Monday, January 12, 1998

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 January 12, 1998 11 3:04 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS, President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 come to order. Would you please rise and join 4 with me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 5 (The assemblage repeated the 6 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ) 7 May we bow our heads in a 8 moment of silence, please. 9 (A moment of silence was 10 observed. ) 11 The reading of the Journal, 12 please. 13 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 14 Friday, January 9th. The Senate met pursuant 15 to adjournment, Senator Farley in the Chair 16 upon designation of the Temporary President. 17 The Journal of Thursday, January 8th, was read 18 and approved. On motion, Senate adjourned. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Without 20 objection, the Journal stands approved as 21 read. 22 Presentation of petitions. 23 Messages from the Assembly. 24 Messages from the Governor. 25 Reports of standing 1 committees. 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Senator Libous, 4 from the Committee on Mental Health and 5 Developmental Disabilities, reports the 6 following bills: 7 1122, by Senator Libous, an act 8 to amend the Mental Hygiene Law; 9 3831, by Senator Libous, an act 10 to amend the Mental Hygiene Law; 11 3886, by Senator Libous, an act 12 to amend the Mental Hygiene Law; 13 3887, by Senator Libous, an act 14 to amend the Mental Hygiene Law, and 15 5053, by Senator Libous, an act 16 to repeal paragraph 3. 17 Senator Leibell, from the 18 Committee on Housing, Construction and 19 Community Development reports: 20 2228, by Senator Leibell, an 21 act to amend the Public Housing Law; 22 2349-A, by Senator Nozzolio, an 23 act to amend the Real Property Law; 24 3626, by Senator Leibell, an 25 act to amend the Executive Law. 1 Senator Volker, from the 2 Committee on Codes reports: 3 Senate Print 72, by Senator 4 Levy, an act to amend the Penal Law; 5 386, by Senator Volker, an act 6 to amend the Civil Rights Law; 7 397, by Senator Volker, an act 8 to amend the Penal Law; 9 889, by Senator Volker, an act 10 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law;. 11 1143, by Senator Saland, an act 12 to amend the Penal Law; 13 1593, by Senator Johnson, an 14 act to amend the Penal Law; 15 1717, by Senator Volker, an act 16 to amend the Penal Law; 17 3407, by Senator Volker, an act 18 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 19 3814, by Senator Wright, an act 20 to amend the Penal Law; 21 3869, by Senator Larkin, an act 22 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules; 23 3924, by Senator Nozzolio, an 24 act to amend the Penal Law; 25 4589, by Senator Padavan, an 1 act to amend the Penal Law; 2 5280, by Senator Volker, an act 3 to amend the Penal Law; 4 5789, by Senator Volker, an act 5 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, and 6 5930, by Senator Alesi, an act 7 to amend the Penal Law. 8 Senator Rath, from the 9 Committee on Local Government, reports: 10 459, by Senator Larkin, an act 11 to amend the General Municipal Law; 12 526, by Senator Present, an act 13 to amend the General Municipal Law; 14 2021, by Senator Leibell, an 15 act to amend the General Municipal Law; 16 3636, by Senator Rath, an act 17 to amend the General Municipal Law; and 18 3670, by Senator Rath, an act 19 to amend the General Municipal Law. 20 Senator Seward, from the 21 Committee on Energy and Telecommunications, 22 reports: 23 Senate Print 3898, by Senator 24 Present, an act to amend the Economic 25 Development Law; 1 4271, by Senator Seward, an act 2 to amend the Public Service Law. 3 Senator Velella, from the 4 Committee on Insurance, reports: 5 Senate Print 1418-A, by Senator 6 Cook, an act to amend the Insurance Law; 7 4012, by Senator Alesi, an act 8 to amend the Insurance Law; and 9 4062, by Senator Velella, an 10 act to amend the Insurance Law. 11 Senator Farley, from the 12 Committee on Banks, reports: 13 Senate Print 2144, by Senator 14 Farley, an act to amend the Banking Law; 15 2145, by Senator Farley, an act 16 to amend the Banking Law; and 17 3803-A, an act to amend the 18 Banking Law. 19 All bills ordered direct for 20 third reading. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Without 22 objection, all bills direct to third reading. 23 Reports of select committees. 24 Communications and reports from 25 state officers. 1 Motions and resolutions. 2 Senator Bruno. 3 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 4 President, I believe that there is a 5 privileged resolution at the desk. I would ask 6 the title be read and move for its immediate 7 adoption. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Secretary will 9 read. 10 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 11 Alesi, Legislative Resolution, congratulating 12 the Fairport Senior High School football team 13 and girls 400 relay swim team on winning the 14 New York State Class Double-A Championships. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Oh. Senator 16 Alesi. 17 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 18 Madam President. 19 My colleagues, today is a rare 20 pleasure for me to look up into the gallery 21 and see such a wonderful group of young 22 athletes from my home town of Perinton. 23 Fairport High School football champions and 24 swimming champions are joining us today; 25 they've come from the Assembly, where they 1 were recognized earlier and speaking of 2 recognizing, I think I recognize some familiar 3 faces in that gallery, not the least of which 4 is an old high school friend of mine, football 5 coach, head coach Dave Lanning, whom I saw 6 earlier this morning at about 7:00 clock on 7 the Thruway. Dave has led his football 8 champions in a not surprising fashion. As I 9 remember him, he was a stellar athlete, an 10 accomplished student as well, and I'm sure 11 that he has imparted his character on these 12 fine young athletes, and that is no small part 13 of their success. 14 And to the swimming team, the 15 girls swimming team as well, I'm so pleased to 16 welcome all of you and your coach, Mike 17 Kennedy as well as Jim Zumbo, the athletic 18 director. I'm especially pleased and proud of 19 Fairport, since your school superintendent, 20 Bill Corla, was a college classmate of mine, 21 and if you look up in the gallery there in the 22 last row, you'll see Margaret DeFrancisco, who 23 is a Fairport school board member and who is 24 now the Deputy Commissioner of Motor 25 Vehicles. 1 So let me welcome all of you on 2 behalf of my colleagues today, not only in the 3 Assembly where you were earlier, but today in 4 the Senate, and let you know how absolutely 5 proud and pleased I am to share the same town 6 that you all have come here from this morning, 7 and to recognize that the kind of achievement 8 that you all have shown during the athletic 9 season and during the regular school year, 10 because we all know that you must maintain 11 certain academic standards as well to be 12 capable of playing on the sports teams. 13 To look up in this gallery and 14 you could just as easily look up into a galaxy 15 of bright young stars. My colleagues, these 16 are the bright young stars of the future, any 17 one of which we could make a wish upon to lead 18 us into that future and I'm sure that we will 19 be better off as time goes by because of the 20 kind of young people that we have with us 21 today. 22 Welcome. Thank you for joining 23 us. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The question is 25 on the resolution. All in favor please 1 signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 Those opposed nay. 4 (There was no response. ) 5 The resolution is adopted, and 6 I'd like to welcome, on behalf of everyone 7 here in the Senate chamber, welcome all these 8 young athletes from Fairport High School and 9 North Babylon High School to the chamber 10 today. 11 (Applause.) 12 Senator Marcellino. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Madam 14 President, on another issue of some other 15 business, I move the following bills be 16 discharged from their respective committees 17 and be recommitted with instructions to strike 18 the enacting clause: That would be Senate 19 Number 4058. 20 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank 22 you. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno. 24 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 25 President, I believe there's another 1 privileged resolution at the desk by Senator 2 Johnson. I would ask the title be read and 3 move for its immediate adoption. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Secretary will 5 read. 6 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 7 Johnson, Legislative Resolution, 8 congratulating the North Babylon varsity 9 football team, the Bulldogs, and Coach Terry 10 Manning, on their outstanding season and 11 overall team record. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 13 Johnson. 14 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. This 15 team won the championship. They're an 16 outstanding group of young people. Again we 17 give them credit for academic achievement, and 18 they certainly deserve recognition at this 19 time. 20 Thank you. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The question is 22 is on the resolution. All those in favor 23 please signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 Opposed nay. 1 (There was no response.) 2 The resolution is adopted. 3 (Applause) 4 Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 6 President, I believe there is a privileged 7 resolution at the desk by Senator Stachowski. 8 I would ask that the title be read and move 9 for its immediate -- we're going to read the 10 resolution in its entirety and then move for 11 its immediate adoption. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 15 Stachowski, Legislative Resolution, 16 proclaiming Hunter James Kelly's birthday, 17 Valentine's Day, February 14, 1998, as 18 Hunter's Day of Hope for children in New York 19 State. 20 WHEREAS, it is the sense of 21 this legislative body to recognize that the 22 quality of life for children in the 23 communities across this great state of New 24 York is enriched by the concerned and 25 dedicated efforts of those organizations and 1 individuals of distinction whose singular 2 purpose is the care and welfare of children; 3 and 4 WHEREAS, this legislative body 5 is moved to proclaim Hunter James Kelly's 6 birthday, Valentine's Day, February 14, 1998 7 as Hunter's Day of Hope for the children of 8 New York State; and 9 WHEREAS, the Hunter's Hope 10 Foundation was established in September 1997 11 by football great and NBC broadcaster, Jim 12 Kelly and his wife Jill, in honor of their son 13 Hunter James Kelly, who was diagnosed with 14 Krabbe's disease (globoid cell 15 leukodystrophy). 16 Krabbe's disease is one of nine 17 leukodystrophies. It is a rare degenerative 18 enzyme disorder of the central and peripheral 19 nervous system. Children who inherit the 20 disease lack an important enzyme, GALC, that 21 is a component of the white matter of the 22 brain, myelin. This enzyme deficiency produces 23 toxins in the brain causing myelin loss and 24 neurological symptoms. 25 Signs and symptoms of infantile 1 Krabbe usually appear at three to six months 2 of age. Development may be normal up to that 3 time. Extreme irritability, developmental 4 delay or regression and decreased muscle tone 5 are among the first symptoms to appear. These 6 early symptoms are followed by seizures, 7 unexplainable fevers, difficulty in feeding 8 and paralysis. Eventually children lose all 9 mental and motor function, become deaf and 10 blind and usually do not survive beyond two 11 years of age, and 12 WHEREAS, Jim and Jill Kelly 13 hope that through sharing Hunter's story, 14 parents all over the world will give their 15 children more time and love and will thank God 16 every day for these precious little gifts of 17 life. 18 Hunter's Hope is their life 19 long commitment to increase public awareness 20 of Krabbe and other leukodystrophies so that 21 other children may have early detection and 22 treatment; and 23 WHEREAS, New York State is 24 continuously looking for opportunities to 25 increase parental awareness about the need for 1 proper nurturing during child development; 2 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, 3 that this legislative body pause in its 4 deliberations and proclaim Hunter James 5 Kelly's birthday, Valentine's Day, February 6 14, 1998, as Hunter's Day of Hope for children 7 in New York State. In recognition of this day 8 a candlelight vigil will be held celebrating 9 the life and love of all children; and 10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that 11 copies of this resolution, suitably engrossed, 12 be transmitted to the Kelly family and 13 Hunter's Hope, Gateway Park, Buffalo, New 14 York. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 16 Stachowski. 17 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Madam 18 President, as the resolution stated, the Kelly 19 family found out that their son had this 20 leukodystrophy early in his lifetime. He had 21 been here just before that. We honored him on 22 his retirement. At that time he had just 23 found out, at least he had thought that his 24 son had cerebral policy, and we were all kind 25 of stunned by the fact that he made that 1 announcement to us here in the Senate and it 2 really was the first time he had publicly 3 spoken of any problem with his son. 4 Shortly thereafter, he found 5 out that the problem was much more serious. 6 The interesting thing with Krabbe's disease is 7 that both parents have to be the carrier, they 8 have to have that gene, and it's something 9 that you're not tested for when you get 10 married, or when you're going to have 11 children, you don't get tested for that and 12 that's an interesting fact that we don't, and 13 as a result of both parents having that gene, 14 it's a one-in-four chance any time you have a 15 child born that that baby will have Krabbe's 16 disease, which as it tells you in the reso 17 lution, is currently (unintelligible) the 18 child dies by the time it's two years old. 19 Hunter will be one year old this February 14th 20 and, as far as we know now, he's going to make 21 it to his birthday. He's already pretty 22 progressed with what's going on in this 23 disease, not to the good I might add; so it's 24 interesting to see that the Kellys instead of 25 feeling bad for theirselves -- and I'm sure by 1 this time -- I'm sure by this time, almost 2 everyone has seen one of the TV spots 3 where they've been on various different 4 shows and either together or Jim or Jill or 5 both, and they talk about how that everybody 6 should take this time when they think about 7 them, to think about their own children and 8 maybe love them a little more or think about 9 them a little more or care about them a little 10 more and be happy that their children aren't 11 found in the same kind of predicament, so that 12 they are far from being -- taking a position 13 of feeling sorry for themselves or wondering 14 why this has happened to us. They're 15 taking a proactive position of trying to bring 16 a greater focus on loving the children but 17 also at the same time Jim is using his status 18 as a public celebrity to raise money to try to 19 bring awareness to Krabbe's disease and maybe 20 some research and care to leukotrophies in 21 general. 22 This candlelight vigil that 23 we're speaking about in this resolution is 24 something that they thought of. They've been 25 selling candles. All the members will have 1 gotten a letter from me advising them of this 2 at their office, because the Albany shop is 3 opened up this week and so what we're hoping 4 that they do well and eventually they can find 5 a cure for that disease and maybe children 6 won't have this, some day we'll eliminate this 7 problem, but if we don't eliminate it we can 8 at least make parents aware and maybe have the 9 testing so that people don't suddenly find 10 themselves with a child that they had no idea 11 anything could go wrong with and the baby - 12 if you saw a picture of Hunter, it's one of 13 the cutest babies you'll ever see. He looks 14 perfectly normal, he looks like he's sleeping 15 but, in fact, he's blind; he can't swallow; 16 they feed him through a feeding tube and he's 17 just not doing well at all; and so thank you 18 very much for this opportunity, and hope that 19 they'll be very successful in bringing love 20 and making people aware and finding a cure for 21 this disease. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The question is 23 on the resolution. All in favor signify by 24 saying aye. 25 (Response of "Aye.") 1 Opposed nay. 2 (There was no response.) 3 The resolution is adopted. 4 Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 6 President, I believe all of the membership 7 here in this Senate had a resolution prepared 8 in the memory of Senator Mike Tully. I would 9 ask that it now be read in its entirety and 10 that we move for its immediate adoption. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Secretary will 12 read in its entirety. 13 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 14 Bruno, et al, Legislative Resolution, honoring 15 the memory and celebrating the life and 16 accomplishments of Senator Michael J. Tully, 17 Jr. 18 WHEREAS, the members of this 19 legislative body are greatly moved to pay 20 reverent tribute in memoriam to Michael J. 21 Tully, Jr., Senator of the 7th District, 22 representing part of Nassau County and 23 cherished friend and colleague; and 24 WHEREAS, it is with feelings of 25 great sorrow and deepest regret that this 1 legislative body records the passing of 2 Senator Michael J.Tully, Jr., on August 5th, 3 1997; and 4 WHEREAS, Senator Michael J. 5 Tully, Jr., was a man of action and deep 6 commitment. He cared about the world and the 7 people in it. He was devoted to his 8 constituency and to the belief that government 9 can be a positive force for improving people's 10 lives; and 11 WHEREAS, renowned as a man of 12 wit and humor, Senator Tully had tremendous 13 energy and resolve. The more complicated a 14 problem was, the greater was his resolve to 15 solve it. A resident of Port Washington, New 16 York, Senator Michael Tully was born in New 17 York City on June 23rd, 1933. He grew up in 18 the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, and 19 through hard work and determination earned a 20 law degree from St. John's University. A 21 former Nassau County Assistant District 22 Attorney Senator Tully's roots in public 23 service date back to his appointment to the 24 North Hempstead Town Board and subsequent 25 elections as town councilman and town 1 supervisor, an office he held for more than a 2 decade; and 3 WHEREAS, Senator Michael Tully 4 began his service as Senator of the 7th 5 District of New York State in 1982. He 6 brought with him a determination to address 7 issues of importance to the people of his 8 state and district. That he succeeded to an 9 extraordinary degree with his characteristic 10 integrity and exemplary style is indisputable. 11 Senator Tully worked tirelessly 12 for strong public health and environmental 13 protections throughout his distinguished 14 Senate career. He served as chair of the 15 Senate Health, Environmental Conservation and 16 Water Resources Committees and as chair of the 17 Council on Health Care Financing. A veteran 18 who served in the U. S. Army and Army Reserve, 19 he was also proud of having had the 20 distinction of serving as the first chair of 21 the Senate Veterans Committee. He was also 22 Assistant Majority Whip and a member of 23 numerous state committees, task forces and 24 councils; and 25 WHEREAS, Senator Tully combined 1 his wit and humor and his determined advocacy 2 and resolve with his unique ability to see 3 issues and the world from the perspective of 4 the average citizen and his heart for bring 5 ing opposing sides together to implement 6 important legislation. He came early to many 7 issues, most especially combatting breast 8 cancer and the control of tobacco use and 9 exposure, offering often bold and creative 10 proposals which will benefit the people of the 11 state of New York for many generations to 12 come, and during his tenure as chair of the 13 Senate Health Committee, from 1989 through 14 1994, Senator Tully offered many laws which 15 protected the public health, enhanced the 16 quality of health care and improved patient 17 access to services. 18 Among the laws he sponsored are 19 the Clean Indoor Air Act, the Health Care 20 Agency Proxy Law, the Prenatal Care Act, the 21 Hysterectomy Information and Education Act, 22 the nation's first Anabolic Steroid Control 23 Act; numerous laws to improve hospital and 24 health care financing; numerous laws to 25 improve primary care, long-term care, home 1 health care and hospice care; the Physician 2 Discipline Reform Act, the 1991 Omnibus 3 Medical Reform Act; the Organ Procurement and 4 Tissue Bank Standards Act, the Health 5 Insurance Reform Act, which ended age and 6 illness age discrimination in insurance; the 7 Health Work Force Development Act, the 8 Emergency Medical Services Standards Act and 9 direct access to ob/gyn services for women in 10 managed care; and 11 WHEREAS, he also sponsored laws 12 which expanded insurance coverage for 13 mammography screening, assured that women 14 would be informed about alternatives to 15 mastectomy, created a network of breast cancer 16 screening and educational programs and 17 promoted breast cancer early detection and 18 research initiatives. 19 Senator Tully sponsored, in 20 addition, significant laws protecting the 21 health and well-being of our children, 22 including the Child Health Insurance Reform 23 Plan, guaranteeing coverage of primary and 24 preventive care for all children; the Child 25 Health Insurance Plan, which subsidizes health 1 insurance for children of low income families; 2 the Childhood Immunization Act, encouraging 3 the proper immunization of children against 4 disease, and the Pro-Kids Law, which protects 5 children from tobacco exposure; and 6 WHEREAS, Senator Tully also 7 championed laws making stalking a crime and 8 protecting victims of sexual assault in rape 9 prosecutions. 10 Committed to safeguarding our 11 natural resources and promoting a high 12 standard of water quality, Senator Tully 13 sponsored the Bottled Water Quality Act and 14 the Historic Maritime Areas Act; and 15 WHEREAS, former chairman of the 16 Environmental Conservation Committee, he was 17 concerned about the possible relationship 18 between the environment and chronic illness, 19 and actively sponsored the investigation of 20 potential linkages between breast cancer and 21 environmental factors such as air pollution 22 and pesticides. Senator Tully was also the 23 sponsor of the Senate's first version of 24 pesticide registry legislation, and was a 25 co-sponsor of the 1996 Breast Cancer Research 1 and Pesticide Registry Law; and 2 WHEREAS, in recognition of his 3 extraordinary service on behalf of his 4 constituents and all New Yorkers, Senator 5 Michael J. Tully, Jr., was the recipient of 6 numerous awards and commendations, including 7 an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the 8 New York Institute of Technology College of 9 Osteopathic Medicine; the Theodore Roosevelt 10 Award from the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council 11 and the Health Care Association of New York 12 State, and the Certificate of Extraordinary 13 Service in the cause of cancer control from 14 the American Cancer Society; and 15 WHEREAS, loyal friend, trusted 16 adviser and tenacious fighter for the causes 17 in which he believed, the accomplishments of 18 Senator Michael Tully are legion. He will be 19 deeply missed and truly merits the grateful 20 tribute of this legislative body. 21 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED 22 that this legislative body pause in its 23 deliberations to honor the memory and 24 celebrate the life and achievements of Senator 25 Michael J. Tully, Jr., recognizing the 1 significance of his exemplary record of public 2 service and dedicating ourselves anew to the 3 causes and people he served, and 4 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a 5 copy of this resolution, suitably engrossed, 6 be transmitted to the family of Senator 7 Michael J. Tully, Jr. with the deepest 8 condolences of this legislative body. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, 11 Madam President. 12 You can't help but listen to 13 the reflections in this resolution that we've 14 just listened to without realizing what a 15 very, very special person Senator Mike Tully, 16 was. Special for his family who are here, 17 with his close friends, many of them are here, 18 his colleagues, constituents. 19 It's difficult as you listen to 20 think in terms of Mike Tully past, but I 21 couldn't help but think as I was reflecting 22 that Senator Mike Tully will never be past in 23 this chamber, in his district, and in the 24 state because what Mike Tully left us truly 25 was a legacy of good works to improve the 1 quality of life of people. That was his 2 mission in life, and when you hear about a 3 politician who started in Hell's Kitchen, born 4 in Hell's Kitchen, brought himself to where he 5 was, a distinguished career, an extraordinary 6 individual, a person that people just liked to 7 be around. 8 Mike was just a great guy. 9 People liked to have him around. They liked to 10 be with him and if any of us that are in 11 government want to look to a role model, you 12 could look to Mike, because Mike knew how to 13 get it done. I don't remember his ever being 14 obnoxious when he had to differ with you, and 15 I'm sure he differed with many people here. He 16 differed with me, but he always had to 17 understand if he could why he differed with 18 you, and then if he was in a position where 19 something wasn't going to happen and he knew 20 it, and I could remember when he would say, 21 "Maybe we could work it out this way. Do you 22 mind if I try?" And invariably he would make 23 it happen. 24 With the breast cancer 25 pesticide registry, we struggled for years and 1 couldn't make that happen, but Mike stayed 2 with it always and made it happen. The Clean 3 Indoor Act, which dealt with smoking in public 4 places, but think about what it took to get 5 that done, given the interests that are out 6 there. Mike made that happen. 7 Now, does that go away with 8 Mike's passing? None of what you heard, and 9 you didn't hear it all because you couldn't 10 recite it all in the time frame that we have 11 here before us, as to what Senator Mike Tully 12 meant to the people of this state and in his 13 district. 14 So there aren't words that can 15 really do justice to the memory of Mike Tully, 16 and it's difficult for many of us, but it was 17 also stated right that what we celebrate now 18 is his memory, his legacy. We're celebrating 19 that because truly people's lives are better 20 because Mike Tully was here and, boy, that's a 21 testimony that any one of us would like to 22 hear at any time and there are people who will 23 live to be a hundred that will never ever 24 reach the heights and the accomplishments that 25 Mike Tully reached in his short lifetime. 1 So he was taken from us 2 suddenly, too early. It leaves us with a 3 memory, and it is a great memory of an 4 individual, of a person, of a man of 5 accomplishment, and we're indebted to Mike. 6 There isn't a day passes here that goes by or 7 a week when you don't hear some reference to 8 Mike Tully. Yeah, that was Mike's bill. Mike 9 did that. Yeah, that was Tully's. I mean you 10 think about it, as we go forward through this 11 session and for the sessions beyond, for as 12 long as many of us will be here, you will 13 hear, That was Mike's issue; Mike did that. 14 Mike was involved in that. 15 So, Madam President, my 16 colleagues and everyone here, and especially 17 those who were closest to Mike, it's pretty 18 difficult to accept someone as vital, vital as 19 Mike passing early, but if there's comfort in 20 thinking in terms of celebrating, to think in 21 terms of a short life, a man accomplished what 22 many people couldn't do in several lifetimes, 23 and I know that Mike is up there and he is 24 looking down, and I know he is part of 25 everything that's going on here today, and as 1 we go forward doing the kinds of things that 2 he spent his life doing on behalf of the 3 people of this state and of his district. 4 Thanks you, Madam President. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 6 Senator Bruno. 7 Senator Connor. 8 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, 9 Madam President. I rise in support of this 10 resolution, and let me say as the resolution 11 and as Senator Bruno has certainly outlined 12 and while at the same time only touching on a 13 small part of Senator Mike Tully's 14 contribution to the people of the state of New 15 York, as a Senator, in his prior experience as 16 a supervisor, as a public servant, I think we 17 look at the accomplishments in terms of bills, 18 in terms of successes, in terms of what became 19 law, what will benefit the people of the state 20 for years and years and years to come, and 21 certainly in the case of Senator Tully, this 22 is a magnificent and well deserved and 23 appropriate legacy; but I think in his passing 24 at much too early an age, we all will miss 25 something else too. We certainly will miss 1 his contributions as a legislator, but I think 2 those accomplishments were because of the kind 3 of person Mike Tully was, the kind of 4 colleague, the kind of concerned, caring 5 individual who had a sense of humor, who was 6 smart and fun to work with, and easy to work 7 with, and indeed in our system that's what 8 makes for the great success which he had as a 9 legislator, and I know his colleagues will 10 certainly miss him. His children, his family, 11 his loved ones, those who loved him, those he 12 loved, will indeed, I hope, take some comfort 13 in knowing how -- not only successful he was, 14 that's apparent -- that's apparent in writing, 15 but will take comfort in knowing that all of 16 us, his colleagues, we who worked for him had 17 such great respect for him, such great 18 admiration and love, and it was fun having him 19 as a colleague, and we do thank God for the 20 time we were allowed to share a bit of Mike 21 Tully's life, and for him to share a bit of 22 our life, both professionally and personally. 23 Thank you, Madam President. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 25 Senator Connor. 1 Senator Goodman. 2 SENATOR GOODMAN: Madam 3 President, there's no one in this chamber to 4 whom I felt closer personally than Senator 5 Mike Tully, and his passing was really like a 6 blow in the solar plexus. I couldn't grasp the 7 fact that this extraordinary man had suddenly 8 been taken from us. 9 As many of you know, Mike was a 10 superbly conditioned athlete, a scratch 11 golfer, a vigorous human being, and one who 12 took good care of himself and had begged all 13 of his colleagues never to smoke a cigarette. 14 If there was smoking in a room in which Mike 15 came, he would either leave the room and 16 suggest that the smoking stop, or he would ask 17 the people to stop and remain in the room 18 without the cigarettes. 19 But the things that I think of 20 about Mike Tully are many, and I'd just like 21 to share a few personal observations that 22 don't relate to his prodigious professional 23 career. Mike was gregarious and collegial, he 24 was kind and compassionate, he was hard 25 working and conscientious. He was 1 professionally astute and professionally very 2 wise indeed. He was a man who, I would say, 3 was many-dimensional, in certain respects was 4 quite intellectual achievements. I don't know 5 how many of you ever talked about books or 6 theatre or the movies with Mike, but he read 7 very widely and knew a great deal about 8 contemporary theatre and the stars of movies 9 going back to the 1940s. 10 He was a tremendously witty 11 fellow, and one of his great capacities was 12 not just to tell good stories but to listen 13 and if satisfied with the punch line to give 14 you a high five to salute your telling of a 15 particular joke which, of course, brought on 16 many more unnecessary outbursts of irrelevant 17 humor. 18 Mike was someone whom you 19 wanted to go out to dinner with, because to 20 have a dinner with Mike Tully was to have an 21 enriching personal experience. He'd order 22 carrots and around the outer edge of his plate 23 and he would ask to have a very carefully 24 prepared salmon with no butter. He would take 25 a little pasta as a first course without any 1 sauce and a little wine just to leaven the 2 event, and you knew that Mike would live 3 forever, because of the great care which he 4 took, both dietarily and in terms of his 5 regimen of strict personal discipline, and I 6 think he does live forever in our memories, 7 but that's another story and doesn't relate to 8 carrots. 9 Mike was someone without whom I 10 think this body is the poorer. There's no 11 question that his professional accomplishments 12 were extraordinary in many ways. You've heard 13 of some of the bills that he passed, and I can 14 recall so distinctly his passionate advocacy 15 of breast cancer detection legislation, of 16 insurance policies which made certain that 17 kids up to the age of puberty would be fully 18 covered by health insurance, especially 19 poverty kids. 20 His efforts related to so many 21 different aspects of health, whether it was 22 HIV and the attempt to provide treatment and 23 diagnosis, or all of the things which a 24 conscientious chairman of the Health Committee 25 should have appropriately addressed himself 1 to, Mike did that and more; but when all is 2 said and done, my good colleagues as you know, 3 this place breeds a very special bond of 4 personal and collegial friendship. Sometimes 5 in the heat of political battle, we forget 6 what we mean to one another, but when a John 7 Marchi is in a serious automobile accident or 8 Mike Tully leaves us so prematurely, we 9 remember just a little bit about the personal 10 bonds which, under the pressure cooker 11 environment of this place, bring us together 12 and congeal us in an intimate relationship 13 which is really like none other that you can 14 find anywhere in life except perhaps in the 15 trenches of the battlefield. 16 We are a unique group, asked to 17 assume immense responsibilities under 18 tremendous pressures upon the shoulders of 19 each of us and having someone like Mike Tully 20 share that experience made it not just 21 memorable, but all the more worthwhile. 22 I will miss Mike more deeply 23 than I can possibly say, and I just want his 24 family to know that while he was here, he was 25 a brother to many of us, and we shall always 1 remember him. 2 Thank you, Madam President. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 4 Senator Goodman. 5 Senator Skelos. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, 7 Madam President. 8 Before we started session, I 9 was talking to Senator Velella. We were 10 discussing what we were going to say about 11 Mike and as so often in politics and life, 12 we're asked to get up and speak, sometimes at 13 a eulogy, sometimes at a testimonial, and it 14 seems very easy to go on, sometimes too long 15 in the minds of those who are listening to us, 16 and we said, What are we going to say about 17 Mike, because all the emotions start running 18 through your body and through your mind, the 19 experiences that you had with the individual 20 and you don't know what to bring up. You're 21 confused. You're confused that this person 22 who sat over there is no longer with us in the 23 Senate chamber. You're confused because you 24 remember the person that, when you first came 25 to the Senate, was like a mentor. 1 Mike represented to those of us 2 from Nassau County and obviously beyond 3 Nassau, what we considered the best in 4 politics and the best in government, and we 5 believe that there's nothing wrong in saying 6 that you're a politician and that you're a 7 government official because good politics and 8 being a good public official, in my opinion, 9 makes good government, and that's what Mike 10 Tully was. 11 But beyond that, he was a good 12 friend. You had a political problem you'd go 13 and talk to Mike as a friend. You had a 14 governmental problem, you went and talked to 15 Mike as a friend. You had a golf problem, if 16 you were on his team, you'd talk to him as a 17 friend. If you weren't on his team, believe 18 me, somehow he came out ahead. 19 But these are the emotions and 20 these are the experiences that all of us have 21 in this room and that rush through our minds 22 right now. Roy couldn't have said it any 23 better. Sometimes we all take each other for 24 granted, and it's days like this that, and I 25 know Joe and I have discussed this, that we 1 sometimes look around the chamber and we have 2 our own individual memories and experiences of 3 each other and, generally, even if they're 4 political sometimes they're all happy, they're 5 all good experiences, because that's what our 6 profession is about. 7 So to the Tully family that is 8 here, we thank you for having shared Mike with 9 us. Public service takes you away perhaps too 10 much from your family but Mike was a dedicated 11 public official who would not miss a minute 12 here, and when session was over was in that 13 car going back to serve his constituents. He 14 represented the best, and I know that I shall 15 miss him very dearly. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 17 Senator Skelos. 18 Senator Libous. 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 20 Madam President. 21 I think when you lose a friend 22 or a loved one, I choose to kind of think of 23 the happy times, how that individual kind of 24 touched your life and did some special things, 25 and I just want to share a couple of smiles 1 that I remember Mike Tully by. 2 Mike used to sit a couple seats 3 over from me, and I'd be sitting here signing 4 letters, and maybe I'd have something that he 5 didn't have, and he'd kind of look up at me 6 and say, what have you got over there, Tommy? 7 What have you got? And I said, It's -- well, 8 I'm sending some birthday cards out to some of 9 my constituents, and he'd be looking over at 10 Jim Sherry who'd be sitting over here, and he 11 says, Jimmy, find out don't we have one of 12 those. Go get one of those from Tommy. 13 I can remember the many times 14 we shared dinner, and many of you had that 15 opportunity to share dinner with Mike, and I 16 can remember one of the first times I went to 17 dinner with Mike. We sat down at a 18 restaurant, and Mike was very particular about 19 the restaurants he went to. He wouldn't go to 20 just any restaurant, and I remember sitting 21 down, and I took my jacket off and I put it on 22 the back of the chair, and I sat down and Mike 23 looked at me and he said, "What's wrong with 24 you?" I said, "I'm sorry?" He said, "What's 25 wrong with you?" He says, "You took your 1 jacket off." I said, "Yeah." He says, "You 2 don't take your jacket off in a restaurant." 3 He says, "You're a Senator," he says, "you 4 wear your jacket in a restaurant." He says, 5 "You're a guest here, you wear your jacket," 6 and he says, "Don't you have restaurants where 7 you live in your place?" 8 The other thing that I remember 9 fondly about Michael is, Michael had his own 10 language. You'd be sitting in a restaurant or 11 sitting in a committee meeting or he'd be here 12 on the floor, and he'd kind of look up at you 13 and he'd say, he says, Tom, I got to talk to 14 you, we got to talk to the big guy about the 15 little guy and we got to go over here and we 16 got to do this, and he would do it with his 17 hands, and he knew who he was talking about 18 but we didn't always know who he was talking 19 about. 20 Those were just some of the 21 small ways that Mike touched me as a friend, 22 and Senator Bruno, Senator Skelos, and Senator 23 Connor talked about his accomplishments, and I 24 know that my colleagues will continue to talk 25 about his accomplishments and how he touched 1 them but, Mike, I only want to say one thing, 2 is that it was a pleasure for me to know you. 3 I'm glad I had the opportunity in my life and 4 when I think of Mike Tully, I think of style 5 and I think of class. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 7 Senator Libous. 8 Senator Alesi. 9 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 10 Madam President. 11 Unlike most of the Senators 12 that will speak about Mike Tully today, I did 13 not know him for a very long time and after 14 listening to the resolution that highlighted 15 so many of his lifetime accomplishments, I 16 felt that I really had missed an awful lot. I 17 wasn't here for that, and that I can remember 18 years ago when I was a county legislator talk 19 about this clean -- indoor clean air act, and 20 I never knew Mike Tully then and it wasn't 21 until I knew of his legacy that that was an 22 issue that was so important to me back then, 23 and it turns out that it was this fellow that 24 sat just in front of me. 25 The Mike Tully I know in the 1 very short time that I did know him was 2 someone that I played golf with only six or 3 seven times, and for those of you who played 4 golf with him, you knew that he was an 5 exceptional golfer, well balanced and so even 6 tempered and always had an twinkle in his eye 7 and what appeared to be a subtle wit 8 and sense of humor for someone who was either 9 hooking it or slicing it, and I remember Mike 10 as being a gentleman and someone who was 11 willing to offer his help to me as a Senator 12 and someone who very readily offered his 13 friendship to me when I came here as a 14 newcomer, and so as much as I feel deprived 15 for not knowing Mike Tully as long as many 16 others, I feel very honored that I did know 17 him for the length of time that I did and, 18 like all of you, I'll miss him in my own way 19 to a certain degree, and be comforted in 20 knowing that wherever Mike is, he's playing 21 the ball in the fairway, and I'm sure that 22 he'll be hitting the green in regulation. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 24 Senator Alesi. 25 Senator Marcellino. 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 2 Madam President. 3 I knew Mike Tully like many of 4 us from Nassau County in the political 5 spectrum. Nobody was a better politician 6 locally, statewide than Michael, and when I 7 had the good fortune to come up and serve in 8 this body, one of the first people who came 9 over to me and said, Look, he smiled and he 10 said, Look, Carl, he said, there's a lot of 11 things that go on here he says, but always 12 keep one thing in mind. Everybody in here is 13 trying to do a job. It doesn't matter what 14 side of the aisle they're on. They're just 15 trying to do a job. They may disagree with 16 you. Sometimes the discussion is a little 17 heated, but just keep it in the back of your 18 mind that everybody is here to do a job and 19 that's to serve their constituents, so, he 20 said, when you keep that in mind you can't 21 get too angry at the person who is debating 22 one of your bills. He says, Just keep it 23 civil. That's the way it works, and that's 24 the way, he says, I've found it to make it 25 work best, and I don't know, I've tried to 1 emulate that as much as I possibly can, and I 2 find that it works; but I must say that Mike 3 had a lot of good points. He did have some 4 negatives. I hate to be the one to point it 5 out. 6 Mike was the only one who could 7 laugh at Roy Goodman's jokes. It was -- if 8 Roy told one joke at a dinner table, Mike 9 would laugh; Roy would tell another; Mike 10 would laugh; Roy would tell another; Mike 11 would laugh. The rest of us would try and get 12 through dinner. Roy would tell another and 13 Mike would continue laughing so, you know, I 14 had to point that out just to balance things 15 out a little bit. I apologize, Roy; but Mike 16 was a good friend; is, was and always will be 17 a good friend and will be missed in this 18 Legislature and will be missed in his 19 district. 20 Thank you. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 22 Senator Marcellino. 23 Senator Nozzolio. 24 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 25 President, like Senator Tully, those of us in 1 this chamber at home away from home, this is a 2 life that can be very difficult at times, but 3 Mike Tully was an individual, a Senator, a 4 wonderful man, who made those times easier to 5 take. 6 We just didn't go out to dinner 7 with Mike. Mike would organize the dinner, he 8 would bring us all together. As Tom Libous 9 said, it's always one of these and a few of 10 those and a few of those and maybe another one 11 of them and we'll do it all together tonight. 12 That's Mike. 13 I was very honored to be part 14 of it, a group that shared the conviviality, 15 friendship, learning a great deal about the 16 history of this chamber, about the political 17 dynamics of other parts of the state, but 18 certainly those times are times that I will 19 hold very near and dear. 20 I had the honor of playing golf 21 with Mike on quite a few occasions and, as I 22 look back and will always remember, I played 23 golf with him just a few days before his 24 passing. He snuck out, tried to get a few 25 hours before sunset of golf in, and I would 1 have to say to his loved ones, to his family, 2 Mike was never better on a golf course. He 3 blew us away. Roy Goodman said he was a 4 scratch golfer. Well, he always said he had a 5 handicap of five or six or seven, but you're 6 right, Roy, because he played like a scratch 7 golfer, but that day -- he lied about his 8 handicap, but that day that we played just 9 before his passing, he blew us away with at 10 least five strokes, was putting from all 11 corners of the green -- 25-, 30-foot putts, 12 and even Mike was surprised, I think, at how 13 well he did that afternoon. That was at his 14 favorite course, and it always reminded us 15 that on his birthday a year or so before, he 16 got his hole in one, the 12th hole at Schuyler 17 Meadows on his birthday. 18 I'm sure where Mike is, that 19 every shot will be a hole in one. Mike was a 20 hole-in-one golfer, a hole-in-one Senator, and 21 one that we will always remember as a near and 22 dear friend. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 24 Senator Nozzolio. 25 Senator Spano. 1 SENATOR SPANO: Thank you, 2 Madam President. 3 You know, in the hustle and 4 bustle of the life that we all live in, it's 5 times like this, as has been said before and 6 been said more eloquently now by Roy Goodman, 7 that we do stop for a moment and reflect on 8 our colleague, and it makes no difference 9 which side of the aisle we're on, but there's 10 a commonality that exists among all of us that 11 is unparalleled in any other profession, and 12 there's a lot has been said about Mike Tully, 13 the legislator, and the resolution certainly 14 outlines his accomplishments, and we all know 15 them full well. 16 But the real part of my -- the 17 many good laughs, the wit, that was discussed 18 by my colleagues and, certainly, you know, one 19 of my first experiences in the Senate when I 20 came here, and if you remember when Warren 21 Anderson was the leader, and when we used to 22 work late and we used to get food in the 23 lounge, a lot of us would grumble about the 24 food, and he'd come in and he'd say, "Spano, 25 you're Italian, right? You like food, right?" 1 Looked at me, I guess, and said, "We're going 2 to have to do something about the food in 3 here," and shortly he shuffled me off to 4 Warren Anderson and to Steve Sloan, and we 5 upgraded the food and I became chairman of the 6 food committee in the Senate, but it was the 7 type of guy that we could spend a lot of time 8 with in here and outside can be as serious as 9 any one of us can be, can be as dedicated as 10 anyone can be to the issue, whether it be his 11 crusade against smoking or the issues that he 12 felt strongly about, but just as well as we 13 sit and we discussed maybe, many nights we'd 14 discuss family and our lives and got serious, 15 but at the same time he'd be able to turn in 16 his chair and say, "O.K., Roy, it's time for a 17 joke; let's hear a joke," and he'd pick out 18 people at the table and say, "Now, it's your 19 turn." I'd always shudder when he tried to 20 look at me and tell a joke because I would be 21 the worst person in the world to try to do 22 that, but he'd get in our -- and we laugh 23 about it in the chamber, and we laugh about it 24 in the conference, where he'd, you know, We've 25 got to do questions now. Couple of times, 1 there were a couple of tough budgets here, and 2 he'd say, Hands in the file. All we'd hear 3 about him was hands in the file and we would 4 joke about the -- and Tommy mentioned how he 5 would say to us, Yeah, we're going to go out 6 tonight with the Big Guy and the Little Guy, 7 and the Little Guy is going to bring the other 8 guy and he said we're going to go for dinner. 9 I said, O.K., I'll be there. Where? And he 10 said, The Shipyard, and you know, I'd show up 11 at the Shipyard not knowing who all these 12 other guys were going to be, and sit there and 13 realize who they were when they showed up. 14 But he taught us a lot and he 15 taught us a lot about being membeers of the 16 Senate, taught us a lot about, of course, 17 being a class act was mentioned and it was 18 certainly him. One other quick thing he 19 taught me out on Long Island, we went to a 20 restaurant for dinner. After dinner we walked 21 out to the bar and he stands, and he 22 said,"Hey, Spano," he says, "take your coat 23 off." Now, you never want to take your coats 24 off; I took my coat off. He says, "Get on 25 your knees; just get on your knees; get on 1 your knees." And so I get on my knees. He 2 says, "You see that chair over there? See if 3 you can lift it up, from the bottom. You got 4 to lift it up from the bottom from the leg and 5 try to lift that up without bending your arm." 6 So I'm trying and I couldn't do it. He gets 7 down there, lifts it up, he lifts it up right. 8 Finally I watched him, I learned how to do it 9 and, Tom, you were there that night and we had 10 a great deal of fun, a lot of laughs and all 11 of our lives collectively are a lot better for 12 those types of memories that make everything 13 that we do so worthwhile in this chamber. 14 We say thank you to Mike. I 15 know we can't talk too long because he would 16 be sitting over there looking at me now, 17 saying, you know, "Let's go." 18 O.K. Mike, let's go. 19 Thank you. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 21 Senator Spano. 22 Senator Farley. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 24 Madam President. 25 I rise also to pay tribute to 1 Mike Tully who was my seatmate right here and 2 sat next to me in conference and, although I 3 was a little bit older than Mike and a senior 4 to him, he always treated me a little bit like 5 his little brother or somebody who was a slow 6 little brother or something. 7 He was a real "take charge" 8 guy. He knew all the -- he had most of the 9 answers, and I still recall all the things he 10 used to tell me about his children, 11 particularly his son, and so forth, and his 12 youth and his family, a lot of personal things 13 which were very meaningful not only to me but 14 to me, and, you know, of all the people that I 15 serve with and now as I look around this room, 16 and I do think everybody feels this way, I 17 can't think of anybody in this room that ever 18 expected a guy like Mike who was in the peak 19 of physical condition and was so careful about 20 his health and his diet. The last night of 21 the session I brought him in a little 22 miniature Almond Joy, and he gave me a lecture 23 how nobody should ever eat that poison, and 24 all of this stuff. I think he ate it, though, 25 because it got later on. 1 You know, he was a man of 2 principle and on certain issues, you just 3 couldn't budge him, and he stood there, and 4 you know, he was so circumspect about so many 5 things, his appearance and as I said, his 6 health, his diet, and so forth, and I guess 7 one of the things that was the most could be 8 attributed to him was how loyal he was to his 9 friends. Boy, I'll tell you, Mike Tully would 10 be there; if you were his friend, he was there 11 for you and, you know, he's the last person to 12 let you down or leave you, but you know, we're 13 all going to miss him, and what a loss it is 14 to this Senate, but what a loss it is to his 15 family and to his friends, and to them you 16 have my deepest sympathy, but what a legacy he 17 leaves you. I wish you well. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. 19 Senator LaValle. 20 SENATOR LAVALLE: Thank you, 21 Madam President. 22 I rise not only as a colleague 23 and a Long Island colleague, but we've talked 24 today about Mike's accomplishments and his 25 dedication in the area of health care and the 1 environment. I can tell you as chairman of 2 the Higher Education Committee, and Mike was a 3 member of that committee, he never missed a 4 committee meeting. He was there as probably 5 the first person seated at the table, and I'm 6 not always known for starting meetings on 7 time, but Mike would sit there and the staff 8 would come in and say, "Senator Tully is 9 getting a little antsy; I think you better 10 come out and start the meeting," and as soon 11 as I would walk in, just so I would get the 12 message he would always look at his watch, and 13 you know, after a while we began to start 14 meetings more on time, as best as Ken LaValle 15 could do. 16 But one of the things and we 17 talked -- we've talked so much here today 18 about what is the measure of a person, and 19 we've talked about dedication and style. No 20 one has actually used the word "loyalty". I 21 don't think there was -- is a more loyal 22 person than Mike Tully. If he was on your 23 side, he was at your side and he would not 24 leave your side. 25 I can tell you as chairman, 1 once in a while, as we all can relate to in a 2 committee meeting, sometimes things get 3 carried away and indeed you're not quite sure 4 what's going to happen to a bill. I would 5 look down the table and Mike always sat in the 6 same seat, and on cue, he would say something 7 to reinforce the fact that the bill that we 8 were discussing was very meritorious and he 9 reminded everyone that there were sufficient 10 votes for the bill to be reported. 11 So his contribution to his 12 concern for higher education and education 13 began at home with his own family. That was 14 very, very important to him. He certainly 15 carried that over, and was, as I have 16 indicated, a contributing member to the Higher 17 Education Committee. I think each chairman 18 would love to have one member who is there one 19 hundred percent of the time, in their seats, 20 helping and contributing. 21 And so we will miss a person 22 who really showed us what loyalty is all 23 about, of dedication and, as Senator Libous 24 said, a person of great style. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 1 Thank you, Senator LaValle. 2 Senator Maltese. 3 SENATOR MALTESE: There is very 4 little I can add, but I do want to indicate 5 that when I first came, I had known Mike for 6 some years and he was as a mentor to me, but 7 also in his gentlemanly way, so deferential, 8 so conscious of sensitivity as far as whatever 9 the issue was in the course of our work 10 together and our friendship. I think it was 11 said before he had a certain grace, a certain 12 style that you don't see the like of too 13 often. 14 I think in all the years I knew 15 him, I never heard him speak ill of any 16 person, in politics or out of politics, and I 17 think that's the measure of a man, the measure 18 of a person, not only a measure of a 19 legislator. 20 I think there were boxers, I 21 believe they called "Gentleman Jim" or 22 "Gentleman Jim" Corbett or so on, and I think 23 an apt title for a Senator Tully, would be 24 "Gentleman" Mike Tully, a gentle Senator, a 25 gentleman, a good friend, sorely missed. 1 ACTRING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 2 Thank you, Senator Maltese. 3 Senator Maziarz. 4 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 I rise to join my colleagues in 7 praising the late Mike Tully. I didn't know 8 Mike very long; I only served here three 9 years, but I very distinctly remember I think 10 it was my second day here in this chamber and 11 I came in right in the middle of a session. I 12 was sitting outside in the next room, and Mike 13 came over and I was calling up for hotel rooms 14 trying to find a place to stay, and Mike sat 15 down and I think we talked about three hours 16 and Mike told me more about the Senate as an 17 institution and the individuals that were 18 here, in those three hours than I think I've 19 learned in the last three years. 20 He was an excellent mentor, as 21 was pointed out. He was extremely loyal, very 22 funny. He was really a proud member of this 23 body, somebody that all of us, as we go on in 24 our careers, can be proud to say that we knew 25 a guy like Mike Tully. 1 There was, however, one thing 2 about Mike that, quite frankly, I did not 3 like. Besides my mother, Mike is the only 4 person that ever called me "Georgie", and I 5 hate that, and I told him that I hated it and 6 he said, "Now that I know you hate it, I will 7 call you nothing else but that," so I'm sure 8 going to miss him. I'm not going to miss him 9 calling me "Georgie" but he was a great 10 person. His family and friends and his staff 11 should be extremely proud of the work that he 12 did here, and I know that I'm extremely proud 13 to have known him. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 15 Thank you, Georgie -- Senator Maziarz. 16 Senator DeFrancisco. 17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: It's 18 certainly an honor to speak after Georgie, and 19 (laughter) -- but like you, I've been a seat 20 mate with Mike, and I'll never forget as long 21 as I'm around, that the day, last day of 22 session was a golf tournament that Senator 23 Bruno had, and I mentioned to Mike as we were 24 leaving, "I'll see you at the golf 25 tournament," and he said, "you know, I feel a 1 little tired today. I think I'll go back 2 home." Never did I, in my wildest 3 imagination, feel that that's was the last 4 time I would see him, and you wonder whether 5 that tiredness was a signal of a problem. But 6 he was an unbelievable individual, as everyone 7 has said, and I'm not going to repeat what 8 everyone said, but there were so many side 9 bars that went on during the course of a 10 session that I wish I could share with you but 11 he would never have wanted me to do that. 12 One I can share, and that is, 13 as Hugh mentioned about the slow brother, one 14 thing he did help Hugh with, only one thing he 15 helped Hugh with, and that was the crossword 16 puzzles. There was no way that had you could 17 get through a crossword puzzle without Mike's 18 help, and Mike is the only individual I know, 19 except maybe Senator Marchi, who every single 20 session day he was not only here but he was 21 here for virtually every minute of every 22 session unless there was another meeting that 23 he had to attend, and you can't say that about 24 too many people, and the one thing I will 25 remember that was the best advice he ever gave 1 me when my blood was starting to boil when 2 someone was saying something on the floor that 3 I wanted to jump up and respond to, "It will 4 pass and, please, I've got a golf match at 5 4:30. Hold on until the next time." 6 So Mike, we're all going to 7 miss you. I'm going to miss your advice and 8 the great guidance that you gave to me and 9 gave to the members of this Senate and we will 10 never forget you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 12 Thank you, Senator DeFrancisco. 13 Senator Velella. 14 SENATOR VELELLA: I really 15 hadn't intended to speak on this, but I guess 16 as we sat here -- all sit here and listen and 17 think about our favorite Mike Tully story, I 18 was thinking about something John just briefly 19 alluded to, and that is he probably would have 20 come over and said to me, Come on, I've got to 21 get somewhere. "You don't really have to 22 speak on this, do you? You can save it for 23 another day." 24 But I think Mike has probably 25 touched all of us in special ways, and the 1 reason why I did decide to rise was probably I 2 don't know anyone in this chamber who cared 3 more about the people he worked with. I 4 thought about Mike coming over to me, and as 5 most of you know, I was probably one of the 6 heaviest smokers in the chamber, and just 7 coming over to me constantly, reaching into my 8 shirt pocket and taking the cigarettes and 9 throwing them away on me, and I used to go 10 crazy, and he'd say to me, "Throw them right 11 in the garbage pail" and always insisted that 12 I had to give up smoking and finally, when I 13 did in June, he was probably one of the 14 happiest guys. Kept giving me that reinforce 15 ment. 16 But I think one of the most 17 important things was that I thought about my 18 last conversation with Mike Tully and that was 19 probably outside the chamber here as we were 20 leaving a long session, a tough night, and 21 Mike Tully was thinking about all the guys and 22 gals in this chamber, and he said, "We've 23 really got to sit with Joe when we get back in 24 January," which would have been now, "and talk 25 about ending these late night sessions because 1 we've got a long, long way and certainly we've 2 reformed what we used to do, but," he said, 3 "there's a lot of guys in the chamber that 4 aren't in as great shape as I am; they aren't 5 as young as I am; they aren't as strong as I 6 am. They don't take such great care of 7 themselves. We got to worry about them 8 because this is really a strain on them," and 9 when I got that call, most of us when we got 10 that call and heard that somebody from the 11 chamber had passed away, one of our 12 colleagues, we probably could have given you a 13 list of 60 Senators in that order and 61 would 14 have been Mike, because he was just strong. 15 He was there, he took care of himself. He was 16 probably a mother hen to some of us, trying to 17 monitor our own health. 18 So we're all going to miss him, 19 not only for the great job he did as a 20 Senator, for the personal commitment he had to 21 all of us but just for the love he had for all 22 of us, and we have for him. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 24 Senator Velella. 25 Senator Cook. 1 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President, I 2 didn't want the occasion to go by without 3 expressing a thank you to Mike. I said it to 4 him many times but I think it ought to be on 5 the record. He was certainly a good personal 6 friend, somebody we always felt at ease with. 7 He was a great intellect, had deep 8 understanding of things that you talked with 9 him about. He grasped the issues. He knew 10 the issue. He knew the real story, what was 11 going on and what you were talking about. 12 But one of the things that I 13 really appreciated about him was that he was 14 not to be, to use the vernacular, he was not a 15 "pig". He did not insist that Mike Tully 16 always had to get credit for everything that 17 happened. You didn't -- if you wanted to work 18 with Mike on something, his staff, many of 19 whom are here, would join with us at Mike's 20 instruction and help to do things, and he was 21 chairman of the Health Committee, a budget 22 subcommittee. When he was chairman of the 23 Health Committee, as you know, I was dealing 24 with rural health issues and Mike was from 25 Long Island, where he didn't need to care much 1 about rural health, but he would always sit 2 and say, "Charlie, we want to do what you've 3 got to do for your people," and he was not 4 saying, you know, it's got to be a Mike Tully 5 bill; and the great thing that I really 6 appreciated about him was that, when it came 7 time for that bill to come to the floor or the 8 budget to come to the floor, he'd come over to 9 me and he'd say, "Charlie, is this going to be 10 all right?" Now, sometimes it wasn't what we 11 wanted to have done, but you knew that Mike 12 had gone as far as he could go, you knew that 13 the situation, whatever it was, was being 14 resolved with his help, and the fact that he 15 was that kind of an individual who wove 16 himself throughout this entire chamber and 17 gave strength to everything that everybody 18 else was trying to do made him a very, very 19 special person. 20 So not only are we remembering 21 a great friend and a great intellect, but 22 we're remembering a guy who invested himself 23 in us, and that we are a part of his life as 24 he is a part of ours. 25 Thank you. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 2 Thank you, Senator Cook. 3 Senator Marchi. 4 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President, 5 it's difficult to put into words what so many 6 of my colleagues have done so well. What 7 moves me is the sincerity with which it was 8 stated, and the resonance it must have found 9 in every individual that's in this chamber, as 10 it is expressed. 11 I've been here 43 years, my 12 43rd year, and I've had literally hundreds and 13 hundreds of companions, but I remember each 14 and every one of them as having made a special 15 impact and it completes that mosaic which is a 16 rich heritage, as some of my colleagues have 17 stated here on the floor. 18 I remember last July I was in 19 the hospital for a good part of a month, and 20 he sent me several "get well" cards and some 21 humorous asides, and when I saw him, he was 22 ever that constructive collegial, warm friend, 23 and almost infallible mentor on almost any 24 subject matter, his devotion was that large. 25 Many of us went to his funeral 1 and I think that anyone who went in the 2 outpouring, human outpouring, that he elicited 3 the same rich wealth of expressions and 4 gratitude. These, I'm talking about his 5 constituents who perhaps just saw him 6 occasionally but didn't have the benefit that 7 we did of continuous contact, and the warmth 8 which he expressed certainly tells us a lot 9 about him and his fine family which I met then 10 and now we've all been better served. 11 I -- there is a deep 12 interaction that takes place, believe you me. 13 Everyone in this chamber makes an impact; 14 everyone contributes to that mosaic which is 15 the hallmark of our heritage. We must 16 acknowledge the fact that there is an 17 institutional reaction and an institutional 18 response which enhances every aspect of our 19 own living. 20 So I join my colleagues in 21 expressing my deep sympathy again, but we 22 spoke of a celebration. In my religion, a 23 Saints' Day is celebrated on the day that they 24 entered into eternal life, and that's what 25 Mike did. He's in eternal life, speaking well 1 and taking it all in. I think as many of you 2 have expressed on the floor, that which bound 3 us together in the unforgettable heritage 4 which he left us at each and every contact 5 that we had with him. 6 So it's a joyful celebration in 7 this sense, and it's the only one that really 8 wears well and stays with you when everything 9 else fades into insignificance, that rich 10 cameraderie that existed with us, in addition 11 to the very fine legislative qualities that he 12 expressed. So I join with them and I feel 13 very deeply that he's observing it well, and 14 that should be a vast compensating factor with 15 the members of his family and those who knew 16 him so well. 17 Thank you, Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 19 Thank you, Senator Marchi. 20 Senator Mendez. 21 SENATOR MENDEZ: Mr. President, 22 I also want to join in support of this 23 resolution. I want to express my sympathy to 24 the family of Senator Mike Tully. 25 As I was listening to my 1 colleagues here, I thought that the -- that 2 the individual testimony of each of the 3 persons here do show the collective admiration 4 that Senator Tully had from -- had received 5 from all of his colleagues. 6 We know that he was very 7 bright, very intelligent, that he had a very 8 clear analytical mind and that showed itself 9 in the productive work that he had here, and 10 the thing that I remember most of him was his 11 endearing personality, his sense of humor, and 12 he used to haunt me and not in front of 13 everybody, haunting me to be requesting for me 14 to stop smoking, and I used to always say to 15 him, One of these days, not yet, but one of 16 these days. 17 So we are all going to miss 18 him. It was really an experience serving with 19 him, and again I agree, I think that he 20 probably will shoot up straight to heaven 21 without taking his shoes off because he did so 22 much good work on behalf of so many people 23 while he served here in this chamber as well 24 as in his district and throughout the state. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 1 Thank you, Senator. 2 Senator Smith. 3 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. 5 I, too, rise to speak, Mr. 6 President. Mike Tully gave dignity to the 7 title "Senator". Mike was always there, not 8 only for the members of his party but for 9 those of us on this side of the aisle. 10 I remember fondly being on the 11 Health Committee, and when there were 12 contentious issues, issues that didn't benefit 13 one side or the other, and he knew that it was 14 not going to be favorable for any of us, 15 especially in the press, he would call all of 16 us together and we would discuss it, and 17 jointly we would make a decision even though 18 Mike had made the decision long before he 19 called us together, but he believed that if we 20 were a part of the decision-making that we 21 would be outspoken especially after the 22 decision had been made that was favorable to 23 all of us. 24 Mike will be missed because he 25 had that wonderful smile and that wonderful 1 way of making everyone feel that they were 2 important. He congratulated me, I don't know 3 how many times, when I stopped smoking because 4 he, too, bothered me. It took him three years 5 but he managed to get me to do it, and I'm 6 proud of being able to not pick up a cigarette 7 and I'm proud to have had Mike Tully as a 8 friend. He will be sorely missed. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 10 Thank you, Senator Smith. 11 Senator Larkin. 12 SENATOR LARKIN: You know, 13 we've heard great stories by the orator, 14 Senator Goodman, and nobody could really 15 follow Roy in what he was saying. He just had 16 everything to say about Mike that most of us 17 remember about him. 18 My first introduction to Mike 19 Tully was when I came here in January '91 from 20 the lower house and that was the time of 21 Desert Storm. The first week we were here in 22 session the bombings were going on day and 23 night. Mike Tully called me and he said, "Can 24 I talk to you for a few minutes?" I said, 25 "Yes," and he said, "You know, I used to be 1 chairman of the Veterans Committee. This is a 2 very trying time for young men and women going 3 to be called up, many of them are from here in 4 New York. They're being called up every day, 5 being sent overseas, and I'm worried about 6 their families. How many will have 7 insurance?" 8 My good colleague, Senator 9 Velella, he called Senator Velella, and he 10 said, "You know, I think you and I ought to 11 sit down with Larkin, and we ought to talk 12 about the veterans and what we're going to do 13 to help them and help their families." There 14 were families here of veterans called to 15 active duty who had no insurance whatsoever, 16 and I'm sure Senator Velella remembers the 17 time and effort we spent together because we 18 weren't gettin' the cooperation from the 19 second floor at that time that we needed, and 20 Mike said, "Well, I know somebody here and I 21 know somebody here and Guy knows somebody 22 here," and his whole concern was for this 23 young soldier who is going to be called to 24 active duty, sent overseas and his family 25 would be left with no protection, and some 1 people were saying, "Well, you know, he's a 2 member of the armed forces, they'll take care 3 of him." Yeah, but he lives in Randy Kuhl's 4 district in Elmira, and Drum is hours away. 5 What do they do in an emergency? Some of the 6 places that they worked for had no insurance. 7 Once they got called to active duty in harm's 8 way they lost all of their insurance. 9 A lot of people don't remember 10 that. Guy, I'm sure you remember giving us 11 the help that you gave us, and a lot of 12 others, and that was a mark for Mike Tully. 13 He could have stepped aside and said, It's 14 Billy Larkin's problem. He's chairman of the 15 Veterans Committee, but he gave so much time 16 and effort to it. When that bill was signed 17 into law, no insurance company today can ever 18 cancel an individual who's called to active 19 duty. How about the life and comfort that he 20 gave, somebody going to be called, and those 21 of you who have ever served in the armed 22 forces and have loved ones at home, you know 23 what it was that you were worried about. Were 24 they protected? What about their health? 25 What about their well-being? What about their 1 jobs when they come back? 2 That was striking to Mike 3 because, as a lot of you know, he used to 4 needle me all the time about being the 5 Colonel. I always thought in my my mind, here 6 was an individual who'd served a short span of 7 time in the military, been chairman of the 8 Veterans Committee, but, you know, when a 9 crisis came up, here was a man who remembered 10 others and he always wanted to make sure and 11 I'm sure that in those few days that we were 12 at it, the few weeks we were at it, Senator 13 Velella probably wished I was still in the 14 Assembly because I wouldn't give up, and Mike 15 Tully was insistent how the language should 16 read and I can remember Al spending time, and 17 Frank and Jimmy, and it was very, very 18 important, and all the other things that he 19 did, I guess one of the other things that I 20 found so important, when I finally convinced 21 him to come to West Point and find out what 22 the real world was like instead of Nassau and 23 Long Island. When he came to West Point, he 24 said, "That's it." 25 Thank you. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 2 Thank you, Senator Larkin. 3 Senator Seward. 4 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Mr. 5 President. So much has been said about Mike 6 Tully this afternoon, and very appropriately 7 so, that I would be remiss if I did not stand 8 to add my words of tribute to a colleague and 9 good friend. I considered it an honor and a 10 pleasure to sit here in the front row a couple 11 of seats from Mike during my years here in the 12 Senate and across from Mike at the table in 13 the conference room, and I will never forget 14 that very empty feeling, that sense of loss 15 that I felt when I got that terrible telephone 16 call last August in the morning, that Mike had 17 been taken from us. 18 At a time like this, we can 19 cling to not only Mike's memory but also to 20 his legacy. The people of this state 21 particularly his district, but people in every 22 corner of this state are better off from the 23 service that Mike has rendered these last 24 number of years. Whether it be health care, 25 education, the list goes on and on. The people 1 of this state are better off because of the 2 years that Mike Tully spent in public service 3 and for those of us who are involved in public 4 service, I can only say that, without question 5 he represented the very best of what it means 6 to be a public servant. 7 First of all, he was 8 intelligent, a man of great intellect. He was 9 hard working, conscientious. He had an 10 uncanny sense of knowing exactly what was 11 going on in this place at all times. He was a 12 man of substance. He dealt with the tough 13 issues, the substantive issues. Mike was 14 there, and he was on top of them. He was a 15 man of principle, and he looked out for the 16 best interests of his colleagues in this 17 chamber and all of his constituents. 18 He was a man of class and one 19 that I will never ever forget; but most of all 20 he was a man that cared very deeply about his 21 family and his loved ones, and to those who 22 are with us today, I can only say that I add 23 my words of sympathy and to say that I'm very 24 proud to call Mike Tully a friend and a 25 colleague. 1 Thank you, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 3 Thank you, Senator Seward. 4 Senator Paterson. 5 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 Earlier when acting as a 8 Senator, you referred to our prospect of 9 professionalism and duty, in spite of which 10 side of the aisle that we might sit on, and 11 that's a concept that we probably all 12 understand, but I think could not have been 13 made more clear to me than when I was here 14 about four years, and it was a spring day in 15 May, 1990 and there was a huge rally right 16 outside the Capitol given by one of the 17 hostile workers unions, and there were a 18 number of health care activists getting up and 19 speaking, and the speeches became at times 20 more and more shrill, and all of a sudden they 21 said, now we want to interrupt -- want to 22 introduce one of our best friends in state 23 government, Senator Mike Tully, and Senator 24 Tully got up to rather thunderous applause and 25 made a speech that really seemed to impress 1 all the union delegates and what seemed to be 2 10- to 15,000 people, and in speaking to some 3 of the union leadership, I said to them, "I 4 didn't know you had that kind of relationship 5 with Senator Tully," and they said to me that 6 every time there had been an issue in which 7 they'd wanted to talk to someone that he had 8 made himself available and had fought on their 9 behalf and had always given them counsel even 10 if he didn't agree with what the issue may 11 have been. 12 At that time, I think I really 13 understood the need for the types of 14 relationships that we have in this chamber and 15 so I thought that since he was the one who, in 16 a sense, educated me, I went and told him 17 about that particular incident and always 18 found him to be quite gracious and quite 19 helpful to me. 20 I showed up at The Shipyard one 21 night to be part of a dinner party that did 22 not include Senator Tully but, as he was 23 organizing his own dinner party, he ushered me 24 to my table and gave me a few words of wisdom 25 and seemed to be very much in charge, as I 1 learned from some of the very interesting 2 stories about him telling Senator Spano when 3 to take his coat off and Senator Libous to put 4 his jacket on, and the way that he seemed to 5 have great authority in this chamber. 6 I will really remember him as a 7 colleague that had a rare combination of 8 skills that he dedicated to a number of tasks 9 and had a tremendous amount of energy and will 10 always remember him as someone who was always 11 accessible and always quite affable, and so as 12 we tribute him today, as we pay tribute to him 13 we're really speaking for all of those from 14 his district and all of those who met him over 15 the years who would like to lend their voices 16 to ours if they had had the opportunity, 17 whether they had been associates, colleagues 18 or friends. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 21 Thank you, Senator Paterson. 22 Senator Kuhl. 23 SENATOR KUHL: Thank you, Mr. 24 President. 25 I think it's just a marvelous 1 tribute to Mike Tully that the people who have 2 spoken today have done so, so eloquently and 3 certainly at such length. I think, regardless 4 of the time that we spend here in the chamber 5 it still wouldn't be enough in a tribute to 6 Mike Tully. 7 He's obviously touched all of 8 us but in a uniquely different way but in a 9 way I think it's tremendously positive. I 10 consider Mike Tully a friend for a number of 11 reasons. We had an affinity, I think, for the 12 same sport, golf, and we had many occasions to 13 battle it out, so to speak, on golf courses in 14 this area, and one of the great pleasures that 15 I had was watching Mike tackle Augusta 16 National Golf Course, the pinnacle of a 17 golfer's idea of what the world of golf is and 18 what it can be and certainly what there is to 19 be. 20 But Mike Tully also, I think, 21 as much as he was a leader acknowledged that 22 there -- other people did have concerns at 23 times and did have a specific interest in a 24 topic, and it takes me back to when we were 25 thinking about Mike Tully and the stories that 1 all of us have to one time years ago when Mike 2 was chairman of the Health Committee, an issue 3 that was very, very much of concern to myself 4 and Senator, then, John McHugh, and other 5 upstate representatives and it dealt with new 6 kinds of restrictions on summer camps for 7 children, and the issue of whether or not 8 there were going to be requirements for all of 9 the toilet operations in the state and the 10 toilet seats changed from circular to one 11 having vents arose, and Mike was very quick to 12 find out that he didn't have the support of 13 the majority in his committee, and the bill 14 stopped dead right there. 15 Well, after that Mike made a 16 very personal attempt and attachment to all of 17 us to inquire as to whether or not we had any 18 objection to the bills that were going to be 19 coming from his Health Committee thereafter. 20 So there certainly was a recognition that even 21 though he had this grandiose view and perhaps 22 how to better the world and which he did, 23 particularly our residents in New York, he 24 certainly was willing to accept other ideas. 25 As many of you may know and it 1 was mentioned here today, Mike was really the 2 predominant force behind the adoption of the 3 pesticide registry in New York. The initial 4 proposal really was viewed as a tremendous, if 5 it had been adopted as presented, a tremendous 6 detriment to the agricultural industry, and so 7 being a representative of that industry in 8 this state for the last couple years as far as 9 the Senate goes, that threw the two of us to 10 potentially a tremendously argumentative 11 position. Neither of us viewed it as that and 12 certainly after three years, I think it was, 13 of consultation and trying to work the 14 situation out, Mike was successful in his 15 effort and we were successful in ours and so 16 that that issue has been resolved, I think to 17 the betterment of everybody the pesticides. 18 Mike, as far as I'm concerned, 19 will be missed every day. I can't tell you 20 that since his loss in August, I don't 21 remember anybody's loss that I have had 22 reflections on on a daily basis and I think 23 that goes back to perhaps our last supper here 24 in Albany. Billy Larkin and I were very 25 fortunate to have that last supper in Albany 1 before Mike's demise with him, and I recall 2 it, as you may all recall the end of our 3 session this last year, and Mike came up as he 4 usually does when I was presiding, and said 5 "Well, what are you going to be doing for 6 dinner," and I said, "Well, I don't really 7 have any plans," and he said, "Why don't you 8 and I and the Colonel just find some place 9 where we can go and have dinner" in the maybe 10 hour and a half that we had, and we did. We 11 went to one of his favorite spots, The 12 Shipyard, and we had a really delightful 13 dinner and Mike was typically at his best. He 14 was light, happy, witty, cheerful, and we 15 didn't talk about anything really serious, and 16 when it came time for us to leave, we said, 17 "O.K., now, let's split this bill up." Mike 18 says, "No, no, no, no, no," and we were 19 insistent that we split it up, but Mike was 20 more persistent than Bill and I were and he 21 said, "Look, I'll get this one. You get the 22 next one." Mike, I'm waiting to get the next 23 one. 24 Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 1 Thank you, Senator Kuhl. 2 Senator Lachman. 3 SENATOR LACHMAN: Mr. 4 President, I would also like to rise and very 5 briefly add my words to what so eloquently has 6 been said by so many others. 7 Since I entered this chamber 8 the same day that Senator Alesi did, I too 9 regret that I did not have the good fortune of 10 spending more time with our good friend whom 11 we miss so much. I never had the pleasure of 12 either playing golf or having dinner with 13 Senator Tully, but at the same time, I 14 appreciated two things about him. 15 Since I have family and friends 16 who lived and still live in his district, I 17 knew of his major concerns for the health and 18 well-being of the people of this state, his 19 non-partisan concerns for the health of every 20 one, and that was very important to me, and it 21 was an incident that occurred in the lounge 22 just two or three days before the end of 23 session when we were all exhausted, our nerves 24 were frayed, and Senator Tully came over to me 25 and in a most humane and personal manner, 1 expressed his concern about two of our 2 colleagues who that week were taken ill - 3 Senator Marchi, who was better, and with great 4 pleasure, we see him now in the Senate, or on 5 the Senate floor, and Senator Levy, who we 6 hope will be restored to complete health and 7 will be seen in the near future, and I said to 8 myself, here is a man of concern, of great 9 heart, of great principle, and I remember that 10 to this very day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 12 Thank you, Senator Lachman. 13 Senator Leichter. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 15 President, there's no question that Mike Tully 16 was a superb legislator, but I think it's 17 interesting and very telling that most of the 18 comments that you've heard this afternoon have 19 really been about Mike Tully, the person, 20 because I think it says how much he touched us 21 as individuals and aside from the clamor of 22 battle here and all the political discord, and 23 so on, we're human beings working at a job and 24 really nobody did it more as a human being 25 than Mike Tully. 1 If I thought one word to 2 describe Mike Tully, it would be "gracious". 3 In all these years we served together I never 4 knew him to be angry, to be mean, to be nasty, 5 to be short-tempered. He was always a 6 gentleman. He was always a pleasure to work 7 with. He was always patient. He would always 8 speak to you; he would always show real 9 concern for his colleagues. He was very 10 definitely so much a part of the fabric of 11 this house, and in the very best sense. 12 He was particularly kind to me. 13 He'd sometimes make a little comment about, 14 Franz, don't keep us here so late, and so on, 15 but there was never any nastiness about it. 16 There was friendliness. I think he understood 17 what his other colleagues did, he accepted 18 them. He was a fine person, and it's very hard 19 to think as you look across the aisle and not 20 see him there. He'd always come to chambers, 21 always had a lot of papers with him, always 22 working. He was very conscientious, always in 23 his seat, knew what was going on. He always - 24 if you wanted to know what was happening, you 25 could always check with Mike Tully, and he 1 would know what was going on, and to think 2 that he's no longer here with us is really 3 very, very hard. 4 Sometimes we only really 5 appreciate how much people mean to us when 6 they're no longer with us, and that's 7 certainly the case with Mike Tully. It was a 8 terrible shock shortly after we left session 9 to hear what had happened to Mike. I remember 10 we were talking 5:00, 6:00 a.m., in the 11 morning. He had even said he was going to 12 drive back, and I said, Well, please be 13 careful. He said, Well, I've got a driver, 14 and when I heard what had happened, as I said, 15 it was with unbelief. 16 But we were fortunate to have 17 had Mike Tully amongst us, and we're all the 18 better for it, and certainly the people of 19 this state of New York are better for it, 20 because as I started off he was a superb 21 legislator. He was conscientious, hard 22 working, caring, compassionate. He came here 23 to do a job for the people of the state of New 24 York. He did a wonderful job, and he left all 25 of us with fond memories and the knowledge and 1 the understanding that you can be political 2 opponents, but we can be involved as 3 colleagues in a greater cause. 4 Thank you. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 6 Senator Leichter. 7 Senator Meier. 8 SENATOR MEIER: Yes, Mr. 9 President. 10 When you come here as a new 11 member as I did last year, you quickly learn 12 two things about this Senate, and that is that 13 seniority is important here and collegiality 14 is important here, and when you're new you 15 find a lot of occasions where you find out 16 just how important seniority is and you even 17 bump into a few people who are more than 18 willing to teach you how important seniority 19 is. 20 Shortly after I came here, 21 Senator Tully had an environmental bill that 22 raised some concerns among some folks in the 23 logging industry in my district, and I've only 24 been to Nassau County a few times but I don't 25 believe there's a lot of people there who make 1 their living cutting down trees and turning it 2 into lumber, but shortly after I had a 3 conversation with Mike Tully about the 4 concerns in my district about that bill, I was 5 visited by his counsel, and I was told by that 6 staff member that Senator Tully had given 7 instructions that they were to work with me 8 until my constituents were satisfied with the 9 bill. 10 Mike Tully, although he was 11 vastly senior to me in experience and in 12 service in this body, was interested in me as 13 a colleague, and I learned that day what 14 collegiality means in the Senate -- respect 15 for a colleague and an understanding that we 16 are all here to serve all the people of the 17 state of New York, through offering that 18 respect to our fellow Senators. 19 I was privileged to receive 20 that part of my indoctrination and my 21 instruction as a new Senator from a fine 22 gentleman, Senator Michael Tully, and although 23 I was not privileged to serve with him for 24 long, I was privileged to watch someone who 25 embodied the best traditions of this Senate in 1 public service itself. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 3 Thank you, Senator Meier. 4 Senator Balboni. 5 SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. 6 President, my colleagues. It is indeed 7 fitting that the first time that I rise to 8 speak on the floor of this historic chamber is 9 to support a resolution for my predecessor, 10 Mike Tully. 11 Mike Tully and I shared a 12 couple of common characteristics: We both 13 hated speaking at memorials. I am ill at ease 14 and Mike Tully just thought there was much 15 better to focus on in life, so that's what I 16 will do. I will leave you with one story. 17 We so often don't view 18 ourselves as others do and in this age of 19 cynicism revolving around politics, it's so 20 difficult to judge, particularly how other 21 people in our community judge us. I was 22 walking through Franklin Square, and I was 23 knocking on doors, some of the same doors that 24 Mike Tully knocked on for years, and I 25 happened to meet a little old Italian lady, 1 and I said, "Hi! I'm Mike Balboni; I'm 2 campaigning for the Senate. You know, Mike 3 Tully passed away." She said, "Excuse me." I 4 said, "Mike Tully passed away," and she says, 5 "Oh, my God," and she stepped back and she 6 started to cry, and I said, "Are you a 7 relative of the Senator?" And she said, "No, 8 but I loved him." 9 Where do you get that kind of 10 love from? What kind of business do we have to 11 enter into where we have somebody with no 12 other connection than someone who represents 13 us, that cares for what we do. Mike Tully was 14 that kind of man and it will be very difficult 15 ever to match his accomplishments, though I 16 will try my hardest. 17 Permit me, if I may, to leave 18 you with one last instruction from your 19 colleague, Michael Tully, in the words that he 20 loved and guided him: God grant me the 21 serenity to accept the things I cannot change, 22 the courage to change the things I can, and 23 the wisdom to know the difference. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 25 Thank you, Senator Balboni. 1 The question is on the 2 resolution. I'm sorry. Senator Montgomery. 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I rise to support the 6 resolution and to just say to my colleagues 7 and family members and friends of Senator Mike 8 Tully, that there were two colleagues of mine 9 on the Republican side who -- who have been 10 people that have been closer than the average 11 Republican, if you can understand this, and 12 one of them was Gene Levy, to whom I felt a 13 particular sense of closeness as a person to 14 person, and the other one was Senator Tully, 15 and I believe that part of it is because they 16 didn't take themselves so seriously as a 17 Republican so they could feel very comfortable 18 talking to me as a Democrat from another part 19 of the world from theirs, and I appreciated 20 that and respected it. 21 I was fortunate to be once in 22 Senator Tully's district. There was a meeting 23 with some women who were part of the nursing 24 association who invited me, and when I walked 25 into the room, Senator Tully was there, 1 surrounded by some of the people who were 2 there. He -- there was a great smile that 3 came across his face. He was very happy to 4 see me. We did a photo session briefly and he 5 said, Now that you're here, I can leave, and 6 he left but from that, I have a wonderful 7 photo which I will treasure for the rest of my 8 life here. 9 Senator Tully became chair if 10 the Health Committee. I thought that 11 everything would stop, all work would just 12 absolutely disintegrate when Senator Lombardi 13 left, but lo and behold, the Senator who took 14 his place became an extremely effective 15 advocate especially around women's health, and 16 I appreciate the fact that, even though I was 17 badgering and pleading and begging and working 18 for the expansion of school-based health, I 19 even stole Senator Tully's bill and did a 20 hostile amendment to see if we could try and 21 get it passed that way to have a school-based 22 health standard. We did not, but he never 23 took it as a hostile affront; he accepted it 24 for what it was, and that was my genuine 25 interest and making it move and, therefore, 1 was never angered by the fact that I was so 2 persistent and aggressive about it. 3 So I appreciated him as a 4 colleague, as a person who was extremely 5 approachable and who did not make the line of 6 distinction between Republican and Democrat 7 large R and large D, but rather was really a 8 statesman and could accept controversy for the 9 fact that people really cared about issues 10 though they may have been on different sides. 11 I certainly will miss him. He had a wonderful 12 personal smile and warmth about him that I 13 truly appreciated, and I certainly think that 14 today we are doing him an honor by saying how 15 much he has contributed to the body here. 16 Thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 18 Thank you, Senator Montgomery. 19 Senator Onorato. 20 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. 21 President, I rise to join my colleagues in 22 paying tribute to Mike Tully, one of my 23 dearest friends in this chamber. 24 All of the things that have 25 been said previously are certainly true. I 1 would really be remiss if I didn't just get up 2 to add my words of my knowledge of or with 3 Mike Tully. 4 I knew Mike when he was a 5 member of North Hempstead. I played golf with 6 him there on several occasions. He knew that I 7 was considering joining this club. He was 8 going to sponsor me, and I came out there on 9 an occasion and I had jeans on. He said, 10 "Georgie, you can't come in here with those 11 on." I said, "What do you mean I can't come 12 in?" I said, "These are Calvin Kleins." He 13 said, "I don't care who they are, you can't 14 come in here with jeans. Go out and change." 15 So I went out and changed into my golf clothes 16 to get into the clubhouse. 17 And then on the other occasion, 18 there, I think it was very recently, he came 19 in and he said, "Georgie, I got something I 20 got to show you." So I went over; I said, 21 "What is it?" He said, "Look at this." "What 22 is it?" He says, "It's the titanium Taylor 23 bubble, it's terrific." He says, "I'm getting 24 an extra 20 yards out of it." He said, "I 25 played with it yesterday with my pro, and I 1 shot a 72 with it, so I'm getting it." He 2 says, "Maybe you ought to get one, it'll do 3 you terrific." He says, "Matter of fact, 4 tomorrow, if you can get ahold of Franz 5 Leichter and quiet him down a little bit, I'll 6 give you an opportunity to try it out." Well, 7 as luck would have it, I got ahold of Franz 8 Leichter and quieted him down, but I forgot 9 about Rick Dollinger, and that was the end of 10 the session, so we got out a little too late, 11 and I never got a chance to try that titanium 12 bubble. 13 But all of my memories of Mike 14 Tully are all very, very fond and loving and I 15 extend my heartfelt sympathy to the family and 16 wish them all the best that life can offer in 17 the future. 18 Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 20 Senator Onorato, if you can do that for 21 Senator Dollinger and Senator Leichter, this 22 session I'll let you use my Taylor bubble. 23 Senator Rath. 24 SENATOR RATH: So much has been 25 said, and I thought what could I possibly add 1 to what those of you who knew Mike so much 2 better except, of course, to extend my 3 sympathy to Mike's family and friends, but 4 also maybe on a rather lilting note, come near 5 the end of these remarks today with the Irish 6 blessing, that the road would rise up to meet 7 you, and that may the wind be always at your 8 back, and the rain fall soft upon your field, 9 and, Michael, until we meet you again, may God 10 hold you in the palm of his hand. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 12 Thank you, Senator. 13 Senator Oppenheimer. 14 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, 15 this has just been a magnificent tribute to 16 Mike, and I know he is listening in on this 17 and grinning, a lot of warmth and good feeling 18 because that's what he gave to all of us. He 19 had time for all of us, he cared about all of 20 us. He made us feel warm and welcome and he 21 did, as was mentioned by my colleagues, feel 22 very comfortable crossing party lines and 23 dealing with the issues which were important 24 to him and to us, and, of course, my issues 25 being the environment and women's health, it 1 was an arena that we could share together and 2 he was so knowledgeable and I just think that 3 he was -- maybe I shouldn't say that this way, 4 but he was just very beautiful. He was 5 beautiful in his appearance and he always 6 looked so elegant, and he was so charming and 7 yet he was so knowledgeable and so genuine and 8 so reaching out, so it's just an incredible 9 loss to all of us and I think that's what 10 you're hearing here today. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 12 The question is on the resolution. All in 13 favor signify by saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 Opposed nay. 16 (There was no response.) 17 The resolution is passed. 18 On behalf of my colleagues, to 19 the family and friends of Senator Tully, we 20 wish you Godspeed and now you've got a sense 21 of what your loved one meant to everyone in 22 this chamber. Certainly was a fine gentleman 23 and beloved by all. 24 Thank you very much. 25 Senator Bruno. 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 2 I believe there are a number of committee 3 assignments and changes that have been 4 designated that are at the desk. I would ask 5 that they be filed there at the desk and acted 6 on accordingly. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 8 They are at the desk, Senator, and they will 9 be filed in the Journal. 10 Senator Bruno, again. Senator 11 Bruno. 12 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 13 we have a bill that's being drafted now. I had 14 expected it would be here by now, but we're 15 expecting it momentarily and I believe that we 16 have agreement here in this house and in the 17 Assembly, and it changes the date for 18 qualification as it relates to the STAR 19 program for senior citizens to qualify for 20 homestead exemption. 21 The Assembly is not in session 22 tomorrow. We are trying to pass the bill 23 tonight in both houses. If it appears that it 24 will be within these next few minutes, I would 25 request that we stand in recess and not get 1 too far away or at ease. If it appears that 2 it's going to be an extended period anything 3 past 15 or 20 minutes, then I would suggest 4 that we take it up tomorrow. 5 We have instant action in this 6 chamber, probably in honor of Senator Tully, 7 that we don't have to hang around. We're 8 going to ask for an immediate meeting of Rules 9 in Room 332. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 11 There will be an immediate meeting of Rules in 12 Room 332, and the Senate will stand at ease 13 until the committee comes back. 14 (The Senate stood at ease from 15 4:53 until 4:57 p.m.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 19 return to reports of standing committees. I 20 believe there is a report of the Rules 21 Committee at the desk. I ask that it be 22 read. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 24 Secretary will read a report of a standing 25 committee. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 2 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 3 following bill direct to third reading: 4 Senate Print 5998, by Senator 5 Bruno, an act to extend the period for filing 6 applications. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 8 I move to accept the report of the Rules 9 Committee. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 11 All in favor of accepting the report of the 12 Rules Committee signify by saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed nay. 15 (There was no response. ) 16 The report is accepted. 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 at this time if we could take up Senate 5998. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 37, by Senator Bruno, Senate Number 5998, an 24 act to extend the period for filing 25 applications for the school tax relief 1 exemption. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 3 Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 5 is there a message of necessity at the desk? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 7 Yes, Senator Skelos, there is. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 9 accept. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 11 All in favor of accepting the message of 12 necessity signify by saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye."). 14 Opposed nay. 15 (There was no response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 17 The message is accepted. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Read the last 19 section, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 21 Please read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 23 This act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 25 Call the roll. 1 (The Secretary called the 2 roll. ) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 5 The bill is passed. 6 Senator Skelos. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any 8 housekeeping at the desk? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 10 There is no housekeeping, sir. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 12 in the name and in memory of Senator Michael 13 J. Tully, there being no further business, I 14 move we adjourn until Tuesday, January 13th, 15 at 3:00 p.m. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 17 On motion, the Senate stands adjourned in the 18 name and memory of our honored colleague, 19 Senator Michael J. Tully, until June -- until 20 Thursday, January 13th, at 3:00 p.m. The 21 Senate stands adjourned. 22 (Whereupon at adjourned at 5:06 23 p.m., the Senate adjourned.) 24 25