedes him as charact 2 erized by both, while I was in the chambers, 3 Senator Goodman and Senator Paterson, but it is 4 nice to know someone that you studied for the 5 bar with, that you had some pain and suffering 6 collectively with because the bar exam and the 7 whole law school experience sometimes can be 8 very, very painful, but he is a brother who did 9 it all. He not only rose above those bumps in 10 the road that were the examinations in law 11 school and the post-law school experience, but 12 has now made his mark on the judiciary, and for 13 some of us who practice law, that is the highest 14 calling. 15 I applaud what he has done, but 16 more importantly, I applaud what he will 17 continue to do and will do in the future. 18 This man will make his mark on 19 the bench and will be an example for the rest of 20 us who may one day wish to aspire to follow in 21 his shoes. 22 I applaud you. I applaud your 23 family. I'm told, Tony, that your father is 7221 1 here, and it must be a great day for him to see 2 you achieve so much while he's here still to 3 experience it with you. Congratulations. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 5 Senator Mendez. 6 SENATOR MENDEZ: Mr. President - 7 Mr. President, I really want to congratulate 8 Governor Pataki for submitting to this body the 9 names of highly qualified individuals for our 10 judicial -- to serve in our judicial branch of 11 government. 12 I happen to know judge Antonio 13 Brandveen for some years, and I have always been 14 impressed because, although I know that he has a 15 very incisive mind, although we all know that he 16 has the right judicial temperament -- the right 17 temperament to serve in the -- in the justice 18 system, yet he's a very -- a very wonderful, 19 decent human being who relates to everybody in a 20 -- from a human point of view and doesn't allow 21 statues to interfere in his relationship with 22 others. 23 I have great affection and 7222 1 respect for the judge. I am most pleased that 2 he is being reappointed. So, again, I 3 congratulate the Governor for his 4 reappointment. 5 Thank you, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 Senator Oppenheimer. 8 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Actually, I 9 came into the chamber a few minutes late, and I 10 would just like to take one minute, if I may, to 11 say a few words about Judge Phyllis Bamberger. 12 She is a woman of extraordinary 13 intellect and a genuinely thoughtful person who, 14 on the bench, has shown what is her nature to be 15 empathetic and to be caring, and she has been a 16 brilliant judge, and I'm just very proud to be 17 her friend of 38 years, and I congratulate the 18 Governor and all of us on this reappointment. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 21 The question is on the nomination of Antonio I. 22 Brandveen to be a judge on the New York State 23 Court of Claims. All those in favor signify by 7223 1 saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye".) 3 Opposed, nay. 4 (There was no response.) 5 Antonio I. Brandveen is hereby 6 confirmed as a judge of the New York State Court 7 of Claims, and I welcome Judge Brandveen, along 8 with his wife, Justice Fern Fisher Brandveen, 9 who we've learned is the preeminent judge in the 10 family; his parents, Antonius and Louisa 11 Brandveen, the court attorney, Ronald C. Travis 12 and senior secretary Edward M. Ortas. 13 We congratulate you for your 14 appointment and we thank you for your service to 15 the state of New York. 16 (Applause) 17 The Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 19 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 20 following nomination: Judge of the New York 21 State Court of Claims: Robert J. Hanophy of 22 Flushing. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7224 1 Senator Lack. 2 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. 4 Once again, I rise to move the 5 nomination of Robert J. Hanophy of Flushing for 6 reconfirmation to the Court of Claims. 7 Judge Hanophy appeared before the 8 Committee this morning, was unanimously endorsed 9 and the nomination was moved to the floor, and 10 it's my privilege to yield to Senator Maltese. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Senator Maltese. 13 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 14 I've had the honor of being a good friend of the 15 distinguished jurist, Bob Hanophy, for some 30 16 years. I congratulate the Governor and our 17 former colleague who has -- who is with us, 18 Chris Mega, on the selection of Judge Hanophy. 19 I sat in on the hearings before 20 the Judiciary Committee and do not recollect a 21 more distinguished group of judicial nominees 22 for the Court of Claims. 23 The cases that Judge Hanophy has 7225 1 handled over the last ten years are the most 2 difficult homicide cases. They are the most 3 agonizing to deal with and extremely complex. 4 Despite that, Judge Hanophy has repeatedly 5 conducted himself with great distinction, has 6 received the approbation of many groups, rating 7 groups, always rated as among the top ten 8 judges. He has received awards from victims 9 rights groups. He works very, very well with 10 court officers, court personnel and lawyers, 11 both defense and prosecution. 12 The reputation he's achieved is 13 -- goes beyond our state borders. This has led 14 the Court of Claims to appoint him to supervise 15 the assignment and -- of the homicide cases in 16 Queens and as a result, Queens County has one of 17 the most enviable records of any urban county 18 probably in the nation. Hundreds of cases have 19 moved with fairness and at the same time been 20 handled individually with due regard for the 21 severity of the charges -- the charge of 22 homicide. 23 The combination of experience and 7226 1 diligence and background that Judge Hanophy 2 brings to these cases make him certainly a per 3 son most commendable and worthy of renomination 4 to the Court of Claims. 5 I congratulate Judge Hanophy, not 6 only for his distinction on the bench but for 7 his application of not only education and back 8 ground but good, old-fashioned common sense. 9 I congratulate him, his wife 10 Chris. He also has the privilege and honor of 11 having two children follow in his footsteps, 12 Bob, Jr. and his daughter who are both assistant 13 district attorneys in Queens County. 14 I am honored to move the 15 nomination of Judge Robert Hanophy. 16 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 Senator Gold. 19 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President, 20 let's be fair. When Senator Maltese, a 21 dedicated conservative Republican says that 22 Governor Pataki sends us fine judges, you know, 23 we expect that, but what is I hope as 7227 1 significant is that Senator Dollinger and 2 Senator Leichter and Senator Abate and myself, 3 who are not exactly dedicated conservative 4 Republicans have on prior occasions and today 5 again say that we are delighted that the 6 Governor has really taken his judicial 7 appointments beyond politics, and I mean that 8 from the point of view of his initial 9 appointments have been wonderful and for some of 10 the appointments which are reappointments of the 11 Cuomo administration, and it is just really a 12 good feeling. The judiciary, particularly in 13 this day and age, needs a certain amount of 14 independence and I think the Governor, while 15 some of his press statements have not thrilled 16 me, with his appointments he certainly has shown 17 that. 18 In that regard, as I pointed out 19 in the Committee, we are elected, every two 20 years as the Assembly and the Congress, and 21 we're used to getting our brains beaten out by 22 the press, but we appoint or elect judges for 23 much longer periods of time hoping that there 7228 1 will be a certain amount of independence, and in 2 that regard, Judge Bamberger's responses that 3 judges have been changing their luncheon talk 4 but don't worry about it, they're doing great in 5 the courtrooms was encouraging. 6 I asked Judge Juviler about the 7 sentencing process and the plea bargaining 8 process and off the record he said to me, 9 "Look", he says, "that goes with the territory 10 and you got to be tough" and those are 11 encouraging answers, but we still are only 12 people, and I am glad that the Governor is 13 sending us people who have a sense of personal 14 strength and who in the courtroom can forget 15 about the press and stick with the law. 16 In this regard, this particular 17 nominee, Judge Hanophy, has the good luck and - 18 I don't want to give him a kind of hurrah as we 19 say, but he's done pretty good with the press 20 and rightfully so. 21 An extremely hard-working judge, 22 an extremely fair judge and someone who I can 23 tell you has the respect of his presiding judge, 7229 1 Judge Lehner and the other members of the bench 2 in Queens County, and I'm delighted that the 3 Governor has continued this fine gentleman on 4 the bench. He is a credit to the bench and it 5 certainly is a feather in the Governor's cap. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 Senator Padavan. 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 I think Senator Maltese and 11 Senator Gold gave you a very good picture of the 12 nominee, Judge Hanophy. 13 I've known Judge Hanophy for 14 about 25 years, and over that period of time, I 15 think it's fair to say that he reached the 16 judiciary the old-fashioned way, hard work and 17 dedication to the law, and has demonstrated the 18 wisdom of his original appointment as you've 19 heard here already by virtue of a career and a 20 level of expertise that is, in many instances, 21 unparalleled in the city of New York. 22 He's a very fine person. One of 23 his greatest assets is his wife who has a 7230 1 beautiful backhand on the tennis court, which is 2 -- not much that I can say for Judge Hanophy, 3 but nevertheless, I'm proud to stand here and 4 second the nomination on behalf of my 5 constituent and friend, Judge Hanophy. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 The question is on the nomination of Robert J. 8 Hanophy to be a judge on the New York State 9 Court of Claims. All those in favor signify by 10 saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye".) 12 Opposed, nay. 13 (There was no response.) 14 Judge Robert J. Hanophy is hereby 15 confirmed as a judge of the New York State Court 16 of Claims. 17 (Applause) 18 Judge Hanophy, on behalf of 19 Senator Bruno and the entire Senate, I want to 20 congratulate you on your past work and all the 21 fine work that you're going to do in the future. 22 Thank you. 23 The Secretary will read. 7231 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 2 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 3 following nomination: Judge of the New York 4 State Court of Claims: Michael R. Juviler of 5 Douglaston. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 7 Senator Lack. 8 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 Once again, I rise to move the 11 nomination of Michael R. Juviler as a judge of 12 the New York State Court of Claims. His 13 credentials have been examined, found eminently 14 satisfactory by the Committee. Judge Juviler 15 appeared before the Committee this morning and 16 was unanimously confirmed and the nomination 17 moved to the floor and with -- at this point, 18 I'd just like to yield to Senator Padavan. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 20 Senator Padavan. 21 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 23 We have an abundance of riches 7232 1 here today, certainly in my case to have the 2 opportunity to speak on behalf of another fine 3 individual whom I've known for over two decades 4 and to talk a little bit about his background. 5 After graduating from Yale Law 6 School, he joined the district attorney's office 7 in Manhattan under Frank Hogan. For those of 8 you in law I'm sure know that that was a 9 crucible unparalleled probably in any county at 10 any point in time, and he was there for 14 11 years. Distinguished himself in so many 12 different ways in arguing cases, in frequently 13 arguing before the New York State Court of 14 Appeals on behalf of D.A. Frank Hogan. 15 He was of immense assistance to 16 this legislative body as counsel to the New York 17 State Office of Court Administration under 18 Administrative Judge Richard Bartlett, who I'm 19 sure many of you remember. He also had an 20 opportunity to advise the -- one of your 21 predecessors, chairman of Judiciary, Senator 22 Gordon, on a number of very significant issues. 23 As a judge of the Criminal Court 7233 1 which he served from 1979 to '82, he drafted a 2 piece of work that was of particular interest to 3 me at that time as chairman of the Senate 4 Committee on Mental Health, dealing with the 5 Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1980, which we 6 adopted. 7 His writings and his research and 8 development of law in that very, very difficult 9 and very tricky area was written about, 10 applauded, discussed throughout the state, if 11 not throughout the country. 12 As an acting Supreme Court 13 justice from '82 to '86, he again distinguished 14 himself and from '86 to present, he has, of 15 course, served in Supreme Court, Kings County, 16 assigned to the criminal term. 17 And so we're here today on his 18 reappointment, and I have spoken to his 19 professional credentials, but let me say in 20 addition to that, he's a fine person, a very 21 active member of his community, a good father, a 22 good husband, very interested in what goes on in 23 this state, not only where he lives but on a 7234 1 very -- on a very broad and all encompassing 2 basis. 3 So it's my honor to second his 4 nomination and to congratulate him and all of 5 the nominees. I think we again have a -- as has 6 been said here several times, a marvelous day in 7 terms of the quality of those who are being 8 submitted to us for reappointment to the New 9 York State Court of Claims. 10 Thank you, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 12 Senator Leichter. 13 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes. Mr. 14 President, Senator Padavan gave a very full 15 background of really a very distinguished judge, 16 but he left out -- and I want to correct -- you 17 failed to mention that his college was 18 Swarthmore College, and he and I shared the same 19 alma mater, but what I really wanted to get up 20 and say is I had the opportunity as the ranking 21 member of the Judiciary Committee to sit and 22 hear all of these nominees who are up for 23 reappointment come before us, and I was struck 7235 1 by the uniform excellence of the people that 2 we're confirming, and last week we confirmed 3 some new appointees, new judges, and again, I 4 think the members of both sides of the aisle got 5 up and said really what fine people, what fine 6 additions these were to the judiciary. 7 The point I want to make is that 8 there have been just too many instances, it 9 seems to me, where the judiciary has been 10 attacked and where all judges have been maligned 11 and where the public is given the impression 12 that there's incompetent, ineffective, uncaring 13 judges on the bench, and that just isn't true, 14 and when you take a look at these judges -- and 15 somebody like Judge Juviler, with his extensive 16 background, who's dedicated himself to law 17 enforcement, to a good, sound criminal justice 18 system, I think that we maybe should really 19 pause and those who have been leading these 20 attacks on the judiciary really ought to stop 21 and think for a moment what they're doing 22 because they're really weakening the regard that 23 people have for the judiciary, for law 7236 1 enforcement. They're putting judges under 2 intolerable pressure, judges who cannot defend 3 themselves. 4 Yes, certainly no one in our 5 government, in our society is above criticism, 6 but I think there's such things as fair 7 criticism. There's also pandering, and I'm 8 afraid that what we've seen is pandering. 9 So as we confirm these people, I 10 think that we also ought to, in every way that 11 we can, let the public know what exceptionally 12 fine people we have in the judiciary of the 13 state of New York and certainly this nominee is 14 an example of that. 15 I'm very pleased to second his 16 nomination. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 18 The question is on the nomination of Michael R. 19 Juviler to be a judge on the New York State 20 Court of Claims. All those in favor signify by 21 saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye".) 23 Opposed, nay. 7237 1 (There was no response.) 2 Judge Juviler is hereby confirmed 3 as a judge of the New York State Court of 4 Claims. Congratulations. 5 (Applause) 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 8 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 9 following nomination: Judge of the New York 10 State Court of Claims: Gabriel S. Kohn of 11 Searingtown. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 13 Senator Lack. 14 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 Once again, I rise to move the 17 nomination of Gabriel S. Kohn for reconfirmation 18 as a judge of the Court of Claims. Judge Kohn 19 has appeared before the Committee, was 20 unanimously confirmed to move the nomination to 21 the floor and as another adjunct professor at 22 Touro Law School, it is my privilege to yield to 23 Senator Tully. 7238 1 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 2 Senator Tully. 3 SENATOR TULLY: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. 5 As everyone in this chamber knows 6 and the public knows, the court calendars are 7 clogged. We have some eminent jurists awaiting 8 confirmation, I think four more, including the 9 one I'm about to nominate. We want to get them 10 the heck out of here. So we could talk for 11 hours on each and every one of these eminently 12 qualified jurists, and I'm very pleased to 13 congratulate the Governor on his 14 recommendations, and I'm going to be very brief 15 with respect to my nominee. 16 He has a plethora of judicial 17 qualifications. There are very, very few areas 18 of the law that he has not served in, but he 19 has, besides all of that, qualification in the 20 law, the qualifications of compassion, the 21 qualifications of humility, the qualifications 22 of judicial temperament, and I'm pleased to 23 recommend to this body and second the nomination 7239 1 of judge Gabriel S. Kohn to the New York State 2 Court of Claims. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT DeFRANCISCO: 4 The question is on the nomination of Gabriel S. 5 Kohn to be a judge of the New York State Court 6 of Claims. All those in favor signify by saying 7 aye. 8 (Response of "Aye".) 9 Opposed, nay. 10 (There was no response.) 11 Gabriel S. Kohn is hereby 12 confirmed as judge of the New York State Court 13 of Claims. Congratulations. 14 (Applause) 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 17 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 18 following nomination: Judge of the New York 19 State Court of Claims: Dan Lamont of 20 Cobleskill. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 22 Senator Lack. 23 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 7240 1 President. 2 I rise once more to move the 3 nomination of Daniel Lamont of Cobleskill as a 4 judge of the Court of Claims. He is not from 5 downstate. He is from upstate. So I can yield 6 to Senator Seward, but we're happy once again in 7 a very short time to welcome Judge Lamont back 8 to our chamber so that we can go through a very 9 nice and again cordial reconfirmation ceremony 10 here this morning, particularly since he's 11 accompanied by his entire family, but I will 12 yield for those purposes to Senator Seward, Mr. 13 President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Senator Seward. 16 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Mr. 17 President. 18 How quickly a year goes by. In 19 June of last year, we were here congratulating 20 Governor Pataki on nominating Judge Dan Lamont 21 to be a judge of the Court of Claims for a short 22 tenure and today we're back once again 23 congratulating the Governor on the renomination 7241 1 of Judge Lamont to the Court of Claims, and I'm 2 delighted to be standing to move his 3 confirmation. 4 Judge Lamont is a graduate of 5 Hamilton College and received his doctorate of 6 laws degree with honors, by the way, right here 7 at Albany Law School, and after a very 8 distinguished legal career which included such 9 stints as being an assistant attorney general 10 employed by our former Attorney General, Louis 11 Lefkowitz, service in the United States Navy 12 where he served as trial counsel, defense 13 counsel and as a military judge and then for 14 many years as a practicing attorney in Schoharie 15 County. 16 In 1978, Judge Lamont was elected 17 as the Schoharie County judge, Surrogate and 18 Family Court judge for a ten-year term, and he 19 was re-elected in 1988. 20 Senator Lack mentioned that we 21 were confirming an upstate judge, and for - 22 those of my downstate colleagues may not be 23 familiar with what a three-hatted judge does in 7242 1 a small county upstate, handling not only the 2 county judge duties but also Surrogate and 3 Family Court, same judge, and through that 4 experience, many, many years of that experience, 5 Judge Lamont dealt with all aspects of the law, 6 a wide breadth of experience and he did so very 7 capably and ably. 8 And as I mentioned, in June of 9 1995, he was appointed by Governor Pataki and 10 confirmed by this body as a judge of the New 11 York State Court of Claims and throughout this 12 past year, he has been assigned as acting 13 Supreme Court justice to hear criminal cases in 14 the Capital District and throughout the state. 15 He is known throughout the state as a fair but 16 firm judge, a man of integrity, very fine 17 qualities. 18 On a personal level, I have 19 always known Judge Lamont to be hard-working, a 20 very fine person, a very gracious individual, 21 caring, compassionate, a strong family man, a 22 very positive influence in his community. 23 This is certainly a day of pride 7243 1 for the entire Lamont family, Schoharie County 2 and for me personally to be able to move the 3 nomination of Judge Dan Lamont, and before doing 4 so formally, Mr. President, I would like to have 5 the opportunity to just mention to my colleagues 6 that Judge Lamont is accompanied today by his 7 wife, Beth Lamont, their children Wendy, 8 Kathryn, Seth and Sarah, his mother, Mrs. Rie 9 Holcomb, his brother, Henry Lamont, his 10 confidential secretary, Donna Robtoy and 11 confidential law clerk Darrin Dietz. 12 As I said, this is a day of pride 13 for all of us who know Judge Lamont and respect 14 him very highly. I move his nomination. 15 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 17 Chair recognizes Senator Cook. 18 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President, 19 Senator Seward has very appropriately outlined 20 Judge Lamont's legal qualifications and personal 21 qualifications, and I simply want to add that - 22 the assurance to everyone in this chamber, that 23 if you were to take a poll in Schoharie County 7244 1 of the person who is identified as the most 2 warm, respected and beloved person in the 3 county, Dan Lamont would be that person, and I 4 am very pleased to consider him to be among my 5 close friends and to join in congratulating the 6 whole family on this great day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator Hoblock. 9 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Mr. President, 10 it gives me great pleasure to rise to join with 11 Senator Seward and Senator Cook in seconding the 12 nomination of Dan Lamont as a Court of Claims 13 judge. 14 Dan and I are classmates and we 15 go back almost 30 years, and I can tell you that 16 almost 30 years ago, most of us tried to look 17 over his shoulder because of Dan's intelligence, 18 perception and dedication to his studies, and it 19 has shown through his career -- and he's had a 20 distinguished one. I don't know of too many 21 individuals that are as principled and dedicated 22 as Dan Lamont. 23 I think it was an excellent 7245 1 suggestion by the Governor last year and an 2 excellent one this year for renomination to this 3 important court, and I think that we can all 4 look upon Dan with a great deal of pride because 5 I know that he is going to return that trust and 6 confidence that we will give him today. He will 7 serve as an extreme example of one dedicated to 8 the jurisprudence. Just a nice guy and he will 9 do a great job. 10 So, Dan, congratulations. I'm 11 proud to second your nomination. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 13 you, Senator. 14 The question is on the nomination 15 of Dan Lamont of Cobleskill to be a judge on the 16 New York State Court of Claims. All those in 17 favor signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye".) 19 Opposed, nay. 20 (There was no response.) 21 Judge Lamont is hereby confirmed 22 as a judge of the New York State Court of 23 Appeals -- Court of Claims. I'm sorry. Court 7246 1 of Claims. 2 (Applause) 3 Judge, on behalf of Senate 4 Majority Leader Bruno and all of my colleagues 5 in this body, I want to congratulate you, 6 welcome your family here to the New York State 7 Senate and may you have a long career in the New 8 York State Court of Claims before you go to the 9 Court of Appeals, Judge. 10 Senator Volker. 11 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President - 12 Mr. President, on behalf of Senator DeFrancisco, 13 I would like to announce an immediate meeting of 14 the Tourism Committee in Room 332 of -- the 15 Republican Conference Room, Room 332, a Tourism 16 Committee. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There 18 will be an immediate meeting of the Tourism 19 Committee in Room 332. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 22 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 23 following nomination: Judge of the New York 7247 1 State Court of Claims: Michael F. Mullen of 2 Huntington. 3 SENATOR LACK: Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Senator Lack. 6 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 7 President. 8 With that little interruption by 9 Senator Volker, Gordie Howe walked over to me 10 and said we just got to interrupt for a moment 11 and call a committee meeting. I suggested that 12 he ask Senator Volker to stand up and say we 13 were interrupting these confirmations because a 14 message just arrived from the second floor. We 15 might get back to it in a few minutes so we 16 could see what would happen to Mike Mullen who 17 happened to be the next confirmation but, Judge 18 Mullen, you should know that Gordie said that 19 under no circumstances would he ever do it to 20 such an old friend such as you, but everybody 21 else who is standing around here did vote that 22 that's exactly what should happen, but in any 23 event, it is surprising how many years nine and 7248 1 a half can be when it's compressed to once again 2 reconfirming -- confirming on this floor Mike 3 Mullen as a judge of the Court of Claims. 4 It's my pleasure as Chair of the 5 Committee on Judiciary to stand up to move the 6 nomination. Mike Mullen, as certainly most of 7 us in the Senate know, was counsel to my 8 predecessor, the late Senator Bernard Smith. 9 After that, he became an assistant counsel to 10 Senator Warren Anderson, the then Senate 11 Majority Leader. To many of us, he was known as 12 Father Mike only because when we would go and 13 ask to try to get our bills reported to the 14 floor, we would have a very nice conversation. 15 We felt better as a result of it. We didn't 16 necessarily get our bills to the floor, but the 17 one thing we could always certainly count on in 18 dealing with Mike Mullen as a counsel and as 19 assistant counsel to the Senate was that he was 20 thoroughly prepared, could deal with any problem 21 that any member could bring him and did so 22 judiciously, fairly and honestly, and you can't 23 really ask for more than that in terms of 7249 1 somebody becoming a judge, and Mike Mullen in 2 the last nine and a half years has eminently 3 proved that. 4 He is now the supervising judge 5 of the Superior Criminal Courts in Suffolk 6 County which makes him responsible for all major 7 felony trials that are conducted in Suffolk 8 County, one of the busiest Criminal Courts in 9 the state, not the busiest outside the city of 10 New York. 11 His reputation as an eminently 12 fair jurist precedes him and he is universally 13 regarded by all attorneys and all judges in 14 which he deals with. 15 It's my pleasure, Mr. President, 16 to move his nomination and to welcome Judge 17 Mullen, if only for a short time, back to our 18 Senate chamber. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 20 you, Senator Lack. 21 Senator LaValle. 22 SENATOR LAVALLE: Thank you, Mr. 23 President. 7250 1 It's a great privilege, and I do 2 so enthusiastically, to second Judge Mullen's 3 nomination. 4 It seems but, as Senator Lack 5 mentioned, a short time ago that we were on this 6 floor confirming Judge Mullen, and during that 7 period of time that he has been on the bench, he 8 has handled many, many difficult cases back on 9 Long Island. 10 He's done so in a very scholarly 11 fashion. He's brought a great deal of intellect 12 and has a -- just a wonderful judicial 13 temperament in presiding over the very, very 14 difficult cases that he has had. 15 As Senator Lack mentioned, before 16 going on the bench, Judge Mullen worked here in 17 the Senate as counsel to the Majority Leader, 18 and I had a great deal of interaction with the 19 judge because he handled education and higher 20 education for the Majority Leader's office, and 21 I can tell you during that time, he looked at 22 each bill in a very, very careful and fair way 23 but the judge, whether it was here or on the 7251 1 bench, no detail is too small that he does not 2 look at it, examine it and make sure that it 3 does not escape careful scrutiny. 4 So it's with great pleasure that 5 I second this nomination, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 7 you, Senator LaValle. 8 Senator Farley. 9 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr. 10 President. 11 I rise to enthusiastically 12 support the nomination of Mike Mullen. 13 Let me just say this, that not 14 only was he a distinguished counsel as Senators 15 LaValle and Lack have both said, I had the 16 opportunity to work with him on one of the most 17 difficult environmental criminal liability 18 polluting bills that was ten years in trying to 19 get it through this house, and he put it 20 together to the satisfaction of almost 21 everyone. Brilliant counsel. 22 Incidentally, I find reading 23 today -- and I did not know that -- that he was 7252 1 -- went to a fine Jesuit school and was an 2 outstanding basketball player and was on a 3 basketball scholarship, but not only is a 4 brilliant lawyer and a great judge and a nice 5 person, I think it's imperative that this house 6 confirm him because he has six kids and he 7 really needs the job. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 9 question is on the nomination of Michael Mullen 10 to be a judge on the New York State Court of 11 Claims. All those in favor please signify by 12 saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye".) 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (There was no response.) 16 Judge Michael Mullen is hereby 17 confirmed as a judge of the New York State Court 18 of Claims. 19 (Applause) 20 Congratulations, Judge. On 21 behalf of Senator Joseph Bruno and all of my 22 colleagues here in the New York State Senate, we 23 want to welcome you and congratulate you and 7253 1 also welcome your wife Ann Marie here with us 2 this afternoon. Congratulations, Judge. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 5 excuse me. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7 Senator Volker. 8 SENATOR VOLKER: Excuse me just 9 one second. Would you recognize Senator Babbush 10 for a second, please. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: I'm 12 sorry. Senator Babbush. 13 SENATOR BABBUSH: If I was here 14 yesterday, I would have voted against Calendar 15 Number 1351, 1352, 1358 and 1361. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 17 record will so reflect, Senator. 18 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Senator Volker. 21 SENATOR VOLKER: On behalf of 22 Senator Norman Levy, there will be a 23 Transportation meeting at 11:30 in Room 124. A 7254 1 Transportation meeting, 11:30, Room 124. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 5 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 6 following nomination: Juanita Bing Newton of 7 New Rochelle. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 9 Senator Lack. 10 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 It's with real pleasure that I 13 rise once again to move the nomination of 14 Juanita Bing Newton of New Rochelle to succeed 15 herself as a judge on the New York State Court 16 of Claims. 17 Judge Newton, as with Judge 18 Mullen and others that we'll be considering on 19 Thursday, has more than distinguished herself in 20 her first term on the Court of Claims and 21 currently serves as administrative judge of the 22 criminal branch of Supreme Court in Manhattan 23 and is widely regarded as one of our finest 7255 1 jurists in that city, and it is with great 2 pleasure that I yield to Senator Goodman. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 4 Senator Goodman. 5 SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President, 6 although this is last on our calendar, it is, 7 indeed, by no means least. This is a highly 8 significant nomination in that as Senator Lack 9 has indicated, Judge Juanita Bing Newton is the 10 administrative judge of the criminal branch of 11 the First Judicial District. One cannot 12 emphasize highly enough the importance of that 13 post because it involves the administrative 14 skills, as well as the judicial skills 15 overseeing one of the most crowded and complex 16 court parts in the United States of America. 17 Indeed, the functioning of our 18 Criminal Court in this area is one of the 19 pillars of the criminal justice system and 20 unless it is ably administered, it can cause 21 tremendous overcrowding, a jam-up in the 22 disposition of crucially important criminal 23 matters and, therefore, the fact that Judge 7256 1 Newton has been entrusted with this high 2 responsibility I think is a unique tribute to 3 both her skill and her unique ability as an 4 individual who can administer others in the 5 pursuit of justice. 6 Mr. President, Juanita Bing 7 Newton's career is a classic one in the sense 8 that she emerged from a mid-western university 9 and then had the great good sense to come back 10 to her home state in New York. In addition to 11 serving as administrative judge, she has climbed 12 up the ladder in successive steps that are most 13 impressive. 14 I'll just start with the year 15 1974, at which time she was a researcher in the 16 United States Justice Department in the Law 17 Enforcement Assistance Administration counsel's 18 office. She then became assistant district 19 attorney in Bronx County, serving in that post 20 from September 1975 to March 1984. She was the 21 executive director and general counsel to the 22 New York State Sentencing Guidelines Committee 23 from March '85 to November '85, and you will 7257 1 remember that sentencing guidelines were a 2 critical matter since there were substantial 3 imbalances and curious inequities that had crept 4 into that system and she was instrumental in 5 getting that problem straightened out. She was 6 executive assistant to the deputy chief 7 administrative judge for the City Courts and the 8 OCA from November '85 to December '86 and from 9 January 1987 to the present has served as a 10 judge of the New York State Court of Claims, an 11 acting justice of the New York State Supreme 12 Court. 13 I do think the record should also 14 point out that she has had a significant 15 participation in several judicial committees and 16 programs of the highest importance; to wit: the 17 New York State Judicial Conduct Commission, the 18 New York State Violence Against Women Advisory 19 Board, the state's Judicial Committee on Women 20 in the Courts, the Franklin Williams Judicial 21 Commission on Minorities in the Courts, the 22 state Advisory Committee on Criminal Practice 23 and Procedure, and she is the past chairperson 7258 1 of the anti-bias committee and panel of the 2 Supreme Court of New York County. 3 Mr. President, I deem it a 4 privilege and a very high honor, indeed, to 5 second the nomination of this outstanding jurist 6 and distinguished court administrator. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 8 you, Senator Goodman. 9 Senator Paterson. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 Again, Senator Goodman has 13 outlined with great thoroughness the credentials 14 of this candidate and has pointed out what a 15 stellar jurist she has been. 16 During the period of time 17 1984-1985 when my father was serving on the 18 Sentencing Guidelines Committee of New York 19 State, he told me of the work of the executive 20 director and general counsel, Juanita Bing 21 Newton. 22 It seems that I was in a 23 conversation with the chief administrator of the 7259 1 New York City Courts a couple years later and 2 heard the same raving and accolades that were 3 due upon Judge Newton based on her work as the 4 executive assistant to the deputy chief 5 administrator of the city of New York, and so it 6 appears that every place she goes, those around 7 her are made well aware of her great competence, 8 her great ability and her contribution to the 9 law. 10 She has served on the Court of 11 Claims since 1987, as Senator Goodman pointed 12 out and as he further pointed out, has been a 13 chief administrative in the 1st Judicial 14 District in the Bronx, which is very difficult 15 area to supervise, and so we wish her well as a 16 -- as a judge and would say that if she 17 continues in the path that she seems to be 18 setting, there is no standard that she can't 19 reach in the judicial system, and I've never 20 heard her sing, but if her legal record reflects 21 her abilities in that area, I would be sure that 22 Juanita -- that Anita Baker would not have 23 anything on her and, again, we encourage that 7260 1 the body move this nomination. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 3 you, Senator Paterson. 4 SENATOR LACK: Mr. President, if 5 we could ask - 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7 Senator Lack. 8 SENATOR LACK: We could ask Judge 9 Newton to sing before she's confirmed. Senator 10 Paterson has made a great suggestion. I'm just 11 kidding, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 13 question is on the nomination of Juanita Bing 14 Newton to be a judge on the New York State Court 15 of Claims. All those in favor please signify by 16 saying aye. 17 (Response of "Aye".) 18 Opposed, nay. 19 (There was no response.) 20 Judge Juanita Bing Newton is 21 hereby confirmed as a judge of the New York 22 State Court of Claims. 23 (Applause) 7261 1 Judge Newton, on behalf of Senate 2 Majority Leader Bruno and all my colleagues in 3 the New York State Senate, we want to 4 congratulate you and welcome you, along with 5 your staff, Olivia L. Dennis, Joseph Maccario, 6 Mrs. Mary Simon and Ms. Monica Simon to the 7 Senate chambers here this afternoon. 8 Congratulations and good luck, Judge. 9 (Applause) 10 Senator Volker. 11 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 12 can we return to motions and resolutions, 13 please. Can we adopt the Resolution Calendar in 14 its entirety, please. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 16 question is on the adoption of the Resolution 17 Calendar. All those in favor of adopting the 18 Resolution Calendar, signify by saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye.") 20 Opposed, nay. 21 (There was no response.) 22 The Resolution Calendar is 23 adopted. 7262 1 Senator Volker. 2 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President. 3 Can we -- we'll continue with the controversial 4 calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: On page 14, 8 Calendar Number 581, by Senator Libous, Senate 9 Print 6197A, an act to amend the General 10 Business Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 12 Secretary will read the last section, please. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator Libous, an explanation had been 17 requested by Senator Paterson. 18 SENATOR LIBOUS: Certainly, Mr. 19 President. 20 Basically, this bill would amend 21 Section 396(z) of the General Business Law to 22 increase the maximum liability of an authorized 23 driver from $100 to $300 for actual damage or 7263 1 loss to a rental vehicle. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Senator Paterson. 4 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 5 President. If Senator Libous would yield for a 6 question? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator Libous, will you yield for a question? 9 SENATOR LIBOUS: I would be 10 especially honored to yield to a question from 11 Senator Paterson. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Paterson. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 Senator Libous, you probably more 17 than any other member in this chamber would be 18 aptly familiar with why I wouldn't have any 19 interest in really renting a car, but let's say 20 I was and the liability coverage or the 21 liability responsibility of $100 is being raised 22 to $300 and we're going to do that, but my 23 question is, if that's the case, if there's 7264 1 going to be, in a sense, less insurance, 2 wouldn't there be a lower premium to the person 3 who is renting the car? 4 SENATOR LIBOUS: A lower premium 5 in what respect, Senator? 6 SENATOR PATERSON: In other 7 words, that the contribution that the consumer 8 would make when renting the car would be lower 9 because they are not being covered as well, 10 because the limit is being raised from $100 of 11 personal liability to $300. 12 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 13 that's the whole, I guess, concept behind this 14 legislation by moving it from 100 to 300. Right 15 now, what's happened, Mr. President, and Senator 16 Paterson, is that in the late 1980s this body 17 removed the law that talked about collision 18 damage waiver, and basically what's happened 19 since that time is, the liability to a car 20 renter has been only $100. So if anyone in this 21 room rents a car in New York State -- let's say 22 it's a $25,000 car -- you can take that car out, 23 you can total it, and you can come back, throw 7265 1 the keys on the counter, and, basically, you are 2 only liable for $100 in damage. That's what the 3 law presently says in New York State. 4 Because of that, rates have gone 5 up. As a matter of fact, rates have gone up 6 about 250 percent in New York State since that 7 law was removed and they have stayed, actually, 8 fairly stable in other states. 9 So, Mr. President, and Senator 10 Paterson, what this will do is, hopefully 11 stabilize the cost to the consumer because, 12 right now, the small rental companies, in 13 particular -- and by the way, Mr. President, we 14 have lost over 250 businesses since we have 15 enacted the law back in 1988. 16 So I think to answer Senator 17 Paterson's question, what this is going to be 18 doing is helping to stabilize the cost and, 19 hopefully, over time will reduce the rate. 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 22 Senator Paterson. 23 SENATOR PATERSON: If Senator 7266 1 Libous would continue to yield. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Senator Libous, would you yield for another 4 question? 5 SENATOR LIBOUS: Be happy to, Mr. 6 President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator Paterson. 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Well, Senator, 10 you definitely outlined the necessity for 11 wanting to change the law in this particular 12 area if we are losing hundreds of businesses 13 since the laws we adopted in 1988. 14 I guess that my question really 15 is that when the personal liability is 16 increased, therefore, the rental car company 17 will need less insurance, as you pointed out - 18 and the premium at that point would be reduced 19 that the rental car company has to pay to the 20 insurance company -- but I guess what I'm asking 21 is, if we just look at it from the point of view 22 of the consumer, we're stating it will stabilize 23 the industry; but is it not true that the 7267 1 consumer actually is not going to get any 2 benefit but will incur 200 extra dollars of 3 personal liability? 4 Now, if that's what it takes to 5 ensure the stability of businesses, then perhaps 6 that's what we have to do. But I just want to 7 have the record reflect clearly exactly what the 8 result will be for the consumer. If there's 9 going to be no result -- in other words, if this 10 is just an encumbrance, that the consumer will 11 pay the same rates and have to incur $200 extra 12 liability, bringing the total to 300, then 13 that's just the way it is. 14 But what I'm asking is, is there 15 any benefit to the consumer in this legislation? 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 17 I think the answer there is quite simple. The 18 benefit to the consumer is, as I said, since 19 1988 rental car prices in New York State have 20 gone up by 250 percent. The action in this 21 legislation will, hopefully, stabilize those 22 costs because, as I said to you, it's a matter 23 of personal responsibility. 7268 1 Right now, in this state, you're 2 liable for $100. You can take, as I said, a 3 $20,000 or $30,000 automobile. You can total 4 it, and you are only liable for $100. Because 5 of that, we have lost over 250 companies in this 6 state, and because of that, the price to rent a 7 car to you and I and to every constituent we 8 represent in this state has gone up by 250 9 percent. 10 So, Mr. President, and Senator 11 Paterson, there will be the savings to the 12 consumer by the fact that it will help to 13 stabilize the increased cost. 14 And let me just make this 15 statement. We're talking about personal 16 responsibility here. I don't think it's unfair 17 to say that if you or I or anyone in this state 18 rents an automobile and that if we damage that 19 automobile, that we have some liability to that 20 automobile, and at this point, the liability 21 that we each would share is only $100. What 22 we're doing is taking a very moderate increase, 23 saying $300 is more than fair. 7269 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator Paterson. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you very 4 much, Senator Libous. 5 Mr. President. On the bill. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7 Senator Paterson on the bill. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: I'm going to 9 vote against the bill, Mr. President, but I want 10 to be proved wrong. I'm hoping that this "No" 11 vote is one that I will look back upon in the 12 future and be proven wrong because what Senator 13 Libous is saying is correct, that it will 14 stabilize the rent-a-car business and that the 15 rates will not continue to spiral at 250 percent 16 above the rate as it was in 1988, as Senator 17 Libous is pointing out. 18 We just don't feel assured that 19 this change would really -- is just creating 20 $200 extra savings per accident to the rent-a 21 car company is exactly the reason or the sole 22 reason that perhaps the rates have actually gone 23 up. We can not, in our understanding, fathom 7270 1 how this is actually going to benefit the 2 consumer at any point other than the fact that 3 the consumer is going to have greater 4 responsibility if there is an accident or if 5 there is liability. 6 And so, for that reason, we're 7 not going to support this legislation, but based 8 on some pretty well-stated dicta from Senator 9 Libous, perhaps we will get an indication, if 10 this legislation becomes law, as to whether or 11 not there really is a benefit to the consumer 12 and perhaps at that time we will get a better 13 indication of whether this was the catalyst for 14 the loss of business and the increase in rates 15 to the consumer on the 30th day. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 Announce the results. 7271 1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 2 the negative on Calendar Number 581 are Senators 3 Connor, Kruger, Lachman, Onorato, Padavan, 4 Paterson and Waldon. Ayes 46, nays 7. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1088, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 575, an 9 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to the 10 administrative provisions. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation, 12 please. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 14 the day. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 16 bill is laid aside for the day. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: There will be an 21 immediate meeting of the Crime and Crime Victims 22 Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There 7272 1 will be an immediate meeting of the Crime 2 Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee in Room 3 332. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: And a reminder 6 that the Transportation Committee meeting is 7 taking place in Room 124 of the Capitol. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 9 Secretary will continue with the controversial 10 calendar. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1117, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5732A, an 13 act to amend the Family Court Act, in relation 14 to proof of a neglected or abused child. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Senator Skelos, an explanation has been 18 requested by Senator Paterson. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 20 this bill would provide that when a mother uses 21 an illegal drug during her pregnancy causing her 22 infant to be born with positive toxicity for 23 such drugs that that is sufficient proof of 7273 1 neglect, this would, in turn, allow the state to 2 take protective measures necessary for the child 3 on the sole basis of a positive toxicology 4 report. 5 What I would like to do is 6 basically run through what happens when a child 7 is born in a hospital, compare existing law to 8 what my bill would do. 9 And I want to thank, first, 10 Senator Saland for working on this legislation 11 with me and, of course, the great job he does on 12 behalf of our children. 13 A child is born in the hospital, 14 obviously my legislation cannot change that. 15 The child is born in the hospital. A blood or 16 urine test is taken if a doctor makes a 17 determination that the test is appropriate for 18 clinical or medical reasons, there is no change 19 in this legislation. The test is taken to see 20 if a child tests positive for illegal drugs. 21 There is no change by this legislation. 22 If a test is positive for illegal 23 drugs, a hot line report is made to the child 7274 1 abuse hot line. This phone call is mandatory. 2 The hot line then accepts this phone call 3 alleging positive toxicology of a newborn for 4 investigation purposes. No change by this 5 legislation. The phone call is transmitted from 6 the child abuse hot line to the local child 7 protective agency automatically for an 8 investigation. There is no change by this 9 legislation. 10 Now, under current law, despite 11 the positive toxicology report, the child can go 12 home. Sixty days are given for a case worker to 13 find the report indicated or unfounded. 14 "Indicated," basically, that credible evidence 15 exists; "unfounded" that no credible evidence 16 exists. 17 What my legislation would do, the 18 Skelos-Saland bill, would say that a positive 19 toxicology of a newborn would be an indicated 20 report automatically. No other evidence of 21 neglect or abuse would be needed. The 60 days 22 are not needed. The child protective agency may 23 keep the baby at that time. 7275 1 Now, under a Court of Appeals 2 ruling, in 1995, a positive toxicology is not 3 enough alone for a fact finding or an indicated 4 report. Under our current system, the state can 5 not take protective action on behalf of a child 6 until some additional evidence of child abuse or 7 neglect exists after the birth. Due to the fact 8 that a newborn child has only been in the 9 hospital, there is no opportunity for developing 10 other evidence until the baby goes home and, of 11 course, too often we read in the newspapers, we 12 hear on the radio and we see on the TV and, of 13 course, national reports indicate that when a 14 child, in many instances-- when a child is born 15 to a drug-addicted, crack-addicted mother, that 16 in many instances the child -- when they go back 17 to that home, they are neglected, they are 18 murdered, they are mistreated, and before the 19 state can really step in and protect this very 20 innocent life. The positive toxicology report 21 also supports a Family Court fact finding of 22 child neglect without other corroboration. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7276 1 Senator Paterson. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. If Senator Skelos, after giving a 4 very thorough explanation, would yield for a few 5 questions? 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 9 Senator Skelos, would you yield for a question? 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Mr. 11 President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Paterson. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, the 15 reports to the 800 number would come from 16 concerned individuals or medical personnel, I 17 would assume? 18 SENATOR STAFFORD: Yes, it would 19 come from the hospital, as is existing law. 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes. 21 No, I was just wondering how the 22 reports would actually be administered. 23 If the toxicology report is the 7277 1 prima facie evidence, that it needs no other 2 evidence to corroborate a finding of neglect by 3 the child protective agency, if that is the 4 case, what protections does the parent of the 5 child have in case there is a belief that the 6 toxicology report might be incorrect? 7 SENATOR SKELOS: They can 8 overcome that presumption but, initially, what 9 we're saying by this legislation is that a 10 positive toxicology report should be sufficient 11 to say the state should take some sort of action 12 to protect that child rather than sending them 13 home to a potential destructive environment 14 where they can be injured or perhaps, 15 unfortunately, as we see so often, murdered. 16 Now, let me just say this, that 17 when we talk about a positive toxicology report 18 because of the half-life of these drugs, you 19 literally in the instance of cocaine or "crack", 20 have the mother going into the maternity ward 21 taking the cocaine or "crack," literally in the 22 cab or the car, or however they are going to the 23 hospital, literally taking this drug for their 7278 1 to be an indication of a positive toxicology 2 report because of its half-life. 3 So we're talking of a situation 4 where a mother is being extremely, extremely 5 neglectful of that child about to be born within 6 a 24, 36, perhaps a 3-day period. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator Paterson. 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Absolutely. 10 It actually typifies why there does need to be 11 legislation on this issue. 12 As Senator Skelos has just 13 pointed out, the toxicology report indicates 14 that this is something that happened a while 15 back and it is still in the system. This is 16 something where there had been some substance 17 abuse in a very short period of time when, 18 presumably, in a world that we would rather live 19 in, a mother would be avoiding any kind of 20 substance, even different types of foods that 21 could aggravate her during the pregnancy. 22 So I'm pleased that Senator 23 Skelos has done more than notice it and has 7279 1 tried to legislate on this particular issue. 2 But what I'm saying is, there are a lot of false 3 positives in these types of reports and, because 4 of that, I was just asking. I just wasn't clear 5 on what would the mother or the family do if 6 there is a positive toxicology report and they 7 are contending that the report is wrong? 8 SENATOR SKELOS: You can overcome 9 that presumption in court. But what we're 10 saying is that since there is reliability with 11 these drug tests, that even if there should be a 12 mistake, that we should err in favor of 13 protecting that child since so many reports that 14 have been issued throughout this country 15 indicate that when an infant is born with a 16 positive toxicology report and that they are 17 returned to that household from birth, that in a 18 disproportionate share of times that that child 19 is abused within that household. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Paterson. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes. As 23 Senator Skelos has pointed out, this is a very 7280 1 grim situation. I don't know that ten years ago 2 any of us would have fathomed that we would have 3 to talk about this kind of legislation. It 4 seems almost remote from our sense of thinking 5 or our sense of reality that this kind of 6 situation would visit us. However, I don't - 7 I would like a further 8 explanation, if Senator Skelos would yield - 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Mr. 10 President. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: -- as to how 12 this presumption would be overcome in court when 13 it seems that the way the legislation is laid 14 out, it is -- in other words, if Senator Skelos 15 was saying this is evidence of neglect, well, 16 clearly this is evidence of neglect, and I think 17 verbally we would all agree this is neglect if 18 this is the case. If this is a positive 19 toxicology report, that is prima facie neglect 20 right there. 21 But what I am asking is that 22 since there's question of reliability with these 23 tests, particularly for toxicology, these 7281 1 toxicology-type reports, then do we, Senator 2 Skelos, want it to be the sole indicator to such 3 an extent that I don't know if what you are 4 averring here is true? I don't know if there is 5 a presumption that can be overturned in court if 6 the actual presumption allows for it to be the 7 sole evidence, giving the child protective 8 agency authority to take the child away. Now 9 you have to go back to court. 10 How do you prove that the test 11 was wrong because a period of time has elapsed, 12 so now if you take a second test, presumably the 13 infant will not test positive in the second 14 toxicology test because it's so much further 15 after from the first one, if you follow what I'm 16 saying. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Well, first of 18 all, we're talking about it's prima facie 19 evidence that can be rebutted in the Family 20 Court proceeding. You can show evidence that 21 the toxicology report was in error. 22 Unfortunately, in the Court of Appeals decision, 23 the Court indicated that a positive toxicology 7282 1 report is insufficient to find neglect. As we 2 know, a child that is born, there is no history 3 as to that child being outside of the womb and 4 outside of the hospital so that any type of 5 neglect can be shown by the mother or some other 6 family setting, so that what we're saying is 7 that this should be sufficient and that there is 8 a -- studies show that there is a direct 9 correlation between a finding of positive 10 toxicology and neglect and abuse of that child 11 once put back into that household. 12 That in and of itself -- you may 13 disagree with me, but what I'm saying is that in 14 and of itself is sufficient for this Legislature 15 to make a positive finding of public policy that 16 that child should be protected at that point. 17 Now, you may disagree with me on 18 that. Is there 100 percent certainty on every 19 toxicology test? The answer is no. 20 But because they are basically 21 reliable and we're dealing with an infant that 22 cannot protect itself, cannot defend itself, 23 cannot speak, and that there is no prior history 7283 1 for that child outside of the hospital, that 2 that in and of itself is enough for child 3 protective agencies to step in and care for that 4 child, protect that child. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Paterson. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Actually, 8 Senator Skelos, I do agree with you. I agree 9 that a positive toxicology would, in my opinion 10 and, I think, in the opinion of most reasonable 11 people, be indication enough of neglect by 12 itself. In other words, if there are substances 13 in the newborn at the point of the test, it's my 14 opinion that that is prima facie evidence of 15 neglect. There's absolutely no disagreement on 16 that particular point, and that's the reason in 17 some form or fashion, I think, this legislation 18 needs to be passed. I am speaking really as a 19 supporter of the legislation. 20 What I am asking you is, so that 21 we are protecting against what could -- would 22 not be a significant number. I'm not saying the 23 test is unreliable half the time, but it's not a 7284 1 scintilla. It's a reasonable period of time 2 that the tests are, for some reason, inaccurate, 3 and I'm trying to protect against the situation 4 where there is a kind of a stigma against single 5 mothers or unwed mothers or mothers of a 6 different race or national origin. They just 7 come into a hospital and somebody just makes a 8 presumption against them because of really what 9 are bias feelings and conducts this test; and 10 so, just to make sure, what I'm just trying to 11 elicit from you -- because I, again, want to 12 make you aware that I agree with you, but I just 13 want to make sure that in a situation where you 14 have a positive toxicology, aren't you going to 15 also have other indications that are going to be 16 there? Is the error in our system perhaps that 17 we have just not addressed this issue? In other 18 words, that we have a positive toxicology, it 19 would seem to me, after that, all you have to do 20 is look, and then you have other evidence that 21 would create the presumption that we're trying 22 to do in this legislation. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: First of all, 7285 1 when we're dealing with a doctor, a doctor is 2 going to look for certain signs before they will 3 order a toxicology report. I mean it's like an 4 eyeball test. They will look to see if the 5 mother presents unexpected placental separation, 6 premature labor which is unusual, deformities by 7 ultrasound, HIV positive if known, depressed 8 mother, incoherence, response to verbal 9 commands, pinpoint pupils, sites of injections, 10 a number of things that the doctor will look for 11 before he orders the positive toxicology report 12 and -- orders a test or a toxicology report. 13 You also look for -- the baby: 14 Irritability, does not feed well, shakes and 15 tremors, excessive crying, shrill, high-pitched 16 crying, depressed Apgar score which measures 17 muscle tone, increased muscle tone. I can go on 18 and on. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Right. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: So there are 21 many things that the doctor is going to look for 22 both in the birth mother and in the baby before 23 he orders the urine test, and remember that 7286 1 there is a 96-hour maximum for drugs to show in 2 the urine and, thus, there is an imminent risk 3 to that child when they are born with a positive 4 toxicology showing. That should be deficient. 5 Now, you may disagree, but that, 6 in my mind, should be sufficient for child 7 protection to come in and take care of that 8 child, and we can debate all day back and forth 9 on that, but, in my mind, this legislation, that 10 should be sufficient. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 12 Senator Paterson. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, you 14 are trying to force me to disagree with you. I 15 don't know why you are doing that because I 16 haven't disagreed with you. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: We can sit down 18 and have a vote and we all can agree. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes, we can. 20 We can agree on what will be the best possible 21 legislation. That's why we're talking about 22 it. That's what we get paid for. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: You're right. 7287 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator Paterson? 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Are 5 you asking Senator Skelos to continue to yield 6 for a question? 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes, if the 8 Senator will continue to yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Skelos, will you continue to yield? 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Mr. 12 President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: He 14 yields. 15 Senator Paterson. 16 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, you 17 just laid out -- and I think we're really 18 getting somewhere -- the criteria that would 19 establish the threshold that would force the 20 doctor to order the test. Would not -- so, 21 therefore, the doctor can't just randomly order 22 a test, can they? 23 SENATOR SKELOS: In their medical 7288 1 judgment, they can. It's a urine test. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Okay. All 3 right. So the doctor -- in other words, without 4 the indications that you were just pointing out, 5 you are saying a doctor can order the test? 6 SENATOR SKELOS: That's their 7 medical judgment. We're not questioning the 8 medical judgment of a doctor. There are no set 9 guidelines for a doctor in terms of how he feels 10 he should best treat that child when they are 11 born. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: But, Senator, 13 you just laid out about 25 indications that 14 there is a need for a test. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. That's 16 information received from Dr. Albert Bartoletti, 17 Chairman of the Department of Neonatology at St. 18 Peter's Hospital. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Senator Paterson. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: If the Senator 22 would continue to yield. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7289 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Through you, 3 Mr. President. What I'm saying, Senator, is, 4 the doctor's statement of the other physical 5 symptoms plus the test would actually meet the 6 same presumption that in your legislation you 7 just have the test presuming. So what I'm 8 saying to you is, if you had a circumstance 9 where a doctor ordered a test, could cite none 10 of these symptoms as the catalyst for ordering 11 the test, and then you get a positive reading in 12 the toxicology test -- so now we've got the test 13 is positive, we have no other corroborating 14 medical evidence, it's possible that it's a 15 false positive. 16 And all I'm saying is, if your 17 legislation said, if we had the test plus any 18 medical evidence -- and I don't even think you 19 have to list -- you could list them 20 parenthetically as possible medical evidences. 21 But, in other words, what I'm trying to protect 22 against is a doctor that makes a seat-of-the 23 pants judgment that there needs to be a test, 7290 1 then you have a positive, and then you have 2 intervention by the child protective agency. 3 It seems to me that your 4 legislation is very much on the right track, and 5 all I'm saying is the test results standing 6 alone, in my opinion, would be buttressed even 7 by an extra line in your legislation that says, 8 "and the medical opinion of the doctor that the 9 test needed to be taken," so that we're 10 protected from just random testing. That's all. 11 Everything else that you said I 12 agree with wholeheartedly. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: First of all, 14 the statute does not substitute medical 15 judgment. We're not looking at the initial 16 stages to subpoena doctors to come in for 17 testimony. We're treating this type of 18 toxicology test, positive toxicology, as any 19 other medical report that will be issued when a 20 child is born or other medical tests that may 21 occur in a hospital with other individuals. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Paterson. 7291 1 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 2 I want to thank Senator Skelos. 3 Mr. President, on the bill. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Senator Paterson, on the bill. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: The point that 7 Senator Skelos made that I think in the end is 8 the one we probably should follow is that if 9 this situation applied to adults or it applied 10 in some way where the individual who is affected 11 had a greater voice, then I think the 12 combination of some criteria would really reach 13 the standard that Senator Skelos is trying to - 14 -- is reaching for through this legislation. 15 What I guess I would just say is 16 when Senator Skelos said he would rather err in 17 the direction of a law that would favor the best 18 interests of the child, I think I'm willing to 19 go along with that. I have some real problem 20 with the cursory acceptance of a toxicology 21 report even without any understanding of why it 22 was ordered in the first place. 23 But I think I will follow Senator 7292 1 Skelos' edict in this case and if a couple of 2 people have false positives, it isn't what our 3 system is really about but because of what we 4 have seen in a lot of newborns who tested 5 positive and what their very lugubrious fates 6 were, I think that it would be best that we pass 7 this legislation. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 9 Senator Montgomery. 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 11 President. I would like to ask if the sponsor 12 would yield. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Senator Skelos, would you yield for a question? 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Mr. 16 President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 18 Senator Montgomery. 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Senator 20 Skelos, you are amending the Family Court Act. 21 Is this -- that's what I have here - 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: -- "to amend 7293 1 the Family Court Act." How does that work? 2 Does the Judge make the decision, or the doctor 3 makes the decision? I'm not clear about what is 4 the process. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: If the mother 6 has a positive toxicology report, at that point 7 it's prima facie evidence to not release that 8 child to a potentially dangerous household. 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The court 10 automatically places the child. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Protective 12 services would then step in and not have to go 13 through the potentially 60-day period of finding 14 out whether a report is indicated or unfounded. 15 We're saying there is such an imminent danger to 16 that child at that point that, as public policy, 17 we should step in and protect that child until 18 you can find, perhaps, a rebuttable presumption 19 that there was not a positive toxicology report, 20 that the child will not be going into a 21 potentially neglectful or abusive household. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Montgomery. 7294 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 2 President, through you, if the Senator would 3 continue to yield. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Senator Skelos. 6 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The finding 7 of child abuse, if there is evidence of child 8 abuse or child neglect, does that person not get 9 reported to the child abuse registry? 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: So, 12 essentially, we're talking about the automatic 13 reporting of any woman who comes into the 14 hospital whose child tests positive. 15 Automatically, they go into the registry. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: That's presently 17 existing law. 18 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, I 19 understand. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: I just want to 21 make it very clear. All we're saying in this 22 legislation is that if there is a positive 23 report that that's a prima facie case of neglect 7295 1 and that protective services should come in at 2 that point. That's all we're changing. 3 Reporting by doctors, indicated, unfounded, all 4 of that, is not being changed by this 5 legislation. 6 We're just responding to a Court 7 of Appeals decision that indicated that unless 8 there's other indications of abuse and neglect 9 other than a positive toxicology report, you can 10 not remove that child from that household. 11 We're saying that because there is no other 12 history with that child, again because the child 13 is just being born, that there is no way you can 14 find an additional element to remove that child 15 from that potentially dangerous household. By 16 not doing this, we're saying send the kid to 17 that house, let the kid be abused, and then 18 we'll step in. That's unnecessary. That should 19 not happen. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Montgomery. 22 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, if you 23 would continue to yield. 7296 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I know 4 Senator Paterson asked questions about this. 5 I'm still not clear on the testing process. Who 6 does the testing? Are we also, with this 7 legislation, requiring that every child be 8 tested for drugs, or is that a requirement now? 9 In other words, is this a mandatory testing 10 bill, as well? 11 SENATOR SKELOS: No. 12 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: So what if 13 the hospital decides that they are not, in fact, 14 going to test the babies. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: That's a medical 16 judgment. We're not interfering with the 17 medical judgment of the doctor. All we're 18 saying is if the doctor in his judgment orders 19 this report and if it comes back indicating that 20 the mother has taken drugs -- and remember that 21 96-hour period -- that then is sufficient to 22 find neglect and that protective services should 23 step in and protect that child. 7297 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Okay. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Senator Montgomery. 4 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 5 President, through you. I want to ask the 6 Senator if the -- based on the fact that most of 7 the women that we're talking about, I would 8 assume, trying to deal with by this legislation, 9 come in at the time of delivery either to an 10 emergency room or just when they are -- I mean 11 they are not necessarily people who have been 12 through prenatal care, unfortunately, and so, in 13 other words, we're leaving it up to the doctor; 14 and what happens? Because the person is there, 15 the baby is born, and they have not more than 48 16 hours and they are out. What are we suggesting 17 happens in cases like that? 18 SENATOR SKELOS: The existing law 19 is that protective services would step in and 20 take custody of that child. The doctor has to 21 report. Nothing is changed in the law. The 22 procedures that the doctor has to follow, the 23 hospital has to follow, protective services has 7298 1 to follow, nothing is changed by this 2 legislation. 3 All that is changed is, again, if 4 a positive toxicology report is found and we're 5 responding to a Court of Appeals decision, that 6 that in and of itself is sufficient to find 7 neglect for protective services to step in. 8 We're not changing anything else. We're not 9 mandating drug testing. We're not changing any 10 other aspect of the law other than what a 11 positive toxicology report should mean in terms 12 of protecting that child, and the fact that 13 there is such a direct -- all studies show that 14 there is such a direct correlation between a 15 positive toxicology report, drug abuse - 16 "crack" cocaine, particularly -- at the time of 17 the birth, and the harm to that child when the 18 child is released from the hospital. 19 The harm is generally not going 20 to occur in the hospital. There is no history 21 at that point of neglect of that child, other 22 than the drug use. What we're saying is, don't 23 release that child to that household to be 7299 1 abused, to be mistreated, to be hurt, to be 2 murdered. Let's protect that child right now. 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: One last 4 question, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Montgomery. 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Senator 8 Skelos, you mentioned -- on the memorandum in 9 support under fiscal implications, you said 10 "none." 11 Now, my assumption is that if we 12 are now going to be automatically removing 13 babies who are born with a positive toxicology, 14 it's going to be a tremendous -- a tremendous 15 new additional burden on the state and locality 16 in terms of providing protective services for 17 these babies; and given the fact that we are now 18 -- we have cut the children and family block 19 grant funding, how do you see the state paying 20 for this additional - 21 SENATOR SKELOS: First of all, 22 this was the existing law prior to the Court of 23 the Appeals decision, so this type of protection 7300 1 was occurring until the 1995 decision by the 2 Court of Appeals saying that type of report is 3 insufficient, so these children were being cared 4 for within the system and the money being spent 5 on these children until this decision was made. 6 That's why I do not believe there's going to be 7 a fiscal impact on the state because this system 8 occurred. This was happening until the Court of 9 Appeals said, "No, you can't do this." and now 10 we're responding by changing the law. 11 They strictly construed the 12 legislation as existed. We are now responding 13 by changing the law to make sure that the system 14 that existed prior to that Court of Appeals 15 decision continues. 16 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 17 Senator. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 19 Senator Montgomery. 20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, on the 21 bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Montgomery on the bill. 7301 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 2 President, I'm just concerned that by 3 establishing this positive toxicology as prima 4 facie evidence of child neglect and abuse it 5 will now require that every person be put into 6 the neglect/child-abuse registry, and also that 7 we're not really addressing the cause of these 8 children being born or attempting to identify 9 specifically what kinds of intervention we need 10 to be establishing for these women who come in 11 and have clearly been abusing substances of all 12 sorts, alcohol, drugs, and what have you. 13 Certainly, we do know -- I agree 14 with Senator Skelos. We do know the 15 consequences of babies being born in those 16 circumstances, but we also, I think, know the 17 consequences of automatically removing those 18 babies without appropriate intervention to help 19 that parent become enabled as a parent to take 20 care of a child. 21 So I really -- I have some 22 reservations about the legislation, though I 23 think it's well intended. We certainly do want 7302 1 to protect babies that are born in these 2 circumstances, but I think we need to look more 3 carefully at ways in which we can intervene in a 4 positive sense, and that is not being done with 5 this legislation. 6 So I will be voting against it 7 because I think it requires a different approach 8 and a more in-depth look at ways in which we can 9 more positively intervene. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 19 to explain my vote. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Saland, to explain his vote. 22 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, I 23 would like to commend Senator Skelos for his 7303 1 efforts on this particular legislation. I had 2 the good fortune of being able to work with him 3 as the chairman of Children and Families in 4 endeavoring to craft this legislation, which 5 directly responds to a Court of Appeals case, as 6 Senator Skelos mentioned. 7 This bill is an enormous step in 8 the right direction in protecting children and 9 families, particularly those who are actually 10 and quite literally born into this world as a 11 clean slate. They have been in utero. They 12 have known no other contact other than through 13 whatever it is that may be provided by way of 14 either their genetics or by whatever may have 15 previously been engaged in by way of conduct by 16 the mother; and, in this case, as was pointed 17 out, the use of drugs in close proximity to 18 birth certainly should be a prima facie 19 indication with a positive toxicology of neglect 20 and, certainly, is an enormous step in the right 21 direction of correcting what I believe to have 22 been an inappropriate Court of Appeals 23 decision. 7304 1 Again, I commend Senator Skelos. 2 I think this bill should send a very loud and 3 clarion signal that we are absolutely and 4 unequivocally serious about dealing with drug 5 abusing mothers who bring children into this 6 world, children who, in effect, are doomed from 7 the start by reason of a host of studies that 8 indicate rather objectively, either medical or 9 social science, birth defects, developmental 10 abnormalities, physical abnormalities as well as 11 a greater likelihood of being neglected, abused, 12 or even killed once returned to their household. 13 I vote in support of this 14 legislation and thank Senator Skelos for 15 bringing it to the floor. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Announce the results. 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53, nays 1, 19 Senator Montgomery recorded in the negative. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 21 bill is passed. 22 Senator Skelos. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 7305 1 There will be an immediate meeting of the Rules 2 Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There 4 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules 5 Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol. 6 Senator Mendez. 7 SENATOR MENDEZ: Mr. President. 8 I was out of the chambers when the roll was 9 called on Bill Number 1117. I would like to be 10 recorded in the negative. Do I have time to 11 explain my vote? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Without objection, Senator, you will be recorded 14 in the negative on Calendar 1117. 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1137, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 1753, an 18 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 19 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Explanation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Marchi, an explanation has been 22 requested of Calendar Number 1137. 23 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President, 7306 1 the members of the organized militia of the 2 state of New York -- there are some 34,000 of 3 them, the Army National Guard, the Naval 4 Militia, the State Guard, the Army -- can, upon 5 request, receive appropriate distinctive license 6 plates for which a fee of $15 is assessed. The 7 actual number of people who are in this category 8 are 423 registrations. 9 Assuming that this bill were 10 passed, in that case, of course, we would be 11 foregoing $6,450. That's the minimal, because 12 there would be others who presumably might take 13 advantage of the arrangement. 14 I would like to point out - 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator Marchi, excuse me for one second. 17 Senator Stachowski. 18 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Senator 19 Marchi, if you will just yield to one question, 20 I think we can probably cut this down. 21 SENATOR MARCHI: Certainly. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Marchi, will you yield to a question? 7307 1 Senator Stachowski. 2 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Senator, 3 your bill on the title says, "to any organized 4 militia," and I believe that in your explanation 5 you explained that it's only the New York 6 State - 7 SENATOR MARCHI: Yes. 8 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: -- Reserves 9 and that - 10 SENATOR MARCHI: Yes. 11 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: -- not any, 12 you know - 13 SENATOR MARCHI: No. 14 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: -- any of 15 those other -- although they're organized, none 16 of those other militias will be eligible for 17 this. 18 And, you know, with them being so 19 high-profile currently, I just didn't want 20 anybody to get the mistaken idea that New York 21 State is passing a bill saying organized 22 militias can get a distinctive license plate. 23 SENATOR MARCHI: As a matter of 7308 1 fact, Mr. President, I believe your concern is 2 appropriate, and I believe Senator Leibell is 3 preparing or is introducing legislation to 4 address the very fact that we are both concerned 5 about. 6 No, this is the real thing. 7 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 9 the last section. 10 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 11 President, just on the bill, briefly. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Dollinger. 14 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Just one 15 brief point. I think in some of the research I 16 did six months ago that, actually, any 17 unorganized militia, any organization that gets 18 together is actually banned in this state. 19 There's no such thing as an unorganized 20 militia. The only kind of militia that we have 21 that are legal are the kinds that are mentioned 22 in your bill, and, as Senator Stachowski said, 23 those other groups that call themselves militias 7309 1 are actually illegal under the New York State 2 Military Law. 3 SENATOR MARCHI: It has all the 4 elements of mischief, as we've seen take place 5 around the country. I think the sooner we 6 address that abusive -- well, horrible. They 7 have inflicted awesome casualties and damage, 8 and they have that potential. It's an existing 9 potential. I believe the earlier we address 10 that aspect, I think we'll all be better off. 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I just want 12 to join Senator Stachowski in supporting the 13 organized militia, and let's draw a firm line 14 that the unorganized groups that call themselves 15 militias are illegal in this state and don't 16 deserve the imprimatur of license plates or 17 anything else. 18 SENATOR MARCHI: We're in total 19 agreement, Senator. 20 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I appreciate 21 that. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 23 the last section. 7310 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect on the first day of 3 September. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 9 bill is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1312, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 701, an 12 act to amend the Social Services Law. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Senator Padavan, an explanation has been 16 requested by the Acting Minority Leader, Senator 17 Paterson. 18 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 I believe most of you, if not 21 all, are familiar with something known as the 22 sponsor's agreement, where an individual who is 23 seeking entry to this country as a legal alien 7311 1 obtains an agreement from a sponsor, the person 2 who is making him/herself responsible for that 3 immigrant in terms of economic needs. Those 4 agreements are required, provided for in law, 5 Federal Immigration Law. 6 Now, what we're saying here in 7 this proposal is that the conditions of that 8 agreement be enforced; that if someone is 9 seeking social service benefits, that our social 10 service agency will reach out to that sponsor 11 who put his or her name on a piece of paper 12 saying, "I will assume these responsibilities." 13 Now, if that person, that sponsor 14 is no longer in a position to provide that 15 financial assistance, that support, or is no 16 longer in the state, the bill before us allows 17 social services to immediately take that into 18 consideration and provide the needs of the 19 individuals applying. 20 That, in essence, is the bill. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 22 Senator Paterson. 23 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 7312 1 President. If Senator Padavan would yield. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Senator Padavan, would you yield for a question? 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Paterson. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, you 8 just said that the purpose of the bill is to 9 make sure that the responsibilities of the 10 sponsorship be enforced. However, as is well 11 held federal law and it even appears in your 12 sponsorship memorandum, we're aware that you 13 can't enforce a contract between the sponsor and 14 the legal alien for that kind of an agreement. 15 So as the law stands right now, 16 and it is a federal law so we assume preemption, 17 I don't understand how that can be the purpose 18 of your legislation because, if it is the 19 purpose of your legislation, it is basically 20 void by the preempting federal law. 21 SENATOR PADAVAN: By the what? I 22 don't understand your question, Senator. 23 What I'm saying is that federal 7313 1 law provides for the sponsorship agreement. 2 That's a fact. I don't think anyone quarrels 3 with that. We're saying that our Department of 4 Social Services in New York should initiate 5 action to seek the support that that sponsorship 6 agreement provides for, with the exceptions that 7 I explained before. 8 So, again, I don't understand 9 your question. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 11 Senator Paterson. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. I will restate the question for 14 Senator Padavan. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator Padavan, do you continue to yield? 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. Yes, I 18 do. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Senator Paterson. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: I don't know 22 what the bill initiates. What it does, it makes 23 the individuals ineligible for social services 7314 1 based on the fact that they are not receiving 2 continued sponsorship from the sponsor, and I'm 3 saying that in your opening statement you said 4 that the reason that -- the purpose of the bill 5 was to make the responsibility of the sponsor 6 something that's enforceable. Those were 7 actually the words you used. 8 And I was just asking you how you 9 could say that when in the federal law that is, 10 in my opinion, the supervening law, it says that 11 you can not make that relationship enforceable 12 as in a contract. 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: There's 14 something that I'm either not hearing or not 15 understanding. 16 The bill, in effect, by virtue if 17 it ever were enacted, makes our social service 18 agencies responsible to reach out to that 19 sponsor in the first step. By the way, this 20 applies for three years under federal law. 21 That's what we want to happen, and there is a 22 reason for it. It's not an arbitrary idea. By 23 the way, it's not my idea initially. I will 7315 1 tell you a little later where it came from. 2 But the cost to the State of New 3 York in social services as provided by the 4 Department of Social Services is anywhere from 5 500 million to 786 million in terms of social 6 service costs. That is all the categories. So 7 we're not talking about something here that's 8 insignificant. 9 Now, we acknowledge, as I said 10 before in my explanation, that sponsors' 11 situations change. They might die. They might 12 move. They may have their own economic 13 problems, so that it might not be enforceable 14 for that reason, and we provide for that. 15 But what I said -- and if I 16 didn't make myself clear, let me clarify it. 17 What I said was, the sponsorship agreement 18 exists in federal law. We want it applied, 19 because it's not being applied, at least not in 20 New York State, and that's what this bill seeks 21 to do. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Paterson. 7316 1 SENATOR PATERSON: Maybe we'll 2 take this issue by going a different direction. 3 What happens, Senator, under your legislation if 4 a sponsor refuses to provide the legal alien 5 with assistance? 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: Now, if that's 7 your question, I understand it. You are 8 referring to court cases such as the Mannino 9 case and others. Am I correct, just so I can 10 properly answer your first question? 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Well, Senator, 12 I know what the Mannino case held, but I'm 13 really just asking, what happens if the sponsor 14 refuses to make resources available to a legal 15 alien? 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: The cases that 17 have been reported on that particular point do 18 provide some inhibiting factor in seeking those 19 funds from a sponsor. However, in the reading 20 of those cases, you will find it's basically 21 based in terms of the inadequacy of our law in 22 this state, and that's why we have introduced 23 this bill to clarify it. 7317 1 Now, I think in many instances, 2 any judicial action might not be necessary. I 3 think if a social service agency simply reaches 4 out to Mr. Jones and says, "Mr. Jones, you have 5 a sponsor's agreement which you entered into; we 6 feel that, obviously, you are not in good faith 7 maintaining your agreement," that would be the 8 end of it in many instances, and that would 9 inure to the benefit of the taxpayers of New 10 York State. 11 Let me share one other thing with 12 you. Are you familiar -- because we discussed 13 it many times here in the Senate -- the U.S. 14 Commission on Immigration Reform, which was 15 chaired for a number of years by Barbara Jordan, 16 who passed away last year. In that report, the 17 Commission, which was created by the Congress 18 and the President, they made many, many 19 recommendations, but I would like to share with 20 you this one recommendation that relates 21 specifically to the bill before us, and I'm 22 reading the report: "Sponsors should be held 23 financially responsible for the immigrants that 7318 1 they bring to this country. In particular, the 2 Commission believes that the affidavits of 3 support signed by sponsors should be legally 4 enforceable with contingencies made if the 5 sponsor's financial circumstances change 6 significantly for reasons that occurred after 7 the immigrant's entry." 8 That's what this bill does. It 9 tracks specifically the recommendation of the 10 Commission, and we're doing it in New York. 11 Now, as you know from the media 12 reports, the Congress is considering even more 13 stringent obligations on the part of sponsors. 14 For instance, they are considering changing 15 three years to five years, one proposal to ten 16 years and a variety of other things. 17 But we in New York have to deal 18 with what we have, and the law is clear. We 19 have an opportunity to reach out to the sponsor 20 irrespective of any court action that might have 21 to be initiated, or whatever, or any that have 22 already been dealt with. We have a 23 responsibility on behalf of the taxpayer to 7319 1 reach out to the sponsor and remind them, firmly 2 and politely, "You have an obligation. Now, 3 let's sustain it. Do what you said you were 4 going to do." 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Paterson. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 8 I agree with Senator Padavan's premise, but I 9 think Senator Padavan is putting the cart before 10 the horse. 11 On the bill, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Paterson on the bill. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator 15 Padavan referred to the Federal Commission, and 16 the Federal Commission made some suggestions. 17 One of the reasons that they wanted to make the 18 sponsor responsible and wanted to make that 19 agreement enforceable as Senator Padavan read it 20 is because right now it's not. It's not 21 enforceable, and Senator Padavan knows that. 22 It's in his memorandum. 23 So, because of the fact that it's 7320 1 not enforceable, that's what the Mannino case 2 was all about. What Senator Padavan is trying 3 to do is to legislate on the state level to - 4 in a sense, try to, in many ways, subrogate what 5 has already been legislated on the federal 6 level. 7 If we want to change the federal 8 law, Senator Padavan, then perhaps the 9 Commission's recommendations will be heeded by 10 our Congress, and we will be able to change the 11 federal law, but in the interim, trying to, in a 12 sense, undercut the federal law by putting this 13 piece of legislation in, which I am suggesting 14 would not hold up to any court challenge because 15 we not only have judicial cases that hold 16 against this legislation we have actual law that 17 contradicts in legislation. 18 What Senator Padavan is trying to 19 do in this legislation is to - 20 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President, 21 would Senator Paterson yield? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: I'm 23 sorry. 7321 1 SENATOR PADAVAN: Would Senator 2 Paterson yield? 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes, most 4 certainly. 5 SENATOR PADAVAN: Could you share 6 with us, Senator Paterson, any law in this state 7 that prohibits a social service agency from 8 reaching out to a sponsor in terms of their 9 fulfilling their obligation? I didn't say court 10 now. I said law. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: No. As a 12 matter of fact, Senator - 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Senator Paterson. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: -- I cannot 16 cite any law in this state, because I don't have 17 the slightest problem with the -- with our 18 government, with our social service agencies 19 reaching out to the sponsors who, in principle, 20 made a commitment that they did not fulfill. 21 But what I have a problem with 22 and where the law does apply is the fact that we 23 are now trying to make the legal alien, who in 7322 1 many ways is also a taxpayer in many instances, 2 that this individual now becomes the object of 3 serious economic harm because the sponsor didn't 4 fulfill their agreement; and, quite often, the 5 sponsor isn't an individual. It could be the 6 company that hired them, and what is happening 7 as a result of this legislation is that 8 individuals are going to be affected negatively 9 because they are not entitled to any social 10 services because, specifically, the sponsor 11 reneged on their agreement. 12 So what Senator Padavan is trying 13 to do in this legislation is to find a way to go 14 around the federal law and make that agreement 15 enforceable. 16 Now, should the agreement be 17 enforceable? That's an issue that Senator 18 Padavan addressed when he talked about the 19 Federal Commission. He believes it should be. 20 The Commission certainly has dicta in their 21 document that says that it should be, but that's 22 something that we would have to legislate on the 23 federal level. 7323 1 What is occurring right here on 2 the state level is that Senator Padavan is going 3 to deny the privileges of social service to the 4 indigent victims of sponsorship where the 5 sponsor reneged, and the only way that the legal 6 alien could respond would be to have had an air 7 tight, enforceable contract with the sponsor, 8 which is not valid under federal law. 9 So, no, I can't find anything in 10 the state law that says that the social services 11 agency shouldn't reach out to the sponsor, but I 12 wasn't looking for it because I think that part 13 of the legislation that Senator Padavan is 14 introducing is fine, but the part that I have 15 the serious objection with, and 17 members voted 16 against last year, is this idea that these 17 individuals who by the nature of the fact that 18 they are legal aliens, who went through the 19 procedures, who followed all of our rules, who 20 sometimes have been workers, whose tax dollars 21 have also helped provide the revenue base of 22 this state, that they are going to be victimized 23 for three years because their sponsors reneged 7324 1 on an agreement. 2 I think that is a vitriolic way 3 to treat people who want to be part of this 4 country and didn't sneak in here, didn't lie, 5 didn't cajole anybody, but followed all of our 6 laws and all of our regulations, and this is the 7 result, that because the sponsors were unable to 8 deliver and even with the federal law 9 notwithstanding that the federal law says that 10 we cannot enforce a contract, we are telling 11 them, "There will be a chilling effect. Don't 12 even think about coming into this country unless 13 you have a contract because there is no other 14 way that you will be able to get services, 15 because our social services agencies will not 16 provide them no matter how much you cooperated 17 with us." 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 23 the roll. 7325 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 3 the negative on Calendar Number 1312 are Senat 4 ors Abate, Connor, Espada, Kruger, Leichter, 5 Markowitz, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 6 Paterson, Smith, Waldon, Mendez, Lachman. Ayes 7 41, nays 14. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 9 bill is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1314, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 3092, an 12 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 13 relation to inclusion. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator Padavan, an explanation has been 17 requested of Calendar Number 1314 from the 18 Acting Minority Leader, Senator Paterson. 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, Mr. 20 President. This bill deals with the issue of 21 illegal aliens. Currently, federal law mandates 22 that emergency health care be provided to an 23 illegal alien at any time. However, we have 7326 1 discovered through our work and the work of 2 others, including, again, the Commission that I 3 cited previously, that many such illegal aliens 4 are receiving a broad base of health care beyond 5 that which could even in any way, shape or form 6 be defined as emergency. 7 The fiscal impact on the State of 8 New York is enormous, and so we have this bill 9 before us to require that certain steps be taken 10 that precludes illegal aliens from receiving 11 health care other than that provided for on an 12 emergency basis. 13 Again let me share with you a 14 recommendation from the Commission. It says, 15 "Illegal aliens are now eligible for benefit 16 programs. The Commission firmly believes that 17 benefit policies should continue to send this 18 message: 'If aliens enter the U.S. unlawfully, 19 they will not receive aid except in limited 20 circumstances.' Federal legislation should 21 permit states and localities to limit 22 eligibility of illegal aliens on this same 23 basis," and so on, and that's what this bill 7327 1 does. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 3 you, Senator Padavan. 4 Senator Espada. 5 SENATOR ESPADA: Thank you, Mr. 6 President. If the sponsor would yield to a 7 question or two, please. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 9 Senator Padavan, would you yield to a question 10 from Senator Espada? 11 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Espada. 14 SENATOR ESPADA: Thank you, 15 Senator Padavan. Your bill makes reference to 16 publicly-funded health facilities. My first 17 question is, what defines a publicly-funded 18 health facility? 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Can you point 20 to the particular section of the bill that you 21 are referring to? 22 SENATOR ESPADA: 363 (c). 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: Line what? 7328 1 SENATOR ESPADA: Actually, line 2 3, "exclusion of illegal aliens from receiving 3 publicly-funded health care." 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: Virtually every 5 medical facility in this state. 6 SENATOR ESPADA: Pardon? I'm 7 sorry, Mr. President. I'm trying to hear. 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: Well, we got a 9 little background noise here that's outside the 10 chamber. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Excuse 12 me. 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: I'll try and 14 speak a little louder. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Could 16 we please have - 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: Every - 18 virtually every medical facility in this state 19 operates with some level of public funding, 20 Medicaid being the most obvious. 21 SENATOR ESPADA: I accept that. 22 Through you, Mr. President. 23 It also makes reference to 7329 1 emergency care or the provision of emergency 2 care; and so my question to you would be, 3 prenatal care, immunization, TB or treatment for 4 tuberculosis, a schedule of medications, et 5 cetera, HIV virus, treatment for the AIDS virus, 6 would those be emergency situations that would 7 fall under this bill as conditions that would be 8 treated? 9 SENATOR PADAVAN: The bill on 10 lines 6 and 7 says, "other than emergency 11 medical care as required by federal law." Now, 12 if those categories you mentioned fall in that 13 definition or in that framework, then they would 14 apply. 15 SENATOR ESPADA: And through you, 16 Mr. President. 17 And if I told you and medical 18 practitioners told you that they do not fall 19 into the classification as emergency care, would 20 that at all change your mind about the health - 21 the endangerment to the public health that 22 letting people out with tuberculosis without 23 proper immunization, without the ability to deal 7330 1 with the knowledge and treatment of the HIV 2 status, would that at all change your mind about 3 what this bill should involve by way of health 4 services? 5 SENATOR PADAVAN: No, it would 6 not change my mind. And let me in fully 7 answering that question share with you a speech 8 that was given by the President of the United 9 States last May. 10 It says, "Our immigration policy 11 is focused on four areas: First, strengthening 12 the border patrol; second, protecting American 13 jobs by enforcing laws against illegal 14 immigrants in the workplace; third, deporting 15 criminal and deportable aliens; fourth" -- and 16 here is the one that we are talking about - 17 "giving assistance to states who need it and 18 denying illegal aliens benefits for public 19 services or welfare." That's what the President 20 said, and he's right. 21 We cannot, Senator, no matter how 22 charitable we wish to be, be the health care 23 provider for the world. We cannot be a magnet 7331 1 for people coming into this state, into our 2 city, seeking a full range of health care. 3 Now, Senator, you are -- if you 4 would yield. Would you? 5 SENATOR ESPADA: Of course. 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: You are in the 7 health care business, as I understand it - 8 SENATOR ESPADA: Right. 9 SENATOR PADAVAN: And many of 10 your clients who come into that facility, I 11 assume, are illegal immigrants, are they, or any 12 of them? Some? Little? Many? 13 SENATOR ESPADA: We don't have a 14 method nor are we required nor is it desirable 15 to means test access kinds of provisions. 16 In the medicine that I'm familiar 17 with, what we do is: A person comes in. We 18 assess whether they can pay for their service, 19 if they have insurance. If not, they are on a 20 sliding fee scale. The ability to pay would 21 determine how much they are charged, but even if 22 we could not charge and recoup from them a 23 single penny, if a person were to come to us 7332 1 with tuberculosis, with presenting symptoms that 2 would indicate that the HIV virus may be present 3 or certainly needs to be tested for 4 confidentially, if a baby would come in need of 5 immunizations, our first interest, our first 6 concern would be the health status of that 7 particular individual and, more importantly, the 8 health status and the endangerment to the larger 9 community if that particular element was not 10 treated. 11 SENATOR PADAVAN: That's 12 laudatory. But, Senator, let me ask you 13 something. 14 SENATOR ESPADA: No, that's just 15 policy, and that's good health. 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: But you don't 17 inquire as to their immigration status, 18 obviously - 19 SENATOR ESPADA: No. 20 SENATOR PADAVAN: -- under those 21 circumstances? 22 SENATOR ESPADA: No, we don't. 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: How do you 7333 1 get - 2 SENATOR ESPADA: And, by the way, 3 through you, Mr. President, if I may just 4 qualify - 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Padavan, do you continue to yield to 7 Senator Espada? 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: I think he had 9 yielded to me, and he was answering a question. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: And he 11 just asked if you would yield to him. 12 SENATOR ESPADA: If you would 13 kindly allow me to embellish on that thought 14 before we lose it. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Sure, by all 16 means. 17 SENATOR ESPADA: And that is, 18 that of the six centers that we operate, given 19 the absence of financial barriers and 20 protections that I mentioned, all of them -- all 21 of them -- operate without a deficit, sir. 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: Without what? 23 SENATOR ESPADA: Without a 7334 1 deficit. 2 SENATOR PADAVAN: May I ask, 3 Senator, in those cases that you just described, 4 how the cost of doctors, nurses, supplies and 5 everything are provided for such individuals? 6 Who pays for that? 7 SENATOR ESPADA: Right now, most 8 of it is either Medicaid or on a fee for service 9 basis where the patients themselves pay. A 10 great number of the people that we service don't 11 have insurance. They are the working class 12 people of my district, like your district, that 13 are caught in between, can't qualify for 14 Medicaid and must pay out of pocket. 15 One of the many problems, as you 16 know, with our health care system is that we 17 don't cover the working class people, whether 18 they be of whatever immigrant status. They 19 really pay out of pocket, most of them. 20 SENATOR PADAVAN: Do any of 21 these - 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Padavan. 7335 1 SENATOR PADAVAN: Would you yield 2 again, Senator? 3 SENATOR ESPADA: Yes, of course. 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: Do any of these 5 individuals -- I assume, on occasion, referred 6 to local hospitals -- fall into what we call the 7 bad debt and charity pool in this state? 8 SENATOR ESPADA: I'm glad you 9 raised that point because one of problems with 10 this legislation, apart from the public health 11 safety concerns that we've raised, is this issue 12 of the state of health care in our state and how 13 services on Medicaid or services that are not 14 reimbursable through this entitlement are paid 15 for; and, yes, that is a bad debt and charity 16 pool. 17 But even with the bad debt and 18 charity pool that is now part of law, that will 19 soon expire unless both houses do something 20 about it real soon. Many of our health care 21 facilities, be that in the inpatient settings in 22 the hospital or in centers on the primary care 23 front, are living from paycheck to paycheck. 7336 1 Many of them, including last week if we didn't 2 pass the institutional budget on time, would not 3 have been able to make payroll. 4 So, yes, there is this kind of 5 safety valve that we have created, but even with 6 our access in that safety valve, that pool of 7 money, our institutions are suffering, sir. 8 They can't meet their payroll from one week to 9 the other. 10 SENATOR PADAVAN: But, Senator, I 11 just, in the cordiality of our dialogue here, 12 share with you that in looking at one of the 13 city hospitals in my county, Elmhurst 14 specifically, 30 percent -- actually, it's a 15 little more than that -- of their total costs 16 were bad debt and charity care pool costs, 17 meaning almost a third of that hospital's 18 overall -- two-thirds did not either qualify for 19 Medicaid or did not have any insurance and the 20 other third was picked up by the taxpayers of 21 this state. 22 SENATOR ESPADA: Right. 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: And of that 7337 1 percentage, based on information provided to me, 2 a significant percentage were immigrants, both 3 legal and illegal. 4 Now, we're talking in this bill 5 about illegal, to get back to your original 6 question to me. If the health care does not 7 conform to the federal regulations, then it 8 should not be provided and the provisions of 9 this bill, this proposal, should kick in. 10 SENATOR ESPADA: If I may, Mr. 11 President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Espada. 14 SENATOR ESPADA: A follow-up 15 question to this bad debt and charity care. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Senator Padavan, do you continue to yield to 18 Senator Espada? 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 20 SENATOR ESPADA: Thank you, 21 Senator Padavan. 22 Again, I'm very glad that you 23 raised the bad debt and charity pool issue 7338 1 because it impacts directly on the fiscal health 2 of the institutions that you and I represent. 3 But, also, please keep in mind that when you say 4 that legal immigrants or illegal immigrants are 5 disproportionately taxing that bad debt and 6 charity, first and foremost, we are absolutely 7 wrong if we conclude that. It is the working 8 class American citizens in your district and 9 mine, through no problem that they have brought 10 on themselves -- we have corporate downsizing in 11 this state and throughout this country. We have 12 American citizens losing their jobs with no 13 health care insurance. You have no portability 14 to health care insurance even if you move from 15 one job to another. We have fundamental 16 problems with our health care system as it's 17 currently structured and financed. 18 So let's not mix this notable, 19 laudable thing that this state should be proud 20 of, the bad debt and charity pool, which is 21 targeted to the working class poor, with some 22 assumptions and misinformation about the 23 disproportionate use of this particular pool and 7339 1 that money by legal residents or illegal 2 residents. It simply does not bear fruit at 3 all. 4 Mr. President, if I may, on the 5 bill. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7 Senator Espada, on the bill. 8 SENATOR ESPADA: I think when we 9 study the health care system, when we look at 10 what our health care providers are telling us, 11 not one -- not one health care administrator, 12 not one primary care provider, not one doctor or 13 social worker, would come up to you or any one 14 of the 61 Senators and say, first and foremost, 15 that what is needed is an Immigration 16 Naturalization Service deterrent at the hospital 17 emergency rooms or on the front lines of the 18 provision of care in the health care settings in 19 this state. It is absolutely a health care 20 stealth bill that is being proposed here. 21 We will not only hurt those 22 people that are, in fact, legal, or illegal, but 23 people that look a certain way, and this thought 7340 1 and this prejudice and this bias runs through 2 the five bills that were introduced last year by 3 Senator Padavan. They absolutely would provide 4 and reinforce a discrimination against those 5 people that look a certain way. 6 But, beyond that, if we just 7 study the absolute concrete implications of 8 this, we're talking about denying service which 9 is not emergent to children, their immunization 10 schedules, to persons who have tuberculosis and 11 other communicable diseases, HIV, you name it. 12 These are classified as nonemergency services. 13 If people go untreated, 14 undiagnosed, it is endangering the public 15 health. This is a most dangerous bill, as are 16 several of the others, but this, we must be very 17 careful because we understand that no provider 18 at all would accept this mandate. No health 19 care facility could afford this at this time or 20 any time, because it runs against the grain of 21 why doctors and social workers are out there 22 helping people in the helping professions at 23 this time. 7341 1 We vote no, and we encourage all 2 of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle 3 that are cognizant of the dangers of this bill 4 and the financial distress that could result to 5 also vote no. 6 Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator Abate. 9 SENATOR ABATE: Yes, Mr. 10 President. Would Senator Padavan yield to 11 another question? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Padavan, would you yield to a question 14 from Senator Abate? 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, I'd be 16 glad to. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 18 Senator Abate. 19 SENATOR ABATE: Senator, I 20 understand your intentions around saving 21 dollars, and you articulated your goals very 22 clearly, but I can conceive of a case where a 23 hospital or a public facility would be in 7342 1 tremendous conflict. Let me give you a 2 situation. 3 There is an illegal alien who 4 happens to be a pregnant woman and she's seeking 5 prenatal care before that health facility, and 6 certainly we understand that when a woman 7 receives prenatal care it's not just to benefit 8 the health of her but also the future viability 9 of that child and the future health of that 10 child. So, understanding that when that woman 11 gives birth to that child that child will be a 12 citizen, are we going to be denying under this 13 bill health care to this pregnant woman who also 14 happens to be an illegal alien? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator Padavan. 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: We would be. 18 SENATOR ABATE: We would be? 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: We would be, 20 just as the federal government says we should. 21 Now, I understand what you are 22 saying but, again, I repeat what I said to 23 Senator Espada. It would be marvelous if we 7343 1 could provide prenatal health care for people 2 all over the world who would like to come here 3 and have us provide it. The fact of the matter 4 is we don't have the resources. 5 As you know, our health care 6 system, particularly in our urban centers, New 7 York City being paramount -- our health care 8 capacity is overtaxed, stretched to the limit, 9 hospitals in tremendous financial crisis, all 10 kinds of things happening. Now, when you take 11 that into consideration, you really have to come 12 to one conclusion. We cannot do any more. 13 Now, what are we talking about? 14 Well, we had input from Welfare Inspector 15 General, Mr. Elmer Toro -- I'm sure you've heard 16 of him -- who told us that in this state illegal 17 immigrants -- illegal -- were receiving health 18 care, other than emergency, at a cost -- this 19 was in 1993, for that calendar year -- of over 20 $68 million. 21 Now, you might say, well, we 22 should spend it anyhow. But what I'm saying to 23 you, we don't have it to spend and we've got to 7344 1 draw the line. Now, the federal government has 2 drawn the blueprint for us, and we have to 3 follow it. By the way, I might add 4 parenthetically here if you have been paying 5 attention to what's going on in Washington, they 6 are considering going much further in many 7 respects. So what we're doing, I think, is 8 reasonable. 9 SENATOR ABATE: Thank you, 10 Senator. 11 On the bill. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Abate, on the bill. 14 SENATOR ABATE: Our actions in 15 New York State do not have to mirror or reflect 16 the actions in Washington. If Washington makes 17 a mistake, we should not necessarily replicate 18 that mistake, and the example I gave is exactly 19 what is wrong with this bill. A pregnant woman 20 is denied prenatal care, and there is a rippling 21 effect that will have a negative impact directly 22 on the child who she will give birth to in the 23 near future. I believe, while the intent of 7345 1 this bill is to save dollars, it will not save 2 dollars. 3 Last year, 15 people voted 4 against this bill. We should vote down the 5 legislation completely because so many things 6 have changed between last year and this year, 7 and what has changed is the hospitals, the 8 health facilities, are facing billions of 9 dollars in Medicaid cuts. As Senator Espada 10 said, they are fighting for their survival. 11 They are fighting to be able to provide very 12 important and critical services. In the guise 13 of saving dollars, we are now asking -- and I 14 believe it will be limited dollars. We're 15 asking them to take on an enormous 16 administrative apparatus, take on collecting 17 paper, doing investigations, setting up new 18 personnel departments to figure out who is 19 legal, who is illegal, which agencies they need 20 to reach out to. What kind of investigation 21 needs to be done? This is not a cost free 22 agenda. It's not a cost-free endeavor. It will 23 cost the providers enormous amounts of dollars. 7346 1 I believe the business in 2 determining who is legal and illegal is a law 3 enforcement function. They are trained to 4 investigate these matters. They are trained to 5 collect evidence, to interview people, to make 6 sure that justice is done. The hospitals are 7 ill-equipped to carry on this function, and it 8 should be left with the INS. 9 I also agree that this will have 10 deleterious effects on public health. We are 11 all affected when people in our neighborhood are 12 sick, have contagious disease or aren't provided 13 with preventive health measures. We as a 14 community in every community around the state 15 are affected when we do not have an aggressive 16 public health agenda. It's not good for us. 17 It's not good for the hospitals, and it's not 18 good for the children and the women who will be 19 left behind with this bill. 20 I urge all my colleagues to vote 21 no on this legislation. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Mendez. 7347 1 SENATOR MENDEZ: Thank you, Mr. 2 President. I wonder if Senator Padavan would 3 yield for a question. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Senator Padavan, would you yield for a question 6 from Senator Mendez? 7 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 8 SENATOR MENDEZ: Senator Padavan. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Padavan. 11 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. Yes. 12 SENATOR MENDEZ: I just wanted to 13 make sure. Senator Padavan, oftentimes, we hear 14 of the local communities and other local 15 institutions crying out for all of us here to 16 stop sending them -- requiring them to comply 17 with mandates when we don't give them a penny. 18 Now, in this instance that was 19 mentioned also by Senator Abate, the doctor and 20 the people working in the emergency rooms, first 21 of all, they would have to write a letter - 22 according to your bill, would have to write a 23 letter to the person saying, "Sorry, you are ill 7348 1 but we must leave you die until we are able to 2 find out whether or not you are an illegal 3 alien," and after that is done, Senator Padavan, 4 then the person in the hospital - 5 SENATOR PADAVAN: That's not 6 true. 7 SENATOR MENDEZ: Wait, wait, 8 wait, wait. 9 SENATOR PADAVAN: That's not 10 true. 11 SENATOR MENDEZ: When a person - 12 when an illegal person goes to an emergency room 13 for medical emergency treatment when allowed by 14 the federal government, over there that person 15 will not be receiving medical services; right? 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: No. That 17 person will. That person will receive it. 18 SENATOR MENDEZ: How? 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: If that person 20 is seeking emergency health care, the federal 21 government -- and, by the way, just to clarify 22 that I said that the federal law is defined and 23 it does include inoculations against contagious 7349 1 diseases. 2 SENATOR MENDEZ: But when a 3 person goes to the hospital not for emergency 4 medical service, how will that person be 5 handled? Isn't the hospital personnel supposed 6 to first find out if person X is an illegal 7 alien or a resident alien or a U.S. citizen? 8 What is the process of doing so? 9 SENATOR PADAVAN: Sorry, 10 Senator. I didn't quite understand the 11 question. 12 SENATOR MENDEZ: Suppose the 13 illegal alien goes to the hospital seeking any 14 other medical service. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Other than 16 emergency, as defined. 17 SENATOR MENDEZ: Except 18 emergency, because you allow -- your bill allows 19 emergency medical services because those are the 20 ones that are allowed by the federal government, 21 but if they do go to the hospital very, very 22 sick, how will that person be handled, being an 23 illegal alien. 7350 1 SENATOR PADAVAN: If they are 2 very, very sick, that's an emergency, then they 3 would be cared for. 4 SENATOR MENDEZ: Come on. Your 5 bill - 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: Senator, let me 7 answer it this way. The federal government has 8 provided certain guidelines, and they talk about 9 emergency medical services, immunization and 10 testing, treatment for symptoms of communicable 11 disease, in-kind emergency, and so on and so 12 on. An emergency is an emergency. It's a 13 medical judgment. If that person is simply 14 there for an annual checkup or for something 15 that is not an emergency, then they would not be 16 under the provisions of our bill consistent with 17 the federal - 18 SENATOR MENDEZ: Senator. 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Let me just 20 finish the sentence. To answer your question, 21 if it was not an emergency as defined, then, as 22 you see here on line 20, the facility shall not 23 provide such person the services. 7351 1 SENATOR MENDEZ: Keep reading, 2 please. 3 SENATOR PADAVAN: That's it. 4 SENATOR MENDEZ: Keep reading, 5 please. 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: The rest of it 7 is after the fact. The rest of it is, we 8 want - 9 SENATOR MENDEZ: Senator, your 10 bill, "The facility shall not provide such 11 person with services." 12 SENATOR PADAVAN: Right. 13 SENATOR MENDEZ: "The facility 14 shall in writing notify such person of his 15 suspected illegal immigration status." 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 17 SENATOR MENDEZ: "The facility 18 shall also notify the Commissioner, the Attorney 19 General and the United States Immigration and 20 the Naturalization Service of the suspected 21 illegal status and shall provide any additional 22 information that may be requested by any other 23 public entity." 7352 1 All that process are mandates to 2 the hospital that are surviving -- trying to 3 survive because of economical situations, and so 4 they must become agents for the Immigration 5 Department. They must become Assistant D.A.s 6 for the District Attorney -- you know, all that 7 process. 8 So wouldn't you have to agree, 9 Senator Padavan, that this bill will be giving 10 unfunded mandates to hospitals and other health 11 organizations? 12 SENATOR PADAVAN: I don't agree, 13 and I will explain why, Senator. 14 SENATOR MENDEZ: You're not 15 giving them a penny. 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: May I explain 17 why I don't agree? 18 SENATOR PADAVAN: We decided that 19 there will be a chilling effect in terms of cost 20 because in so doing we will reduce finally the 21 number, we will reduce the number of illegal 22 aliens coming into the country, into the United 23 States, particularly in the city of New York. 7353 1 As Mr. Toro has cited, in that year alone, there 2 was $50 million in city hospitals alone in the 3 city of New York in terms of cost for illegal 4 aliens. A very small percentage of it was for 5 emergency, very small percentage. 6 In the course of this chilling 7 effect, this process that we are trying to 8 implement, we would save millions and millions 9 of dollars for the state, but more importantly 10 for the hospitals you're referring to because 11 they are the ones -- and I ask you, Senator, if 12 you haven't done it already, and you probably 13 have -- sit in a clinic or emergency ward at one 14 of our city hospitals. I have. Sit there for a 15 while. Talk to the intake people, talk to the 16 doctors who are there serving. Listen to what 17 they have to say. They say, We're overwhelmed 18 here. We're overwhelmed. That's where the 19 benefit would come in. 20 SENATOR MENDEZ: I know -- I know 21 that this bill of yours is positively motivated 22 to make sure that we save some money. You are a 23 man with a great heart and you want to save 7354 1 money for the state of New York, and I mean 2 that. If you weren't on the floor of the Senate 3 I would tell you, Senator Padavan, You are a 4 good man, Charlie Brown; but I can't do that 5 because we are on the Senate floor of the 6 chamber. 7 But in any event, on a serious 8 note, this bill of yours, besides provoking 9 great pain and suffering of individuals, that 10 yes, they do not have the right to be here 11 according to our law but, if they are here, it's 12 because among other things, because the -- our 13 federal government is not doing the job, period, 14 and they are here exactly the same way that many 15 other previous immigrants did come into the - 16 into the country. 17 But this, this bill, besides pain 18 and suffering that it would provoke to all these 19 people, will also be provoking economic pain to 20 our hospitals and clinics. You'll be saving on 21 the one hand, I don't know how much you'll be 22 saving, but the fact remains that these hospit 23 als that are streamlining like all corporations 7355 1 are nowadays, they will have other tasks and 2 responsibilities to perform when we here -- if 3 we pass this bill. 4 We are not providing them with 5 one single penny and you know very well that 6 with the issue of medical reimbursement and you 7 know, of course, we are not going to have a 8 budget as yet, but you know how important for 9 these hospitals Medicaid reimbursement, any 10 reimbursement, is so this is a bill whose time 11 has not come. This is the worst time to be even 12 beginning with this. So, therefore, I really, 13 Mr. -- Mr. President, do urge my colleagues to 14 vote against it. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Thanks, Senator Mendez. 18 Senator Marchi. 19 SENATOR MARCHI: I think we fail 20 to focus on one aspect. I can understand, 21 Senator, your feeling because I share it, if 22 people are in trouble, and to slam the door in 23 their face, circumstances here provide even for 7356 1 assistance where that -- where there is an 2 absence of a sponsor, or in some of the other 3 cases, but we don't -- we have no control over 4 the immigration laws of this state and to the 5 extent that a few areas in the country make 6 tremendous efforts -- and I think they're 7 laudable -- to meet human need, how can you 8 refuse need -- to assist people in serious 9 difficulty. 10 But do you realize that we are 11 penalizing people who are on welfare? They're 12 not living on champagne and caviar; they're 13 living on a very, very narrow margin. Their 14 marginal -- their existence is marginal. It's 15 also marginal because the costs of adminis 16 trating and providing for that program is 17 inflated and diluted, the dollars that are 18 available are diluted by -- by programs and 19 circumstances that are not under our control or 20 developed by us, and there are few places around 21 the country, I guess, that have that 22 circumstance. 23 So how -- how do we develop a 7357 1 consistency and a sensitivity in the federal 2 government? And this has been the truth, I 3 think, as you stated it before. No matter what 4 the administration is, they can be Democrats, 5 they can be Republicans, but they wash their 6 hands. They don't -- they just don't face up to 7 that responsibility. Yet, they have that 8 responsibility, and we don't have it and being 9 human beings, we want to meet that need, but we 10 also have to realize that there is a negative 11 impact on our -- on indigenous people here who 12 are not -- they're not wallowing in food or the 13 benevolence of the state. They're barely sub 14 sisting right now, and unless we keep an eye, as 15 Senator Padavan is directing our vision, unless 16 we do that, we're going to get more water in the 17 soup for these families, and I think if we're 18 going to restore some order and get -- and do 19 justice to the people that we have, and with the 20 responsibility -- ineluctable, it's irreversible 21 -- I think we have it and we should have it and 22 we ought to meet it in a -- in a sensitive way, 23 not in a mean-spirited way but in a sensitive 7358 1 way to human need, we're aggravating the 2 problem. 3 So I think Senator Padavan is 4 telling us here, we don't want more water in the 5 soup for people. Let's try to focus on 6 responsibility where we can. Where it's 7 impossible then, of course, relief is provided, 8 but it's a serious problem and until -- until a 9 greater sensitivity takes over in Washington and 10 I'm a little -- I'm not too optimistic about 11 that, whatever happens in any election in the 12 future, but I think we have -- the only way we 13 can dramatize that need is by taking the 14 guidance that's provided here by Senator Padavan 15 in trying to devise a policy that meets that 16 need. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 7359 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator Leichter. 3 SENATOR LEICHTER: If I may, to 4 explain my vote. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Leichter, to explain his vote. 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. President, 8 certainly there is a problem to some extent with 9 illegal immigration, but it's a federal matter 10 and it has to be dealt with on the federal 11 level. I think when we try to do the sort of 12 things that Senator Padavan is doing which are 13 really sort of lashing out at a problem without 14 going to the source of the problem or going to 15 the forum where the problem needs to be solved, 16 I think we end up with the sort of difficulties 17 that this bill has. 18 I think it was pointed out very 19 correctly by Senator Padavan, this is a 20 counterproductive bill. You're saying people 21 who are sick, who may be carrying diseases, 22 children who won't be immunized, we're going to 23 leave them around in our community spreading 7360 1 diseases because we're unwilling to provide the 2 help that we ought to do for our own 3 self-interest. I submit we also ought to do it 4 for humanitarian reasons. Whether these people 5 are here legally or not, they're still in our 6 communities. They still are human beings. They 7 still are entitled to basic -- to basic 8 services. 9 So, Mr. President, one, this bill 10 doesn't accomplish anything. Secondly, I think 11 it sort of brands us as immigration bashers, as 12 people who deny to children, to women, to 13 others, the services that they ought to have, 14 and certainly people don't come to this country 15 because they want to get medical health care. 16 They come to this country to try to work. 17 Now, everybody should come here 18 legally, but you're certainly not going to deter 19 people by saying you're not going to provide 20 medical services. All you're going to do is 21 place the community-at-large at risk and, as I 22 say, brand us as people who are really neglect 23 ful of our humanitarian obligations. 7361 1 Mr. President, I vote in the 2 negative. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 4 Announce the results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 6 the negative on Calendar Number 1314 are 7 Senators Connor, Espada, Gonzalez, Kruger, 8 Lachman, Leichter, Markowitz, Mendez, 9 Montgomery, Nanula, Oppenheimer, Paterson, Smith 10 and Waldon. Ayes 43, nays 14. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 12 Senator Marcellino. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Announce the 14 results, please. The bill is passed? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 16 bill is passed. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 18 President, would you please recognize Senator 19 DeFrancisco. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator DeFrancisco. 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'd 23 like the record to reflect that had I been in 7362 1 the chambers when Calendar Number 1060, Senate 2 Print 6269-C, was voted on yesterday, I would 3 have voted in the negative. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 5 record will so reflect. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Would you 7 recognize Senator Sears first and then Senator 8 Gonzalez. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Sears. 11 SENATOR SEARS: Yes, would you 12 please remove the star from Calendar Number 26, 13 Senate Bill 210-D. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Star 15 is removed. 16 Senator Gonzalez. 17 SENATOR GONZALEZ: Yes, Mr. 18 President. May I have unanimous consent to be 19 voted in the negative on 1312, Calendar Number 20 1312. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 22 Without objection, so ordered. 23 SENATOR MARCELLINO: No 7363 1 objection. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Senator Leichter. 4 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes. May I 5 have unanimous consent to be recorded in the 6 negative on Calendar 1102. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Without objection, so ordered. 9 Senator Nanula. 10 SENATOR NANULA: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 I'd like to request unanimous 13 consent to be recorded in the negative on 14 Calendar Number 1324. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Without objection, so ordered. 17 Senator Marcellino. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Could we 19 return at this time to the normal calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: I'm 21 sorry. Senator Rath. 22 SENATOR RATH: Mr. President, one 23 more housekeeping item. I'd like to have the 7364 1 star removed from my bill, Calendar Number 944. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Star 3 is removed. 4 Senator Farley. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: You have 6 housekeeping. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, Mr. 8 President. On page 4 I offer the following 9 amendments, on behalf of Senator LaValle, to 10 Calendar Number 22, Senate Print 3292-A, and I 11 ask that that bill retain its place on the Third 12 Reading Calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Amendments received. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 16 Senator Goodman, Mr. President, I wish to call 17 up his bill, Senate Print 1605, which was 18 recalled from the Assembly which is now at the 19 desk. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1135, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 1605, an 7365 1 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 2 SENATOR FARLEY: I now move to 3 reconsider the vote by which this bill passed. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 5 the role on reconsideration. 6 (The Secretary called the roll on 7 reconsideration. ) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 9 SENATOR FARLEY: I now offer the 10 following amendments. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 12 Senator Farley. Amendments received. 13 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 14 Senator Lack, Mr. President, I wish to call up 15 Calendar Number 1057, Assembly Print 2417-A. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1057, by member of the Assembly Robach, Assembly 20 Print 2417-A, an act to amend the Surrogate's 21 Court Procedure Act. 22 SENATOR FARLEY: I now move to 23 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly bill 7366 1 was substituted for my bill 4529-A, on 5-28. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll on 5 reconsideration. ) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7 Senator Farley. 8 SENATOR FARLEY: I now -- I now 9 move that the Assembly Bill 2417-A be 10 recommitted to the Committee on Rules and that 11 Senator Lack's Senate bill be restored to the 12 order of Third Reading Calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Assembly bill is recommitted. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: And I now offer 16 the following amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 18 Amendments received. 19 Senator Marcellino. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 21 President, may we deviate for one moment and 22 move to Bill Number 1320, Calendar Number 1320. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Clerk 7367 1 will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1320, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 4 Assembly Print 7839, an act to amend the 5 Executive Law. 6 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: 7 Explanation. 8 SENATOR LAVALLE: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 11 Senator LaValle, explanation has been requested 12 by Senator Stachowski. 13 SENATOR LAVALLE: Let me just 14 indicate as a preface before I explain some of 15 the provisions of the bill, one of the things 16 that or some of the things that have led to the 17 introduction of this bill that has already 18 passed the Assembly. 19 As we know, many corporations, 20 many employers, in an attempt to control health 21 insurance costs, some employers are seeking to 22 have prospective employees tested for a range of 23 genetically influenced health conditions 7368 1 including genetic predisposition to disease or 2 disability and a carrier status. 3 We are finding that tests that 4 are being developed are proceeding at an 5 extremely fast pace. The knowledge of how genes 6 produce diseases is somewhat limited and, as a 7 result, there is a limited possibility of 8 predicting whether a particular genetic 9 disposition will result in disease or disability 10 and so, what this bill sets out to -- to do, is 11 to say that under the Executive Law that 12 employers cannot directly or indirectly solicit 13 or require, administer a genetic test to a 14 person as a condition of employment or 15 pre-employment application, and this is also not 16 only for employers but also for labor 17 organization membership or for licensure, and 18 there is some exceptions narrowly carved out in 19 the bill in which an individual might request - 20 an employee might request a genetic test in 21 certain circumstances pursuant to a Workers' 22 Comp. claim or pursuant to civil litigation or 23 to determine the employee's susceptibility to 7369 1 potentially carcinogenic, toxic or other 2 hazardous chemicals. 3 It also would allow an employer 4 to require a specific genetic test as a 5 condition of employment where the test would 6 show to be directly related to an occupational 7 environment, and that is -- that's pretty much 8 -- pretty much the scope of the bill, the 9 rationale of why the bill was filed. 10 We have worked with the 11 Commission on Science and Technology in the 12 development of this legislation. Assemblyman 13 Sweeney is the sponsor in the Assembly and, as 14 I've indicated, the bill has already passed that 15 house. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 17 you, Senator. 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 20 act - 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: I'm 22 sorry. Senator Dollinger. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Would the 7370 1 sponsor yield for just a couple quick 2 questions? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Senator 4 LaValle, would you yield to a question from 5 Senator Dollinger? 6 SENATOR LAVALLE: Yes, I will. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator yields. 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Senator, I 10 apologize that I have not perhaps read the full 11 extent of this bill, but to what extent would 12 this affect the insurance that would be 13 purchased by the employer for the employee? 14 SENATOR LAVALLE: I don't think 15 it would have any effect on this. 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Well, just 17 again through you, Mr. President. 18 SENATOR LAVALLE: Yes. 19 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Does the bill 20 expressly prohibit the insurance carrier of the 21 employer from requesting the test after 22 employment has been arranged but prior to the 23 employee qualifying for benefit? 7371 1 SENATOR LAVALLE: I - 2 SENATOR DOLLINGER: In other 3 words, Senator, in many cases - 4 SENATOR LAVALLE: Yeah. 5 SENATOR DOLLINGER: -- you apply 6 for the job; you're asked all the pre-employment 7 questions which are all set by law or largely 8 governed by law. You're offered the job. Once 9 you take the job, then you're brought in for the 10 benefits discussion in which you actually sign 11 up for the benefits. You get your Blue Cross/ 12 Blue Shield and get your pension benefits or 13 whatever else you're entitled to. 14 My question is does this prohibit 15 the insurance company after you've actually been 16 employed, from acquiring a genetic test as a 17 condition of getting employment? 18 SENATOR LAVALLE: The language in 19 the bill says that to directly or indirectly 20 solicit, require or administer a genetic test to 21 a person as a condition of employment, 22 pre-employment application, so that I would say 23 that both before you actually accept or as a 7372 1 term and condition of employment while you're 2 employed, that you can not be required to take a 3 genetic test unless the two -- the situation is 4 -- the individual requests that themselves, the 5 employee, or the employer, under the situation 6 that I described in the bill where there is an 7 environmental -- an occupational environment 8 that might lead to some sort of problem. 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: O.K. Again 10 through you, Mr. President, to Senator LaValle, 11 I think that's the correct articulation of the 12 law, and I see exactly what you're doing. 13 SENATOR LAVALLE: Yes. 14 SENATOR DOLLINGER: You're trying 15 to say that, if you can show the genetic 16 predisposition, in essence, as a term of 17 employment, that it would be a factor in 18 determining employability. For example, if you 19 had susceptibility to iodine or some such 20 genetic predisposition and yet the job involved 21 dealing with iodine and that exposure - 22 SENATOR LAVALLE: That's correct. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Then the 7373 1 genetic test would be critical to determine your 2 fitness as an employee. 3 SENATOR LAVALLE: That's 4 correct. You're right on the money. 5 SENATOR DOLLINGER: And I think 6 that's a good provision, but my position with 7 respect to the first question I asked about the 8 carrier imposing it as a condition of getting 9 benefits, it seems to me the statute doesn't 10 directly deal with that and leads to my next 11 question, through you, Mr. President. 12 The fact that the employee can 13 consent, doesn't that in most instances as a 14 practical matter, doesn't that mean that the 15 consent will actually be given, because -- and 16 Senator, again, I'm just trying to make sure I 17 fully understand it. If you take the job and 18 they then say as a condition of getting your 19 benefits you've got to consent to this test, 20 most people would say, Gee, I've finally got the 21 job, I'll give the consent, and it -- although 22 it is a voluntary consent probably under the 23 law, it's one of those consents where, if you 7374 1 don't consent, you're not going to get the job 2 and, Senator, I would add I think that's a 3 common problem with these types of issues to set 4 up a truly voluntary scheme in the employment 5 contracts when it appears as though the weight 6 of everything is pushing you toward that less 7 than pristine voluntary consent. 8 SENATOR LAVALLE: Senator, I -- I 9 suppose in the real world, as you know, where 10 there are pressures, I suppose an individual 11 might consent to something because he wants to 12 hold onto the job. However -- and we're trying 13 to balance all of these things when we -- when 14 this legislation was created. I don't know if 15 -- if it will satisfy you in the inquiry that 16 you have made, but the very last provision in 17 the bill says what the employee has to go 18 through; it's the (d) on page 4. 19 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Yeah. 20 SENATOR LAVALLE: If an employee 21 consents to genetic testing for any of the 22 aforementioned allowable reasons, he or she must 23 be given and sign an authorized authorization of 7375 1 consent form which explicitly states the 2 specific purpose, uses and limitations of the 3 genetic test and the specific traits or 4 characteristics to be tested, so I don't know if 5 that fully would satisfy where you're -- your 6 concern, and I understand your concern that 7 people, because they have a job, are then 8 pressured and say, Well, O.K., and what we try 9 to do, as you well know as an attorney, is that 10 when you go through and you put something in 11 writing, and you say to a person you understand 12 what you're signing and you go through that, it 13 then allows that person to fully consider all 14 the ramifications of what they are signing and 15 what they are authorizing and what they're 16 doing. 17 I'm not sure in the real world 18 that you could in a bill that would -- would 19 receive majority votes in both houses, be able 20 to deal with all of the possibilities and 21 potential coercion that an individual might be 22 put under. I share your concern. I don't know 23 how to deal with it as a practical matter. 7376 1 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I concur. I 2 guess I'll speak on the bill, Mr. President. I 3 appreciate my colleague's, Senator LaValle's 4 candid discussion. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Dollinger, on the bill. 7 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I agree 8 because I think, as a practical matter, trying 9 to come up with a truly voluntary situation 10 where you've got someone who's applied for a 11 job, others have been offered the job, and 12 suddenly you toss this factor in, the consent 13 may be less than willful or may be less than 14 voluntary, but it's probably as voluntary as 15 we're going to get it. 16 We have to assume that someone 17 who signs a form that says, "I know I'm doing 18 that in a voluntary fashion; I know I can refuse 19 to do it" which is, I assume, what the form of 20 the contract would say, and I have these other 21 protections and counseling and information, in 22 most cases I assume that it will be even like 23 lawyers who have been known to sign contracts as 7377 1 I signed one to have my house sided where it 2 simply said, Are you insured? I said, Yes, and 3 I assume it's probably in the contract, and it's 4 probably true of employees as a practical matter 5 here. 6 I'm going to vote for this bill, 7 Senator LaValle. I think this is a good first 8 step down the road. I think that the one thing 9 I would be concerned about and perhaps, if it 10 some day gets to conference and some day gets to 11 the second print, that the other term and 12 condition of employment should specify that the 13 person not be tested as a requirement of the 14 insurance carrier who's providing them with 15 benefits, that oftentimes in the employment 16 process, it's not a term and condition of 17 employment, it's a term and condition of 18 obtaining the benefits that you're -- that you 19 would otherwise be entitled to as an employer or 20 as an employee. 21 As you know, in many instances in 22 working families where you have both men and 23 women who have eligibility for benefits as part 7378 1 of their health insurance plan, you may find 2 that you want to select benefits from one of the 3 two employers depending on their availability 4 and their -- the extent that they assist your 5 family, and I guess I would be concerned that we 6 make it clear that the insurance company cannot 7 genetically test someone as a condition of 8 disqualifying them from getting health insurance 9 or life insurance benefits that would otherwise 10 be available as part of the benefits package 11 made available. 12 So with that in mind, I'm going 13 to vote in favor of it. I just -- I hope we 14 continue down this path, because I know I have a 15 genetic testing bill in that does some other 16 things, but I think this is a good step down the 17 road, and I hope we get down to the point where 18 we will not hold anyone's genetic make-up 19 against them as we look to making sure that 20 people have health and life insurance benefits 21 available to them as part of their employment, 22 something that's important here in New York 23 State, and we should continue. 7379 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: 2 Secretary will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 4 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: 9 Announce the results. 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: The 12 bill is passed. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 14 President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: Senator 16 Marcellino. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Would you 18 please recognize Senator Saland, please. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: Senator 20 Saland. 21 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 22 I'd like to remove a sponsor's star from 23 Calendar Number 1173, Senate 4060. 7380 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: The 2 star is removed at the request of the sponsor. 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 4 President, at this time we'd like to announce an 5 immediate meeting of the Higher Education 6 Committee in Room 124. An immediate meeting of 7 the Higher Ed' in Room 124. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: The 9 Higher Education Committee will be meeting 10 immediately in Room 124 of the Capitol. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 12 President, can we now go back to Calendar Number 13 1318. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: The 15 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1318. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1318, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 4231, 18 an act to amend the Public Health Law, in 19 relation to the establishment or incorporation 20 of hospitals by a limited liability company. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: Read 22 the last section. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Explanation. 7381 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: Oh, 2 explanation has been called for. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Two years 4 ago - 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SEWARD: Senator 6 DeFrancisco. 7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Two years 8 ago, we passed the legislation which allowed 9 companies in this state to become limited 10 liability corporations, but in doing so, it 11 turned out that there was no amendment or no 12 reference to the health law and as a result a 13 determination was made by the Health Department 14 that hospitals and nursing homes could not 15 incorporate in such a fashion since they were 16 not -- that specific law was not amended. 17 I contacted the sponsor shortly 18 after I was contacted by the New York State 19 Health Facilities Association to see whether or 20 not there was a reason for the omission, and I 21 was informed that it was unintentional, that 22 there would be no objection to modifying it. 23 That was the intent, to have all included and, 7382 1 as a result, this is what this bill does: It 2 amends the health law, Public Health Law, in 3 order to allow hospitals and health care 4 facilities to become eligible or to participate 5 as a limited liability corporation. 6 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 7 President, will Senator DeFrancisco yield to a 8 couple questions? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator DeFrancisco, would you yield to a 11 question from Senator Dollinger? 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Senator Dollinger. 15 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Senator, I 16 understand the concept of limited liability 17 questions, and I think that this bill, if that's 18 all it does, I'm going to vote in favor of it. 19 My question is, does this open the door for for 20 profit ownership of hospitals and nursing homes 21 beyond what we have currently in this state? 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: No, it 23 doesn't. 7383 1 SENATOR DOLLINGER: O.K. So this 2 is solely to take -- we do have proprietary 3 nursing homes that are owned by corporations. 4 This would simply take the limited liability 5 corporation, the features of that combination of 6 limited liability corporation and partnership 7 law and allow them to change their corporation 8 to get the benefits of that statute? 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Correct. 10 SENATOR DOLLINGER: But it 11 doesn't -- it is in no way intended to alter our 12 long-standing policy to allow for not-for-profit 13 ownership of hospitals and nursing homes? 14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: That's 15 correct. 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: O.K. This 17 doesn't open the door to Columbia H'Care or 18 anybody else coming in and doing something that 19 we've prohibited in the past? That's my 20 concern. 21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: For the 22 third time, that's correct. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you, 7384 1 Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 11 bill is passed. 12 Senator Abate. 13 SENATOR ABATE: Yes, I ask for 14 unanimous consent to be recorded in the negative 15 on Calendar Number 1314. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Without objection. 18 SENATOR ABATE: Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Senator Gold. 21 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, Mr. 22 President. I ask unanimous consent to be voted 23 in the negative on Calendars 1312 and 1314, 7385 1 please. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Without objection. 4 Senator Marcellino. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 6 President, can we call up Bill Number 1390 at 7 this time, please. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Clerk 9 will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1390, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print Number 12 7328-A, an act to amend the Environmental 13 Conservation Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 15 the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 23 bill is passed. 7386 1 Senator Marcellino. 2 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 3 President, can we lay aside for the day Calendar 4 Number 1392 at the request of the sponsor. 5 1392. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7 Calendar Number 1392 is lied aside for the day. 8 Senator Marcellino. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Can we now 10 return to the regular order of the controversial 11 calendar. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1345, by Senator DiCarlo, Senate Print 7494, an 16 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 17 relation to providing reduced rate tokens. 18 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: 19 Explanation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator DiCarlo, an explanation has been 22 requested by the Acting Minority Leader, Senator 23 Stachowski. 7387 1 SENATOR DiCARLO: Thank you, Mr. 2 President. 3 This bill would require the 4 Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority to offer 5 to residents of the great county of Kings, the 6 borough of Brooklyn, tokens for use on the 7 Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at a 20 percent 8 discount. 9 For a number of years now, the 10 residents of half of my district in Staten 11 Island, who have been saddled along with my 12 Brooklyn residents with a toll on a bridge that 13 connects both ends of my district and two 14 boroughs in the city of New York, the residents 15 of Staten Island have fought successfully and 16 gotten that 20 percent discount. 17 For too many years, the residents 18 of Kings County, Brooklyn, New York have been 19 saddled with an exorbitant toll on the 20 Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. These are two 21 communities and two boroughs that are very much 22 similar and there isn't a person in my community 23 in Brooklyn that doesn't have a friend or a 7388 1 relative on the other side of the Verrazano 2 Bridge in Staten Island. 3 The toll right now is $7 for non 4 Staten Island residents, $7 to go visit your 5 grandchild, $7 to go visit your parent, and 6 that's a situation we do have in Brooklyn and 7 Staten Island as families that are on either 8 side of the bridge. What we, in Brooklyn, are 9 looking for is some equity and that would mean 10 giving us in Brooklyn the same discount that 11 Staten Island residents have, and that is a 20 12 percent discount on the toll. 13 We also have, and if this goes 14 into effect, 20 percent discount would bring the 15 toll to $5 instead of $7. We also have had two 16 surcharges on the toll on the Verrazano Bridge 17 for a dollar each for a total of $2. Under my 18 legislation, that $2 surcharge would be 19 eliminated for residents of Brooklyn, bringing 20 the toll down to $4, and if the residents in 21 Brooklyn use the E-ZPass, as do residents of 22 Staten Island, the toll will go from $7 for 23 Brooklyn residents to the $3.20 that Staten 7389 1 Island residents now enjoy. 2 For those reasons, I would urge 3 the passage of this legislation. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 5 the last section. 6 Senator Paterson. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 8 if Senator DiCarlo would yield for a question. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator DiCarlo, would you yield for a question 11 from Senator Paterson? 12 SENATOR DiCARLO: Certainly. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Senator Paterson. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: I'm just 16 wondering what the cost -- what the fiscal 17 impact really would be if we're going to do this 18 for Brooklyn residents - 19 SENATOR DiCARLO: There would 20 be - 21 SENATOR PATERSON: -- to use the 22 TBTA. 23 SENATOR DiCARLO: There would be 7390 1 no impact on the state or the city of New York. 2 There would be an impact on the TBTA. We're not 3 sure what that would be, but I would argue that 4 if we lowered the toll for residents of Kings 5 County, that more grandmothers and grandfathers 6 and children would visit their relatives because 7 they can't do that now because of the $7 toll 8 and I don't know whether there would be any 9 negative impact on the TBTA. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 11 the last section. 12 I'm sorry, Senator Gold. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah. Senator 14 DiCarlo, I just got a call from - 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator DiCarlo, will you yield for a question? 17 SENATOR DiCARLO: Senator Gold, 18 absolutely. 19 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, you're 20 right. I just got a call from a delightful 21 Italian lady. I heard Pavarotti singing in the 22 background, and she lives in Queens and says 23 that she's got grandchildren in Staten Island 7391 1 and wants to know whether or not she's going to 2 have to pay any more than anybody else to go 3 visit her grandchildren. 4 SENATOR DiCARLO: I think they 5 should look towards their Queens representatives 6 to introduce their legislation so that the 7 grandmother in Queens might not have to pay this 8 exorbitant toll also. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Gold. 11 SENATOR GOLD: I'm stunned by the 12 answer. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: I 14 could see that, Senator. 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 21 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Gold, on the bill. 7392 1 SENATOR GOLD: No, just want to 2 explain my vote. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: I'm 4 sorry. Senator Gold, to explain his vote. 5 SENATOR GOLD: Just explain, 6 yeah. 7 Mr. President, I understand very 8 well where Senator DiCarlo is coming from and I 9 respect that. I really do. I just think that 10 when it comes to bills like this, I mean we need 11 a plan and it may be that every once in a while 12 something sneaks through the cracks, but we 13 really got to have a plan. We have people in 14 Queens who are running back and forth to the 15 Bronx every day, and the Bronx to Queens and 16 from Queens to Manhattan and very few people in 17 Manhattan come to Queens, unfortunately, but the 18 point is that it just ought to be part of a 19 plan, and I respect that there's politics 20 involved and, Senator DiCarlo, I respect your 21 concern for your constituents, but until we have 22 an overall plan that makes some sense for the 23 region, I would vote no. 7393 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator Abate to explain her vote. 3 SENATOR ABATE: Yeah, I would 4 just like to explain my vote. 5 For what was just cited by 6 Senator Gold, I obviously am concerned. We all 7 care about the residents of Brooklyn. We want 8 them to be able to visit their relatives, but 9 that same argument could also apply to residents 10 of other boroughs and traveling to Staten Island 11 and so I -- I agree that maybe there is a way to 12 produce some remedies, but we need to look at 13 the revenue loss and the cost and do it in an 14 equitable way that just does not favor one part 15 of New York City at the expense of the other. 16 Perhaps we can look at it regionally, as Senator 17 Gold said, and maybe do it -- maybe it's 18 possible, maybe we're not talking about an 19 enormous revenue loss, but to do it piecemeal, I 20 do not think will benefit our mass transit 21 system or our travel to and from the borough, so 22 I can not support this bill today, and I look 23 forward to your leadership for a proposal that 7394 1 would affect the City as a whole. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Senator DiCarlo, to explain his vote. 4 SENATOR DiCARLO: Thank you, Mr. 5 President. To explain my vote. 6 The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, so 7 that everybody from outside the City understands 8 this, does not connect New Jersey to New York 9 City, does not connect Connecticut to New York 10 City. This connects one part of New York City 11 to another part of New York City. 12 I don't believe there are any 13 tolls connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. I don't 14 believe there are any tolls connecting Manhattan 15 to the Bronx, or at least there is a way to get 16 from Manhattan to the Bronx without having to 17 pay a toll on a bridge. We make exceptions for, 18 I believe, some of the Rockaway crossings for 19 Queens residents already. There is no exception 20 for Brooklyn residents to get to Staten Island. 21 There are exceptions for Staten Island residents 22 to come into Brooklyn, but not the other way 23 around. 7395 1 I don't believe that we should be 2 paying tolls to get over from one end of New 3 York City to the other end of New York City. 4 This is not a bridge that connects another state 5 to New York but one borough to the next, one 6 community to the next, and I would be happy to 7 support legislation by Senator Gold to eliminate 8 also the toll for Queens residents to Staten 9 Island, but this legislation, I think we have to 10 start with making some equity between Brooklyn 11 and Staten Island in terms of the tolls. 12 So I would vote in the 13 affirmative. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Senator Onorato. 16 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes, to explain 17 my vote. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 19 Senator Onorato, to explain his vote. 20 SENATOR ONORATO: I feel that the 21 intentions of Senator DiCarlo are very honorable 22 but my county is most heavily impacted by the 23 amount of tolls that we have to pay to travel 7396 1 from Queens to Manhattan, to the Bronx, or into 2 Rockaway. I live in Queens, and I have 3 relatives in the Rockaways and I have to pay a 4 fare to see my grandchildren who used to live in 5 the Rockaways every day. 6 If I want to take the Queens 7 Midtown Tunnel to Manhattan, which is close to 8 my home, or the Triboro Bridge or the Throgs 9 Neck or the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, I have to 10 pay full fare. I never got a break from anybody 11 and, if we're going to eliminate any particular 12 segment of the City, I think we should make it a 13 balanced ball field or perhaps all of the 14 residents of the city of New York should be 15 entitled to a discounted fare on all tolls in 16 and out of the metropolitan area and, if you 17 brought forth such a bill, I would be very happy 18 to co-sponsor it and vote for that bill, but 19 under -- until that time comes, I will vote no 20 on this one. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 22 Senator Dollinger, to explain his vote. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 7397 1 President, I'm a (unintelligible), I represent a 2 district a long way from Staten Island, and I 3 guess I'm always astounded that people who say 4 that they live on islands choose to live on 5 islands, whether it's Grand Island in the middle 6 of the Niagara River, or Manhattan island in the 7 middle of the Hudson, or Staten Island which is, 8 I guess, at the confluence of the ocean and the 9 Hudson, that everybody would say, I want to live 10 there but I don't want to have to pay for the 11 bridge or the ferry that gets me there, but 12 Senator DiCarlo has got me convinced. If this 13 is going to produce more cars in Staten Island 14 because more people will be using the bridge, 15 and more pollution, more parking problems and 16 more emission problems on Staten Island, and the 17 man who represents it wants all those things to 18 happen, good enough for me. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Announce the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 1345: Senators 23 Abate, Gold, Nanula, Onorato, Paterson and 7398 1 Stachowski. Ayes 51, nays 6. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1362, by Senator Hoblock, Senate Print 2278, an 6 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 7 excluding from an employer's experience rating 8 charge, voluntary separation from last 9 employment. 10 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: 11 Explanation. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Hoblock, an explanation has been 14 requested for Calendar Number 1362 by the Acting 15 Minority Leader, Senator Stachowski. 16 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Mr. President, 17 this bill amends the Labor Law having to do with 18 the payment of unemployment insurance benefits 19 and the charge for the payment of those 20 benefits. 21 This bill provides that, if a 22 claimant is leaving employment to follow his or 23 her spouse to another locality, and is otherwise 7399 1 eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, 2 then the charge for that benefit will not be to 3 the employer's account or the actuary for the 4 computation of the employer's account, but 5 rather will be charged to the general account 6 and be spread. 7 This is a social policy change to 8 encourage the continuance of the family unit and 9 to permit and ease the relocation of employees 10 and not to have one particular employer be 11 penalized for that. 12 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 13 President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Senator Stachowski. 16 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Would 17 Senator Hoblock yield for a couple of questions, 18 please? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Senator Hoblock, would you yield for a question 21 from Senator Stachowski? 22 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Sure. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7400 1 Senator Stachowski. 2 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Senator, as 3 I understand the point of your bill and how it's 4 going to help those companies that are going to 5 allow the spouses to relocate, but won't this be 6 since it's charged to the general account, won't 7 this be a new expense to other companies that 8 are doing business in New York? 9 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Well, the 10 expense is there and it's a question of whether 11 one employer should pay it or it be spread out 12 through the general account which, who knows 13 what it would be, but it would certainly be at a 14 very minimum if spread out across the state. 15 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Would the 16 Senator continue to yield? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 18 Senator Hoblock, would you continue to yield to 19 a question from Senator Stachowski? 20 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Yes. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 22 Senator Stachowski. 23 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Senator, are 7401 1 you aware that the AFL-CIO has a memo that 2 opposes this particular bill? 3 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Has a memo 4 what? 5 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: It's on the 6 opposition memo, and it's one of the bills they 7 oppose. 8 SENATOR HOBLOCK: No, I haven't 9 got that memo. 10 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: And if 11 Senator Hoblock would continue to yield for one 12 more question? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Senator Hoblock, do you continue to yield? 15 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Senator Stachowski. 18 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: The last 19 question is, I don't understand why we're doing 20 this bill because later, on this very calendar, 21 Calendar Number 1388 eliminates this right in 22 the first place in the whole system. We have a 23 bill coming up later this afternoon that's on 7402 1 the lay aside that eliminates this very right of 2 a spouse to get unemployment benefits because 3 their spouse has been relocated; so why would we 4 bother doing this bill? 5 SENATOR HOBLOCK: The bill you 6 just referred to is being laid aside for the day 7 and we'll be talking about it but, in answer to 8 your question as to why the bill, Bill, this is 9 a carry-over from my predecessor, your good 10 friend, Howard Nolan, who carried it for quite a 11 while, and the Assembly sponsor being Ron 12 Canestrari, and I picked it up from Senator 13 Nolan. 14 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: On the 15 bill. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Senator Stachowski, on the bill. 18 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: I don't have 19 a problem with this bill. I think that the 20 policy is a good policy, and that's why in 1987 21 when we established it to put the keeping of the 22 family together above the little expense for 23 unemployment benefits for a worker, I thought it 7403 1 was a great idea then. I think it's still a 2 great idea now, and I like this bill. 3 The only reason I asked the 4 questions on it was because we have another bill 5 that says we're going to get rid of that policy 6 because it's an added expense to doing business 7 in New York State, which I find kind of 8 peculiar. 9 So I'm for the bill. I hope we 10 support the bill, and we'll deal with the other 11 bill when it comes up. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1363, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 2586, an 7404 1 act to amend Chapter 576 of the Laws of 1975. 2 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: 3 Explanation. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Senator 5 Marcellino. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, Mr. 7 President. We're looking for the sponsor, if 8 you would hold for two seconds. He's on his way 9 in now. That is the sponsor, the breathless 10 one. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 12 Senator Velella. 13 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Senator Velella, an explanation has been 16 requested by Senator Stachowski of Calendar 17 Number 1363. 18 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes. This bill 19 would add some medical schools -- the following 20 medical schools, University of Padua, Royal 21 College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland, St. 22 Georges School of Medicine in Granada to the 23 list of schools which the Commissioner is 7405 1 authorized to contract with in order to provide 2 New York State residents opportunities to study 3 medicine or dentistry in other schools outside 4 of the United States. 5 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 6 President, would the sponsor yield for a 7 question? 8 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Velella, would you yield for a question 11 from Senator Stachowski? Senator yields. 12 Senator Stachowski. 13 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: The question 14 I have is, in a year when the policy seems to be 15 cut back on support for graduate medical 16 students, why are we extending this provision 17 that enlarges the possibility for graduate 18 medical students? 19 SENATOR VELELLA: Well, what 20 we're doing is, hopefully, we're getting ready 21 for the bounce back from the years that we've 22 had of mismanagement, that new management in 23 this state will recreate the great vibrant 7406 1 society that we need, and we'll be ready to have 2 these students enrolled in schools throughout 3 the world where they can garner the best medical 4 knowledge available, and we'll be able to 5 support them once we've got the policies of the 6 past eliminated. 7 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 8 President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Stachowski. 11 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Maybe I 12 wasn't quite clear on that. I don't believe 13 that past policies have anything to do with the 14 current administration's position that New York 15 spends too much money on educating doctors for 16 every other place in the country, and that's 17 what the position is in all the discussions over 18 NYPHRM's replacement or continuation of NYPHRM 19 or what would or would not be in, so with the 20 administration having a position like that, I 21 was just wondering if this is your position in 22 answer to the administration's position or is 23 this a part of the administration's position? 7407 1 SENATOR VELELLA: Let me clarify 2 that, in all seriousness. This program has not 3 been funded for several years now. However, we 4 are hopeful merely meeting with several of the 5 people involved in this legislation that this 6 may become available in the future as we face 7 the problems. 8 There is no money being 9 appropriated here. What we want to do is make 10 these three schools eligible to be on a par with 11 the schools that have this opportunity in the 12 past, so it would open the door for them. There 13 is no money flowing and, yes, we are talking 14 about major changes in graduate medical 15 education, new concepts, new ideas. 16 We'd like to have these three 17 schools ready in the event that part of that 18 change incorporates education abroad, that they 19 would be qualified to fit into the program. 20 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Do you think 21 there will be any openings for anybody to sit 22 and, like, make sure the students are coming in 23 so you could spend the time on that island? 7408 1 SENATOR VELELLA: I'm sorry? 2 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Do you know 3 if there's any openings for people that could be 4 hired to make sure that New York State students 5 were being treated right, so that that person 6 being hired would then have to spend at least 7 six months a year on this island? 8 SENATOR VELELLA: Well, let's 9 say, sir, if there were some people who were 10 interested in changing their careers, that could 11 be arranged. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Announce the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 1363: Senators 23 Connor, Gold, Holland, Onorato, Paterson, 7409 1 Skelos, Smith and Stachowski. Ayes, nays 8. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1373, by Senator Present, Senate Print 5908, an 6 act to amend the Penal Law. 7 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: 8 Explanation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 10 the last -- Senator Present, an explanation has 11 been requested by Senator Stachowski, the Acting 12 Minority Leader. 13 SENATOR PRESENT: Mr. President, 14 this changes the definition of an antique slot 15 machine. It will be antique if it's 25 years 16 old or older. The current law says it's 17 manufactured prior to 1941. 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 19 President - 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Paterson. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President, 23 if Senator Present would yield for a question. 7410 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator Present, would you yield for a question 3 from Senator Paterson? 4 SENATOR PRESENT: Yes. 5 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, what 6 would entail -- what would be the ramifications 7 of changing 25-year-old slot machines to an 8 antique designation? Will this in any way 9 change the manner in which they're used, the 10 places in which they're used; in other words, is 11 there any way that these machines could be used 12 for any purposes right now that we don't have a 13 legal standing to have? 14 SENATOR PRESENT: No, it will not 15 change their use. They cannot be used for 16 gambling, just to put this on a par with other 17 states. Apparently there is great traffic among 18 antique collectors for these types of machines 19 and in 19 other states they define antique slot 20 machine as older than 20 to 30 years; four 21 states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 22 South Dakota define it as pre-1941; 14 states 23 allow collectors to have any machine; seven 7411 1 states prohibit any machine. 2 This just increases the value and 3 the traffic among antique dealers of slot 4 machines. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Paterson. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: That's quite 8 satisfactory, Mr. President. Thanks, Senator 9 Present. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank 11 you. 12 Read the last section. 13 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Senator Gold. 16 SENATOR GOLD: Senator Present 17 yield for a question? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 19 Senator Present, would you yield for a question 20 from Senator Gold, please? 21 SENATOR GOLD: Senator, I don't 22 really have the whole statute here. I don't 23 even have a memo, but does the statute define 7412 1 what a slot machine is? 2 SENATOR PRESENT: I don't believe 3 so. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Well, Senator, if 5 you yield to one more question. I don't - 6 SENATOR PRESENT: Maybe some 7 other section does define it. 8 SENATOR GOLD: Well, Senator, let 9 me get to my point. I can understand that 10 gambling is illegal in the state and if anybody 11 is running a gambling establishment they're 12 violating the law, but if you were to go to many 13 legitimate -- and I use that word in its fullest 14 meaning -- stores, tobacco stores, other kind of 15 stores, you see items which are slot machines. 16 They're meant to be -- "toys" is a bad word, but 17 people have them in their house and you put in a 18 quarter or you don't put in a quarter, but 19 obviously they are mechanically in any way set 20 up to be worked 24 hours a day as a gambling 21 device, but it seems to me that while nobody 22 bothers these people -- and I would hope not, 23 that maybe that is, in fact, a violation of 7413 1 law. 2 I have been to homes where people 3 have in their den a slot machine. They don't 4 run gambling enterprises. They aren't eligible 5 for Gamblers Anonymous. It's just an 6 interesting thing and their grandchildren come 7 over and throw quarters in and it comes out or 8 it doesn't come out. Why in this day and age 9 are we worried about people having slot machines 10 if they -- if it is already, in fact, against 11 the law to run gambling operations, and that I 12 wouldn't argue? Why are we worried about slot 13 machines to begin with? 14 SENATOR PRESENT: I think the 15 only reason we're worried about it because under 16 existing statute, a machine that's manufactured 17 after 1921 would not qualify as an antique and 18 you couldn't hold it, you couldn't possess it. 19 SENATOR GOLD: Well, let me ask 20 you one more pointed question. Are the stores 21 throughout this state which sell these miniature 22 slot machines but which operate as a slot 23 machine, are they, in fact, now in violation of 7414 1 the law? 2 SENATOR PRESENT: I don't know, 3 Senator. 4 SENATOR GOLD: Well, Senator, I'm 5 not going to vote against your bill, but it may 6 be something you want to look at but I'll bet 7 you that, if this is the really the law in this 8 state, and I'm sure it is because we're amending 9 it, somebody wants to throw a bounty, ten bucks 10 a store, you and I could make a fortune running 11 around the state because they sell these in all 12 of the stores and that's why I asked if there 13 was a definition as to whether or not it has to 14 be a certain size, whether it's got to be 15 capable that it works, but if you're just 16 talking about a machine where you put in 17 quarters or dimes and it kicks out money, I'm 18 telling you, they sell these all over the 19 state. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect on the 1st day of 7415 1 November. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Announce the results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 9 bill is passed. 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 11 President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Senator Leichter. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Mr. 15 President. I was at a meeting of the Higher 16 Education Committee and was out of the chamber 17 when two bills were voted on. I request 18 permission to be recorded in the negative on 19 Calendars 1345 and 1353, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Without objection. 22 SENATOR LEICHTER: Thank you. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7416 1 1375. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1375, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 6 6185-A, an act to amend the Parks, Recreation 7 and Historic Preservation Law, in relation to 8 the powers of the Commissioner of Parks. 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 11 Senator DeFrancisco, an explanation has been 12 requested by the Acting Minority Leader, Senator 13 Paterson. 14 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: This bill 15 would amend the Parks, Recreation and Historic 16 Preservation Law to allow the Commissioner of 17 Parks to enter license agreements for up to 49 18 years, the theory being that substantial capital 19 investment is needed in order for certain 20 facilities that are presently in the parks to be 21 upgraded and, in order to attract that private 22 investment, they would need to have the 23 authority to extend the amount of time when that 7417 1 investment can be recouped. 2 Presently the Office of Parks has 3 about a $267 million capital budget, and it has 4 about one billion dollars in infrastructure 5 needs, so this is one way to deal with the 6 infrastructure needs of parks by providing 7 longer leases to incentivize private 8 corporations to invest capital dollars in our 9 parks. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 11 -- I'm sorry. Senator Oppenheimer. 12 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I 13 understand what you're trying to do, Senator 14 DeFrancisco. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator Oppenheimer, are you asking Senator 17 DeFrancisco to yield for a question? 18 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Actually I 19 think I'll just talk on the bill. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Oppenheimer, on the bill. 22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Because I 23 do understand that we have deteriorating park 7418 1 structures, and I'd like to present the other 2 side of this, though. 3 We could potentially be opening 4 the door to inappropriate private development in 5 that we are allowing the development of any 6 facility, which historically has not been the 7 case. It has been concessions in the past, and 8 with very few exceptions, the current law does 9 not permit the development of facilities in our 10 parks other than the provision for capital im 11 provements to these concessions, as I mentioned 12 earlier, and by then it's -- and at that point 13 it's only by a license agreement which would not 14 exceed 20 years and this goes up to 49 years 15 which is more than double the number of years 16 which is presently permitted. 17 There are other examples within 18 major agencies which point to the fact that we 19 would probably not need this kind of doubling of 20 the length of time of the contract. The 21 National Park Service limits its license term - 22 terms throughout the country to just 10 to 15 23 years, and they have very major, major hotels in 7419 1 these parks and they're on a much more limited 2 arrangement. 3 The -- our New York State 4 Department of Transportation limited the initial 5 lease of the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan on the 6 waterfront. That was limited to 10 years with 7 another 10-year option and there the developer 8 invested multiple millions of dollars, tens of 9 millions. I think that very often these 10 long-term leases will lock the public into a 11 potentially untenable arrangement with changes 12 in public opinion and public acceptance and, 13 therefore, I think this -- the length of time is 14 just to -- to more than double the amount of 15 time of our present leases, it seems to me to be 16 unreasonable and if incompetent management came 17 in during that period of time or if the lease 18 was given to another person -- another 19 organization who wasn't -- which weren't doing 20 the kind of job that the first group did, how 21 would we get rid of the incompetent management? 22 And lastly, I would say that the 23 lack of opportunity for public input or any - 7420 1 any community input would have to be rectified. 2 Right now, only the A-G and the Comptroller can 3 comment and they can only comment on the legal 4 and the fiscal aspects. 5 So I think there has to be an 6 opportunity for the community to -- to be 7 heard. So those are my major objectives - 8 objections to this bill, and I think there would 9 have to be definite rules and regulations 10 written in so that there would be a guidelines 11 and, in promulgating those regulations, I would 12 suggest we look at, number one, commercial 13 ization. We don't want a lot of advertising 14 going on in our historic sites. 15 We would look at the 16 environmental alterations. I think that should 17 be part of the rules and regulations. We, for 18 instance, wouldn't want commercial logging in 19 Allegheny State Park. I mean there's an 20 instance, and I think we also have to put in 21 some measure of local participation where the 22 community will have an opportunity to be heard. 23 So I mention these to you. I am 7421 1 going to request that those who feel as I do 2 vote in opposition to this bill, but I would 3 hope that by taking into account some of these 4 suggestions, that we could have a more 5 appropriate, a finer bill in the future. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll. ) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Senator DeFrancisco. 15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Like to 16 explain my vote. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 18 Senator DeFrancisco to explain his vote. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Just in 20 response to a couple of points that were made by 21 Senator Oppenheimer. If there was incompetent 22 management, we would be in the situation to 23 enforce whatever the provisions are in the 7422 1 license agreement. The Parks Department will, 2 of course, have provisions in the agreement 3 which would require revocation or some 4 modification of the license in the event that 5 there was incompetent management and it was run 6 down. 7 The problem that we have is that 8 there are historic sites, buildings such as 9 Minturn Mansion and the Beaver Island Casino 10 which are in danger of being lost at this point 11 in time and since we have not put the dollars in 12 that we need to save these structures, this is 13 the next best thing, and lastly, I also had some 14 concerns about the period of time, and it was at 15 my suggestion that the sliding scale of the 16 amounts of investments that would have to be 17 made before you go into that next section was 18 changed by the bill that originally came down 19 from Parks and Recreation, so that there would 20 have to be increased investment as you carry out 21 the licenses over a greater period of time. 22 So I'll vote yes. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7423 1 Senator Stafford. 2 SENATOR STAFFORD: Mr. President, 3 are we explaining our vote? Yes? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Yes, 5 we are, Senator. Senator Stafford to explain 6 his vote. 7 SENATOR STAFFORD: First time 8 I've explained my vote in 31 years. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Is that right? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: We can 11 hardly wait. 12 SENATOR STAFFORD: What did he 13 say? You sit down. People have got in trouble 14 standing up. 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Boooo! 16 SENATOR STAFFORD: Now -- oh, 17 come on! 18 Mr. President, this has nothing 19 to do with the distinguished Senator from 20 Westchester who so very, very effectively was a 21 protagonist the wrong way. This situation is 22 such that, if we're going to get our parks back 23 in shape, have them used and also -- also make 7424 1 sure that we have a viable economy in all areas 2 of the state, we're going to have to take some 3 of these steps. 4 Comparing us to the -- comparing 5 us to the national parks, that is all a 6 completely different situation, and I just can't 7 help but say that our policy for the state park, 8 both in the Adirondacks and in the Catskills is 9 the laughing stock of the National Park 10 Service. I just have to mention that. I hate 11 to, but for those who are professionals in the 12 forestry field, so please be sensible. 13 I compliment Senator DeFrancisco 14 for this very sensible piece of legislation. I 15 compliment the administration for trying to get 16 the parks back in line. We're behind. All you 17 have to do is go around to some of these parks 18 both in upstate, Southern Tier, Long Island, 19 anywhere, and if we don't get some private 20 funding here, then we're just going to continue 21 to go down the path the wrong way. 22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Explain my 23 vote. 7425 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator, I'm sorry. Senator Stachowski was 3 next. 4 Senator Stachowski is yielding to 5 Senator Oppenheimer. 6 Senator Oppenheimer. 7 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I explain 8 my vote, please. 9 Well, I think in response to our 10 illustrious chair of the Finance Committee, 11 Senator Stafford -- Senator Stafford, in 12 response to you, I have to say on behalf of 13 Senator Maziarz and myself that it's hard enough 14 being vertically challenged and -- and we have 15 to live with it, because we never got much 16 bigger than six -- vertically challenged. Those 17 of us who are just a little over five foot - 18 SENATOR STAFFORD: Told to stand 19 up. 20 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: We don't 21 have to be told to stand up. We are standing as 22 big as we can, so Senator Maziarz and I take 23 umbrage at the vertically challenged - 7426 1 SENATOR STAFFORD: I apologize. 2 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: - 3 expression. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: For 5 the record, Senator, I do not take umbrage at 6 the comments of my good friend from the 7 Adirondack region. 8 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Let me say 9 that I concur that our parks do need a lot of 10 work and that in many cases we have crumbling 11 facilities, and I would say that perhaps 12 physically extending the -- the period of time 13 for these agreements to somewhat less than 14 doubling would -- would be appealing, and I 15 might sympathize with that, and also extending 16 it beyond just concessions, that's something 17 that I think we might also find appealing; but 18 the thing that is the most difficult for me - 19 and I cannot understand how we could move ahead 20 without this -- is there is -- are actually no 21 rules or regulations or stipulations. There is 22 nothing put forth other than the administra 23 tion's desire to -- to bring some kind of 7427 1 commercial interest into our parks. 2 I think that there is an 3 essential need to promulgate guidelines and in 4 these rules and regulations, I would suggest 5 there have to be certain issues addressed and 6 that has to be commercialization, the 7 environmental alteration and, above all, local 8 participation. 9 With those changes, with the 10 institution of these rules and regulations, I 11 think the people of the state would feel a lot 12 more protected, and so that is what I would 13 recommend; but since this bill doesn't contain 14 that, I recommend a no vote. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 16 Senator Stachowski. 17 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Explain my 18 vote. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Senator Stachowski to explain his vote. 21 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Explaining 22 my vote, I happen to agree with Senator 23 DeFrancisco that the length of these contracts 7428 1 is important to attract the kind of companies 2 and bids that will help bring our parks up to 3 the level they want to be, and I might add that 4 in some of these concession contracts now, for 5 the larger areas, they expect these concession 6 aires also to develop some kind of films that 7 would be used to attract visitors, and that's 8 all built into the contract, and I think that if 9 you want to get these kind of concessionaires, 10 which obviously aren't "mom and pop" kinds, to 11 make that kind of major investment, well, then 12 you have to allow them to have enough years to 13 make the investment worthwhile. 14 I think that it's a good bill. I 15 got to believe that the Department will do the 16 best job they can to keep the integrity of the 17 park. I think if you ruin the integrity of the 18 park, then they're only defeating themselves and 19 you're not going to get the visitors anyway, so 20 I got to believe the park people are aware of 21 that, they would keep that in mind and that this 22 bill is a good idea to help us attract the kind 23 of companies and dollars that will bring our 7429 1 parks on an equal footing with everybody across 2 the country and help us increase our tourism 3 throughout the year in this state and help our 4 economics also. 5 Thank you very much. I'm going 6 to vote yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator Gold. 9 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you, Mr. 10 President. 11 Mr. President, I -- in case 12 Senator Oppenheimer and others didn't understand 13 Senator Stafford's argument, it's a simple one 14 and that is what's good for General Bull Moose 15 is good for the U.S.A., and all we have to do is 16 take care of business, and big business, and 17 we'll all be O.K. 18 Under existing law, we can deal 19 with 20 years and I -- I feel, contrary to my 20 very distinguished and beloved friend, Senator 21 Stachowski, that 20 years is a lot of time and 22 there are people who rent property, build 23 buildings and after 20 years the building goes 7430 1 to the landowner because in their economics 20 2 years is a lot of time for a business to be able 3 to make back an awful lot of money. 49 years is 4 basically half a century, and I cannot believe 5 that that is really necessary in all cases or in 6 a great majority of cases. 7 If there's a situation, I think 8 we can always deal with a situation, but the 9 concept of giving away land on a 49-year basis 10 under this kind of authority, I think, is much, 11 much too excessive, and I'm supporting my 12 colleague from Westchester, in the negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 14 Announce the results. 15 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 16 the negative on Calendar Number 1375: Senators 17 Abate, Connor, Dollinger, Gold, Goodman, 18 Leibell, Leichter, Levy, Markowitz, Mendez, 19 Montgomery, Nanula, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 20 Paterson, Smith, also Senator Lachman. Also 21 Senator -- ayes 40, nays 17. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Did 23 you get Senator Markowitz? The bill is passed. 7431 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 3 could we lay aside for the day Calendar Number 4 1388. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 6 bill is laid aside. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 8 believe the clergy is here who, there was a mix 9 up in the time and, at this time, if we could 10 have the opening-closing prayer of the day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 12 Senator Skelos, we've been joined by the 13 Reverend Kenneth Rodgers, United Methodist 14 Church of Pleasantville. 15 Reverend Rodgers. 16 REVEREND KENNETH RODGERS: I 17 would like to thank Senator Oppenheimer for 18 inviting me to be with you and to deliver the 19 prayer. 20 I am sorry that you had to do all 21 this work without prayer, but it's always 22 appropriate; every time is a time for prayer. 23 So I would like for you to join me in opening 7432 1 your hearts and minds to God in prayer. 2 Eternal God, we thank You for 3 revealing to us that You are our Heavenly 4 Father, and that all persons on this earth are 5 Your children. Sometimes we have called our 6 selves Your children but lived as if we thought 7 others were not. When we forget or ignore the 8 fact that all persons are members of the family 9 of God, forgive us, we pray. If we have ignored 10 other men and women for their ignorance, or 11 denied them the means of knowledge, if we have 12 forced them to fight for what they need but 13 condemned their aggressiveness, or if we have 14 offered them no opportunities except low paying 15 jobs but complained because they were not able 16 to stay off welfare, forgive us. Cause us to 17 look within ourselves and see there all that we 18 condemn in others, for most of us can say, there 19 but for the grace of God go I. 20 Oh, God, Who daily bears the 21 burden of our life, we pray for humility as well 22 as forgiveness. As our state and country play 23 their parts in the lives of our communities, 7433 1 rural and urban, let that our nation's leaders 2 are looked upon throughout this world of ours 3 for their leadership. Help us to know that all 4 wisdom does not reside in us and that other 5 nations have the right to differ with us as to 6 what is best for them as we have a right as a 7 state to differ with the policies of other 8 states and an obligation to help set our 9 national agenda. 10 God, the Ruler of the Universe, 11 give to every nation what we seek for our own 12 country: Concern for human needs of every man, 13 woman and child; sensitivity to moral issues; 14 strength to be free and to carry the burden of 15 freedom; readiness to accept responsibility and 16 not to evade its consequences; deliverance from 17 cynicism and despair. 18 And now, for all those who serve 19 in this place of government, we pray that they 20 may go through each day's work with faithful 21 ness, strong to do justly, to love mercy and to 22 walk humbly with You. 23 Amen. 7434 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Amen. 2 Thank you, Reverend Rodgers. 3 Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 5 if we could return to reports of standing 6 committees, I believe there's a report of the 7 Rules Committee at the desk. I ask that it be 8 read. 9 Following the reading of the 10 Rules report, there will be a meeting of the 11 Rules Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 15 from the Committee on Rules, offers up the 16 following bills directly for third reading: 17 By Senator Espada, 7491-A, an act 18 to authorize the city of New York; 19 By Senator Skelos, 2458-A, an act 20 to amend the Family Court Act, in relation to 21 orders of protection; 22 By Senator DiCarlo, Senate Print 23 2481-B, an act to amend the Executive Law; 7435 1 By Senator Spano 2629-B, an act 2 to amend the Retirement and Social Security Law; 3 By Senator Larkin, Senate Print 4 2807-A, an act to amend the Education Law; 5 By Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6 3982-A, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 7 Law; 8 By Senator Padavan, 4754-A, an 9 act to amend the Administrative Code of the city 10 of New York; 11 By Senator Present, Senate Print 12 5484-B, an act to amend the Highway Law; 13 By Senator Paterson, Senate Print 14 5486, an act to authorize Richard J. Mason to 15 purchase retirement service credit; 16 By Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 17 5996-A, an act to amend Chapter 530 of the Laws 18 of 1988; 19 By Senator Wright, Senate Print 20 6126-A, an act to amend the Environmental 21 Conservation Law; 22 By Senator Maltese, Senate Print 23 6135-A, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 7436 1 Law; 2 By Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 3 6195, an act to amend the Agriculture and 4 Markets Law, in relation to making technical 5 corrections; 6 By Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7 6250-A, an act to amend the Public Service Law, 8 in relation to certain telephone company 9 actions; 10 By Senator Velella, Senate Print 11 6319-A, an act to amend the Executive Law; 12 By Senator Marchi, 6330, an act 13 to provide additional member funded service 14 credit; 15 By Senator Trunzo, 6360-A, an act 16 to amend the General Municipal Law and the 17 Retirement and Social Security Law; 18 By Senator Holland, Senate Print 19 6364-A, an act to amend Chapter 534 of the Laws 20 of 1993; 21 By Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 22 6413, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 23 Law; 7437 1 By Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 2 6418-A, an act to amend the Highway Law, in 3 relation to state highways in Steuben County; 4 By Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 5 6419-A, an act to amend the Highway Law; 6 By Senator Saland, Senate Print 7 6473, an act to amend the Executive Law; 8 By Senator Holland, Senate Print 9 6490-A, an act to amend Chapter 779 of the Laws 10 of 1986; 11 By Senator Volker, Senate Print 12 6517, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 13 Law; 14 By Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 15 6526, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 16 Law; 17 By Senator Wright, Senate Print 18 6739-A, an act authorizing the conveyance of 19 certain state lands; 20 By Senate Seward, Senate Print 21 6740-A, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 22 Law; 23 By Senator Seward, Senate Print 7438 1 6741-A, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 2 Law; 3 By Senator Volker, Senate Print 4 6780, an act to amend the Executive Law; 5 By Senator Stafford, 6814-A, an 6 act to amend the State Law and the State Finance 7 Law; 8 By Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 9 7046-A, an act authorizing the town of Islip to 10 lease certain lands; 11 By Senator LaValle, Senate Print 12 7057-A, an act to amend Chapter 741 of the Laws 13 of 1985; 14 By Senator Cook, Senate Print 15 7073-B, a act to amend the Environmental 16 Conservation Law; and 17 By Senator Farley, Senate Print 18 7086-A, an act to amend the General Municipal 19 Law. 20 All bills directly for third 21 reading. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Skelos. 7439 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 2 is there any housekeeping at the desk? Could we 3 return to motions and resolutions? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Senator DiCarlo. 6 SENATOR DiCARLO: Yes, Mr. 7 President. I wish to call up my bill, Print 8 Number 6107, recalled from the Assembly which is 9 at the desk. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 11 Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 13 DiCarlo, Senate Print 6107, an act to amend the 14 Executive Law. 15 SENATOR DiCARLO: Mr. President, 16 I now move to reconsider the vote by which this 17 bill was passed. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 19 the roll on reconsideration. 20 (The Secretary called the roll on 21 reconsideration. ) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT DiCARLO: Senator 7440 1 DiCarlo. 2 SENATOR DiCARLO: I now offer the 3 following amendments. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Amendments received. 6 Senator DiCarlo. 7 SENATOR Dicarlo: Mr. President, 8 on your behalf, on page 31, I offer the 9 following amendments to Calendar 1069, Senate 10 Print 7432, and ask that said bill retain its 11 place on Third Reading Calendar. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 13 Amendments received. 14 Senator Hoblock. 15 SENATOR HOBLOCK: Mr. President, 16 I request unanimous consent to be recorded in 17 the negative on Calendar Number 1375. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 19 Without objection. 20 Senator Padavan. 21 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 1375 wish to be recorded in the 23 negative. 7441 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Without objection. 3 Senator Spano. 4 SENATOR SPANO: Yes, on behalf of 5 Senator Saland, page 6, I offer the following 6 amendments to Calendar 258, Senate Print 2457-A, 7 and ask the bill retain its place on Third 8 Reading Calendar. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Amendments received. 11 Senator Sears. 12 SENATOR SEARS: Mr. President, on 13 page 12, I offer the following amendments to 14 Calendar Number 545, Senate Print Number 15 4904-A. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 17 Amendments received. 18 SENATOR SEARS: I ask the bill 19 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Amendments received. 22 SENATOR SEARS: Also, Mr. 23 President, on page 27, I offer the following 7442 1 amendments to Calendar Number 999, Senate Print 2 Number 7094-A, and ask that the said bill retain 3 its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Amendments received. 6 Senator Farley. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, I 8 wish to call up my bill, Senate Print 1378, 9 which is recalled from the Assembly which is now 10 at the desk. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 14 Farley, Senate Bill 1378, an act to amend the 15 Penal Law. 16 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, I 17 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 18 bill was passed. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 20 the roll on reconsideration. 21 (The Secretary called the roll on 22 reconsideration. ) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 7443 1 SENATOR FARLEY: I now offer the 2 following amendments. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 4 Amendments received. 5 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 6 Senator Goodman, on page 18, I offer the 7 following amendments to Calendar 747, Senate 8 Print 5746, and I ask that that bill retain its 9 place. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 11 Amendments received. 12 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 13 Senator LaValle, on page 6, I offer the 14 following amendments to Calendar Number 329, 15 Senate Print 4293-C, and I ask that that bill 16 retain its place. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 18 Amendments received. 19 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 20 Senator Saland, I offer the following amendments 21 to Calendar Number 1423, Senate Print 6473, and 22 I ask that that bill retain its place. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7444 1 Amendments received. 2 Senator Farley. 3 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 4 Senator Holland, I offer the following 5 amendments to Calendar Number 772, Senate Print 6 6860-A, and I ask that that bill retain its 7 place. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 9 Amendments received. 10 Senator Marcellino. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 12 President, we'd like to remind the members of 13 the Rules Committee, that there is a Rules 14 Committee meeting now in Room 332, ongoing. 15 Mr. President, may we stand - 16 the Senate stand at ease pending the report of 17 the Rules Committee. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 19 Senate will stand at ease pending the report of 20 the Rules Committee. 21 (Whereupon at 2:33 p.m., the 22 Senate stood at ease until 3:05 p.m.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 7445 1 Senate will come to order. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 6 return to reports of standing committees, I 7 believe there's a report of the Rules Committee 8 at the desk. I ask that it be read. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 12 from the Committee on Rules, offers up the 13 following bills directly for third reading: 14 Senate Print 303, by Senator 15 Kruger, an act to amend the Penal Law; 16 Senate Print 2459-A, by Senator 17 Skelos, an act to amend the Executive Law; 18 Senate Print 4699-A, by Senator 19 Stafford, an act to amend the State Finance Law; 20 5801, by Senator Present, an act 21 to authorize and direct the Education 22 Department; 23 6365, by Senator Larkin, an act 7446 1 to amend the General Municipal Law; 2 6395, by Senator Maziarz, an act 3 to amend the Insurance Law; 4 6421, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 5 to amend the Correction Law; 6 6523, by Senator Volker, an act 7 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules; 8 6614, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 9 to amend the Correction Law; 10 6619, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 11 to amend the Correction Law; 12 6657, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 13 to amend the Executive Law; 14 6784, by Senator Spano, an act to 15 amend the Labor Law; 16 6923-A, by Senator Libous, an act 17 to amend the New York State Medical Care 18 Facilities Finance Agency Act; 19 7038, by Senator Trunzo, an act 20 to amend the Retirement and Social Security Law; 21 7113-A, by Senator Velella, an 22 act to amend Chapter 403 of the Laws of 1983; 23 7123, by Senator Marcellino, an 7447 1 act to amend the Public Officers Law; 2 7136, by Senator Spano, an act to 3 amend the Local Finance Law; 4 7143, by Senator Leibell, 5 concurrent resolution of the Senate and 6 Assembly; 7 7204, by Senator Cook, an act to 8 amend the Economic Development Law; 9 7230, by Senator LaValle, an act 10 to create the Brookhaven National Laboratory; 11 7244, by Senator Saland, an act 12 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 13 7277-A, by Senator Maziarz, an 14 act to amend the State Administrative Procedure 15 Act; 16 7356, by Senator Marcellino, an 17 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 18 7384, by Senator Trunzo, an act 19 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 20 7385-A, by Senator Trunzo, an act 21 to amend the Retirement and Social Security Law; 22 7386-A, by Senator Trunzo, an act 23 to amend the General Municipal Law; 7448 1 7437, by Senator Wright, an act 2 to amend the Workers' Compensation Law; 3 7485-B, by Senator Stafford, an 4 in act in relation to authorizing the town of 5 Willsboro; 6 7512, by Senator Maziarz, an act 7 to amend the Executive Law; 8 7532, by Senator Cook, concurrent 9 resolution of the Senate and Assembly; 10 7552, by Senator Holland, an act 11 to amend the Social Services Law; 12 7553, by the Committee on Rules, 13 an act to amend the Public Health Law and the 14 Insurance Law; 15 7574, by Senator Spano, an act to 16 amend the County Law; 17 7583, by Senator Lachman, an act 18 in relation to allowing Mr. Browne to be 19 reclassified as a Tier I member; 20 7590, by Senator Volker, an act 21 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules; 22 7592, by Senator Seward, an act 23 to amend the Public Service Law; 7449 1 7593, by Senator Skelos, an act 2 to amend the Business Corporation Law; 3 7634, Senator Skelos, an act to 4 amend the Executive Law; 5 7634, by Senator DiCarlo, an act 6 to amend the Executive Law; 7 7664, by Senator Seward, an act 8 to amend the Local Finance Law; 9 7690, by Senator Trunzo, an act 10 to amend the Executive Law; 11 7701, by Senator Goodman, an act 12 to amend the Tax Law; 13 And 7729, by Senator Velella, an 14 act to amend the Public Health Law. 15 All bills directly for third 16 reading. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 18 Senator Sears. 19 SENATOR SEARS: Yes, Mr. 20 President. 21 On page number 4, I offer the 22 following amendments to Calendar Number 26, 23 Senate Print Number 210-E and ask that the said 7450 1 bill retain its place on the Third Reading 2 Calendar. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 4 amendments are received and without objection, 5 all bills are reported to Third Reading 6 Calendar. 7 Senator Skelos. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Any other 9 housekeeping? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 11 There's no housekeeping at the desk. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 13 there being no further business, I move we 14 adjourn until Wednesday, June 12th at 10:00 a.m. 15 sharp. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 17 Senate stands adjourned until Wednesday, June 18 12th at 10:00 a.m. 19 (Whereupon, at 3:09 p.m., the 20 Senate adjourned.) 21 22 23