Wednesday, May 25, 2005

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 25, 2005 11 11:15 a.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 rise 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 Tuesday, May 24, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, May 23, 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 Bonacic. 8 SENATOR BONACIC: Good morning, 9 Madam President. 10 I would like to, on behalf of 11 myself, call up my bill, Print Number 3579, 12 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 13 the desk. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 15 will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 705, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 3579, an 18 act to amend Chapter 262 of the Laws of 2002. 19 SENATOR BONACIC: I now move to 20 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 21 passed. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 23 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR BONACIC: Madam 2 President, I now offer the following 3 amendments. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 5 are received. 6 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you very 7 much. 8 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. 9 Senator Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 11 it's a tough act to follow Senator Bonacic, 12 but I believe there are substitutions to make 13 at the desk at this time. 14 THE PRESIDENT: I believe there 15 are also. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: On page 4, 18 Senator Maziarz moves to discharge, from the 19 Committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering, 20 Assembly Bill Number 4851 and substitute it 21 for the identical Senate Bill Number 22, First 22 Report Calendar 1151. 23 On page 5, Senator Young moves to 24 discharge, from the Committee on Agriculture, 25 Assembly Bill Number 6061 and substitute it

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(518) 371-8910 1 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3702, 2 First Report Calendar 1160. 3 On page 6, Senator Winner moves to 4 discharge, from the Committee on Judiciary, 5 Assembly Bill Number 516 and substitute it for 6 the identical Senate Bill Number 2910, First 7 Report Calendar 1170. 8 On page 7, Senator Winner moves to 9 discharge, from the Committee on Consumer 10 Protection, Assembly Bill Number 7170 and 11 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 12 Number 5306, First Report Calendar 1184. 13 On page 7, Senator Morahan moves to 14 discharge, from the Committee on Social 15 Services, Children and Families, Assembly Bill 16 Number 4248 and substitute it for the 17 identical Senate Bill Number 2163, First 18 Report Calendar 1187. 19 On page 8, Senator Trunzo moves to 20 discharge, from the Committee on 21 Transportation, Assembly Bill Number 1147 and 22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 23 Number 145, First Report Calendar 1192. 24 On page 13, Senator DeFrancisco 25 moves to discharge, from the Committee on

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(518) 371-8910 1 Energy and Telecommunications, Assembly Bill 2 Number 1603 and substitute it for the 3 identical Senate Bill Number 4919, First 4 Report Calendar 1236. 5 On page 14, Senator Rath moves to 6 discharge, from the Committee on Crime 7 Victims, Crime and Correction, Assembly Bill 8 Number 4953A and substitute it for the 9 identical Senate Bill Number 1777, First 10 Report Calendar 1249. 11 And on page 15, Senator Skelos 12 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 13 Crime Victims, Crime and Correction, Assembly 14 Bill Number 4195 and substitute it for the 15 identical Senate Bill Number 4992, First 16 Report Calendar 1260. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Substitutions 18 ordered. 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 21 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 22 of the calendar. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 24 will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 169, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 677, 2 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, 3 in relation to the issuance of distinctive 4 plates. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect on the first of April. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 185, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 132, an 16 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 17 relation to the Islip Resource Recovery Agency 18 Act. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 247, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 2319, an 5 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to 6 exempting. 7 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local 8 fiscal impact note at the desk. 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the first day of a 12 sales tax quarterly period. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 248, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2620, an 20 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to an 21 exemption from imposition. 22 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local 23 fiscal impact note at the desk. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect December 1, 2005. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 288, by Senator Golden, Senate Print -- 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 10 the day. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 12 aside for the day. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 373, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 3244A, an 15 act to authorize the City of Oswego. 16 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 17 home-rule message at the desk. 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 432, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 3192 -- 3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 4 aside. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 6 aside. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 479, by Member of the Assembly Rivera, 9 Assembly Print Number 4225, an act to amend 10 the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 14 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 484, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 2501A, an 22 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 23 relation to requirements. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 7 passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 511, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 10 Print Number 3150, an act to amend the Tax 11 Law, in relation to certain tax rates. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 547, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 3681, an 23 act to authorize the payment of transportation 24 aid. 25 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local

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(518) 371-8910 1 fiscal impact note at the desk. 2 Read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 600, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 447, an 12 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to the 13 eligibility. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 21 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 23 passed. 24 With regard to Calendar Number 547, 25 Senate Bill 3681, by Senator Saland, there was

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(518) 371-8910 1 a local fiscal impact note at the desk. 2 The Secretary will continue to 3 read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 658, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 50, an 6 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 7 relation to reconstituting. 8 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 9 home-rule message at the desk. 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. Nays, 16 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 659, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 109, an 21 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 22 relation to notification. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect on the same date and in 2 the same manner as Chapter 392 of the Laws of 3 2004. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 669, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 3675, an 11 act relating to the allocation of payments. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 675, by Senator Little -- 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 24 the day. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid

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(518) 371-8910 1 aside for the day. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 685, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 4562, an 4 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 5 requiring. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 13 1. Senator DeFrancisco recorded in the 14 negative. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 692, by Member of the Assembly Magee, Assembly 19 Print Number 7432 -- 20 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: No, no, no, 21 no. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 23 DeFrancisco, to explain your vote on the last 24 bill? 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Right.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I just wanted to state briefly that 2 I'm obviously in favor of making sure that 3 personnel at airports -- where security 4 personnel are not assaulted, they're not 5 intimidated and no one interferes with their 6 duties. 7 But the reason I'm voting no is any 8 rational or even irrational human being would 9 know that that would be against the law. And 10 to impose a requirement for signs to tell 11 people not to do that and to post the 12 penalties I think is of little value. 13 And that's the reason I'm voting no 14 against that bill. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 16 DeFrancisco, you will be recorded as voting in 17 the negative on the last bill. 18 The Secretary will continue to 19 read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 692, by Member of the Assembly Magee, Assembly 22 Print Number 7432, an act to amend the 23 Agriculture and Markets Law. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 7 passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 711, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 855, an 10 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to the 11 piercing and branding of the body of a child. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of 16 November. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 20 the negative on Calendar Number 711 are 21 Senators Duane, Schneiderman and Serrano. 22 Ayes, 54. Nays, 3. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 730, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 997, an 2 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law and 3 the Labor Law, in relation to the 4 fingerprinting of ambulette drivers. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 8 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. Nays, 12 2. Senators Duane and A. Smith recorded in 13 the negative. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 732, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 1848, an 18 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 19 relation to authorizing. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 2 aside. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 4 aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 733, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 2232, an 7 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 8 relation to prohibiting. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 The Secretary will continue to 19 read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 736, by Senator Little, Senate Print 3412, an 22 act to renew and extend the franchise from the 23 highway adjacent. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 7 passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 738, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 3565, an 10 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 11 relation to authorizing distinctive license 12 plates. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 742, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 2714A, 24 an act to amend the Education Law, in relation 25 to developing.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 747, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 5065A, 12 an act to amend the Executive Law and the 13 Domestic Relations Law, in relation to time. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 773, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 3833, an 25 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to the

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(518) 371-8910 1 imposition of sales and compensating use 2 taxes. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 11 passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 782, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 14 Print Number 4080, an act to amend the Tax 15 Law, in relation to the imposition of sales 16 and compensating use taxes. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 804, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 2153, 3 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 4 relation to tort claims. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 807, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 2741, an 16 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 17 relation to the Upper Mohawk Valley Regional 18 Water Finance Authority. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 821, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 4746, an 5 act to amend the Cooperative Corporations Law, 6 in relation to formation. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 828, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 3904, an 18 act to amend the Navigation Law, in relation 19 to clarifying. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 831, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 3091A, 6 an act to amend the Banking Law, in relation 7 to prohibiting. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 837, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 4388, an 19 act to amend Chapter 223 of the Laws of 1996, 20 amending the Banking Law. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 22 section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 838, by Member of the Assembly Nolan, Assembly 7 Print Number 7388, an act to amend the Banking 8 Law and others, in relation to making certain 9 technical corrections. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 868, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 21 4856, an act to amend the Estates, Powers and 22 Trusts Law, in relation to right of election. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect on the first of January. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 923, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 1358, an 9 act to amend Chapter 698 of the Laws of 1991. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 953, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 4901, 21 an act to authorize the Independent Group Home 22 Living Program, Inc. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 5 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 7 passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 957, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 5002A, 10 an act to authorize Middle Island Caring for 11 Kids to file an application. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 19 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 975, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 3704, an 24 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 25 requiring.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 976, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4324, an 12 act to amend the Private Housing Finance Law, 13 in relation to powers. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 The Secretary will continue to 24 read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 996, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 2941, an 2 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 3 designating. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 997, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 3335, an 15 act in relation to authorizing the County of 16 Niagara. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 18 the day, please. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 20 aside for the day. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1037, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1337, 23 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 24 Law, in relation to adding national estuary 25 implementation projects.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 4 act shall take effect on the first of April. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1047, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 2224, 12 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 13 relation to including. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bonacic, 21 to explain your vote. 22 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 23 Madam President. 24 I certainly support the 25 legislation, but just a caveat. It seems that

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(518) 371-8910 1 whenever we want to help particular groups -- 2 firefighters, veterans, religious 3 organizations -- we always do it, as a matter 4 of policy, with real property tax exemptions. 5 And I think what I hear happening 6 and when I watch the school budget votes, more 7 and more school budget votes are going down 8 because people cannot afford the school taxes. 9 So my suggestion, as we move 10 forward on policy, when we want to help worthy 11 groups -- firefighters, veterans and others -- 12 we think in terms of tax credits, income tax 13 credits, rather than property tax exemptions 14 as we go forward in the future. 15 I certainly support the bill. 16 Thank you, Madam President. 17 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 18 recorded, Senator Bonacic, as voting in the 19 affirmative on this bill. 20 The Secretary will announce the 21 results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 1053, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 1686, 2 an act authorizing the Department of 3 Transportation to post a sign. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1060, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 4011, 15 an act to amend the Transportation Law, in 16 relation to exempting drivers. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Skelos, that completes the 2 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 4 President. 5 Can we lay aside Calendar Number 6 432 for the day. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 8 aside for the day. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: And now if we 10 can go to the controversial calendar, I 11 believe there's one bill, Calendar Number 732. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will ring the bells. 14 Members are asked to return to 15 their seats. 16 Senator LaValle. 17 SENATOR LaVALLE: Madam 18 President, can I inquire how I was recorded on 19 Calendar Number 185? 20 THE PRESIDENT: You may. If you 21 just wait a moment, we'll ascertain that. 22 Senator LaValle, you are recorded 23 as voting in the affirmative on that bill. 24 SENATOR LaVALLE: I'm being told 25 I can't change my vote, under our new rules,

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(518) 371-8910 1 but -- 2 THE PRESIDENT: That would be 3 correct information, Senator. 4 SENATOR LaVALLE: -- it was 5 recorded inaccurately. I should have been 6 recorded in the negative. 7 Thank you, Madam President. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The record will 9 so indicate your remarks, Senator. 10 The Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 732, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 1848, an 13 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 14 SENATOR SABINI: Explanation. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Farley, 16 Senator Sabini has asked for an explanation. 17 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you very 18 much, Madam President. 19 This bill would authorize four 20 upstate regional transportation authorities to 21 utilize lines of credit. Currently such 22 authority is explicitly available only to the 23 MTA. 24 This bill passed the Senate 25 unanimously in 2003 and 2004. It is being

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(518) 371-8910 1 carried in the Assembly by Assemblymembers 2 Canestrari, McEneny, Hoyt, Schimminger, Tonko, 3 Aubertine, Ortiz, Cook, and on and on it 4 goes -- Weisenberg, and so forth. 5 What this does, it allows that 6 these public authorities -- the Niagara 7 Frontier, the Rochester Genesee Regional 8 Transportation Authority, the Capital District 9 Transportation Authority and the Central 10 New York Regional Transportation Authority -- 11 to access lines of credit. 12 Lines of credit are short-term 13 revolving obligations which are primarily used 14 for cash flow management. They can be 15 particularly significant in the transit 16 industry, which must deal with daily and 17 seasonal variation in ridership as well as 18 with cyclical payments to government 19 subsidies. 20 Although the authorities are able 21 to issue short-term obligations here, such as 22 revenue anticipation notes and so forth, 23 they're relatively complex and inflexible. 24 This can also be more costly, as they are 25 typically issued and the interest must be paid

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(518) 371-8910 1 for periods of months. 2 Lines of credit can be tapped for 3 weeks, days or even hours, and the interest is 4 only paid for the amount of their usage. 5 In other words, it's taking these 6 transportation authorities and helping them to 7 operate a little bit more efficiently. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini. 9 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President, 10 will the sponsor yield for a question? 11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Farley, 12 will you yield for a question? 13 SENATOR FARLEY: Sure. 14 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 15 Senator. 16 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President, 17 through you, in the bill, which numbers about 18 twelve pages, there are at least 50 citations 19 of the phrase "other obligations." 20 And I'm wondering if the sponsor 21 could tell me what other obligations he would 22 envision these borrowing instruments being. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: Yeah. This bill 24 is rather voluminous, to say the least, 25 because it individually amends the four

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(518) 371-8910 1 different sections of the Public Authorities 2 Law governing each of these four upstate 3 authorities, each of which has an independent 4 set of laws. 5 Now, you're asking me what are the 6 other it refers to. It refers to revenue 7 anticipation notes; it also is another type of 8 area that they can get money. And I suppose 9 bonding of different sorts that these 10 authorities could take. 11 But basically revenue anticipation 12 notes, I think, are the things that are 13 referred to. 14 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President, 15 on the bill. 16 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 17 on the bill, Senator. 18 SENATOR SABINI: We heard a lot 19 in the wintry months -- although lately today 20 it feels like winter still -- about reform in 21 Albany, and particularly public authority 22 reform. It seems that everyone is for it. 23 The comptroller is for it, members of the 24 Majority are for it, members of our side of 25 the aisle are for it.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And here we are giving some of the 2 smaller transportation authorities in the 3 state more authority to borrow money in 4 perhaps risky ways to cover their operating 5 costs. 6 And while the intention is to lower 7 the general interest rate, and that's a good 8 intention, that doesn't always happen. It 9 didn't happen in Orange County, California, a 10 number of years ago. It didn't happen in the 11 case of the Long Island Power Authority, which 12 had to put on a fuel surcharge to cover their 13 mishandled borrowing. 14 And so it just seems to me that 15 this allows also, in its ambiguity, one-sided 16 hedges, derivatives, other kinds of risky 17 borrowing. And if we're really for public 18 authorities reform and oversight, giving those 19 authorities more opportunity to borrow money 20 without oversight from us I think is a 21 mistake. 22 We are in a position where New York 23 State is responsible in many different ways, 24 no matter how you put it through government, 25 directly or indirectly, for some of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 biggest debting entities in our country: the 2 State of New York, the City of New York, the 3 MTA, the Port Authority of New York and New 4 Jersey, the Thruway Authority, the subsidiary 5 of the MTA, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel 6 Authority, the School Construction Authority. 7 They all have massive debt out there, bigger 8 than 48 states' worth of debt in most cases. 9 And while the regional transit 10 authorities are relatively small, I just don't 11 believe that if we're serious about public 12 authority reform that we should go forward and 13 allow more borrowing by these authorities in 14 different kinds of instruments that haven't 15 always been proven so successful. There's got 16 to be a better way to get a more financially 17 streamlined way to run these authorities. 18 And so, after consideration in the 19 Transportation Committee and since, I'm going 20 to vote no on this. 21 Thank you. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Farley, 23 on the bill. 24 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you. 25 Maybe I can reassure you of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 concern. What you're saying is valid. But in 2 this particular case, Senator Sabini, what 3 they're trying to do is to inhibit the 4 necessary borrowing by these upstate transit 5 authorities for them, because they have to go 6 out for revenue anticipation notes, which are 7 for a period of time. 8 In this case, with a line of 9 credit, just to manage cash flow, they can 10 come in for a few days, a few hours, or 11 whatever it might need at a very lower and 12 limited interest rate. It just allows them to 13 operate more efficiently. 14 It doesn't expand any -- they can't 15 go borrowing in some other exotic way. It's 16 just a line of credit that they can establish 17 with a financial institution where they can 18 come in temporarily to help their cash flow 19 and allow them to operate more cheaply and 20 more efficiently. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini. 22 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President, 23 you know, if the bill was more specific and 24 limited it to letters of credit or commercial 25 paper, I wouldn't have a big problem with it.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But I think that the fact that it says 2 throughout the bill "and other types of 3 obligations" makes it very ambiguous. 4 This Legislature did this once 5 before, in 2000, for the MTA, for the Bond Act 6 of 2000 that failed. And I just think in the 7 spirit of oversight of our public authorities, 8 that this is not in the spirit of what we say 9 we're trying to do. 10 Thank you. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 12 member wish to be heard? 13 Then the debate is closed. 14 The Secretary will ring the bell. 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 21 will announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar Number 732 are 24 Senators Duane, L. Krueger, Montgomery, 25 Onorato, Parker, Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Serrano, A. Smith and Stavisky. 2 Those Senators absent from voting 3 on Calendar Number 732: Senators Gonzalez and 4 Winner. 5 Ayes, 46. Nays, 11. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 7 passed. 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 10 is there any further business to come before 11 the Senate? 12 THE PRESIDENT: No, there isn't, 13 Senator. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: There being 15 none, I move we stand adjourned until Tuesday, 16 May 31st, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days being 17 legislative days. 18 THE PRESIDENT: On motion, the 19 Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday, 20 May 31st, 3:00 p.m., intervening days being 21 legislative days. 22 (Whereupon, at 11:59 a.m., the 23 Senate adjourned.) 24 25

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(518) 371-8910