Tuesday, January 21, 1997

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ALBANY, NEW YORK 8 January 21, 1997 9 3:03 p.m. 10 11 12 REGULAR SESSION 13 14 15 16 LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS, 17 President 18 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate 3 will come to order. I would ask everyone to 4 please rise and join me in the Pledge of 5 Allegiance. 6 (The assemblage repeated the 7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 THE PRESIDENT: The invocation 9 today will be given by Rabbi Nachman Simon, 10 Chabad of the Lubavitch of the Capital 11 District, Delmar, New York. 12 RABBI NACHMAN SIMON: Soon it 13 will be the 15th day of the Hebrew month of 14 Chabad. It is the celebration of the New 15 Year for trees. 16 There are many lessons for us 17 to learn from a tree. A tree is made up of 18 three parts: Its roots, trunk and branches, 19 and its fruit. 20 Since the Lubavitcher Bible 21 compares human beings to trees, it is 22 reasonable to believe that in certain 23 circumstances, man has the three major, vital 24 parts as part of his character. 25 The roots of a tree are hidden 1 in the ground. Even though they can't be 2 seen, they play a most important role in the 3 life of a tree. The roots anchor and 4 support, as well as draw nourishing moisture 5 to the entire tree. For us, the roots are 6 faith of the Almighty that we draw upon 7 constantly to carry out our day with the full 8 belief that God has given us the ability to 9 meet all challenges. 10 The trunk is the growth when 11 we see ourselves striving higher and higher 12 to reach our goal, even to the very skies; 13 and finally, bearing fruit, so that others 14 can benefit from our good deeds. 15 As the ethics of our Father 16 teach us, if I'm not for myself, who will be 17 for me; and if I'm only for myself, what am 18 I? And if not now, when? 19 May it be the will of the 20 Almighty that He give us the strength to 21 truly symbolize the tree, to draw upon and 22 nourish from our roots upon which the state 23 of New York has been founded and to continue 24 to grow and add new opportunities for 25 everyone and, finally, to help others so that 1 they can be prospering trees and the entire 2 world can reach perfection with the 3 revelation of our righteous redeemer, the 4 Meshia, and let us all say, Amen. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 6 Rabbi Simon. 7 The reading of the Journal. 8 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 9 Sunday, January 19. The Senate met pursuant 10 to adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 11 January 18, was read and approved. On 12 motion, the Senate adjourned. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Without 14 objection, the Journal stands approved as 15 read. 16 Presentation of petitions. 17 Messages from the Assembly. 18 Messages from the Governor. 19 Reports of standing 20 committees. 21 Reports of select committees. 22 Communications and reports 23 from state officers. 24 Motions and resolutions. 25 Senator Farley. 1 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 2 Madam President. 3 On page 4, I offer up the 4 following amendments to Calendar Number 6, 5 Senate Print 169, and I ask that that bill 6 retain its place on the Third Reading 7 Calendar. This is on behalf of Senator 8 Maltese. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Amendments 10 received. 11 Senator Skelos? 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam 13 President, on behalf of Senator Bruno, in 14 consultation with the Minority Leader 15 THE PRESIDENT: Is your 16 microphone on? 17 Go ahead. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: In 19 consultation with the Minority Leader, on 20 behalf of Senator Bruno, I hand up the 21 following committee changes and ask that they 22 be filed in the Journal. 23 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 24 Notice will be filed in the Journal. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: There will 1 be an immediate meeting of the Rules 2 Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol. 3 THE PRESIDENT: There is an 4 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 5 Room 332. 6 Senator Skelos, are you ready 7 for the calendar? 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, if you 9 could take up the non-controversial calendar. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 11 will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 13 Number 2, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 14 364A, an act to amend Chapter 452 of the Laws 15 of 1993, amending the Executive Law. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the 17 last section, please. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2 19 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it 20 aside. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside, 22 please. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 24 Number 5, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 25 92, an act to amend the Penal Law, in 1 relation to arson in the second degree. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it 3 aside. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside, 5 please. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 7 Number 7, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 8 178, an act to amend the Civil Practice Law 9 and Rules, in relation to causes of action. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section, please. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 13 This act shall take effect on the first day 14 of October. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the 17 roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 22 Number 8, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 185, 23 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 24 sexual performance by a child under the age 25 of 18 years. 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it 2 aside. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside, 4 please. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 9, by 6 Senator Tully, Senate Print 186, an act to 7 amend the Penal Law, in relation to 8 consecutive sentences in the calculation of 9 sentences. 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it 11 aside. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside, 13 please. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 15 Number 10, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 16 222, an act to amend the Penal Law and the 17 Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to term 18 of imprisonment for certain offenders. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it 20 aside. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside, 22 please. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 24 Number 19, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 358, 25 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, 1 in relation to authorizing the proration of 2 registration fees. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section, please. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 6 This act shall take on the first day of 7 September. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the 10 roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 39. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. That completes the non-controver 14 sial calendar. 15 Senator Holland. 16 SENATOR HOLLAND: Can we stand 17 at ease for a minute, Ma'am, awaiting the 18 report of the Rules Committee? 19 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate 20 will stand at ease. 21 (Whereupon, the Senate stood 22 at ease from 3:10 p.m. To 3:14 p.m.) 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 24 Holland. 25 SENATOR HOLLAND: Madam 1 President, may we return to reports of 2 standing committees, and I believe there is a 3 report of the Rules Committee at the desk. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Reports of 5 standing committees, the Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 7 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 8 following bills: Senate Print 593, by 9 Senator Spano, an act to amend the Public 10 Authorities Law, in relation to the creation 11 of the Westchester County Health Care 12 Corporation System; 13 1117, by the Senate Committee 14 on Rules, an act to amend the Public 15 Authorities Law, in relation to the creation 16 of the Nassau Health Care Corporation; 17 And Senate Print 1118, by the 18 Senate Committee on Rules, an act to amend 19 the Public Authorities Law, in relation to 20 the reservation of the state's right to 21 adjust Medicaid rates. 22 All bills ordered directly for 23 third reading. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 25 Holland. 1 SENATOR HOLLAND: Madam 2 President, I move to accept the report of the 3 Rules Committee. 4 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor 5 of accepting the report of the Rules 6 Committee, please signify by saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye".) 8 Opposed, nay. 9 (There was no response.) 10 The report is accepted. 11 Senator Holland. 12 SENATOR HOLLAND: Madam 13 President, may we please take up the third 14 reading of the Rules report at this time? 15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 16 will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 18 Number 21, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 19 593, an act to amend the Public Authorities 20 Law. 21 THE PRESIDENT: There are two 22 home rule messages at the desk. 23 Read the last section, please. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 25 This act shall take effect immediately. 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the 3 roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 6 Leichter. 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: Madam 8 President, we debated this bill for some time 9 during the special session. The only reason 10 I'm going to vote against it is because of 11 the manner in which the board of directors is 12 chosen by this corporation, unlike the way 13 the board of directors is chosen for the 14 Nassau corporation, which there, as I 15 recollect -- and I'm going on my 16 recollection, but there, I believe, in the 17 Nassau, it's -- the local authorities are the 18 ones that appoint the directors. 19 That, as I recollect and 20 unless the bill has been changed, I didn't 21 want to start a debate on this, but as I 22 recollect, here the Governor has the right to 23 choose the board of directors and it just 24 seems to me that that's something that ought 25 to be done locally, it should be done by the 1 county, and for that reason, I will vote in 2 the negative on this bill, but I will not 3 oppose the Nassau bill. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 5 Senator Leichter. 6 The Secretary will announce 7 the results. 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 52, nays 9 1, Senator Leichter recorded in the negative. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 11 passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 13 Number 22, by the Senate Committee on Rules, 14 Senate Print 1117, an act to amend the Public 15 Authorities Law. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 17 section -- oh, there's a home rule message at 18 the desk. 19 Read the last section, please. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 21 This act shall take effect immediately. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the 24 roll.) 25 SENATOR HANNON: To explain my 1 vote. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 3 Hannon. 4 SENATOR HANNON: I think there 5 are some details that I'm not so sure Senator 6 Leichter is correct on, and I'll be giving 7 him a memo on the bill later on, so he can be 8 clear on that. Thank you. 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 11 passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 13 Number 23, by the Senate Committee on Rules, 14 Senate Print 1118, an act to amend the Public 15 Authorities Law. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 17 section, please. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 19 This act shall take effect immediately. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the 22 roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed. 1 Senator Holland. 2 SENATOR HOLLAND: Can we 3 return to the regular calendar and do the 4 controversial, please? 5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 6 will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 8 Number 2, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 9 364A, an act to amend Chapter 452 of the Laws 10 of 1993, amending the Executive Law. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: 12 Explanation. 13 THE PRESIDENT: An explanation 14 is requested. 15 SENATOR STAFFORD: Madam. 16 President. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 18 Stafford. 19 SENATOR STAFFORD: Madam 20 President, very often in the Secretary of 21 State's work, operation, domain 22 SENATOR PATERSON: 23 Explanation satisfactory. 24 SENATOR STAFFORD: Thank you. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 1 section, please. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 3 This act shall take effect immediately. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the 6 roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 11 Number 5, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 12 92, an act to amend the Penal Law, in 13 relation to arson in the first degree. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Explanation 15 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, an 16 explanation is requested, Senator Velella. 17 SENATOR HOLLAND: One second, 18 please. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 20 Velella, an explanation is requested. 21 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes, Madam 22 President. This bill would change the 23 definition of "incendiary device" for the 24 purposes of prosecuting arson in the first 25 degree. 1 As a result of a recent court 2 case, a car was loaded with gasoline and 3 driven into a building and the court 4 dismissed the prosecution for arson in the 5 first degree on the basis that a car loaded 6 with gasoline and ignited did not represent 7 an incendiary device as defined under the 8 law. This bill would change that so that any 9 type of flammable fluid that is ignited could 10 be used for the purposes of prosecuting arson 11 in the first degree. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 13 Leichter? 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Madam 15 President. I remember this bill was before 16 us last year and I voted for it. 17 I laid this bill aside and two 18 other bills, both of which were reported out 19 of the Rules Committee, really for only one 20 reason, because I think we're getting in the 21 very bad habit of calling committees off the 22 floor. Now, if we do it at the end of the 23 session and there's an understandable rush, I 24 think some of us can understand that, 25 although even at that time it's a practice to 1 be deplored. 2 But, at the beginning of the 3 session, to call a committee such as the 4 Codes Committee off the floor, I think was 5 totally erroneous, bad procedure, and it 6 really denies members of the committee a 7 chance to review the bill in committee and it 8 denies the members of the Senate to know that 9 the bill has been adequately and fully 10 considered in committee. 11 I think that's particularly 12 true of penal bills. They're complex bills, 13 they're difficult bills. 14 And also, if I may say so, and 15 I've been on the Codes Committee for many 16 years under the chairmanship of Senator 17 Volker, it's an excellent committee and 18 there's really very good, thorough 19 discussions of the bills, and there is very 20 fair discussion. Senator Volker gives 21 everybody a chance to contribute. 22 When you have a committee 23 called off the floor, you don't have that 24 opportunity, and I think that it's a bad 25 habit that we should make sure -- or it's a 1 bad practice that we ought to make sure 2 really doesn't become a habit; and if it 3 does, I, for one, and I think there will be 4 other members, that will just lay aside these 5 bills and we're going to discuss them then, 6 at some length, to make sure that all of the 7 work that should have been done in committee 8 and could not have been done in committee 9 because it was called off the floor and you 10 didn't have time to do it, is then done on 11 the floor. I don't think any of us want 12 that. 13 So, I'm just pointing that 14 out, that's why I laid these bills aside, 15 Senator. I'm not going to ask you any 16 questions on it. But, if this continues, 17 certainly committees that I'm on, I feel I 18 have the obligation, then, to see that we 19 have a full discussion on the floor. I would 20 hope we could avoid that. I hope we will not 21 have committees called off the floor as 22 occurred last week and that the committees 23 can perform their functions, their 24 responsibility to all the members of 25 considering the bills. 1 SENATOR VELELLA: Madam 2 President, on the bill. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Senator 4 Velella. 5 SENATOR VELELLA: Madam 6 President, I think it's deplorable when we 7 see members of this Senate stand up with 8 technical objections to procedures and 9 attempt to threaten that good, meaningful 10 legislation will be stopped because they 11 happen to be offended by the procedure. 12 Now, we know this is the 13 beginning of the session and we see that we 14 have a rather light calendar. It would be 15 more beneficial to the people of this state 16 if we can move these bills out, get them 17 started, get the Senate doing its business, 18 rather than to meet here, look at each other 19 and leave because there's nothing on the 20 calendar. 21 I compliment Senator Volker 22 for moving good bills that are basically non 23 controversial. As Senator Leichter has said, 24 he has no objection to this bill, he objects 25 to the procedure, because we're moving a 1 little bit too fast. Well, Senator, keep up 2 with the pace. You can keep up with us. If 3 you try hard, you'll follow our lead. We 4 want to get some work done, we want the 5 Senate to hit the ground rolling. Maybe the 6 Assembly will come along; but certainly I 7 have confidence that you'll be able to keep 8 up with the rest of us. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 10 Volker. 11 SENATOR VOLKER: Madam 12 President, if I can just point out, Senator 13 Leichter, I tend to agree with you. We do 14 not intend to be calling committee meetings 15 off the floor. The only reason that it 16 happened -- and by the way, every bill that 17 was reported out were bills that passed this 18 house last year and they already had been 19 considered in our committee previous to this, 20 in other words, during last year's session, 21 some of which have been considered, by the 22 way, for years, and years, and years. You 23 know we have some bills that aren't reported 24 for many, many years. But, I also wanted to 25 say that the reason we did the committee 1 meeting off the floor was because the leader 2 did want to get some bills on the agenda to 3 move. As you know, we could not do them on 4 Tuesday because on Tuesday we were going to 5 do the Court of Appeals judgeship for Judge 6 Wesley and it would have been physically 7 impossible to have the meeting at our normal 8 time at noon on Tuesday as we are going to 9 have tomorrow, well, Tuesday being a 10 Wednesday tomorrow. 11 But, we do not intend to have 12 committee meetings called off the floor, 13 unless there is some very, very unusual 14 situation, and this was one of them. 15 There was one bill on the 16 agenda, by the way, that was a new bill and 17 when any kind of objection was raised to it, 18 we just passed it aside. So, I just want to 19 tell you that. 20 So, we understand your 21 questions, but I think this -- we had debated 22 all this legislation previous to this, 23 anyway. 24 SENATOR LEICHTER: Madam 25 President. 1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 2 Leichter? 3 SENATOR LEICHTER: I didn't 4 want to prolong this, but I thought that 5 Senator Velella's statement needed a little 6 clarification because I didn't want the 7 record 8 SENATOR VELELLA: Could you 9 please repeat that? I was distracted. 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, 11 you're usually distracted, so I'm glad that 12 you're listening. 13 But let me just say, Senator, 14 I wanted to correct the statement because as 15 you know, you and I, we share a community, we 16 work together very well and I don't want the 17 word to go out from here that Senator Velella 18 got up and said, "Procedures don't matter. 19 Don't pay attention to technicalities. Don't 20 look at the bill, just let's get things 21 passed," because I know that's not your view. 22 Your view is that procedures do count, 23 rules count. It is important that we do 24 things in an orderly fashion. And I want the 25 people of the community that you and I share, 1 I want to assure them that your view is, 2 because you've expressed it to me at other 3 times, is that you do want to be careful 4 before you pass legislation, that you don't 5 want to rush it through; that what you pass 6 here, you want to be able to go to people and 7 say, "this has had careful, deliberate 8 consideration." And it's in that sense, 9 Senator, that I urge that we don't call 10 committees off the floor; and even there's 11 bills as excellent as your bills, and I'm 12 sure you must agree, you want it to go 13 through the regular procedure. And it's to 14 protect you and me and every other member of 15 this body that I urge that we follow the 16 rules and we don't have committees called off 17 the floor. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is 19 there any other Senator wishing to speak on 20 the bill? 21 Senator Velella. 22 SENATOR VELELLA: I would just 23 like to respond briefly to Senator Leichter. 24 Perhaps the pace is a little 25 too fast, so I'll slow it down for you. The 1 point is, Senator, the time to object 2 procedurally is when the meeting is called, 3 when your ranking minority member is 4 requested permission to consent to a meeting 5 off the floor, which we do, which is a 6 courtesy. 7 We ought not to be using the 8 procedural steps to try and prevent or delay 9 good legislation from going into force. You 10 are always the one who screams and yells 11 about rushing to judgment, as you're trying 12 to do here, about the case -- about the load 13 that we have toward the end of session. 14 We're trying to get things moving quicker 15 here at a quicker pace. 16 This is hardly a controversial 17 bill. You certainly have said it's 18 meritorious, it's a good bill, you voted for 19 it in the past; it never got passed on in 20 the other house. We want to get the work 21 load moved out so we can devote more time to 22 controversial matters, matters that you might 23 want to contribute your experience and your 24 expertise on in the course of debate. 25 However, trying to object just 1 on technical reasons to a bill that's a good 2 bill I think is counterproductive here. The 3 time to object to procedural events are when 4 the committee meeting is held, when the 5 ranking minority member, who you are part of 6 and who is represented by -- represents you 7 with the chairman gives his consent to call 8 the meeting off the floor. Those are the 9 times, those are the in-house workings. 10 The ultimate goal here is to 11 do the best for the people of the state of 12 New York. This is a good bill. We ought not 13 be having this political bickering on the 14 floor at so early a stage. We ought to get 15 the bills out that are non-controversial, 16 pass them; those that you agree with, fine; 17 those that you don't agree with, debate 18 against them. But, let's not try to bog down 19 the place and be counterproductive, that's 20 all I'm trying to say to you. And I think 21 that is what is the essence of what you were 22 saying, "I will hold these bills up and 23 debate them all to death, unless we follow 24 the procedures I think is right." 25 There is no negative procedure 1 here, there is no violation of the rules, the 2 rules were followed. This is a procedure to 3 expedite the matters, to get it before the 4 Senate, to give it the opportunity to have a 5 full debate. 6 You have the opportunity now 7 to ask any question that you want. You're 8 familiar with the bill, you knew you voted 9 against it last year, and you're just 10 nitpicking now to try and make some kind of 11 political point. Let's try and put that 12 aside and let's work on getting the good 13 bills that are non-controversial moved out of 14 this house and over to the Assembly so they 15 can work on them. They take a little longer 16 to understand things than we do. We can move 17 things quickly. 18 Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 20 Secretary will read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 22 This act shall take effect on the 30th day. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the 1 roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 6 Number 8, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 185, 7 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 8 sexual performance by a child under the age 9 of 18 years. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 11 Secretary will read the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 13 This act shall take effect on the first day 14 of November. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the 18 roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 23 Number 9, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 186, 24 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 25 consecutive sentences and the calculation of 1 sentences. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: 3 Explanation. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 5 Senator Tully, an explanation of Calendar 6 Number 9, Senate Print 186, has been asked 7 for by the Acting Minority Leader, Senator 8 Paterson. 9 Senator Paterson. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: On second 11 thought, to expedite the process 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 13 Secretary will read the last section. Not 14 that quick. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: With the 16 distinct advantage of hearing what Senator 17 Velella suggested, I think this bill is fine. 18 We can read the last section. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 20 Secretary will read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 22 This act shall take effect on the first day 23 of November. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 25 the roll. 1 (The Secretary called the 2 roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 7 Number 10, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 8 222, an act to amend the Penal Law and the 9 Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to term 10 of imprisonment for certain offenders. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 12 Senator Volker, an explanation has been asked 13 for by two Senators, Senator Montgomery and 14 also Senator Paterson. 15 SENATOR VOLKER: Assuming my 16 voice holds out; I have a little cold today. 17 Apparently both my wife and Senator Leichter 18 think I probably shouldn't have been here 19 today; I think she was probably more right 20 than you, Franz. 21 But, at any rate, this bill is 22 a bill that passed previously, I think 23 several times. It's what I call -- and it's 24 an in-the-middle bill between the proposal 25 for second -- "two times and you're out." 1 Some people term it a "three times and you're 2 out" bill which says that if a person is 3 convicted of a violent felony offense and has 4 previously been convicted of two or more 5 violent felony offenses, then that person 6 would be subject to a minimum mandatory 7 sentence of 25 years to life in prison. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 9 Senator Volker, excuse me just a minute. 10 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I see 12 a lot of conversations and I hear a lot of 13 noise. I'm having an extremely difficult 14 time hearing you. We might just as well 15 start the year out in the right way. If the 16 members would take their conversations out of 17 the chamber if you're going to have them. 18 Thank you, Senator Volker, for 19 the interruption. 20 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator, this 21 is a bill, as I said, that provides that if a 22 person is convicted of a violent felony 23 offense for, in effect, a third time, that 24 person is then subject to 25 years to life, 25 and there are limitations on plea bargaining 1 also in these violent felony offenses. 2 This is what I consider to be 3 a middle ground in the area of violent felony 4 offenses as I know the Governor, I believe, 5 and some other people have come up with 6 legislation that would provide for what they 7 call two times and you're out, as far as 8 violent felony offenses are concerned. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 10 Senator Paterson? 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 12 President, with sensitivity to Senator 13 Volker's capacity to answer the questions 14 today, I think he qualifies for the 15 consolidated question alternative, so I'm 16 going to take the three questions I would 17 have had and try to put them together in a 18 way that maybe he can just answer this at one 19 point. 20 Senator Volker, if you would 21 yield for a question. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 23 Senator Volker, do you yield to Senator 24 Paterson? 25 SENATOR VOLKER: Certainly. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 2 Senator yields. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: I'm 4 concerned about the effect on the impact of 5 crime that this legislation would provide in 6 the short term, in the long term, and also 7 its cost to the taxpayers. 8 I turn your attention to the 9 sentencing project from 1994 where it 10 indicates that 66 percent of crimes are 11 committed by people under 30 and that the 12 largest group of individuals who commit 13 crimes are males age 15 to 24; and so, 14 therefore, it would suggest a couple of 15 conclusions that this -- the passage of this 16 bill would produce, number one, that already 17 we passed legislation in 1995 which would 18 provide for 85 percent of the sentences that 19 have been served by second and persistently 20 violent offenders so that they would be 21 serving 85 percent of their sentence term in 22 the first place. 23 Secondly, we would have a 24 situation now whereby the time -- the 25 additional time that these individuals are 1 serving are the times that just, 2 demographically, people of this age are not 3 committing crimes anyway, even people who've 4 already been released from prison; that what 5 we would be, in a sense, doing is setting up 6 a geriatric ward in our correctional 7 facilities with people who are low risk to 8 society and not really addressing the crime 9 issue by passing this bill as much as we 10 would be housing inmates and spending up 11 valuable taxpayer dollars with which we could 12 fight crime, just by keeping people for the 13 crimes they already committed. 14 Finally, what I would like you 15 to respond to is just the cost effect of 16 passing this legislation when, as I said 17 before, we're just housing individuals for a 18 long period of time. 19 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator, 20 first of all, let me just say that I think 21 the thing that you have to put in mind is 22 and when you're talking about long-term 23 effects, you're absolutely correct, it's 24 really long term, because if we didn't pass 25 this legislation, someone who previously was 1 convicted of two serious, violent felony 2 offenses, I would assume had already spent at 3 least some time in prison and would be 4 subject to a long prison term, even though 5 it's now indeterminate anyway. 6 And the thing about it, I 7 think, is that what we're really talking 8 about is a society, by the way, that has 9 been, to a certain extent, ignoring some of 10 these violent felony offenses. We have not 11 been sending people away, in many cases, for 12 two violent felony offenses. In fact, that's 13 part of the problem. In some cases, we 14 haven't been sending them away for violent 15 felony offenses for the third or fourth or 16 fifth time and sixth time. 17 One of things that's 18 interesting when we talk about the drugs 19 laws, one of the things we forget is in New 20 York City, you have to be arrested about 21 fifteen times before anybody pays a lot of 22 attention to you in many cases. Some of the 23 people who went to prison under the 24 Rockefeller drug laws were arrested 100 times 25 for various crimes, some of them for 1 violence, by the way; and I said one time to 2 somebody, why would anybody possibly plead to 3 a Rockefeller drug offense? Think about it. 4 There is only one real reason why they would 5 do it and that is because they face something 6 much more severe, a violent felony offense 7 they face. 8 Now, what we're saying here 9 is, we're taking people who have previously 10 been convicted of violent felony offenses, 11 and these are pretty serious convictions, and 12 we're saying if you commit another such 13 offense, you are going to be subject to 25 14 years to life, which is one of the most 15 obviously one of the most serious penalties 16 we can give. 17 Now, the impact, obviously, is 18 not going to be felt immediately because 19 these people would have presumably gone to 20 jail for some period of time anyway. Our 21 hope is that by these severe penalties, we 22 will continue to develop a rational criminal 23 justice process that brings the crime rate 24 down because one thing I think just about 25 everyone is convinced about in the criminal 1 justice system, it just depends on whether 2 you want to admit how much it is, the fact 3 that we are putting people in jail for long 4 periods of time is clearly and unequivocally 5 having an impact on the crime rate. This 6 business of somebody saying again now, all of 7 a sudden, that the age of criminals today has 8 suddenly -- their perception of the age of 9 criminals has now said, "Well, that's why the 10 crime rate is coming down," is baloney 11 because just two years ago when the crime 12 rate was still going up, they were saying the 13 reverse. 14 So my answer, I guess, to you 15 is this: In the short term, the impact is 16 comparatively limited because these people 17 presumably would have gone to jail anyway. 18 But we hope that, particularly for the long 19 term, that what this will do is have a major 20 impact on the amount of violent felons who 21 are able to walk on our streets, and many of 22 us feel that this is one of the ways that we 23 can deal with some of the most predatory 24 criminals in our system. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 1 Senator Paterson? 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 3 President, I want to thank Senator Volker. 4 On the bill, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 6 Senator Paterson, on the bill. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: We are all 8 opposed to these persistent violent felony 9 offenses and we all want to see justice meted 10 out in these particular cases. 11 We just want to make sure that 12 the awareness of time is not impinging upon 13 the concept of justice, that we are not 14 reacting to what is always popular, which is 15 to tell the public that we need to increase 16 sentences for persistent violent felony 17 offenders, when, in fact, many of these 18 offenders may have actually aged out. 19 If Senator Volker says that we 20 have not gone far enough, I have to respect 21 his judgment and also his expertise in this 22 particular area. 23 However, what is of great 24 caution to all of us in this chamber is the 25 fact that we do have a significant crime 1 problem, even if it is decreasing, and that 2 we need to be spending resources in the way 3 that will best impact on the crime situation. 4 We feel that in these 5 particular situations, that we are 6 over-invested in people who've been in prison 7 often into their 40s and 50s and 60s and 8 perhaps that the resources might be more 9 effective if they were directed in another 10 area. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 12 Senator Montgomery, did you have a question 13 or a comment? 14 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 15 President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 17 recognizes Senator Montgomery. 18 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I don't 19 have a question for my colleague, but I just 20 want to comment briefly on this bill. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 22 Senator Montgomery, on the bill. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I know 24 there is similar legislation that has been 25 passed and implemented in some other states, 1 namely California has, I believe, what is a 2 similar policy at this point in time, and 3 they have found that it is not as successful 4 in terms of addressing the issue of crime as 5 they had anticipated, number one. 6 And number two, it seems to be 7 a net that catches specifically African 8 Americans more than any other group, and it 9 also somehow pulls in people who have not, in 10 fact, committed the kind of felony crimes. I 11 don't know if your bill will be -- if you've 12 corrected that in this legislation; it seems 13 that you have. But the California bill is a 14 problem in that respect. 15 I cannot vote for this 16 legislation, even though it is intended to 17 address the issue of predicate felons, 18 because one of the most successful programs 19 that I'm aware of is -- has a piece in my 20 district which is a program that houses and 21 works with former inmates and most of them 22 have been incarcerated for crimes related to 23 their drug use or to drugs in general, they 24 are back out and they are being 25 rehabilitated, some of them are being 1 habilitated, and it is a program with a very 2 high rate of success in terms of reducing 3 recidivism, as well as producing quality 4 citizens back into society. 5 And since many of the people 6 in the state prison system in New York are 7 going to come back to Brooklyn and Manhattan 8 and the Bronx, I have a particular interest 9 in those programs that work. And those are 10 not the programs that we are now increasing 11 funding for in the state budget. We are, in 12 fact, cutting all of those programs, programs 13 for alternatives to incarceration, we don't 14 have money in the budget for community 15 mediation centers, we're not looking at 16 building -- building recreational centers in 17 communities like mine for young people. 18 There is no investment in keeping people from 19 becoming violent felons to begin with. 20 So I cannot, in all good 21 conscience, support continuing to invest on 22 the back end, which is more expensive and 23 which waits until people become essentially 24 destructive to themselves and society before 25 we're willing to invest anything. So I'm 1 going to vote no on this legislation, Mr. 2 President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 4 recognizes Senator Waldon. 5 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you 6 very much, Mr. President. I would like to 7 ask Senator Volker a question or two, if he 8 would yield; but before that, I would like to 9 share a thought with him before I ask the 10 question. May I do that, Mr. President? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 12 Absolutely. The floor is yours, Senator 13 Waldon. 14 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 Senator Volker, a couple of 17 years ago, we went to one of the prisons 18 downstate to look at the geriatric prisoners 19 there, some colleagues and I, I don't 20 remember if you were there, I think not, but 21 I saw people who were up in age beyond the 22 number that I would have imagined before 23 entering the facility, in their 80s, many of 24 them frail and elderly. 25 I'm one of the founders of the 1 Jamaica Service Program for Older Adults in 2 Queens which services thousands and thousands 3 of senior citizens and so I've had a chance 4 over the last 20 years or so to see what it 5 is to be in a geriatric setting -- I'm 6 rapidly approaching it myself -- but I saw 7 people in a prison setting with their legs 8 amputated, having been amputated in prison. 9 I saw people who had to travel with the stand 10 holding the drip solution, whatever it was 11 that they were being fed intravenously. I 12 saw people who had to have a guard and/or a 13 nurse get them up, clean them up, escort them 14 around during their day in the prison, and 15 then put them to bed at night. 16 And so I ask in this situation 17 with this bill that we may pass and which may 18 become law, has anyone considered the true 19 fiscal impact in terms of the medical costs 20 for these people who will obviously age out 21 and die in prison? 22 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator, 23 you're making an assumption that I think I 24 have a difficulty in making. By the way, we 25 passed legislation here some years ago called 1 medical parole; it's been pointed out, we 2 haven't used it very much. 3 There are some very good 4 reasons why we haven't used it very much. 5 For one thing, we're having difficulty with 6 some of our inmates who don't want to apply 7 for it. We don't have a lot of people who 8 are very old, but we have some. Some of 9 those people do not want to apply for medical 10 parole because the only life that they've 11 really known is the prison life. But you 12 should understand that most of these people 13 have very, very severe records. 14 There is no -- by the way, in 15 thinking about it, if you get a person here 16 who is a persistent violent felon that is 17 arrested and convicted today, they presumably 18 would be in their 30s because most of the 19 people who are convicted as violent felony 20 offenders, even if they've already been in 21 jail for a while, are still in their late 20s 22 and 30s because of the way the system works. 23 So, they're sentenced to 25 years to life; 24 admittedly, they will be in their 50s. I 25 don't exactly think that's quite geriatric. 1 You have to look at the 2 system, Senator, it seems to me, for where it 3 is. And I agree with you that I think we 4 have to be careful. These are not ordinary 5 offenders, these are violent felony 6 offenders. These are people that have 7 committed very serious crimes, not only in 8 the past, but now, as to why they are going 9 to be sentenced to these severe charges. 10 And Senator, you and I know 11 that we're talking about the mandatory 12 minimum sentences. To get there, they have 13 to get by a DA who thinks it's severe enough 14 to charge them with these kind of sentences. 15 Most DAs, unless they think it's a pretty 16 serious charge, are not going to be bothered 17 with it. 18 So, I think the thing is that 19 it's not as if the system is written in stone 20 because we pass legislation that says 21 somebody is charged, we're saying that once 22 they're convicted. But history shows that 23 the DA, unless it's a pretty severe penalty 24 involvement or a person that they are very 25 worried about, are not likely to move ahead 1 and prosecute these cases, anyway, whether 2 they're black or white or whoever they are, 3 whether its upstate or downstate or wherever 4 it is. 5 In fact, they are much more 6 likely to be prosecuted in upstate New York, 7 in all honesty, than they are in downstate 8 New York because of the fact that the 9 prosecutors in upstate New York, tend to be 10 -- admittedly, they don't have quite as much 11 to prosecute, but they tend to prosecute 12 people on a much more -- on a much different 13 basis. 14 So, I guess my answer is I 15 really don't see where this is going to 16 likely create an enormous amount more 17 geriatric inmates unless, of course, they are 18 inmates that, as part of their persistent 19 violent felony offender, kill somebody, then 20 that's a different story. 21 And I would venture to say 22 that most of the people you saw -- because 23 the people I know of who are in those 24 positions, probably committed some sort of 25 form of homicide, most likely, because they 1 are most of the people that are still around 2 in prison at the advanced ages. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 Senator Waldon? 5 SENATOR WALDON: Mr. 6 President, I would like to ask the gentleman 7 to yield again, because obviously 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 9 Senator Volker, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 Senator continues to yield. 13 SENATOR WALDON: I apologize, 14 Senator Volker. I was not clear in my 15 question because had I been clear, I would 16 have elicited an answer somewhat different 17 from the one you gave me. I respect your 18 answer. 19 I was trying to find out, has 20 anyone done a cost analysis in regard to the 21 explosion of prisoners which will occur, 22 which would, I'm sure -- and you're aware of 23 what happened in California, which I'm sure 24 would replicate somewhat what has happened in 25 Texas, and in that regard, on the back end, 1 there would be a big change in terms of the 2 medical costs. 3 SENATOR VOLKER: The studies 4 that have been done, by the way, and we've 5 debated this, Senator, a number of times and 6 ironically there probably won't be a really 7 good study done until we pass this and, you 8 know, that's the way life is, I guess. But 9 remember that the system as it is would still 10 be sending these people to jail for a 11 considerable period of time, we assume that 12 they would be. Although, because we're 13 making it mandatory, we know and they know 14 and they will know, by the way, that if they 15 get themselves involved in another violent 16 felony offense, they will know there's no 17 question that they're going to jail, or at 18 least assuming all things being equal, for 25 19 years to life. And that's one of the 20 arguments we're making as to why inmates 21 today and why criminals today are looking at 22 the system differently. 23 The answer is that the studies 24 that have been done so far indicate that for 25 a number of years, there will not be any 1 enormous change; but down the line, it's 2 true, assuming that the rate of violence in 3 our state doesn't decline, and although right 4 now it's declining, but assuming that that 5 were not to continue, somewhere down the 6 line, we would have a bubble, there's no 7 question about it. It would be somewhere in 8 the area of about 14 years to 25, but in the 9 immediate future, it should not have any 10 major impact. 11 But you are right, somewhere 12 down the line, this could have a rather 13 decided impact. Of course, in the meantime, 14 we're going to be looking at what's happening 15 with the whole criminal justice system and 16 we'll have time to decide whether we need 17 more prisons at that point. 18 SENATOR WALDON: Mr. 19 President, if I may continue, would the 20 gentleman continue to yield? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 22 Senator Volker, do you continue to yield? 23 SENATOR VOLKER: Sure. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Senator continues to yield. 1 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you 2 very much, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator 3 Volker. 4 Senator, I realize from the 5 Governor's budget address and from my review 6 of his budget proposals that last year he 7 said, let's build 8,800 prison cells, at the 8 cost of 486 million, and I found that 9 something that I thought not wise. 10 This budget has said let's 11 build 7,700, or thereabouts, prison cells but 12 at a cost of $660-plus million. The reason 13 I raise that now in the context of what we're 14 talking about is because that cost down the 15 road will be really $1.8 billion with the 16 mortgage, at least as I understand what 17 happens with these things. 18 And correct me if I'm wrong 19 but, too, when you couple that cost -- and 20 I'm told that the reason for that cost is 21 that these prison cells will be different 22 than what we've done in New York State 23 before, we're going to build the 24 state-of-the-art prison cells, perhaps 25 similar to what our former leader, Ralph 1 Marino, and I saw when we went with Mel 2 Miller to California, Contra Costa and other 3 places, to view prison cells on behalf of 4 Governor Cuomo. 5 But my concern is the 660-plus 6 million, along with the cost of these people 7 who will obviously become, in my opinion, 8 obviously become geriatric patients who will 9 require massive medical costs. Is that a 10 burden that we as a state should look towards 11 without absolute, impeccable, line-by-line, 12 itemized analysis to know where we're going? 13 Do we know where we're going with this move? 14 SENATOR VOLKER: I think we 15 know with about as much certainty, frankly, 16 as we can possibly have, although I would be 17 the first to admit to you that I think we 18 probably do need another study of the prison 19 situation. But, keep in mind, if you had 20 started a study two years ago before the 21 tremendous drop in the crime rate, you would 22 have had an entirely different -- in fact, 23 that's one of the things, when we passed the 24 legislation here, this is two years ago, I 25 believe, the historic "Truth in Sentencing" 1 legislation, the situation then actually was 2 dramatically different. Since then, there's 3 been a dramatic decline in the violent crime 4 rate in this state and particularly in your 5 city, in the city of New York, and everyone 6 in the world has taken credit for it, which I 7 understand, that's fine. 8 I think the answer is we know 9 at this time, given the way the system has 10 developed, that is the prison system, that we 11 need new cells if we are going to continue to 12 embark on making sure that violent felons are 13 incarcerated for long periods of time. 14 And you are right there. The 15 geriatric side of the situation, I think we 16 should look at it to a greater extent, but it 17 seems to me that we don't have as many 18 geriatric prisoners today as we did years 19 ago, and I don't believe we do, and it's one 20 of the reasons we did medical parole and some 21 other things to give us the ability, if we 22 have to, to get these people out if they are 23 too elderly, and so forth, and not be a 24 danger to society. I think we have some 25 relief valves there, and I think we should 1 continue to do that just in case. 2 But I think, Senator, that 3 right now the Governor believes, I believe, 4 and I think many of us believe that if we are 5 to continue to maintain our movement toward 6 curtailing the crime rate and making sure 7 that violent felons are incarcerated for 8 extensive periods of times, then we need to 9 build additional prisons and that we need to 10 maintain the momentum that we have already 11 started. 12 So what this legislation, 13 however, does is once again, to just back up 14 what we've already done and deal with people 15 who are violent felony offenders, not 16 ordinary offenders, these are violent felony 17 offenders, and put them away in a certain and 18 discernible way for a long period of time. 19 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you 20 very much, Senator Volker. 21 If I may, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 23 Senator Waldon, on the bill. 24 SENATOR WALDON: One, I thank 25 you, Senator Volker, for your patience in 1 walking me through this, I appreciate it very 2 much. 3 I have some concerns, though, 4 which will force me not to be able to support 5 you on this issue. 6 As of the moment, we are able 7 to put away violent felony offenders for a 8 long time without in any way invading the 9 discretion of the judges in their courts. 10 Historically, I think that's the right way to 11 go. On a personal basis, in terms of my 12 philosophy, I know absolutely we should not 13 interfere with judicial discretion as much as 14 we do in this state, and I find that, for me, 15 something unacceptable. 16 I absolutely support putting 17 violent felony offenders away. It has 18 worked in this state, it has worked in South 19 Carolina which first gave the idea that, 20 Waldon, you're making a mistake. You need to 21 see what works and allow that to happen here. 22 Some of us get caught up, in the minority 23 community, with a very defensive posture in 24 regard to police tactics and incarceration 25 tactics, but it is the minority community 1 which is under siege by many of these people 2 who are acting as predators, and this works. 3 My feeling, though, is that 4 how much punishment is truly adequate 5 punishment. I think this is too 6 far-reaching. 7 Also, if you recall, last year 8 I spoke of the field of dreams. I said then 9 that if we build them, they will come and my 10 fear is that this is a preemptive strike in 11 ensuring that the line of marching persons to 12 fill these prisons and to justify their 13 construction will happen with this bill. 14 But more so on a moral basis 15 than my monetary concern, I feel that we are 16 interfering with judicial discretion far too 17 much and, therefore, for all of that -- I 18 mean, for all of those other reasons I've 19 said, but most importantly for that, I cannot 20 support you on this issue, Senator Volker. 21 Thank you very much. 22 Thank you, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is 24 there any other Senator wishing to speak on 25 the bill? 1 (There was no response.) 2 Hearing none, the Secretary 3 will read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 5 This act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 7 Secretary will call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the 9 roll.) 10 Announce the results when 11 tabulated. 12 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 13 in the negative on Calendar Number 10 are 14 Senators Connor, Leichter, Montgomery, 15 Paterson, Sampson, Smith and Waldon. Ayes 16 49, nays 7. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 bill is passed. 19 Senator Holland, that 20 completes the controversial calendar. 21 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. 22 President, can we stand at ease while we 23 await a message from the Assembly, please? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 25 Senate will stand at ease awaiting a message 1 from the Assembly. 2 (Whereupon, from 4:03 p.m. to 3 4:50 p.m., the Senate stood at ease.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 Senate will come to order. Ask the members 6 to find their chairs. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: At this time, 8 could we return to messages from the 9 Assembly. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We'll 11 return to the order of messages from the 12 Assembly. The Chair hands down a message 13 from the Assembly. 14 Ask the Secretary to read. 15 THE SECRETARY: On motion of 16 Senator Bruno, the rules were suspended and 17 said bill ordered to third reading: Assembly 18 Print 1817, by the Assembly Committee on 19 Rules, an act to amend the Legislative Law, 20 in relation to allowances for members of the 21 Assembly. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 23 Without objection, the bill is ordered 24 directly to third reading. 25 The Secretary will read the 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 3 Number 24, by the Assembly Committee on 4 Rules, Assembly Print 1817, an act to amend 5 the Legislative Law, in relation to 6 allowances for members of the Assembly. 7 Section 2. This act shall 8 take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Secretary will call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the 12 roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 bill is passed. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 17 President, is there any housekeeping at the 18 desk? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 20 Senator Skelos. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any 22 housekeeping at the desk? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 24 is none at the desk, Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: There being 1 no further business, I move we adjourn until 2 Wednesday, January 22nd, at 3:00 p.m. sharp. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 Without objection, the Senate stands 5 adjourned until tomorrow, January 22nd, at 6 3:00 p.m. 7 (Whereupon, at 4:53 p.m., the 8 Senate adjourned.) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19