Wednesday, May 13, 1998

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ALBANY, NEW YORK 9 May 13, 1998 10 11:05 a.m. 11 12 13 REGULAR SESSION 14 15 16 17 SENATOR RAYMOND A. MEIER, Acting President 18 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 Senate will come to order. I ask everyone 4 present to please rise and join me in reciting 5 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 6 (The assemblage repeated the 7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 In the absence of clergy, may we 9 now bow our heads in a moment of silence. 10 (A moment of silence was 11 observed.) 12 The reading of the Journal. 13 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 14 Tuesday, May 12th. The Senate met pursuant to 15 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, May 11th, 16 was read and approved. Upon motion, the Senate 17 adjourned. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Without 19 objection, the Journal stands approved as read. 20 Presentation of petitions. 21 Messages from the Assembly. 22 Messages from the Governor. 23 Reports of standing committees. 24 Reports of select committees. 25 Communications and reports from 1 state officers. 2 Motions and resolutions. 3 Senator Marcellino. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 On behalf of Senator Cook, I offer 7 -- on page number 42, I offer the following 8 amendments to Calendar Number 540, Senate Print 9 Number 781, and ask that said bill retain its 10 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 12 amendments are received and the bill will retain 13 its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 14 The Secretary will read the 15 substitutions. 16 THE SECRETARY: On page 6, Senator 17 Stafford moves to discharge from the Committee on 18 Finance Assembly Bill 8696 and substitute it for 19 the identical Senate Bill 5715. 20 On page 7, Senator Trunzo moves to 21 discharge from the Committee on Civil Service and 22 Pensions Assembly Bill Number 10754 and 23 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 7430. 24 On page 7, Senator Trunzo moves to 25 discharge from the Committee on Civil Service and 1 Pensions Assembly Bill 10753 and substitute it 2 for the identical Senate Bill 7431. 3 On page 7, Senator LaValle moves 4 to discharge from the Committee on Commerce, 5 Economic Development and Small Business Assembly 6 Bill 6448 and substitute it for the identical 7 Senate Bill 3686. 8 On page 7, Senator LaValle moves 9 to discharge from the Committee on Commerce, 10 Economic Development and Small Business Assembly 11 Bill 9389 and substitute it for the identical 12 Senate Bill 6462. 13 On page 8, Senator Present moves 14 to discharge from the Committee on Commerce, 15 Economic Development and Small Business Assembly 16 Bill 1239 and substitute it for the identical 17 Senate Bill 7143. 18 On page 20, Senator Marcellino 19 moves to discharge from the Committee on 20 Investigations, Taxation and Government 21 Operations Assembly Bill Number 2024 and 22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 23 4128-A. 24 On page 23, Senator Marchi moves 25 to discharge from the Committee on Transportation 1 Assembly Bill 9194 and substitute it for the 2 identical Senate Bill 6161. 3 On page 24, Senator Spano moves to 4 discharge from the Committee on Tourism, 5 Recreation and Sports Development Assembly Bill 6 7656 and substitute it for the identical Senate 7 Bill 4396. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 substitutions are ordered. 10 Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 12 with the consent of the Minority, I move that 13 Calendars 939 and 940, which are on first report 14 on the calendar, be advanced to third reading and 15 that they have their third reading today. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: So 17 ordered. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: I believe that 20 there is a privileged resolution at the desk by 21 myself. May we please have the title read and 22 move for its immediate adoption. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Skelos, 1 Legislative Resolution commemorating the 50th 2 Anniversary of Temple B'nai Israel of Elmont to 3 be celebrated Saturday, May 16th, 1998. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 Skelos. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the 7 resolution. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 question is on the resolution. All in favor 10 signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye".) 12 Opposed, nay. 13 (There was no response.) 14 The resolution is adopted. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 16 believe there's a privileged resolution at the 17 desk by Senator LaValle. May we please have the 18 title read and move for its immediate adoption. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 22 LaValle, Legislative Resolution honoring the past 23 and present members of the Greenport Fire 24 Department Star Hose Company Number 3 for 100 25 years of fire protection to the citizens of 1 Greenport, New York and its surrounding 2 communities. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 question is on the resolution. All those in 5 favor signify by saying aye. 6 (Response of "Aye".) 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (There was no response.) 9 The resolution is adopted. 10 Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, at 12 this time may we please have the reading of the 13 non-controversial calendar. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 325, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 5161-A, an 18 act to amend the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, 19 in relation to including the Secretary of State. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 21 last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 23 act shall take effect on the first day of 24 January. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 643, by Senator Waldon, Senate Print 140, an act 8 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in relation 9 to misdemeanor complaints. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 645, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 521, an act 22 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules and the 23 Public Authorities Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 25 last section. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 2 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 647, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 3504, an act 11 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules, in 12 relation to privileged communications. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 669, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 6476, an act 25 to repeal Chapter 972 of the Laws of 1972. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 680, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 5190, an 13 act to amend the Correction Law, in relation to 14 appointment. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 1 684, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6503, an 2 act to amend the Executive Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 694, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 6358, an 15 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 16 the unlawful sale. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 37. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 702, by member of the Assembly Griffith, Assembly 4 Print 9762, an act to amend the Surrogates Court 5 Procedure Act. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 7 last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 727, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 6308-A, an 18 act to amend the General Municipal Law and the 19 Retirement and Social Security Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 21 last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 23 act shall take effect July 1st, 1998. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 25 roll. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 4 is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 821, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 6667, an act 7 in relation to the transfer of a portion of a 8 highway. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 10 last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 848, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7150 - 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 22 the day. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 24 bill aside for the day. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 1 907, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7442, an act 2 to amend Chapter 3 of the Laws of 1997, amending 3 the Banking Law and the Insurance Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 Farley. 6 SENATOR FARLEY: Just to explain 7 my vote quickly. I just want to say thank you to 8 all the members of the Banking Committee. This 9 is the wild card bill which is a very important 10 piece of legislation and to say thank you to 11 Senator Santiago who's played a major role in 12 this house, in particular with the Minority. 13 To explain this, this is simply 14 the bill that passed last year, exactly making it 15 permanent. It's a crucial piece of legislation 16 for New York State. It passed last year 17 unanimously in both houses, same one, and 18 actually we expect that this will be taken up in 19 the Assembly, and again I want to pay tribute to 20 everybody that was such a large part of making 21 this bill happen. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Santiago. 24 SENATOR SANTIAGO: Thank you, Mr. 25 President. 1 May I explain my vote? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes. 3 SENATOR SANTIAGO: Mr. President, 4 before I address the bill itself, I would like to 5 thank you, Senator Farley. 6 You not only opened up the 7 legislation for sponsorship, but you are always 8 open to me and you allowed us to talk with you 9 directly and to present the ideas of my 10 conference and you really took us seriously. 11 So I feel very honored to be able 12 to stand here and to represent my conference and 13 to say to you thank you publicly on behalf of 14 myself and on behalf of the conference and 15 because of your work it was easy to support this 16 legislation because it's good for New York State 17 but it's also good -- I think we're sending a 18 message that both sides of the aisle can work 19 well together and I'm really proud of that and 20 that's because of your leadership, and I wanted 21 to say that up front. So thank you, sir. 22 But, Mr. President, this 23 legislation is important to both the state 24 banking industry and to the financial consumers 25 of New York State. This includes my constituents 1 but it includes all of the constituents of New 2 York State, all of the consumers. 3 This bill will encourage state 4 banks like Chase Manhattan to remain chartered in 5 New York and it's something that Senator Farley 6 and I have discussed for two or three years. We 7 need banks to stay chartered. This means that 8 they are more likely to keep their head offices 9 in the state providing jobs to our citizens. It 10 means that these banks will remain subject to New 11 York's ATM Safety Act, our basic banking account 12 requirements and our strong CRA retirements, 13 Community Reinvestment Act. 14 It also means that the financial 15 consumer will continue to benefit from the strong 16 supervision of our state Banking Department 17 instead of a distant regulator in Washington, and 18 again, Senator Farley, this is something you and 19 I have discussed. 20 This bill will make it easier for 21 banks to sell insurance or invest in the 22 securities market, something they can do now on a 23 limited basis. 24 This bill permits our state banks 25 to exercise the same powers that national banks 1 like Citibank now have. It will keep our banks 2 strong and competitive in the financial industry 3 for the next millennium. 4 I urge my colleagues to support 5 it, to support this bill, to support Senator 6 Farley, to support myself and thank you very 7 much. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 20 there will be an immediate meeting of the Housing 21 Committee in the Majority Conference Room. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Immediate 23 meeting of the Housing Committee in the Senate 24 Majority Conference Room. 25 The Secretary will continue to 1 read the calendar. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 939, substituted and advanced earlier today, by 4 the Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print 5 10754, an act to amend Chapter 582 of the Laws of 6 1996. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 940, substituted and advanced earlier today, by 19 the Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print 20 10753, an act to amend Chapter 582 of the Laws of 21 1996. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 23 last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 941, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 9 7466, an act making an appropriation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 942, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 22 7467, an act making an appropriation. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 24 last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, is 9 there any housekeeping at the desk? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, 11 Senator. We have two motions. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Would you have 13 Senator Marcellino make those motions once we're 14 ready to make the motions. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 16 Marcellino. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, Mr. 18 President. On behalf of Senator Skelos, on page 19 number 30, I offer the following amendments to 20 Calendar Number 137, Senate Print Number 337, and 21 ask that said bill retain its place on the Third 22 Reading Calendar. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 amendments are received and the bill will retain 25 its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Marcellino. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 I wish to call up Calendar Number 7 343, Assembly Print Number 8888. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 343, by member of the Assembly Gunther, Assembly 12 Print 8888, an act to amend the Racing, 13 Pari-mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 15 President, I now move to reconsider the vote by 16 which this bill was -- I'm sorry -- I now move to 17 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly bill 18 was substituted for Senator Cook's bill, Senate 19 Print Number 6077 on 3/10/1998. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll on reconsideration. 22 (The Secretary called the roll on 23 reconsideration.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42. 25 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I now move 1 that the Assembly Bill Number 8888 be recommitted 2 to the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering 3 and Senator Cook's Senate bill be recommitted to 4 the Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering with 5 instructions to said committee to strike out the 6 enacting clause. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: So 8 ordered. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 One more. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Marcellino. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 15 President, on behalf of Senator Goodman, on page 16 number 64, I offer the following amendments to 17 Calendar Number 846, Senate Print Number 7007, 18 and ask that said bill retain its place on the 19 Third Reading Calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 amendments are received and the bill will retain 22 its place on the Third Reading Calendar. 23 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 1 Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 3 there being no further business, I move we 4 adjourn until Monday, May 18th, at 3:00 p.m., 5 intervening days to be legislative days. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Upon 7 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until Monday, 8 May 18th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days will be 9 legislative days. 10 (Whereupon, at 11:21 a.m., the 11 Senate adjourned.) 12 13 14 15 16 17