Monday, February 9, 1998

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 February 9, 1998 11 3:05 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 everyone please rise and 4 join with me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 5 (The assemblage repeated the 6 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 7 THE PRESIDENT: The invocation 8 today will be given by Rabbi Israel Rubin from 9 the Chabad Center in Albany. 10 Rabbi Rubin. 11 RABBI ISRAEL RUBIN: We begin 12 with a note of sadness, a feeling of loss at 13 the passing of Senator Norman Levy. Among his 14 many accomplishments are those of pressing and 15 initiating a humanitarian seat belt law. It 16 should be noted that his tradition says one 17 who saves one life at risk saves the whole 18 world, and certainly this can be said for all 19 lives in the state and credit to this fine 20 Senator. 21 This week is Tu B'Shvat, a 22 holiday which is the Jewish New Year for trees 23 on Wednesday. It carries the universal 24 message of concern for trees and the 25 environment and all growing things, especially 1 their relationship to man, as the Bible states 2 in Deuteronomy, "For man is as a tree of the 3 field." Indeed when God first placed Adam and 4 Eve in Paradise in the Garden of Eden, they 5 were commanded in the seven laws and charged 6 with the divine mandate to work the garden and 7 to serve on it. 8 O God, grant the legislators in 9 this Assembly division the foresight to plan 10 for our human growth, while also taking into 11 account the growth of the world around us. 12 Amen. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Amen. 14 The reading of the Journal, 15 please. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Sunday, February 8th. The Senate met pursuant 18 to adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 19 February 7th, was read and approved. On 20 motion, Senate adjourned. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 24 Presentation of petitions. 25 Messages from the Assembly. 1 Messages from the Governor. 2 Reports of standing 3 committees. 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Rath, 6 from the Committee on Local Government, 7 reports the following bills: 8 Senate Print 616, by Senator 9 Cook, an act to amend the County Law; 10 1944, by Senator Seward, an act 11 to amend the Town Law; 12 3267, by Senator Seward, an act 13 to amend the Town Law; 14 3890, by Senator Wright, an act 15 to amend the County Law; 16 4647, by Senator Cook, an act 17 to amend the Town Law; 18 4992-A, by Senator Spano, an 19 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law; and 20 6001, by Senator Larkin, an act 21 to amend the Town Law. 22 Senator Volker, from the 23 Committee on Codes, reports the following 24 bills: 25 Senate Print 222, by Senator 1 Volker, an act to amend the Penal Law and the 2 Criminal Procedure Law; 3 424, by Senator Goodman, an act 4 to amend the Penal Law; 5 454, by Senator Holland, an act 6 to amend the Penal Law; 7 502, by Senator Johnson, an act 8 to amend the Penal Law; 9 522, by Senator Volker, an act 10 to amend the Penal Law; 11 1135, by Senator Marcellino, an 12 act to amend the Penal Law; 13 1290, by Senator Saland, an act 14 to amend the Penal Law; 15 1957, by Senator Holland, an 16 act to amend the Penal Law; 17 1977, by Senator Kuhl, an act 18 to amend the Penal Law; 19 2016, by Senator Saland, an act 20 to amend the Penal Law; 21 2522-A, by Senator Johnson, an 22 act to amend the Penal Law; 23 5525, by Senator Volker, an act 24 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law and 25 others, and 1 5950, by Senator Balboni, an 2 act to amend the Penal Law. 3 Senator Cook, from the 4 Committee on Education, reports: 5 Senate Print 5739, with 6 amendments, by Senator Cook, an act to amend 7 the Education Law. 8 Senator Holland, from the 9 Committee on Social Services, reports: 10 Senate Print 231, by Senator 11 Holland, an act to amend the Social Services 12 Law; and 13 6170, by Senator Hannon, an act 14 to amend the Social Services Law. 15 All bills ordered directly for 16 third reading. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 18 bills directly to third reading. 19 We'll continue on with reports 20 of select committees. 21 Communications and reports from 22 state officers. 23 Motions and resolutions. 24 Senator Marcellino. 25 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 1 Mr. President. 2 On behalf of Senator Libous, 3 please remove the sponsor's star from Calendar 4 Numbers 2 and 5. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: So 6 ordered. 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 8 sir. 9 Senator Farley. 10 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 On behalf of myself, on page 13 12, I offer the following amendments to 14 Calendar Number 171, Senate Print 2216, and I 15 ask that that bill retain its place on the 16 Third Reading Calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 18 Amendments are received. 19 Senator Johnson. No? 20 Sorry, Senator Holland. 21 SENATOR HOLLAND: Well, Mr. 22 President, I wish to call up Senator Larkin's 23 bill, Print Number 2369, recalled from the 24 Assembly, which is now at the desk. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 77, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2369, an 4 act to amend the Navigation Law. 5 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. 6 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 7 by which this bill was passed. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 9 Secretary will call the rolling on 10 reconsideration. 11 (The Secretary called the roll 12 on reconsideration. ) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 45. 14 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. President, 15 I now offer the following amendments. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 amendments have been received at the desk. 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. 19 President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 21 Senator Johnson. 22 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. 23 President, on page 13, I offer the following 24 amendments to Calendar Number 187, Senate 25 Print Number 4834-B, and ask that said bill 1 retain its place on the Third Reading 2 Calendar. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 amendments are received. 5 Senator Skelos, we have a 6 substitution. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any 8 housekeeping? Any substitutions to be made? 9 Would you please make the substitutions. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 11 Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: On page 13, 13 Senator LaValle moves to discharge from the 14 committee on Corporations, Authorities and 15 Commissions Assembly Bill Number 8879-A, and 16 substitute it for the identical Third Reading 17 Calendar 190. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Substitution ordered. 20 Senator Skelos, we have another 21 substitution. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Please make 23 the substitution, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 25 Secretary will read. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Skelos 2 moves to discharge from the committee on 3 Corporations, Authorities and Commissions 4 Assembly Bill Number 8994 and substitute it 5 for the identical Third Reading Calendar 191. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 7 Substitution ordered. 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 there will be an immediate meeting of the 11 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 12 Room, and if you could take up the 13 non-controversial calendar. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Senator Skelos, we have one more motion. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: One more 17 motion. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes. 19 Senator Farley. 20 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 21 Senator Skelos and others. 22 Mr. President, I move that the 23 following bills be discharged from their 24 respective committees and be recommitted with 25 instructions to strike the enacting clause. 1 These are Senator Libous' bills, 2700-A, 2740 2 A and 4813. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: So 4 ordered. 5 Secretary will read the 6 non-controversial calendar. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 17, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 889-A, an 9 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, the 10 Public Health Law and the Family Court Act, in 11 relation to the authorized destruction of 12 dangerous drugs. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 16 This act shall take effect on the first day of 17 November. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the 21 roll. ) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 1 91, by Senator Cook, Senate Print 1422, an act 2 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 3 relation to denial of recognizance or bail. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 5 the last section. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it 7 aside. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 9 the bill aside. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 92, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 1537, 12 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 13 relation to applications for recognizance or 14 bail. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 18 This act shall take effect on the 30th day. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the 22 roll. ) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 49, nays 24 one, Senator Sampson recorded in the 25 negative. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 93, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 1538, 5 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 6 relation to compliance with orders fixing 7 bail. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 11 This act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the 15 roll. ) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 104, by Senator Saland. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 23 the bill aside. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 106, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 3597, an 1 act to amend the Not-for-Profit Corporation 2 Law, in relation to the organization of 3 university faculty practice corporations. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 7 This act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the 11 roll. ) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 119, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 102-A, an 17 act in relation to requiring the Commissioners 18 of Motor Vehicles, Transportation and 19 Education to develop a uniform definition of 20 the terms "school" and "school bus". 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 24 This act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the 3 roll. ) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 120, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 119, an 9 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 10 relation to the operation of school buses. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 14 This act shall take effect on the first day of 15 July. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the 19 roll. ) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 22 bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 153, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 5559, an 25 act to amend the charter of the city of New 1 York, in relation to the power of the 2 Department of Finance. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 6 This act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the 10 roll. ) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 50. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 155, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 1523-B, 16 an act to amend the Eminent Domain Procedure 17 Law, in relation to acquisition of land by the 18 state. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 22 This act shall take effect in 30 days. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the 1 roll. ) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 51. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 174, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 4433, an 7 act to amend the Civil Service Law. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 10 the bill aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 185, Senate Print 548, an act to amend the 13 Agriculture and Markets Law, in relation to 14 duties of the Commissioner of Agriculture and 15 Markets. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 19 This act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the 23 roll. ) 24 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 25 in the negative on Calendar Number 185 are 1 Senators Goodman, Leibell and Leichter. Ayes 2 49, nays 3. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 186, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 3084, an 7 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law, 8 in relation to spectators at exhibitions of 9 animal fighting. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect on the first day of 14 November. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the 18 roll. ) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 190, substituted earlier today, by member of 24 the Assembly Sweeney, Assembly Print 5991-A, 25 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 1 relation to the special powers of the New York 2 State Environmental Facilities Corporation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the 10 roll. ) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 191, substituted earlier today, by member of 16 the Assembly Vann, Assembly Print 8994, an act 17 to amend the Business Corporation Law, in 18 relation to corporate finance proxies, powers 19 of directors, and mergers. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 23 This act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 25 the roll. 1 (The Secretary called the 2 roll. ) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53, nays 4 one, Senator Leichter recorded in the 5 negative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 202, by Senator Present, Senate Print 5919, an 10 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 11 relation to the maximum speed limit on a 12 portion of Route 17. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the 20 roll. ) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 22 SENATOR LAVALLE: Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 24 Senator LaValle. 25 SENATOR LAVALLE: Mr. 1 President, may I have unanimous consent to be 2 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 3 185. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 5 Without objection, Senator LaValle will be 6 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 7 185. (Pause) 8 For the purposes of the record, 9 Calendar Number 202 is passed. 10 Senator Marcellino. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 12 President, there will be an immediate meeting 13 of the Finance Committee in Room 332. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in 16 Room 332. 17 Senator Marcellino. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 19 President, can we take up the controversial 20 calendar right now. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 22 Secretary will read the controversial 23 calendar. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 91, by Senator Cook, Senate Print Number 1422, 1 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 2 relation to denial of recognizance or bail in 3 certain cases. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Senator Cook, an explanation of Calendar 6 Number 91 has been requested by Senator 7 Paterson. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 9 President, interestingly enough that 20 years 10 ago when this bill was first introduced it was 11 quite radical. In the context of many of the 12 other things that people are talking today, 13 it's a very conservative bill in that it only 14 establishes a presumption in the case where an 15 individual appears for an arraignment and they 16 ask for bail to be set. It creates a 17 presumption that, if they've previously been 18 convicted of one of the enumerated violent 19 crimes or if they're currently under 20 indictment on another violent -- charge of a 21 violent crime, that they are presumed to be an 22 endangerment to the society and that the judge 23 has to then have a hearing at which that may 24 be refuted by the defendant, but that the 25 judge must deny bail unless there is some 1 showing on the part of the defendant that, in 2 fact, they do not create an endangerment to 3 the public. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 5 Senator Paterson. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 If Senator Cook would yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Cook, would you yield for a question 11 from Senator Paterson? 12 Senator Paterson. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 Are there any statistics 16 currently involved in the revocation of bail 17 by judges that would give us an example, give 18 us an idea of how many people would be 19 affected by the passage of this type of 20 legislation? 21 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President, I 22 have no statistics because I don't know that 23 we've -- that anybody keeps those kind of 24 statistics. You have individual cases, of 25 course, which come before courts and the 1 problem is that in New York State courts, at 2 least in one -- at least in one judicial 3 district and I think probably statewide, the 4 presumption at this point has to be that the 5 only reason to deny bail would be a showing 6 that there was some reason to expect that the 7 individual might not appear for trial, and 8 it's then -- the burden of proof then is on 9 the district attorney in that case to show 10 that the individual may actually flee the 11 state rather than appearing for trial. 12 The -- the court then does not 13 have the ability to make the decision on the 14 other question, which is the endangerment of 15 society, and that's really what this bill does 16 is changes that presumption and because you're 17 changing the presumption you really -- you 18 can't count one kind of statistics as 19 indicative of what may happen in a different 20 type of case. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 22 Senator Paterson. 23 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 If Senator Cook would continue 1 to yield. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 3 Senator Cook? 4 SENATOR COOK: Yes. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 6 Senator Paterson. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator 8 Cook, I think it's probably my fault. I don't 9 think I'm stating it clearly enough. Perhaps 10 there are no statistics. I wasn't thinking in 11 terms of cases where there was -- where the 12 situation already existed where someone is 13 currently out on bail for another charge or 14 where there was a previous conviction. 15 I was thinking of those cases 16 where a person is allowed out on bail and then 17 the bail was revoked showing that there's some 18 necessity for this legislation that people who 19 are currently out on bail or are in some way 20 awaiting trial or in recognizance are 21 committing a large number of crimes. The 22 reason I'm seeking the answer is because I 23 want to know what kind of crime reduction that 24 we could expect from the passage of this 25 legislation. 1 SENATOR COOK: Well, first, let 2 me answer you that I'm not -- I'm not aware 3 that revocation of bail at this point is - 4 would be dependent upon any subsequent action 5 of the defendant. This is not like probation 6 where an individual on probation, first by 7 violating probation, immediately has the 8 probation suspended, or parole where they 9 break parole and, therefore, go back to jail, 10 because the -- the bail, of course, is set on 11 a specific incident relating to a specific 12 time of appearance in court; so I don't know 13 that you have this same kind of continuity, 14 but that is really, of course, the question 15 that -- not the question you really are trying 16 to ask. 17 You're trying to say, do we 18 have any showing that, in fact, this 19 particular bill is going to cut back 20 dramatically on street crime. I have no 21 statistics again, because we don't -- we don't 22 have a way to measure, but I can tell you that 23 at least two incidents that I am aware of, one 24 case where an individual was -- had a previous 25 conviction for rape and was, in fact, awaiting 1 trial on a second -- a second charge, in fact, 2 murdered someone and that's really where this 3 bill started. 4 I also have testimony that I 5 received in Buffalo some years ago from a 6 police chief out there indicating that one 7 particular individual had 11 charges pending 8 against them at the time that they took an 9 antenna off an automobile and stabbed somebody 10 in the -- in the stomach, and they ultimately 11 died from that, but that, in fact, the person 12 had been released on bail repeatedly for a 13 whole variety of different crimes in which it 14 was clear that this is an individual who has a 15 propensity for committing violent acts, so the 16 anec... that is admittedly anecdotal evidence 17 but it seems to indicate to me that there is 18 at least a need for the judge to be able to 19 make a decision based upon the individual's 20 past performance as to whether they constitute 21 an endangerment to society. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 23 Senator Paterson. 24 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 25 Mr. President. 1 What Senator Cook is proposing 2 really makes a lot of sense when you listen to 3 the examples that he gave. I think we would 4 all feel a sense of responsibility or 5 certainly a sense of chagrin at finding out 6 that an individual who had previously been 7 convicted of a violent felony and then at some 8 point arrested for a second similar situation 9 would at the time of awaiting trial commit yet 10 a third offense because we as a society did 11 not realize that this person was so dangerous 12 that it really was injurious to us as a 13 community to have this person out on the 14 street, and this was the reason why I'm trying 15 to elicit any information that would 16 demonstrate whether the situation that Senator 17 Cook describes occurs with enough frequency so 18 that the cost to localities to 19 institutionalize these individuals or even the 20 impingement upon constitutional rights would 21 be justified, that there would be a finding 22 that this has become such an awesome 23 circumstance in the face of predicate felons 24 that we have to try to take some action to try 25 to stop them. 1 I'm not satisfied of this point 2 and cannot vote for the bill as yet because I 3 think that there isn't enough information that 4 demonstrates that we need to do this. There 5 are always going to be some exceptions and 6 some instances where this kind of thing 7 occurs. It is going to be quite tragic for us 8 to learn when it actually affects another 9 human being where someone who has had a 10 continuing disregard for our laws acts out in 11 some fashion that makes us wish that we had 12 incarcerated them longer for a previous 13 offense or detained them when they were 14 arrested for a second offense. 15 But the purpose of bail, Mr. 16 President, is really not to allow for any 17 punishment but is a -- a protection that 18 ensures the defendant's appearance at trial 19 and it is one that is held very highly in our 20 bill of rights and one does not speak to the 21 innocence or guilt of the individual. I think 22 that passage of this legislation comes very 23 close to turning the presumption of innocence 24 on its head. Unfortunately, we probably often 25 can recognize who criminals are just by their 1 prior offenses or by a proclivity to an 2 offense itself, but when we get to the point 3 where we codify it as part of our legislation 4 and we're now saying that, if you're arrested 5 for one felony, and during the period that 6 you're out on bail waiting for another trial, 7 you're arrested for a second, it really 8 challenges the presumption of innocence to 9 then incarcerate that individual for any 10 period of time, and in light of enough 11 evidence that this is occurring so often that 12 it's a significant threat to public safety, I 13 would favor the value of our constitutional 14 protections over our fears and anxieties that 15 come from people whom we know are probably at 16 higher risk than the average citizen being out 17 on bail. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 19 the last section. 20 Senator Cook. 21 SENATOR COOK: Senator Paterson 22 has correctly stated the law and the judicial 23 precedent as it exists in New York State, 24 which is that the courts may only consider 25 whether the individual will, in their opinion, 1 reappear for trial, and that is exactly the 2 problem. That the courts under the present 3 judicial precedent that exists are not even 4 permitted to consider the question of whether 5 this person is an endangerment to society. 6 I would point out on the 7 constitutional issue that in federal court as 8 well as in the courts of most of the other 9 states in the Union, this is a consideration 10 that's acceptable, and I think that last year 11 when we voted on this, there were seven 12 negative votes. There may be some changes in 13 mind one way or another, but it appeared that 14 last year most people agreed that we ought to 15 have that power in the hands of the courts in 16 New York State and voted for the bill. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. 20 This act shall take effect on the first day of 21 January. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the 25 roll. ) 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 While the Secretary is recording the votes, 3 we'd like to welcome Mr. Steven Forbes to the 4 Senate Chamber. Mr. Forbes? 5 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 7 Senator Cook. 8 Senator Cook, to explain his 9 vote. 10 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President, I 11 think it's interesting that in a report 12 released on February 13, 1978, which 13 admittedly is a while ago, by the Democratic 14 Minority Leader of the New York State Senate, 15 it's noted that at least 80 percent of all 16 persons convicted of robbery have at least one 17 prior felony arrest, and that more than 2,000 18 people arrested in New York City in 19 1976 -- and there's been raising of the old 20 numbers -- for new crimes were already wanted 21 under bench warrants issued for absconding 22 from recognizance or bail granted on a prior 23 felony charge, which may give you some of the 24 statistics that you were looking for, 25 Senator. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 2 Senator Cook will be recorded in the 3 affirmative. 4 Senator Paterson. 5 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 6 President, I already voted in the negative. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: And 8 you already explained also, so - 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Maybe if 10 Senator Cook had gotten that information over 11 here, I have an open mind. It is likely to 12 come back next year. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Did 14 you want to change your vote, Senator 15 Paterson? 16 SENATOR PATERSON: I don't 17 think so. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: I 19 thought not. 20 Results, please. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 22 in the negative on an Calendar Number 91 are 23 Senators Abate, Breslin, Connor, Kruger, 24 Markowitz, Montgomery, Sampson, Santiago and 25 Smith. Ayes 47, nays 9. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 2 bill is passed. 3 Senator Marcellino. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 5 President, can we now take up Senate Calendar 6 Number 174. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 174, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print Number 11 4433, an act to amend the Civil Service Law, 12 in relation to authorizing the defense and 13 indemnification of the state for actions 14 against persons. 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 16 President, can we just lay this bill aside 17 temporarily. We have a question for a member 18 who is sitting in Finance right now and the 19 next bill to be talked about is also in 20 Finance, so if we could just be at ease for a 21 few moments until the respective Senators 22 return from the Finance meeting, we would 23 appreciate it. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 25 bill will be laid aside. The Senate will 1 stand at ease pending the completion of the 2 Finance meeting. 3 Senator Marcellino. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: All 5 right. Could we return to reports of standing 6 committees for the Rules Committee report. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Return 8 to the order of business, reports of standing 9 committees. 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 12 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 13 following bill direct to third reading: 14 Senate Print 6183, by Senator 15 Stafford, an act authorizing the extension of 16 time for the collection of taxes, fines and 17 payment of other monies. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Senator Marcellino. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Stand at 21 ease, sir. I'm sorry. Mr. President, before 22 we stand at ease can we move to accept the 23 report of the Rules Committee, please. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Motion 25 is to accept the report of the Rules 1 Committee. Those in favor signify by saying 2 aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 Opposed nay. 5 (There was no response. ) 6 The report of the Rules 7 Committee is accepted. 8 Senator Marcellino, there are 9 other committee reports at the desk. 10 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Can we 11 take up the other committee reports at this 12 time. Bless you! 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes. 14 THE SECRETARY: Senator 15 Leibell, from the Committee on Housing 16 Construction and Community Development, 17 reports: 18 Senate Print 2351, by Senator 19 Leibell, an act to amend the Administrative 20 Code of the city of New York; 21 3930, by Senator Leibell, an 22 act to amend the Private Housing Finance Law; 23 6007, by Senator Marchi, an act 24 to amend the Real Property Tax Law; 25 6042, by Senator Leibell, an 1 act to amend Chapter 84 of the Laws of 1993; 2 6043, by Senator Leibell, an 3 act to amend Chapter 449 of the Laws of 1986; 4 and 5 6044, by Senator Leibell, an 6 act to amend Chapter 777 of the Laws of 1986. 7 All bills ordered direct for 8 third reading. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 10 Without objection, all bills directly to third 11 reading. 12 Senator Marcellino. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 14 President, can we return to the calendar at 15 this time and take up Senate Print Number 16 6170, previously reported from the Committee 17 on Social Services. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Senator Marcellino, before we do that, the 20 Secretary would like to read the report that's 21 at the desk from the Committee on Social 22 Services. 23 SENATOR MARCELLINO: O.K. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 25 Secretary will read. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator 2 Holland, from the Committee on Social 3 Services, reports the following bill direct to 4 third reading: 5 6170, by Senator Hannon, an act 6 to amend the Social Services Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 Without objection, third reading. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: May we now 10 return to regular order. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: We'll 12 now return to the regular order of business. 13 Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 236, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 6170, an 16 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 17 relation to limiting the method of payment. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 21 This act shall take effect in 120 days. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the 25 roll. ) 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Marcellino. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Is there 6 any other housekeeping? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 There's no housekeeping at the desk at this 9 time. 10 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Then shall 11 -- let the house stand at ease for a while. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senate 13 will stand at ease. 14 (The Senate stood at ease from 15 3:41 p.m., until 3:50 p.m.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 would you please call up - 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Excuse 21 me a second, Senator Skelos. Could we have 22 order in the chamber, people cease their 23 conversations, please. 24 Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 1 at this time would you call up Calendar Number 2 104, Senate Number 999, by Senator Saland. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 104, by Senator Saland, Senate Print Number 7 999, an act to amend the Not-for-Profit 8 Corporation Law, in relation to eliminating 9 limitations. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 13 This act shall take effect - 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Senator Paterson, are you asking to be 16 recognized? 17 SENATOR PATERSON: I think 18 Senator Smith has a question. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 20 Senator Smith. 21 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 23 Would the sponsor yield for a 24 couple of questions? 25 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 1 President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 3 Sponsor yields. 4 SENATOR SMITH: Could you tell 5 me briefly why this bill is necessary at this 6 point in time? 7 SENATOR SALAND: It would 8 require a somewhat brief explanation of the 9 history of this section. 10 The section goes back about 150 11 years and, when initially instituted, the idea 12 of not-for-profits or whatever they called it 13 back in 1848 was somewhat novel -- new -- and 14 what they determined at that point is that 15 they're going to permit the accumulation of 16 property and the accumulation of income that 17 should be limited, and if I remember this 18 correctly -- and perhaps it's in the memo -- I 19 think initially they talk in terms of $125,000 20 worth of accumulation of property, some 21 $10,000 in income. 22 Periodically, over the last 23 century and a half, what we have done is from 24 time to time up those limits to now where it 25 talks in terms of accumulation of 50 million 1 in property and 6 million in income. 2 What this bill proposes to do 3 is to say there's no reason to have these 4 limits for not-for-profits any longer, 5 particularly when the language contained in 6 section 202 is not necessarily 7 jurisdictional. What you can do in your 8 certificate of incorporation, and many of the 9 more contemporary not-for-profits do this, 10 they notwithstand the language of 202, at 11 least insofar as it pertains to their 12 accumulation of property or the amount of 13 income that they're permitted to generate and 14 by notwithstanding it, they have no 15 limitation, effectively what we would like to 16 do, and it's not changing any of the 17 governance for not-for-profits but merely to 18 say that this particular proscription which is 19 only in part applicable and doesn't -- and can 20 be, in effect, voluntarily done away with by 21 your own certificate of incorporation, should 22 no longer really be applicable and let those 23 not-for-profits who do, Lord only knows how 24 many good things in their respective 25 districts, have the responsibility to do as 1 they please in property accumulation and 2 income. 3 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you. I 4 believe it was 1984 that we last changed the 5 amount. 6 SENATOR SALAND: Correct, yes. 7 SENATOR SMITH: Are there any 8 current limitations of -- that would inhibit 9 not-for-profits from carrying out their 10 functions? 11 SENATOR SALAND: I believe that 12 there are some not-for-profits who are under 13 older certificates of incorporation who find 14 themselves restrained, whereas more -- those 15 that have been formed more recently have been 16 able, if they chose to do so, to do away with 17 this particular what I'll call requirement, 18 but again it's not a requirement in the 19 strictest sense because you're, by your own 20 certificate of incorporation able to eliminate 21 it. 22 SENATOR SMITH: Excuse me. Mr. 23 President: Was there any one particular 24 not-for-profit that requested this 25 legislation? 1 SENATOR SALAND: As far as I 2 can determine, no. We've gone back through 3 our files to see if we -- when we originally 4 introduced this bill which I think may have 5 been three years ago, if we had a request from 6 anybody in particular. We've been unable to 7 determine. I'm not aware of anybody in 8 particular who asked for this for their 9 corporation. 10 SENATOR SMITH: One last 11 question: Have there been cases, to your 12 knowledge, of for-profits that have 13 established not-for-profit corporations to be 14 able to circumvent the fiscal entity? 15 SENATOR SALAND: Ask you to 16 rephrase that, Senator. I'm not quite sure - 17 would you just ask that question again. 18 SENATOR SMITH: Have there been 19 for-profit corporations that have established 20 not-for-profits so that they would be able to 21 transfer or to buy property under the 22 not-for-profit or under a foundation sort of 23 spin-off? 24 SENATOR SALAND: I'm not aware 25 of that being a problem. If you are aware of 1 it, it's news to me, and, in effect, there is 2 the ability if you want to form a -- as I 3 understand the law, if you wanted to form a 4 new not-for-profit, you could do that with 5 relative abandon and not be concerned about 6 this section. 7 SENATOR SMITH: And I'm sorry, 8 I did say it was one last question but there's 9 one last -- provokes one more thought. What 10 is to prevent a not-for-profit from buying up 11 everything imaginable and at what point do 12 they become a for-profit, because they have 13 all of this property which brings in income or 14 is valued at some point? How do you establish 15 the cut-off point? 16 SENATOR SALAND: Not -- well, 17 there are not-for-profits that, as I said 18 before, are not bound by these provisions and 19 they've chosen not to be bound, have 20 effectively constructed their corporate - 21 their not-for-profit corporate existence, in a 22 way not to contend with this. There are, I'm 23 sure, any number of not-for-profits that 24 probably have values or have assets not in the 25 hundreds of millions, perhaps in the billions. 1 Certainly there are foundations which may not 2 necessarily be not-for-profits which have 3 billions of dollars worth of assets, but it's 4 the purpose of the corporation, and while it 5 may pay money to employees, they may have 6 people who administer -- they may have people 7 who do clerical work. The purpose of the 8 not-for-profits are generally some -- in the 9 direction of some of societal good as 10 distinguished from having a return that's 11 going to be maximized for the benefit of their 12 shareholders. 13 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you very 14 much. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 18 This act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the 22 roll. ) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 25 bill is passed. 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 3 would you please call up Senate Number 6183 4 that was before you before the Rules 5 Committee. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 7 Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 237, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 6183, 10 an act to authorize the extension of time for 11 the collection of taxes, fines and payment of 12 other monies. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 16 This act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the 20 roll. ) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 bill is passed. 24 Senator Gold. 25 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President, I 1 was at a Finance meeting. May I have unanimous 2 consent to be recorded in the negative on 3 Calendar Number 91, Senator Cook's bill, 4 1422. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Without objection, Senator Gold will be 7 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 8 91. 9 Senator Mendez. 10 SENATOR MENDEZ: Mr. President, 11 I would like to have unanimous consent to be 12 recorded in the negative on that same bill, 13 Calendar Number 91. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Without objection. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 17 President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: There will be 21 an immediate meeting of the Higher Education 22 Committee in the Majority Conference Room and 23 if you could call up Calendar Number 174, by 24 Senator Hannon. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 174, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 4433, an 4 act to amend the Civil Service Law, in 5 relation to authorizing the defense and 6 indemnification by the state. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: 8 Explanation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 10 Senator Hannon, an explanation has been 11 asked. 12 SENATOR HANNON: Yes. This 13 bill extends the defense indemnification 14 provisions of the current Public Officers Law 15 to health care providers who serve as 16 consultants or expert witnesses for the Civil 17 Service Department or Civil Service 18 Commission. It passed previously and was 19 introduced at the request of the Department of 20 Civil Service. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 22 Senator Stachowski. 23 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: On the 24 bill. I know that previously there was no 25 opposition to this bill and we supported it 1 and, however, this year there is a slight 2 change in that the AFL-CIO opposes this bill 3 now, and they have some concerns about 4 identifying these witnesses and feel that it 5 could lead to possibly more privatization and 6 so, for that reason, I'm going to vote against 7 the bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 11 This act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the 15 roll. ) 16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 17 in the negative on Calendar Number 174 are 18 Senators Gold, Leichter, Mendez, Nanula, 19 Onorato, Paterson, Smith and Stachowski. Ayes 20 49, nays 8. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Skelos, that completes 24 the reading of the controversial calendar. 25 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 1 President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 3 Senator Leichter. 4 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 5 President, would you please, with unanimous 6 consent, mark me in the negative on Calendar 7 91. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 9 Without objection. 10 Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 12 if we could return to reports of standing 13 committees, I believe there's a report of the 14 Finance Committee at the desk. I would ask 15 that the two bills reported be read first. 16 We'll take them up and then we'll go to 17 confirmations. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Reports of standing committees. The Secretary 20 will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator 22 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 23 reports the following bills direct to third 24 reading: 25 Senate Print 6187, by the 1 Senate Committee on Rules, an act to amend 2 Chapters 53, 54, 55 and 56 of the Laws of 3 1997; and 4 Senate Print 6188, by the 5 Senate Committee on Rules, an act to amend 6 Chapter 434 of the Laws of 1997. 7 All bills ordered direct to 8 third reading. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 10 Without objection, all bills to third 11 reading. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 13 would you take up Calendar Number 238, Senate 14 6187 that was reported by the Finance 15 Committee. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 238, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 20 Print 6187, an act to amend Chapters 53, 54, 21 55 and 56 of the Laws of 1997. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 is there a message of necessity and 24 appropriation at the desk? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 1 is a message at the desk. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 3 accept. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 motion is to accept the message of necessity 6 and appropriation. All those in favor signify 7 by saying aye. 8 (Response of "Aye".) 9 Opposed, nay. 10 (There was no response.) 11 The message is accepted. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 14 This act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the 18 roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 bill is passed. 22 Senator Skelos. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 24 at this time would you call up Calendar Number 25 239, Senate 6188 that was reported from the 1 Finance Committee. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 239, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 6 Print 6188, an act to amend Chapter 434 of the 7 Laws of 1997. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 9 Senator Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 11 is there a message of necessity at the desk? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 13 is a message at the desk. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 15 accept. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 motion is to accept the message of necessity. 18 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye".) 20 Opposed, nay. 21 (There was no response.) 22 The message is accepted. 23 Read the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. 25 This act shall take effect immediately. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the 4 roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 bill is passed. 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 if we could return to motions and resolutions, 11 I move that we adopt the Resolution Calendar 12 in its entirety. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 motion is to adopt the Resolution Calendar. 15 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 16 (Response of "Aye".) 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (There was no response.) 19 The Resolution Calendar is 20 adopted. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 if we could return to reports of standing 24 committees, could we complete the report of 25 the Finance Committee at this time. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 2 Reports of standing committees. The Secretary 3 will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator 5 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 6 reports the following nomination: 7 Commissioner of Labor: James J. McGowan, of 8 Yorktown Heights. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 10 Senator Stafford. 11 SENATOR STAFFORD: Move the 12 confirmation. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 14 Senator Spano. 15 SENATOR SPANO: Mr. President, 16 it's my pleasure to second the nomination of 17 Jim McGowan as the Commissioner of the 18 Department of Labor. 19 I'll say that due to the 20 unfortunate circumstances of Senator Levy's 21 death, this confirmation had to be moved up a 22 day, but even in moving it up a day, there's 23 still many friends of Jim McGowan who are in 24 the gallery and if it were going to be 25 tomorrow, I'm sure the gallery would have been 1 filled with not only representatives from 2 organized labor but family and friends of a 3 person like Jim McGowan who has touched so 4 many people over the years, starting back from 5 1963 when he was first appointed as a 6 firefighter in New York City, where he rose up 7 the ranks and became a lieutenant in 1974 and 8 then went on and became the president of the 9 New York State Professional Firefighters in 10 '88 and became well known in the halls of the 11 Legislature in Albany all those years. 12 The Governor appointed Jim as 13 the chairman of the Hazard Abatement Board and 14 in his role there, continued his tradition, 15 which has been to work for his members and 16 look out for the working men and women across 17 New York State. 18 There are a lot of stories, 19 Jim, that I could try to tell, but as we think 20 and even as I talk to some of my colleagues, 21 when we talk about Jim McGowan stories, we 22 forget that we're here to help you. So we're 23 here to help you. We will not tell many of 24 the stories about Jim McGowan here today. 25 One of my colleagues came up to 1 me last week and he said, This guy, Jim 2 McGowan, he says, that's your buddy, right? I 3 said, Yeah. He's a Westchester guy. He lives 4 in Yorktown. He said, Yeah. That's the short 5 Irish guy that speaks Italian. I said, Yep, 6 that's it. That's him. 7 Your reputation is well known. 8 Your wit is well known. The fact that you 9 work hard to represent your people as a very 10 strong advocate is certainly well known and 11 the Governor should be commended. The 12 Governor should be commended for reaching into 13 the house of labor to put someone in a very 14 critical position to be his advocate in the 15 cabinet as the Commissioner of Labor who will 16 continue to make sure that the best interests 17 of the working men and women across the state 18 are protected. 19 So, Jim, it is my pleasure, 20 it's an honor here as chairman of the Labor 21 Committee to be the person to second your 22 nomination and to say that we are all proud of 23 the job that you've done. We are all proud of 24 the job that you will continue to do in what 25 will be a very challenging part of your 1 career. 2 It's well deserved and we 3 congratulate you, Jim McGowan, and thank the 4 Governor for selecting someone with your 5 credentials to head this agency. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 7 Senator Leibell. 8 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 I'm very pleased to rise today 11 to also second the nomination of a great New 12 Yorker, a good friend, Jim McGowan and, Jim, 13 you should know that it was me that Nikki was 14 talking to when we were trying to figure out 15 what we can say and what we shouldn't say, and 16 the reason for that is we have spent some very 17 good times together, all of us, over the 18 course of many years and whether serving in 19 this house or serving in the other chamber for 20 all those years, Jim McGowan was one of the 21 first friends I had when I came to Albany. He 22 was a person who instructed me in many 23 different areas but taught me the importance 24 of the working man, the working woman to New 25 York State. 1 As we look back over Jim's very 2 distinguished record over the course of many 3 years, we see the deep commitment that he has 4 made to all our hard workers throughout this 5 great state. 6 Jim also comes from a wonderful 7 family. Fran and Helen and Jim and I have 8 spent many good times together. He has 9 wonderful children. He understands the 10 importance of our families to all of us. 11 We are very fortunate as we sit 12 here today, my colleagues, that the Governor 13 has sent us this name because this is clearly 14 the right man in the right job at the right 15 time. This is a person who will take labor 16 into the next century. He will make sure that 17 all of our working people in this state are 18 protected. 19 I am deeply honored that I have 20 had the chance to rise today to also second 21 this nomination of such a fine New Yorker and 22 such a good friend. 23 Best of luck, Jim. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 25 Senator Maltese. 1 SENATOR MALTESE: I can only 2 echo the words that Senator Spano and Senator 3 Leibell stated as far as Jimmy McGowan. In 4 some 20 years of service to his members, there 5 is no one who has represented them with more 6 dedication and who can point back with more - 7 to more achievements. 8 I think the Governor has 9 indicated again with this fine distinguished 10 appointment that he can go out of any rigid or 11 fixed mold and reach to someone who can 12 represent the interests not only of labor but 13 of all New Yorkers and when we look back at 14 Jimmy the man, we see by his very 15 distinguished career as a firefighter, as a 16 professional firefighter, as a building 17 construction supervisor and foreman, some of 18 the things that he's accomplished and some of 19 the things he's done. 20 When I first knew Jim some many 21 years ago and started to work with him as a 22 Senator when he became ten years ago the 23 president of the Professional Firefighters 24 Association, all I heard was praise of Jimmy 25 the man, a stand-up man, a gentleman, a person 1 who you knew where he was at and where he was 2 coming from, no shilly-shallying, no 3 meandering around but telling you directly and 4 right up front what he felt and yet at the 5 same time not somebody that you couldn't sit 6 down and talk to and perhaps have a cup of 7 coffee with and have a meal and perhaps hope 8 that you changed his mind and ending up with 9 him changing your mind. 10 So, again, I want to commend 11 the Governor and am very proud to second the 12 nomination of a working man in the true sense 13 of the word, a true American, a dedicated 14 patriotic veteran, someone who will well 15 represent the Governor and labor and 16 management and the people of New York State as 17 our commissioner. 18 Congratulations to him and his 19 family. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 21 Senator Smith. 22 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, Mr. 23 President. 24 I too am proud to rise to 25 second the nomination of Jim McGowan. Ten 1 years ago was very important to the 2 firefighters when Jim McGowan became their 3 president. It was also important to me 4 because some firefighters helped put me in the 5 Senate because two of the firefighters that 6 I'm friendly with were the chairmen of my 7 election committee. 8 They told me a lot about Jim 9 McGowan and, when I arrived in Albany, I had 10 the pleasure of making his acquaintance and it 11 has been a fun time ever since. 12 He has always been up front. 13 He has always been there to give advice and he 14 is always knowledgeable about issues 15 pertaining to labor. 16 I would like to commend the 17 Governor for making this appointment because 18 he's truly doing something that will benefit 19 all of the people of the state of New York, 20 and it's my pleasure to say, Jim, I know that 21 you will do a good job because in everything 22 that you've done in the past, it has been 23 superior. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 25 Senator Trunzo. 1 SENATOR TRUNZO: Mr. President, 2 as chairman of the Civil Service and Pension 3 Committee, I have had the pleasure -- I think 4 it's a pleasure anyway -- of working with Jim 5 McGowan over the past ten years. 6 He has been an outstanding 7 individual not only as the president of the 8 Professional Firefighters fighting and 9 bringing bills to me to try to introduce for 10 pension and Civil Service stuff but also the 11 fact that he's also president -- or was 12 president of the Public Employees Conference, 13 which is made up of all the municipal 14 employees of the state of New York, and as a 15 result we have had a very close working 16 relationship. 17 The only thing I asked him when 18 I first heard about Jim becoming -- running to 19 become the Labor Commissioner, I said to him, 20 You know, Jim, you have such a nice life now 21 as president of the union. You're enjoying 22 life. You come and go as you please. Why the 23 hell do you want to go back to work? Be that 24 as it may, I do commend the Governor for 25 picking Jim as the Labor Commissioner and I 1 know he will do an outstanding job in that 2 position. 3 Congratulations, Jim. I look 4 forward to working with you. 5 Thank you. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 7 Senator Maziarz. 8 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 I too want to rise and join my 11 colleagues in seconding the nomination of Jim 12 McGowan. Soon we'll have to call you 13 commissioner now. You will have a big title. 14 I have only been in the Senate 15 now for four years but -- well, starting my 16 fourth year, but I know that in talking to 17 labor advocates in Western New York, the name 18 of Jim McGowan was always well known and was 19 always synonymous with fairness, and I 20 certainly look forward, Commissioner, to 21 working with you, particularly in the Western 22 New York area. 23 I commend the Governor. This 24 is a great appointment. It -- the Governor 25 has reached into labor for the Commissioner of 1 Labor, and I think it's going to be great for 2 this state. I think you are going to do a 3 good job, Jim, and I want to join in 4 commending Governor Pataki as Senator Smith 5 did, and that's really a great day around here 6 when Senator Smith commends Governor Pataki, 7 I'll tell you, Jim. So you are the one person 8 that brought those two together. 9 Congratulations. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 12 Senator Onorato. 13 SENATOR ONORATO: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 I rise to congratulate the 16 Governor on a wonderful, wonderful 17 appointment. It's not too often that almost 18 everyone in the chamber -- in both chambers 19 know the individual being nominated by the 20 Governor, and I know that from his labor 21 background, he has a fair and open mind about 22 the problems in safety of the workers 23 throughout this state, and I look forward to 24 working with him and especially on an 25 environmental tour of the greeneries. I know 1 he's very concerned about the pesticides that 2 are being used around some of these areas, 3 making sure that no one gets sick, but I 4 sometimes question his ability to measure 5 distance, but I'm going to challenge him a 6 little bit more often on environmental 7 excursions when we get out there, and I look 8 forward to breaking bread with you again. 9 Again to you and your family, I 10 wish you nothing but the best of health and 11 success. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 13 Senator Nozzolio. 14 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 I rise to echo my colleagues in 17 support of this fine appointment to the 18 Commissioner of Labor. 19 Jim McGowan has been a pillar 20 of strength for the working man, on behalf of 21 the working man and working woman in this 22 state. 23 I was honored to know Jim when 24 I served in the state Assembly and carried on 25 that knowledge and friendship into this 1 capacity, but I just thank Governor Pataki for 2 his wisdom in putting together such a fine 3 appointment before us and that I know Jim 4 McGowan is as said here, and I don't believe 5 can be overstated, is truly a representative 6 of working men and working women in this 7 state. 8 Jim, my hat's off to you. 9 Congratulations. I know you'll be an 10 excellent Commissioner of Labor. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 12 Senator Bruno. 13 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Mr. 14 President and to be Commissioner McGowan, wife 15 Fran. 16 I am honored to be here and be 17 able to acknowledge the Governor having 18 forwarded such a capable and outstanding 19 person to be Commissioner of Labor for all of 20 the people of New York State, and I heard some 21 of the comments that were made and I'm not 22 going to repeat them, but Jim has made a lot 23 of friends throughout this state and for good 24 reason because he has served the public, 25 especially in the area of labor's rights, 1 knowing what it is to be out there doing your 2 thing in the very best way that you can and he 3 brought credit to the firefighters of New York 4 State, decorated himself many times and, 5 George, I heard you talk about being out there 6 checking the environment, and I can tell you 7 for those of you that have not been out on the 8 golf course with Jim, there is a favorite 9 expression that is used, but I won't repeat it 10 because it has something to do with sandbagger 11 and for those of you that aren't golfers, that 12 means that a person has this tremendous 13 capability and when you're on the first tee, 14 he talks differently and then you see him out 15 there and he does it to perfection. Well, I 16 had that lesson and I look forward to another 17 lesson or two and hopefully we can do that in 18 the season that's going to be before us. 19 But, Jim, I really am saying to 20 you that I'm glad you're here and I appreciate 21 your wife letting you be this involved on 22 behalf of the people of this state because the 23 work that you have to do is so important to 24 everyone and the Governor has done a lot of 25 good things in these last several years but 1 this is one of the best. 2 So my congratulations to him 3 and to Jim, to his family and to all of the 4 people of this state. 5 Thank you, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 7 Senator Gold. 8 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 Mr. President, Senator Stafford 11 is very kind and gives the members of the 12 Finance Committee resumes and they're very 13 useful because I wasn't sure about this 14 nominee until I noticed that he is the past 15 president of the Mahopac Touchdown Club and 16 that did it for me. 17 Also in the resume it's very 18 pleasing to me that the Governor -- and God 19 bless him for this one; it's a wonderful 20 nomination -- picks a working man and I see 21 this, a firefighter from '63 to '74, 22 lieutenant from '74 to '88 and in that time, 23 it just shows you what education will do. In 24 1984, he attended something at Cornell 25 University and right away he knew he had to 1 get out of there and into the lobbying 2 business, I guess, and so we met him and, 3 again, all of you can thank Cornell University 4 for that, I guess. 5 The most significant part of 6 all of this, as far as I'm concerned, is that 7 in his comments before the Committee, he spoke 8 about the opportunity to work with business 9 and to worry about jobs for this state and 10 that's the kind of talk that we always like to 11 hear from someone who is going to be the 12 Commissioner of Labor, but the reassuring part 13 is that we have a commissioner who knows what 14 it is to work, who knows what it is to not 15 only get his hands dirty but get his hands 16 dirty in some of the most dangerous work that 17 any citizen of this state could participate in 18 and when you're at that conference table and 19 you're trying to create jobs and you're trying 20 to make labor and business get along, there's 21 just a good feeling that every citizen ought 22 to have that the guy sitting there working for 23 us is a working man who knows what it is to 24 work. 25 This is a wonderful 1 nomination. This is one of the Governor's 2 best, and I wish you Godspeed and the best of 3 luck, Jim. You'll do a terrific job. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 5 Senator Connor. 6 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 7 President. 8 At the risk of repeating what I 9 know has already been said by my colleagues, I 10 rise to support the confirmation of this 11 nomination. 12 Jim has been a friend for many 13 years and in his work with the Legislature on 14 behalf of the fire officers and then on behalf 15 of the public employees, all the public 16 employees of New York State, I have had an 17 opportunity to see that he -- what he can do, 18 that he truly cares about the issues. He 19 truly cares about the working men and women in 20 New York State and he understands the role of 21 government in protecting the important rights 22 which over the decades in this fine state have 23 accrued to working men and women in New York, 24 and he understands as well the proper role 25 that the state has in advancing the needs for 1 ever increasing opportunities for employment 2 and in so advancing that, assuring also that 3 working conditions and the type of dignity 4 that ought to belong and that is guaranteed to 5 working people is maintained. 6 I've also had opportunity to 7 notice in his past role that he really isn't 8 as good a golfer as he thinks he is, but 9 hopefully when he gets older, because he's 10 quite a young man, he will improve his game. 11 I think the Governor -- I have 12 not always agreed with the Governor's 13 appointments, but on this one, not only do I 14 vote to confirm, thus according the respect 15 ordinarily due to the Executive in his 16 appointments, but I enthusiastically endorse 17 this appointment as one that's good for all of 18 the people of the state of New York. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 21 Senator Abate. 22 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. I'm proud 23 to stand in support of the nomination of Jimmy 24 McGowan. 25 Like many of my colleagues, I 1 do not support him because of his golf 2 prowess. One thing that's clear, I'm told by 3 many people, there's need for improvement, but 4 there's very little need for improvement in 5 terms of his readiness, his preparedness, his 6 skills and his ability to take on the job at 7 hand. 8 As a labor leader, he was so 9 accessible to so many of us in the 10 Legislature. He was available. He was ready 11 to educate us around issues that affected 12 working men and women throughout the state, 13 and I believe the same accessibility and 14 fair-mindedness will carry over when he 15 becomes Commissioner of the Department of 16 Labor. 17 I believe that Jimmy McGowan 18 will not only be strong but will be fair. He 19 will vigorously enforce fair labor and wage 20 protection for workers, but moreover he 21 understands if we're going to improve the 22 working condition for working men and women, 23 it requires a working partnership, cooperation 24 between business, government and labor and 25 workers themselves and it takes that kind of 1 sensitivity, that commitment, the long work 2 that he's had in this movement to bring what I 3 call an even -- or a balance, a sense of 4 common sense to this office. He will do 5 that. I think he will make New York State 6 proud, and I'm very happy to support him 7 today. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 9 Senator Stachowski. 10 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 11 President, I too would like to rise to second 12 the nomination. I think the Governor made an 13 excellent choice. I think that Jim's 14 background as a labor leader and then 15 representing all of the paid firefighters will 16 serve him well in representing all of the 17 working men and women in the state and at the 18 same time in his comments, his awareness of 19 the fact that we have to be careful how we 20 deal with business so that we maintain the 21 jobs we have and create more for the people of 22 New York, I think will give an even balance 23 and add a lot to the Department of Labor at a 24 time when we -- they play such an active role 25 in creating jobs, protecting jobs and making 1 sure that the people that are not working now 2 are going back to work because of the various 3 changes in programs and government. 4 So I wish him well and 5 congratulate the Governor on the appointment. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 7 Senator Alesi. 8 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 I would like to join my 11 colleagues in supporting the Governor's 12 nomination and pleased that he has chosen such 13 a wonderful person for the position of 14 Commissioner of Labor, not only because I 15 serve on that committee but also because I am 16 fully aware of Jimmy McGowan's having climbed 17 the ladder to gain his knowledge through 18 experience, and I fully support Jimmy in that 19 capacity, in his new capacity. 20 One of the reasons that I'm so 21 happy to see that we have Jimmy McGowan rising 22 to the commissioner's position is because I 23 know he has an exceptional capacity for 24 innovation. I know this because we share the 25 same hotel and for many years I was able to 1 have a secret parking spot and only after 2 sharing that with Jimmy, I found out that he 3 now shares my innovation because he also 4 shares my secret parking spot and not too long 5 ago we were talking about -- at breakfast, in 6 fact, Jim's experience and some of the things 7 that he will do and has done for labor and in 8 the course of that conversation, I mentioned 9 that I have a license plate that says "Jimmy", 10 J-I-M-M-Y, and I could see the wheels of this 11 new commissioner turning already. 12 Well, in congratulating Jimmy 13 McGowan, let me just say that you may continue 14 to share my parking spot, but I will never 15 give up my license plate. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 17 Senator Lack. 18 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 A lot has been said about Jim 21 McGowan here this afternoon and probably all 22 of it is true. I just want to stand and 23 congratulate him and wish him good luck on a 24 job that is going to be very difficult but he 25 certainly is the person who could do it. 1 If you have been reading lately 2 about the state of labor in the country and 3 where it is, a good expert hand with real 4 knowledge of what's going on in the labor 5 movement and how to adjust to that is needed 6 at the helm of this state's Labor Department 7 and, Jim, I congratulate you for taking this 8 chore on and particularly since you come from 9 the -- from the public employee part of labor, 10 shoring up the relationship internally between 11 the public employees and between the craft 12 unions is going to be, I know, the hallmark of 13 your administration in the Department. 14 I wish you Godspeed and 15 anything I can do as a former chair of the 16 Labor Committee to help you in your endeavors, 17 please call on me and I'll only be too happy 18 to give you all of the assistance I can. 19 Congratulations. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 21 Senator Oppenheimer. 22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I think 23 what we haven't said yet and what I think we 24 should say on behalf of Jimmy McGowan is that, 25 yes, he does have the experience and he has 1 long years in this field and he does have a 2 tough job dealing with disparate elements that 3 are involved in business, labor, government, 4 but what I think we may not have said is that 5 this is a man that has a certain warmth and 6 ability to deal with a variety of people in a 7 non-confrontational and a very productive 8 mode. 9 He is a warm and caring person 10 who demonstrates that in his relationships, 11 and I think that is the key. It is not only 12 intelligence and background and experience but 13 it is also a certain type of personality that 14 is capable of bringing people together, and I 15 think that's what Jimmy has, and I certainly 16 wish you the very, very best of luck. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 18 Senator Volker. 19 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 20 very quickly, I just want to say as an old 21 friend of Jim's, I guess I would just dispute 22 one thing that Senator Oppenheimer said that 23 just dawned on me -- right -- let me just say 24 that coming from where Jim McGowan came from, 25 from the old firefighters union, I know a 1 little bit about that in having been involved 2 a little bit, I think that it wasn't exactly 3 non-confrontational in years past. I think 4 you'll probably find this job more of a piece 5 of cake than anything. 6 I think -- one of the things I 7 think we don't realize is that we are in a 8 different era in many ways in this place. In 9 fact, I was telling somebody the other day 10 that we seem to be the boring place in this 11 country right now given what's happening in 12 Washington, but I think that there's no 13 question that the Governor made an excellent 14 choice and those of us that have known Jim as 15 long as I have know that you couldn't find 16 anybody better, I think to do this job and my 17 very best to you, Jim, and to your family. 18 Good luck. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 20 Senators wishing to speak on the nomination 21 having been heard, the Chair recognizes 22 Senator Stafford to close. 23 SENATOR STAFFORD: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 In moving the confirmation, I 1 certainly second everything that's been said 2 for a very fine nominee of the Governor who 3 I'm sure will do a very fine job. Jim. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 question is on the confirmation of James J. 6 McGowan as Commissioner of Labor of the state 7 of New York. All in favor signify by saying 8 aye. 9 (Response of "Aye".) 10 Opposed, nay. 11 (There was no response.) 12 The nomination is confirmed. 13 Commissioner McGowan is with us 14 here today as well as he's accompanied by his 15 wife Frances. Commissioner. 16 (Applause) 17 Commissioner, we wish you well 18 with your important duties. Godspeed. 19 The Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Senator 21 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 22 reports the following nomination: Member of 23 the Adirondack Park Agency: Frank L. Mezzano, 24 of Speculator. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 1 Senator Stafford. 2 SENATOR STAFFORD: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 It's also a pleasure for me to 5 move the confirmation for this nominee, Frank 6 Mezzano. 7 I will be relatively brief as I 8 always am, but I have some serious things to 9 say here, and I want you all to know that I 10 try to keep a sense of humor. Sometimes it is 11 difficult for me like it is all of you to 12 point out the seriousness and how important 13 this nomination is. 14 I would like to tell you about 15 a joke last year -- and I don't by any means 16 want to criticize those who made this joke. 17 We have to take it in good humor, and I know 18 there was no ill will or there was no intent 19 other than to have a light evening, and I 20 attend this function and enjoy it, but during 21 the course of the program, it was pointed out 22 during the function that Stafford was going to 23 ask that the Adirondack Park residents be 24 included in rent control and there was going 25 to be a consideration first if there had been 1 a domestic violence complaint in a residence 2 during the past six months. That was going to 3 be a consideration. It would enhance the 4 situation and also if people used in the 5 residence a petroleum drum for a stove, and 6 that was going to be a consideration and 7 everyone laughed. Again, no ill will, but I 8 mention that to you to emphasize the 9 importance of this nomination for the people 10 of New York State. 11 Colleagues, this nominee is 12 interested in the environment of the 13 Adirondack Park and his record has proven 14 this. Also he's interested in a balance in 15 consideration for the people who live there, 16 in consideration of the people who live 17 there. I think you get my point. 18 The nominee is a business 19 person, a successful store owner and he's been 20 involved in his community and we're very proud 21 to move his nomination. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 23 Senator Farley. 24 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr. 25 President. 1 I rise to second this 2 nomination. Frank was my constituent, I think 3 for 16 years when I served Hamilton County. 4 Senator Stafford is so right. 5 This is a man that is respected in his 6 community and as somebody that has lived and 7 represented Hamilton County for a lot of 8 years. I don't know anybody that was more 9 articulate and respected in that community 10 than the nominee, and let me just say this: 11 At the Finance Committee, I think at least two 12 of the opposite side of the aisle said to me 13 his answers were superb, or words to that 14 effect. He did answer the questions candidly, 15 honestly and in my judgment took away any 16 concern that anybody might have. 17 He'll be an outstanding 18 commissioner. Everybody's commending the 19 Governor for his nomination of the previous 20 nominee. I commend him on this nomination. 21 This is a person from within the park, a 22 person that is articulate, informed, moderate 23 and somebody that will do a terrific job with 24 the Park Agency. 25 I am pleased to second your 1 nomination, and I think he'll be an 2 outstanding commissioner of that Park Agency. 3 Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 question is on the confirmation of Frank 6 Mezzano as a member of the Adirondack -- I'm 7 sorry. 8 Senator Oppenheimer. 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I 10 recognize I'm not very big -- tall. This is 11 somewhat difficult because I have met with 12 Frank Mezzano and he does seem like a very 13 fine gentleman and I can see that he certainly 14 has the support of the communities where he 15 has been elected as the supervisor and he is a 16 noted resident of the Adirondack area. 17 My concern, and I have 18 expressed this to him and said that it is not 19 anything personal. I'm sure, you know, he - 20 as I mentioned, he certainly has the concern 21 of his constituents at heart. 22 I will be opposing Mr. Mezzano 23 because his concept of the land of -- the land 24 use of the Adirondacks is rather contrary to 25 those of us who believe in conservation of the 1 environment. 2 I can understand that he wishes 3 to have economic development to provide more 4 jobs for the people who live within the 5 Adirondacks. However, I feel very strongly 6 that the acquisition of land by the state is a 7 primary concern of mine as well as many other 8 environmentalists because we have this unique 9 public/private park, which is the largest park 10 in 48 states and the balance must not go to 11 private. In our opinion, it must go to 12 public. 13 We strongly support the 14 acquisition of the Whitney property, that 15 portion of the Whitney property and because 16 this is a very serious philosophic conflict, I 17 feel it will not be possible for me to support 18 this nomination. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 20 Senator Marcellino. 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, Mr. 22 President. 23 Mr. Mezzano's record was 24 cleared through the Senate Environmental 25 Conservation Committee which, as you know, I 1 chair. His views, I believe, do represent a 2 point of view strongly held in the Adirondacks 3 area, is strongly held by the people whom he 4 represents as an elected official. Clearly 5 the agency is in need of people who have 6 strong views, are not afraid to speak out and 7 diversity is a value and a virtue when a 8 decision has to be made. 9 The Governor has chosen well 10 and has chosen a person who represents that 11 area and is represented -- and will represent 12 the area well, and I am pleased to second that 13 nomination. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 question is on the confirmation of Frank 16 Mezzano as a member of the Adirondack Park 17 Agency. All in favor signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye".) 19 Opposed, nay. 20 (Senator Oppenheimer raises 21 hand.) 22 Frank Mezzano is confirmed as a 23 member of the Adirondack Park Agency. 24 Congratulations, Mr. Mezzano. 25 (Applause) 1 The Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Senator 3 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 4 reports the following nomination: 5 Member of the Niagara Frontier 6 Transportation Authority: William N. Hudson, 7 Jr., of Williamsville. 8 SENATOR STAFFORD: Move the 9 confirmation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 11 Senator Stachowski. 12 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: On this 13 nomination, Mr. President, I just rise because 14 I'm going to have to vote against this 15 nomination not -- I have absolutely nothing 16 against the individual. I think he's a fine 17 man. I think he would be a great 18 appointment. However, traditionally, the NFTA 19 had always had one seat for labor to be 20 represented on the board. That seat that Mr. 21 Hudson is getting is the traditional labor 22 seat. He's replacing George Wessell, who was 23 the labor leader in the area. The labor 24 community had spoken out that they wanted to 25 get a representative on the board. Most of 1 the other representatives are business 2 people. This is just another business person 3 and, as I said, if it was any other seat, I 4 would be probably up and seconding the 5 nomination for Mr. Hudson, but in this case, 6 I'm going to vote no on the appointment not 7 against the individual but against the fact 8 that they're putting someone other than a 9 labor person into a traditionally labor seat. 10 I would like to be recorded in 11 the negative. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 record will reflect your remarks. 14 Senator Rath. 15 SENATOR RATH: Mr. Chairman, I 16 would like to speak on behalf of the 17 appointment of William N. Hudson as a member 18 of the Niagara Frontier Transportation 19 Authority. 20 I have known Mr. Hudson for 21 some 25 years. He is an expert and has been 22 in the world of municipal finance in very high 23 level positions with Marine Midland both in 24 Buffalo and in New York City and now back in 25 the Buffalo area again. He will be an 1 excellent member. He's a leader in the 2 community, and I would like to congratulate 3 the Governor on his appointment. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 5 Senator Nanula. 6 SENATOR NANULA: Thank you, Mr. 7 President. 8 Also on the nomination of 9 William Hudson and in relation to Senator 10 Stachowski's comments, I too rise in 11 opposition of this nomination pretty much, 12 quite frankly, for the same reasons, and 13 although Mr. Hudson has a very impressive 14 career record certainly in regards to the 15 resume that was included in our packet today 16 at the Finance Committee, nowhere in his 17 resume is there any kind of organized labor 18 experience, and as Senator Stachowski 19 commented, this has traditionally been a seat 20 reserved for organized labor. 21 George Wessell was not simply a 22 union leader. He was a leader amongst 23 leaders. He was the regional president of the 24 AFL-CIO. He was instrumental in the project 25 labor agreement that was -- or that became a 1 reality for the construction of the Buffalo 2 Airport and as well -- again, as Senator 3 Stachowski mentioned, several labor leaders 4 from Western New York are very much opposed to 5 this based on that principle. Dan Booty with 6 the building trades union who is a leader in 7 Western New York amongst labor leaders was 8 suggested. That name was floated around these 9 hallowed halls, was suggested to the 10 Governor. That name is not here today, and 11 again, this is in no way anything personal 12 against Mr. Hudson. 13 As stated, he's a very 14 qualified man in terms of his field, but again 15 to state what I believe to be important in 16 regards to this nomination, he doesn't have 17 organized labor experience. 18 And to close, I think it's 19 quite ironic that here we are all in a 20 bipartisan fashion standing up and lauding a 21 man who deserves lauding because he has a 22 labor background unlike the first appointment 23 the Governor made to the Commissioner of Labor 24 post and here in the same session just two 25 nominations later we're not at all being 1 sensitive to that issue. 2 I think that's wrong, and I 3 urge my colleagues based on that principle to 4 vote against this nomination as it comes to 5 the floor. 6 Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 question is on the confirmation of the 9 nomination. All in favor signify by saying 10 aye. 11 (Response of "Aye".) 12 Opposed, nay. 13 (Response of "Nay".) 14 The nomination is confirmed. 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senator 17 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 18 reports the following nomination: 19 Member of the Small Business 20 Advisory Board: Anthony J. Baynes, of 21 Williamsville. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 question is on the confirmation of the -- I'm 24 sorry. 25 Senator Rath. 1 SENATOR RATH: Yes, Mr. 2 Chairman. I rise to second the nomination of 3 Anthony J. Baynes of Williamsville, member of 4 the Small Business Advisory Board. 5 Mr. Baynes is a young man and 6 has assumed a position of major leadership 7 throughout the community and is in his own 8 right a very successful businessman having 9 started three or four small companies and is 10 growing them and uniting with other 11 companies. I believe his experience, his 12 background and his enthusiasm will be a great 13 advantage to this board, and I want to 14 congratulate the Governor on his appointment. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 question is on the confirmation. All those in 17 favor signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye".) 19 Opposed, nay. 20 (There was no response.) 21 The nomination is confirmed. 22 The Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Senator 24 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 25 reports the following nomination: 1 Member of the Board of 2 Directors of the Great Lakes Protection Fund: 3 Gerald F. Mikol, of Orchard Park. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 5 nomination. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 question is on the confirmation. All in favor 8 signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye".) 10 Opposed, nay. 11 (There was no response.) 12 The nomination is confirmed. 13 The Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Senator 15 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 16 reports the following nomination: 17 Member of the Board of 18 Directors of the New York State Science and 19 Technology Foundation: Van C. Campbell, of 20 Corning. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 22 nomination. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 question is on the confirmation of the 25 nomination. All those in favor signify by 1 saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye".) 3 Opposed, nay. 4 (There was no response.) 5 The nomination is confirmed. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator 8 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 9 reports the following nomination: 10 Members of the Board of 11 Trustees of the State University of New York 12 College of Environmental Science and 13 Forestry: Heidi J. Busa, of Skaneateles and 14 Gregory Harden, of McConnellsville. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 16 nomination. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 question is on the confirmation of the 19 nominations. All those in favor signify by 20 saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye".) 22 Opposed, nay. 23 (There was no response.) 24 The nomination are confirmed. 25 The Secretary will read. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator 2 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 3 reports the following nominations: 4 Members of the Lake George Park 5 Commission: James B. Neal, of Silver Bay and 6 Joan Ahr Robertson, of Cleverdale. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 8 nomination. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 10 question is on the confirmation of the 11 nominations. All those in favor signify by 12 saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye".) 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (There was no response.) 16 The nominations are confirmed. 17 The Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator 19 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 20 reports the following nominations: 21 Members of the Stewart Airport 22 Commission: Francis S. Reese, of Hughsonville 23 and James C. Wright, of New Windsor. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 25 nomination. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 question is on the confirmation of the 3 nominations. All those in favor signify by 4 saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye".) 6 Opposed, nay. 7 (There was no response.) 8 The nominations are confirmed. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senator 11 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 12 reports the following nomination: 13 Member of the Veterans Affairs 14 Commission: Richard Samuel Zummo, Esq., of 15 East Setauket. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 17 nomination. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 19 question is on the confirmation of the 20 nomination. All those in favor signify by 21 saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye".) 23 Opposed, nay. 24 (There was no response.) 25 The nomination is confirmed. 1 The Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Senator 3 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 4 reports the following nominations: 5 Members of the Minority Health 6 Council: Robin Nefirteria Hunter Buskey, of 7 Mount Vernon and Thakor Rana, M.D., of 8 Hastings-on-Hudson. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 10 nomination. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 12 question is on the confirmation of the 13 nominations. All those in favor signify by 14 saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye".) 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (There was no response.) 18 The nominations are confirmed. 19 The Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Senator 21 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 22 reports the following nominations: 23 Members of the Board of 24 Visitors of the Agricultural and Industrial 25 School of Industry. 1 SENATOR STAFFORD: Move the 2 confirmation. 3 THE SECRETARY: Daniel J. 4 Doyle, Esq., of Irondequoit and Frank Piraino, 5 of Avon. 6 SENATOR STAFFORD: Move the 7 confirmation. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 question is on the confirmation of the 10 nominations. All those in favor signify by 11 saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye".) 13 Opposed, nay. 14 (There was no response.) 15 The nominations are confirmed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senator 17 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 18 reports the following nomination: 19 Member of the Board of Visitors 20 of the New York State Home for Veterans and 21 Their Dependents at Batavia: Cathleen F. 22 Macinnes, of Walworth. 23 SENATOR STAFFORD: Move the 24 nomination. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 1 motion is on the confirmation of the 2 nomination. All those in favor signify by 3 saying aye. 4 (Response of "Aye".) 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (There was no response.) 7 The nomination is confirmed. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 10 is there any housekeeping at the desk? Can we 11 take that up now? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, 13 there is, Senator Bruno. 14 The Secretary will read - 15 Senator Lack. 16 SENATOR LACK: Yes, Mr. 17 President. I wish to call up Senator Spano's 18 bill, Print Number 882, recalled from the 19 Assembly, which is now at the desk. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 140, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 882, an 24 act to amend the Penal Law. 25 SENATOR LACK: Mr. President, I 1 now move to reconsider the vote by which the 2 bill was passed. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll 6 on reconsideration.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 57. 8 SENATOR LACK: Mr. President, I 9 offer the following amendments. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 amendments are received. 12 Senator Bruno, that completes 13 the housekeeping at the desk. 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 15 just as a reminder, we have cancelled the 16 normal schedule tomorrow pertaining to session 17 and committee meetings out of deference and in 18 memory of our good friend and colleague who 19 departed, Senator Levy. So tomorrow there 20 will be no normal schedule and there are many 21 people who will be traveling to the service 22 there in Nassau and in memory of Senator Levy, 23 there being no further business to come before 24 the Senate, I would move that we stand 25 adjourned until 3:00 p.m., February 23rd, 1 intervening days to be legislative days. 2 Thank you, Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On 4 motion, the Senate stands adjourned in memory 5 of Senator Norman J. Levy until Monday, 6 February 23rd, 3:00 p.m., intervening days 7 being legislative days. 8 (Whereupon, at 4:54 p.m., the 9 Senate adjourned.) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18