Wednesday, December 2, 1998

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 December 2, 1998 11 1:00 P.M. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS, President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 come to order. Would everyone please rise and 4 join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. 5 (The assemblage repeated the 6 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 7 May we bow our heads in a 8 moment of silence. 9 (A moment of silence was 10 observed. ) 11 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 12 Journal, please. 13 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 14 Tuesday, December 1st. The Senate met 15 pursuant to adjournment, Senator Farley in the 16 chair upon designation of the Temporary 17 President. The Journal of Monday, November 18 30th, was read and approved. On motion, 19 Senate adjourned. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Without 21 objection, the Journal stands approved as 22 read. 23 Presentation of petitions. 24 Messages from the Assembly. 25 Messages from the Governor. 1 Reports of standing 2 committees. 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack, 5 from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the 6 following nomination: 7 As a Justice of the Supreme 8 Court for the Sixth Judicial District, Samuel 9 J. Castellino, of Elmira. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Lack. 11 SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Madam 12 President. 13 It is my privilege to rise and 14 move the nomination of Samuel J. Castellino, 15 of Elmira, as a Justice of the Supreme Court, 16 Sixth Judicial District. 17 We received the nomination from 18 the Governor this past week. The Judiciary 19 Committee has examined the credentials of the 20 candidate who appeared before the Judiciary 21 Committee this morning. A hearing was held, 22 and we unanimously moved to the floor of the 23 Senate his nomination and, Mr. President, I 24 yield for the purposes of seconding to Senator 25 John Kuhl. 1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Kuhl. 2 SENATOR KUHL: Yes, Madam 3 President. It is my privilege and pleasure to 4 rise on behalf of one of my constituents being 5 elevated to this very, very important position 6 in the service of the state of New York. 7 Justice Castellino, who is here 8 today, has certainly a remarkable history in 9 service to the residents not only of his home 10 town of Elmira but in service to the people of 11 the state of New York. He is, from my 12 perspective as a lawyer, certainly the epitome 13 of what we all hope to be, that is a person 14 who has served in many capacities and served 15 them very well. 16 His only really, from my 17 perspective, negative part of his resume is he 18 went to Holy Cross, which I know stimulates 19 Senator Stachowski's interest in this 20 candidate, rather than going to Syracuse, but 21 he did go to Cornell Law School, which 22 certainly speaks well of his abilities, and he 23 did very well there. 24 But as far as his history in 25 the practice of law, it seems like he has 1 served well in most every capacity he's been 2 in. He was in private practice for close to 3 30 years, and he's served as an assistant 4 district attorney, served on the other side of 5 the prosecutorial section of the law in that 6 he was a public defender, and then for the 7 last about 13 years now, has served in the 8 capacity of County Court and Surrogate Court 9 Judge in Chemung County. 10 Judge Castellino, through this 11 nomination, I think will reach the epitome of 12 a judicial experience, that being where he 13 will have the opportunity to serve as a 14 Supreme Court Justice. The experiences that I 15 hear from my constituents and fellow members 16 of the bar when they're related to an 17 association with Justice Castellino, are, in 18 fact, very remarkable. I, as of this date, 19 have never heard anybody speak negatively 20 about this candidate for the bench in any 21 capacity. 22 So it's with a great deal of 23 pride, certainly a pleasure that I stand here 24 before all of you to second the nomination of 25 the Governor for Samuel J. Castellino as a 1 Justice of the Supreme Court. 2 Thank you, Madam President. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The question is 4 on the confirmation of Samuel J. Castellino as 5 a Justice of the Supreme Court. All in favor 6 please signify by saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye.") 8 Opposed nay. 9 (There was no response.) 10 Samuel J. Castellino is hereby 11 confirmed as Justice of the Supreme Court. 12 (Applause) 13 Reports of select committees. 14 Communications and reports from 15 state officers. 16 Motions and resolutions. 17 Senator Bruno. 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 19 President, can we at this time adopt the 20 Resolution Calendar. 21 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 22 adopting the Resolution Calendar, please 23 signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 Opposed nay. 1 (There was no response. ) 2 The Resolution Calendar is 3 adopted. 4 Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 6 President, I believe that there is a 7 privileged resolution at the desk, by Senator 8 Leibell. I would ask that the title be read 9 and move for its immediate adoption. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Secretary will 11 read. 12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 13 Leibell, Legislative Resolution 4305, 14 congratulating the Fox Lane High School Girls 15 Volleyball Team and Coach Mike Galu on their 16 outstanding season and team record on winning 17 the New York State Public High School State 18 Championship. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The question is 20 on the resolution. All in favor please 21 signify by saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 Opposed nay. 24 (There was no response. ) 25 The resolution is adopted. 1 Senator Bruno. 2 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 3 President, I believe that I have a privileged 4 resolution at the desk. I would ask that the 5 title be read and it be read in its entirety 6 and then move for its immediate passage. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Secretary will 8 read, please. 9 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 10 Bruno, Legislative Resolution commending 11 Pauline Williman upon the occasion of her 12 completion of 20 years as the Official 13 Stenographer of the New York State Senate. 14 WHEREAS, the Legislature takes 15 great pride in honoring outstanding citizens 16 of the Great state of New York, and especially 17 a person who has devoted a lifetime to an 18 industrious career and to service in the New 19 York State Senate; and 20 WHEREAS, it is the sense of 21 this Legislative Body to commend Pauline 22 Williman upon the occasion of her completion 23 of 20 years as the Official Stenographer of 24 the New York State Senate; 25 On December 31, 1998, Ms. 1 Williman will retire as the Senate's Official 2 Stenographer. Ms. Williman is a life-long 3 resident of the Capital District, having 4 graduated as class salutatorian from Altamont 5 High School in 1940. While she hoped to use 6 her love for science and mathematics in future 7 endeavors, as is the case with many persons, 8 her career path led in a different direction. 9 As a student at the Albany 10 Stenotype Secretarial School from 1941 to 11 1944, Ms. Williman excelled at reporting and 12 attained a 300-word-per-minute writing speed, 13 exceptionally fast in this service. 14 Ms. Williman's skills were such 15 that she was able to take on reporting jobs 16 for General Electric and Winthrop Chemical 17 while completing the requirements for school; 18 and 19 Whereas, a reporting company 20 owned by New York City attorney James Beasley 21 hired Ms. Williman in 1942 and almost 22 immediately assigned her to work under the 23 direction of state Senator Arthur H. Wicks; 24 Senator Wicks was chairman of the Senate 25 Finance Committee at the time and was deeply 1 involved in the review of Governor Thomas 2 Dewey's nominees for state positions and with 3 the Governor's proposed restructuring of state 4 government. 5 Ms. Williman reported the 6 minutes of many hearings while under the 7 direction of Senator Wicks. During the same 8 period, Ms. Williman reported the minutes of 9 numerous meetings and hearings regarding the 10 creation of the State University of New York. 11 In 1947, Ms. Williman became 12 the executive secretary and the office manager 13 for the U.S. Army Reserve Officers' Associa 14 tion of New York. In this capacity, she was 15 the personal secretary to Brigadier General 16 Wendell Westover, who later became the 17 executive for Reserve and ROTC in the U.S. 18 Defense Department. 19 In 1949, Ms. Williman embarked 20 on a career as a free-lance shorthand 21 reporter, a career which continues today and 22 has resulted in Ms. Williman owning and 23 operating her own court reporting business. 24 Whereas, Ms. Williman has 25 provided court reporting service to many 1 public and private entities statewide. One of 2 her more notable jobs in the early part of 3 years of her independent business was the 4 reporting of hearings regarding applications 5 by large and small municipalities for water 6 supply grants; in fact, she became so much a 7 fixture in these hearings that she was 8 proposed for and was accepted for membership 9 in the American Water Works Association and 10 was awarded, a few years ago, a 30-year 11 lifetime membership. 12 One of the more visible jobs 13 that Ms. Williman reported for was the 14 Organized Crime Trials and related hearings, 15 especially as related to the Appalachian Crime 16 Summit in 1957. 17 In 1958, Ms. Williman became 18 Official Reporter with the New York State 19 Supreme Court, Third Judicial District, a 20 position that she held until 1964 when she 21 resigned to devote full-time to her 22 independent business; and 23 Whereas, elected to be the 24 Official Stenographer of the New York State 25 Senate in 1979, upon the recommendation of 1 then-Temporary President Warren M. Anderson, 2 Ms. Williman embarked on a 20-year journey of 3 reporting the minutes of the proceedings in 4 the Senate chamber and of Senate hearings 5 across the state. 6 Subsequent to her election to 7 the Official Stenographer position in 1979, 8 Ms. Williman has been elected to nine 9 additional consecutive two-year terms. 10 As the Senate's Official 11 Stenographer, she has reported on many 12 momentous events that have been debated in the 13 Senate chamber and has recorded the debates on 14 all of the thousands of bills that have been 15 considered by the Senate during the past two 16 decades, many of which became the law of the 17 state. 18 Keeping pace with the evolving 19 technology of court reporting, Ms. Williman 20 upgraded her reporting equipment regularly and 21 in 1995 began supplying to the Senate the 22 minutes of the Senate chamber proceedings in 23 electronic format so that the transcripts 24 could be made available to Senate offices via 25 the computer network; and 1 Whereas, in addition to the 2 service provided to the Senate as Official 3 Stenographer, Ms. Williman has performed 4 reporting services for, to name a few, the 5 Department of Transportation, Public Employees 6 Relations Board, State Insurance Department, 7 Department of Environmental Conservation, 8 Department of Law, Department of Mental 9 Hygiene, the Office of General Services, and 10 the Adirondack Park Agency. 11 Membership in the National 12 Court Reporters' Association of the New York 13 State Court Reporters' Association has given 14 Ms. Williman an opportunity to actively 15 promote the court reporting profession. She 16 has been an active and vocal advocate of 17 preserving and continuing the court reporting 18 profession. 19 Ms. Williman takes great pride 20 in the fact that she has trained over 75 court 21 reporters who have gone on to hold responsible 22 reporting positions from New Hampshire to 23 Texas and Washington, D. C. to Montana; and 24 Whereas, the list of notables 25 for whom she has recorded their statements 1 seems to be endless, but naming a few would 2 include President Harry Truman, United Nations 3 Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, New York 4 Yankee pitcher,"Lefty" Gomez and all Governors 5 of the state since Thomas Dewey. 6 Ms. Williman, by her own 7 estimate, has traveled over five million miles 8 while carrying out the tasks of the thousands 9 of large and small reporting jobs that she has 10 completed. 11 Court reporting duties have 12 enveloped Ms. Williman for well over 55 years, 13 but she has had time for other activities. 14 She has been an active community member of the 15 Hill Towns of Albany County, been a member of 16 the Second Reformed Church of Berne; Kiwanis 17 Club of the Helderbergs, past president; the 18 Business Council of New York State; Albany 19 County Farm Bureau and other various civic and 20 community organizations. 21 Hobbies include golf, 22 gardening, snowmobiling, walking, music, 23 reading, the New York Yankees and the Green 24 Bay Packers; and 25 Whereas, it is the desire of 1 this legislative body to give recognition and 2 thanks to someone who has faithfully served to 3 assure that the proceedings in this chamber 4 have been accurately recorded during the past 5 20 years; now, therefore, be it 6 Resolved that this legislative 7 body pause in its deliberations to commend 8 Pauline Williman upon the occasion of her 9 retirement after two decades of dedicated 10 service as the Official Stenographer of the 11 New York State Senate; and be it further 12 Resolved that a copy of this 13 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 14 to Pauline Williman. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno. 16 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 17 President and colleagues, we have just heard a 18 remarkable dissertation on the life of one 19 individual, and I am honored to stand here and 20 say to Pauline and to say to you, Pauline, on 21 behalf of my colleagues and myself, thank you. 22 Thank you, thank you, thank you. 23 Pauline is here in this chamber 24 longer than any individual. When we're 25 working and have worked hour after hour, after 1 hour, I don't know about you, but I have been 2 amazed that Pauline would sit there and do her 3 job with such professionalism, with such 4 efficiency; and when many of us mumble and 5 grumble and get into exchanges, Pauline gets 6 every word, every hesitation. And if you 7 hiccup, it will be recorded as part of what 8 you have been saying. 9 Now, if anyone doesn't 10 recognize the talent, the art form that is 11 represented in doing an outstanding, excellent 12 job, then they ought to just take a look at 13 what Pauline Williman does on behalf of this 14 Legislature. 15 I've known Pauline for I don't 16 know how many years. I believe we first met 17 when I was on staff with Speaker Perry Duryea, 18 when I was one of the high-paid staff people 19 and doing better than I'm presently doing, let 20 me say. 21 (Laughter) 22 But, Pauline, you know that 23 times change and everything changes and 24 eventually, we catch up. But I really want to 25 congratulate you. You have a lot of years in 1 front of you to do the kinds of things that 2 you'll see fit to do with your life, but I 3 want to congratulate you, not really just for 4 the excellence that you've demonstrated here 5 with us on our behalf, but for the example 6 that you are for people in this state as an 7 entrepreneurial woman who has been an employer 8 of hundreds of people in Upstate and 9 throughout this state who really exemplifies 10 what the spirit here in America is all about, 11 about a person who does something and does it 12 in such an outstanding way that she is head 13 and shoulders above anyone else in her field; 14 and there aren't too many people that should 15 be or can be as proud as you should be about 16 the work that you have done, about the example 17 that you have set, about the leadership that 18 you have exemplified for your employees, for 19 people here in this chamber. 20 And I will challenge anyone 21 here to try and live up to the standard that 22 Pauline has set for us in terms of diligence, 23 attention, responsiveness, and just doing what 24 is right in such a talented and outstanding 25 way. 1 So, on behalf of everyone here, 2 Pauline, and from the bottom of our hearts, 3 let us just say a heartfelt thank you very, 4 very much for being here with us. And I would 5 ask, Madam President, that we accept and adopt 6 this resolution and that my colleagues join me 7 in a standing ovation to Pauline Williman. 8 (Applause and standing 9 ovation.) 10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Cook. 11 SENATOR COOK: Not to be 12 anticlimactic to that great presentation by 13 Senator Bruno and the applause that Pauline 14 received -- and I want to wait for a second. 15 Pauline was, at one point in my 16 life, a constituent and I simply want to rise 17 and recognize her in that capacity, not as my 18 constituent, but as a leader in the town of 19 Knox where her ability through the years has 20 been something that has been a great service 21 to all of her neighbors and friends. There 22 really are very few towns in this state who 23 have a resident who is as knowledgeable about 24 such a broad range of public law and public 25 policy as is Pauline because of all the things 1 in which she's been involved through the years 2 and she's made that available to the people in 3 her community and she's been a real leader. 4 Time after time when community 5 issues have come to the surface, it's been 6 Pauline who's been there, provided the 7 expertise and the background for her neighbors 8 who've been dealing with some issue of public 9 policy in the town of Knox. 10 So totally aside from the fact 11 that she's been a very, very warm and close 12 and valuable and dear friend for these 25 13 years, aside from that, Pauline, we do 14 congratulate you, in fact, for all of the 15 service you've been to your neighbors. Thank 16 you. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. 18 Would anyone else care to speak 19 on the resolution? 20 Senator Paterson. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 22 Madam President. On behalf of Senator Connor, 23 we would like to thank Pauline for her years 24 of service and her tireless devotion, 25 particularly some of the occasions that we 1 went from one day right into the other, 2 continually talking and engaging in diatribe 3 in this chamber. And I sometimes wonder how 4 many of you in the front of the room are able 5 to put up with it, but it is in thanking you 6 that we really thank all of the staff here for 7 their work and devotion to allowing us to 8 perform the functions of our duties here as 9 Senators. 10 But in this specific case, 11 Senator Stachowski reminded me to let you 12 know, Pauline, that if any of us was ever 13 doing 65 to 70 miles an hour on the Thruway, 14 that we always knew that the radar gun would 15 get you and not us and that we did appreciate 16 you for that, as well as the tremendous work 17 that you've done. 18 You'll certainly be missed. 19 You certainly already are appreciated; and 20 again, as much as we reward people for doing 21 their jobs, what we probably don't do is to 22 recognize people that do their jobs so 23 effectively as the Majority Leader pointed 24 out; and in this kind of small way -- and it's 25 not a difficult thing to get up and to thank 1 people for their work, but to let you know 2 that the spirit of what we're saying will be 3 remembered and will be discussed long after 4 you've left the chamber. 5 So, congratulations and best 6 wishes. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. 8 Senator Smith. 9 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you, 10 Madam President. 11 On behalf of the women of this 12 chamber, I would like to say to Pauline that 13 she has truly been a role model for all of us. 14 And she has been there with a kind word when 15 many of us needed it and when we felt a little 16 depressed; but I also want to commend her for 17 her love of her family and the time that she 18 spends with her nieces, nephews and all that 19 she gives to everybody because she is truly 20 going to be missed by all of us. And the one 21 thing that we most wish that she had missed 22 was some of the things that we've said in this 23 chamber. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. 25 Senator DeFrancisco. 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I think 2 all has been said that should be said, but I 3 want to just make one observation, Pauline. 4 Senator Bruno mentioned that you've raised the 5 standard of stenographic reporting for 6 everybody in that field and the observation 7 that I'd like to make, you are the only one in 8 this state that could possibly have drawn five 9 T.V. cameras, all the photographers and a 10 gallery full of people to honor you today on 11 this special day. 12 (Applause.) 13 THE PRESIDENT: The question 14 is on the resolution. All in favor, please 15 signify by saying aye. 16 (Response of "Aye.") 17 Those opposed, nay. 18 (There was no response.) 19 The resolution is adopted. 20 Senator Bruno. 21 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam 22 President-- I'm sorry, Senator Farley, do you 23 have some comment to make? 24 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes. Was the 25 resolution open to everyone? 1 SENATOR BRUNO: That 2 resolution hopefully will be joined by the 3 entire Senate. If anyone feels otherwise, you 4 can approach the desk. But thank you, Senator 5 Farley. 6 Madam President, can we at this 7 time ask for an immediate meeting of the Rules 8 Committee in Room 332, and I would ask my 9 colleagues just be patient for a few minutes, 10 I don't think we will be more than five or ten 11 minutes with a Rules Committee report, which 12 we will then address. 13 THE PRESIDENT: There will be 14 an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 15 Room 332, and the Senate will stand at ease. 16 (The Senate stood at ease from 17 1:35 p.m. to 1:47 p.m.) 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 house will come back to order, please. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Can we return 22 to reports of standing committees? I believe 23 there's a report of the Rules Committee at the 24 desk; I ask it be read. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 1 Secretary will read the report of the Rules 2 Committee. 3 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 4 from the the Committee on Rules, reports the 5 following bills: 6 7855-A, by Senator Volker, an 7 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law and 8 Chapter 383 of the Laws of 1998; 9 7859-B, by Senator Volker, an 10 act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 1998; 11 7866-A, by Senator Larkin, an 12 act to amend Chapter 464 of the Laws of 1998; 13 7867, by Senator Liebell, an 14 act to amend the Private Housing Finance Law; 15 7868-B, by Senator Velella, an 16 act to amend the Insurance Law; 17 7870, by Senator Saland, an act 18 to amend the Social Services Law and the 19 Family Court Act; and 20 7871, by the Senate Committee 21 on Rules, an act to extend the period for 22 filing applications for the school tax relief 23 exemption. 24 All bills ordered direct for 25 third reading. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 2 Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 4 accept the report of the Rules Committee. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All in 6 favor of accepting the report of the Rules 7 Committee, signify by saying aye. 8 (Response of "Aye.") 9 Opposed, nay. 10 (There was no response.) 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 12 President, there will be an immediate 13 conference of the Majority in the Majority 14 Conference Room, and Senator Bruno indicates 15 that we should be back in about 20 minutes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 17 Immediate conference of the Majority in Room 18 332. Room 332. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Please 20 recognize Senator Mendez. 21 SENATOR MENDEZ: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. There will be a Democratic 23 Conference in Room 314 right after. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: And an 25 immediate Minority Conference in Room 314. 1 Majority in 332, Minority in 313. See you in 2 20 minutes. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Stand at 4 ease. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 Senate stands at ease. 7 (The Senate stood at ease from 8 1:50 p.m. to 2:58 p.m.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Senate will come to order. Members will take 11 their place. Staff will find their place. 12 The Chair recognizes Senator 13 Bruno. 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 15 can we take up the non-controversial reading 16 of the Rules report? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 20 Number 1668, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 21 7855-A, an act to amend the Vehicle and 22 Traffic Law and Chapter 383 of the Laws of 23 1998. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 25 Secretary will read the last section. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 2 This act shall take effect on the same date 3 and be subject to the same provisions as 4 Chapter 383 of the Laws of 1998c. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 6 Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the 8 roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 13 Number 1669, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 14 7859-B, an act to amend a chapter of the Laws 15 of 1998 amending the Penal Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 Secretary will Read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. 19 This act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 21 Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the 23 roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 3 Number 1671, by Senator Liebell, Senate Print 4 7867, an act to amend the Private Housing 5 Finance Law, in relation to increasing the 6 amount of the bond and note authorization. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 Secretary will read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 10 This act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 12 Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the 14 roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 19 Number 1672, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 20 7868-B, an act to amend the Insurance Law, in 21 relation to domestic life, property/casualty, 22 reciprocal, mortgage guaranty, cooperative 23 property/casualty and financial guaranty. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Senator Bruno. 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 2 message at the desk? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 There is. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Move to 6 accept the message. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 motion is to accept the message of necessity 9 on Calendar 1672. 10 All those in favor, signify 11 by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 Opposed, nay. 14 (There was no response.) 15 Message is accepted. 16 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it 17 aside, please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay 19 the bill aside. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 21 Number 1674, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 22 7870, an act to amend the Social Services Law 23 and the Family Court Act, in relation to 24 reasonable efforts. 25 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Lay it 1 aside. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 3 Senator Bruno. 4 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 5 message at the desk? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 7 There is. 8 SENATOR BRUNO: Move to 9 accept the message. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 motion is to accept the message of necessity 12 on Calendar 1674, which is at the desk. All 13 in favor, signify by saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 Opposed, nay. 16 (There was no response.) 17 The message is accepted. 18 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Lay it 19 aside, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 bill is laid aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 23 1675, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 24 Print 7871, an act to extend the period for 25 filing applications. 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 2 message at the desk? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 There is. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Move to 6 accept the message. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 motion is to except the message of necessity 9 on Calendar 1675, which is at the desk. All 10 those in favor, signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye".) 12 Opposed, nay. 13 (There was no response.) 14 The message is accepted. 15 The bill is before the 16 house. The Secretary will read the last 17 section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 19 This act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 21 Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the 23 roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 bill is passed. 2 Senator Oppenheimer, why do you 3 rise? 4 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I was 5 just going to question, did you read 1670? 6 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: No, we 8 did not. 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank 10 you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Bruno, that completes the non-controversial 13 reading of the Rules report calendar. 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 15 can we at this time have the controversial 16 reading of the Rules report? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 20 Number 1672, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 21 7868-B, an act to amend the Insurance Law. 22 SENATOR BRUNO: Lay it aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay 24 the bill aside. 25 SENATOR BRUNO: Can we at this 1 time call up Calendar Number 1674? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 5 Number 1674, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6 7870, an act to amend the Social Services Law 7 and the Family Court Act. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 9 Senator Saland, an explanation of Calendar 10 1674 has been requested by Senator Dollinger. 11 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Mr. President, this bill is 14 a Governor's program bill. It is an effort on 15 the part of the Governor and this body to 16 conform with the federally adopted 17 legislation; the legislation was adopted in 18 November of '97, the Adoption and the Safe 19 Families Act. 20 Basically what this bill 21 attempts to do, proposing to do, is to elevate 22 to the paramount consideration the health and 23 safety of a child, whether it be in terms of 24 adoption, 25 whether it be in terms of foster care or 1 whether it be in terms of child protective 2 services. 3 And while previously the 4 standard in the state of New York which was of 5 paramount concern was the reunification of a 6 family, in order to comply with the federal 7 law and failure to comply, which will result 8 in the loss of some 650-plus million dollars, 9 but in order to comply with the federal law, 10 we have to adopt again, as our paramount 11 standard, the safety and health of a child. 12 And that is not to say that 13 we divorce ourselves from the importance of 14 reunifications of families, but in those cases 15 where it is determined that the health -- I'm 16 sorry, that the safety and well-being of a 17 child requires either a termination of 18 parental rights or whether it requires some 19 intervention on the part of child protective, 20 that, in fact, the reunification of the family 21 will, in fact, have to take a back seat. 22 There are a number of 23 changes that are contained in this 24 legislation. What we do, among other things, 25 is require that if a child is in foster care 1 for 15 out of 22 months, 2 we permit, as the federal law requires, that a 3 termination of parental rights petition may be 4 filed. 5 We require, in addition, 6 that there be some new grounds for termination 7 of parental rights; we define among them 8 aggravated circumstances, which includes 9 certain enumerated crimes or classifications 10 of crimes. We also provide some additional 11 categories which would provide grounds for 12 termination. There would be criminal 13 background checks for prospective foster and 14 adoptive parents. 15 And, again, the essence of 16 this bill, which is a bill which we must not 17 fail to comply with simply if, for no other 18 reason, aside from the changes in policy that 19 will be dictated by this bill, but for the 20 fiscal impact on the state of New York, as I 21 said earlier, in excess of some 650 million 22 dollars, but the essence of this bill is about 23 children, the protection of children, and 24 clearly adhering to the federal mandate to 25 make of the paramount policy consideration by 1 this state and 49 others the safety and 2 well-being of a child. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is 4 that explanation satisfactory, Senator 5 Dollinger? SENATOR DOLLINGER: 6 Mr. Chairman, I don't know whether there 7 are any other members from this side who had 8 questions, but I had a couple for Senator 9 Saland, if he would yield to a couple 10 questions. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 12 Senator Saland, do you yield to a question 13 from Senator Dollinger? 14 THE SECRETARY: Yes, Mr. 15 President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 Senator yields. 18 SENATOR DOLLINGER: This is 19 a bill that I hadn't seen until today, so some 20 of these may be simple prefatory questions. 21 For example, on page 4, there are a list of 22 aggravated circumstances which would allow a 23 court, in the absence of any other finding, to 24 disqualify or remove from the parent a child. 25 Aggravated circumstances would give, as I 1 understand this bill, Senator, would give the 2 courts the ability to remove the child or 3 terminate the parental rights upon a finding 4 of any one of these violations, is that 5 correct? 6 SENATOR SALAND: The - 7 what the essence of the aggravated 8 circumstances goes to -- and you have a list 9 of some very severe crimes -- is that there 10 would no longer be a requirement that you make 11 a reasonable effort to reunify the family. 12 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again, 13 through you, Mr. President, if Senator Saland 14 will continue to yield. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 16 Senator Saland, do you continue to yield to 17 Senator Dollinger? 18 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 19 President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 Senator yields. 22 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I 23 appreciate that explanation. As I've often 24 asked in other bills we have done, that bill 25 includes criminal solicitation as defined in 1 Article 100 of the Penal Law, does that 2 include criminal solicitation that may only be 3 a violation, therefore, we'd simply issue an 4 appearance ticket to the parent on that issue 5 and yet that would be sufficient a finding 6 that there was a violation, 7 they were guilty of a violation, not a crime, 8 but just a violation, would that be sufficient 9 to constitute aggravated circumstances? 10 SENATOR SALAND: I think if 11 you read a bit further and look at the 12 language in line 19, it talks in terms of 13 soliciting or facilitating any of the 14 foregoing crimes. So I would think by 15 definition, we are limiting ourselves to 16 crimes and it would not apply to a violation, 17 in as much as a violation is not a crime. It 18 would apply to misdemeanors, would apply to 19 felonies. 20 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again, 21 through you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 23 Senator Dollinger. 24 SENATOR SALAND: And again, 25 I would just -- for purposes of responding yet 1 further, what this is part of the federal 2 requirement. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 5 Senator Dollinger, the chamber appeared to be 6 a little noisy; I was trying to get a little 7 control here so we could have the adherence of 8 your discussion. 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I 10 appreciate that, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 12 Senator Saland, do you continue to yield? 13 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 14 President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 Senator continues to yield. 17 SENATOR DOLLINGER: The 18 specific crimes that are listed here, 19 solicitation, facilitation and conspiracy, all 20 are derivative violations, they are violations 21 in which the individual who's charged has not 22 necessarily committed the crime they have 23 taken an overt act, either in the solicitation 24 of the crime, or the facilitation of the 25 crime, they are not actually engaged in the 1 underlying crime itself. 2 My question is, Mr. 3 President, is that required by federal law 4 that it go that far, all the way to 5 facilitation and conspiracy and solicitation? 6 SENATOR SALAND: Attempt, 7 conspiracy and solicitation are expressly in 8 the 9 federal mandate. 10 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. 11 Again, through you, Mr. 12 President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 14 Senator Saland, do you continue to yield? 15 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 16 President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Senator continues to yield. 19 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Just 20 let me make sure I understand. If a parent is 21 found guilty of a violation, which I believe 22 the sixth degree of criminal solicitation is 23 defined in Article 100 of the Penal Law as a 24 violation, simple violation, no jail time, 25 minor fine, minor violation of the law, not 1 even a misdemeanor, not even a crime under New 2 York law, if they are found guilty of one of 3 those as defined in Article 100, solicitation, 4 there's a chance that their parental rights 5 could be cut off by a court upon that finding. 6 SENATOR SALAND: The 7 solicitation -- and unfortunately I don't have 8 the Penal Law in front of me -- relates back 9 to 10 each of the enumerated crimes, so if somebody 11 attempts -- conspires, solicits or facilitates 12 or attempts to do so with respect to murder in 13 the second degree, manslaughter in the first 14 degree, manslaughter in the second degree and 15 so on, through all those enumerated crimes, 16 yes, under this bill and pursuant to what has 17 been required of us by way of the federal 18 mandate, that person is -- stands to find 19 themselves at great risk. 20 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. 21 Again, through you, Mr. President, just to use 22 another example, suppose a child is killed in 23 a gun accident and there's a finding of 24 criminal manslaughter against someone who was 25 playing with a gun involving another child and 1 yet it was the parent who made the gun 2 available to the child, there might be an 3 instance in which they had facilitated the 4 crime of manslaughter. Under those 5 circumstances, would the parents, finding that 6 they had facilitated this terribly regrettable 7 act for which there is some criminal 8 liability, would that be sufficient to 9 disqualify the parent from terminating their 10 parental rights? 11 SENATOR SALAND: The 12 language 13 at the beginning of that paragraph beginning 14 at line 8 says the parent of such child has 15 been convicted. So, again, had the parent 16 been convicted, yes, the situation which you 17 describe would occur. Had the parent, for 18 some reason or other, been guilty of some act 19 of omission for which there were no criminal 20 charges, the answer would assumedly be no. 21 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. 22 Again, through you Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 24 Senator Saland, do you continue to yield? 25 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 1 President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Senator continues to yield. 4 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I 5 understand that explanation; I'm not quite 6 sure I read it that way, but I'll address that 7 in my remarks. 8 Let me call your attention 9 to the sections that allow the termination of 10 parental rights as contained in subdivision 6 11 which is on page 5. My question here is, this 12 says that if there is evidence that a child 13 has 14 been abandoned, then you may terminate 15 parental rights. What happens to the parent's 16 child support obligation when that happens? 17 SENATOR SALAND: The 18 section to which you're referring is foster 19 care review - 20 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Right, 21 but - 22 THE SECRETARY: Not 23 termination, this is foster care review. 24 SENATOR DOLLINGER: But my 25 question is, what happens if a parent's rights 1 are terminated and that parent is paying child 2 support on behalf of the child? It would seem 3 to me that you can't be forced to pay child 4 support for a child that you no longer have 5 any parental rights over. 6 SENATOR SALAND: Under the 7 existing federal law, if you remain in foster 8 care, nowithstanding the fact that there has 9 been a termination, you remain obligated for 10 support payments until the child has been 11 adopted. 12 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Is that 13 again, through you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 15 Senator Saland, do you continue to yield to 16 Senator Dollinger? 17 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 18 President. 19 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Is that 20 true as a matter of state law or federal law? 21 SENATOR SALAND: Federal 22 law. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I guess 24 I find that intriguing, but I'll certainly 25 accept that. 1 One final question, and 2 again, Senator Saland, I can't -- I just read 3 this very quickly, as quickly as I could. Are 4 there any additional appropriations in this 5 bill that go directly to family courts in this 6 state because of the enormous mandate that 7 we're now presenting them with for the very 8 complicated adjudications that are necessary 9 to reach the complicated, difficult, trying 10 decisions that this bill requires to terminate 11 parental rights? Are we going to give them 12 any family court judges, are we going to 13 create any more personnel, are we going to 14 allow more social services money for reports 15 and investigations that are at the heart of 16 this bill? 17 SENATOR SALAND: The 18 reviews that are required under this bill 19 remain substantially the same other than the 20 new responsibility for a 30-day hearing where 21 there are issues of compelling circumstances. 22 Assumedly, if there is a 23 need to provide additional dollars, we 24 certainly can address this in as much as it is 25 not effective until the beginning of the next 1 year. We certainly should be able to address 2 that in the course of the adoption of the 3 '99-2000 budget. 4 SENATOR DOLLINGER: 5 Finally, Mr. President, if I could, just one 6 final question, Senator Saland, and I respect 7 your opinion on this because I know you've 8 done so much work in family support and in 9 family issues. Are you convinced that there 10 is evidence in this state that our current 11 policy favoring parental rights and favoring 12 the recreation and re-establishment of 13 families has been ineffective sufficient to 14 justify us to change that policy and adopt 15 this federally- mandated system from 16 Washington that this is the right thing to do 17 in Albany and Syracuse and Schenectady? I 18 mean, is it right for us to take a federal 19 mandate? 20 I know, Senator Saland, that 21 it comes with that lure of money attached to 22 it, but has our system worked so poorly that 23 we should buy the federal solution devised in 24 Washington to replace our judgment on this 25 issue of parental involvement in families? 1 SENATOR SALAND: Well, I 2 must share with you my sense that I generally 3 do not like the idea of having 4 one-size-fits-all solutions imposed upon us by 5 people who profess enormous wisdom in 6 Washington. Nonetheless, we find ourselves, 7 along with 49 other states, in a situation in 8 which if we fail to comply -- we don't have to 9 comply, but if we don't comply, we're going to 10 lose 650-plus million dollars in Title IV(e) 11 money. 12 The reality is that children 13 do languish far too long in foster care; there 14 is much evidence of that. This is an effort 15 to try and move children out of foster care 16 into more permanent settings much more 17 rapidly; and there is also evidence and 18 certainly there has been, either anecdotally 19 or by way of reports in major media when it 20 comes to questions of child protection, 21 reports of very horrible incidents 22 having occurred because of giving primacy to 23 family reunification and not to the safety of 24 a child. 25 I would have welcomed the 1 opportunity to get us here in some similar 2 fashion, maybe not necessarily in the exact 3 same fashion, and have done it as state policy 4 without this -- certainly not a carrot, it's 5 a stick being used on us by the federal 6 government that certainly is a very critical 7 and added impetus that is going to require us 8 to do this. 9 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank 10 you very much, Mr. President. I greatly 11 appreciate that Senator Saland -- and let me 12 just address the bill quickly and give you my 13 sense of it. 14 I think you properly 15 characterize this, Senator Saland, as this is 16 a partially-funded mandate from Washington. 17 I can't believe that the Congress in 18 Washington which is so convinced that we ought 19 to have 50 states experimenting has now given 20 us this partially-funded mandate. 21 Why do I say 22 partially-funded? Senator Saland is correct, 23 there's a 650 million dollar lure to this, but 24 I think the cost of 25 doing this to our family courts is going to be 1 substantially greater than that. We're going 2 to need additional judges. I know in my own 3 home county, and Senator Nozzolio and Senator 4 Alesi and I have been working on putting a 5 sixth family court judge to work in Monroe 6 County. I know there are other counties that 7 need county court judges in Upstate to handle 8 the enormous number of petitions that are 9 filed currently. It's only going to expand 10 here. 11 This sets a rubric for 12 terminating parental rights that's going to 13 have to be rigorously followed by our courts 14 which is going to consume more resources. 15 This is a partially-funded mandate, and I'm 16 concerned, Senator Saland, because I know as 17 you do that there is episodic evidence that we 18 put kids in foster care too long and that too 19 often they get lost in that system and we 20 don't, in many cases, terminate those parental 21 rights quickly enough and we end up with a 22 situation where parents are attempting to get 23 control back over their child long after 24 they've abandoned them and it aggravates the 25 tensions faced by our family courts and by our 1 whole family support system. 2 But, I'm not willing to suggest that this 3 solution devised in Washington is the right 4 thing to do in New York. 5 This is contrary to what I 6 thought Washington would tell us, which is to 7 give us the money, set some targets and goals 8 and then let us figure out how to reach them 9 and figure out how to get there. 10 It seems to me it's 11 inconsistent for this Congress in Washington 12 to claim that they favor states' rights and 13 they want to increase the laboratory 14 experimentation on critical issues like this 15 and yet here they are telling us that we have 16 to follow these rules. 17 I'm concerned, Senator, 18 because I was hoping you would give this a 19 strong endorsement as the solution to the 20 problem in New York and what I heard you say 21 was it may be a solution, but we don't have 22 enough evidence in this state to make a 23 judgment that it will solve our problem. 24 And with that, even though 25 -- even though it has the lure of 650 million 1 dollars attached to it, and even though it may 2 have the appearance of solving this problem, I 3 don't think that this bill does necessarily 4 provide the solution for New York. And, with 5 all due respect, I'm going to vote against 6 this bill because I think there are other 7 serious problems with it. 8 But if this is the way we're 9 going to deal with Washington and have 10 Washington tell us how to solve our problems, 11 I'm not convinced that the people in 12 Washington have the sensitivity that you have, 13 Senator Saland, to this problem in this state 14 and I would feel much better if you had stood 15 up and said we've come up to a solution, we've 16 held the hearings, we've got a better idea of 17 how to solve it. 18 If Washington's approach is 19 to give us this cash lure that's going to 20 force us all to conform with their vision of 21 how to solve the problems of families and 22 children, I think we're making a huge mistake. 23 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Senator Oppenheimer. 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: If I 2 can ask a question of Senator Saland. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 4 Senator Saland, do you yield to a question 5 from Senator Oppenheimer? 6 THE SECRETARY: Yes, Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 Senator yields. 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: This 11 bill that we're dealing with today is a 12 Governor's program bill, is it not? 13 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, it 14 is, Senator. 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: But 16 this is not a bill that will be or has been 17 before the Assembly, is it? 18 SENATOR SALAND: This bill 19 has not been approved by the Assembly; and as 20 I respond to you here today, there is no 21 three-way agreement with respect to this 22 particular subject. 23 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: So 24 then we may look forward to another bill and 25 perhaps that other bill can address some of 1 the concerns that I know I have been hearing 2 from the New York Bar Association, which 3 principally are concerns about the children 4 being moved too swiftly 5 through the system, not enough attention being 6 given to the children, and I think these are 7 things that we might be able to discuss 8 further when the two bills are brought 9 together; yes? 10 SENATOR SALAND: I would 11 certainly welcome that sort of finality, 12 keeping in mind that the clock is ticking, 13 that our deadline is December 31st, and it's 14 probably worth noting that the only memo I'm 15 currently aware of that I have received with 16 respect to this bill has been by the city of 17 New York and that has been in favor, or in 18 support of this bill. 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: 20 Uh-huh. I - 21 SENATOR SALAND: Counsel 22 just advises me we have one other and that's 23 from PWA. 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I 25 today shipped down the -- faxed down the bill 1 to the New York bar -- City Bar Association, 2 they wanted to see the bill. So I think we'll 3 be hearing from them within a day or two. But 4 thank you very much, Senator. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Any 6 other Senator wishing to speak on the bill? 7 Senator Paterson. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 If Senator Saland will yield. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Saland, will you yield to Senator Paterson? 13 SENATOR SALAND: Certainly, Mr. 14 President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 Senator yields. 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 18 Senator. 19 Theoretically -- not even 20 theoretically but perhaps more specifically, 21 this -- the federal legislation which contains 22 within it the lure of $650 million which 23 Senator Dollinger was referring to earlier 24 does contain the opting out provision whereby 25 we would not necessarily have to include some 1 of the criminal history checks and some of the 2 specifics that this legislation contains. 3 Is that true, Senator? 4 SENATOR SALAND: As I indicated 5 in my earlier remarks, Senator, while our bill 6 complies with federal requirement provisions 7 and you correctly point out the federal 8 requirement, we would be able to opt out of 9 that determination. The determination has 10 been made both by the Governor and his 11 relevant staff and the Majority in this house 12 and myself included as the Chairperson of the 13 Senate Children and Families Committee, that 14 we wish to avail ourselves of the opportunity 15 of having that fingerprinting mechanism as 16 part of the process. 17 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you. 18 If the Senator would continue 19 to yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Will 21 the Senator continue to yield? 22 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 23 President. 24 SENATOR PATERSON: Therefore, I 25 guess, Senator, what you're saying is that the 1 federal government has set a threshold and in 2 this case because we feel there might be some 3 issues that have not been addressed by 4 Washington, we would go beyond that threshold 5 into a couple of these areas. 6 I want to just ask you a couple 7 questions about those areas, but before I even 8 go to that, the federal legislation itself 9 talks about - 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Paterson. Senator Paterson, if I might 12 interrupt you. I know it's getting very 13 difficult for me to hear and if it's difficult 14 for me to hear you, it's certainly difficult 15 for the people trying to record your question 16 and in your debate with Senator Saland. I 17 don't have any idea whether Senator Saland can 18 hear you, quite frankly, so if I could ask the 19 members, please, if you need to have a 20 conversation with your staff, please ask your 21 staff to go outside and have a conversation. 22 If you need to have a conversation with 23 another member, please take it outside so we 24 may proceed so some of us can get home to do 25 some Christmas shopping. 1 Now, with that, please, Senator 2 Paterson. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, 4 Mr. President, Senator Saland, for your 5 willingness to yield for this question. 6 I'm asking you with respect to 7 some of the aggravated circumstances that 8 would diminish the obligation of the court to 9 accomplish a unification between the parents 10 and the children and also in some cases that 11 might actually terminate parental rights. 12 One of the aggravated 13 circumstances that the federal legislation 14 addresses is the issue of domestic violence or 15 certainly of spousal abuse and my question to 16 you is since there's no law that actually 17 defines that, how are we supposed to interpret 18 from the federal law what spousal abuse or 19 what child abuse or some type of domestic 20 violence actually is? 21 SENATOR SALAND: We have had 22 meetings with DCJS and they have effectively 23 compiled a list of all of the specifically 24 enumerated categories of crime to which these 25 types of crimes such as spousal abuse crimes 1 or child abuse crimes would be applicable. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: A final 3 question, if the Senator would continue to 4 yield. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Saland, do you continue to yield? 7 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Mr. 8 President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Senator continues to yield. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, is 12 there any distinction between the procedures 13 in which an adoption would be procured either 14 through the private agencies or through the 15 foster care system? 16 SENATOR SALAND: Regrettably, 17 Senator, I didn't hear your question in its 18 entirety. Could I ask you to please repeat 19 it. 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Certainly, 21 Senator. Is there any distinction between the 22 procedures by which an adoption would be 23 procured either through the private agency or 24 through the foster care system or any of the 25 procedures that would be followed or the 1 regulations that this bill would establish, do 2 they differ in any way based on the manner 3 that the adoption is accomplished? 4 SENATOR SALAND: This isn't 5 applicable to private adoptions. Private 6 adoptions currently require fingerprinting. 7 The fingerprinting is generic and it's within 8 the discretion of the court to determine if 9 there's a hit whether or not the parent is an 10 appropriate adoptive parent. 11 SENATOR PATERSON: Criminal 12 backgrounds, Senator -- if you'll continue to 13 yield. Criminal backgrounds are the same or 14 the record checks are the same whether the 15 adoptions are private or through the foster 16 care system? 17 SENATOR SALAND: No. The - 18 the crimes which are deemed relevant are 19 categorized in this legislation for foster 20 care and for adoptions emanating from that 21 foster care. Private adoptions are - 22 currently require fingerprinting, criminal 23 screening. They're not categorized. If 24 anything they're broader but there's 25 discretion within the judge to determine 1 whether or not that criminal record is 2 relevant to the fitness of the parent to be an 3 adoptive parent. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 5 Paterson? 6 SENATOR SALAND: The mandate 7 applies to agency adoptions only. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Senator, if 9 you'd continue to yield. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Saland, do you continue to yield? 12 (Senator Saland nods head.) 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Would it be 14 fair to say that in private adoptions the 15 judge has the discretionary power, whereas in 16 the adoptions that are secured through the 17 foster care system we would then be relying on 18 the specific delineated circumstances set 19 forth in the bill? 20 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, that 21 comports with the federal mandate. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you. 23 Just one final question, 24 Senator. In a situation involving Section 125 25 of the -- of the Criminal Code of the Penal 1 Law, and that being vehicular homicide in the 2 second degree, in that situation, it only 3 applies if a child is killed in the car crash, 4 is that correct? 5 SENATOR SALAND: I believe it 6 would be applicable -- if I read correctly on 7 page 4, I believe it would be applicable to a 8 child -- any other child of that parent or a 9 half sibling as well. 10 SENATOR PATERSON: Then, 11 Senator, if the prospective parent were 12 willing to relinquish their driver's license, 13 would that make them eligible where they 14 otherwise would not be? 15 SENATOR SALAND: Not if there's 16 been a conviction. I -- the parents' rights 17 with respect to your question rise or fall on 18 whether he or she has been convicted. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Okay. Thank 20 you, Senator. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 Secretary will read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 50. 24 This act shall take effect January 1, 1999. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the 3 roll.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 5 the negatives and announce the results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55, nays 7 3, Senators Dollinger, Leichter and Abate 8 recorded in the negative. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 bill is passed. 11 Senator Abate, why do you 12 rise? 13 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Oppenheimer, do you wish to be recorded in the 16 negative on this bill? 17 (Senator Oppenheimer nods 18 head.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54, nays 20 4. Also Senator Oppenheimer. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Abate, why do you 24 rise? 25 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. I'm 1 voting in the negative on this bill and I want 2 to explain my vote. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I 4 suppose we can allow that to happen. I wish 5 you had risen 30 seconds before. 6 SENATOR ABATE: I had my hand 7 up. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Abate to explain her vote. 10 SENATOR ABATE: Yes. I have a 11 memo by the New York State Bar Association 12 that raise some critical issues about the 13 complexity of the bill, the impact the bill 14 would have on the child welfare system and 15 they had some very reasonable suggestions to 16 get a three-month extension so we could have a 17 public debate before the Judiciary, the child 18 organizations, the legal community to have a 19 public comment to look at the options 20 available to make sure that not only we're in 21 compliance with the federal laws, but that we 22 also produce a system that benefits families 23 and children throughout this state. 24 I do not believe that we've had 25 sufficient debate today, opportunity for the 1 public review and for those reasons, I'm 2 voting against the bill. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 4 Montgomery, why do you rise? 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 6 President. 7 I rise to vote no on this 8 legislation and the reason being that I 9 certainly understand Senator Saland's intent 10 to put us in compliance, I guess you would 11 say, with the federal law, but I do think 12 there are some very major issues raised - 13 being raised here in this in terms of what the 14 bill will mean. 15 One in particular is there are 16 larger and larger numbers of women who are 17 being incarcerated for various reasons and 18 obviously we want to make sure that in any 19 instance where those women had been reunited 20 successfully with their children, we don't 21 want there to be any question that they can 22 be, and I hope that we would be able to have 23 more open debate and discussion on this bill. 24 So I'm voting no for now. 25 Thanks. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 2 Montgomery will be recorded in the negative. 3 Is there any other Senator 4 wishing to cast a negative vote? 5 (There was no response.) 6 The bill is before the house. 7 The Secretary will read the 8 final results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 52, nays 10 6, Senators Abate, Dollinger, Leichter, 11 Montgomery, Oppenheimer and Smith recorded in 12 the negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 14 bill is passed. 15 Senator Bruno. 16 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 17 can we call up Calendar Number 1672, please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1672 on 20 the Rules report. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1672, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 7868-B, 23 an act to amend the Insurance Law. 24 SENATOR LEICHTER: Explanation. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 1 Velella, an explanation has been requested. 2 SENATOR VELELLA: This is a 3 chapter amendment to 7488-A which we passed 4 during the regular session earlier this year. 5 It expanded the types of derivative 6 instruments that insurers may purchase to 7 hedge upward or downward movement in the 8 marketplace. 9 The bill makes several 10 technical corrections to the new law to make 11 it operate more effectively. 12 SENATOR LEICHTER: Will Senator 13 Velella yield for a question or two? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 15 Velella, will you yield for a question? 16 SENATOR VELELLA: For a 17 question, yes. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 19 Leichter. 20 SENATOR LEICHTER: Okay. 21 Senator, as I read the chapter - 22 SENATOR VELELLA: Could you 23 speak up, Senator? 24 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, 25 certainly. As I read the chapter amendment 1 contained in this bill, what it seems to do is 2 somewhat limit the right and power of the 3 Insurance Department to pass on these 4 derivative proposals by insurance companies. 5 As we've seen, these derivative investments 6 can be extremely volatile, and I just wonder 7 what the reason and purpose is of these 8 limitations. 9 SENATOR VELELLA: Senator, it's 10 my understanding -- and I just checked with 11 counsel -- that, in fact, what this does is 12 provide a mechanism for the Insurance 13 Department to more closely scrutinize those 14 investments, not to remove any powers from 15 them to authorize it. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Leichter. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator, if 19 you would continue to yield. 20 As I read it, this bill now 21 imposes certain time limitation, states that 22 if within a particular period of time the 23 Insurance Department doesn't act on the 24 application, the application will be 25 approved. I read that to be a limitation on 1 the monitoring and the supervision by the 2 Insurance Department. 3 SENATOR VELELLA: Well, 4 Senator, like anything, it's a question of how 5 you look at it, how you interpret it. Is the 6 glass half full? Is the glass half empty? 7 The fact that the Insurance Department's 8 failure to act allows it to go through, I know 9 that since we have had a new administration, 10 the Insurance Department operates much more 11 efficiently. They will act on these 12 requests. It's not like the old Insurance 13 Department that you knew. This is a new one. 14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 15 President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Leichter. 18 SENATOR LEICHTER: Mr. 19 President, I don't want to prolong this 20 debate. Let me just briefly comment on the 21 bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 Leichter, on the bill. 24 SENATOR LEICHTER: You know, 25 Senator Velella, sometimes you can argue that 1 the glass is half full or half empty but when 2 there's nothing in there, then it's all empty 3 and the fact is that these derivatives, as you 4 know, and as we've seen are extremely 5 dangerous investments. 6 We've seen major banks lose 7 hundreds of millions of dollars in assets in 8 their ill-advised investment in derivatives. 9 Now we're allowing insurance companies to 10 invest in derivatives. 11 I voted against the main bill 12 for that reason because I think it is such a 13 dangerous type of investment but at the very 14 least, if we're going to have these 15 investments, if we're going to have some 16 supervision by the Insurance Department, I 17 wouldn't limit the time within which the 18 Insurance Department has to act. 19 If you are right, Senator, and 20 we have such an efficient Insurance Department 21 -- I'm not saying that it isn't efficient - 22 they'll act in due time, but it may well be 23 that in some instances they would need more 24 than the 45 days or whatever number of days 25 that you permit in this chapter amendment for 1 them to review the application of an insurer 2 to engage in derivatives. 3 It seems to me it's an ill 4 advised bill. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is 6 there any other Senator wishing to speak on 7 the bill? 8 (There was no response.) 9 Hearing none, the Secretary 10 will read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 12 This act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the 16 roll.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 18 the negatives. Announce the results. 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56, nays 20 2, Senators Dollinger and Leichter recorded in 21 the negative. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 23 Hoffmann, why do you rise? 24 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Mr. 25 President, I was out of the chamber when the 1 vote was taken on 1674. I would - 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Hoffmann -- the bill is passed. 4 Senator Hoffmann, why do you 5 rise? 6 SENATOR HOFFMANN: I'm sorry. 7 Mr. President, when 1674 was taken up I was 8 out of the chamber. I request unanimous 9 consent to be recorded in negative on that 10 bill. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 12 objection. 13 SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing 15 no objection, Senator Hoffmann will be 16 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 17 1674. 18 Any other members wishing to 19 make any adjustments to those? 20 (There was no response.) 21 Hearing none, Senator Bruno. 22 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 24 Bruno. 25 SENATOR BRUNO: Can we at this 1 time take up Bill Number 1670. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1670, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7866-A, 6 an act to amend Chapter 464 of the Laws of 7 1998. 8 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: 9 Explanation, please. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 motion is to accept the message of necessity 12 on Calendar Number 1670 which is at the desk. 13 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye".) 15 Opposed, nay. 16 (Response of "Nay".) 17 The message of necessity is 18 accepted. 19 The bill is before the house. 20 Senator Larkin, an explanation 21 has been requested of Calendar Number 1670 by 22 Senator Oppenheimer. 23 SENATOR LARKIN: Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Before 25 the discussion, may I ask the members to 1 please take their chairs, the staff to take 2 their places. Let's quiet the conversations 3 down. 4 Senator Larkin. 5 SENATOR LARKIN: Mr. President, 6 this bill is a chapter amendment for a project 7 that was already approved by this body and the 8 Assembly unanimously, the 18th of June in the 9 Senate and the 19th of June, 1998 in the 10 Assembly unanimously. 11 What this bill does, it enables 12 the Dutchess County IDA to use $80 million of 13 federal tax exempt bond volume cap to finance 14 a recycling facility in Ulster County. The 15 project will invest over $500 million, create 16 300 permanent jobs and 1,000 construction 17 jobs. 18 This bill does not in any way, 19 shape or form change the SEQR process. 20 Nothing can be expended in this bill, none of 21 this $80 million until the entire SEQR process 22 has been totally completed and approved. 23 Okay? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 25 Oppenheimer. 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank 2 you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 Secretary will read the last section. 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I will 6 have to disagree with my good colleague 7 because I think this does a lot of damage to 8 the SEQR process by turning the process on its 9 head instead of having -- following the SEQR 10 process and having an environmental impact 11 statement done at the beginning of a project 12 before any thought of financing that project 13 is put out and bonds are floated. The process 14 starts with an environmental impact. It 15 doesn't start with floating bonds and then 16 saying now let's look at the environmental 17 impact. So I have to disagree with you in 18 that I think it does a lot of damage by 19 allowing bonds to be sold before the SEQR 20 review. 21 This bill would actually 22 redefine a government action calling it a 23 non-action and it's hard to understand how a 24 non-action could be utilized -- that word 25 could be utilized in a project that will be 1 700 acres of waterfront in Kingston. It will 2 take three million gallons of water a day out 3 of the river, Hudson River, and then return to 4 the Hudson River after the ink is removed from 5 the news print and that will have, we believe, 6 certainly some potentially serious 7 consequences to the spawning areas of sturgeon 8 and Atlantic shad and bass. We're not sure. 9 We can't say this for certain but that's the 10 purpose of the environmental impact statement, 11 so that we find out if there will be any 12 serious consequences. 13 I think we all would agree that 14 SEQR has been enormously, enormously effective 15 and in some ways it is our landmark 16 conservation legislation that has been around 17 for almost two decades and why -- why are we 18 talking about circumventing it now? Why are 19 we talking about turning it upside down, and I 20 think the fundamental principle of a 21 comprehensive environmental review at the 22 outside -- at the outset, the very beginning 23 of a project is something that we shouldn't 24 do, and that is what this law would do, and so 25 you would say, perhaps, Well, what it does it 1 matter? This is one instance and this is 2 because we want to get the -- you know, the 3 federal tax exempt bonds. 4 I would say that the reason we 5 shouldn't do this is that it sets a very 6 dangerous precedent, and I know many of us 7 feel that there is no reason to sacrifice 8 environmental quality for economic development 9 even for a project that I'm sure we all would 10 agree is a good project. We want to see 11 newspaper recycled. We want to see this 12 project going -- to go ahead, but the fact is 13 this piece of money, this $80 million is a 14 small piece of the total funding and the 15 proposal -- as I understand it, the proposer 16 has said that there are alternatives to this 17 $80 million piece which we are to be voting on 18 today. 19 So when all things are 20 considered, I see a terrible potential 21 precedent here. This would be the first and 22 there would be others that would refer to it 23 in future years. We don't want to damage 24 SEQR. It has been the best environmental law 25 that we have had. 1 So I'm urging a no vote. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 3 Dollinger. 4 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Will the 5 sponsor yield to two quick questions? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Larkin, will you yield to two questions from 8 Senator Dollinger? 9 SENATOR LARKIN: Yes, Mr. 10 President. 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: The first 12 one, Senator, what happens if the bonds are 13 sold and the project is never approved? 14 SENATOR LARKIN: Pardon me, 15 Richard? 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through 17 you, Mr. President. What happens if the $80 18 million in bonds are sold and as a result of 19 the SEQR process, either there are 20 deficiencies and it's affecting, as Senator 21 Oppenheimer pointed out, the striped bass or 22 the water intake from the Hudson River, the 23 watershed or environmental -- the air that - 24 SENATOR LARKIN: Is that a 25 question, what happens to the bonds? 1 SENATOR DOLLINGER: What 2 happens to the $80 million in bonds? 3 SENATOR LARKIN: Well, first of 4 all, the 880 million would be held in escrow 5 and after the environmental impact statement 6 has gone through the entire process from A to 7 Z, just as we said back in June when you voted 8 for the bill, this would be refunded, the 9 bonding would be refunded. 10 Richard, nothing can be spent 11 on this in the process of the facility until 12 every aspect of the environmental process - 13 the SEQR process is the guiding light of this 14 whole project. Without the approvals from A 15 to Z, there is no project, period, and - 16 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. 17 Again just so I can clarify, Mr. President. 18 If the bonds will be sold, they will be held 19 in escrow for some period of time and then if 20 the project eventually isn't approved, the 21 bonds will be repaid, correct? 22 SENATOR LARKIN: Yes. 23 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Who's going 24 to pay all the interest to the bondholders 25 that accrues during the period of time it sits 1 in escrow? 2 SENATOR LARKIN: The partners 3 of the project, they've already agreed to that 4 in writing to both Ulster County and Dutchess 5 County IDAs. 6 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Again 7 through you, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Larkin, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR LARKIN: Yes, Mr. 11 President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 Senator yields. 14 SENATOR DOLLINGER: I 15 understand that in June we did approve a bill 16 that would have allowed this project to get in 17 under the cap. My question is why wasn't the 18 SEQR process started then? It would be done 19 now or close to being done now. We wouldn't 20 be where we are today if the application had 21 been filed, would we? 22 SENATOR LARKIN: Well, Richard, 23 when they started this, they weren't totally 24 sure of how long the process would take 25 place. As my good friend and colleague, 1 Senator Saland, and I put together there was 2 advisory groups and they were sitting down 3 between the multiple -- both counties that 4 were involved in it, the municipalities that 5 had interest and all of the others. There 6 were advisory boards put together so they 7 could settle down and see where it was going. 8 They started to realize at that time that this 9 process, based on these initial evaluations 10 between the numbers of members that were 11 appointed to the board and their interest, 12 that this process could take as high as 18 to 13 20 months. That would put them past 31 14 December, at which time the 80 million cap 15 would float away. We couldn't roll it over. 16 The fed's said no. It would be lost not only 17 to this project but to the state of New York 18 and next year when we applied for federal tax 19 credit bonds, people could in Washington just 20 say, Wait a minute, New York. You had $80 21 million last year and you didn't use it, why 22 should we give you extra this year? There's 23 no guarantee we could get that money next 24 year. We would have to make an application 25 and what is the project? 1 Richard, this project is, in 2 essence, to be environmentally sound. If we 3 believe in the SEQR process, as my good friend 4 Senator Oppenheimer said, I don't want to 5 violate the SEQR. I don't want to see us 6 create anything that's not environmentally 7 sound. I would not support any of this if 8 anybody would say to me that we plan to 9 circumvent the SEQR law. No way in Hades. 10 What we need to do is to make 11 sure -- and this package that's set out here 12 that creates a project worth $553 million, it 13 has a -- it has 1,000 construction jobs, it 14 has 375, but for me that's after the fact. 15 The fact of the matter is once this is -- we 16 would take -- should take positive action on 17 this, then the SEQR process, based on all of 18 the advisory groups, projects so far, would 19 move forward but we're talking about 18 20 months. 21 Everybody that we've talked to 22 said this project will take 18 months until 23 you get all of your evaluations and then 24 there's approvals which could extend a couple 25 more months. So at that point you would see 1 the bonding move out -- not move out, be 2 extended. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Just 4 through you, Mr. President, one more question 5 to Senator Larkin's comment. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 7 Larkin, do you continue to yield? 8 SENATOR LARKIN: Yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Senator continues to yield. 11 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Under 12 federal law and under the federal cap, how 13 quickly does the $80 million have to be 14 spent? Is there any limitation on when it can 15 be spent? I know it has to be approved before 16 December 31st. Is there a limitation on when 17 it has to be spent? 18 SENATOR LARKIN: For example, 19 if we -- had we not had this process here and 20 the SEQR would have been done, they could have 21 done the bonds this year. 22 SENATOR DOLLINGER: But they 23 could do that under the - 24 SENATOR LARKIN: But SEQR is 25 not going to be done now. They can't do 1 anything with those bonds. They can sell them 2 immediately upon receipt of total approved 3 SEQR process. Not until they receive that can 4 these bonds be valid for utilization in the 5 project. 6 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. 7 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 8 I share the concerns of my 9 colleague, Senator Oppenheimer, and I'll be 10 very brief. There's some troubling 11 allegations that have been made by opponents 12 of this to me at least with respect to 13 representations made by this company in the 14 application process. 15 I would strongly suggest that 16 any municipal agency or the IDAs in these 17 counties take a good look at those. I offer 18 no interpretation other than to say that 19 there's some troubling allegations about 20 whether they've properly represented 21 themselves in the application. I leave that 22 to someone else to resolve. 23 It seems to me the critical 24 question here is whether our SEQR process 25 should be bent, slightly bent in this case, to 1 achieve the goal of this project. 2 What I'm afraid we're doing, 3 Senator Larkin, is you're putting a very, 4 very, very big cart in front of a horse and 5 what you're doing is you're saying we're going 6 to fund this project. We're going to sell 7 under the cap, put these bonds in place and 8 somehow be convinced that the fact that we've 9 already got the money isn't going to influence 10 the decision we make about the environmental 11 security of this project. 12 I would just point out as a 13 private practice lawyer, I have been involved 14 in a number of SEQR cases. They are very 15 long. They can oftentimes be very contentious 16 and in many cases you don't know the outcome 17 of the SEQR process because of the 18 determination of the various environmental 19 variables until you get to the end of the 20 process and you're actually looking for those 21 governmental approvals both from the state and 22 local municipalities that are necessary to 23 operate this facility. 24 I would just suggest that we're 25 putting the financial cart before the SEQR 1 horse and that's a bad idea. It would set a 2 terrible precedent in New York and somehow 3 suggest that there is a category of projects 4 which are so large, so important -- I won't 5 minimize the importance of this as an economic 6 development tool but somehow we're going to 7 create a big project exception and the 8 exception we're going to create is Go ahead. 9 Put the cart of financing ahead of the horse 10 of SEQR process and I would submit that that's 11 going to take a process we should all be 12 justifiably proud of, the SEQR process of 13 determining variables, making them a part of 14 our decision-making, something that I know, 15 Senator Larkin, I think you've have supported 16 throughout your history here, a time tested 17 process for making sure that our environment 18 for which we may forever change in the Hudson 19 River Valley if we build this project, that 20 that environment is taken into account when we 21 make this terribly important decision. 22 I would just submit when we put 23 the cart before the horse, we're creating a 24 terrible precedent in this state and we're 25 carving out a big project exception to the 1 SEQR laws that in the long run will treat us 2 very, very poorly. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 Secretary will read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 6 This act shall take effect immediately. 7 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 8 on the bill. On the bill. I would ask that 9 the roll call be withdrawn. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 11 Saland, on the bill. 12 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. 14 Mr. President, I rise in 15 opposition to this bill. Certainly as Senator 16 Larkin has indicated, our efforts initially 17 earlier this year were cooperative and I can 18 say nothing but kind things about Senator 19 Larkin, a dear friend and colleague for a 20 number of years, but this is -- issue has 21 certainly galvanized considerable response in 22 my Senate District, particularly in the 23 northern Dutchess portion of my Senate 24 District and much of it seems to center on 25 what many would consider to be a precedent - 1 a dangerous precedent, an effort to get around 2 the so-called Queensbury case, a case which 3 was decided by the Court of Appeals back in 4 1982 and the concerns are that if we initiate 5 the type of action that's being requested here 6 and we compromise SEQR, what will be next, 7 what other exception will be required to 8 facilitate some other worthy project or 9 perhaps not so worthy project. 10 The reality is that the SEQR 11 law certainly has stood us well. For those 12 who might be concerned about SEQR, certainly 13 the form within which to deal with those 14 issues would certainly be far broader than 15 this attempted exception to SEQR and 16 attempting to carve out an exception to the 17 Queensbury case. I have a number of 18 municipalities in my district, the Northern 19 Dutchess Alliance, a number of environmental 20 groups who have been vehemently outspoken in 21 their opposition to this proposal, and I 22 certainly think that under the circumstances 23 we would be ill-advised to proceed with this 24 bill at this time. 25 Thank you, Mr. President. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 Secretary will read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 4 This act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the 8 roll.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 10 the negatives. Announce the results. 11 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 12 in the negative on Calendar Number 1670 are 13 Senators Abate, Breslin, Connor, Dollinger, 14 Gentile, Kruger, Lachman, LaValle, Leibell, 15 Leichter, Markowitz, Montgomery, Nanula, 16 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Padavan, Paterson, 17 Rosado, Saland, Sampson, Santiago, Seabrook, 18 Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky. Ayes 34, nays 19 25. Also Senator Hoffmann. Ayes 33, nays 20 26. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Bruno, that completes 24 the controversial reading of the Rules 25 report. 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 2 can we return to the report of the Finance 3 Committee, and I believe that there is a 4 report of the Finance Committee at the desk. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Return 6 to the order of standing committees, the 7 Secretary will read the report of the Finance 8 Committee. 9 THE SECRETARY: Senator 10 Stafford, from the Committee on Finance, 11 reports the following nominations: 12 Member of the Buffalo and Fort 13 Erie Public Bridge Authority-(Peace Bridge): 14 Louis J. Billittier, of Hamburg. 15 SENATOR STAFFORD: Move the 16 nomination, please. Do them all. Yeah, do 17 them all. 18 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 19 the Board of Oswego Authority: Frank E. 20 Sayer, of Oswego and William F. Shannon, of 21 Oswego; 22 Commissioner of the Ohio River 23 Valley Water Sanitation Commission: Douglas 24 E. Conroe, of Maple Springs; 25 Members of the Thousand Islands 1 State Park, Recreation and Historic 2 Preservation Commission: Judith J. Foster, of 3 Clayton and Sam F. Villanti, of Grieg; 4 Director of the Municipal 5 Assistance Corporation for the city of New 6 York: Ann Daly Printon, of New York City; 7 Member of the Mental Health 8 Services Council: Patricia H. Ogden, of White 9 Plains; 10 Members of the Board of 11 Visitors of the Bronx Psychiatric Center: 12 Richard Somer, of the Bronx; 13 Member of the Board of Visitors 14 of the Bronx Children's Psychiatric Center: 15 John T. Shea, of City Island; 16 Member of the Board of Visitors 17 of the Hudson River Psychiatric Center: Diana 18 T. Andros, of Poughkeepsie; 19 Member of the Board of Visitors 20 of the Letchworth Village Developmental 21 Disabilities Services Office: Ann Nehrbauer, 22 of Hastings-on-Hudson; 23 Member of the Board of Visitors 24 of the New York State Home for Veterans and 25 their Dependents at Oxford: Mary Smack, of 1 Binghamton; 2 Member of the Board of Visitors 3 of the St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center: 4 Clinton R. Matott, of Potsdam; 5 Member of the Board of Visitors 6 of the Staten Island Developmental 7 Disabilities Services Office: Robert 8 McCarren, of Staten Island; 9 Member of the Board of Visitors 10 of the Western New York Children's Psychiatric 11 Center: Ramon P. Perez, of Eden; and 12 Member of the Board of Visitors 13 of the Western New York Developmental 14 Disabilities Services Office: Ernest D. 15 McPeek, of South Dayton. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is 17 there any member wishing to speak to any of 18 the nominations? 19 (There was no response.) 20 Hearing none, the question is 21 on the nominations before the house. All 22 those in favor signify by saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye".) 24 Opposed, nay. 25 (There was no response.) 1 The nominees are confirmed. 2 (Pause) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 Senate will come to order. 5 Senator Bruno. 6 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 7 can we at this time ask for an immediate 8 meeting of the Rules Committee in Room 332. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 10 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules 11 Committee in the Majority Conference Room, an 12 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 13 the Majority Conference Room, Room 332, and 14 the Senate will stand at ease. 15 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 16 ease from 4:19 p.m. until 4:40 p.m.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Senate will come to order. 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 21 return to reports of standing committees. I 22 believe there's a report of the Rules 23 Committee at the desk. I ask that it be read. 24 We'll return to reports of standing 25 committees. 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator 2 Bruno, from the Committee on Rules, reports 3 the following bills directly for third 4 reading: 5 Senate Print 7869, by the 6 Committee on Rules, an act to amend the 7 Retirement and Social Security Law; 8 Senate Print 7872, by the 9 Committee on Rules, an act to repeal section 2 10 of part C of Chapter 56; and Assembly Bill 11 6583-B, by member of the Assembly Grannis, an 12 act to amend the Insurance Law. All bills 13 directly for third reading. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 15 Senator Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 17 accept the report of the Rules Committee. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 motion is to accept the report of the Rules 20 Committee. All in favor, signify by saying 21 aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 Opposed, nay. 24 (There was no response.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 report of the Rules Committee is before the 2 house. 3 Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 5 President, if we can take up the Rules 6 Committee report, non-controversial. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: In relation 10 to Calendar Number 1673, Senator Bruno moves 11 to discharge from the Committee on Rules, 12 Assembly Bill 8716-B, and substitute it for 13 the identical Senate Bill 7869. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 substitution is ordered. Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 17 Number 1673, by the Committee on Rules, 18 Assembly Print 8716-B, an act to amend the 19 Retirement and Social Security Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 Secretary will read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 23 This act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Call the roll. 1 (The Secretary called the 2 roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 59. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 7 Number 1676, by member of the Assembly 8 Grannis, Assembly Print 6583-B, an act to 9 amend the Insurance Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 Secretary will read the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 13 This act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 15 Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the 17 roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 59. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 bill is passed. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 22 Calendar Number 1678, by the Senate Committee 23 on Rules, Senate Print 7872, an act to repeal 24 section 2 of part C of Chapter 56 of the Laws 25 of 1998. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 2 Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 4 President, is there a message at the desk? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 6 There is. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to 8 accept. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 motion is to accept the message of necessity 11 on Calendar 1678. All in favor, signify by 12 saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (There was no response.) 16 The message is before the 17 house. Read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 19 This act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Lay 21 the bill aside. 22 Senator Skelos. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 24 President, if we could go back to the Rules 25 Committee report and take it up controversial, 1 which means we'll take up Calendar Number 2 1678. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 6 Number 1678, by the Senate Committee on Rules, 7 Senate Print 7872, an act to repeal section 2 8 of part C of Chapter 56 of the Laws of 1998. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 bill is before the house. 11 Senator Dollinger. 12 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 13 President, can I just have an explanation of 14 this bill? It's unusual and I would just 15 appreciate to know what it involves. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 17 Senator Skelos, who are you going to have 18 handle the explanation? 19 (Pause) 20 Senator Dollinger, you had a 21 question? 22 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Yes, I 23 do, Mr. President, and it has nothing to do 24 with- 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 1 Senator Nozzolio is going to be handling the 2 answer. 3 SENATOR DOLLINGER: And 4 maybe Senator Nozzolio -- I know this is an 5 issue that substantively may affect Senator 6 Nozzolio's Crime and Corrections Committee, 7 but I have a broader question that deals with 8 the procedure. My understanding is, Mr. 9 President, that what we're doing by this bill 10 is repealing the language in an Article 7 bill 11 that was vetoed by the 12 Governor. Why do we need to repeal language 13 for which the Governor has already exercised 14 his veto? 15 I'm not sure it's a question 16 for Senator Nozzolio, but it's really more of 17 a - 18 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Let me 19 try to answer Senator Dollinger's question. 20 As thought- provoking and as provocative as 21 his questions often are, this question I think 22 simply can be answered by -- that we very much 23 want to make sure that the Senate has clearly 24 stated their position in support of Governor 25 Pataki's veto of that PTAC language. 1 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr. 2 President, I accept Senator Nozzolio's 3 explanation, but I find it intriguing because 4 if the Senate were to approve this bill, which 5 suggests that the language needs to be 6 repealed, it would also suggest that Governor 7 Pataki's veto of the language portion of this 8 Article 7 bill was ineffective at the time it 9 was delivered; and I would just suggest that 10 what we're doing here is, in essence, 11 suggesting to me, at least, that the lawsuit 12 dealing with the repeal -- or excuse me, the 13 veto of the Article 7 bills, one of which was 14 this veto, that what we may be doing is 15 suggesting that we agree with the Assembly 16 that the effect of the veto was a nullity 17 because it couldn't veto Article 7 language as 18 part of the Governor's power and that what we 19 are, in essence, doing is declaring to the 20 people of this state that the Governor's veto 21 had no effect and that, in fact, what we had 22 to do as a chamber was now repeal that 23 language, with the consent of the Assembly. 24 So, Senator Nozzolio, I 25 under- stand why you substantively want to do 1 this and I think that at least from my 2 perspective, that's a debate we could have 3 about the substance of this, but I would just 4 point out that I think what you're doing here 5 today is acknowledging that the veto of the 6 Article 7 language was ineffective and, 7 therefore, the only way to eliminate this, 8 remove it from state law, is to use the power 9 of repeal which rests in the Legislature 10 rather than the power of veto which rests with 11 the Governor. 12 Under those circumstances, I 13 think this bill may procedurally send a 14 different message than the proponents of this 15 suggest on the other side of the floor. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 Secretary will read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 19 This act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 21 Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the 23 roll.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Record the negatives, announce the results. 1 Announce the results. 2 THE SECRETARY: Those 3 recorded in the negative on Calendar Number 4 1678 are Senators Abate, Connor, Dollinger, 5 Markowitz, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 6 Paterson, Santiago, Seabrook, Smith, 7 Stachowski, Stavisky also Senator Nanula. 8 Ayes 45, nays 14. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 bill is passed. 11 Senator Skelos. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 13 President, there will be an immediate meeting 14 of the Majority in the Majority conference 15 room. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 17 There will be an immediate meeting of the 18 Majority Conference in the Majority conference 19 room, in the Majority conference room, room 20 333. 21 Senator Paterson. 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 23 President, there will be an immediate 24 conference of the Minority in room 314. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 1 There will be an immediate meeting of the 2 Minority Conference, room 314. 3 The Senate stands at ease. 4 (At 4:50 p.m., the Senate 5 stood at ease.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 7 Senate will come to order. Ask the members to 8 take their places. 9 Senator Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. 11 President, there will be an immediate meeting 12 of the Rules Committee in the Majority 13 Conference Room. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: An 15 immediate meeting of the Rules Committe, an 16 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 17 the Majority Conference Room, Room 332. 18 The Senate will continue to 19 stand at ease. 20 (Whereupon, the Senate stood 21 at ease from 6:14 p.m. To 6:50 p.m.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 Senate will come to order. Ask the members to 24 take their seats, the staff to take their 25 places. 1 The Chair recognizes Senator 2 Bruno. 3 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 4 can we return to the reports of standing 5 committees. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We'll 7 return to the order of standing committees 8 with the report of the Rules Committee at the 9 desk. 10 We'll ask the Secretary to 11 read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 13 from the Committee on Rules, offers up the 14 following bills directly for third reading: 15 Senate Bill 6436-A, by the 16 Committee on Rules, an act to amend the Civil 17 Service Law; 18 Senate Bill 7873, by the 19 Committee on Rules, an act to amend the 20 Legislative Law; 21 7874, by the Committee on 22 Rules, an act to repeal Section 2 of a chapter 23 of the Laws of 1998; 24 7875, by the Committee on 25 Rules, an act to amend the Legislative Law; 1 7876, by the Committee on 2 Rules, an act to amend the Executive Law and a 3 chapter of the Laws of 1998; 4 7877, by the Committee on 5 Rules, an act to amend the Education Law; 6 7878, by the Committee on 7 Rules, an act to amend the State Finance Law 8 and a chapter of the Laws of 1998; and 9 Assembly Bill 11464, by the 10 Assembly Committee on Rules, an act to amend 11 the Judiciary Law, the Executive Law and the 12 Legislative Law. 13 All bills directly for third 14 reading. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 16 motion is to accept the report of the Rules 17 Committee. All those in favor signify by 18 saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye".) 20 Opposed, nay. 21 (There was no respones.) 22 The report is accepted. 23 The bills are reported directly 24 to third reading. 25 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 1 I move we accept the Rules report as read. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Rules report is accepted. 4 Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 6 can we at this time call up Calendar Number 7 1683. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1683, 10 Senate Print 7877. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1683, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 13 Print 7877, an act to amend the Education Law, 14 in relation to establishing a charter school 15 program. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 17 Bruno. 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 19 is there a message at the desk? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 21 is. 22 SENATOR BRUNO: Move to accept 23 the message. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 25 motion is to accept the message of necessity 1 on Calendar Number 1683. All those in favor 2 signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye".) 4 Opposed, nay. 5 (Response of "Nay".) 6 The message is accepted. 7 The bill is before the house. 8 The Secretary will read the 9 last section. 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: 11 Explanation. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 26. 13 This act shall take effect immediately. 14 SENATOR CONNOR: Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 16 Connor. 17 SENATOR CONNOR: Just briefly 18 to explain my vote. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 20 Senator, let me call the roll so we can get 21 the bill before the house. 22 The Secretary will call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the 25 roll.) 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in 2 the affirmative. 3 SENATOR CONNOR: Party vote in 4 the negative. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 Secretary will call the party votes with 7 exception. 8 SENATOR CONNOR: Without 9 exception. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 11 Secretary will call the party line vote. 12 The Chair recognizes Senator 13 Connor to explain his vote. 14 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 To briefly explain my vote. I 17 think the members of the Senate Minority in 18 this house support innovative changes in the 19 educational system. I think we would like to 20 explore in a less hurried fashion the concept 21 of charter schools. We want to do it in a 22 proper way. We want to do it so collective 23 bargaining rights are preserved, so that we're 24 sure that certified teachers are used and so 25 that other concepts like the Regents control 1 of education and local control are preserved. 2 This bill doesn't meet that. 3 That's why we're against it, Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 5 Announce the results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 34, nays 7 25. Party vote. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 bill is passed. 10 Senator Bruno. 11 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 12 can we call up Calendar 1684. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 14 Secretary will read Calendar 1684, Senate 15 7878. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1684, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 18 7878, an act to amend the State Finance Law 19 and a chapter of the Laws of 1998. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 21 Bruno. 22 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 23 message at the desk? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 25 is. 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Move to accept 2 the message. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 motion is to accept the message on Calendar 5 Number 1684. All those in favor signify by 6 saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye".) 8 Opposed, nay. 9 (There was no response.) 10 The message is accepted. 11 The bill is before the house. 12 The Secretary will read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. 15 This act shall take effect on the same date as 16 a chapter of the Laws of 1998. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the 20 roll.) 21 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in 22 the affirmative. 23 SENATOR CONNOR: Party vote in 24 the negative. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 Secretary will call the party line votes with 2 exceptions. Exceptions please raise your 3 hands. Keep them raised until we announce the 4 results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 38, nays 6 21. Party vote with exceptions. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 Secretary will announce the exceptions. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 10 in the affirmative are Senators Dollinger, 11 Gentile, Senator Hoffmann, Senator Nanula and 12 also Senator Oppenheimer. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 14 Announce the updated results. 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 39, nays 16 20. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 bill is passed. 19 Senator Bruno. 20 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 21 can we at this time call up Calendar Number 22 1677. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 24 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1677. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 1 1677, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 2 Assembly Print 11464, an act to amend the 3 Judiciary Law, the Executive Law and the 4 Legislative Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 Secretary will read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 16. 8 This act shall take effect January 1st, 1999. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the 12 roll.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 14 the negatives. Announce the results. The 15 Secretary will announce the results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 17 in the negative on Calendar Number 1677 are 18 Senators Alesi, Breslin, Bruno, DeFrancisco, 19 Dollinger, Gentile, Hoffmann, Kuhl, Larkin, 20 Leibell, Libous, Maziarz, Meier, Nanula, 21 Nozzolio, Oppenheimer, Saland, Santiago, 22 Seward, Stachowski, Stafford, Volker and 23 Wright. Also Senator Farley, also Senator 24 Rath, also Senator Holland. Ayes 33, nays 25 26. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 bill is passed. 3 SENATOR CONNOR: Mr. President, 4 excuse me. How was Senator Onorato recorded? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 6 Onorato was recorded in the affirmative. 7 SENATOR CONNOR: I think he was 8 a negative, Mr. President. Is that right? 9 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes. 10 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 12 Onorato, did you wish to be recorded in the 13 negative? 14 (Senator Onorato nods head.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 16 objection, Senator Onorato will be recorded in 17 the negative on Calendar Number 1677. 18 Announce the final results. 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 32, nays 20 27. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Bruno. 24 SENATOR BRUNO: Announce the 25 results, Mr. President. Have we announced the 1 results, Mr. President? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We 3 have, Senator Bruno. 4 The bill is passed. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 6 bill is passed. 7 SENATOR BRUNO: Would you call 8 up Calendar Number 1679, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 10 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1679, 11 Senate Print 7873. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1679, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 14 7873, an act to amend the Legislative Law, in 15 relation to allowances payable to certain 16 Senate officers. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will read the last section. 19 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 20 message at the desk? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 22 is. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: Move to accept 24 the message. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 motion is to accept the message of necessity 2 on Calendar 1679. All those in favor signify 3 by saying aye. 4 (Response of "Aye".) 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (Response of "Nay".) 7 The message is accepted. 8 The bill is before the house. 9 The Secretary will read the 10 last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 12 This act shall take effect on the same date as 13 a chapter of the Laws of 1998. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the 17 roll.) 18 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote 19 in the negative. 20 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in 21 the affirmative. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 Secretary will call the party line vote. 24 Announce the results. 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 34, nays 1 25; party vote. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 6 would you call up Calendar 1680. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 8 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1680, 9 Senate Print 7874. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1680, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 12 7874, an act to repeal Section 2 of a chapter 13 of the Laws of 1998. 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 15 message at the desk? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 17 is. 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Move to accept 19 the message. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 motion is to accept the message of necessity 22 on Calendar Number 1680. All those in favor 23 signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye".) 25 Opposed, nay. 1 (Response of "Nay".) 2 The message is accepted. 3 The bill is before the house. 4 The Secretary will read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 7 This act shall take effect on the same date as 8 a chapter of the Laws of 1998. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the 12 roll.) 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote 14 in the negative. 15 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in 16 the affirmative. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 18 Secretary will record the party line vote. 19 Announce the results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35, nays 21 24; party vote. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 23 bill is passed. 24 Senator Bruno. 25 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 1 would you call up Calendar Number 1681. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1681, 4 Senate Print 7875. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1681, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 7 7875, an act to amend the Legislative Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 9 Bruno. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 11 message at the desk? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 13 is. 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Move the 15 message be accepted. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 17 motion is to accept the message of necessity 18 on Calendar Number 1681. All those in favor 19 signify by saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye".) 21 Opposed, nay. 22 (There was no response.) 23 The message is accepted. 24 The bill is before the house. 25 The Secretary will read the 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 3 This act shall take effect on the same date as 4 a chapter of the Laws of 1998. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the 8 roll.) 9 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote 10 in the negative. 11 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in 12 the affirmative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 14 Secretary will record the party line vote. 15 Announce the results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35, nays 17 24. Party vote. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 19 bill is passed. 20 Senator Paterson, why do you 21 rise? 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. 23 President, what was the tabulation on this 24 last vote again? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 Secretary informs me that the vote is 34 votes 2 cast in the affirmative, 25 in the negative. 3 SENATOR PATERSON: I'm sorry, 4 Mr. President. I thought I heard 35/24. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: It's 6 because of old age, Senator Paterson, and you 7 did. You're correct. They were announced 8 incorrectly. 9 Senator Bruno. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Can we call up 11 Calendar Number 1682, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 13 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1682, 14 Senate Print 7876. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1682, by the Committee on Rules, Senate Print 17 7876, an act to amend the Executive Law and a 18 chapter of the Laws of 1998. 19 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there a 20 message at the desk? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 22 is. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: Move the 24 message be accepted. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 1 motion is to accept the message of necessity 2 on Calendar Number 1682. All those in favor 3 signify by saying aye. 4 (Response of "Aye".) 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (Response of "Nay".) 7 The message is accepted. 8 The bill is before the house. 9 The Secretary will read the 10 last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 12 This act shall take effect on the same date as 13 a chapter of the Laws of 1998. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the 17 roll.) 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Party vote in 19 the affirmative. 20 SENATOR PATERSON: Party vote 21 in the negative. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 23 the party line vote. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 25 Announce the results. 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 34, nays 2 25; party vote. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 4 bill is passed. 5 Senator Leichter, why do you 6 rise? 7 SENATOR LEICHTER: Exception on 8 the party vote. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator 10 Paterson, do you wish to have a party line 11 vote recorded with exceptions? 12 SENATOR PATERSON: With 13 exceptions, please, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: All 15 right. The Secretary will note the exceptions 16 to the party line vote in the negative. Would 17 the exceptions please raise your hands and 18 keep them raised until the vote is announced. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 20 Secretary will announce the results with 21 exceptions. 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 41, nays 23 18; party vote with exceptions. The 24 exceptions: Senators Abate, Hoffmann, 25 Lachman, Leichter, Markowitz, Mendez and 1 Montgomery. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Breslin, why do you 5 rise? 6 SENATOR BRESLIN: Mr. 7 President, I request to be recorded in the 8 negative with unanimous consent on Calendar 9 Number 1678. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without 11 objection, hearing no objection, Senator 12 Breslin will be recorded in the affirmative or 13 in the negative? 14 SENATOR BRESLIN: Negative. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: 16 Negative on Calendar Number 1678. 17 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 18 can we at this time call up Calendar Number 19 1685. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 21 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1685, 22 Assembly 9867-A. 23 The Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 25 Calendar Number 1685, Senator Bruno moves to 1 discharge from the Committee on Rules Assembly 2 Print 9867-A and substitute it for the 3 identical Senate Bill 6436-A. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 substitution is ordered. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1685, by member of the Assembly Crowley, 9 Assembly Print 9867-A, an act to amend the 10 Civil Service Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 12 Secretary will read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 14 This act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the 18 roll.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Record 20 the negatives. Announce the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 58, nays 22 1, Senator Leichter recorded in the negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 24 bill is passed. 25 (Pause) 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 2 Senate will come to order. Ask the members to 3 take their chairs, the staff to find their 4 places. A little order in the chamber. 5 The Chair recognizes Senator 6 Bruno. 7 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 8 can we return to motions and resolutions. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Can we 10 have a little order in the house. We'll 11 return to the order of motions and 12 resolutions. 13 The Chair recognizes Senator 14 Bruno. 15 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 16 I believe you have a privileged resolution at 17 the desk that was sponsored by the Rules 18 Committee. I would be honored and pleased if 19 you would read it and move for its immediate 20 adoption. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There 22 is a resolution at the desk. 23 The Secretary will read the 24 title. 25 SENATOR BRUNO: Why don't you 1 read it. 2 SENATOR DOLLINGER: Can we see 3 it? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 5 Secretary will read the resolution in its 6 entirety. 7 THE SECRETARY: By the Senate 8 Committee on Rules, Concurrent Resolution 9 Number 4306, Concurrent Resolution of the 10 Senate and Assembly fixing the salaries of the 11 offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor 12 pursuant to Article IV, Sections 3 and 6 of 13 the Constitution of the state of New York; 14 WHEREAS, the salaries of the 15 offices of Governor and Lieutenant Governor 16 were last increased to take effect in 1987; 17 and 18 WHEREAS, the salaries of other 19 state officials and employees have been fixed 20 at levels which exceed or closely approach the 21 salaries of the Governor and Lieutenant 22 Governor; now, therefore, be it 23 RESOLVED, if the Assembly 24 concur, that effective January 1st, 1999, the 25 salary of the office of Governor shall be 1 fixed at $179,000 per annum and the salary of 2 the office of Lieutenant Governor shall be 3 fixed at $151,000, provided, however, that 4 this resolution shall have no force and effect 5 in the event that effective January 1st, 1999 6 the salaries of the Comptroller and Attorney 7 General are less than $151,500 per year. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 9 question is on the resolution. All those in 10 favor signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye".) 12 The Secretary will call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the 15 roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded 17 in the negative on Concurrent Resolution 18 Number 4306 are Senators Breslin, Dollinger, 19 Gentile, Nanula and Stachowski. Ayes 54, nays 20 5. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 22 resolution is adopted. 23 Senator Bruno. 24 SENATOR BRUNO: Is there any 25 housekeeping at the desk, Mr. President? 1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There's 2 nothing at the desk, Senator. 3 SENATOR BRUNO: Well, then, Mr. 4 President, my colleagues, in memory of the 5 late Senator Jess Present, there being no 6 further business to come before the Senate, I 7 would move that we stand adjourned subject to 8 the call of the Majority Leader, and I would 9 like to take this opportunity to wish you all 10 a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thank 11 you, Mr. President. Intervening days to be 12 legislative days. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The 15 Senate stands adjourned in memory of the late 16 Senator Jess Present, all intervening days to 17 be legislative days. 18 (Whereupon, at 8:15 p.m., the 19 Senate adjourned.) 20 21 22 23 24 25