Tuesday, May 19, 1998

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 19, 1998 11 3:10 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JOHN R. KUHL, JR., Acting 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 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Senate will come to order. Ask the members to 4 find their places, staff to find their 5 places. Ask everybody in the chamber to rise 6 and join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance 7 to the Flag, and please remain standing for 8 the invocation. 9 (The assemblage repeated the 10 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 11 We're very pleased to be joined 12 by the Reverend Monsignor Michael J. Cantley 13 of St. Anastasia Church, of Douglaston, New 14 York, to deliver the invocation. 15 REVEREND CANTLEY: Mr. 16 President, Senators, guests: We place our 17 selves in this hall of the Legislature before 18 the Eternal God. In prayer, we do not inform 19 You of our needs. You already know what we 20 need before we even ask. Rather what we do is 21 to place ourselves in Your presence and, alone 22 with our consciences, hearts exposed to Your 23 clear sight, we re-examine our obligations and 24 tremble at the responsibility we must justify 25 before You each night before we go to sleep, 1 and will have to justify at the very end of 2 our lives, our eternal destiny, the end for 3 which we were created. 4 "Our liberties do not come 5 from charters, for these are only the 6 declarations of pre-existing rights. They do 7 not depend on parchments or seals; but come 8 from the King of kings and the Lord of all the 9 earth." Our Founding Fathers before me knew 10 these words and asserted the claims of all 11 citizens of our country and state to freedom 12 and the development of the human potential 13 based on the assertion of principles that they 14 termed "self-evident" because they were and 15 are truths about the human person derived from 16 the knowledge of human nature, built into it 17 by "nature's God". 18 Both charters of legal 19 existence, the Constitution of the United 20 States and that of our state of New York, had 21 the boldness to bring into existence not 22 merely a territory of jurisdictional identity, 23 but more an experiment in human governance 24 unknown until its time, and since then 25 emulated throughout all of the world. George 1 Washington called it an experience -- an 2 "experiment in ordered liberty." It is an 3 experiment in which every man and woman, 4 without prejudice for race, religion or social 5 standing could pursue happiness, serve the 6 common good and enjoy the freedom to realize 7 every legitimate inborn talent limited not by 8 any force of government but only by the limits 9 one placed on the self. 10 The continuing success of our 11 American democracy as we live it in the state 12 of New York depends on each new generation, 13 native-born and immigrant, making its own the 14 moral truths and the ideals on which the 15 country and the state were founded. The 16 commitment to build a society free, just and 17 caring begins anew with each opening of this 18 Legislature, each bill discussed, each signing 19 into law, each interaction of the branches 20 that constitute the efficiency of government. 21 Many in this Legislature will carry the state 22 into the new millenium. It's an awful and 23 awesome responsibility to end that era and 24 begin another. "No expression of today's 25 commitment to liberty and justice for all can 1 be made that could be more basic than the 2 protection afforded to those in society who 3 are most vulnerable -- the unborn or the sick 4 and the old. The credibility of our state 5 will depend more and more on its promotion of 6 a genuine culture of life and on a renewed 7 commitment to building a society in which the 8 weakest and the most vulnerable are welcomed 9 and protected." 10 Eternal God, with thankfulness 11 that our state Senate in New York has 12 established a record of concern for the most 13 vulnerable, we ask the courage and the insight 14 that its record in the future be even more 15 glorious, that all of the country and all of 16 the world may look to it as a paladin willing 17 and successful in addressing all need not from 18 a position of expediency, but from the 19 principles that make for greatness. Amen. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Reading 21 of the Journal. 22 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 23 Monday, May 18th. The Senate met pursuant to 24 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, May 17th, 25 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 1 adjourned. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing 3 no objection, the Journal stands approved as 4 read. 5 Presentation of petitions. 6 Messages from the Assembly. 7 Messages from the Governor. 8 Reports of standing 9 committees. The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 11 from the Committee on Judiciary, offers up the 12 following nomination: As a judge of the Court 13 of Claims, Ferris D. Lebous. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 Chair recognizes Senator Lack, on the 16 nomination. 17 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 18 President. 19 I rise to move the nomination 20 and I rarely ever correct - 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President 22 -- excuse me, Senator Lack. If we could just 23 have some order in the Senate chamber, 24 please. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 acting Majority Leader raises a very good 2 point. Would the members please take their 3 seats, staff their position. 4 Senator Lack. 5 SENATOR LACK: Well, thank you, 6 Mr. President. I rarely would ever correct, 7 because we have a Senator Libous but we're 8 standing up to -- I'm standing up to move the 9 nomination of one Ferris D. Lebous, of Vestal, 10 as a judge of the Court of Claims. 11 I do so notwithstanding the 12 fact that coming down from Cornell one day, I 13 got a speeding ticket in Vestal, but I'll 14 still stand up - 15 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 16 Mr. President. A point of high personal 17 privilege. 18 I got a speeding ticket coming 19 down from Cornell, in Vestal. 20 SENATOR LACK: In Vestal too? 21 SENATOR GOLD: In Vestal, New 22 York. 23 SENATOR LACK: Well, Mr. 24 President, since it seems to be bipartisan 25 both sides of the house, Senator Gold, are you 1 suggesting that we should postpone doing this? 2 SENATOR GOLD: Not unless I 3 wanted to get killed. 4 SENATOR LACK: Well, in any 5 event, Mr. President, notwithstanding what 6 happens when you drive through Vestal where 7 our nominee happens to come from, it is with 8 great pleasure that I rise to move Ferris D. 9 Lebous of Vestal's nomination as judge of the 10 Court of Claims. 11 He was found highly qualified 12 by the Governor's Screening Committee. He 13 appeared before us this morning, was 14 unanimously moved to the floor of the Senate, 15 and it's with great pleasure that I yield to 16 Senator Thomas W., not Lebous, but Libous, not 17 of Vestal but of Binghamton, for the purposes 18 of a second. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 20 recognizes Senator Libous, on the nomination. 21 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 23 It is indeed an honor for me to 24 rise to move this nomination, and I think, Mr. 25 President, I need to clear a few things up. 1 I've had several people ask me over the course 2 of the last few weeks why Ferris spells his 3 name Lebous and I spell mine Libous, and I 4 think that's pretty simple, that when his 5 grandparents and my grandparents came to this 6 country and came to Ellis Island, they needed 7 a convenient way to figure out how to sort the 8 mail since they were all going to live in the 9 same home so, therefore, part of the family 10 became Lebous and the other part became Libous 11 and, as the story goes, the Lebous part of the 12 family became successful and the Libous part 13 is still working on that. 14 But, Mr. President, I'm not 15 here to talk about family name. I'm here to 16 talk about the honor and pride that I have to 17 stand before this body today to move the 18 Governor's nomination to the Court of Claims 19 of Ferris D. Lebous. 20 Ferris has served in tremendous 21 capacity as he graduated law school and came 22 back to our community. He served in the 23 district attorney's office as assistant 24 district attorney and then went on to be 25 senior assistant district attorney for a 1 number of years prosecuting many, many tough 2 cases, and then after that he went on to 3 become a successful member of the law firm, 4 Pearis, Ressiguie, Kline, Barber and Lebous, 5 where he focused his time on municipal law, 6 dealing and covering for the last 15 years the 7 town of Sanford, village of Windsor, town of 8 Dickinson, where he worked tirelessly in 9 helping those individuals in those towns as 10 they deal with the many laws that come down to 11 them from this body. 12 His activities did not cease, 13 though. He also worked in the community as a 14 member of the Sertoma Club, a member of the 15 Binghamton JCs, counsel to the Broome County 16 Republican Committee, a member of the Board of 17 Directors of Broome Legal Assistance 18 Corporation, Commissioner of Election for 19 Broome County, board member of the YMCA, of 20 course, his work on the Binghamton Symphony 21 Board and, as he mentioned earlier this 22 morning, he is a proud member of the American 23 Federation of Musicians Local 380, in 24 Binghamton, New York. 25 He has served the Broome County 1 Bar Association as its president, 2 vice-president, director, member of public 3 relations, and on the Scholarship Committee. 4 Mr. President, it is a pleasure 5 for me to stand here with a bit of emotion and 6 a lot of personal pride to move this extremely 7 qualified nominee that the Governor has 8 brought before us and, before I close, I just 9 want to say that I hope this summer, as I 10 visit him on the lake, he'll still let me ride 11 in the paddleboat with him. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Spano, on the nomination. 14 SENATOR SPANO: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 Let me first say that, Mr. 17 President, the Governor has selected a member 18 of the Libous family that spells their name 19 correctly to be appointed to the Court of 20 Claims, and let me say that I'm sure he chose 21 the successful part of the family to be 22 appointed. Look what we're left with here in 23 this chamber. 24 But it is a pleasure to join 25 with Senator Lack and, of course, my good 1 friend and colleague, Senator Libous, in 2 saying that the Governor has selected someone 3 who's had an outstanding record as an 4 attorney, someone who I've certainly known for 5 a long time, who hails from that Southern Tier 6 of the state and I've had the opportunity to 7 visit, and to say that it's a proud day, a 8 proud day certainly for your family, proud day 9 for your parents, proud day where they can 10 call you "judge" and a very happy day for the 11 people of this state in the fact that the 12 Governor has recognized your potential and has 13 nominated you and hopefully in a few moments 14 will be confirmed by all the members of the 15 Senate as an outstanding member of the Court 16 of Claims. 17 It's my pleasure to join with 18 my colleague in seconding that nomination and 19 offering you my own best wishes and 20 congratulations. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 22 Seward, on the nomination. 23 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Mr. 24 President. 25 I'm also very proud to stand to 1 second the confirmation of Ferris D. Lebous to 2 go on the Court of Claims. I have the pride 3 and honor of representing the northern part of 4 the Southern Tier if there is such a region, 5 along with Senator Libous, and thus I'm a 6 neighbor of Ferris Lebous, and I can say that 7 without question that Ferris Lebous is known 8 throughout our region as one who has built a 9 distinguished reputation and record not only 10 in the legal affairs that he's been involved 11 in over the years but also, of course, his 12 outstanding civic activities. He's worked 13 hard on behalf of his community over the 14 years. 15 I can also say that he is known 16 far and wide throughout our region as a man of 17 intelligence, integrity, energy, fair-minded. 18 He's got all the attributes that will make him 19 an outstanding judge of the Court of Claims, 20 so I am very honored and pleased, Ferris, on 21 behalf of the people just north of you, to 22 stand and to lend my support to this 23 confirmation. 24 I congratulate the Governor on 25 making an outstanding choice, and I'm proud to 1 join all my colleagues in supporting your 2 confirmation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is 4 there any other member wishing to speak on the 5 nomination? Hearing none, the question is on 6 the nomination of Ferris D. Lebous, of Vestal, 7 as a judge of the Court of Claims. All those 8 in favor of the nomination signify by saying 9 aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 Opposed nay. 12 (There was no response. ) 13 The nominee is unanimously 14 confirmed. We're very, very pleased to have 15 Ferris Lebous in the chamber with us in the 16 gallery to your left along with his parents, 17 Patrick and Edna Lebous, and a friend, Casey 18 Krause. Judge, we're very, very happy to have 19 you with us. You do us proud. 20 (Applause) 21 Secretary will continue to 22 read. 23 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of 24 the Suffolk County Family Court, Dudley L. 25 Lehman. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 Chair recognizes Senator Lack, on the 3 nomination. 4 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr. 5 President. 6 I very proudly stand up to move 7 the nomination of Dudley Lehman of Nesconset 8 as a judge of the Family Court of Suffolk 9 County. 10 I've known Dudley Lehman for 11 over 20 years personally. He's my 12 constituent. We're joined behind me by my 13 friend, and Dudley's friend, Assemblyman Bob 14 Wertz. Together Bob and I have worked with 15 Dudley Lehman for years on all sorts of 16 projects affecting our constituency. 17 He's a very active member of 18 the Smithtown community, a graduate of New 19 York University, of Brooklyn Law School, 20 member of the Suffolk County Bar Association 21 where he has done great work on the Grievance 22 Committee, the Torts Committee, Criminal Law 23 Committee. He was a law assistant, one of the 24 early ones, for the judges of the District 25 Court of Suffolk County. He is in the private 1 practice of law for over 30 years, special 2 counsel to the board of zoning appeals and the 3 planning board of the town of Smithtown for 4 over a 20-year period. 5 He became a judge of the 6 Suffolk County District Court in January 1996 7 and since January '97 he's been the principal 8 law clerk to the former supervisor of 9 Smithtown, now a judge of the Suffolk County 10 County Court, the Honorable Charles 11 Cacciabaudo. 12 It's with great pleasure that I 13 congratulate the Governor on his appointment 14 of Dudley Lehman who, in his run for District 15 Court and now as a candidate for Family Court, 16 has been rated as qualified. The only 17 qualified position the Suffolk County Bar 18 Association does is find people qualified or 19 not qualified to run for both District Court 20 and now for Family Court. He will be a great 21 addition to the Family Court bench, which is 22 one of the most active courts in Suffolk 23 County that desperately needs another judge 24 and the Governor is coming down with this 25 judicial appointment at this time, it's 1 particularly necessary in that court and he 2 has found a wonderful candidate who is 3 compassionate, knows the needs of Suffolk 4 County, the needs of the people of Suffolk 5 County, and will be a very, very good judge on 6 a very, very active bench. 7 So, Dudley, congratulations 8 from Bob and myself. Bob can't talk on the 9 floor, so I have to speak for him. Dudley is 10 joined today by his wife Marilyn and by his 11 daughter Susan. 12 So, Mr. President, thank you 13 very much for giving them the courtesies of 14 the floor and congratulations to you on your 15 nomination and, Mr. President, I would move 16 the nomination. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Any 18 other member wishing to speak on the 19 nomination? Hearing none, the question is on 20 the nomination of Dudley L. Lehman, of 21 Nesconset, as a judge of the Suffolk County 22 Family Court. All those in favor of the 23 nomination signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 Opposed nay. 1 (There was no response. ) 2 The nominee is unanimously 3 confirmed. We're very, very pleased to have 4 Judge Lehman in the chamber with us in the 5 gallery to your left, together with his wife 6 Marilyn and daughter Susan. Judge, 7 congratulations and good luck. 8 (Applause) 9 Reports of select committees. 10 Senator Maziarz. 11 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Mr. President, there is going 14 to be an immediate meeting of the Racing, 15 Gaming and Wagering Committee in Room 330 - 16 332, I'm sorry. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 18 will be an immediate meeting of the Racing, 19 Gaming and Wagering Committee in the Majority 20 Conference Room, Room 332. Immediate meeting 21 of the Racing, Gaming and Wagering Committee 22 in the Majority Conference Room, Room 332. 23 Communications and reports from 24 state officers. 25 Motions and resolutions. Chair 1 recognizes Senator Libous. 2 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. 4 On behalf of Senator Skelos, on 5 page 52 I offer the following amendments to 6 Calendar Number 922, Senate Print Number 7 6427-C, and ask that said bill retain its 8 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 10 Amendments to Calendar Number 922 are received 11 and adopted. The bill will retain its place 12 on the Third Reading Calendar. 13 Senator Libous. 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: On behalf of 15 Senator Meier, on page 49, I offer the 16 following amendments to Calendar Number 887, 17 Senate, Senate Print 6927, and ask that said 18 bill retain its place on the Third Reading 19 Calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 21 Amendments to Calendar Number 887 are received 22 and adopted. The bill will retain its place 23 on the Third Reading Calendar. 24 Senator Libous. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 1 on behalf of Senator Lack, on page 19, I offer 2 the following amendments to Calendar Number 3 403, Senate Print 5162-A, and ask that said 4 bill retain its place on the Third Reading 5 Calendar. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 7 Amendments to Calendar Number 403 are received 8 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 9 the Third Reading Calendar. 10 Senator Libous. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: On behalf of 12 Senator Marcellino, on page 57, I offer the 13 following amendments to Calendar Number 977, 14 Senate Print 6289, and ask that said bill 15 retain its place on the Third Reading 16 Calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Amendments to Calendar Number 977 are received 19 and adopted. The bill will retain its place on 20 the Third Reading Calendar. 21 Senator Libous. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 23 on behalf of Senator Lack, on page 58, I offer 24 the following amendments to Calendar Number 25 981, Senate Print 6704, and ask that said bill 1 retain its place on the Third Reading 2 Calendar. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 Amendments to Calendar Number 981 are received 5 and adopted. The bill will retain its place 6 on the Third Reading Calendar. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: And, Mr. 8 President, on behalf of Senator Goodman, on 9 page 44, I offer the following amendments to 10 Calendar Number 846, Senate Print 7007-A, and 11 ask that said bill retain its place on the 12 Third Reading Calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 14 Amendments to Calendar Number 846 are received 15 and adopted. The bill will retain its place 16 on the Third Reading Calendar. 17 Secretary will read the 18 substitutions at the desk. 19 THE SECRETARY: On page 44, 20 Senator Volker moves to discharge from the 21 Committee on Rules Assembly Bill 9788-A, and 22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 23 6309-A. 24 On page 51, Senator Maziarz 25 moves to discharge from the Committee on Rules 1 Assembly Bill 9827 and substitute it for the 2 identical Senate Bill 6961. 3 On page 52, Senator Johnson 4 moves to discharge from the Committee on Rules 5 Assembly Bill 10,023-A, and substitute it for 6 the identical Senate Bill 6674-A. 7 On page 4, Senator Cook moves 8 to discharge from the Committee on Rules 9 Assembly Print 9443 and substitute it for the 10 identical Senate Bill 6275. 11 On page 4, Senator Kuhl moves 12 to discharge from the Committee on Rules 13 Assembly Bill 10,280, and substitute it for 14 the identical Senate Bill 6827. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 16 Substitutions are ordered. 17 Senator Maziarz. 18 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 Mr. President, at this time may 21 we please adopt the Resolution Calendar with 22 the exception of Resolution Number 3525, 3505, 23 3506 and 3507. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Motion 25 is to adopt the Resolution Calendar as 1 presented on the members' desk with the 2 exceptions of Calendar or Resolutions Number 3 3525, 3505, 3506 and 3507. All those in favor 4 signify by saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 Opposed nay. 7 (There was no response. ) 8 The Resolution Calendar with 9 those exceptions is adopted. 10 Senator Balboni, why do you 11 rise? 12 SENATOR BALBONI: I wonder if I 13 might have the opportunity to speak briefly on 14 the resolution mourning the death of Paul G. 15 Hearne. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 17 Resolution number? 18 SENATOR BALBONI: 3519. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Balboni, speaking on the resolution. 21 SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. 22 President, oftentimes there passes in our 23 lives moments that we don't necessarily focus 24 on. Today perhaps is one of them. 25 Paul G. Hearne was a man of 1 distinction who started -- began life with 2 greater challenges than most of us in this 3 chamber know. He's physically disabled. He 4 was the first graduate of what is now known as 5 the Viscardi School on Long Island, one of the 6 premier schools for the physically challenged 7 in the nation. 8 He became the president of the 9 Dole Foundation for employment for people with 10 disabilities, and his life was an example of 11 success in the face of adversity. The 12 Americans for Disabilities Act, the most 13 significant passage of legislation in this 14 nation for people with disabilities, was in 15 large measure due to his effort. 16 His death signals a victory for 17 people with disabilities and a celebration of 18 his life, so his family mourns him deeply, and 19 I just wanted to stand up briefly and take a 20 moment to say how proud I am to be a part of 21 this body and take a moment in this time of 22 mourning to consider his life of achievement. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 24 Maziarz. 25 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 1 Mr. President. 2 May we have Resolution Number 3 3525, by Senator Seward, read in its entirety 4 and move its immediate adoption. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 Secretary will read the Resolution 3525, by 7 Senator Seward, in its entirety. 8 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 9 Seward, Legislative Resolution congratulating 10 Oneonta High School Senior Girls' Basketball 11 Team and Coach Tom Moriarty on their 12 outstanding overall team record and upon 13 winning their Second Consecutive New York 14 State High School Athletic Association Class B 15 Championship. 16 WHEREAS, excellence and success 17 in competitive sports can be achieved only 18 through strenuous practice, team play and team 19 spirit, nurtured by dedicated coaching and 20 strategic planning; 21 Athletic competition enhances 22 the moral and physical development of the 23 young people of this state, preparing them for 24 the future by instilling in them the value of 25 teamwork and encouraging a standard of healthy 1 living, imparting a desire for success and 2 developing a sense of fair play and 3 competition; 4 The Oneonta Senior High School 5 Girls' Basketball Team were the 1997 New York 6 State High School Athletic Association Class B 7 Champions; 8 The team reprised its success 9 in 1998, again capturing the Class B title; 10 In addition to winning their 11 Second Consecutive New York State Public High 12 School Athletic Association Class B 13 Championship, the Lady Yellowjackets are two 14 time Susquenango League Champions, two-time 15 Section IV Class B Champions and they are the 16 1997-98 New York State Federation Class B 17 Champions; the Lady Yellowjackets finished 18 their 1998 season with an unbeaten record of 19 27 and 0 and achieved a cumulative two-year 20 record of 53 and 1; 21 The athletic talent displayed 22 by this team is due in great part to the 23 efforts of Coach Tom Moriarty, a skilled and 24 inspirational tutor, respected for his ability 25 to develop potential into excellence; 1 The team's overall record is 2 outstanding, and the team members were loyally 3 and enthusiastically supported by family, 4 fans, friends and the community-at-large; 5 The hallmarks of the Oneonta 6 Senior High School Girls' Basketball Team, 7 from the opening game of the season to 8 participation in the championship, were a 9 sisterhood of athletic ability, of good 10 sportsmanship, of honor and of scholarship, 11 demonstrating that these team players are 12 second to none; 13 Athletically and academically, 14 the team members have proven themselves to be 15 an unbeatable combination of talents, 16 reflecting favorably on their school; 17 Coach Tom Moriarty has done a 18 superb job in guiding, molding and inspiring 19 the team members toward their goals; 20 Sports competition instills the 21 values of teamwork, pride and accomplishment, 22 and Coach Tom Moriarty and 14 outstanding 23 athletes have clearly made a contribution to 24 the spirit of excellence which is a tradition 25 of their school. 1 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED 2 that this legislative body pause in its 3 deliberations to congratulate the Oneonta 4 Senior High School Girls' Basketball Team; its 5 members: Kellee Roberts, Kristin Werdann, 6 Brinn Spencer, Nikki Miller, Erin Shackleton, 7 Marci Riddell, Krissy Zeh, Kelly Sosa, Laura 8 Erbe, Dana Wilkens, Karyn Pierce, Tiffany 9 Hurley, Stacy Knapp and Kristen Konstanty; and 10 Coach Tom Moriarty and Assistant Coach Brad 11 Zeh, and Ononta Senior High School Athletic 12 Director Robert Zeh on their outstanding 13 season and overall team record; and 14 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a 15 copy of this resolution, suitably engrossed, 16 be transmitted to the Oneonta Senior High 17 School Girls' Basketball Team and to Coach Tom 18 Moriarty. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair 20 recognizes Senator Seward, on the resolution. 21 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Mr. 22 President. 23 As a 1969 graduate of Oneonta 24 High School and now the Senator representing 25 the area, I rise for the second year in a row 1 with a great deal of pride to congratulate the 2 Oneonta High School Lady Yellowjackets Varsity 3 Basketball Team on another outstanding 4 season. 5 This is another very special 6 team that has accomplished a great deal, 7 particularly over the last two years, the two 8 time Susquenango Champions, two-time Section 9 IV Class B champions, two times the New York 10 State Public High School Athletic Association 11 Class B Champions, the 1997-98 New York State 12 Federation Class B Champions finishing this 13 year with a 27 and 0 record, a two-year record 14 of 53 and 1. This is truly an outstanding 15 team. 16 The team is in the gallery with 17 us to day. They're joined today by head coach 18 Tom Moriarty and his wife, Ann. The athletic 19 director of Oneonta High School is not with us 20 today, but he's ably represented by his wife 21 Dorothy Zeh. Teacher Joe Hughes and very 22 special fan Ashley Cammarata are all in the 23 gallery with us today. 24 Now, this team, even though 25 they're still in their teen years, has taught 1 us all a great deal about hard work, working 2 toward a goal, teamwork, fair play, healthy 3 living, team spirit, and what it means to 4 compete, all of those things that this team 5 has taught us a great deal about. 6 These are young people we all 7 can be proud of and they represent the very 8 best of our future. Congratulations, ladies. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 10 Question is on the resolution. All those in 11 favor signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 Opposed nay. 14 (There was no response. ) 15 The resolution is adopted. 16 On behalf of Senator Bruno, 17 Senator Seward, all the members in the 18 chamber, we welcome these young women, 19 marvelous athletes, the Lady Yellowjackets 20 from Oneonta High School, to the chamber. 21 Congratulations on your wonderful spin through 22 the basketball world. Good luck in life and 23 thank you for coming and spending just a 24 moment with us. We hope you enjoy your stay. 25 If you would all stand, I know the members 1 would like to recognize your presence. 2 (Applause) 3 Senator Holland. 4 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. 5 President, there will be an immediate meeting 6 of the Veterans Committee in Room 332, please. 7 Immediate meeting of the Veterans Committee in 8 Room 332. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 10 will be an immediate meeting of the Veterans 11 Committee in the Majority Conference Room, 12 Room 332. Immediate meeting of the Veterans 13 Committee in the Majority Conference Room, 14 Room 332. 15 Senator Holland. 16 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr. 17 President, can we have a reading of the 18 non-controversial calendar, please. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 20 Secretary will read the non-controversial 21 calendar. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 19, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 1593, an 24 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 25 including court officers. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 2 Secretary will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 4 This act shall take effect on the first day of 5 November. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the 9 roll. ) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 330, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 737-A, 15 an act to amend the Public Health Law. 16 SENATOR COOK: Lay aside. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 18 bill aside. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 441, by member of the Assembly John, Assembly 21 Print 9892, an act to amend Chapter 812 of the 22 Laws of 1987. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 24 Secretary will read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 1 This act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the 5 roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 443, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 6422, an 11 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 13 Secretary will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 15 This act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the 19 roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 642, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 6751, an 25 act to amend the Town Law, in relation to 1 authorizing. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 3 Secretary will read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 5 This act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the 9 roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 673, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6797, an 15 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 16 electronic equivalents. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 20 This act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the 22 roll. 23 SENATOR LEICHTER: Will you lay 24 that aside. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay 1 aside. 642, you're asking to be laid aside, 2 Senator Leichter? 673? 3 SENATOR LEICHTER: That's 4 fine. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: That's 6 fine. Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the 8 roll. ) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 681, by Senator Nozzolio. 14 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it 15 aside. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 17 5195-A, an act to amend the Correction Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 19 bill aside. 20 THE SECRETARY: 692, by Senator 21 Wright, Senate Print 5292, an act to amend the 22 Education Law, in relation to county awards. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 24 Secretary will read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 1 This act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the 5 roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 706,by Senator Lack, Senate Print 6452, an act 11 to amend the Surrogate Court Procedure Act. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 13 Secretary will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 15 This act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the 19 roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 739, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 5300, an 25 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 1 relation to eliminating. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 3 Secretary will read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 5 This act shall take effect on the first day of 6 November. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the 10 roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 750, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6558, an 16 act to amend the Real Property Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 20 This act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the 24 roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 754, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6907, an 5 act to amend the Family Court Act, in relation 6 to presiding. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 8 Secretary will read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 10 This act shall take effect on the 90th day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the 14 roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 757, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 1931, an 20 act to amend the General Business Law, in 21 relation to unlawful possession of tobacco. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it 23 aside. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Secretary will read the last section. 1 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it 2 aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 4 bill aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 761, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 6417, an 7 act to amend the General Business Law, in 8 relation to prohibiting. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 10 Secretary will read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 12 This act shall take effect on the 30th day. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the 16 roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 769, by Senator Present, Senate Print 6823, an 22 act to amend the Town Law and the Public 23 Officers Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Secretary will read the last section. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 2 This act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the 6 roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 bill is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 773, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 4132, an 12 act to amend the Public Health Law and the 13 Education Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 15 Secretary will read the last section. 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Lay aside, 17 please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 19 bill aside. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 778, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6960, an 22 act to amend Chapter 841 of the Laws of 1987. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 24 Secretary will read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 1 This act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the 5 roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 780, by Senator Holland, Senate Print 7177, an 11 act to amend the Public Health Law and Chapter 12 674 of the Laws of 1997. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 14 Secretary will read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 16 This act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the 20 roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 bill is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 820, by Senator DeFrancisco, an act to amend 1 the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in relation to 2 the maximum speed limit. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 Secretary will read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 6 This act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the 10 roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 837, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5497, an 16 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 20 This act - 21 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it 22 aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay the 24 bill aside. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 1 867, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print 6772, 2 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 Secretary will read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 6 This act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the 10 roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 875, by member of the Assembly Connelly, 16 Assembly Print 9184, an act to amend the 17 Mental Hygiene Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 19 Secretary will read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 21 This act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the 25 roll.) 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 979, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 6357, an 6 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 7 aggravated harassment. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 9 Secretary will read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 11 This act shall take effect on the first day of 12 November. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the 16 roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1021, by Senator Cook, Senate Print 6482, an 22 act authorizing the village of Hunter, Greene 23 County. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 25 is a home rule message at the desk. Secretary 1 will read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 3 This act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the 7 roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 bill is passed. 11 Senator Dollinger, why do you 12 rise? 13 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 14 President, I believe I was outside the chamber 15 briefly when the vote was taken on Calendar 16 642, Senate Print 6751. Could I have 17 unanimous consent to be recorded in the 18 negative on that bill. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 20 objection. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing 23 no objection, Senator Dollinger will be 24 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 25 642, Senate Print 6751. 1 Senator Holland, that completes 2 the reading of the non-controversial calendar. 3 What's your pleasure, sir? 4 SENATOR HOLLAND: Could we have 5 a reading of the controversial calendar. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 7 Secretary will begin the reading of the 8 controversial calendar, beginning with 9 Calendar Number 330, Senate Print 737-A, by 10 Senator Johnson. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 330, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 737-A, 13 an act to amend the Public Health Law, in 14 relation to public notification of health 15 hazards. 16 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 18 Cook. 19 SENATOR COOK: Will Senator 20 Johnson yield? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I'm 22 sure he will, but -- Senator Johnson, Calendar 23 Number 330, Senator Cook has asked whether or 24 not you would yield to a question. 25 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr. 1 President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 yields. 4 SENATOR COOK: Thank you, 5 Senator Johnson, my dear neighbor sometimes. 6 Senator, are there any similar 7 provisions in law relative to chlorine? 8 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, 9 actually, I don't have all the law here, but 10 there's a whole list of chemicals which, if 11 they're too much in the water they have to 12 declare it a contaminant and make an 13 announcement and stop the usage. 14 SENATOR COOK: So this puts 15 fluoride in the -- fluoride in the same 16 category as other things that are already in 17 the law; is that what you're telling me? 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, that's 19 true, Senator. I might have some figures on 20 the others. 21 SENATOR COOK: Well, as long as 22 you're telling me that that's already -- this 23 is in the law. 24 I would say, Mr. President, my 25 concern, if I may, on the bill. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Cook, on the bill. 3 SENATOR COOK: Senator, Mr. 4 President, I'm going to support this bill 5 based on Senator Johnson's assurance that this 6 is in keeping with other things, but I am 7 concerned that -- about the labeling of 8 fluoride as a contaminant. Certainly it is 9 possible to have an overdose of chloride 10 and -- of fluoride in the drinking water, and 11 certainly people should be notified in any 12 event when any additive to a public water 13 system may become an overdose, but I am 14 concerned that putting in law the contention 15 that fluoride is a contaminant because, 16 indeed, it has been shown consistently that 17 it's a very good way of assuring the dental 18 health of the children of this state. I think 19 that the dental health of our children has 20 improved markedly over the past several 21 decades that we've been adding fluorides to 22 the drinking water, and I really wouldn't want 23 us to do something in this house which might 24 indicate that there was something dangerous 25 about doing that beyond the simple point that, 1 of course, adding anything to the drinking 2 water in an excessive amount could create a 3 hazard. 4 I am assuming that the latter 5 is what Senator Johnson is attempting to 6 address and, therefore, I'll vote for the 7 bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Any 9 other Senator wishing to speak on the bill? 10 Senator Dollinger. 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through 12 you, Mr. President, if Senator Johnson will 13 yield to just one question. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Johnson, do you yield to a question from 16 Senator Dollinger? 17 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr. 18 President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 yields. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Senator 22 Johnson, how does the public notification 23 occur when this event happens? What's the 24 cost - 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1 Dollinger, excuse me for just an 2 interruption. There are a couple members who 3 are standing up in your line. If we might 4 just have the members take their seats. 5 Senator Onorato, you're right in the line of 6 debate. 7 SENATOR GOLD: Mark your ball. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Mark 9 your ball, and please come back later. Thank 10 you for - 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I saw 12 Senator Gold kick it under the table. 13 Senator Johnson, who does the 14 notification and who pays for it? How much 15 does it usually cost? 16 SENATOR JOHNSON: I have part 17 of that code here, the State Health Code, and 18 this is already classified as a contaminant if 19 it's over 2 parts per million. That's already 20 in the law. 21 The notification is done by the 22 Health Department after notifying, the water 23 authority notifies them that it's contaminated 24 and they make the announcement. 25 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again 1 through you, Mr. President, is it just an 2 announcement or publication or other data? 3 I'm just interested in what the cost of the 4 requirement of notice is? 5 SENATOR JOHNSON: I couldn't 6 tell you the cost, but it's the same way for 7 all the other listes contaminants, when they 8 have an over-supply in the water, they tell 9 you don't drink the water, run your water, 10 boil the water. You will hear it on the radio 11 yourself. You know how it is when there is a 12 contaminant, sewage contaminant or something, 13 they -- everyone is notified and don't use the 14 water. It would be the same method, I'm sure 15 it - 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: O.K. 17 SENATOR JOHNSON: -- wouldn't be 18 more expensive than the cost of health if 19 someone consumed fluorine two or three times 20 the level which is acceptable. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again 22 through you, Mr. President, that answers my 23 question. 24 On the bill, just briefly. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1 Dollinger, on the bill. 2 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again, on 3 the bill, I share the sentiments of Senator 4 Cook. It's hard to believe that there's too 5 much of a good thing could become a 6 contaminant. I agree fluoride has been a 7 wonderful thing for the people -- the children 8 of this state, particularly with respect to 9 their dental health, and we had a debate, I'm 10 sure, on this floor 30 or 40 years ago about 11 whether fluoride in the water was part of the 12 a Communist conspiracy, and all those other 13 things, and I would just hate to think that we 14 were - 15 SENATOR JOHNSON: You missed 16 that debate. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I did miss 18 that debate. Were you there, Senator Johnson? 19 I should ask. 20 SENATOR GOLD: It was his bill. 21 SENATOR JOHNSON: It's a new 22 one on me, Senator. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: But I agree 24 with Senator Cook. I'm going to vote for this 25 bill. If there is a health hazard posed by too 1 much fluoride, we should follow public 2 notification procedures. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 Secretary will read the last section. Oh, 5 Senator -- excuse me, Senator Leichter. You 6 wish to speak on the bill? 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes. Would 8 Senator Johnson yield, please? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Johnson, do you yield to a question from 11 Senator Leichter? 12 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 yields. 15 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator 16 Johnson, I assume there are a number of things 17 that are put into water to purify it. 18 Obviously if you put in too much it could 19 create a problem and a hazard, but are you 20 telling us that every chemical or every 21 substance that's put into water to purify it 22 that the public health code now provides 23 specifically what levels are safe and that, if 24 there's an overdose of that particular level, 25 that it's a hazard? 1 SENATOR JOHNSON: I believe 2 that's so, Senator, although I can't -- there 3 are literally thousands of contaminants and 4 this list has 20 or 30 on here, so maybe some 5 have been excepted. I can't tell you for 6 sure, but there's no doubt about it that 7 chlorine and fluorine are both poisons and you 8 can have too much of a good thing, you know, 9 like a little arsenic did a lot of good for 10 Rasputin, but you know, too much got him. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Leichter. 13 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, if 14 Senator Johnson will continue to yield. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 Johnson, do you continue to yield? Senator 17 continues to yield. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, 19 absent listing the fluoride or fluorine with a 20 quantity or a content of greater than two and 21 two-tenths parts, wouldn't the public health 22 authorities if they feel there's a threat to 23 the drinking water, have the authority to ban 24 the addition of that chemical to the water and 25 also to notify the public that there is a 1 health hazard? 2 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, 3 Senator, we're talking about an error, 4 breakdown in machinery, or error in the dosage 5 of the ingredient going into the water. We're 6 not talking about the general philosophy, 7 whether you should or shouldn't have it, 8 nothing to do with this bill. 9 This bill says if you exceed 10 the limits which are in the present public 11 health regulations, if those limits are 12 exceeded you notify people so they shouldn't 13 consume it until the levels are brought back 14 to normal. That's all it does; it's a 15 notification bill, pure and simple. 16 SENATOR LEICHTER: O.K. Mr. 17 President, if Senator Johnson would continue 18 to yield. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 20 Johnson, do you continue to yield? 21 SENATOR LEICHTER: I understand 22 what you're trying to do. What I'm trying to 23 find out is whether you're singling out 24 fluorine because of some antipathy that you 25 may have toward the use of chlorine, and I'm 1 asking you whether the provisions of your bill 2 as they apply to chlorine exist to every other 3 substance that's put in the water where a 4 substance is perfectly safe and is used if it 5 is used in an excess quantities may cause a 6 problem. 7 Do we, in every such instance, 8 actually list what that amount is and the 9 substance which we're trying to avoid the over 10 use of? 11 SENATOR JOHNSON: Senator, I 12 haven't studied the entire Public Health Law 13 or regulations, but there are many other 14 articles in here which, if they're 15 contaminated, you have to do something about 16 it and make notification, and so forth, and 17 even tells you how to do it, disinfection, 18 flocculation, I don't really know all the 19 details, Senator. All I know is that if 20 there's an over-supply of something which is a 21 contaminant and a poison which you find in the 22 law presently, some kind of contaminant, we 23 shouldn't have the people consume the water 24 with that gross amount of contaminant in it, 25 but just whatever the amount is specified, .06 1 or 1.4. 2 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 3 President, if Senator Johnson continues to 4 yield. 5 Senator, I don't think there's 6 any dispute between you and me that, if there 7 is a contaminant in the water that action 8 ought to be taken. What I'm concerned about 9 is that we, by legislation, identify one 10 particular water purifier, fix in law what the 11 safe levels are, and then ask the -- and 12 really bind the hands of the public health 13 authorities in that respect when we don't do a 14 similar identification and set quantity - 15 safe quantity levels for any other substance, 16 at least as far as I know. 17 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, I think 18 we do, Senator. There is a list and there are 19 details here about notification of the various 20 other contaminants in the water. I just can't 21 read you a complete list of all the 22 contaminants, but all I know is that if they 23 were my -- if I represented a group of people 24 and I found out that the machinery broke down 25 and there was an excess supply of fluoride or 1 chlorine or anything else I would tell you to 2 notify the people because these things are 3 poison and too much has been heard about 4 people with kidney troubles, elderly people 5 are very susceptible to overdoses of fluoride 6 so I think it's just plain common sense to 7 notify the public that there could be a hazard 8 and not to consume it until that problem is 9 cleared up. I think it makes sense. I don't 10 think it's -- it's no debate on fluoride; it's 11 just a debate on good common sense relating to 12 public notification. 13 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 14 President, if Senator Johnson would yield to 15 another question, please. 16 Senator, I have no problem, but 17 what may be common sense to you may seem to me 18 as being possibly driven by ideology, and I 19 just want to make sure that it's common sense 20 and that we're applying the very same standard 21 to chlorine that we are to every -- to every 22 other chemical or substance put in the water, 23 but let me ask you this question: Where does 24 the two point two tenths come from? 25 SENATOR JOHNSON: That is in 1 the state health code right now. That is 2 their standard. I'm not coming up with 3 another figure. That's their figure for 4 contaminant, because it's a gross over-supply 5 being fed in there, and -- and they feel it's 6 a health hazard at that point. All I'm saying 7 is, if that's so let people know about it. 8 SENATOR LEICHTER: O.K. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Leichter. 11 SENATOR JOHNSON: I'll give you 12 a copy of this, Senator, if you'd like. 13 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yeah, I 14 appreciate that, Senator Johnson. If you 15 would yield for another question, please. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Johnson, do you continue to yield? The 18 Senator yields. 19 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, 20 you're telling me, and I don't have the 21 public -- I have the law in front of me, but I 22 don't have the regulations that obviously 23 you're reading from. You're saying that these 24 presently provide that the safe usage of 25 chlorine or fluoride is two point two-tenths 1 apart; is that correct? 2 SENATOR JOHNSON: No, that's 3 the level beyond which it's considered 4 contaminant; the safe level is .06 or 1.4. 5 SENATOR LEICHTER: O.K. 6 SENATOR JOHNSON: But this - 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: As I 8 understand it, the code says if you have more 9 than two point two tenths. 10 SENATOR JOHNSON: It's a con 11 taminant. 12 SENATOR LEICHTER: It's a 13 contaminant. 14 SENATOR JOHNSON: That's their 15 list; that's their terminology. 16 SENATOR LEICHTER: O.K., and 17 under the law as it exists now if, through 18 some mechanical breakdown or some mistake, 3. 19 -- 3.0 or three parts, whatever it is, over 20 the contaminant level is put in the water, 21 what happens? 22 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, people 23 get ill. 24 SENATOR LEICHTER: What do the 25 public health authorities do? 1 SENATOR JOHNSON: Right now 2 they tell them to correct the problem. They 3 tell the water authorities to correct the 4 problem. 5 SENATOR LEICHTER: O.K. All 6 right. 7 SENATOR JOHNSON: But they 8 don't notify anybody that the contaminated 9 stuff is in the water supply. It will be 10 there for a few days. 11 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, if 12 you would be so good as to continue to yield. 13 Under this list that you have in your hand 14 stating what the safe levels are of these 15 various chemicals - 16 SENATOR JOHNSON: Right. 17 SENATOR LEICHTER: If that 18 level is exceeded as regards any other 19 chemical, what do the public health 20 authorities now do? 21 SENATOR JOHNSON: There are 22 notification things for many of these items. 23 I say not all. You have the law, I have the 24 regulations. You have the complete law; I 25 don't have all the regulations, but there are 1 listings for many other chemicals as well. 2 SENATOR LEICHTER: All right. 3 Excuse me, if you will continue to yield, 4 Senator. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Johnson, do you continue to yield? Senator 7 continues to yield. 8 SENATOR LEICHTER: Did you say 9 that in some instances, if the contaminant 10 level is exceeded, the regulations now require 11 or the law -- I don't see it in the law, but 12 in the regulations, that notification be given 13 to the public and that would be understandable 14 because there's a danger to the public. If 15 somebody put acid in the water, you want the 16 public to know, don't drink this water. 17 SENATOR JOHNSON: Right. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: But you're 19 saying that, in some instances under the 20 current law and regulations, including 21 fluoride, that if more than 2.2 parts are put 22 into the water which is the contaminant level 23 which you say is stated in the regulations, 24 there is no requirement that the public be in 25 formed. 1 SENATOR JOHNSON: I didn't say 2 that. I said I don't know if that's so in 3 every case. I said I don't know if that's so 4 in every case. 5 SENATOR LEICHTER: Well, what 6 I'm trying to understand from you, Senator 7 Johnson, if you continue to yield, please. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Johnson, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: When you - 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Excuse 12 me, Senator Leichter. Just let me find out if 13 the Senator continues to yield. Senator 14 Johnson, do you continue to yield? 15 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 yields. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: Under the - 19 under the current law and regulations, in all 20 instances where contaminant levels are 21 exceeded as stated in law and regulations, do 22 the public health authorities have to give 23 notification to the public? 24 SENATOR JOHNSON: I -- you're 25 going to make me study this for half an hour, 1 Franz? I would say the answer is no if you ask 2 me in every case does it have to be done. I 3 can't tell you about every case, but there are 4 contaminants listed here; there's a procedure 5 for notification, and so on. I can't tell you 6 that they have to do it in every case. I 7 think this is a case where the known 8 contaminant could be harmful to people subject 9 to kidney trouble, older people, and so forth, 10 and I think we should let people know about 11 it, simple as that. 12 If you want to study the law, 13 if you want to put in a regulation yourself 14 for other contaminants, I'd be glad to do it. 15 I'm not sure that everything is covered in 16 public notification. 17 SENATOR LEICHTER: Well, 18 Senator, again if you'd continue to yield, 19 Senator Johnson. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Johnson, do you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 23 SENATOR LEICHTER: Presently 24 it's currently left to the discretion of the 25 public health authorities in what instances 1 they will notify the public, although -- and 2 that's really my question -- that the Public 3 Health Law, the regulations identify certain 4 contaminants where, if the safe level is 5 exceeded, the public health authorities are 6 mandated to give notice to the public, is that 7 correct? 8 SENATOR JOHNSON: I would say 9 that's probably true, yes. 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Excuse me? 11 SENATOR JOHNSON: I would say 12 that's very likely true. What you said may be 13 very well -- may be true. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Well, 15 Senator Johnson, it would seem to me that 16 wouldn't it make more sense if any bill at all 17 is needed to have a bill that says that where 18 drinking water is not safe because 19 contaminants have been added to it, that the 20 public health authorities using their judgment 21 ought to give notification to the public? Why 22 don't -- why don't we have a bill of that 23 sort? 24 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, because 25 it's not as -- as simple as you may think. 1 Some contaminants occur naturally in the water 2 supply or because there is some problem a long 3 way from the source and have to be dealt with 4 in a different manner than something where 5 you're deliberately adding it to the supply 6 and you could make an error and the machine 7 could break down. 8 There are other contaminants 9 which exist in the soil for one reason or 10 another and have to be taken out. That's so 11 that -- so they're all on the same list. I'm 12 saying I can't give you a blank answer. All I 13 can say is this is a poison when it's 14 exceeded. People should know about it and 15 action should be taken promptly and people 16 have a right to know about it. Simple as 17 that, Senator. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 19 President, one final question of you, Senator 20 Johnson. That's exactly my point, that you've 21 identified a certain chemical that you have a 22 certain antipathy toward and have directed the 23 Public Health Department to give notification 24 if levels above that which supposedly the 25 regulations state are not safe, if you exceed 1 those levels that notification should be 2 given. 3 It seems to me that, if 4 notification should be given, then it ought to 5 broadly state that the public health 6 authorities ought to give notification 7 whenever -- whenever there are contaminants 8 which would create a danger to the health of 9 the public that drinks that water. That, it 10 would seem to me, would make good sense, 11 Senator Johnson. 12 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, I think 13 I'm going to do that in my next bill, 14 Senator. I have one bill left. I'm going to 15 put that one in, but right now we're talking 16 about this bill. This is something is added 17 gratuitously. Everybody doesn't want it, in 18 fact some areas don't have any additional 19 fluoride at all; some do. It depends upon the 20 community and their wishes, and the health 21 commission in that area, so I'm saying this is 22 something you can get too much of a good thing 23 and it's not like chlorine. Chlorine is there 24 for the purposes of disinfecting the water, 25 protection from disease. This doesn't protect 1 anybody from disease at all. This is added 2 for another reason completely. This is a 3 nutrient, or some people consider it a 4 nutrient or chemical which some people think 5 you should ingest. Some people may like to, 6 some may not like to but if you get more than 7 is good for you, it's bad for you, see, and 8 that's why you have this bill, to let people 9 know about that. 10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 11 President, on the bill. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 13 Leichter, on the bill. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 15 President, this may not seem of great moment, 16 but for that matter, almost nothing we've done 17 has been of great moment, but I know it's a 18 bill that means a lot to Senator Johnson, and 19 I appreciate the way that he wants to express 20 his concern, but whether it makes sense as 21 public policy, I think, is another question. 22 It's clear to me that anything 23 that is a contaminant that endangers the 24 health of the public drinking the water, that 25 the public health authorities have to take 1 appropriate action not only to tell those 2 persons who are responsible for putting that 3 contaminant in there not to do it or in some 4 instances to move against them criminally but 5 to warn the public. 6 There can be thousands of 7 contaminants. For us, in legislation, to take 8 this particular contaminant and to say that 9 2.2 is the safe level, I don't know whether it 10 is or isn't, but I'll accept Senator Johnson's 11 word that that's the safe level, but we don't 12 do that, as I understand from Senator Johnson, 13 for any other number of contaminants. 14 I think there ought to be a 15 general direction given to the public health 16 authorities. My belief is that right now if 17 water is contaminated, whether by fluorine, 18 fluorides or any other contamination which 19 could create a public health menace, that the 20 public is notified. I know that happened in 21 the city of New York where we had a problem, 22 so I suspect, Senator Johnson, that much as 23 you say that you're just concerned that people 24 don't get too much of a good thing, that 25 you're expressing what I gather has been a 1 long-standing antipathy that you have to 2 putting fluorides in the water. 3 That's your view. I don't 4 think it's the view of most public health 5 authorities. I don't think really it's the 6 view of the majority of this body or of the 7 Assembly, and I think that to put this in the 8 law in the manner that you do does stigmatize 9 chlorine and fluorides in a way and may well 10 hamper the activities and the proper discharge 11 of duties by public health authorities. 12 If you want to do it broadly 13 across the board and say something which I 14 think is probably already the law, certainly 15 the practice, if the water is contaminated let 16 the public know without identifying specific 17 contaminants, I think that's fine, but for 18 this Legislature now to say, Well, this is a 19 contaminant where you've got to give notice 20 but we don't get -- we don't tell them that 21 they've got to give notice for any other 22 contaminant. I don't think that makes sense. 23 I'm -- in spite of Senator 24 Johnson, I agree with you. We don't want too 25 much of a good thing. I'm not sure this bill 1 is a good thing. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 3 Secretary will read the last section. Excuse 4 me. Senator Gold. 5 SENATOR GOLD: Yeah, Mr. 6 President, just briefly. 7 I think that the last few 8 minutes is a really good example of the value 9 of my distinguished colleague, Senator 10 Leichter, to this chamber and why he'll be 11 missed so much. 12 Senator Johnson, I agree with 13 you, and I'm going to vote for the bill. I 14 think that the key word is the word "overdose" 15 and we all know that there are many good 16 things out there, medications, et cetera, 17 where people get hurt, and we all read in the 18 paper about the word "overdose" and I don't 19 think that we stigmatize something if we try 20 to protect against an abuse, but when I - 21 going back to my colleague, Senator Leichter, 22 I really do encourage the members of the house 23 to consider his comments because it is a good 24 point, and I respect Senator Johnson's 25 sensitivity to the chlorine issue, but perhaps 1 as a result of this debate, we can be 2 sensitized to the broader issue and perhaps 3 get a broader solution. 4 SENATOR COOK: Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Cook. 7 SENATOR COOK: I just wanted to 8 sort of underline this -- the concerns that 9 have been expressed on the other side of the 10 aisle, because for years when we had surface 11 water in our village, it smelt like cow 12 manure, a good bit of the time and nobody 13 every informed me that there were contaminants 14 in it and I think we ought to be told that 15 that happens; so I urge support for the bill. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Paterson. 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 19 President, on the bill. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Paterson, on the bill. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: I'd like to 23 point out that the state standard of 2.2 parts 24 per million liters of water containing 25 fluoride was really a standard of risk, I 1 would say, rather than a standard of 2 contamination because the federal standard is 3 4 parts per million of fluoride, and what I 4 would imagine is that Senator Johnson set this 5 standard to be well within the federal -- the 6 federal mandate, and also complying with what 7 the New York State Department of Health 8 interpretation of what would be a very high 9 risk. 10 The question really centers 11 around where do we move from what we might 12 term as risk into an actual danger zone. 13 There are questions where, above 4 parts per 14 million of fluoride in the water, that there 15 has been evidence of mottling where there are 16 brown spots that are located on the teeth of 17 particularly children who are exposed to this, 18 but this probably is a subject, as Senator 19 Gold suggested, that this probably would be 20 something that we might want to look into on a 21 wider perspective. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Any 23 other Senator wishing to speak on the bill? 24 Secretary will read the last 25 section. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 2 This act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the 6 roll. ) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes fifty.... 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 9 the negatives; announce the results. 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56, nays 11 one, Senator Leichter recorded in the 12 negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 14 Fuschillo. 15 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 16 President, could we please take up Calendar 17 Number 757, Senator Libous. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Before 19 we do that, Senator Fuschillo, could I 20 recognize Senator Alesi? Why do you rise? 21 SENATOR ALESI: Mr. President, 22 may I ask unanimous consent to be recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar 642? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 25 objection, hearing no objection, Senator Alesi 1 will be recorded in the negative on Calendar 2 642. 3 Senator Nozzolio, why do you 4 rise? 5 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. 6 President, I wish to be recorded in the 7 negative on Calendar Number 642. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 9 objection, hearing no objection, Senator 10 Nozzolio will be recorded in the negative on 11 Calendar Number 642. 12 Secretary will read Calendar 13 Number 757, by Senator Libous. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 757, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 1931, an 16 act to amend the General Business Law, in 17 relation to unlawful possession of tobacco. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Montgomery. 20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 21 President. I don't have any questions for - 22 for the sponsor, but I would like to just 23 point out to my colleagues that this 24 legislation will establish illegality for 25 young people under the age of 18 who possess 1 tobacco in any form. 2 The legislation further 3 establishes that any person under the age of 4 18 who unlawfully possesses tobacco may be 5 summoned to court, and the court may impose a 6 fine and/or community service. 7 So, therefore, it says to me 8 that we are once again treating possession and 9 use of tobacco specifically by young people as 10 a crime. We're criminalizing smoking by young 11 people, and certainly if you impose community 12 service, that is a sentence that is frequently 13 imposed for people who come before the judge 14 for some form of minor criminal activity, a 15 misdemeanor or what have you. 16 I am opposed to this, not 17 because I don't want young people to smoke but 18 certainly I will -- I think it is -- it is a 19 very slippery slope that we are embarking on 20 when we have criminalization because of the 21 use of tobacco, so I would like to just point 22 that out to my colleagues, and I know that 23 some of us opposed it last year, the last 24 time, and I certainly hope that more people 25 will oppose it because I just think we should 1 not be doing this. 2 We've done this, we've made 3 this error in the past with marijuana, and now 4 look at what we have on our hands, no less use 5 but we have a lot of people who are 6 incarcerated because of it, so this is just 7 another example of a wrong direction, this 8 policy. 9 Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 11 Thank you, Senator. 12 Senator Libous. 13 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 14 Senator. 15 I just wanted to clarify a 16 point based on Senator Montgomery's comments 17 because they're good comments, and that's why 18 the bill, Senator, does not make it a criminal 19 offense. As a matter of fact, we had had 20 several people in the first drafting bring 21 that to our attention. 22 It becomes a violation, which 23 is not a criminal offense, does not go on the 24 record. The fine would be up to $50 and/or 25 community service. It's very similar to the 1 legislation that we passed in this house, I 2 believe sponsored by Senator Cook several 3 years ago, that dealt with possession of 4 alcohol. Again that legislation, this is 5 patterned after that because we too, Senator, 6 were concerned that making it a criminal 7 offense is not the way to go. 8 What we're trying to do is add 9 onto the tobacco act, the prevention act that 10 was passed in 1992 in this house that 11 restricted the sale of tobacco products in 12 vending machines, and we felt that this 13 legislation would then take added 14 responsibility. Certainly a minor today walks 15 into a store under age, buys tobacco 16 products. That store keeper, if caught, is 17 always fined and penalized. It is our intent 18 here to make it the responsibility to the 19 minor, that the minor understands that they've 20 done something wrong and that to purchase that 21 product, possess that product, is not right, 22 it's not legal and that the intent here is 23 basically to do that. 24 It is not to have any criminal 25 record or criminal offense. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 2 Senator Dollinger. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I voted for this bill last 6 year. I'm going to vote for it again, Senator 7 Libous, but just in sitting here thinking 8 about it, I understand the sentiments of my 9 colleague, Senator Montgomery, and I guess one 10 of my concerns is, it seems as though this 11 bill means that, if you're smoking outside 12 your high school, you're going to be arrested, 13 you're going to be stopped by the police and 14 they're going to confiscate even your single 15 butt if that's all you're smoking is a single 16 cigarette. 17 It seems to me that we sort of 18 go around the edges of this problem with 19 tobacco, and I think there is a very serious 20 problem of children smoking too much. This is 21 extremely dangerous to your health and 22 extremely addictive, but this bill is a real, 23 I think a good step but a small one. I think 24 what we need to do is come up with a real 25 well-defined tobacco policy in this state. 1 I'm afraid that this bill may be used more to 2 harass teenagers who are doing something that 3 they shouldn't be doing because it's terrible 4 health for them, rather than curing the 5 problem of childhood smoking. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 7 Senator Marchi. 8 SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President, 9 many years ago I voted against raising the 10 legal drinking age to 21, and I had held what 11 I felt was a very objective, analytical review 12 of this with a blue panel of people, 13 presidents of colleges. I thought they were a 14 splendid array of people. 15 The unrealistic nature of 16 bringing it from 18 to 21 is to build a lot of 17 cynicism in the feelings of young people 18 because there is absolutely no disposition to 19 enforce it and it is violated with 20 regularity. In fact, the other states which 21 had a 21-year-old law also had wild melees, in 22 New Jersey and Connecticut where they had to 23 call out the National Guard. We didn't have 24 any of that. Nevertheless we proceeded to 25 legislate in that area. 1 I -- I looked at tobacco at 2 that time and I felt that tobacco also 3 represented, in its abuse and in its use an 4 even earlier threat, and -- but very simple to 5 tackle it because they were enforcing the 6 18-year-old with fairly good results, so I 7 added tobacco. So -- or I made a separate 8 bill with tobacco. It wouldn't go anywhere. 9 So finally I said, let's put them under 10 regulatory regulations where you don't have to 11 -- where your forum of decision can end up 12 with a suspension, and, of course, maybe 13 rightly so, a lot of people objected to that. 14 They said that it would only involve the mama 15 and papa shops that really lived on cigarettes 16 and tobacco. 17 But these are the differences 18 between practicality and what happens when it 19 hits society. It's very significant, Mr. 20 President. Despite the fact that we have a 21 law, no one has ever been put in jail, to my 22 knowledge, as having committed a crime if they 23 were under the legal drinking age, but the 24 State Liquor Authority had the authority to 25 suspend that license, and that's what made it 1 tick. 2 So when I suggested that, well, 3 the outcry was even more vociferous, you know, 4 to regulate the vendors under the penalty of 5 suspension of their right to sell, say for a 6 month or whatever. 7 Well, I reluctantly have to 8 vote against this bill, because I still feel 9 it's somewhat out of touch with reality, and 10 despite the indisputable qualities of the 11 sponsor, I am constrained to vote against this 12 bill. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 14 Read the last section, please. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 16 This act shall take effect on the first day of 17 September. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 19 Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the 21 roll. ) 22 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 23 President, to explain my vote. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 25 Senator Leichter, to explain his vote. 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: I supported 2 the bill last year, and I certainly support 3 Senator Libous' efforts to reduce teen-age 4 smoking which is a terrible problem, but I 5 think the points that have been made by my 6 colleagues, Senator Marchi and Senator 7 Montgomery, are probably correct that we may 8 be creating more of a difficulty and a problem 9 for ourselves. 10 I'm also concerned what it 11 would mean if suddenly hundreds of thousands 12 of cases now have to be taken to the criminal 13 court. We have a criminal court system in the 14 city of New York that is greatly overburdened, 15 as you know. Are we going to take now the 16 time of judges to deal with children smoking 17 when they should be dealing with more serious 18 offenses to the public? 19 I think well intentioned as 20 this bill is, Senator Libous, I'm not sure 21 that it's really going to work. I think what 22 will work, hopefully and I think it will, is 23 what's being done in the Congress now where 24 the price of cigarettes is going to be raised 25 possibly by as much as $1.50 and that more 1 than anything else will discourage teen-age 2 smoking. I think maybe that sort of economic 3 incentive not to smoke is going to be much 4 more effective than this bill. 5 I'm going to vote in the 6 negative this year. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 8 Announce the results, please. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 10 in the negative on Calendar Number 757 are 11 Senators Farley, Leichter, Marchi, Markowitz, 12 Montgomery, and Stavisky. Ayes 52, nays 6. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 14 The bill is passed. 15 Senator Seward. 16 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes, Mr. 17 President. I was unavoidably out of the 18 chamber when a bill passed earlier today, and 19 I would ask unanimous consent to be recorded 20 in the negative on Calendar Number 642, Senate 21 6751. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 23 Without objection. 24 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 1 Continue reading the controversial calendar, 2 please. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 681, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 5195-A, 5 an act to amend the Correction Law and the 6 Criminal Procedure Law. 7 SENATOR PATERSON: 8 Explanation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 10 Senator Nozzolio, an explanation has been 11 asked for by Senator Paterson. 12 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 Mr. President, this bill before 15 us would curb the practice of "scare" mail. 16 "Scare" mail is that unwanted harassing 17 victimizing correspondence that takes place 18 from inside our prisons that has ramifications 19 outside those walls. 20 This measure provides that 21 anyone, particularly a victim, can make notice 22 that they do not want to be the recipient of 23 correspondence or telephone -- and/or 24 telephone calls from said inmates, that it is 25 a practice that goes on all too frequently, 1 further victimizes victims and that it is a 2 practice that the Department of Corrections, 3 under the leadership of the Governor, wishes 4 to curtail and that's why this measure is 5 before this house for consideration. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 9 Senator Paterson. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: For whatever 11 reason, it would seem a good idea that, if an 12 individual contacts the Department of 13 Corrections and makes the Department aware of 14 unwanted letters or telephone calls emanating 15 from a state facility that that individual 16 should be allowed the right to prevent the 17 inmate from contacting them, particularly 18 while they are being incarcerated in a state 19 facility. 20 However, there's a section of 21 the bill that I think to some degree under 22 mines the strength of it, and that is ab 23 solving the state of any responsibility should 24 an individual be victimized in such a 25 situation, and wish to, because of the damage 1 that they have suffered, bring an action 2 against the state. 3 It is a general policy that the 4 state cannot absolve itself from any 5 responsibility that is created by a law. In 6 this case, we are actually making a law, a law 7 that protects individuals and, although I 8 don't exactly know off the top of my head how 9 someone would prove damages from phone calls 10 or letters, but I guess there certainly could 11 be that case. There could be intentional 12 infliction of emotional harm or some kind of 13 action in which the aggrieved would be able to 14 prove damages. 15 It's my opinion that the state, 16 since we are passing this law, can't, with the 17 one hand, pass it and then on the other hand 18 say, but just in case we don't meet our 19 responsibility, you can't turn around and sue 20 us. So I think that the bill's merit is 21 something whose time has come, and there are a 22 number of incidents where numbers of letters 23 come from inmates, I think maybe even a few 24 legislators might want to invoke that 25 possibility, but in all seriousness, I don't 1 think you can pass a law that has built into 2 it what would be a restriction on bringing a 3 lawsuit when the -- the law is actually 4 violated. 5 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 7 Senator Gold. 8 SENATOR GOLD: Mr. President, I 9 read the memo from the Trial Lawyers on this 10 point, and I think Senator Paterson is exactly 11 right in most situations, but in this one, I 12 think the bill needs the language and let me 13 explain why. 14 There is now going on in 15 America a new kind of scam, and it was on the 16 radio just a couple days ago, and for reasons 17 I don't want to go into too much today, it 18 does involve, in some instances, the prisons 19 and there are situations, Senator Paterson, 20 where there is now a system whereby some 21 prisoners have found a way to make long 22 distance calls and local calls and 23 communications out of the prison in a way that 24 the prison authorities don't even know it's 25 being done. It's a scam on the phone 1 companies, it's a scam on the general public, 2 but until if ever they can beat that, it seems 3 to me that it is fair to give the state an out 4 because unless there's some other language in 5 the bill I didn't see, Senator Nozzolio, it 6 seems to me that it's unfair to hold the state 7 responsible if there are technical mechanisms 8 that are now being used which go around what 9 the technology of the state is, so that we 10 would be creating an insurance policy which I 11 don't think the bill wants to do. 12 So I'm going to support the 13 bill in its current form, although in other 14 situations I think that, Senator Paterson, 15 you're right and we shouldn't take away the 16 liability. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 18 Senator Paterson, do you rise to rebut that 19 testimony? 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Excuse me, 21 Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 23 Do you rise to rebut the Senator Gold? 24 SENATOR PATERSON: Absolutely, 25 Mr. President. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: I 2 kind of thought you would. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 4 President, if someone brought an action 5 against the state and the action was that the 6 state was derelict in its duty, one of the - 7 one of the constructions of that argument 8 would be that you would have to prove that the 9 state was involved in some kind of duty that 10 was not performed so, for instance, if you 11 wanted to send a letter to Person A, you could 12 send the letter to Person B and have them send 13 the letter to Person A. You would still in a 14 sense harass Person A. You've sent "scare" 15 mail, as Senator Nozzolio has described, but 16 you've done it in a way that would not be - 17 there's no speculation that the state would 18 have had any way to stop you from doing that. 19 So the scam for which the state 20 does not have any responsibility is something 21 that the state can actually -- and I know that 22 Senator Gold has ducked away and is running 23 away from this, because he knows that I'm 24 right and it doesn't matter which side of the 25 aisle he sits on, it's clear. 1 SENATOR GOLD: Speaking from 2 this side of the aisle, I don't agree with you 3 at all. 4 SENATOR PATERSON: But all I'm 5 saying to you is that the general principle 6 that is that a person would have a right to 7 bring an action and at the point that it was 8 raised that it was impossible for the state to 9 actually prevent this, then I think the action 10 would have no cause and would be thrown out, 11 but the general rule I'm just saying, in my 12 opinion, is violated by part of the 13 construction of this bill. 14 What the bill is trying to 15 cure, I think, is something that's long over 16 due. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 18 Read the last section, please. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 20 This act shall take effect on the first day of 21 September. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 23 Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the 25 roll. ) 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 3 The bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 773, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 4132, an 6 act to amend the Public Health Law and the 7 Education Law. 8 SENATOR DOLLINGER: 9 Explanation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 11 Senator Hannon, an explanation has been asked 12 for. 13 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Actually, 14 Mr. President, I'll waive the explanation. 15 I believe there's an amendment 16 at the desk we'd ask that be considered. I've 17 served it upon Senator Hannon and told him; I 18 think he knows it's coming. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: I 20 assume you're waiving the reading. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I would, 22 Mr. President. I'd ask that it be waived, the 23 reading of the amendment. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 25 The amendment is at the desk, Senator. Please 1 explain your amendment. 2 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 This is an amendment we dealt 5 with last year. The amendment deals with a 6 question on Senator Hannon's bill, and he and 7 I have had a number of discussions about 8 this: The question of how do we encourage 9 volunteer physicians to participate in the 10 health care system if, as a consequence of, 11 that they have to pay liability insurance and 12 at least from my perspective, Mr. President, 13 having a volunteer position not be subject to 14 suit is the wrong way to handle the problem. 15 The wrong thing to do is to say 16 to a physician, if you volunteer down in one 17 of the health care facilities in downtown 18 Rochester and you happen to commit malpractice 19 on someone who can't afford to pay, then 20 you're immune from a malpractice action. It 21 just seems to me that what that suggests is 22 that a group of people who don't have 23 significant resources won't be able to recover 24 if they're damaged by someone who commits 25 malpractice. 1 What the amendment seeks to do 2 is to provide malpractice coverage for 3 physicians through our bank of excess 4 liability coverage. We all know we have a 5 system in this state established during the 6 malpractice crisis 10 to 15 years ago in which 7 we set up a reserve system. We surcharged 8 premiums to create an excess liability pool 9 that would cover verdicts in excess of a 10 million dollars, so that a physician in this 11 state only has to buy liability insurance up 12 to $1 million. If there is a verdict in 13 excess of that, the funds are paid out of the 14 excess liability coverage. 15 Now, and I -- perhaps the 16 chairman of the Health Committee would know 17 for sure, but my recollection is that the most 18 recent calculation said there was a billion 19 dollars or more in that account and that this 20 Legislature on previous occasions and other 21 governors have tapped that account to cover 22 general fund expenses. 23 So my suggestion is, since we 24 have this huge pool of liability -- excess 25 liability insurance coverage sitting there, 1 since we know that over the course of the last 2 15 years we haven't significantly drawn down 3 those funds, there's a huge pool of 4 unaccounted for and unused funds that could be 5 used to purchase or to provide general 6 liability and malpractice insurance for 7 physicians who do the good thing which is to 8 provide their services on a volunteer basis. 9 If we did that, we would have a 10 reliable way to provide liability insurance. 11 We wouldn't short change those who need 12 volunteer services rather than paid for 13 services for health care. We would still give 14 them access to a liability fund in the event 15 that the voluntary physician, volunteering 16 physician committed malpractice. 17 So that's the point of this 18 amendment, Mr. President. It's very similar 19 to a system that was proposed in the state of 20 Florida where they have used excess liability 21 pools to provide liability, general liability, 22 malpractice coverage for physicians. I think 23 the chairman of the health committee properly 24 points out that we've got a problem with 25 encouraging volunteer contribution of services 1 by retired physicians. It seems to me that 2 the way to do it is to allow them to tap in 3 the excess liability pool and hopefully give 4 them an incentive to provide coverage for 5 those who need services on a volunteer basis. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. I'd 7 move the amendment and ask for a party vote in 8 the affirmative. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 10 Senator Hannon, on the amendment. 11 SENATOR HANNON: Mr. President, 12 on the amendment. 13 Senator Dollinger, you had let 14 me know before you were going to offer an 15 amendment and you said it was something we had 16 discussed last year and I had assumed it was 17 the same amendment as last year, but it's 18 not. 19 Last year you dealt with the 20 scope of who may be in this pool and you dealt 21 with nursing professionals. This topic which 22 was raised but was not the subject of 23 amendment was something I discussed with 24 Senator Leichter. 25 The difficulty with your 1 amendment is it tries to address a fund that 2 really is not available, and even if it were 3 available, I'd have a policy problem, but let 4 me just tell you why it's not available. 5 Before we did the health care 6 deregulation, there was an ongoing revenue 7 stream that fed money into in pool. That was 8 cut off in 1996. The monies for '96, '97, '98 9 are basically coming out of the earnings of 10 interest for the excess. It has been a 11 question as to how close we were going to get 12 and it turns out that we'll probably just have 13 enough to extend it one more year, so that 14 excess program is just barely being contained. 15 Tapping it for any purposes, however laudatory 16 and minimal, may endanger that, so I don't 17 believe it's there. 18 The second point is just on the 19 policy ground, once you start doing primary 20 medical malpractice care for anybody I'm sure 21 there'll be very -- a number of other people 22 who say we have as legitimate an argument as 23 those folks do to be covered. We should do it 24 and then we're into a business if we ever were 25 to do that. We're into a business that we're 1 not in now that the private sector is doing 2 appropriately, et cetera, et cetera. 3 So I don't believe that the 4 mechanics and the workability of this is 5 appropriate, and I would speak against your 6 amendment. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 8 Question is on the amendment. All those in 9 favor of the amendment signify by saying aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 Opposed nay. 12 (Response of "Nay.") 13 The amendment is defeated. 14 On the bill. Read the last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 17 This act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 19 Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the 21 roll. ) 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 23 in the negative on Calendar Number 773 are 24 Senators Breslin, Dollinger, Gentile, 25 Montgomery, Onorato, Paterson, Rosado, Smith 1 and Waldon. Excuse me, Senator Onorato in the 2 affirmative. Voting in the negative Senator 3 Connor. Ayes 49, nays 9. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: 5 The bill is passed. 6 SENATOR WALDON: Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Waldon, why do you rise? 10 SENATOR WALDON: Mr. President, 11 I was elsewhere on Senate business when the 12 house dealt with 757. I would respectfully 13 request unanimous consent to be recorded in 14 the negative on 757, Calendar 757. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 16 objection, hearing no objection, Senator 17 Waldon will be recorded in the negative on 18 Calendar Number 757. 19 Senator Maziarz, why do you 20 rise? 21 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 Mr. President, I also would 24 like to request unanimous consent to be 25 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 1 642, Senate Bill 6751. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 3 objection, hearing no objection, Senator 4 Maziarz will be recorded in the negative on 5 Calendar Number 642. 6 Senator Balboni, earlier today 7 you had passed a resolution, Resolution Number 8 3519. It's my understanding you wish to open 9 sponsorship of that resolution to other 10 members, is that correct? 11 SENATOR BALBONI: That's 12 correct, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Members 14 who would like to be a co-sponsor of 15 Resolution 3519 -- it is in your Resolution 16 Calendar -- if you would like to notify the 17 desk, Senator Balboni has consented to your 18 being co-sponsors. 19 SENATOR BALBONI: Thank you 20 very much, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 22 Secretary will continue to read the 23 controversial calendar. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 837, by Senator Meier. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 DeFrancisco. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Mr. 4 President, I was out of the chamber to vote 5 negative on a couple bills. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 7 objection. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: On 9 Calendar 642 and 757. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 11 objection, hearing no objection, Senator 12 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the negative 13 on Calendar Number 642 and Calendar Number 14 757. 15 Senator Gold, why do you rise? 16 SENATOR GOLD: Yes, Mr. 17 President, if you don't mind, if I could have 18 unanimous consent to be recorded in the 19 negative on Calendar Number 773. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 21 objection, hearing no objection, Senator Gold 22 will be recorded in the negative on Calendar 23 Number 773. 24 Senator Leichter, why do you 25 rise? 1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Mr. 2 President. May I also have unanimous consent 3 to be recorded in the negative on Calendar 4 773, please. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 6 objection, hearing no objection, Senator 7 Leichter will be recorded in the negative on 8 Calendar Number 773. 9 Secretary will continue to read 10 the controversial calendar. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 837, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5497, an 13 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 14 relation to the forfeiture of bail. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 16 Secretary will read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 18 This act shall take effect on the 90th day. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the 22 roll. ) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 25 bill is passed. 1 Senator Fuschillo, that 2 completes the reading of the controversial 3 calendar. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 5 President, may we please return to reports of 6 standing committees and I believe there is a 7 report of the Veterans Committee at the desk. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Return 9 to the order of reports of standing 10 committees. Secretary will read the report of 11 the Veterans Committee. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Meier, 13 from the Committee on Veterans and Military 14 Affairs reports: 15 Senate Print 2706, by Senators 16 Leibell and others, an act to amend the Public 17 Service Law, in relation to utility rates, 18 directly for third reading. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 20 objection, the bill is ordered directly to 21 third reading. 22 Senator Fuschillo. 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 24 President, is there housekeeping at the desk? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Return 1 to the order of motions and resolutions, the 2 Chair recognizes Senator Meier. 3 SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President, 4 on behalf of Senator Marcellino, on page 5 Number 51, I offer the following amendments to 6 Calendar Number 916, Senate Print 7058, and 7 ask that said bill retain its place on the 8 Third Reading Calendar. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 10 Amendments to 916 are received and adopted. 11 The bill will retain its place on the Third 12 Reading Calenda. 13 Senator Stavisky, why do you 14 rise? No? Senator Stavisky passes. 15 Senator Fuschillo. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 17 President, there being no further business, I 18 move we adjourn until Wednesday, May 20th, at 19 11:00 a.m. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 21 objection, hearing no objection, the Senate 22 stands adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, 23 May 20th, at 11:00 a.m.; tomorrow, May 20th, 24 at 11:00 a.m. 25 (Whereupon at 4:49 p.m., the 1 Senate adjourned.) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8