Gaveled in 3:13 PM · Albany, New York · 2005–06 session
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 24, 2005 11 3:13 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25
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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 stand and repeat with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 THE PRESIDENT: In the absence of 10 clergy, may we bow our heads in a moment of 11 silence, please. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 15 Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Monday, May 23, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, May 22, 19 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 20 adjourned. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 24 Presentation of petitions. 25 Messages from the Assembly.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Messages from the Governor. 2 Reports of standing committees. 3 Reports of select committees. 4 Communications and reports from 5 state officers. 6 Motions and resolutions. 7 Senator Bruno. 8 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President, 9 can we at this time adopt the Resolutions 10 Calendar, with the exception of Resolutions 11 1944 and 2088. 12 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 13 so adopting the Resolution Calendar please 14 signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 17 (No response.) 18 THE PRESIDENT: The Resolution 19 Calendar is so adopted. 20 Senator Bruno. 21 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President, 22 can we at this time take up a resolution by 23 myself and Senator Morahan, have it read in 24 its entirety, and move for its immediate 25 adoption.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 2 will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: By Senators Bruno 4 and Morahan, Legislative Resolution Number 5 1944, memorializing Governor George E. Pataki 6 to proclaim May 24, 2005, as Senate 7 Disabilities Awareness Day in the State of 8 New York. 9 "WHEREAS, The New York State Senate 10 Committee on the Disabled is sponsoring the 11 25th Annual Senate Disabilities Awareness Day 12 in Albany, New York; and 13 "WHEREAS, Members of this 14 Legislative Body have selected residents from 15 their districts who embody the celebrated 16 spirit of perseverance and determination to 17 'achieve through adversity' to be honored as 18 2005 Senate Achievers; and 19 "WHEREAS, In addition, a Technology 20 Fair will be held with exhibitors from across 21 the State displaying their programs; and 22 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 23 Legislative Body that persons with 24 disabilities merit our recognition as they 25 realize the goals of inclusion and equality in
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(518) 371-8910 1 our communities and society at large; and 2 "WHEREAS, It is the intent of this 3 Legislative Body to recognize persons with 4 disabilities, accentuating, in turn, the 5 benefit to New York State of their 6 contributions to our economic, educational and 7 social growth; and 8 "WHEREAS, Senate Disabilities 9 Awareness Day so clearly labors for the 10 positive and salutary definition of the 11 communities of the State of New York; and 12 "WHEREAS, Senate Disabilities 13 Awareness Day provides individuals with an 14 opportunity to acknowledge and understand the 15 legislative process; now, therefore, be it 16 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 17 Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize 18 Governor George E. Pataki to proclaim May 24, 19 2005, as Senate Disabilities Awareness Day in 20 the State of New York, fully confident that 21 such procedure mirrors our shared commitment 22 to the efflorescence of human dignity; and be 23 it further 24 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 25 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
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(518) 371-8910 1 to the Honorable George E. Pataki, Governor of 2 the State of New York, and selected 3 representatives of persons with disabilities." 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Madam 6 President and colleagues. 7 We've heard a resolution that will 8 become part of the records of the work of the 9 Senate and the Legislature. And I want to 10 just say a word about this being the 25th 11 annual Disabilities Awareness Day that we 12 celebrate here in the Senate. 13 And Senator Morahan, who chairs 14 this event and shares all of what is going on 15 here, did a remarkable job today with those 16 that have joined us, some of them here in the 17 chamber. 18 And, Tom, on behalf of the Senate, 19 thank you for your efforts and all the good 20 things that you do in helping coordinate this 21 event today, but throughout the year, dealing 22 with people that are disabled in any way -- 23 physically, emotionally or mentally. 24 But, you know, all of us can look 25 to people that have joined us today and truly
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(518) 371-8910 1 be inspired. Because when you look around at 2 people who are here, they are getting an 3 Achiever's Award in this 25th year for doing 4 things with their lives that are beyond what 5 people would feel they were able to do. 6 And it takes special courage, it 7 takes stamina, it takes just pure true grit, 8 many times, to be an achiever when life has 9 not treated people the way they might prefer. 10 But they step up, step out, and really 11 socially enrich us, culturally, educationally, 12 as models for all of us. 13 So, Madam President and colleagues 14 and all of you that are here, those of you 15 that have received awards, families that are 16 here, neighbors that are here -- and my 17 designee, Bernice Maxwell, had to leave on a 18 family matter and is not here with us, but we 19 recognized and honored her here this morning. 20 But I just really want to say to 21 each of you that you are appreciated, you are 22 recognized, you are truly role models for 23 people who see what you do and how you do it. 24 You're an inspiration for all of us. 25 So we thank you for all of your
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(518) 371-8910 1 good works and the good things you do on 2 behalf of all the people here in this state, 3 and God bless you all. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Morahan. 5 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you, 6 Madam President. 7 And thank you, Senator Bruno, for 8 those wonderful remarks about those people in 9 New York who are more challenged than some 10 others. 11 All across this state people are 12 challenged, either physically or mentally, 13 somehow to carve out a life of their own, to 14 be an achiever, to make an accomplishment, to 15 contribute to their communities. 16 Today we recognize 26 role models 17 who have the attitude of can-do. Without 18 limbs, in some cases; in wheelchairs, in 19 others; with other sorts of disabilities. 20 They overcame those challenges -- met the 21 challenges, rather, overcame their 22 disabilities, and really are remarkable 23 people. 24 And we paid homage to them today, 25 and we gave them recognition as achievers,
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(518) 371-8910 1 because they now serve as role models for all 2 of the folks around New York State who could 3 use that level of enthusiasm to overcome. 4 I really appreciated the 5 opportunity to chair the event today in The 6 Well of the LOB, to meet the heroes, in my 7 book, from around the state, to meet those who 8 I wonder what I could have done in the same 9 condition -- would I have had the will, would 10 I have had the attitude, would I have had the 11 determination to succeed as they did. And not 12 only to succeed in their own lives, but often 13 it was demonstrated that they have done so 14 much for so many others. Some who weren't 15 even challenged, they have helped. 16 So our hats are off to all of those 17 who came today, all of the disabled people in 18 the state of New York who have worked so hard 19 to overcome their disabilities, and to give 20 you our commitment as a Senate, on both sides 21 of the aisle, that we recognize what you have 22 done and we stand committed to serve the 23 mentally disabled and the physically disabled 24 and the developmentally disabled in the state 25 of New York.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Madam President. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator LaValle. 3 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 4 Madam President. I would just like to add a 5 few words to those of Senator Bruno and 6 Senator Morahan. 7 It seems almost a lifetime ago 8 professionally for me when I got involved in, 9 as director of the Education Committee, 10 writing legislation that provided for free and 11 appropriate education. And I only mention 12 that because it was more than 20 years ago and 13 I have seen our society really provide a fair 14 and equitable playing field for people who are 15 challenged. 16 And today I met an individual, Josh 17 Stewart, who was nominated by Senator Flanagan 18 and stopped in my office, and listened to him 19 about his entrepreneurial spirit of how he 20 would go on, and I'm absolutely convinced, 21 someday to own his own business. 22 And, you know, today what it's all 23 about, you can be anything that you want to 24 be. And our laws and our society are 25 providing the pathway to do that very thing.
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(518) 371-8910 1 And I congratulate Senator Morahan 2 on his good work in providing for a day like 3 today and encouraging the laws that we need to 4 make people independent and contributing 5 members of our society. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The question now 7 is on the resolution. All in favor please 8 signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 11 (No response.) 12 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 13 adopted. 14 And you have our respect and 15 admiration and congratulations. Best wishes 16 to everyone involved here. 17 (Standing ovation.) 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno. 19 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President, 20 with Senator Morahan's indulgence, we'd like 21 to ask all the conference members to join in 22 this resolution. And if you'd rather not, 23 please let the desk know at your leisure. 24 Thank you, Madam President. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Any member who
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(518) 371-8910 1 does not wish to sponsor the last resolution 2 please notify the desk. 3 Senator Bruno. 4 SENATOR BRUNO: And, Madam 5 President, can we at this time have the 6 resolution by Senator Skelos, 2088, have the 7 title read and move for its immediate 8 adoption. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 10 will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 12 Skelos, Legislative Resolution Number 2088, 13 memorializing Governor George E. Pataki to 14 proclaim May 25, 2005, as Missing Children's 15 Day in New York State. 16 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor 17 please signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 20 (No response.) 21 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 22 adopted. 23 Senator Flanagan. 24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Madam 25 President, if the Senate could stand at ease
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(518) 371-8910 1 for a few moments. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate stands 3 at ease. 4 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 5 ease at 3:26 p.m.) 6 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 7 at 3:36 p.m.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 9 Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 11 believe there are some substitutions at the 12 desk, if we could make them at this time. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 Secretary will read the substitutions. 15 THE SECRETARY: On page 12, 16 Senator Larkin moves to discharge, from the 17 Committee on Aging, Assembly Bill Number 399 18 and substitute it for the identical Senate 19 Bill Number 62, Third Reading Calendar 89. 20 On page 13, Senator Marcellino 21 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 22 Health, Assembly Bill Number 4577A and 23 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 24 Number 1771A, Third Reading Calendar 113. 25 On page 15, Senator Alesi moves to
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(518) 371-8910 1 discharge from the Committee on Corporations, 2 Authorities and Commissions, Assembly Bill 3 Number 727 and substitute it for the identical 4 Senate Bill Number 1318, Third Reading 5 Calendar 186. 6 On page 16, Senator DeFrancisco 7 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 8 Investigations and Government Operations, 9 Assembly Bill Number 1115 and substitute it 10 for the identical Senate Bill Number 39, Third 11 Reading Calendar 235. 12 On page 22, Senator Wright moves to 13 discharge, from the Committee on Tourism, 14 Recreation and Sports Development, Assembly 15 Bill Number 6127 and substitute it for the 16 identical Senate Bill Number 2530, Third 17 Reading Calendar 391. 18 On page 25, Senator Balboni moves 19 to discharge, from the Committee on 20 Transportation, Assembly Bill Number 4225 and 21 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 22 Number 1786, Third Reading Calendar 479. 23 On page 25, Senator Spano moves to 24 discharge, from the Committee on 25 Investigations and Government Operations,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Bill Number 6353 and substitute it 2 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3001, 3 Third Reading Calendar 508. 4 On page 27, Senator Hannon moves to 5 discharge, from the Committee on Health, 6 Assembly Bill Number 1842 and substitute it 7 for the identical Senate Bill Number 756, 8 Third Reading Calendar 540. 9 On page 35, Senator Winner moves to 10 discharge, from the Committee on Agriculture, 11 Assembly Bill Number 7432 and substitute it 12 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4673, 13 Third Reading Calendar 692. 14 On page 47, Senator Farley moves to 15 discharge, from the Committee on Banks, 16 Assembly Bill Number 7388 and substitute it 17 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4522, 18 Third Reading Calendar 838. 19 On page 62, Senator Robach moves to 20 discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 21 Assembly Bill Number 3454 and substitute it 22 for the identical Senate Bill Number 1893, 23 Third Reading Calendar 994. 24 And on page 70, Senator DeFrancisco 25 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
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(518) 371-8910 1 Civil Service and Pensions, Assembly Bill 2 Number 6142A and substitute it for the 3 identical Senate Bill Number 3050A, Third 4 Reading Calendar 1079. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Substitutions ordered. 7 Senator Skelos. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Would you please 9 recognize Senator Fuschillo. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Motions 11 and resolutions. 12 Senator Fuschillo. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 On behalf of Senator Alesi, on page 16 number 33 I offer the following amendments to 17 Calendar Number 654, Assembly Print Number 18 966A, and ask that said bill retain its place 19 on Third Reading Calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 amendments are received and adopted, and the 22 bill will retain its place on the Third 23 Reading Calendar. 24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 25 Senator Leibell, on page number 37 I offer the
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(518) 371-8910 1 following amendments to Calendar Number 726, 2 Senate Print Number 3626, and ask that said 3 bill retain its place on the Third Reading 4 Calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 amendments are received and adopted, and the 7 bill will retain its place on the Third 8 Reading Calendar. 9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 10 Senator Padavan, on page number 51 I offer to 11 following amendments to Calendar Number 887, 12 Senate Print Number 3914, and ask that said 13 bill retain its place on Third Reading 14 Calendar. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 amendments are received and adopted, and the 17 bill will retain its place on the Third 18 Reading Calendar. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 20 Senator Saland, on page number 64 I offer the 21 following amendments to Calendar Number 1014, 22 Senate Print Number 3314, and ask that said 23 bill will retain its place on Third Reading 24 Calendar. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
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(518) 371-8910 1 amendments are received and adopted, and the 2 bill will retain its place on the Third 3 Reading Calendar. 4 Senator Little. 5 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. 6 President. 7 On behalf of myself, Senator 8 Little, on page 58 I offer the following 9 amendments to Calendar Number 955, Senate 10 Print Number 4911, and ask that the said bill 11 retain its place on the Third Reading 12 Calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 amendments are received and adopted, and the 15 bill will retain its place on the Third 16 Reading Calendar. 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 20 of the calendar. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 22 Secretary will conduct the noncontroversial 23 reading of the calendar. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 117, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 676,
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(518) 371-8910 1 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, 2 in relation to permitted use. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 6 aside. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 8 bill aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 167, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 182A, an 11 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 12 creating. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 169, by Senator Marcellino -- 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
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(518) 371-8910 1 the day, please. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 3 bill aside for the day. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 199, by Member of the Assembly Stringer, 6 Assembly Print Number 630, an act to amend the 7 Real Property Tax Law, in relation to 8 assessors and assessor training. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 10 last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect on the first of April. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 248, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print -- 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 22 the day, please. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 24 bill aside for the day. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 268, by Senator LaValle -- 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay the bill 3 aside for the day, please. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 5 bill aside for the day. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 361, by Senator LaValle -- 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay the bill 9 aside for the day. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 11 bill aside for the day. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 575, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 3278, an 14 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 15 penalties. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 19 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 598, by Senator Padavan -- 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Lay it 4 aside, please. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 6 bill aside. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 605, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 2551, 9 an act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to 10 exempting. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 12 a local fiscal impact note at the desk. 13 Read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the first day of the 16 sales tax quarterly period. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 729, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 268, an 25 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
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(518) 371-8910 1 relation to approaching a parked, stopped or 2 standing hazard vehicle. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 738, by Senator Farley -- 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 16 the day, please. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 18 bill aside for the day. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 742, by Senator Balboni -- 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 22 the day, please. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 24 bill aside for the day. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 747, by Senator Balboni -- 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 3 the day, please. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 5 bill aside for the day. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 751, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 4508, an 8 act to amend the Civil Service Law, in 9 relation to the representation. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 787, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 4520, an 22 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to the 23 imposition of sales. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 25 last section.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 813, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4326, an 11 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 12 relation to the power of the State of New York 13 Mortgage Agency. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 823, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 5177, an
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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 2 relation to directors. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 831, by Senator Morahan -- 15 SENATOR MORAHAN: Lay it aside 16 for the day. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 18 bill aside for the day. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 833, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 4048, an 21 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to 22 establishing standards. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 24 last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 845, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 4971, an 10 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 11 biennial registration fees. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 20 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 850, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 4184, an 25 act to amend the Workers' Compensation Law, in
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(518) 371-8910 1 relation to employment. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 3 last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 7 roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 11 is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 854, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 1409, an 14 act to amend the Insurance Law and the Vehicle 15 and Traffic Law, in relation to establishing. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 19 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Onorato, to explain his vote. 25 SENATOR ONORATO: To explain my
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(518) 371-8910 1 vote, Mr. President. 2 Mr. President, I'm going to vote 3 for this bill. I think it's a good bill. 4 But I think we could make it a 5 little bit better, Senator Johnson, if you 6 were to amend it to address the concerns of 7 some people regarding taking safety courses on 8 the Internet. It's a wonderful suggestion, 9 for those who are trying to do it, to reduce 10 their insurance premiums. 11 But we have a lot of youngsters who 12 have gotten points on their license, and they 13 are also eligible to take this on the 14 Internet. And I think it would be much better 15 if we got them, students, into the classroom 16 to take it before they would be eligible for a 17 reduction in their insurance rates. 18 Again, I will be voting for the 19 bill, but please consider the amendment. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Announce 21 the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 856, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 4320, an 2 act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation to 3 limitations. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 859, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1412, an 16 act to amend the Real Property Actions and 17 Proceedings Law, in relation to purchase. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 860, by Senator Alesi -- 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Lay it 6 aside. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 8 bill aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 865, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 11 4847, an act to amend Chapter 231 of the Laws 12 of 1998 amending the Real Property Actions and 13 Proceedings Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 891, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 4032,
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(518) 371-8910 1 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 2 sexual conduct. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the first of 7 September. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 894, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 4196, an 16 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 17 custodial interference. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the first of 22 November. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 24 roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 910, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 3440, an 6 act authorizing Stanley Chizuk to receive 7 retirement service credit. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 915, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 4446, an 20 act to amend the Civil Service Law, in 21 relation to permitting. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 23 last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 Golden, to explain his vote. 6 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 7 Acting President. 8 The bill that we're passing today 9 was an amendment made to the bill -- or a bill 10 passed to help and to assist the Port 11 Authority police officers that were not 12 included in the previous bill, that would 13 allow their sons and daughters to go on to 14 become police officers or firemen, to gain 15 extra points on their acceptance to the police 16 department or fire department, because of 17 those that were lost in 9/11, those 400-plus 18 firemen and police officers that died on that 19 terrible, terrible day. 20 This would correct that injustice 21 and allow the Port Authority police officers, 22 their sons and daughters, to be able to follow 23 in the footsteps of their mothers and fathers 24 that were on the departments before them. 25 And I'm also proud to be able to
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(518) 371-8910 1 point up to a school from my district, the 2 Resurrection. And up there is the "Senator 3 for a Day," Gillian Sineflow [ph]. And those 4 kids were part of that terrible tragedy when 5 they seen those buildings come down on 9/11. 6 And many of the parents that went to 7 Resurrection -- or some of the parents were 8 lost on 9/11. And that's also one of the 9 schools, unfortunately, that will be closed in 10 Brooklyn and Queens. 11 But this is a great justice for 12 those families and those children of police 13 officers, firemen, and for those that worked 14 for the Port Authority. And I thank this body 15 for passing that. And obviously I vote yes. 16 Thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 18 Golden will be recorded in the affirmative. 19 The Secretary will announce the 20 results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 948, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 4498, an
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(518) 371-8910 1 act authorizing the assessor of the County of 2 Nassau to accept. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 11 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 950, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4556, an 16 act to amend Chapter 564 of the Laws of 2004. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 25 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 951, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4716, an 5 act to authorize the Independent Group Home 6 Living Program, Inc. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 15 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 952, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 4894, 20 an act to authorize the First Church of 21 Christ, Scientist, to file an application. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 23 last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 5 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1006, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 5247, an 10 act to amend the Executive Law and the State 11 Finance Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 26. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1047, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 2224, 24 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 25 relation to including.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 9 the day, please. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 11 bill aside for the day. 12 Senator Skelos, that completes the 13 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. If we could return to reports 16 of standing committees and take up the Finance 17 Committee report at this time. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Reports 19 of standing committees. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson, 22 from the Committee on Finance, reports the 23 following nominations. 24 As commissioner of the Tax Appeals 25 Tribunal, Robert J. McDermott, of New York
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(518) 371-8910 1 City. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Johnson. 4 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 5 nominations, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 question is on the nomination of Robert J. 8 McDermott, of New York City, as Commissioner 9 of the Tax Appeals Tribunal. All those in 10 favor signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye.") 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 13 opposed, nay. 14 (No response.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 nominee is confirmed. 17 Mr. McDermott is with us today in 18 the gallery. 19 And, Mr. McDermott, 20 congratulations, and we wish you well with 21 your important duties. 22 (Applause.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 Secretary will continue to read. 25 THE SECRETARY: As a member of
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(518) 371-8910 1 the New York State Olympic Regional 2 Development Authority, Edwin H. Weibrecht, of 3 Lake Placid. 4 As a member of the Niagara Frontier 5 Transportation Authority, Peter G. Demakos, of 6 Amherst. 7 As a member of the Port of Oswego 8 Authority, Ralph Jennings, of Oswego. 9 As a member of the Allegany State 10 Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation 11 Commission, Laureen J. Peterson, of Salamanca. 12 As a member of the Saratoga-Capital 13 District State Park, Recreation and Historic 14 Preservation Commission, Raymond A. Waldron, 15 of Saratoga Springs. 16 As a member of the Veterans Affairs 17 Commission, Ben E. Peets, of Tupper Lake. 18 As a member of the Mental Health 19 Services Council, Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., of 20 New York City. 21 As a member of the State Fire 22 Prevention and Building Code Council, Thomas 23 B. Vanderbeek, of Suffern. 24 As members of the Board of Visitors 25 of the Agricultural and Industrial School at
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(518) 371-8910 1 Industry, James P. Mulley, Jr., of Webster, 2 and John R. Rosati, of Rochester. 3 As a member of the Board of 4 Visitors of the Bronx Children's Psychiatric 5 Center, Raquel C. Coca, of the Bronx. 6 As a member of the Board of 7 Visitors of the Broome Developmental 8 Disabilities Services Office, Ann Brigid 9 Sullivan, of Morris. 10 As members of the Board of Visitors 11 of the Capital District Developmental 12 Disabilities Services Office, Sharon Brooks, 13 of Fort Johnson; Arthur P. Pagano, of Cohoes; 14 and Joan D. Taylor, of Niskayuna. 15 As a member of the Board of 16 Visitors of the Capital District Psychiatric 17 Center, E. Bernice Danks, of Averill Park. 18 As a member of the Board of 19 Visitors of the Central New York Developmental 20 Disabilities Services Office, Elizabeth 21 Vaught, of Baldwinsville. 22 As a member of the Board of 23 Visitors of the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, 24 Gloria M. Allen, of Hollis. 25 As a member of the Board of
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(518) 371-8910 1 Visitors of the Mohawk Valley Psychiatric 2 Center, Maryrose Eannace, Ph.D., of Clinton. 3 As a member of the Board of 4 Visitors of the Hudson Valley Developmental 5 Disabilities Services Office, Helen S. Crabbe, 6 of Orangeburg. 7 As a member of the Board of 8 Visitors of the Richard H. Hutchings 9 Developmental Disabilities Services Office, 10 Richard Ellison, Esquire, of Syracuse. 11 As a member of the Board of 12 Visitors of the St. Lawrence Psychiatric 13 Center, Edward J. Knight, of Lisbon. 14 As a member of the Board of 15 Visitors of the Taconic Developmental 16 Disabilities Services Office, Theresa 17 Sgrulletta, of Mount Kisco. 18 As a member of the Board of 19 Visitors of the Valley Ridge Center for 20 Intensive Treatment, Irad S. Ingraham, 21 Esquire, of New Berlin. 22 And as a member of the Board of 23 Visitors of the Western New York Developmental 24 Disabilities Services Office, Jessie B. Wells, 25 of Buffalo.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 question is on the confirmation of the 3 nominees. All those in favor signify by 4 saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 7 opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 10 nominees are confirmed. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Skelos. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. If we could take up the report of 16 the Judiciary Committee at this time. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 Secretary will read the report of the 19 Judiciary Committee. 20 THE SECRETARY: Senator 21 DeFrancisco, from the Committee on Judiciary, 22 reports the following nominations. 23 As a judge of the Surrogate's Court 24 for the County of Rockland, G. Nicholas Del 25 Pizzo, of Nyack.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 DeFrancisco. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I'm proud to rise to move the 6 nomination of G. Nicholas Del Pizzo, of Nyack, 7 as a judge of the Surrogate's Court. 8 Mr. Del Pizzo has been reviewed by 9 not only the Governor's office, his 10 qualifications have been reviewed by the 11 Judiciary Committee. And the Judiciary 12 Committee unanimously voted his nomination to 13 the floor and unanimously recommended his 14 confirmation. 15 And I would request that you would 16 please recognize Senator Morahan for a second. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Can we 18 have some order in the chamber, please. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Excuse me. 20 Senator Spano. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: No, 22 Senator Morahan. 23 SENATOR MORAHAN: No, you were 24 right, John. 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Morahan. 3 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. Thank you, Senator DeFrancisco. 5 I rise in support of this 6 nomination and confirmation of G. Nicholas 7 Del Pizzo from Rockland County. 8 He's been an acting village judge 9 in South Nyack, served with great distinction. 10 He received his juris doctorate from Pace 11 University. He was entered into the bar in 12 1985 and has had a long career in public 13 service and in private practice, serving as a 14 Family Court attorney representing the 15 Department of Social Services, that agency, in 16 Family Court. And then in 1991 he was 17 promoted, if you will, to be the supervising 18 attorney for the agency in the Family Court. 19 He's a veteran, a captain of the 20 U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. And 21 he's been involved in the community in the 22 Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, 23 the PINS Advisory Board, the board of 24 directors of the Empire Hook & Ladder down in 25 Upper Nyack, and many other community services
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(518) 371-8910 1 that he's performed. 2 And I congratulate the Governor for 3 making this nomination, and I stand foursquare 4 behind this nomination and for the 5 confirmation. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 question is on the confirmation of G. Nicholas 9 Del Pizzo as a judge of the Surrogate's Court 10 for Rockland County. All those in favor 11 signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 14 opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 nominee is confirmed. 18 Judge Del Pizzo is with us in the 19 gallery. He's accompanied by his daughter, 20 Sarah, and by Linda Bean. 21 Judge, we congratulate you and we 22 wish you well. 23 (Applause.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 25 Secretary will continue to read.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 2 Westchester County Court, Charles Devlin, of 3 Chappaqua. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 DeFrancisco. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I'm also 7 proud to rise to move the nomination of 8 Charles Devlin as a judge of the Westchester 9 County Court. 10 He also had his qualifications 11 reviewed by the Governor's office and 12 thoroughly reviewed by the Senate Judiciary 13 Committee. His nomination was unanimously 14 forwarded to the full Senate, and the 15 recommendation for his approval has been 16 unanimous as well. 17 And I would request that you, 18 Mr. President, please recognize Senator Spano 19 to second the nomination. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Spano. 22 SENATOR SPANO: Thank you, Mr. 23 President. 24 It's my pleasure to second the 25 nomination of Charles Devlin to the County
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(518) 371-8910 1 Court in Westchester County. 2 I've known Charlie Devlin for many 3 years and in many different capacities, as 4 someone who started his career in 1970 as a 5 law clerk, has steadily risen through the 6 ranks in the infrastructure of our courts, and 7 has become an expert on some of the more 8 sensitive areas of dealing with people with 9 disabilities. 10 When we passed the law that I was 11 proud to be the prime sponsor of a number of 12 years ago creating Article 81 of the Mental 13 Hygiene Law, helping people who are mentally 14 and physically incapacitated, it was Charlie 15 Devlin who was there as a resource to the 16 members of this house, and to the Assembly, in 17 the passage and also the implementation of a 18 bill that -- of a law that deals with a very 19 fragile population. 20 The Governor should be 21 congratulated for recommending someone to us 22 with the type of credentials that he has in 23 serving people so ably in our court system. 24 He has taken on the responsibility 25 of training the judges, where many of the
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(518) 371-8910 1 judges in our system will actually have gone 2 to him, to seek his input and recommendations 3 when it comes to issues regarding people with 4 developmental disabilities and people with 5 disabilities generally. 6 So it's my pleasure to second the 7 nomination of Charlie Devlin. I'm very glad 8 and proud to be able to call him Judge Devlin; 9 it's a title that he certainly is entitled to. 10 And I'm proud of the Governor's recommendation 11 of such an outstanding person to that post. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Oppenheimer. 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: And I'd 16 like to join in the congratulations of 17 soon-to-be Judge Devlin. He lives in my 18 Senate district. 19 And I was also very moved and 20 pleased by the association that you have with 21 the mentally ill children and the Clearview 22 School. 23 And from everything I read, your 24 background as far as the guardianship work 25 you've done, the work you've done has
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(518) 371-8910 1 certainly prepared you for this judgeship. 2 And I wish you very well. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 question is on the confirmation of Charles 5 Devlin as a judge of the Westchester County 6 Court. All in favor please signify by saying 7 aye. 8 (Response of "Aye.") 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 10 opposed, nay. 11 (No response.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 nominee is confirmed. 14 Judge Devlin is with us today in 15 the gallery. He's accompanied by his wife, 16 Clara Keenan; his son, Timothy Keenan-Devlin; 17 and his coworkers Marita McMahon and Kerney 18 Christian. 19 Judge, congratulations and best 20 wishes. 21 (Applause.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 Secretary will continue to read. 24 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 25 Westchester County Family Court, Irene Ratner,
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(518) 371-8910 1 of New Rochelle. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 DeFrancisco. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I'm also 5 proud to rise to move the nomination of Irene 6 Ratner for Westchester Family Court. 7 Her qualifications and background 8 were also reviewed by the Governor's office 9 and our committee thoroughly, and the 10 committee also unanimously recommended the 11 approval of Irene Ratner and the confirmation 12 by the full Senate. 13 And I would again ask that you 14 recognize Senator Spano to second the 15 nomination. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Spano. 18 SENATOR SPANO: Thank you, 19 Senator DeFrancisco and Mr. President. 20 It's my pleasure also to second the 21 nomination of Irene Ratner. This is not the 22 first time that I've had an opportunity to 23 speak on the floor of the Senate in favor of 24 the Governor's recommendation for Irene Ratner 25 to the judiciary.
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(518) 371-8910 1 It is so important when we deal 2 with the Family Court that we have a person 3 who can handle families who are in crisis. 4 And with Irene Ratner, she has had almost a 5 decade working with the supervising judge of 6 the Family Court in Westchester, Joan Cooney; 7 serving as a court attorney, as a referee to 8 the Family Court; and has dealt with every 9 possible variation of crisis that our families 10 deal with in the Family Court. 11 We need to have someone who knows 12 the law. We need to have someone who has the 13 sensitivity to deal with families who are 14 presented to her in crisis. And I'm so proud 15 to second her nomination today. 16 She has a list of outstanding 17 achievements in many different areas in our 18 county in Westchester, and she will serve us 19 well as a member of the Family Court. And I'm 20 proud to second the nomination of Judge Irene 21 Ratner. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Oppenheimer. 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: And I'm 25 proud to third the nomination.
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(518) 371-8910 1 We are having a banner day in 2 Westchester, for Westchester County today. 3 This is our second nominee. 4 And Irene Ratner I know through the 5 wonderful work she's done with the Women's Bar 6 Association of Westchester County. 7 And as Senator Spano has mentioned, 8 I mean, you look at the things that she has 9 been involved in and committed to. I mean, 10 it's the full panoply of things that will come 11 before her in the Family Court -- domestic 12 violence, juvenile delinquency, neglect and 13 abuse, child custody and visitation, child 14 support, paternity. 15 I mean, these are all the things 16 that she has been working on lo these many 17 years, and now she will make a judge who has 18 the experience and the capacity to do a really 19 bang-up job in Family Court in Westchester 20 County. 21 I'm delighted to congratulate her. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 question is on the confirmation of Irene 24 Ratner as a judge of the Family Court for the 25 County of Westchester. All those in favor
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(518) 371-8910 1 signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 4 opposed, nay. 5 (No response.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 nominee is confirmed. 8 Judge Ratner is with us today in 9 the gallery. She's accompanied by her 10 husband, Joseph Ratner, and by her colleague 11 Judge Janet DiFiore. 12 Judge, congratulations and best 13 wishes with your duties. 14 (Applause.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 16 Skelos. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr. 18 President. If we could now go to the 19 controversial reading of the calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 Secretary will conduct the controversial 22 reading of the calendar. 23 The Secretary will ring the bells. 24 The Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 117, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 676, 2 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 4 Explanation. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Marcellino, an explanation has been requested 7 by Senator Liz Krueger. 8 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 9 President, can I ask for some order in the 10 house, please. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Well, 12 that would be nice. 13 Can we have some order in the 14 house. 15 Senator Marcellino. 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 17 President, through you, this bill provides 18 that vehicles with permits for handicapped 19 parking issued anywhere in the state may be 20 used in all spaces for handicapped parking 21 anywhere in the state, including New York 22 City. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Krueger. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. If, through you, the sponsor 2 would yield. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Marcellino, do you yield for a question? 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, the 6 sponsor yields for a question. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 sponsor yields. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 10 Do we have any estimate of how many 11 additional people under your law would then be 12 free to park on the streets in New York City 13 in no-parking areas? 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: The only 15 number that we can give you with some accuracy 16 is there are approximately 65,000 parking 17 spaces issued from New York State. There are 18 other localities issuing parking permits as 19 well; we can't get those, because you have to 20 call each and every one of the entities that 21 issue the spaces. 22 So the answer is not accurately. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 24 President, if, through you, the sponsor would 25 continue to yield.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Marcellino, do you yield? 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, I do. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 sponsor yields. 6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 7 Senator, you've visited my district 8 in Manhattan? 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I've been to 10 Manhattan many times. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 12 Senator, if the sponsor would 13 continue to yield. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Do you 15 yield, Senator Marcellino? 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, I 17 yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 19 sponsor yields. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: It's been 21 your experience that we have a parking or 22 traffic problem in my district, Senator? 23 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, I 24 believe you do have a parking problem in your 25 district, Senator.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Would the Senator yield for a 2 question? 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Certainly I 4 will. 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Senator, 6 have you visited Long Island? 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I 8 have. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Have you 10 visited my district? 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I 12 have. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Are you 14 aware that we might have a parking-spot 15 problem in our district as well? 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Not as 17 great as my district on a daily basis. 18 But I would accept your parking 19 problems also. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: If you're 21 looking for a parking space and you're 22 handicapped, I would suggest that it doesn't 23 matter what the level of difficulty is, you 24 want a parking space. This bill is related to 25 fairness.
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(518) 371-8910 1 If New York City residents can park 2 in the Fifth Senate District on Long Island 3 with a handicapped parking permit issued by 4 the City of New York, then residents of the 5 Fifth Senate District have a perfect right to 6 park in Manhattan with a handicapped permit 7 issued from Long Island. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 9 President, if the sponsor would yield, please. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 Marcellino, do you continue to yield? 12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, I 13 continue to yield. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 sponsor yields. 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 17 Senator, would your district not 18 have its own ability to determine whether it 19 accepts designated state-issued or New York 20 City-issued disability permits? Or is that 21 only controlled by the State of New York, sir? 22 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Senator, to 23 my knowledge, state law allows state permits 24 to be issued and used anywhere. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr.
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(518) 371-8910 1 President, if the sponsor would continue to 2 yield. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Marcellino, do you yield? 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I yield. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 sponsor yields. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 9 To clarify my question, could your 10 town or your county or parts of your district 11 request a law to change the rules for parking 12 in your own district? Is that your 13 understanding, that you could do that if you 14 wanted? 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, they 16 could, Senator. But I don't believe that's 17 the point. 18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Okay. Mr. 19 President, on the bill. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Liz Krueger, on the bill. 22 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 23 Certainly I don't wish to 24 discourage or to deny equal treatment of 25 people with disabilities for their right to
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(518) 371-8910 1 park. And certainly I do recognize that 2 because of specific types of disabilities, 3 many people with special needs have added 4 problems getting access to anywhere in the 5 State of New York and in the City of New York. 6 What I'd like to highlight as my 7 problems with this bill, as I understand it, 8 is that in New York City we've actually 9 established a special disability parking 10 permit where you go through an added process 11 of having a doctor's review of your disability 12 and your need to have access to on-street 13 parking. 14 It is my understanding that the 15 state's process in issuing state-issued 16 disability permits is a less complex process 17 and does not necessarily require that there is 18 medical review of the person's need to have 19 on-street parking -- and that, in fact, rather 20 than it being a license or something that is 21 immovable from the car, that it is some kind 22 of hanging device that can be moved from car 23 to car. So that there's not a guarantee that 24 the person with the permit in fact is the 25 disabled individual.
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(518) 371-8910 1 It's also my understanding from 2 data I've received, which Senator Marcellino 3 might be able to refute, that there are 4 approximately 535,000 of these state-issued 5 movable disability permits that, if his bill 6 became law, would allow -- I'm not saying 7 everybody would come to New York City and 8 would come to New York City at the same time, 9 but would allow that large a universe of 10 people, in addition to an additional 65,000 11 residents in New York City, to park in 12 no-parking zones. 13 I do understand the problems of 14 people with disabilities needing to be close 15 to wherever they're going when they're driving 16 vehicles. But I would also make the argument 17 that the crowding on the streets of 18 Manhattan -- not speaking for the entire state 19 or the entire city, but speaking for my 20 district, that the crowding on the streets of 21 Manhattan are at the point of gridlock, both 22 in attempting to drive down the blocks and in 23 the legal and illegal parking and 24 double-parking that take place on every side 25 street and every avenue in my district on the
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(518) 371-8910 1 East Side, in Midtown, every day of the week. 2 And I would argue that the goal and 3 the need for Manhattan Island is to figure out 4 how we decrease the use of private cars and 5 that we decrease on-street parking. 6 And so while I am not 7 philosophically opposed to ensuring equal 8 treatment of handicapped parking permits for 9 anywhere in the state of New York, I would 10 argue that the current crisis faced on 11 Manhattan Island -- with too many private 12 cars, too many people attempting to park in 13 too few parking spaces, too little access to a 14 public transportation system that needs to be 15 expanded and that is not being expanded, the 16 absence of a Second Avenue Subway being built, 17 the absence of improvements in bus service 18 rather than reductions in the number of buses, 19 the added risk and problem that my island 20 faces if the proposal to build a stadium on 21 the West Side were to -- I hope not, but were 22 to go through, with an additional 75,000 seats 23 and not one parking spot, to add to the 24 current crisis on Manhattan Island -- begs for 25 me the argument that I cannot support this
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(518) 371-8910 1 bill because we cannot handle more traffic and 2 congestion. 3 And we have to address the bigger 4 problems for the City of New York's public 5 transportation system and the problems that 6 Manhattan Island faces or the Midtown, the 7 East Side and the West Side face. Which, as I 8 refer to it daily in my own district, is 9 continuing to be the assignment how many 10 people can you fit on the head of a pin. And 11 we have maximized our ability to do so. 12 So I will be voting against this 13 bill but hoping my colleagues on both sides of 14 the aisle will be interested in exploring ways 15 that we can in fact address the crisis of too 16 many cars on the streets of New York City, 17 both trying to move down those streets and 18 attempting to park on our streets. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Marcellino. 22 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 I would be more than willing to 25 join the Senator in some kind of a survey or
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(518) 371-8910 1 some kind of a look at parking problems in 2 general and the way and the nature by which we 3 issue parking permits for everybody, 4 handicapped or otherwise. 5 And if you said to me you want to 6 limit access to Manhattan Island, we might 7 want to limit access to Nassau County or 8 Suffolk County as well on certain days and 9 certain times. That may be something anybody 10 looks at, whatever. But if you do it 11 uniformly. 12 What is happening now is the City 13 of New York, setting up its own standards, is 14 saying our people can park anywhere in the 15 state, but your people in the rest of the 16 state cannot park in New York. 17 So Senator Libous's mother, who has 18 a handicapped parking permit because she has 19 cancer and needs to go to Sloan-Kettering, 20 cannot use that handicapped parking permit in 21 New York City. That's outrageous. It is 22 unfair, and it is not equitable. 23 Senator, you voted for this bill 24 last year. It's the same bill. This bill 25 passed this house unanimously last year, with
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(518) 371-8910 1 two exclusions, two people who were excused 2 for the day. It makes no sense to me to say, 3 on the day we are honoring the handicapped, 4 that some handicapped are better than others. 5 And that's what you're basically saying. 6 If you want to address parking 7 problems in the City of New York, call the 8 mayor's office, tell him not to go for the 9 stadium, tell him to work it out and do some 10 kind of a survey study and control parking. 11 We do it on the townships on Long Island. I 12 suggest you do it in Manhattan. 13 But by doing it on the backs of the 14 handicapped and somehow suggesting that all of 15 them -- I know you said you didn't think they 16 would all come, but I don't -- you know, to 17 say that they're all going to come into the 18 city at the same time and somehow exacerbate a 19 problem, I sincerely doubt that's going ever 20 to happen. And I sincerely doubt, even if 21 they all did, it would ever matter. 22 So I think this bill is good, it's 23 a matter of fairness and should be passed in 24 both houses and become law in this state. 25 Fairness should be the issue that this house
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(518) 371-8910 1 stands for. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Schneiderman. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. On the bill. 6 I think it is unfortunate that the 7 debate that just took place seems to be trying 8 to pit one group of handicapped people against 9 another. The fact of the matter is we don't 10 have enough parking spaces in Manhattan now 11 for our own handicapped individuals in 12 New York City who already have permits. 13 It is not to denigrate anyone 14 else's legitimate desire to park on the street 15 to say that that problem will not be helped, 16 this crisis will not be alleviated by passing 17 this piece of legislation as currently 18 drafted. 19 I agree with Senator Marcellino 20 that there is an element of unfairness that 21 needs to be addressed. My concern is that we 22 pass legislation that with the flick of the 23 Governor's pen automatically authorizes tens 24 of thousands and we believe, now, hundreds of 25 thousands of people to possibly park in the
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(518) 371-8910 1 streets, doesn't provide for any additional 2 parking spaces. That's not going to result in 3 them having a place to park, that's going to 4 result in nobody having a place to park. 5 So I think that there is a 6 legitimate point being raised here that if we 7 treat a problem like this without dealing with 8 the resource issue, without going to the City 9 Department of Transportation saying is there 10 any realistic way to expand the number of 11 parking spaces, we're not really addressing 12 the problem. 13 What we're doing is creating a 14 situation in which you're going to have more 15 people with handicapped tags circling around 16 and around and around blocks that there's no 17 place for them to park. And that's not really 18 solving their problem. That's not really 19 helping them. 20 I would urge my colleague that 21 before we move forward with this bill -- and I 22 realize a lot of -- everyone voted for it last 23 year. There is some new information, 24 including information about the 535,000 25 statewide tags that are out, that has become
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(518) 371-8910 1 available. But I would urge that we at least 2 amend the bill to permit parking only by 3 persons with state-issued vehicle plates, as 4 opposed to hang tags. As Senator Krueger 5 pointed out, those can be moved from one 6 vehicle to another. 7 We have a real problem here. There 8 are legitimate reasons for handicapped people 9 outside of the city to want to park in the 10 city. You're right. You're absolutely right. 11 But we're not going to solve that problem with 12 this sort of an approach, I don't think, 13 unless we're very careful and very conscious 14 of the fact that unless we create more parking 15 spaces, if we're encouraging more people to 16 drive in, we're just creating problems for a 17 larger group. 18 So I understand the impetus behind 19 this legislation. I think that something like 20 this has to be done. But I do think that this 21 current bill, as currently drafted, requires 22 some amendment before I can support it. So I 23 will be voting no, Madam President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you, Senator Schneiderman.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Maltese. 2 SENATOR MALTESE: Madam 3 President, I rise in support of this 4 legislation, although I'm from the City of 5 New York. 6 To be honest, listening to Senator 7 Schneiderman, I'm, as they used to say, 8 shocked, outraged and dismayed at the fact 9 that he wants to apparently retain all the 10 handicapped parking permit spaces for the 11 residents of the City of New York. 12 We're constantly endeavoring to get 13 people from outside the city to come into 14 New York City for a variety of reasons. And 15 especially in the circumstances enumerated by 16 Senator Marcellino, where so many come in to 17 use our premier hospitals and medical services 18 and medical facilities, it does seem that 19 these are the people that would be most helped 20 by it. 21 I think we should open our arms and 22 embrace these people who require these 23 handicapped parking spaces, make everything as 24 easy as possible for them to come in. I 25 think, quite frankly, it's the liberal, human
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(518) 371-8910 1 approach. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you, Senator Maltese. 4 Senator Padavan. 5 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, 6 Madam President. I share the points of view 7 that were expressed by Senator Maltese. 8 If we have a problem in the City of 9 New York, whether it be in Manhattan or in any 10 other borough, with inadequate numbers of 11 handicapped parking spaces, then that's a 12 problem those of us who represent different 13 parts of the City of New York should address. 14 As should our city councilmen, our borough 15 president, and others. Let's solve that 16 problem. 17 But to do so at the expense of 18 people who come from outside our city -- my 19 district is an example. It's right on the 20 border of Nassau. Now, what you're suggesting 21 is that Nassau residents who come across that 22 line to shop, to visit a physician, to go to a 23 movie would not have the same benefit as a 24 Queens resident who goes across that line for 25 the very same purposes. Makes no sense
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(518) 371-8910 1 whatsoever. 2 If there is a problem in the city, 3 let's address it. But not at the expense of 4 handicapped individuals from outside the City 5 of New York who come into my district, and 6 perhaps yours, and they're welcome. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 8 you, Senator Padavan. 9 Senator LaValle. 10 SENATOR LaVALLE: Madam 11 President, I rise to support this legislation. 12 And I would hope that we not get 13 into a debate where we balkanize the state and 14 say these laws are only good for our citizens, 15 our handicapped, and not for handicapped who 16 come from Long Island or Westchester or any 17 other part of the state. 18 By the same token, I think those of 19 us on Long Island -- I mean, should we put up 20 signs "for residents only"? 21 I think today is a day -- and we've 22 talked about it by resolution, I talked about 23 it in my remarks -- that as a society we want 24 to pave the way so that people can be 25 self-sufficient and independent. And
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(518) 371-8910 1 certainly the City of New York is known for 2 having some of the finest health facilities. 3 We want to encourage people who have problems 4 to be able to go to those facilities and 5 really not have to worry about all these 6 things of parking -- where to park, where not 7 to park. 8 So I think we want to open our arms 9 and make sure that people are accommodated 10 whenever possible. Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you, Senator LaValle. 13 Senator Sabini. 14 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam 15 President. On the bill. 16 I think the legislation is 17 well-intentioned, but I think it's not based 18 on the reality of what the current status of 19 parking is in the city. We don't have 20 handicapped spots in the City of New York. 21 They don't exist on our streets, not like 22 Albany or other places. 23 The no-parking areas are the 24 handicapped areas. That's where your permit 25 is applicable. And the standards in New York
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(518) 371-8910 1 City for a handicapped plate are significantly 2 tougher than the standards in other places, 3 and the permit is attached to your license 4 plate. So it's a little different situation. 5 And while I would like to see a 6 solution that would please the sponsor, I 7 don't know if this is it. Because in effect 8 it would take large swaths of the city and 9 allow people who need it, or in some cases 10 maybe disingenuously are using the permit, to 11 park where there's no parking. 12 So I don't think this is the 13 ultimate solution. If we had handicapped 14 spots within New York City, fine. If you want 15 to direct the city to have handicapped spots, 16 propose legislation to do it. I don't think 17 too many members from the city would vote for 18 it, because the constituency would be in an 19 uproar because so many spots would be lost, 20 even additional to the ones we have now. But 21 so be it. 22 But I don't think this is the 23 solution applicable to the City of New York 24 that's going to solve the problem you're 25 looking to solve. I think it's
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(518) 371-8910 1 well-intentioned, but I don't see how it works 2 under the current conditions now. I think it 3 needs either more legislation or a change in 4 policy at the city level or a change in policy 5 around the state as to who gets these permits. 6 I don't think that the bill works 7 for New York City right now under these 8 circumstances. I'd like to see it changed so 9 it would be better for everybody. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you, Senator Sabini. 13 Senator Libous. 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Madam 15 President. On the bill. 16 I am amazed at this debate, quite 17 frankly. Senator Morahan today had an 18 outstanding day, a day where we honored people 19 with particular achievements and disabilities, 20 a day that I had the pleasure of sponsoring 21 and supporting for the last 12 years. 22 And Senator Morahan mentioned this 23 morning that attitude is the only disability 24 and that the people that were here in this 25 chamber have had to overcome severe
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(518) 371-8910 1 obstacles -- the loss of a limb, mental, 2 physical disability. And we are arguing over 3 access to parking for people with 4 disabilities. 5 Certainly I respect that those who 6 represent areas of New York City understand 7 their districts. And I believe you, all of 8 you, that there are probably problems with 9 parking. I know there are. I've been to 10 New York City. I've been to Manhattan, I've 11 been to Queens, my son lives in Astoria. 12 There are problems. 13 And I don't think any of us in our 14 lifetimes will ever solve those parking 15 problems. We can try to make them better, but 16 in our lifetime we'll never solve those 17 parking problems. 18 But to deny people with 19 disabilities who have a disabled parking 20 permit from other parts of the state who wish 21 to go to the city for their own pleasure or 22 entertainment, just because they have a 23 disability to be denied to park in one of 24 those spots, makes absolutely no sense to me. 25 To have to go there for care -- and
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(518) 371-8910 1 many of my constituents have to go to the 2 great hospitals, as was mentioned by my 3 colleagues here, and they have disabled 4 license plates. Because they get their cancer 5 treatment there, they get their psychiatric 6 treatment there, or they get other treatment 7 there. 8 So on a day in which we earlier and 9 in this chamber at 3 o'clock honored the 10 obstacles that people with disabilities have 11 to overcome, we sit and fight over whether or 12 not one of those individuals who is able to 13 drive is able to have that privilege -- 14 because they still can drive -- to be able to 15 park in a handicapped spot in the City of 16 New York, makes absolutely no sense to me. 17 And I think this bill should pass 18 unanimously. I vote aye. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 20 you, Senator Libous. 21 Senator Liz Krueger. 22 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 23 To speak on the bill again. And to clarify a 24 point that perhaps I didn't make clearly 25 enough before.
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(518) 371-8910 1 This isn't a bill that would only 2 impact people who live outside of New York 3 City. This bill, if passed -- and again, I 4 don't believe it's in our best interests to do 5 so -- would also affect 65,000 people in 6 New York City. 7 So I just want to make it clear 8 this should not be played off as an 9 in-New-York-City versus outside-New-York-City 10 debate, because the City of New York currently 11 does not issue special disability parking 12 permits to 65,000 people who live in the City 13 of New York who have the state-issued permit 14 but don't meet the standard for New York 15 City's rules. 16 Second, again -- Senator Sabini 17 said it, but based on Senator Libous's 18 comments, I'm not sure he heard it -- we're 19 not talking about depriving people of the 20 right to park in disability parking spots on 21 our streets. We're talking about saying no, 22 you can't park in no-parking zones in 23 Manhattan, because we don't have on-street 24 disability parking spaces. 25 So we're talking about saying
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(518) 371-8910 1 please let's not allow people to park in 2 no-parking zones, there are so many problems 3 with traffic and with parking on Manhattan 4 Island. 5 And finally, because I want to make 6 it clear, I represent the district that has 7 most of the great medical institutions that 8 you've mentioned your family members and your 9 constituents going to. And every one of them 10 has parking lots. And I will happily give you 11 the names and addresses and opening entrances 12 for each of those institutions' parking lots, 13 because the only option is not parking in 14 no-parking zones on the streets surrounding 15 those great institutions, for myself and my 16 district running from Mount Sinai all the way 17 down to Beth Israel -- 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 19 DeFrancisco, why do you rise? 20 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Madam 21 President, would the Senator be willing to be 22 asked a question? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 24 you. 25 Senator Krueger, do you yield to a
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(518) 371-8910 1 question? 2 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I do, 3 Madam President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 5 you. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I just 7 don't know the answer to this, and maybe you 8 can tell me. 9 Are handicapped people in the City 10 of New York allowed to park in no-parking 11 zones? 12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Only 15,000 13 out of the 65,000 who have been issued the 14 state disability permit. The city has a 15 stricter review it goes through, and it has 16 only issued those license plate IDs to 15,000. 17 And, yes, if they are attempting to 18 park on the streets of New York City, they are 19 not parking in disabled parking spaces, they 20 are parking in no-parking zones. 21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would she 22 answer another question, please. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 24 Krueger, do you yield again? 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I
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(518) 371-8910 1 will, Madam President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And the 5 second question is, how does one get the 6 special parking permit? What do you -- how -- 7 is the severity of the disability? Or how 8 does one get one of those 15,000 as opposed to 9 those that are handicapped that don't? 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: It's issued 11 through the city, both at the Bellevue 12 Hospital Center and through the Department of 13 Health and Mental Retardation. 14 And I can get you more detailed 15 information about the exact process, but it 16 does involve a physician's sign-off on 17 documents. 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, thank 19 you. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 21 Thank you, Madam President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 23 you, Senator Krueger. 24 Thank you. Senator Diaz. 25 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam
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(518) 371-8910 1 President. Will the sponsor yield for one 2 simple question? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you. 5 Senator Marcellino, will you yield? 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 8 Senator yields. 9 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you. 10 Senator Marcellino, obviously this 11 is a bill that impacts the City of New York. 12 Did you consult the New York City Department 13 of Transportation or the office of the mayor 14 in this bill? 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I don't 16 believe we contacted, except to get 17 information from them as to the number of 18 spaces and the like, availability, were 19 available for parking, no. 20 Because this bill -- Senator, this 21 bill does not just impact the City of 22 New York. Handicapped parking, there are 23 no -- in no place that I know are there enough 24 handicapped parking spaces for people who need 25 them. Nor are there -- is there one permit --
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(518) 371-8910 1 there's no such thing as one permit for 2 available space. They always issue more 3 permits than available space. And that is 4 true in the city, that is true everywhere else 5 in the state. 6 What we're just suggesting is that 7 for those people who come from Long Island or 8 upstate New York or Westchester County, 9 wherever, and who wish to enter the city and 10 find a legal parking space and they happen to 11 be handicapped, they should be able to use 12 their handicapped permit. 13 If a resident of the City of 14 New York should use his or her handicapped 15 parking space in a legal spot in Nassau County 16 or Suffolk County, where it's first-come, 17 first-served -- and it's the same way in the 18 city; it's first-come, first-served for 19 available spaces. Upstate too. There's no 20 difference -- then everybody should have 21 access. It's a matter, in my mind, of simple 22 fairness. 23 I understand what has been said 24 about the density of parking and all of the 25 problems that relate. We have the same
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(518) 371-8910 1 situations in our downtowns on the Island and 2 in other areas. The same issue -- it may not 3 be as intense, but the same issue exists 4 everywhere. 5 However, what we're suggesting here 6 is that some handicapped people are more equal 7 than other handicapped people. And I don't 8 understand that. And I don't think you do 9 either. I think you agree with me that 10 fairness is the issue here, that everyone 11 should be treated equally and fairly as much 12 as we can do it. 13 The fact that there isn't enough 14 spaces in the city or other places, that's an 15 issue of another situation. That's somebody 16 else's dealings. The legal governments of 17 those areas should address those problems as 18 best they can. I suggest they probably have. 19 But we should not be adding to the 20 problem by saying if you live here, you can; 21 if you live over here, you can't access a 22 handicapped spot. It doesn't make any sense 23 to me, and I don't think it makes any sense to 24 anybody. 25 SENATOR DIAZ: Madam President,
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(518) 371-8910 1 would the sponsor yield for another question, 2 please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you. 5 Senator Marcellino, will you yield 6 for another question? 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Sure I will. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 9 Senator yields. 10 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm not a lawyer. 11 Lawyers use -- 12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Neither am 13 I. 14 SENATOR DIAZ: Lawyers use some 15 kind of terminology. They say prima facie. 16 So looking at the bill, it's a 17 prima facie simple thing. I think that you're 18 right, you're right. Fairness means -- if our 19 residents in New York City could park outside 20 of New York City, especially handicapped, why 21 don't we allow them -- it's easy. I think -- 22 I agree with you in that part. I agree with 23 that. 24 My question comes because every 25 city mayor, borough president, or whatever
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(518) 371-8910 1 deserves some kind of courtesy to be contacted 2 or to be asked or to be informed of certain 3 bills, of what we're doing to do that will 4 affect that city. 5 And me, as a representative of the 6 City of New York, sometimes, once in a while, 7 I would like to follow my mayor's lead. The 8 mayor should know best what's good for the 9 City of New York. 10 So my question was, if you haven't 11 contacted the City of New York, why don't you? 12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Senator, I 13 don't mean to cut you off, if you're -- but we 14 have been in contact with the mayor's office, 15 we have memoed them back and forth in requests 16 for information regarding the bill and so 17 forth. 18 You're right. There is a courtesy 19 situation that you would ask permission. But 20 in this case, I don't think we had to ask 21 permission to establish fairness for our 22 citizens. 23 The city from the beginning has 24 sent memos back saying basically what I'm 25 hearing from Senator Krueger and Senator
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(518) 371-8910 1 Schneiderman now, that there is a big problem 2 in the city and we can't afford to have 3 anybody else come in here and park. 4 Well, that's -- that's -- then 5 address that problem, City of New York. Or 6 any other place where it exists. I would say 7 the same thing to my supervisor or the mayor 8 of a local village. If you've got a parking 9 problem, it's your obligation to take care of 10 it. 11 But you don't exclude people from 12 using public parking. 13 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: And even 15 handicapped is public parking. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Madam President, 17 on the bill. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 19 you. Senator Diaz, on the bill. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm going to vote 21 for this bill. 22 I'm voting for this bill because I 23 think that fairness calls us to be fair, and I 24 like to be fair. And I think the sponsor is 25 calling us to be fair so people with handicaps
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(518) 371-8910 1 from Long Island or other parts of the state 2 could park in the City of New York. Why can't 3 they -- you know, vice versa. So fairness is 4 fairness. 5 So I'm supporting the bill under 6 protest. I'm supporting the bill under 7 protest, because I don't have the opinion of 8 New York City Department of Transportation and 9 the New York City mayor on this bill. And I 10 think that the New York City Department of 11 Transportation and the mayor's office should 12 have been contacted to see what was their 13 reaction on this occasion. Because the mayor 14 should know best what's good for the city. 15 So thank you, Madam President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 17 you, Senator Diaz. 18 Is there any other Senator who 19 wishes to speak on the bill? 20 Debate is closed. 21 The Secretary will ring the bell. 22 Read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 4 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I just 6 quite frankly would say, in support of this 7 bill, because I'm voting yes -- and that is 8 that if you look at the reverse situation, 9 you'd see how absurd the situation is in 10 New York City. 11 We have a place, the university 12 section, where there's a couple of hospitals 13 in Syracuse. It also has the Carrier Dome 14 where there's all kinds of events. And 15 consider the possibility of the City of 16 Syracuse saying only handicapped people from 17 Syracuse could use any of the handicapped 18 spots. 19 The second part of it is -- and I 20 don't care what the City Transportation 21 Department would say about their rationale. 22 It's just unfair. 23 And, secondly, I think it's a 24 dangerous precedent when we start having 25 barriers, whether it's in Syracuse or
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(518) 371-8910 1 New York, to residents freely going between 2 the two and having the same advantages. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 4 DeFrancisco recorded in the affirmative. 5 Senator Stavisky. 6 SENATOR STAVISKY: Madam 7 President, to explain my vote. 8 First of all, when I drive through 9 Nassau County and I see signs that say 10 "residents only," I feel a sense of exclusion. 11 Secondly, there's nothing, as I 12 read it, in the bill to -- there's nothing in 13 the existing statute to prevent someone who 14 either works in New York City or goes to 15 school in New York City but lives outside the 16 city, there's nothing to prohibit them from 17 applying for that special permit that has more 18 stringent requirements. 19 My suggestion is let us include 20 people using medical facilities as well. 21 But for that reason, I vote no. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 23 Stavisky recorded in the negative. 24 Senator Sabini to explain his vote. 25 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam
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(518) 371-8910 1 President. 2 I'm reluctantly voting in the 3 negative. I agree with the spirit of the 4 bill, but I think it's a bad solution. 5 But I also hope that, since we 6 heard a lot about fairness, that when folks 7 from around this state talk about fairness, I 8 remind them there are some parts of this state 9 that you can live in New York City and work in 10 other parts of the state and pay a commuter 11 tax, but if you work in New York City and live 12 in other parts of the state, there is no 13 fairness. 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 16 Sabini recorded in the negative. 17 The Secretary will announce the 18 results. 19 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 20 the negative on Calendar Number 117 are 21 Senators L. Krueger, Parker, Sabini, 22 Schneiderman, Serrano and Stavisky. 23 Those Senators absent from voting 24 on Calendar Number 117: Sampson and M. Smith. 25 Ayes, 52. Nays, 6.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 2 bill is passed. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 598, by Senator Padavan, Senate -- 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: Lay it aside 7 for the day. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 9 bill is laid aside for the day. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 860, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 2417, an 12 act to amend the General Business Law and the 13 Civil Practice Law and Rules. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 15 Schneiderman. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: In the 17 interests of time, I will not ask for an 18 explanation. I commend to everyone the 19 sponsor's brilliant explanation last year, 20 which still makes good reading. 21 However, I will, as I did last 22 year, vote against this bill. This is a trade 23 secrets act that would -- that would -- I'm 24 sorry, Madam President, the Greek chorus here 25 is acting up.
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(518) 371-8910 1 This is a trade secrets act that 2 would provide the broadest possible definition 3 of "trade secret," meaning any form of 4 financial or business information that derives 5 economic value from the fact that it's not 6 generally known -- I think that would probably 7 cover a shortcut on a delivery route or 8 anything else -- and provides judicial 9 protection to it even if it is only alleged to 10 be a trade secret. 11 What this does is provide a broad 12 cloak to hide business information that may in 13 fact conceal issues that are of vital public 14 interest. The examples that are given in some 15 of the memos submitted in opposition to this 16 are the Firestone-Ford catastrophe, where 17 information on the lack of safety in certain 18 tires was withheld from the public. We know 19 from the litigation over smoking that it was 20 essential that some executives came forward 21 with information about the dangers of smoking, 22 the tests that been done that was being 23 withheld from the public. 24 If this bill passed, that sort of 25 whistle-blowing would be ended. This provides
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(518) 371-8910 1 extraordinarily broad protection for any sort 2 of business information. And in fact, as I 3 noted last year, and several other people did, 4 all you have to do is allege a trade secret, 5 and then the court can immediately provide for 6 the preservation of secrecy. 7 What we should be doing is trying 8 to open up the process. If something is not 9 patentable, something is not trademarked, 10 something is not covered by existing 11 intellectual property rights, let's not expand 12 the universe to cover anything that someone 13 alleges is of economic value. Let's handle 14 this with a different approach. 15 There are bills that have been 16 proposed that I think are far superior to this 17 that would allow for the sunshine in 18 litigation. The Sunshine in Litigation Act is 19 what one of them is called. We don't need 20 more gag orders. We don't need more secrecy. 21 I do think this is an ill-conceived approach 22 to this problem. 23 And I don't really know that there 24 is any particular need to pass this. There 25 are contractual ways for people to provide
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(518) 371-8910 1 that they keep information to themselves that 2 have been effective for decades and decades. 3 I think this is just an effort, 4 however well-intentioned, that's going to 5 result in the shielding of vital information 6 from the public and have a chilling effect on 7 whistle-blowers who currently come forward 8 with such information. 9 So I will be voting no again, Madam 10 President, and encouraging all of my 11 colleagues to do likewise. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Is 13 there any Senator -- thank you. 14 Senator Alesi. 15 SENATOR ALESI: I would encourage 16 my colleagues to do just the opposite. I 17 would encourage them to vote for this bill, 18 for the very simple reason that many of the 19 things that were expressed as a concern 20 against this bill already exist in common law. 21 The main thrust behind this bill is 22 to codify it to create a uniform situation 23 which 40 states in this nation have already 24 done. We've invested literally billions of 25 dollars in high-tech, biotech and other kinds
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(518) 371-8910 1 of industry that rely on trade secrets and 2 proprietary information for the provision of 3 jobs, job retention, job growth, stimulating 4 the economy. 5 And to be able to protect that 6 information, to be able to treat that kind of 7 information as a secret so that someone can't 8 simply misappropriate it -- which is the main 9 underpinning of this bill -- for their own 10 financial gain, at the expense of the company 11 that's done the research and investment -- to 12 not do this bill, like 40 other states, really 13 flies in the face of what we're trying to do 14 to expand the economy, especially in the area 15 of high-tech, which is very sensitive to trade 16 secrets. 17 So I would simply encourage my 18 colleagues to vote yes on this bill and to 19 understand that many of the concerns that my 20 colleague has raised can be addressed in other 21 fashions in common law. 22 This simply creates a uniform code 23 that 40 other states have and New York State 24 should join in and protect our businesses here 25 and create a level playing field for them so
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(518) 371-8910 1 that they don't feel as though they have to go 2 somewhere else to be protected under more 3 sensible legislation. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 5 you, Senator Alesi. 6 Is there any other Senator wishing 7 to be heard? 8 The debate is closed. 9 The Secretary will ring the bell. 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 12 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 17 Secretary will announce the results. 18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 19 the negative on Calendar Number 860 are 20 Senators Breslin, Brown, Connor, Duane, 21 Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Morahan, 22 Onorato, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino, 23 Schneiderman, Serrano, A. Smith, Stachowski 24 and Stavisky. 25 Those absent from voting on
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(518) 371-8910 1 Calendar Number 860: Senators Sampson and 2 M. Smith. 3 Ayes, 41. Nays, 17. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 5 bill is passed. 6 Senator Skelos, that completes the 7 controversial reading of the calendar. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 9 President. 10 Is there any further business to 11 come before the Senate? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: No, 13 there is not, Senator Skelos. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: There being 15 none, I move we stand adjourned until 16 Wednesday, May 25th, at 11:00 a.m. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On 18 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 19 Wednesday, May 25th, at 11:00 a.m. 20 (Whereupon, at 4:55 p.m., the 21 Senate adjourned.) 22 23 24 25
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(518) 371-8910
Highest impact first.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.