Monday, April 6, 1998

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 April 6, 1998 11 3:08 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. Will everyone please rise and 4 join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. 5 (The assemblage repeated the 6 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 7 The prayer today will be given 8 by the Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman from the 9 Lubavitch Youth Organization in Brooklyn, New 10 York. 11 RABBI BUTMAN: As it is the 12 custom here, let us pray together. It is the 13 custom here every year to have a special 14 prayer in memory of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, 15 Menachem M. Schneerson, whose interest was in 16 education for all people, in the literary 17 education of all people regardless of race, of 18 religion, of color and creed. The Rebbe tells 19 us that we live in a special time, the 20 Messianic era, and we have to prepare for that 21 day. 22 We see that the world has 23 changed in front of our very eyes during the 24 last few years. There are no more wars as it 25 used to be. There is much, much less hunger 1 in this world. Nations are now busy as to how 2 to live with each other as opposed to how to 3 fight and conquer each other. That is all, 4 the Rebbe says, because the Messianic age is 5 upon us, and we can prepare for that great day 6 by doing more goodness and kindness. 7 I want you to know that, as 8 legislators, that every Saturday when we take 9 out the Torah and we pray in our synagogues, 10 we say a special prayer for each and every 11 single one of you. We ask Almighty God to 12 bestow his blessing specifically upon those 13 who dedicate their lives for public service 14 and we say, and all of those who dedicate 15 their lives to public service, may Almighty 16 God bestow His blessings upon them; keep them 17 away from all illness and bless them with 18 abundance of goodness, of prosperity, not only 19 in their communal lives but also in their 20 personal lives, and we hope that Almighty God 21 will bestow His blessings upon each and every 22 one of you because you have dedicated 23 yourselves to a life of honesty and decency 24 and to be the custodians of law and order and 25 honesty and decency to all the people of New 1 York, and through them to the people of the 2 United States, and through the United States 3 as a super power to all the people of the 4 world. 5 So may you all be blessed and, 6 when you are going to converse in the next few 7 days, I hope you will pass the budget. It is 8 our blessing that you shall do so successfully 9 for the benefit of all the people in this 10 great state of New York, and let me say amen. 11 I just want to conclude that 12 every year when we are here we do what the 13 Rebbe says. The Rebbe tells us that we should 14 always give to tzedaka -- charity. This is a 15 pushka known in Yiddish as a charity box. A 16 charity box reminds us in a very, very subtle 17 way that we have to give constantly. We have 18 to think not only of ourselves but also of our 19 fellow neighbors who are not as fortunate as 20 we are, so we ask you all the time to give 21 publicly a dollar bill where it says in God we 22 trust into the pushka. Everyone is welcome to 23 participate and you should know when were you 24 are offering five cents to the pushka, this is 25 not a campaign to raise funds; I don't want 1 you to get scared, but this is a campaign to 2 do more goodness and kindness, so every time 3 you put in five cents or even a penny in a 4 pushka, you are doing a good deed. 5 Thank you very much, and may 6 God bless you, all of you. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Amen. 8 The reading of the Journal, 9 please. 10 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 11 Sunday, April 5th. The Senate met pursuant to 12 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, April 13 4th, was read and approved. On motion, Senate 14 adjourned. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Without 16 objection, the Journal stands approved as 17 read. 18 Presentation of petitions. 19 Messages from the -- oh, 20 Senator Skelos. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam 22 President, there will be an immediate meeting 23 of the Finance Committee in the Majority 24 Conference Room. 25 THE PRESIDENT: There will be 1 an immediate meeting of the Finance Committee 2 in the Majority Conference Room. 3 Reports of standing committees. 4 Reports of select committees. 5 Communications and reports from 6 state officers. 7 Motions and resolutions. 8 Senator Marcellino. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 10 Madam President. 11 Madam President, on behalf of 12 Senator Goodman, on page number 13, I offer 13 the following amendments to Calendar Number 14 325, Senate Print Number 5161, and ask that 15 said bill retain its place on the Third 16 Reading Calendar. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, amendments 18 received. 19 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 20 Madam President. 21 On behalf of Senator Alesi, on 22 page number 14, I offer the following 23 amendments to Calendar Number 345, Senate 24 Print Number 4432, and ask that said bill 25 retain its place on the Third Reading 1 Calendar. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Amendments 3 received. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 5 Madam President. 6 On behalf of Senator Skelos, on 7 page number 17 I offer the following 8 amendments to Calendar Number 411, Senate 9 Print Number 332, and ask that said bill 10 retain its place on the Third Reading 11 Calendar. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Amendment 13 received. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 15 Madam President. 16 On behalf of Senator Hannon, 17 on page number 22, I offer the following 18 amendments to Calendar Number 479, Senate 19 Print Number 6263, and ask that said bill 20 retain its place on the Third Reading 21 Calendar. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Amendments 23 received. 24 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 25 Madam President. 1 On behalf of Senator Wright, on 2 page number 22, I offer the following 3 amendments to Calendar Number 486, Senate 4 Print Number 6478, and ask that said bill 5 retain its place on the Third Reading 6 Calendar. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 Amendments received, and so ordered. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 On page number 55, on behalf of 12 Senator Velella, I offer the following 13 amendments to Calendar -- I'm sorry. On page 14 number 25, two-five, I offer the following 15 amendments to Calendar Number 521, Senate 16 Print Number 6255, and ask that said bill 17 retain its place on the Third Reading 18 Calendar. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 20 Amendments received. 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 Senator Skelos. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 25 I believe there's a resolution at the desk 1 sponsored by Senator Paterson. May we please 2 have the title read and move for its immediate 3 adoption. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 5 Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 7 Paterson, Legislative Resolution in support of 8 the Centennial Celebration of Paul Robeson. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 10 Question is on the resolution. All in 11 Senator Paterson. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. Just briefly, on the 14 resolution. 15 April 9th of this year will 16 mark the centennial anniversary of the birth 17 of Paul Robeson. 18 Paul Robeson was a singer, 19 actor, scholar and activist of political 20 science, a philosopher. He was a lawyer, an 21 athlete, a freedom fighter and a 22 humanitarian. He was basically a 20th Century 23 daVinci, and probably truly embodies the term 24 "renaissance person". 25 Paul Robeson won a scholarship 1 to Rutgers University, was nominated Phi Beta 2 Kappa in his junior year, was the 3 valedictorian of his class. He graduated 4 Columbia Law School in 1923. He became part 5 of the anti-fascism, anti-colonialist movement 6 during the early '30s, fought the tyrrany in 7 Spain, fought tyrrany in other parts of 8 Europe. 9 He was a well known singer with 10 a signature baritone voice that propelled him 11 throughout the world, and sang in 25 12 languages. During the late '30s, the proceeds 13 from most of his concerts went to help the 14 Jewish people who were fleeing from Germany, 15 and just earlier today we had the Honorable 16 Rabbi Shmuel Butman presenting our prayer to 17 day, and we also remember that Paul Robeson 18 became at some point in this country involved 19 with those who were fighting for the rights of 20 workers and fighting for civil rights. 21 He at times met with the 22 Communist Party. He also rejected the 23 Communist Party. As it was said seven years 24 ago by President Nelson Mandela of South 25 Africa, Sometimes when you are fighting a 1 great beast, you will associate with those you 2 might otherwise criticize. 3 Because of his actions, Robeson 4 was pretty much blacklisted during the 5 McCarthy hearings from 1952, but had his past 6 work restored in 1960. 7 He died in 1973. I was 8 privileged to attend his funeral right in 9 Harlem. He -- 19 years after his death, he 10 was admitted to the College Hall of Fame for 11 his attributes on the football field. While a 12 student, he won 15 varsity letters in the 13 areas of track, basketball, baseball and 14 football. 15 This individual was widely 16 known and historically acclaimed 17 internationally, is not as well known in this 18 particular country. Some of the attributes of 19 just single areas of his life would be marked 20 achievements if any of us would have actually 21 gone that far in a lifetime. This is the 22 reason that we chose to present this 23 resolution today, and I thank all of my 24 colleagues for allowing me to present it. 25 If there is anyone that would 1 like to join me in the resolution, if they 2 would notify the desk, we'd be happy for your 3 co-sponsorship. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 5 Question is on the resolution. All in favor 6 signify by saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye.") 8 Opposed nay. 9 (There was no response. ) 10 The resolution is adopted. 11 Senator Marchi. 12 SENATOR MARCHI: Yes. By 13 consent, Mr. President -- I'm very happy to 14 join you on the resolution, Senator Paterson. 15 For the -- for many, many years 16 we have been observing the arrival, and for 17 the most part Rabbi Butman with his colleagues 18 from Kings County, but representing a movement 19 that is worldwide. 20 The Lubavitcher group and 21 entity is known throughout the world for their 22 dedication to education, and I had the 23 pleasure of discussing at great length with 24 Rabbi Schneerson, who passed away several 25 years ago, on the significant contribution 1 that has been made by this group. Thousands 2 of centers -- educational centers have carried 3 forth a mission on spiritual -- spiritual 4 values and philosophy which are edifying and 5 define a high standard for people everywhere 6 on this planet. 7 We go back and, as he raised so 8 eloquently with me, Maimonides who 9 re-introduced the Aristotelian natural law 10 philosophy and gave structure and began what 11 was a scholastic period in this -- in this 12 world which took fuller flower with Thomas of 13 Aquinas -- St. Thomas of Aquinas, and until 14 recently and I guess until very recent date, 15 the outstanding scholastics in this world were 16 the -- Mortimer Adler, the publisher of the 17 British -- the Brittanica rather, and 18 President Hutchings of Chicago University, who 19 were the leading Aristotelian-Maimonides and 20 was in that tradition. Of course, many of you 21 will be familiar with the fact that Maimonides 22 also expressed in the Torah all of the moral 23 law and reduced it, or reduced it -- magnified 24 its effect by the translation and by the 25 commentary that he made at that time. 1 So the seminal work in a 2 history of moral law that persisted for 3 several thousand years, but also ensured that 4 it would go on forever, I believe. So it is 5 cause for joy; it is cause for celebration in 6 this chamber that you are here, Rabbi Butman, 7 and mindful of the fact that you have been 8 here on many occasions before, and we hope 9 that you go on doing this, because it's an 10 inspirational presence that you bring to this 11 chamber and what you requested us to do and to 12 focus on certainly defines very eloquently the 13 mission that is ours as elected 14 representatives of the people. 15 So I certainly want to 16 compliment resolve in a highly laudatory way 17 our pleasure in seeing you here, sir, and I 18 believe for purposes of recognition, a 19 distinguished colleague from the other side of 20 the aisle who does not warrant of erudition, 21 and I think would exemplify the very values 22 which you have brought so forcefully to our 23 attention. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 25 Senator Lachman. 1 SENATOR LACHMAN: Thank you. 2 It's a pleasure to join my distinguished 3 colleagues in discussing briefly the 4 accomplishment of the Lubavitcher movement 5 internationally and historically, as well as 6 the great spiritual accomplishments of the 7 late Lubavitcher Rebbe of blessed memory, 8 their Hasidic Lubavitch. 9 He was a giant in his time and 10 his accomplishments, both in a spiritual and 11 intellectual sense, are still with us today 12 and the movement is ever growing, and rather 13 than discussing it from a philosophical theo 14 logical sense, as Senator Marchi has, I defer 15 to him as a theologian and as a philosopher. 16 I'd like to just bring two 17 incidents from my personal background to bear 18 upon the extraordinary movement that is known 19 as the Lubavitcher movement today. 20 Throughout the United States in 21 colleges and universities -- north, south, 22 east and west -- there is what is known as 23 chabad houses, chabad houses, and these are 24 spiritual oases in sometimes what is a 25 spiritual wilderness. They were set up by the 1 Lubavitcher movement at the behest of the late 2 great Lubavitcher Rebbe, where people -- where 3 students -- where young men and women could 4 come and have their spiritual batteries 5 regenerated at the same time they participate 6 in the intellectual community. Not only that, 7 but many of these young men and women are on 8 scholarships and frequently do not have the 9 wherewithal for accommodations or for food, 10 especially for sabbath meals, and meals on 11 Jewish holidays, and the Lubavitcher movement 12 through the chabad houses provide this 13 provide these essentials to them. 14 On the other issue, in my own 15 community in Brooklyn, I know since we are 16 approaching the Jewish festival of Passover, 17 that the members of the Lubavitcher movement 18 sometimes walk three or four hours, sometimes 19 five or ten miles to different synagogues, 20 temples, houses of worship, people's homes, to 21 make certain that every Jew participates in 22 the Pesach Sedarim, the Seders of Passover, so 23 they could remember the birth of freedom when 24 the Israelites left Egypt thousands of years 25 ago, and the significance and the meaning to 1 all people today, Jews, Christians, Muslims, 2 Buddhists and Hindus, of this great historic 3 act, and I applaud the Lubavitch movement for 4 their continued activities on behalf of their 5 fellow people in America and around the 6 world. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 Senator Paterson. 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 I'd just like to lend my voice 12 to that of Senator Lachman and Senator Marchi 13 in congratulating Rabbi Butman and all those 14 who have come today as part of the Lubavitcher 15 movement and in memory of the late Menachem M. 16 Schneerson and the tremendous work they've 17 done all throughout the world, but 18 particularly benefiting those throughout New 19 York City, whether they be Jewish or 20 Christian, or Muslim or Hindu, whoever people 21 were, that they really embody that spirit of 22 oneness that our city and our state could 23 often benefit from a little bit more than 24 perhaps we've experienced, and through the 25 number of organizations that have brought me 1 in touch with them. Even though my district 2 is some miles away I have been able to observe 3 the tremendous amount of work that they've 4 done and wanted to mention it at this time, 5 and to wish them well. 6 It was very sad that in 1994 in 7 early March, as the late Rabbi Schneerson lay 8 in a -- on his death bed that a student was 9 killed on the Brooklyn Bridge through an act 10 of hatred and manifested in violence, and it 11 was something that coincided with the last 12 days of his life, but a painful reminder that 13 perhaps in this era of somewhat sanctity that 14 we have forgotten about all those who suffered 15 years ago, all those who suffered in 16 Auschwitz, all those who suffered at Crystal 17 Nacht, and all those whose memory we try to 18 hope that the movements that come forward 19 today and it's well expressed by the 20 Lubavitcher movement, is one that brings 21 people together and one that advances the 22 cause of humanity, and they have a tremendous 23 web site that people can read about if they 24 don't know as much about them, and we 25 encourage that everyone will take a moment to 1 learn more about the tremendous work that they 2 do. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 6 there will be an immediate meeting of the 7 Corporations, Authorities and Commissions 8 Committee. It will be in the Majority 9 Conference Room. 10 Mr. President, if we could take 11 up the non-controversial calendar. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 13 Secretary will read the non-controversial 14 calendar. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 151, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 355-A, 17 an act to amend the General City Law and the 18 Penal Law. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside, 20 please. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 22 the bill aside. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 248, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 3618, an 25 act to amend the Social Service Law and the 1 Family Court Act. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. 5 This act shall take effect on the first day of 6 November. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the 10 roll. ) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 317, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 310-A, an 16 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 17 the search of criminal history records. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 21 This act shall take effect on the first day of 22 November. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the 1 roll. ) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 328, by Senator Seward, Senate Print Number 7 4279, an act to amend the Public Service Law, 8 in relation to the elimination of the mandates 9 for the Public Service Commission. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 13 This act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the 17 roll. ) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 329, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 4282, an 23 act to amend the Public Service Law, in 24 relation to annual reports for gas, electric, 25 steam and water corporations. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 4 This act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the 8 roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 387, by Senator Cook, Senate Print 366, an act 14 to amend the Education Law. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 16 SENATOR LACHMAN: Lay aside. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 18 the bill aside. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 392, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5149, an 21 act to amend the Domestic Relations Law, in 22 relation to orders of adoption. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 24 the last section. 25 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay aside. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 2 the bill aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 393, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5196, an 5 act to amend the Social Service Law, in 6 relation to Division for Youth programs. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 10 This act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the 14 roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 427, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 1233, an 20 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 21 civil actions. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay that 23 aside, please. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 25 the bill aside. 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 430, by Senator Present, Senate Print 4018-A, 3 an act to amend the Executive Law, in relation 4 to display of the Prisoner of War and Missing 5 in Action flag. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 9 This act shall take effect on the 180th day. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the 13 roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 447, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6389, an 19 act to amend Chapter 890 of the Laws of 1982. 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 56. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 460, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 2074, an 8 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 9 repeat offender status. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 13 This 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 55, nays 20 one, Senator Montgomery recorded in the 21 negative. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 bill is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 482, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 6336, an 1 act to amend Chapter 680 of the Laws of 1996. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 5 This act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the 9 roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 521, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 6255-A, 15 an act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation 16 to authorizing. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 18 is there a message of necessity at the desk? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 20 is a message at the desk. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 22 accept. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Motion 24 is to accept the message of necessity. All 25 those in favor saying by saying aye. 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 Opposed nay. 3 (There was no response.) 4 The message is accepted. 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 18. 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 56. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 bill is passed. 15 Senator Skelos, that completes 16 the reading of the non-controversial 17 calendar. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 if we could return to reports of standing 20 committees, I believe there is a report of the 21 Finance Committee at the desk. I ask that it 22 be read. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 24 Reports of standing committees. The Secretary 25 will read. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator 2 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 3 reports the following bills directly to third 4 reading: 5 Senate Print 6842, by the 6 Committee on Rules, an act amending Chapter 29 7 of the Laws of 1998, making appropriations for 8 the support of government; 9 Senate Print 6843, by the 10 Committee on Rules, an act making 11 appropriations for the support of government 12 and to amend Chapter 30 of the Laws of 1998. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept 14 the report. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 16 Without objection, all bills to third 17 reading. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 20 at this time, if we could take up Calendar 21 Number 529. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 23 Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 529, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 1 6842, an act amending Chapter 29 of the Laws 2 of 1998, making appropriation for the support 3 of government. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there a 5 message at the desk? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, 7 Senator Skelos, there is. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 9 accept. Move to accept. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Motion 11 is to accept the message of necessity. All 12 those in favor signify by saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed nay. 15 (There was no response.) 16 The message is accepted. 17 Read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. 19 This act shall take effect on April 1st. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the 23 roll. ) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55, nays 25 one, Senator Dollinger recorded in the 1 negative. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 6 if we could take up Calendar Number 530. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 530, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 11 6843, an act making appropriation for the 12 support of government and an act to amend 13 Chapter 30 of the Laws of 1998. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Senator Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there a 17 message? We did the message, right? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, 19 there's a message at the desk. Motion is to 20 accept the message of necessity. All those in 21 favor signify by saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 Opposed nay. 24 (There was no response.) 25 The message is accepted. 1 Senator Skelos? Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 50. 4 This act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the 8 roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55, nays 10 one, Senator Dollinger recorded in the 11 negative. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 bill is passed. 14 Senator Skelos. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 16 if we could now go to the controversial 17 calendar and call up Calendar Number 392. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 19 Secretary will read the controversial 20 calendar. We'll go first to Calendar Number 21 392. 22 THE SECRETARY: On page 60, 23 Calendar Number 392, by Senator Skelos, Senate 24 Print 5149, an act to amend the Domestic 25 Relations Law, in relation to orders of 1 adoption. 2 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Last 3 section. 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 56. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 bill is passed. 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Mr. 16 President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 18 Senator Oppenheimer. 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: If I may, 20 I'd like to have unanimous consent to be 21 recorded in the negative on 6842, passed a 22 moment ago. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 24 Without objection, Senator Oppenheimer will be 25 recorded in the negative on Senate 6842, 1 Calendar 529. 2 Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Would you call 4 up Calendar Number 427, by Senator Volker. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 427, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 1233, an 9 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 10 civil actions. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 12 the last section. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: 14 Explanation. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 16 Senator Volker, an explanation has been 17 requested by Senator Paterson. 18 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 19 this is a bill that -- what has occurred is 20 that it was always, I think, the rule that 21 civil actions against the State Police were 22 brought in the -- civil actions against the 23 State Police were brought in the Court of 24 Claims. 25 A few years ago, there was a 1 case -- and I forget the number of the case; I 2 think it was Montgomery -- that basically said 3 that in certain -- certain cases could be 4 brought in Supreme Court. In all honesty, it 5 was kind of a -- something that some of the 6 trial lawyers thought was a great bonanza 7 because they felt that some of the litigation 8 against the State Police would be easier to 9 deal with if they were brought before a 10 Supreme Court jury. 11 It's generally been the law of 12 this state -- and presently parole officers, 13 for instance, and correction officers, 14 lawsuits against both parole and correction 15 officers are primarily and virtually 16 exclusively done in the Court of Claims. Most 17 of the actions on State Police are also 18 brought in the Court of Claims, except that in 19 this increasingly litigious time, as we call 20 it, there has been a number of cases in which 21 attorneys have tried to differentiate between 22 tort and certain kinds of civil actions and, 23 therefore, have been able to get themselves 24 into Supreme Court. Some of those cases, by 25 the way, have been thrown out and end up in 1 the Court of Claims anyway. 2 What this bill attempts to do 3 is to say that all those cases end up where 4 they rightfully belong, I think, in the Court 5 of Claims and, therefore, that attorneys can't 6 do jurisdiction shopping, which is basically 7 what they're doing now. In fact, sometimes 8 what they do is they get into Supreme Court 9 and if it doesn't look very good, they'll move 10 over to the Court of Claims and bring an 11 action there, or even sometimes dual actions. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 13 Senator Paterson. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 15 President, if Senator Volker would yield for a 16 question. 17 SENATOR VOLKER: Sure. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Senator yields. 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, 21 just a moment ago, you described the law as 22 being "general", this use of the Supreme Court 23 to entertain these tortious actions. My 24 question is, wouldn't it be safer to say that 25 that really is the law? It's not generally 1 the law, but that has actually been the 2 specific practice that's been used in this 3 state that we would bring these types of 4 actions before the Supreme Court? 5 SENATOR VOLKER: Normally bring 6 these types of -- excuse me, we'd bring 7 actions against state employees in the Court 8 of Claims, not in the Supreme Court, so that 9 it is only, I think, just a few years ago that 10 any of these actions were allowed, as far as I 11 know, in the Supreme Court and I think it 12 related to a case -- I'm trying to think; I 13 think it's the Montgomery case; for some 14 reason it's ringing around in my head -- that 15 basically said that there were two kinds of 16 actions that could be brought, and the result 17 was that there is kind of a fine line now 18 between how these actions are brought in the 19 Supreme Court or in the Court of Claims. 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 21 President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 23 Senator Paterson. 24 SENATOR PATERSON: If Senator 25 Volker would continue to yield. 1 SENATOR VOLKER: Certainly. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 3 Senator yields. 4 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, I'm 5 distinguishing between the specific actions 6 where the case is being brought against an 7 individual employee of the state, not a case 8 against the state for back wages or something 9 to that effect. I'm talking about where 10 perhaps an employee injures another employee, 11 and you've got an action against the state for 12 the actions of an individual. 13 I thought that there, there was 14 a general understanding that the right was to 15 have these cases discharged in the Supreme 16 Court. Is that your understanding or not? 17 SENATOR VOLKER: Well, I think 18 the argument by attorneys is that, since it's 19 possible that an action can be brought by an 20 individual member of the State Police against 21 another member of the State Police in Supreme 22 Court because it doesn't directly relate to 23 the -- his actions as a state trooper, that 24 the same thing could be true as I understand 25 for individuals, that is for State Police 1 action where an individual is involved who 2 sues the State Police or the individual, and 3 technically is acting as a State Police 4 officer. 5 I think what this -- what this 6 legislation would do is clear up any issue. 7 How these issues are decided is sometimes a 8 very fine line as to whether there's 9 indemnification involved or not. It would say 10 that all these actions have to be brought in 11 the Court of Claims. 12 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 13 Senator Volker. 14 Mr. President, on the bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 16 Senator Paterson, on the bill. 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 18 President, I think Senator Volker brought up 19 an example that I think is quite alarming, and 20 I understand his concern about attorneys that 21 would be forum shopping to try to win huge 22 millions of dollars perhaps in awards based on 23 these kinds of cases; but what seems to be the 24 issue here is that by passing this 25 legislation, I don't think we would be 1 clearing anything up. If anything, I think we 2 would be actually making the process a lot 3 more difficult for those who would seek 4 redress in these types of actions against 5 another individual who is employed by the 6 state. 7 We think the jury trial would 8 be the best way. Is this at times forum 9 shopping? Yes, it is. However, the forum 10 shopping is going on even in the introduction 11 of this legislation because obviously there is 12 a fear about allowing juries to actually rule 13 on these particular cases, and it's my opinion 14 that this is our American system. This is the 15 one that we have chosen. It's often difficult 16 in a democracy. You will have these 17 exceptions, but we don't want to legislate the 18 exception. We don't want to have a situation 19 where individuals are denied really a fair 20 hearing or at least the hearing of their peers 21 based on legislation we would pass that would 22 rule on all of these type of cases. 23 It's our feeling that it is the 24 law that where the action is taken more so by 25 an individual that it's not administrative at 1 that point, that it becomes a real civil case 2 that should be in the jurisdiction of the 3 Supreme Court and would like it to remain the 4 way it is. 5 I might have something else to 6 add, Mr. President, but if I can't remember 7 it, I know that Senator Gold will. I know 8 that he and I have a kind of mind meld and if 9 I don't remember something, I'm sure he will. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 11 Senator Gold. 12 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President, I 13 don't know why I got dragged into this, but 14 will the Majority Leader yield to a question? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 Majority Leader doesn't have the floor right 17 now. You're asking whether Senator Volker 18 would like to yield to a question? 19 SENATOR GOLD: I was just going 20 to ask the Majority Leader how it felt; that's 21 all. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: I 23 don't know how it feels, but he looks good in 24 that chair. 25 Senator Volker. 1 SENATOR VOLKER: Last section. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 5 This act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the 9 roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 11 in the negative on Calendar Number 427 are 12 Senators Connor, Leichter, Montgomery, 13 Paterson and Sampson. Ayes 53, nays 5. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 bill is passed. 16 Senator Fuschillo. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 18 President, may we please take up Calendar 19 Number 151, by Senator Velella. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 151, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 355-A, 24 an act to amend the General City Law and the 25 Penal Law. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 2 Senator Velella, an explanation has been asked 3 of Calendar Number 151. 4 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes, Mr. 5 President. 6 This bill is one that we've 7 passed, I believe three or four times now. 8 It's the aggressive begging bill that I have 9 sponsored for several years now. The Assembly 10 has not seen the wisdom to pass this and give 11 it on to the Governor, but in a brief outline 12 of what the bill does, it prohibits the 13 sitting or lying down upon a public sidewalk 14 in a city which has enacted a local law 15 prohibiting any person, after having first 16 been warned by a police officer, from sitting 17 or lying down upon a public sidewalk in an 18 urban commercial zone during times when such 19 activity would cause a public nuisance or 20 safety hazard. 21 There are certain exemptions to 22 this. We've made exemptions for the 23 activities of organized labor which might want 24 to picket or demonstrate a particular 25 establishment; for persons sitting or lying on 1 a sidewalk due to medical emergency; disabled 2 persons using a wheel chair; operating or 3 patronizing a commercial establishment on a 4 sidewalk pursuant to a valid permit; sitting 5 on a chair or bench supplied by a public 6 agency. 7 These are all the provisions 8 for the first part of the bill which deals 9 with sitting or lying down upon a public walk 10 way. 11 The second part of the bill 12 deals with urinating or defecating in public. 13 It creates a crime for urinating or defecating 14 in public. The crime occurs when a person 15 intentionally urinates or defecates in a 16 public place other than a public washroom 17 under circumstances where such acts could be 18 observed by any member of the public. First 19 violation -- first time is a violation; second 20 offense is a Class B misdemeanor. 21 And then the third part of the 22 bill is aggressive begging. This crime occurs 23 when a person begs by word, gesture, sign or 24 other means with the intent to intimidate 25 another person into giving money or goods by 1 engaging in threatening conduct which, by its 2 nature, places a reasonable person in fear of 3 harm to his person or property. 4 That, in essence, is the bill 5 which addresses many of the quality of life 6 issues that we have in cities of this state 7 and particularly in the city of New York, and 8 I move its adoption. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 10 Senator Montgomery. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 12 Would the sponsor, Senator Velella, yield for 13 a question of clarification? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Senator Velella, do you yield to a question? 16 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 18 Senator yields. 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 20 Senator Velella. 21 I'm trying to understand. It 22 was my impression and understanding that some 23 of these kinds of infractions are already 24 those for which one can be arrested; is that 25 not the case, under the current statute? 1 SENATOR VELELLA: Well, yes. 2 Last year we had some question as to whether 3 or not this might negate a limited aggressive 4 vending law that was adopted by the city of 5 New York. In fact, this would not. The law 6 that the city of New York has deals with 7 aggressive action around ATM machines, and 8 people who have aggressive conduct around an 9 ATM machine. 10 This would be any form of 11 aggressive begging where a person places you 12 in imminent danger of physical harm if they 13 don't -- if you don't give up some money to 14 them. You know the kind of circumstances I'm 15 talking about, that in the city of New York, 16 someone might approach you on the street and 17 try to intimidate you into voluntarily giving 18 them a contribution or a donation to their 19 cause. That would be aggressive begging and 20 places you in imminent fear of bodily harm to 21 yourself, and would be a violation of the law 22 if this is passed. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 24 Mr. Velella, for that explanation. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 1 Senator Fuschillo. 2 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: There is 3 going to be an immediate meeting of the EnCon 4 Committee in the Majority Conference Room. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Immediate meeting of the EnCon Committee in 7 the Majority Conference Room. 8 Senator Montgomery. 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. Mr. 10 President, on the bill. 11 I just want to mention to my 12 colleagues that this is the annual urination 13 and defecation bill that Senator Velella 14 brings us, as I call it, and this year I'm 15 going to add that I perceive this also to be 16 the anti-homeless bill. 17 The bill, as it's written, 18 creates the offense of urinating or defecating 19 in public in the second and first degrees. 20 The second degree violation is a -- the first 21 degree violation is a Class B misdemeanor, and 22 the second degree violation is an offense. 23 The reason that I am opposing 24 this legislation is because there are many 25 instances where people in this category are 1 essentially homeless, so if we begin to try to 2 charge them with various degrees of 3 criminality, I'm not sure just exactly what 4 it's going to do, because they are already 5 homeless. If they are begging, my assumption 6 is that most people who have a job, who have a 7 home, who are comfortable in their lives, are 8 not out on the streets begging. They are not 9 out with a squeegee, whatever it is, wiping 10 windshields of people's cars asking for a 11 nickel or a dime or a quarter. 12 So these are people who are 13 already destitute essentially, and Senator 14 Velella wants to make that a crime, so 15 essentially we are criminalizing a person 16 because they are poor, because they're 17 destitute, so I hope that my colleagues will 18 sort of see through this, not that it's not 19 already possible, as often happens, for the 20 police to pick up someone because they are 21 loitering on the streets or they are doing 22 something that threatens people. That's 23 already the case, but this law simply makes a 24 statement that we now are criminalizing 25 specifically beggars and people who don't have 1 a place to sleep, so they're sleeping on a 2 grate, on a cardboard, under a filthy blanket 3 or they're sleeping in a tent that they made 4 up that's -- that they've thrown up by the 5 Manhattan Bridge because they have no place to 6 live. I see it all the time, and I would 7 certainly hope that we would find other ways 8 of addressing this quality of life problem 9 than criminalizing poor people. 10 So I'm voting against this, Mr. 11 President. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. 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 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 23 Senator Paterson. 24 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 25 President, to explain my vote. 1 Right now, on the books we have 2 such charges -- misdemeanor charges as 3 disorderly conduct, fraudulent accosting, 4 harassment and menacing. We believe that most 5 of what Senator Velella would like to 6 accomplish would be covered under those 7 charges, and certainly in New York City proper 8 enforcement of those codes seems to have 9 changed that reality and reduced the amount of 10 aggressive begging, and we think that the laws 11 that exist now cover it. 12 There are elderly who suffer 13 from incontinence, disability, who can't 14 always find the restroom. We think that this 15 bill is so strong that it would actually bring 16 a lot of people into its scope who really are 17 not trying to be the public nuisances but 18 really can't help themselves. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 20 Senator Paterson will be recorded in the 21 negative. 22 Senator 23 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 24 in the negative on Calendar Number 151 are 25 Senators Abate, Breslin, Connor, Gold, 1 Leichter, Montgomery, Paterson, Sampson, 2 Santiago, Seabrook, Smith, Waldon and Mendez. 3 Ayes 47, nays 13. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 bill is passed. 6 Senator Fuschillo. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: May we 8 please return to reports of standing 9 committees. I believe there is a report of 10 the Corporations, Authorities and Commissions 11 Committee at the desk. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 13 Reports of standing committees. The Secretary 14 will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Senator Marchi, 16 from the Committee on Corporations, 17 Authorities and Commissions, reports: 18 Senate Print 6579, by Senator 19 Hannon, an act to amend the New York State 20 Medical Care Facilities Finance Agency Act, 21 directly for third reading. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 23 Without objection, directly for third 24 reading. 25 Senator Fuschillo. 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: May we 2 please -- may we please take up Senate 6579 3 which was just reported from the Corporations, 4 Authorities and Commissions Committee. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Senator Fuschillo, I believe there is a 7 substitution for this bill. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Take the 9 substitution. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 11 Substitution ordered. I'm sorry. Read the 12 substitution. 13 THE SECRETARY: Senator Hannon 14 moves to discharge from the Committee on 15 Corporations, Authorities and Commissions 16 Assembly Bill 9947 and substitute it for the 17 identical Senate Bill 6579. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Substitution ordered. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 527, by Assemblyman Vann, Senate Print 9947, 22 an act to amend the New York State Medical 23 Care Facilities Financing Agency Act. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read 25 the last section. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 2 This act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the 6 roll. ) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 bill is passed. 10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 11 President, can we return to the controversial 12 calendar and call Calendar Number 387. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 387, by Senator Cook, Senate Print Number 366, 17 an act to amend the Education Law, in relation 18 to defining non-residents of a district. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: 20 Explanation. 21 SENATOR LACHMAN: Explanation. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it 23 aside for the day. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay 25 the bill aside for the day. 1 Senator DeFrancisco. 2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I'd 3 request unanimous consent to be recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar 427. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Without objection, Senator DeFrancisco will be 7 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 8 427. 9 Senator Waldon. 10 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you very 11 much, Mr. President. 12 I was, unfortunately, not here 13 when this august body considered Calendar 14 427. I would like the record to respectfully 15 show -- it's already out of the house -- had I 16 been here, I would have been voting in the 17 negative. That's 427, Senate 1233, by Senator 18 Volker. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 20 Senator Waldon, you can be recorded in the 21 negative on that. Do you wish unanimous 22 consent to be so recorded? 23 SENATOR WALDON: I respectfully 24 request unanimous consent, to be so recorded. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 1 Without objection, Senator Waldon will be 2 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 3 427. 4 Senator Seabrook. 5 SENATOR SEABROOK: I'd like to 6 request unanimous consent to be recorded in 7 the negative on Calendar 427. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 9 Without objection, Senator Seabrook will be 10 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 11 427. 12 Senator Fuschillo. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 14 President, is there housekeeping at the desk? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: No, 16 there is not. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: You can 18 recognize Senator Paterson. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 20 Senator Paterson. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 22 President, the Minority has some motions to 23 discharge at the desk, but prior to 24 relinquishing them, I would like to point out 25 that, because we did not have session last 1 Tuesday and Wednesday, in some respects, if 2 there would be a formidable challenge as to 3 whether or not these motions have aged 4 properly, but with the intervention of Senator 5 Skelos, we will be able to present these 6 motions at this time. 7 I'd like to thank the Majority, 8 and particularly Senator Skelos, the Deputy 9 Majority Leader, "Skelos" coming from the 10 whose name comes from the Greek word that 11 means gracious, kind, concerned, caring, 12 wonderful, outstanding, dynamic and 13 articulate, and although they describe me, I'm 14 just saying that that's what Senator Skelos' 15 name actually is, and we would like to 16 profusely thank him from the bottom of our 17 hearts here in the Minority, from our 18 collective reasoning, from that pillar of 19 dynamic cooperation that has started to fill 20 this chamber, especially since we have broken 21 down into legislative conference committees. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Something else 23 is beginning to fill this chamber also, but I 24 do appreciate the comments. 25 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you. 1 Well, Mr. President, in light of Senator 2 Velella's bill, I wouldn't want to be brought 3 up on any charges. 4 SENAT0R VELELLA: My name being 5 taken in vain? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Let 7 the Chair note that not since the last time 8 John Marchi spoke, has as much scholarship 9 been aired in this chamber. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 The motion for discharge that I 13 am offering at this time is hate crimes 14 legislation that we would like to receive 15 state passage. 16 This would certainly -- this 17 would raise the penalties for an individual 18 who is attacked because of their race, 19 religion, their age, their disability, their 20 sexual orientation 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 22 Senator Paterson, we need to put the motion 23 before the house before you speak on it. 24 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes. May we 25 have the motion read at this time? 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 2 Senator, are you referring to Senate 3695? 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Yes, Mr. 4 President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 8 Paterson, an act to amend the Penal Law, in 9 relation to the crime of murder in the second 10 degree, Senate Print 3695. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 12 Senator Paterson. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: As I was 14 saying, Mr. President, if we would find that 15 there was a bias on the part of the 16 perpetrator that the individual met with this 17 untimely tragedy because of their race, 18 religion, their national origin, their age or 19 disability, their sex or their sexual 20 orientation, we would raise the penalties in 21 these particular crimes. The National 22 Institute for the Prevention of Discrimination 23 offered a report recently showing that victims 24 of hate crimes are far more likely to sustain 25 psychological damage, and that actually the 1 damage that arises from these crimes is the 2 worst emotional strain other than for a woman 3 who has unfortunately been the victim of a 4 sexual attack. 5 There are some famous cases 6 that brought on this legislation. On July 7 20th -- sorry, December 20th, 1986, the 8 terrible murder in Howard Beach of Michael 9 Griffith; on August 24th, 1989, the murder of 10 Yusef Hawkins in Brooklyn, and also in 11 Brooklyn on August the 18th of 1991, the 12 terrible murder of Yankel Rosenbaum. These 13 are probably the most celebrated cases but, 14 unfortunately, crimes that are committed due 15 to bias or hatred are increasing even as we 16 speak, and have increased by 12 percent just 17 over the last year. 18 What we are hoping, since in a 19 New York Post survey in 1991 showed that 57 of 20 the 61 members of this chamber favor some type 21 of hate crimes legislation to stop the 22 violence that is committed against individuals 23 because of what difference they might have 24 with the perpetrator -- a natural difference 25 -- then we would certainly feel and encourage 1 through the offer of this particular motion 2 for the Majorities of the Senate and the 3 Assembly along with the Minorities and for the 4 Governor to take a strong look at trying to 5 pass before the end of this year some strong 6 hate crimes legislation. 7 The federal Civil Rights Act of 8 1964 has never had a state-accompanied -- a 9 state-accompanied legislation passed in New 10 York State, even though 39 other states have 11 actually achieved this. 12 What we really aim for in this 13 legislation is to increase crimes where there 14 is a bias connected with the actual crime. 15 Some who argue against this would say, but the 16 crimes are actually covered on our books. But 17 the problem is that when you attack an 18 individual because of their race or because of 19 their religion or their national origin, you 20 are attacking the entire community of people. 21 What you're saying is, if you were the same as 22 these individuals and happened to walk down 23 that same street, that you were just as likely 24 to meet with a violent act. 25 This causes people to feel 1 separated from their other citizens and 2 society. This makes communities feel more 3 divided than ever, and then rather than living 4 in a state where we're more at peace with 5 ourselves as we are so often promised in 6 campaigns, we feel more divided than ever, 7 people against people, ethnicity against 8 ethnicity, and often race against raise. 9 This type of legislation would 10 send a strong message that the violence that's 11 committed in the most inhuman elements of 12 society is not going to be tolerated in a 13 discriminatory way, the same as we do not want 14 to tolerate any discrimination in the areas of 15 housing and health care, in the areas of 16 employment or the areas of opportunity and 17 education; and so this is a small step toward 18 trying to further humanize our state and to 19 say to those who have been brutalized because 20 of the color of their skin or the religion 21 that they practice or the origin of a country 22 that they once lived in, that we as a state, 23 as a family of New York, are not going to 24 tolerate it and that we are going to take 25 special action against those who would limit 1 the opportunity for any citizen of this state 2 regardless of their race or religion, that we 3 are not going to allow anyone to deprive those 4 freedoms. 5 We certainly offer this 6 resolution not as much for the possibility of 7 its passage but for the opportunity to be 8 heard and that it may somehow reverberate in 9 some of the other chambers in this great 10 Capitol in which we conduct affairs today and 11 that at some time before the end of this 12 legislative year, we can all agree on 13 legislation that will increase the penalties 14 for hate crimes. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 16 Senator Gold. 17 SENATOR GOLD: Thank you. 18 Mr. President, there was a 19 movie out recently, called The American 20 President, and I know that in certain 21 conservative circles, they were very upset 22 with the overall themes invented in the movie 23 and I thought that Carl Reiner, who produced 24 it, made a great comment. He said, You know, 25 we -- it's a free country; let the 1 conservatives make their own movie, and I 2 could understand how some of the themes might 3 be offensive to some people, but at the end of 4 that movie, there's a scene where the person 5 playing the rather liberal president has a 6 press conference and he starts to ask some 7 questions, and one of the questions was an 8 attack on him for carrying a card as a member 9 of the American Civil Liberties Union, and his 10 response in that movie was something which, to 11 tell you the truth, I've always wondered 12 myself. He says he doesn't understand how 13 anybody can say they love America and love the 14 Constitution and be opposed to people whose 15 job in life seems to be to protect rights 16 granted by the Constitution, and I know there 17 is a conservative response to that, and I 18 respect the fact that many of my colleagues in 19 this house have different political 20 philosophies than I do. 21 But I thought of that as my 22 very distinguished deputy leader was speaking 23 on this bill, because I don't understand -- I 24 don't understand how anybody can vote against 25 legislation which basically says that in 1 America it is a crime to violate the rights of 2 other people based upon the outlines set in 3 this bill -- race, ethnicity, religion, sexual 4 orientation, et cetera. I just don't know 5 how, regardless of political persuasion, 6 anybody can disagree with the concept that an 7 American ought to be able to live his or her 8 life with their own thought patterns. They 9 can live his or her life based upon the 10 incident or accident of birth that makes one 11 an Asian or one born in this country, one a 12 Jew, one a Catholic, whatever. 13 Not in America. And I say to 14 myself, where does it come from, where -- I 15 understand political boundaries when it comes 16 to concepts of spending or conservativeness or 17 social concerns. I can understand a lot of 18 differences that we have. 19 I can not understand the 20 difference between us on opposite sides of the 21 aisle which would justify voting against 22 legislation which does nothing more than 23 protect a human being from either being 24 something he or she can't change or being 25 something that he or she does not want to 1 change and has no legal obligation to change, 2 and if this isn't the most basic -- and I go 3 back again into something I've heard last week 4 when I mentioned the time frame when some of 5 my conservative friends were wearing the 6 American flag, and I would see votes and I 7 would say none of that is what the flag stands 8 for. If the flag doesn't stand for anything, 9 I mean it certainly has got to stand for the 10 Bill of Rights. If the flag stands for 11 anything, it certainly stands for individual 12 freedom in this country, and all that this 13 bill does -- and I say "all" in quotation 14 marks because this bill does a lot -- this 15 bill is a statement of policy in the state of 16 New York which says that people in New York 17 State have a right to walk around minding 18 their own business and not to be assaulted or 19 harassed or injured because somebody else 20 doesn't like what they are, and this bill 21 doesn't talk about -- about people getting up 22 on soap boxes and spewing political rhetoric 23 that offends people or incites people. 24 This bill talks about human 25 beings, Americans, foreign visitors, anyone 1 who's in this country, in this state, walking 2 through the streets and having the right to 3 walk and be left alone, and I cannot 4 understand anyone opposing it. 5 There are a lot of motions that 6 are made to discharge bills, and I understand 7 the difference in political philosophy when it 8 comes to campaign issues. I can understand 9 some people believe that a campaign should be 10 financed, some not. Some believe books should 11 be more open than others and we're involved in 12 political struggles, but this bill protects 13 every Republican from walking down the street 14 and not being assaulted because he or she is 15 of one race or another, of one ethnic group or 16 another, of one persuasion or another. This 17 doesn't protect Democrats. This protects 18 people, not even citizens. It protects every 19 human being who happens to be in this state 20 and who is doing nothing other than living and 21 breathing and, if that's not what the 22 Constitution says, then I don't know what the 23 Constitution says. 24 I want to applaud Senator 25 Paterson for pushing this and for making it 1 come to a vote, whether it's successful or 2 not, because there are some issues you cannot 3 walk away from and, my friends, this is one 4 that it should be an embarrassment to every 5 member of this house to walk away from. 6 There have been negotiations in 7 the past. I've heard that in the past we were 8 close on a bill of this nature, but in order 9 to pass the bill, we had to eliminate one 10 group or the other. I can't understand 11 eliminating anybody under any circumstances. 12 If someone is minding their own business, I 13 don't know how this Legislature could want not 14 to protect any such individual. 15 We're not arguing now whether 16 someone committed a crime, is running from the 17 crime, is involved in the crime, should they 18 sue, not sue; we're not talking about whether 19 inmates should get college educations. We're 20 talking about the right of a human being to 21 live in this state, mind his or her own 22 business, and be left alone. What could be 23 what could be more American than a bill of 24 this nature? Nothing, I grant -- I say to 25 you, nothing. 1 Mr. President, if we were ever 2 going to break precedent and grant a motion to 3 discharge, it would seem to me that Senator 4 Paterson has given us the vehicle and the 5 opportunity, and I would hope that this bill 6 would be looked at not as a partisan measure, 7 not as a political measure, but for what it 8 has the opportunity to do, and I would urge 9 everyone to support the motion. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All in 11 favor of the motion to discharge signify by 12 saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed nay. 15 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote 16 in the affirmative. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Party vote 18 in the negative. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the 22 roll. ) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 25, nays 24 35, party vote. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 1 motion is defeated. 2 Senator Hoffmann. 3 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Yes, Mr. 4 President. I believe I have some bills at the 5 desk, motions to discharge some bills, I wish 6 were at the desk. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 Yes, they are, Senator Hoffmann. 9 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 10 I would like to call up 4811, please. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 14 Hoffmann, Senate Print 4811, concurrent 15 resolution of the Senate and Assembly. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 17 Senator Hoffmann. 18 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 19 This is a brand new bill that I have not 20 previously brought before this body or 21 attempted to bring before this body. I 22 introduced it last year. I don't believe we 23 went through motions for discharge because we 24 had some scheduling difficulties and I thought 25 that certainly we could wait a little bit 1 longer since there seemed to be a move afoot 2 to reform our budgeting process; but 4811 3 before us at the desk would allow the state of 4 New York to have a budget by April 1st through 5 a very simple default mechanism. 6 If the Legislature failed to 7 enact a budget by April 1st, the Governor's 8 budget would become law, and under this 9 measure we would then have 30 days in which 10 the Assembly and Senate could come to 11 agreements on how to amend that budget. It 12 would mean under no circumstances would we go 13 past the 1st of May without a budget as we 14 have in all too many years to be reminded 15 about, and it would mean that the taxpayers of 16 this state would have the satisfaction of 17 knowing that at least one branch of government 18 was capable of having a budget in place, and 19 that would be the executive branch. 20 Obviously, I have no personal 21 reason to want to promote this or any other 22 executive's budget. I am simply anxious to 23 find a way that we could have a process that 24 would be fair and orderly for the taxpayers of 25 this state. 1 I do believe that, if a 2 Governor of this state, be he Republican or 3 Democrat, or be she Republican or Democrat, 4 knew that it was possible that this default 5 provision would go into place that I think 6 they would then introduce a more responsible 7 budget than some which have been presented to 8 us in some of the years that I've been here. 9 So I would -- I would ask my 10 colleagues on both sides of the aisle to 11 consider this new budget reform proposal and 12 vote to discharge this bill from committee so 13 that it could be discussed in earnest on the 14 floor before us today. 15 I have several other bills that 16 I will bring up that deal with the process 17 following this one, Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 19 Question is on the motion to discharge. All 20 those in favor of the motion to discharge 21 signify by saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 Opposed nay. 24 (Response of "Nay." ) 25 The motion is defeated. 1 Senator Hoffmann. 2 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 I'm a little disappointed, and 5 I hope that my Assembly colleague, Jay 6 Gunther, has more luck when he brings it up in 7 that house. 8 Now, I would like to call up 9 2298, Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 11 Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 13 Hoffmann, Senate Print 2298, an act to amend 14 the Public Officers Law. 15 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 16 This measure is referred to as 17 the "open meetings bill" and I first 18 introduced this bill in 1990. I have 19 attempted to discharge it from committees to 20 be brought to the full Senate for debate every 21 year since 1991, and I don't intend to stop. 22 This is based on a very simple 23 premise, that whenever the public business is 24 being discussed in this Capitol, it is the 25 right of the public to know what we are 1 saying. When a majority of any political 2 party elected to either house of the 3 Legislature goes behind closed doors and 4 discusses the public's business in secret, 5 there is a tremendous abuse of power taking 6 place. 7 There has been much written 8 about this measure. In fact, there was a 9 lawsuit that was brought in 1985 that would 10 have prevented such closed door party caucuses 11 from taking place, and an amazing 12 accomplishment for a Legislature that is 13 sometimes rather slow at getting about its 14 serious business, this Legislature, both 15 houses, passed nearly unanimously a bill that 16 would amend the Open Meetings Law of the state 17 of New York to specifically exempt the Senate 18 and the Assembly, and this has been regarded 19 ever since that time as one of the most 20 arrogant and self-serving moves among many 21 arrogant and self-serving moves undertaken by 22 the New York State Legislature. 23 It would be nice if we could 24 earn back some of the public's respect that we 25 lost in that move in 1985, and then I would 1 ask all of my colleagues to consider, in this 2 year of slightly more open discussions of the 3 budget, wouldn't it be a marvelous message to 4 send to the people of this state that we will 5 open the closed door party caucuses. In fact, 6 we wouldn't really need them any more. We 7 could do our budgeting through the committees 8 in which budgets should normally be 9 discussed. When there's a need to discuss 10 something that's political, all that is 11 necessary for the people who comprise a 12 majority or a minority of a political party in 13 either house of the Legislature is for a 14 notice to be posted, a notice to be made that 15 we are now off the clock, we are not working 16 for the taxpayers, we are meeting in secret 17 because we are discussing our political 18 affairs, but absent that kind of notice, there 19 would be no need for those closed door party 20 caucuses which unfortunately have become the 21 hallmark of the New York State Legislature. 22 So I would urge my friends to 23 join me and allow 2298, the "open meetings 24 bill", to come to the floor for a vote this 25 year. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All in 2 favor of accepting the motion -- I'm sorry. 3 Senator Gentile. 4 SENATOR GENTILE: Thank you, Mr. 5 President. 6 I rise to support my 7 colleague's motion to discharge on Senate Bill 8 2298. It appears that Senator Hoffmann has 9 been quite a visionary in this regard for 10 opening the closed door party caucuses. I 11 think, just looking at this year's open budget 12 committee hearings is a perfect example why we 13 need legislation like this, the fact that much 14 of what we're discussing on the budget, the 15 input that we all have on this years budget is 16 really saying to New Yorkers that this is the 17 way that we should conduct business in this 18 state and in this house. 19 It's very interesting, you 20 know, that being new to this Senate is that 21 sometimes you come here with certain 22 expectations, and one of those expectations 23 being, being somewhat of a democratic society 24 that we're in, would be that we all 25 participate in certain decisions of this 1 Legislature and of this house. 2 Well, certainly, as you know, 3 this has not been the case in closed party 4 caucuses. I think that that has to change. 5 Senator Hoffmann's bill will help change that 6 and it will say to the people in the state of 7 New York that no one here in this room, in 8 this Senate chamber, has a greater mandate to 9 govern than anyone else in this room. 10 That's what this bill would do, 11 and I support wholeheartedly Senator 12 Hoffmann's motion. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 14 Senator Montgomery. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 16 President. 17 As is often the case, Senator 18 Nancy Larraine Hoffmann has been sort of ahead 19 of herself or to some extent ahead of where we 20 have wanted to go, but now we have, I think, 21 very, very happily in my opinion, and I think 22 it's given us a great deal of respect, come up 23 to what her proposals have been or at least 24 partially to what her proposals have been, and 25 that is we now have recently experienced an 1 open process with our budget negotiation and, 2 as was predicted by Senator Hoffmann in her 3 debates in prior years since she began to 4 introduce these bills -- these bills some time 5 back, we've gained the respect of the public 6 and I see my chair -- the chair of my caucus, 7 my budget committee, entering the chamber 8 now. 9 Senator Libous, I'm so proud to 10 have been part of the process where Senator 11 Libous and Assemblyman Brennan were -- worked 12 together over three days to hammer out in 13 public with other members of their committee 14 participating, an agreement on our small part 15 of the budget. 16 So I think that Senator 17 Hoffmann has been right in the past. She's 18 right now. We should be looking to open up 19 our doors to let the people who, in fact, are 20 responsible for paying our salary see what we 21 do, and feel that they too understand and can 22 participate and benefit from it. 23 So, Mr. President, I hope that 24 my colleagues will just see this as an 25 extension of what we've had, what we've 1 experienced recently, and make this a part of 2 our institutional process from this point on. 3 Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All in 5 favor of the motion to discharge signify by 6 saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye.") 8 Opposed nay. 9 SENATOR ONORATO: Party vote in 10 the affirmative. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Party vote in 12 the negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the 16 roll. ) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 25, nays 18 35, party vote. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Motion 20 is defeated. 21 Senator Hoffmann. 22 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Mr. 23 President, were there any exceptions? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: No 25 exceptions, Senator. 1 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I was kind 2 of hoping there might be a couple of 3 exceptions this year. 4 Well, I'd like to move along 5 and request 2299, please. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 7 Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 9 Hoffmann, Senate Bill 2299, an act to amend 10 the Legislative Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 12 Senator Hoffmann. 13 SENATOR HOFFMANN: This bill 14 deals with the unfortunate practice of all 15 night or late night legislative sessions. 16 Now, most of us in this chamber 17 have been exposed to those, endured those. 18 They're agony personified, and I was never 19 more proud in my life nor more impressed with 20 the conviction of a colleague than I was the 21 day that Senator Bruno was installed as 22 Majority Leader in this chamber and, as his 23 very first piece of business, he announced a 24 rule change which, of course, we all 25 immediately ratified, a rule change that was 1 based upon the language of this bill. The 2 rule change prevented all night legislative 3 sessions from taking place except under the 4 most extreme circumstances. 5 What -- what troubled me, 6 however, having taken this great bold step is 7 that there have already been one exception or 8 two exceptions to that rule, and rules seem to 9 be breakable. 10 This measure would put in 11 statute the need that I think we really have 12 identified to prevent those late night 13 legislative sessions from taking place. So I 14 am pleased also to have a colleague in the 15 Assembly, Assemblywoman Galef, sponsoring this 16 measure in that house in the interest of 17 everybody's health, safety, longevity and our 18 ability to function with all of our 19 faculties. 20 I can't see why anybody would 21 want to vote against this measure. So, Mr. 22 President, I would ask you please to call this 23 bill up and see if we can't discharge the end 24 to late night sessions bill from its committee 25 to bring it to the floor for a full vote. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All in 2 favor of accepting the motion to discharge 3 signify by saying aye. 4 SENATOR ONORATO: Party vote in 5 the affirmative. 6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Party vote 7 in the negative. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 9 the roll. Oh, I'm sorry. Wait, wait. Yes, 10 call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the 12 roll. ) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 25, nays 14 35, party vote. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Motion 16 is defeated. 17 Senator Hoffmann. 18 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I was hoping 19 there might be a couple of exceptions on that 20 one. Were there any exceptions, Mr. 21 President? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 23 were no exceptions, Senator. 24 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you, 25 Mr. President. 1 I'd like to call up 2300, 2 please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 6 Hoffmann, Senate Print 2300, an act to amend 7 the Legislative Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 9 Senator Hoffmann. 10 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 11 This bill deals with the issue of special 12 allowances for political titles. We have in 13 New York State in this Legislature an unusual 14 practice, one that doesn't appear in any other 15 state, certainly not in the scope that it does 16 in New York State. 17 Some time many years ago, I 18 believe it was back in the '50s, there was an 19 understanding that, because some legislators 20 incurred a great deal of out-of-pocket expense 21 performing their duties, and we are, of 22 course, part-time legislators, there was a 23 recognition that there should be a special 24 payment in lieu of -- payment in lieu of 25 salary enhancement, based upon the actual 1 performance of duties in specific areas. For 2 instance, chairing the Education Committee in 3 either house of the Legislature can become a 4 very time-consuming duty requiring a great 5 deal of travel, extra meetings in the Capital 6 District, clearly making it difficult for a 7 legislator holding that title and that 8 responsibility to earn outside income, so that 9 "payment in lieu of" was a sensible solution 10 to provide fair compensation to legislators 11 who assumed extraordinary responsibilities. 12 Somewhere along the line it was 13 perverted to something very different. The 14 term of art now in New York State, as everyone 15 knows, is "lulu" and we have "lulus" for two 16 distinct categories in this house and in the 17 other house. One is for actual legislative 18 activity, chairing the Education Committee, 19 ranking Minority member of the Education 20 Committee, the same for every other committee 21 in this house. All of these carry a certain 22 level of compensation in recognition of the 23 duties that are performed and the difficulty 24 that those people would have in meeting the 25 same kind of personal commitment outside as a 1 member who did not have those duties would 2 have. 3 However, in this house, we also 4 have and in the Assembly we have political 5 "lulus" as well. The taxpayers of this state 6 are billed every year for a political payment 7 to a sizeable number of legislators in the New 8 York State Senate and Assembly. There are 9 titles, some of them include whips, some of 10 them include Majority or Minority Leaders, 11 deputies, assistant, deputies' assistant 12 Minority, assistant Majority, right on down to 13 second and third level whips. 14 It doesn't take a genius to 15 figure out that you don't need that many 16 people with a political title to maintain 17 order in this house. A Majority Leader and a 18 Minority Leader or maybe two people holding 19 those titles on each side of the aisle 20 probably could be acceptable to the taxpayers, 21 but the taxpayers that I represent tell me 22 they cannot figure out for the life of them 23 why we need so many people with a political 24 title and taxpayer-subsidized compensation. 25 If the political parties want 1 all of these people to have the highly 2 prestigious titles, then the political parties 3 should pick up the tab. I don't believe the 4 taxpayers of this state should be asked to pay 5 that bill, and I know that there are many 6 people around this state who, when informed of 7 this practice, share that same element of 8 surprise and disdain. 9 So I would ask, Mr. President, 10 that we call up 2230 out of committee and, 11 once and for all, end that unseemly practice 12 of billing the taxpayers for political 13 duties. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Question is on the motion to discharge. All 16 in favor of accepting the motion to discharge 17 signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 Opposed nay. 20 (Response of "Nay." ) 21 The motion is defeated. 22 Senator Hoffmann. 23 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Were there 24 any exceptions, Mr. President? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: I 1 didn't see any, and I was standing up here all 2 the time. 3 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I would call 4 up 2301. 5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 6 Hoffmann, Senate Bill Number 2301, an act to 7 amend the State Finance Law. 8 SENATOR HOFFMANN: This bill 9 would itemize the Legislative Budget. I don't 10 think we need to explain any more why that is 11 absolutely necessary. There is a tremendous 12 disparity between the way this Legislature 13 spends its budget and the way other state 14 Legislatures spend their budgets. 15 In this house, there is a spoil 16 system in place. In the Assembly there is a 17 spoil system in place. The only difference is 18 that the spoils are ruled by the Democrats in 19 the Assembly; in the Senate they are ruled by 20 the Republicans. The taxpayers of this system 21 never sanction the spoil system. When they 22 elect us, they expect us to put our partisan 23 differences aside. They expect us to function 24 as a body of equals with respect for each 25 other, not as a bunch of people who are more 1 concerned about promoting a political party or 2 a political party's control over a legislative 3 house than they are in serving the people of 4 this state, which all too often seems to be 5 the case. 6 I would ask that 2301 be 7 reported from committee and brought to the 8 floor for a vote, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All in 10 favor of accepting 11 SENATOR GENTILE: Mr. 12 President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: I'm 14 sorry. Senator Gentile. 15 SENATOR GENTILE: If I may be 16 heard on this motion also in support is, while 17 I commend Senator Bruno for instituting 18 expenditure reports, it is my understanding 19 that many of those expenditure reports come 20 out as much as 18 months after the fact. 21 There is nothing that we can look at -- that 22 New Yorkers can look at at this point from the 23 beginning before a budget is spent as to what 24 is being spent on the Legislature itself. 25 Indeed, there is a constituent 1 in my district who is attempting to do just 2 that through Freedom of Information requests 3 to find out exactly what the Legislature 4 spends on itself. 5 This legislation that Senator 6 Hoffmann has so aptly put forth would not 7 would allow my constituent that information 8 without having to go through a Freedom of 9 Information request. 10 So, again, Senator Hoffmann, 11 you ought to be commended, and I think this 12 house should follow your lead. 13 Thank you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 15 those in favor of accepting the motion to 16 discharge signify by saying aye. 17 (Response of "Aye".) 18 Opposed, nay. 19 (Response of "Nay".) 20 The motion is defeated. 21 Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the 23 roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 25, nays 25 35. Party vote. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 motion is defeated. 3 Senator Hoffmann. 4 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Let me 5 guess, was that the same vote we had the last 6 time? Were there any exceptions on 2301? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: No. 8 Senator Hoffmann. 9 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 10 I would call up 2302. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 14 Hoffmann, Senate Bill Number 2302, an act to 15 amend the Election Law. 16 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 17 Now, this is a very logical, 18 very simple bill that I'm sure that my 19 colleagues on the other side of the aisle can 20 embrace once I explain it to them. 21 Let me just take a couple of 22 minutes to tell you why I have introduced this 23 bill for the ninth year in a row. This would 24 require that all campaign spending be recorded 25 in one place next to the candidate's name at 1 the Board of Elections rather than buried in a 2 forest of mysterious political committees as 3 is often the case right now. 4 You see, that way it would be 5 possible for any of us in an election or any 6 of our constituents interested in finding out 7 information about an election or any reporter 8 tracking campaign spending to see who is doing 9 what for or against a specific candidate and 10 who's paying for it, because right now it's 11 virtually impossible to know that. 12 It's quite possible for 13 somebody, if they wanted to, to spend $100,000 14 on my campaign without me even knowing about 15 it. They could send out mailings. They could 16 do things on my behalf and send them into my 17 district. As long as they were a duly 18 registered political committee under the laws 19 of the state of New York, they could do 20 something on my behalf and even attack 21 somebody else without my knowing it, and it 22 would be very difficult for somebody to find 23 this in the Board of Elections because it 24 would be filed under some complex or arcane 25 name of a committee that might not have any 1 immediate association with the 48th Senate 2 District. 3 Now, I don't think that any of 4 my colleagues across the aisle would ever want 5 to see something like that happen in my case 6 and I'm sure that several of them would be 7 embarrassed to know that similar things have 8 happened relative to campaigns on that side of 9 the aisle. So it troubles me to think that we 10 would allow this system to continue. 11 This bill, 2302 and its 12 companion, 2303, would require that all 13 campaign spending and all campaign literature 14 would be maintained in one single place next 15 to the name of the candidate who is benefiting 16 or the candidate who is being opposed in 17 either instance rather than scattered about, 18 tucked away under other campaign filings. 19 So I think in the interest of 20 openness and accountability, which I know 21 everyone in this chamber is committed to, we 22 should certainly discharge both of these bills 23 and bring them to the floor for an immediate 24 vote, Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All in 1 favor of accepting the motion to 2 SENATOR ONORATO: Party vote in 3 the affirmative. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Party vote in 5 the negative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 Secretary will call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the 9 roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 25, nays 11 35, party vote. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 motion is defeated. 14 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Well, Mr. 15 President, I do have the companion bill to 16 2302, which is 2303 that I just spoke about, 17 and I would like to have that brought to the 18 floor and having explained both of them, let 19 me just further elaborate that it is only a 20 technicality that compels me to place them in 21 separate bills but they both deal with the 22 same concept, that is, having 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 24 Senator Hoffmann, excuse me. May I have the 25 motion put on the floor first and then 1 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Yes, Mr. 2 President. I stand corrected. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Okay. 4 The Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 6 Hoffmann, Senate Bill Number 2303, an act to 7 amend the Election Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 9 Senator Hoffmann. 10 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 11 This very simple measure 12 allowing easy access to information about 13 campaign literature to be found readily under 14 the campaign -- under the name of the 15 candidate who is benefiting and the name of 16 the candidate who is being attacked or 17 criticized makes eminent sense. 18 Certainly since Senator Bruno 19 has become Majority Leader and he has begun 20 the process of quarterly reporting on how we, 21 as a Legislature, spend money on our 22 individual staffs, it can't be too big a leap 23 to go into some accountability of a similar 24 meritorious matter when it comes to campaign 25 activities. 1 All of us have to run for 2 office in order to arrive in this chamber, so 3 it's certainly in the best interest of every 4 member in this chamber and more importantly of 5 all of our constituents to see this matter 6 pass. 7 So I would ask that 2303 be 8 discharged from its committee and brought to 9 the floor for a vote. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All in 11 favor of the motion to discharge signify by 12 saying aye. 13 SENATOR ONORATO: Party vote in 14 the affirmative. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Party vote in 16 the negative. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 Secretary will call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the 20 roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 25, nays 22 35. Party vote. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 motion is defeated. 25 Senator Fuschillo. 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 2 President, may we please return to reports of 3 standing committees. I believe there is a 4 report of the EnCon Committee at the desk. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator 8 Marcellino, from the Committee on 9 Environmental Conservation, reports: 10 Senate Print 6833, by Senator 11 Johnson, an act to amend the Environmental 12 Conservation Law, in relation to winter 13 flounder regulations, directly for third 14 reading. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 16 Without objection, to third reading. 17 Senator Fuschillo. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 19 President, is there any housekeeping at the 20 desk? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: No, 22 there is not. 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I'd request 24 the Senate stand at ease for a few moments. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 1 Senate will stand at ease. 2 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 3 ease from 4:41 p.m. until 4:45 p.m.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 Senate will come back to order. 6 Senator Skelos. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 8 return to motions and resolutions. Mr. 9 President, I wish to call up Print Number 10 6097-B, recalled from the Assembly which is 11 now at the desk. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 15 6097-B, Budget Bill, an act to amend the 16 Correction Law and the Criminal Procedure Law. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 18 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 19 this bill was passed. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 Secretary will call the roll on 22 reconsideration. 23 (The Secretary called the roll 24 on reconsideration.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 bill is restored to its place on the Third 3 Reading Calendar. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 6 I now move to recommit the bill to the 7 Committee on Finance. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 bill is recommitted to the Finance Committee. 10 Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 12 I wish to call up Print Number 6100-A, 13 recalled from the Assembly which is now at the 14 desk. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 18 6100-A, Budget Bill, an act making 19 appropriations for the support of government. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 21 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 22 this bill was passed. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 Secretary will call the roll on 25 reconsideration. 1 (The Secretary called the roll 2 on reconsideration.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 bill is restored to its place on the Third 6 Reading Calendar. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: I now move to 8 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 10 bill is recommitted to the Committee on 11 Finance. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 13 I wish to call up Print Number 6102-B, 14 recalled from the Assembly which is now at the 15 desk. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senate Bill 19 6102-B, Budget Bill, an act making 20 appropriations for the support of government. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 22 I now move to reconsider the vote by which the 23 bill was passed. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 25 Secretary will call the roll on 1 reconsideration. 2 (The Secretary called the roll 3 on reconsideration.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 bill is restored to its place on the Third 7 Reading Calendar. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 9 I move to recommit the bill to the Committee 10 on Finance. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 12 bill is recommitted to the Committee on 13 Finance. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 15 I wish to call up Print Number 6103-B, 16 recalled from the Assembly which is now at the 17 desk. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 19 Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 21 6103-B, Budget Bill, an act making 22 appropriations for the support of government. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 24 I now move to reconsider the vote by which the 25 bill was passed. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call 2 the roll on reconsideration. 3 (The Secretary called the roll 4 on reconsideration.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 bill is restored to its place on the Third 8 Reading Calendar. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 I now move to recommit the bill to the 11 Committee on Finance. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 bill is recommitted to the Committee on 14 Finance. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 16 I wish to call up Print Number 6104-B, 17 recalled from the Assembly which is now at the 18 desk. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 22 6104-B, Budget Bill, an act making 23 appropriations for the support of government. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 25 I now move to reconsider the vote by which the 1 bill was passed. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 Secretary will call the roll on 4 reconsideration. 5 (The Secretary called the roll 6 on reconsideration.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 bill is restored to its place on the Third 10 Reading Calendar. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 12 I move to recommit the bill to the Committee 13 on Finance. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 bill is recommitted to the Committee on 16 Finance. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 18 I wish to call up Print Number 6105-B, 19 recalled from the Assembly which is now at the 20 desk. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Senate Bill 24 6105-B, Budget Bill, an act making 25 appropriations for the support of government. 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 2 I now move to reconsider the vote by which the 3 bill was passed. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 Secretary will call the roll on 6 reconsideration. 7 (The Secretary called the roll 8 on reconsideration.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 60. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 bill is restored to its place on the Third 12 Reading Calendar. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 14 I move to recommit the bill to the Committee 15 on Finance. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 bill is recommitted to the Committee on 18 Finance. 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 21 there being no further business, I move we 22 adjourn until Tuesday, April 7th, at 3:00 p.m. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On 24 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 25 Tuesday, April 7th, at 3:00 p.m. 1 (Whereupon, at 4:51 p.m., the 2 Senate adjourned.) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9