Wednesday, June 8, 2005

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 June 8, 2005 11 11:24 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, June 7, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, June 6, 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 Fuschillo. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 9 Madam President. 10 On behalf of Senator Winner, on 11 page number 17 I offer the following 12 amendments to Calendar Number 529, Senate 13 Print Number 3154, and ask that said bill 14 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 16 are received, and the bill will retain its 17 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 20 I believe there's a substitution at the desk, 21 if we could make it at this time. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, 23 Senator, I couldn't hear you. 24 Could we please have order so the 25 members can be heard.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: I believe 3 there's a substitution at the desk. If we 4 could make it at this time. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: On page 67, 8 Senator Leibell moves to discharge, from the 9 Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 6722 10 and substitute it for the identical Senate 11 Bill Number 3625, Third Reading Calendar 1391. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Substitution 13 ordered. 14 Senator Skelos. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 There's a Resolution 2279, by 18 Senator Bonacic, at the desk. This was 19 previously adopted. If we could have it read 20 in its entirety at this time. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 22 will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 24 Bonacic, Legislative Resolution Number 2279, 25 commending the Valedictorians, Salutatorians

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(518) 371-8910 1 and Honored Students of the 42nd Senate 2 District, in recognition of their outstanding 3 accomplishments, at a celebration to be held 4 at the State Capitol on June 8, 2005. 5 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 6 Legislative Body to act in accord with its 7 long-standing traditions, to honor the youth 8 of today -- the leaders of tomorrow -- whose 9 characters and achievements exemplify the 10 ideals and values cherished by this great 11 State and Nation; and 12 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is 13 justly proud to recognize and commend the high 14 achievements of these dedicated students in 15 the 42nd Senate District on the occasion of a 16 special celebratory visit to the State Capitol 17 in Albany, New York, on Wednesday, June 8, 18 2005. At this time the Valedictorians, 19 Salutatorians and Honored Students who have 20 been selected by their school leadership for 21 outstanding community service will receive 22 special recognition from the Senate in the 23 Senate Chamber. Lunch will be served in The 24 Well of the Legislative Office Building, 25 followed by a tour of the State Capitol; and

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(518) 371-8910 1 "WHEREAS, These Valedictorians, 2 Salutatorians and Honored Students represent 3 the best of developed potential inherent in 4 our most precious resource, our youth. Their 5 achievements have brought enduring honor to 6 their families and communities and should be 7 recognized and saluted; and 8 "WHEREAS, The Valedictorians who 9 are being commended today for their 10 outstanding academic performances and 11 exemplary achievements include: Kimberly 12 McAdams, Cali Riese, Vera Neroni, Bryan Hoyt, 13 Timothy Hallock, Celia Barry, Robert 14 Sneckenberg, Mark Suozzo, Annmarie Argiros, 15 Courtney Cavalieri, Gregory Morrison, Michael 16 Wagner, Emily Dalrymple, Devin Kittle, 17 Jennifer Murray, Christopher Krogslund, Medum 18 Choe, Kathryn Vitelli, Allyson Pickard, John 19 Beck, Jr., Jonathan Rankin, Dana Buchholz, 20 Chryste Springman, Jacqueline Ball, Brian 21 Dionne, Julie Many, Patrick Wenner, Heather 22 Lander, Cecilia Pompeii, Caroline Curley, and 23 Georgette Galley; and 24 "WHEREAS, The Salutatorians who are 25 being commended today for their outstanding

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(518) 371-8910 1 academic performances and exemplary 2 achievements include: Lara Govendo, Jessica 3 Shea, Jennifer Hewitt, Shane Bussiere, Jessica 4 Cherry, Mariya Gusman, Kelly Hobby, Samantha 5 Austin, David Caramore, Katherine Hyland, 6 Ariel Azoff, David Olson, Jessica Fisk, Adam 7 Lehn, Michelle Pederson, Michael Panko, 8 Antoinette Fuoto, Bryan Bird, Ross Beckman, 9 Mayde Smith, Bradley Pickard, Roseanne Wilcox, 10 Arleigh Kincheloe, Stephanie Patapis, David 11 Anderson, Karyn Tucker, Barbara Vigna, Emily 12 Nebzydoski, Abram Leon, Keirstin Johnsen, and 13 Schuyler VanBuren; and 14 "WHEREAS, The Honored Students who 15 are being commended today and who have been 16 selected by their school leadership for 17 outstanding school or community service 18 include: Micheal Batiste, Tanya Sellevold, 19 Jennifer Reynolds, Brittany Deno, Kristie 20 Meehan, Victoria Cohen, Benjamin Kolansky, 21 Stephen Gorschack, Justin Lulli, Margaret 22 Wang, Michelle Silver, Laura Hanratty, Suzanna 23 DiBenedetto, Susan Riddick, Laura Ferranti, 24 Tiffany Anderson, Sally Eickmeyer, Alison 25 Sickler, Dustin Sullivan, Aarika Gruber, Renee

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(518) 371-8910 1 Hunt, Norie Grant, Elizabeth Bell, Jaclyn 2 Bunch, Alice Cook, and Meredith Hey; and 3 "WHEREAS, These Valedictorians, 4 Salutatorians and Honored Students may now 5 stand with pride as they assess their 6 achievements, experience the satisfaction of 7 their labors and the joy of their 8 accomplishments, eager to face the new 9 experiences of a challenging world; now, 10 therefore, be it 11 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 12 Body pause in its deliberations to commend the 13 Valedictorians, Salutatorians and Honored 14 Students of the 42nd Senate District, in 15 recognition of their outstanding 16 accomplishments, at a celebration to be held 17 at the State Capitol on June 8, 2005; and be 18 it further 19 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 20 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 21 to the aforementioned Valedictorians, 22 Salutatorians and Honored Students." 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bonacic. 24 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 25 Madam President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 First of all, I stand to welcome 2 all of our valedictorians, salutatorians and 3 community service award students in the 42nd 4 Senate District. We have 190 invited guests. 5 To my colleagues I say to you: 6 This is the best of the best in my Senate 7 district. 8 I want to thank the Lieutenant 9 Governor, who came to a forum this morning to 10 speak personally to all of our honored guests. 11 The Lieutenant Governor, as you know, is 12 Acting Governor, because Governor Pataki is in 13 Spain. 14 And I want to thank you, Governor, 15 for taking time out of your schedule to be 16 here and at that forum. 17 We will be treating our honored 18 guests to lunch today. They will be taking 19 tours. They also were addressed by educators 20 at the college level, telling them something 21 that they might expect when they go from 22 transition from high school to college. 23 I would just simply say to you that 24 we wish you the best in all your endeavors. 25 As you pursue your college career, I suggest

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(518) 371-8910 1 to you that you should stay in school as long 2 as you can. Maybe your parents don't like to 3 hear that, because tuition bills are getting 4 higher and higher. But higher education 5 translates into a better quality of life. 6 And I would hope that when you are 7 done with your education and you've achieved 8 and you know the occupation that you want to 9 go into, that you think of coming and working 10 and living in the State of New York, make it 11 stronger and better. 12 I'm so honored to have you here 13 today. 14 Thank you very much, Madam 15 President. 16 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 17 the resolution please signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos, 20 do you wish to speak first? 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Governor, I 22 believe that was previously adopted. 23 THE PRESIDENT: All who are still 24 in favor of the resolution please signify by 25 saying aye.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution 3 was previously adopted. 4 Congratulations and best wishes for 5 continued success. 6 (Standing ovation.) 7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: There is a 9 Resolution 2373 at the desk, by Senator 10 Breslin. Could we have the title read and 11 move for its immediate adoption. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 15 Breslin, Legislative Resolution Number 2373, 16 honoring Marsha A. Cohen upon the occasion of 17 her designation as the recipient of the APIW 18 Insurance Woman of the Year Award on June 8, 19 2005. 20 THE PRESIDENT: On the 21 resolution, everyone in favor please signify 22 by saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye.") 24 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 25 (No response.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 2 adopted. 3 Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 5 please recognize Senator Saland. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Saland. 7 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Madam 8 President. I would like to place a sponsor's 9 star on Calendar 1272, Senate 5415. 10 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered, 11 Senator. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 13 I think it would be appropriate at this time 14 to let the membership know that Senator 15 Saland -- and Senator Spano informed me of 16 this -- became a grandfather yesterday to a 17 baby boy, Isaac. 18 Congratulations, Senator Saland. 19 (Applause.) 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Linda is already 21 preparing for the bar mitzvah and for the 22 wedding. 23 (Laughter.) 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam

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(518) 371-8910 1 President. If we could go to the 2 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 4 will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 34, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 302A, an 7 act to amend the Highway Law. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 258, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 1946, 19 an act to amend the General Municipal Law. 20 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 21 home-rule message at the desk. 22 Read the last 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, 55. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 268, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2952A, 7 an act to amend the Education Law. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 316, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2963A, 19 an act to amend the General Business Law. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect on the 30th day after it 24 shall have become a law. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 468, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 918A, an 7 act to amend the Environmental Conservation 8 Law. 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, 53. Nays, 16 2. Senators Duane and Serrano recorded in the 17 negative. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 520, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 3611, an 22 act to amend the Tax Law. 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, 55. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 675, by Senator Little, Senate Print 4014A, an 9 act to authorize the Town of Champlain. 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, 55. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 693, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 4814A, an 21 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 855, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 2390A, an 8 act to amend the Insurance Law. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 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 PRESIDENT: Senator Onorato, 16 to explain your vote. 17 SENATOR ONORATO: Madam 18 President, to explain my vote. 19 I commend the sponsor for this 20 bill. Many of the ideas he proposes are 21 necessary to help combat auto insurance fraud 22 in this state. I've supported this bill in 23 the past and will again today. 24 I would also like to point out that 25 while this is a good bill, it could be a bit

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(518) 371-8910 1 better. My colleague Senator Montgomery has 2 been the sponsor of a bill that included most 3 of the proposals contained in Senator Seward's 4 bill. However, it also included measures that 5 would help protect consumers in our state, 6 such as establishing the Office of Consumer 7 Advocate to represent the interests of 8 automobile and health insurance consumers. 9 Additionally, I do have some 10 concerns with the provision allowing an 11 insurer to delay or deny a claim after the 12 current 30-day deadline for payment has 13 passed. This could put honest consumers with 14 legitimate claims in a difficult financial 15 situation while waiting to receive payment. 16 I urge Senator Seward to consider 17 language in the Assembly's fraud bill which 18 increases the 30-day limit to 45 days and 19 provides a much tougher standard on insurers 20 for claims they do delay or deny. 21 I will be voting aye. 22 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 23 recorded as voting in the affirmative, Senator 24 Onorato. 25 Senator DeFrancisco.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'd 2 like to explain my vote. 3 I'm going to vote no. This is not 4 a balanced bill. Insurance fraud is not 5 limited to insureds. 6 In this situation, by continually 7 limiting the amount of time that an individual 8 has to file a claim or expanding the time that 9 insurance companies have an opportunity to 10 contest the claim, is not anti-fraud, it's 11 anti-consumer as far as I can see. 12 There are provisions, if a bill is 13 being questioned -- there are provisions in 14 existing law, if a medical bill is being 15 questioned, to extend the period of time and 16 request documentation and backup and 17 verification. 18 So I just think we keep moving and 19 moving in a direction assuming that insured 20 people are the only ones who cause problems in 21 the insurance industry. And for those 22 reasons -- and I think we need a much more 23 balanced approach, because there are 24 situations where insurance companies 25 wrongfully withhold payments for spurious

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(518) 371-8910 1 reasons, where an individual does not have a 2 remedy against these types of activities. 3 And it's about time that we have a 4 balanced bill that deals with those situations 5 as well as fraud that can occur as a result of 6 a consumer. So I vote no. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 8 DeFrancisco, you will be recorded as voting in 9 the negative on this bill. 10 Senator Schneiderman. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 12 Madam President. To explain my vote. 13 I really have to strongly echo and 14 amplify what Senator DeFrancisco just said. 15 We are not going to reform the Insurance 16 Law -- and let's keep in mind that the 17 anti-fraud steps that have been taken 18 administratively in this state have had 19 substantial effects so far already. Rates are 20 going down, due to the good work of the 21 Department of Insurance and the State Attorney 22 General and others. We have had some success 23 administratively. 24 I do support codification of a 25 measure to further reform the Insurance Law in

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(518) 371-8910 1 this area and to reduce costs through 2 preventing wrongful claimants from tying up 3 the system. 4 Unfortunately, this measure throws 5 out the baby with the bathwater and would 6 clearly delay payments of legitimate claims to 7 people who are simply trying to get a claim 8 honored by insurance companies who, as we all 9 know, have systems -- many insurance companies 10 are totally honorable; many are not. They 11 have systems where they delay every claim and 12 then it's how hard you push that determines 13 whether or not a legitimate claim is honored. 14 So I will also be voting in the 15 negative on this bill, in the hopes that we 16 will see a better bill down the road that 17 might have a chance of passing both houses, 18 becoming law, and is truly a balanced bill 19 respecting the fact that consumers may be in 20 the wrong sometimes but so may insurance 21 companies. 22 Thank you, Madam President. 23 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 24 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator 25 Schneiderman.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will announce the 2 results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 855 are 5 Senators DeFrancisco, Duane, L. Krueger, 6 Schneiderman and Stavisky. 7 Ayes, 51. Nays, 5. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 862, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 12 4135A, an act to amend the Judiciary Law. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 863, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 24 4340, an act to amend the Estates, Powers and 25 Trusts Law.

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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, 57. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 942, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 3982, an 12 act to amend Chapter 821 of the Laws of 1970. 13 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 14 home-rule message at the desk. 15 Read the last 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, 57. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1014, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 3314A, 25 an act to amend the General Business Law.

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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 on the 180th day after 5 it shall have become a law. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 10 passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1076, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 2415A -- 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 14 the day, please. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 16 aside for the day. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1085, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 4391, an 19 act to amend the Retirement and Social 20 Security Law. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 22 section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. 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, 57. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1089, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5352, an 7 act to amend the Education Law. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1091, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 2890A, 19 an act to amend the Social Services Law. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 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, 57. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1092, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 5033, an 6 act to amend the Social Services Law. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1116, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 5097A, 18 an act to authorize the assessor of the Town 19 of Brookhaven. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. 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, 56. Nays, 2 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1117, by Member of the Assembly McLaughlin, 7 Assembly Bill Number 7872, an act to provide 8 enhanced financial assistance. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 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, 57. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1120, by Member of the Assembly McLaughlin 20 Assembly Print Number 7870, an act to amend 21 the Real Property Tax Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1127, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 5224, 8 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 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: Calendar Number 19 1130, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 1781, an 20 act to amend the Navigation Law. 21 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 22 home-rule message at the desk. 23 Read the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1137, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4652, 8 an act to amend the Education Law. 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: Calendar Number 19 1159, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 2619, an 20 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 22 section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. 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, 57. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1160, by Member of the Assembly Magee, 7 Assembly Print Number 6061, an act to amend 8 the Agriculture and Markets Law. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 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, 57. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1162, by Member of the Assembly Koon, Assembly 20 Print Number 7078, an act to amend the 21 Agriculture and Markets Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1184, by Member of the Assembly Magee, 8 Assembly Print Number 7170, an act to amend 9 the Agriculture and Markets Law. 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, 57. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1202, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5332, an 21 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 22 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it 23 aside. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 25 aside.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1210, by Member of the Assembly Thiele, 3 Assembly Print Number 4240, an act authorizing 4 certain members of the New York State and 5 Local Police and Firemen Retirement System. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 11 home-rule message at the desk. 12 Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1256, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 4266, 19 an act to amend the Executive Law. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. 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, 57. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1269, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 3680A, 6 an act to amend Chapter 472 of the Laws of 7 1998. 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, 57. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1275, by Member of the Assembly Aubertine, 19 Assembly Print Number 7114A, an act to amend 20 the Real Property Tax 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, 57. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1282, by Senator Little -- 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 8 the day, please. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 10 aside for the day. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1284, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 4018, an 13 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 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, 57. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1286, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 4540, an 25 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.

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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, 57. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1292, by Member of the Assembly Millman, 12 Assembly Print Number 7709, an act to amend 13 the Real Property Law. 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, 57. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1294, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5327, an 25 act to amend the Local Finance Law.

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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, 57. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1295, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5328A, 12 an act to amend Chapter 492 of the Laws of 13 1993. 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, 57. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1300, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5382, 25 an act to amend Chapter 130 of the Laws of

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(518) 371-8910 1 1998. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 3 section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 10 passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1312, by Senator Stavisky, Senate Print 1424, 13 an act to amend the Education Law. 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, 57. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1318, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 5181, 25 an act to amend the Education Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1320, by Senator Wright, Senate Print Number 12 5368, an act to amend the Education Law. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect July 1, 2005. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1321, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 5422, 24 an act to amend the Education Law. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last

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(518) 371-8910 1 section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE PRESIDENT: Senator LaValle, 7 to explain your vote. 8 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 9 Madam President. 10 During 2004, the Senate Higher 11 Education Committee had created a subcommittee 12 to deal with the nursing shortage problem. It 13 was a committee made up of members of both 14 majority and minority members of the 15 committee. The chairperson of that committee 16 was Senator Patricia McGee. 17 Pat McGee took the charge of her 18 duties with so much enthusiasm, set up five or 19 six roundtable discussions around the state 20 and also made sure that the subcommittee 21 members fully participated. And they did. 22 As a result of her efforts, during 23 this year's budget we included money for 24 nursing faculty scholarships, and the program 25 was called the New York State Nursing Faculty

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(518) 371-8910 1 Scholarship Program. This legislation is 2 dedicating the efforts of Pat McGee and 3 renaming those scholarships the Senator 4 Patricia K. McGee Nursing Scholarship Program. 5 So by our votes today we are once 6 again commemorating a colleague who had some 7 vision, energy, enthusiasm and did a job well 8 done for the state and dealt programmatically 9 with a problem that we have faced. 10 I vote in the affirmative. 11 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 12 recorded, Senator LaValle, as voting in the 13 affirmative on this bill. 14 Senator Stavisky, to explain your 15 vote. 16 SENATOR STAVISKY: To explain my 17 vote, Madam President. 18 I want to echo what Senator LaValle 19 said. I attended almost all of those 20 hearings. And we've attended hearings, all 21 parts of the state, on a variety of issues. 22 And you sit there on the podium and you listen 23 to the testimony and you read the testimony as 24 it's presented. 25 These hearings were different.

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(518) 371-8910 1 These were hearings throughout the state, and 2 Pat McGee brought a sense of enthusiasm and at 3 the same time conveyed her concern for the 4 serious situation we have involving the 5 shortage of nurses in our state and in fact 6 throughout the country. 7 This was not -- these were not 8 typical hearings. She did what any good 9 teacher would do, she involved the 10 participants. There would be 20 or 30 people 11 attending these hearings, and she brought out 12 their concerns and their interests were 13 represented in a remarkable, remarkable way. 14 And so I want to commend the 15 committee and Senator LaValle for naming the 16 nursing scholarships after Pat McGee so that 17 someday, down the line, our 18 great-grandchildren will say: I had a Pat 19 McGee scholarship to nursing, and she was a 20 member of the Senate -- and through that her 21 legacy will continue. 22 And I thank you, Madam President. 23 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 24 recorded, Senator Stavisky, as voting in the 25 affirmative on this bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR STAVISKY: I vote yes. 2 THE PRESIDENT: And so you will 3 be recorded. 4 The Secretary will announce the 5 results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1322, by Member of the Assembly Magee, 11 Assembly Print Number 7410B, an act to amend 12 the Agriculture and Markets Law. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 20 1. Senator Meier recorded in the negative. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1326, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 25 3114A, an act to amend the Education Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 16. This 4 act shall take effect two years after the date 5 on which it shall have become a law. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 10 passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1368, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4793B, 13 an act to amend the Correction Law. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 15 section. 16 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it 17 aside. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 19 aside. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1381, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 138, an 22 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 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. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1382, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 448, an 9 act to amend the Surrogate's Court Procedure 10 Act. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 14 act shall take effect on the first day of 15 January. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1383, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 1043, 23 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 24 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local 25 fiscal impact note at the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1384, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 1515, an 11 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 15 act shall take effect on the 180th day after 16 it shall have become a law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1385, by Senator Stachowski, Senate Print 24 2086, an act authorizing the Village of 25 Hamburg.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 2 home-rule message at the desk. 3 Read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 10 passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1386, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 2385, 13 an act to amend the Executive Law. 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, 57. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1387, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 2557, an 25 act to amend the Village Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 10. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1388, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 3271, an 12 act to amend the Tax Law. 13 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local 14 fiscal impact note at the desk. 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the 30th day after it 18 shall have become a law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 22 1. Senator Valesky recorded in the negative. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 1389, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 3332, an 2 act authorizing Terry M. Clapper to receive 3 retirement. 4 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 5 home-rule message at the desk. 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1390, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 3619, 16 an act entitling Harold G. Hartner to have his 17 prior service. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

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(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1391, substituted earlier today by -- 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 5 aside. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 7 aside. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1392, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 3709, 10 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1394, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 4563, an 22 act to amend Chapter 666 of the Laws of 1990. 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 September 1, 2005. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1395, by Senator Skelos -- 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 10 the day, please. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 12 aside for the day. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1396, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 4757, an 15 act to amend the Executive Law. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 17 section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect on the same date as 20 Section 68 of Chapter 264 of the Laws of 2003. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1398, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 4959, an 3 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect on the 90th day after it 8 shall have become a law. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1399, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 4993, an 16 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect on the 180th day after 21 it shall have become a law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

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(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1400, by Senator Robach, Senate Print -- 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 5 aside. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 7 aside. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1401, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5392, an 10 act to amend the Social Services Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 14 act shall take effect on the 90th day after it 15 shall have become a law. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 Senator Skelos, that completes the 22 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 24 President. If we could go to the 25 controversial reading of the calendar now.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 2 will ring the bell, and the members should 3 return to their seats. 4 The Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1202, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5332, an 7 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 9 Explanation. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Saland, 11 an explanation has been requested. 12 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Madam 13 President. 14 Madam President, this is a bill 15 which I guess for our purposes I should give a 16 little bit of background on. 17 In the early 1980s particularly, 18 there was an enormous hue and cry from certain 19 of the northern counties in the MTA area, the 20 Metro North area particularly, that were 21 smaller counties and felt that to a 22 considerable extent they were revenue hostages 23 to this larger system. Those counties were 24 Rockland and Orange County and Putnam and 25 Dutchess County.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And in fact, there was a movement 2 afoot at that point to try and see if it would 3 be possible to even get out of the 4 Metropolitan Transportation Authority. And I 5 must tell you that in that time period, in 6 fact, a bill passed in the Assembly that would 7 have permitted that to happen. 8 As a result of all this activity, 9 what occurred was a system which provided a 10 vote to the members of those four counties, 11 and they became known as the so-called 12 quarter-pounders. Each of them had a 13 quarter-vote. Again, Rockland and Orange and 14 Putnam and Dutchess each had one-quarter vote. 15 However, they could only exercise 16 their respective one-quarter vote if in fact 17 they voted unanimously. And were somebody 18 absent, that crippled their ability to act. 19 And if only one member were present, they in 20 fact didn't have a vote at all. 21 What this bill does is it says that 22 instead of that unanimity, instead of that 23 required all people being in attendance, those 24 four counties would still have that same one 25 vote, the four quarters equalling one whole.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But in fact, now what will happen -- and this 2 parallels language that's in the bylaws and 3 has been approved by the MTA board -- if only 4 one member is present, that one member may 5 cast one vote as the collective vote for all 6 four of the counties. 7 If two or more members are present, 8 if the vote is a divided vote, there shall be 9 no vote. If three -- if two members agree 10 unanimously, it's obviously a full vote. If 11 three or four members are present and there is 12 a majority vote, in fact the majority vote 13 prevails. 14 Again, this legislation has met 15 with the approval of the MTA board and merely 16 in effect modifies, to the benefit of those 17 four counties, their ability to sustain a 18 collective vote. 19 Thank you. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger. 21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 22 Madam President. If the sponsor would yield 23 for a question. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Saland, 25 do you yield?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Madam 2 President. 3 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 4 Senator. 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 6 I appreciate your detailed 7 explanation for what appeared to be a 8 complicated situation. 9 My one question is, is there any 10 other public authority board where there are 11 shares of a vote split between various board 12 members and this would be a precedent? 13 SENATOR SALAND: I will not 14 profess to be an expert. I would tell you I 15 do not believe so. 16 I think this represented, again, a 17 compromise that was intended to avoid the 18 desire to pull out, and this was the way it 19 was crafted at the time. And at the time it 20 was acceptable, but it's proved problematical. 21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Okay, thank 22 you. 23 Thank you, Madam President. 24 Briefly on the bill. 25 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed

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(518) 371-8910 1 on the bill, Senator. 2 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 3 I appreciate Senator Saland's explanation. 4 I will vote for this bill. I just 5 want to highlight that I think we should be 6 cautious of precedents, when we're talking 7 about public authorities and their boards, 8 about setting up a situation where board 9 members can either in some way choose to merge 10 their votes in voting blocs rather than 11 actually coming to meetings and hearing the 12 discussions and the debates, and also that we 13 don't want to do anything that encourages 14 people who have been given important positions 15 on public authority boards to not attend all 16 the meetings that they can. 17 And to be honest, the MTA -- not 18 necessarily the members we're talking about 19 here today from upstate New York, but there 20 have been concerns that when there are public 21 hearings around MTA issues in the City of 22 New York, that we find it hard to find any MTA 23 members willing to actually come to the 24 hearings and listen to the public. 25 But having raised my concerns, I

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(518) 371-8910 1 realize that this is a hopefully unique 2 situation and the one that will address fairly 3 the problems of four counties sharing one vote 4 on the MTA board. 5 So I will support the bill. Thank 6 you, Madam President. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 8 member wish to be heard? 9 Then the debate is closed. 10 The Secretary will ring the bell. 11 Read the last 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, 54. Nays, 17 2. Senators Duane and Spano recorded in the 18 negative. 19 Those Senators absent from voting: 20 Senators Connor, Gonzalez, Robach and Seward. 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 1368, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4793B, 2 an act to amend the Correction Law. 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Explanation. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos, 5 an explanation has been requested. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you very 7 much. 8 Senator Montgomery, this 9 legislation is the Megan's Law Reform Act. 10 And as you know, I sponsored Megan's Law 11 10 years ago. And on the tenth-year 12 anniversary, we are looking to this omnibus 13 bill to reform and improve Megan's Law. 14 And this legislation does it in 15 25 different ways. I'm not going to go 16 through every one of the 25 ways, but they're 17 all substantial and significant. 18 And really what Megan's Law is 19 about is empowering parents, empowering the 20 community with information which, 21 incidentally, is public information. Those 22 who are convicted of a crime, all of that 23 information is public information. And it 24 brings it together in an orderly fashion so 25 that people within the community can find out

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(518) 371-8910 1 what sexual offenders, what sexual predators 2 are living perhaps as neighbors. 3 Even before the death of young 4 Megan, this chamber passed a registry. And 5 unfortunately it took her death and the death 6 of other young children to get the Assembly to 7 pass the legislation. Which passed with, I 8 believe, one dissenting vote 10, 11 years ago. 9 Maureen Kanka, Megan's mom, who 10 really led the nationwide effort to have 11 Megan's Law enacted, and particularly by the 12 federal government, would be here today, but 13 this month her daughter would be celebrating 14 her graduation from high school. And Maureen 15 Kanka would say to this chamber and would say 16 to the Assembly that if they had known there 17 were three convicted pedophiles living across 18 the street from them, if there was a GPS 19 tracking system then that these pedophiles 20 were wearing, her daughter would be receiving 21 flowers at her graduation. 22 And I think that's very, very 23 important to note, because it's been through 24 the efforts of people like Maureen Kanka; Mark 25 Klaas, whose daughter Polly Klaas was abducted

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(518) 371-8910 1 from their home, brutally raped and murdered; 2 Mark Lunsford -- and I know that yesterday 3 Senator Golden and Senator Nozzolio, who have 4 been leaders in this area, spent time with 5 him. Same thing: convicted pedophile across 6 the street, did not know it, wearing a GPS 7 device would have saved his daughter's life. 8 Police, probation officials all 9 indicate that there's a necessity to reform 10 and enhance Megan's Law. 11 There's also been changes in 12 technology, as I mentioned earlier, over the 13 past 10 years. That's why within this 14 legislation we're looking to have mandatory 15 community notification, all sex offenders put 16 on the Internet, the website of the Division 17 of Criminal Justice Services. Right now only 18 Level 3 offenders can be placed on the 19 Internet. 20 Senator Bonacic, GPS tracking 21 devices; that should go on all Level 3 22 offenders. 23 Email notification, critically 24 important. If you register your email address 25 with the division, as soon as one of these

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(518) 371-8910 1 individuals move within your community, you 2 would be notified by email. Nothing wrong 3 with that. 4 So this is really, in my opinion, 5 the most aggressive and far-reaching expansion 6 of the sex offender registry anywhere in this 7 nation, and certainly since we passed Megan's 8 Law. 9 We've seen a rash of sexual 10 assaults that have dominated our state and 11 national headlines. And that's why we need 12 mandatory community notification, and Senator 13 Nozzolio has led the charge on that. GPS 14 tracking. Lifetime registration. Thirty-two 15 hundred sex offenders will be coming off the 16 registry within the next year unless we enact 17 lifetime registration. 18 And just recently, in today's 19 papers, in Rochester a convicted sex offender, 20 Level 3, David Gardner, was arrested for 21 raping a second -- a number of children, young 22 people under the age of 18. Level 3. 23 Under sentencing of Level 3, under 24 the original Megan's Law, he could petition 25 the court to be released from registration

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(518) 371-8910 1 requirements. Under the reforms that we're 2 discussing, he could never be released from 3 that requirement. He would be required to 4 wear a GPS tracking device. And I don't think 5 this would have happened if the law had been 6 reformed with these changes earlier. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bonacic. 8 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 9 Madam President. I stand in support of this 10 legislation. 11 I'd like to commend Senator Skelos 12 for not only introducing this legislation but 13 the original legislation 10 years ago, and 14 he's been a consistent proponent of 15 strengthening our laws against sex offenders 16 to protect children and the women in this 17 state. 18 I'd like to talk specifically about 19 a component of this legislation, global 20 positioning systems. And if you're not 21 familiar with that, let me just tell you what 22 it is. It's been implemented in the state of 23 Florida since 1998. It's a bracelet that you 24 put on the ankle of a Level 3 sexual predator. 25 There is a transmitter that they wear on their

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(518) 371-8910 1 belt, and this transmitter can be programmed 2 for exclusionary zones or hot spots. It could 3 be a daycare center, it could be a school. 4 And if that predator goes in these 5 exclusionary zones, there will be a signal 6 given to a command center. And within 60 to 7 90 seconds, a probation officer from that 8 county will be notified that the violation has 9 occurred. 10 Now, what is a Level 3 offender? 11 They are the worst of the worst. We have 12 4,400 Level 3 sexual predators roaming our 13 communities. And you know where most of them 14 are? They're in Manhattan, they're in 15 Brooklyn, they're in the Bronx, they're in 16 Suffolk. And in the city area, there's 14 17 Level 3 predators per square mile. 18 Now, GPS monitoring is not a 19 substitute for longer criminal jail sentences 20 for these predators. It's not a substitute 21 for civil confinement. It's not a substitute 22 for probation officers. It is a tool where we 23 can monitor 24/7 where they go. And they're 24 most likely to commit a crime of rape, assault 25 and murder against children or women. That's

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(518) 371-8910 1 Level 3. They're the most dangerous that we 2 have. 3 So we have spoken to this at a 4 press conference, and the absurdity of it. If 5 Martha Stewart can have electronic monitoring 6 if she comes home late at night, how can we 7 not have electronic monitoring of Level 3 8 offenders who prey on our children and our 9 women in this state, all over our communities? 10 There are about 21,000 sexual 11 predators of Level 1 and Level 2. But GPS, 12 we're talking only about Level 3. 13 You've heard and you've read about 14 Mr. Lunsford, who lost his daughter, Jessica, 15 because he did not know a Level 3 was living a 16 few doors from his daughter's house. Had he 17 had known, she might be alive today. 18 David Koon, in the Assembly, is 19 carrying this bill by itself, the same David 20 Koon that lost his daughter to a sexual 21 predator, who was murdered. 22 There is bipartisan support in the 23 Assembly, there is bipartisan support in this 24 house. And we will pass this bill in this 25 house. I need the help of all my colleagues

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(518) 371-8910 1 to tell Sheldon Silver let the bill out of 2 committee, because there is bipartisan support 3 in that house. This is not an 4 upstate/downstate bill. This is not a 5 Republican/Democratic bill. This is a public 6 safety bill. 7 It is now in the state of Florida, 8 since 1998, when this has been implemented, 9 the recidivism rate has dropped 30 percent. 10 We have some form of electric monitoring in 11 homes in 42 counties. We have some form of 12 electric monitoring in 33 states. But we're 13 talking about GPS, which is much more active 14 in monitoring. 15 Had that been here in the State of 16 New York, the victims that Senator Skelos 17 talked about would still be alive. So I know 18 we have support on both sides of the aisle on 19 this issue. And I thank you for that. 20 Thank you, Madam President. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Golden. 22 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, Madam 23 President. 24 I too rise in support of this bill, 25 and I would hope that we would have unity on

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(518) 371-8910 1 this bill here in this house. 2 What Senator Bonacic has failed to 3 point out is that, you know, in Jessica 4 Lunsford's situation, had he been wearing that 5 bracelet, that girl would be alive today. The 6 detectives were talking to the defendant's 7 sister in the bedroom, sitting on the bed, and 8 he had this girl in the closet in the bedroom 9 while detectives were talking to his sister. 10 And they took this girl, and he buried her 11 alive, an 8-year-old girl. 12 I was a police officer in 1973, and 13 I think everybody here remembers the Etan Patz 14 case. It was a case that tormented many a 15 police officer, trying to find out who took 16 Etan Patz. Well, that detective that had that 17 case, he committed suicide. 18 There are so many families that 19 have been touched by this, it's just 20 unbelievable. By the time you take one of 21 these deviants off the street, before he's 22 arrested or she's arrested, they've committed 23 140 crimes on children and, in a lifetime, 24 360 crimes. 25 We cannot allow these people to

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(518) 371-8910 1 stay on the street. We cannot allow them to 2 state stay on the street unless they can be 3 monitored and properly taken into custody when 4 they commit a crime. 5 The 61 Precinct in Brooklyn, they 6 had the same thing going on. And they 7 couldn't figure out where these molestations 8 were coming from. A boy comes forward, a 9 12-year-old boy, and he points out the house. 10 The captain goes into the house, talks to this 11 40-year-old man that's living with his 12 parents, coaxes him out of the house, brings 13 him into the precinct, and upon further 14 investigation they arrest him for a number of 15 molestations. 16 He left New Jersey, never told 17 New Jersey he was leaving; he came to Brooklyn 18 and he never told Brooklyn he was coming. How 19 many kids did he tear apart, how many 20 families' lives have been torn apart in 21 Brooklyn, in Queens, in Manhattan, where the 22 majority of these people live and reside? 23 We owe it to the families. Every 24 other day in this country, right here, a child 25 is kidnapped or assaulted or killed. I'm

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(518) 371-8910 1 sorry, kidnapped or killed. Every other day 2 here in this country. There are 550,000 known 3 sexual deviants in registries across this 4 country. How many scores of unknown? 5 This is something I hope that this 6 body comes together with and agrees upon and 7 that we go across to the Assembly and get this 8 bill passed, for the sakes of those children 9 and the sake of the families across this city 10 and state. 11 Thank you, Senator Skelos, for this 12 bill. Thank you, Senator Bonacic. And thank 13 you, Mike Nozzolio, Senator Nozzolio, who we 14 had hearings yesterday, in the city of 15 New York, with Mark Lunsford from Florida. 16 There wasn't a dry eye in that place. There's 17 no reason that that man had to lose his 18 daughter. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you, Senator Golden. 22 Senator Nozzolio. 23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 24 Madam President. On the bill. 25 Madam President, my colleagues, I

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(518) 371-8910 1 rise to support this measure as a cosponsor 2 and to thank Senator Bruno and Senator Skelos 3 for their leadership in establishing Megan's 4 Law 10 years ago and helping us utilize the 5 tenth anniversary of Megan's Law as a platform 6 to look at the entire issue of how we can 7 protect our children in a much better way and 8 make them more safe in New York State. 9 As chairman of the Crime Victims, 10 Crime and Corrections Committee of this house, 11 I was privileged to conduct hearings across 12 this state on this very important issue. 13 Again, looking at the tenth anniversary of 14 Megan's Law, to see how the law is being 15 utilized, to see what types of procedures are 16 in place to protect children, to see what 17 provisions need to be added for additional 18 protections of children and to ensure that 19 loopholes that may exist in the law are 20 closed. 21 We heard from many different 22 individuals and organizations, advocates for 23 Megan's Law, those who support more community 24 vigilance to protect children. We heard from 25 law enforcement officials. We heard from

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(518) 371-8910 1 those involved in prosecuting crimes, those 2 involved in parole and probation. We looked 3 at the technological ways that we could 4 enhance the community notification process as 5 well as utilizing the best technology 6 available to protect our children. 7 We heard from prosecutors, one of 8 whom gave the testimony that the loopholes in 9 Megan's Law in New York State, as they exist 10 today, serve up our children on a silver 11 matter for sex predators and that we as a 12 Legislature need to close those loopholes 13 immediately, ensure that our children are not 14 being further victimized. 15 We looked at the notification 16 process and found that even within a BOCES 17 district, school districts vary in the way 18 they communicate notification to the public, 19 the school board, the faculty, and the 20 administration and the student body and the 21 parents of students. We have a patchwork of 22 notification across this state that we are 23 trying to rectify in part with this 24 legislation. 25 We also saw that there was a need

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(518) 371-8910 1 to enhance and strengthen the penalty 2 provisions of the Megan's Law which we have 3 enacted ten years ago. 4 One of the measures we are fighting 5 for today and hope to enact is establishment 6 of a lifetime registration process. 7 Prosecutors told the committee in their 8 hearings that we see violations continually of 9 those who are failing to register under the 10 Megan's Law process, and that those who fail 11 to register for the first time only receive a 12 misdemeanor slap on the wrist. 13 And that it's difficult to see, 14 that even though prosecutors may fight hard to 15 prosecute that crime, in effect we need to 16 give them a greater tool of a felony to make 17 prosecution more effective. 18 Not a day goes by, and it was 19 certainly the case during the course of the 20 hearings that not a day goes by that we don't 21 hear of another heinous crime occurring in our 22 state. Just today a convicted sex predator in 23 the Rochester area was arrested on sex crime 24 charges. In Livingston County an individual 25 was -- which is right outside of Rochester --

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(518) 371-8910 1 was apprehended for victims under the age of 2 18, and that he had been convicted of a rape 3 in 1993 for having sex with a minor. He also 4 had a violation of registering as a sex 5 offender. 6 To make a lifetime registration 7 process in place is really what we need. 8 There are approximately 3,000 sex predators, 9 those convicted of 1 or 2 level sex crimes, 10 that are coming off the registry this year. 11 And that's something that this body and this 12 Legislature need to fight hard to ensure that 13 does not happen. 14 We were asked a question about the 15 Assembly, the Assembly's failure, dismal 16 failure to accept these laws and help us close 17 the loophole. To my question, the question 18 raised in a news conference this morning, my 19 response to the reporter afterward was this, 20 that we're not here to bargain with the 21 Assembly over the safety of children, that 22 we're not here to pin one legislative measure 23 against another, to establish a quid pro quo 24 system. These measures stand on their own. 25 They are meritorious.

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(518) 371-8910 1 All the rhetoric we've heard about 2 reform from the Assembly and from many 3 advocates -- frankly, this is real reform. 4 It's reform that we have engaged in through a 5 legislative process of hearings, notifying, 6 testimony. A really classic example of what 7 the legislative process in its best case is 8 all about. 9 I wish to conclude by saying that 10 we heard from many witnesses who gave us 11 extremely valuable testimony. I thank all my 12 colleagues, Senator Skelos in particular. But 13 Senator Fuschillo, Senator Marcellino, Senator 14 Golden all participated in hearings outside 15 this district. Senator Libous and many others 16 participated in hearings here in Albany. 17 We heard from individuals. But 18 there were two individuals that stood out in 19 those hearings, and they spoke -- they spoke 20 because they represented people who couldn't 21 speak for themselves. Maureen Kanka was the 22 reason we established Megan's Law in the first 23 place. Her daughter Megan was brutally 24 murdered. 25 We heard testimony from Mark

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(518) 371-8910 1 Lunsford, thanks to Senator Golden, who asked 2 Mr. Lunsford to come from Florida to New York 3 to explain his circumstances. In the 23 years 4 I've been in the State Legislature, I've never 5 heard more compelling testimony from anyone 6 than I heard from Mr. Lunsford yesterday, how 7 his daughter was stolen from her own bedroom 8 and brutally assaulted and murdered because he 9 did not have notice. 10 Now, Mr. Lunsford is from Florida. 11 Because of his tragedy, Florida modernized 12 their laws and put the penalty provisions and 13 closed the loopholes in their state. But 14 Mr. Lunsford is speaking for his daughter, 15 Jessica. Maureen Kanka is speaking for her 16 daughter, Megan. Those loopholes exist in our 17 laws today, and that we need to close them to 18 ensure that there won't be Jessicas, there 19 won't be Megans in the future. 20 Madam President, I call for 21 everyone to support this legislation. And I 22 ask the word to go from this chamber, with a 23 resounding vote in support, to the chamber 24 down on the other side of this building, in 25 the New York State Assembly, and tell those in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Assembly that real reform means protecting 2 children. And that's what this measure is all 3 about. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 5 you, Senator Nozzolio. 6 Senator Valesky. 7 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, 8 Madam President. Briefly on the bill, in 9 support of this bill. 10 I listened intently to the speakers 11 here today. And to Senator Skelos and his 12 explanation of why Mrs. Kanka could not be 13 here today with us, I had two thoughts. One, 14 how difficult it must be for Megan Kanka's 15 mother this month, the month that she would 16 have graduated. How difficult life must be 17 for her on holidays, on birthdays and at other 18 occasions where her daughter is no longer with 19 her. 20 And the other thought I had is one 21 that I would imagine those of us in this 22 chamber who are parents, as I am, had. I am 23 the proud parent of three young children, 24 three young boys, ages 10, 8, and 5. And I 25 could not help but think about them when we

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(518) 371-8910 1 talk about this bill. 2 It is very important that this bill 3 be passed today, be signed into law this year. 4 As Senator Skelos indicated, 3,200 convicted 5 sex offenders will come off the list, the 6 registry, as the ten-year window expires. 7 And as I have participated in 8 voting in my relatively short career to this 9 point in this house, I have voted for a number 10 of bills that will not be considered by the 11 other house. One-house bills, as we refer to 12 them. It seems to me that this bill is far 13 too important to be passed only by the 14 New York State Senate. 15 And I join with my colleagues on 16 the other side of the aisle and encourage each 17 and every one of us to do what we can in 18 convincing our colleagues in the State 19 Assembly to not allow this legislative session 20 to conclude without some form of reform of the 21 Sex Offender Registration Act. 22 It is far too important for us to 23 leave town without passing a bill in both 24 houses, a bill that the Governor will sign 25 into law. There is nothing more important

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(518) 371-8910 1 than the health and safety of our children. 2 Thank you, Madam President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you, Senator Valesky. 5 Senator LaValle. 6 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 7 Madam President. 8 I was not going to speak on this 9 bill but felt very, very touched by comments 10 that were made -- Senator Skelos, Senator 11 Golden, Senator Nozzolio, Senator Valesky. 12 You know, in this chamber and 13 throughout the state we make speeches about 14 the most precious thing in our future is our 15 children. And far too often we turn on the 16 television or read in the paper how 17 individuals have been -- children have been 18 abused, one, and, two, kidnapped and killed. 19 And the stories are all so very sad. 20 I have raised children at a 21 different time. And they remind me very often 22 that in that time they had the privilege of 23 being able to roam in the village of Port 24 Jefferson and play and have a good time with 25 their friends. And we as parents had not very

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(518) 371-8910 1 much thought that anything would happen to 2 them. We felt pretty secure that they could 3 go out and play and return. Maybe some bumps 4 and bruises, but that was it. 5 Today, I listen to my children 6 about what happens with my grandchildren. 7 Play dates. What is this thing, play dates? 8 Well, they tell me that play dates come into 9 being because it provides a secure, good 10 environment for children. Safe. That's where 11 we are today. 12 And it's a shame that children are 13 being brought up at a time with terrorism 14 hanging over their heads and in their 15 communities they cannot really play without 16 the threat of someone abusing them. In spite 17 of all the things that we do as parents or all 18 the things that our education system does to 19 inculcate the kinds of things that they need 20 to be aware of in fending off someone who 21 might lure them into a vehicle or off the 22 street. We talk about, today, in today's 23 world, young people being taken out of their 24 bedrooms in their own house. 25 Senator Skelos, I compliment you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 because you have made this passage of Megan's 2 Law and you have stayed the course and made 3 changes and amendments to make sure that we're 4 doing all that we can. 5 Notification is certainly a minimum 6 step that we need to take. And I cannot 7 believe that anyone would even contemplate 8 that this minimum step should not be advanced 9 in a unanimous way to send a message across 10 this great state and across the country. 11 But there are other measures that 12 really need to be done, because this is an 13 epidemic. And individuals who commit these 14 crimes on our young people and women in many 15 cases have reported that they cannot help 16 themselves. They cannot help themselves. And 17 so we must deal with other measures. 18 Senator Bonacic talked about a very 19 important measure. There are others, Senator 20 Volker's civil commitment and other pieces of 21 legislation that really deal with keeping our 22 communities and our children secure. 23 And so I hope that we will send a 24 strong message and pass this worthwhile 25 legislation. And again, Senator Skelos, a

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(518) 371-8910 1 great job. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you, Senator LaValle. 5 Senator Volker. 6 SENATOR VOLKER: Madam President, 7 I -- this is an issue, sex deviancy is 8 something that is part of the reason that I'm 9 here in the Legislature. And I think a lot of 10 the people think that I do come from a 11 political family. No question. But I became 12 a police officer in the '60s and graduated 13 from law school actually while I was a police 14 officer. And I think some of my colleagues 15 who have been here for a while know that I do 16 have a tendency to talk about some of my 17 experiences when I was a police officer. 18 One of the most important 19 experiences was that a state trooper and 20 myself led, I believe it was between 1969 and 21 1971, the largest rape investigation in the 22 history of upstate New York. And I have been 23 asked on a number of occasions since then, in 24 fact, to provide my reports that we did. I 25 did most of the reports; since I was a lawyer,

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(518) 371-8910 1 the department thought it would be good, 2 everybody thought it would be good for me to 3 do the reports. 4 It was very frightening. It was 5 frightening, certainly, from the standpoint of 6 the women victims. We believe that this one 7 man, who we finally caught, raped as many as a 8 hundred women. And the reason we believe that 9 is because for every one person that we knew 10 about, we always felt there was at least three 11 or four. We knew about 30 to 40. 12 And I won't get into the details, 13 but there's a reason why it's so important in 14 this case. Because even though that was 15 obviously the rape of -- well, for the most 16 part -- except, I think, for one -- the rape 17 of women who were of age, there's a connection 18 in sex deviancy. 19 And as part of that investigation, 20 we arrested 29 people, 29 people for various 21 sex crimes, including child sex deviancy. It 22 wasn't maybe quite as prevalent then, although 23 we saw the advance of it and we saw it coming. 24 One of the reasons I came here was 25 that we could not convict people before a jury

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(518) 371-8910 1 of first-degree rape because of the 2 corroboration piece in the statute at the 3 time. When I came here, the first time I did 4 was to collaborate with some of the older 5 members to try to help work the rape statute 6 so that it was workable and that we could 7 convict people who were what I would call 8 savages. 9 In fact, the fellow I'm talking 10 about eventually ended up murdering two people 11 and ended up getting the death penalty. And 12 someone said to me, How could he get the death 13 penalty? There wasn't a death penalty. There 14 was for him, because one of the people he 15 murdered happened to be a Mafia chieftain's 16 son. So they took care of him. And, you 17 know, sad to say that it was just violence. 18 On the other hand, it was justice in many 19 ways. 20 At any rate, the reason I mention 21 this too is there was an incident that 22 occurred in Monroe County, in fact over two 23 counties, involving the murder of, I believe, 24 12 women. And what had occurred is this -- 25 they finally were able to catch this guy.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Unfortunately, part of the problem was that 2 there was bad communication between the state 3 police and the Monroe County sheriff's 4 department at the time. 5 But the reason I mention this is 6 the head of the parole department is a good 7 friend of mine. He still has nightmares. And 8 the reason he has nightmares is he interviewed 9 the guy who killed these people. But the 10 reason he didn't believe that he had anything 11 to do with it was that the gentleman -- he 12 wasn't a gentleman -- the guy involved was a 13 child sex offender. He would have been, I 14 guess, probably a Level 3. Now, this was -- 15 remember, this was years ago. This was before 16 Megan's Law. 17 And people didn't think -- at the 18 time, the thought was, well, if you're a child 19 sex offender, you're not -- you know, wouldn't 20 be involved with adults or anything else. 21 That is not necessarily true at all. 22 Interestingly enough, it dawned on 23 me had there been bracelets and had there been 24 Megan's Law, those 12 women might not have 25 been killed. Because he would have been

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(518) 371-8910 1 subjected to the imprint of the Megan's Law, 2 or should have reported, and there's no 3 question that he would have been a prime 4 suspect. And if he had a bracelet on, 5 obviously he would have been tracked. 6 Now, that was years ago. My point, 7 I think, is, though, that this is not quite 8 what some of us think and that somehow you can 9 categorize these people. You can't do it. 10 These are people that are sick, they're ill. 11 They're people, however, that you only treat 12 so much. 13 I have to be honest with you. One 14 of the reasons that Senator Skelos, the 15 sponsor of Megan's Law -- I had some 16 reservations about it when we first did it. 17 And the reason I did is, I guess, as an old 18 law enforcement officer I was concerned of how 19 it would be developed, whether the courts 20 would even let us do it. But I realized, as 21 we progressed, that Senator Skelos was 22 absolutely right. 23 And the reason is that this 24 epidemic is so bad. And we have sort of 25 pierced through the judges one after another

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(518) 371-8910 1 who've tried hold it up and stop it here and 2 there. No one likes this stuff, obviously. 3 Nobody wants to do all this. 4 But, my colleagues, you're not 5 dealing with an issue here that you can deal 6 with on an ordinary, even-keel, niceties 7 basis. These are predators. These are people 8 many of whom don't want to do what they're 9 doing, fortunately. 10 And Senator -- Senator Skelos, 11 Senator Bonacic, obviously Senator Bruno, this 12 house -- and, you know, I think the Assembly 13 is kind of caught in, to a certain extent, a 14 time warp. They have to understand, this is a 15 different time. These are different issues. 16 These -- we must protect the most vulnerable. 17 Because if we don't, we're failing as an 18 institution. 19 And no one can say that this 20 institution has not done its best to make sure 21 that we don't fail not only our youngsters but 22 all the vulnerable people in our state. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 24 you, Senator Volker. 25 Senator Robach.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam 2 President. Let me just take a moment. I 3 think this is such an important issue. 4 And, you know, we took a great 5 first step when we passed this initially, not 6 only to protect kids but to be responsive to 7 the public, who was outraged over the lack of 8 information on something as important as this. 9 But I just wanted to interject, as 10 we continue to move forward, I am someone that 11 prior to office worked in the criminal justice 12 system. And even I was shocked very recently, 13 maybe less than a month ago, our CBS affiliate 14 in Rochester, Channel 10, did a news expose 15 showing the overlay of where these 16 highest-risk offenders were in our community, 17 the city of Rochester, a place I have the 18 honor and privilege of representing and like 19 very much. 20 And even I was shocked, when they 21 showed this overlay, to see people that were 22 next to, literally, a daycare center in the 23 first floor of an apartment complex, schools, 24 recreation centers. 25 And while currently parole can say

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(518) 371-8910 1 they have to be a thousand feet away, that's 2 at their whim and will if they want to do 3 that. 4 Us continuing to have mandatory 5 notification and information out there is not 6 only the right thing to do as legislators, but 7 I also think as a parent. Going back to that 8 overlay, I was shocked to see that. 9 There is no question law 10 enforcement does a fine job, parole does a 11 fine job, our public employees. But they 12 cannot be everywhere. And parents, I think 13 this is almost as well as a public protection 14 bill for kids, this is a continued step for 15 parental rights. 16 I'm going to put my parent hat on 17 now. I need to know, for no other purpose 18 than protection, where those people are, where 19 my daughter can go sell Girl Scout cookies, 20 whose pool they shouldn't be swimming in. 21 And I've even had to alter the way 22 I raise my own children because of this 23 growing threat, for lack of a better term. I 24 always raised my kids to be very friendly to 25 people, to be very outgoing and maybe even a

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(518) 371-8910 1 little bit too trusting. Certainly every 2 parent needs to know, whether it's crossing a 3 dangerous street, whether it's some other 4 criminal activity, whatever it is, you need to 5 know where that is. 6 And even with the great measures 7 that we passed a decade ago, right in my city 8 I was shocked to find out the number of people 9 living in our community in the proximity they 10 are to our children. It is imperative that we 11 give parents, people in authority, everyone -- 12 post-conviction -- the right to know where 13 these people are. 14 And I can't remember which one of 15 my colleagues said it, but it's also true. We 16 can debate what's gone on prior to conviction 17 or how many times they've abused young people 18 prior to getting caught. But we also know 19 that the recidivism rate, unfortunately -- and 20 I wish I had the pill, the cure to make sure 21 they didn't have that issue, they didn't have 22 that problem. But we don't have that yet. 23 The only thing we can do now is try to make it 24 more difficult for them to be in that 25 situation and also arm our parents to protect

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(518) 371-8910 1 our kids. 2 So I hope that not only will people 3 vote for this bill, but I am hopeful that my 4 colleagues in the other house will take this 5 up and will even continue to look at more 6 measures of applying better technology and 7 things available today to even further protect 8 our children. 9 And I too want to applaud Senator 10 Skelos for not sitting back after the first 11 measure but continuing to bring this issue up 12 as, unfortunately, we continue to have issues 13 with this in our community all across the 14 state. And I think we need to do more to do 15 as thorough a job and use every tool we can to 16 protect our kids. 17 Thank you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 19 you, Senator Robach. 20 Senator Young. 21 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam 22 President. 23 I want to commend my colleagues for 24 their leadership on this issue. And Senator 25 Skelos and Senator Nozzolio referenced a news

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(518) 371-8910 1 article that was in the Rochester Democrat and 2 Chronicle today about a repeat offender. And 3 I just wanted to read that brief article 4 because I think it drives the point home as to 5 how important this legislation is. 6 The headline is: "Convicted Sex 7 Offender Charged Again." 8 "A convicted sex offender in the 9 Rochester area has been arrested on new sex 10 crime charges. Investigators in Livingston 11 County have charged 36-year-old David Gardner 12 of Mount Morris with rape in the second and 13 third degrees. Sheriff John York says several 14 victims under age 18 were identified. 15 "Gardner had been convicted of rape 16 back in 1993 for having sex with a minor. A 17 judge says his background includes one arrest 18 for failing to register as a sex offender. 19 "He's being held in the Livingston 20 County jail without bail." 21 Here's a repeat offender who lives 22 in my district who has victimized children in 23 my district, in my community. But 24 unfortunately, this type of case is repeated 25 over and over again in New York State and in

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(518) 371-8910 1 this country. 2 We have an obligation as 3 legislators to protect our communities, to do 4 the right things so that we won't have this 5 victimization. 6 Just yesterday I was reading in the 7 newspaper there's a terrible case where a man 8 raped a 4-month-old baby. Think about that. 9 Just think about that. This type of story 10 goes on and on. 11 We need to end the victimization. 12 We need to protect the innocent. We need to 13 do everybody everything in our power, because 14 there wreaks havoc on the victims and their 15 families. We need to end the carnage. 16 I want to thank my colleagues for 17 supporting this legislation, putting this 18 legislation forward. And I urge everyone in 19 this house not only to vote today to protect 20 innocent lives but also talk to our colleagues 21 in the Assembly so that they do the right 22 thing too. 23 Thank you. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you, Senator Young.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Savino. 2 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, Madam 3 President. 4 I too want to rise and thank 5 Senator Skelos for bringing this legislation 6 forward. 7 You know, everyone in this chamber 8 comes to the chamber with their own 9 experiences and what kind of shaped them and 10 how they got here. Senator Golden and Senator 11 Volker were police officers. And as I 12 mentioned before, I spent several years in the 13 New York City child welfare system as a child 14 protective worker. 15 And I have to tell you, some of the 16 worst moments of my life have been escorting 17 young children to be examined in the emergency 18 room after they've been raped. Or taking them 19 to the district attorney's office where they 20 had to be evaluated and determined whether or 21 not they would be credible witnesses on the 22 witness stand. 23 In working with some of those kids, 24 you know, you got to see some of the predators 25 if we were lucky enough to get them arrested.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I used to think that when I saw them, I 2 would see a monster, I would see someone who 3 was so hideous that you would recognize them 4 immediately. And the frightening thing is, 5 they don't look like monsters. They look just 6 like we do. 7 There is no way for young people, 8 children particularly, to recognize sexual 9 predators. They don't see them coming. They 10 look like us. They can be quite charming. 11 They can get jobs in daycare centers. They 12 get access to children, and then they 13 victimize them. And we have to find a way to 14 stop that. 15 We can talk another day about why 16 it is that sexual predators, particularly of 17 young children, are let out of jail after such 18 short sentences. I don't understand that. 19 That's something I think we need to examine in 20 this chamber as well. But until the day comes 21 when we know we can lock them up and throw 22 away the key, we have to figure out a way to 23 protect children and women and senior women 24 and young boys and everyone else who could be 25 the victim of sexual predators. Because they

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(518) 371-8910 1 look too much like the rest of us. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you, Senator Savino. 5 Senator Montgomery. 6 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 7 President. I rise to take a slightly 8 different position from my colleagues. 9 What I've heard -- and I certainly 10 join every single one of my colleagues in 11 having total disdain for sexual predators, as 12 I believe they're called, especially people in 13 the Level 3 category. And that's what I 14 believe that I've been hearing this afternoon. 15 This afternoon everyone seems to be 16 talking about the Level 3s, and I totally 17 agree. I don't really have any -- I don't 18 have any problem with anything that we can do 19 about the Level 3s. Those are obviously the 20 most difficult cases, the most heinous cases, 21 and people we don't want to know about. 22 But I do have some concern that we 23 have cast this net very, very wide. I hope 24 that my colleagues who are speaking in favor 25 of this legislation understand that we're

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(518) 371-8910 1 casting a net to include the Level 1 2 category -- and the Level 2s. I'm not as 3 clear about the Level 2s, but certainly Level 4 1s. Which is, I believe, the largest 5 category. 6 And we haven't really thought 7 through, I don't believe, what we could do 8 with those people in that category other than 9 putting them into a registry for the rest of 10 their lives. My sense is that a lot of these 11 are young people. I notice the legislation 12 speaks of when you move from one college to 13 another or when you go to college. So 14 obviously we are talking about college-age 15 people. We anticipate that those will be in 16 the top category. 17 I wish that we had school-based 18 health clinics with health professionals in 19 the high schools and the middle schools to 20 talk about sex education and sex activity and 21 what to do with your body and how to respect 22 other people's bodies and so forth and so on. 23 We don't have that. 24 And I wish that we could find these 25 people before they commit any act. I wish

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(518) 371-8910 1 that there was a way that we were even better 2 able to identify them, those who are using the 3 Internets. Many of them are husbands who get 4 on the Internet for the first time, I 5 understand, and start to go overboard in 6 whatever they do. 7 I tell my son, you know, because I 8 view this from my parent hat as well, and I 9 have told my son no matter how beautiful a 10 young lady is, no matter how few clothes she 11 wears, do not touch her. Because you could 12 spend the rest of your life in prison because 13 of that. 14 So it's a very, very serious issue 15 for me. I absolutely think that we certainly 16 want to protect our children. But on the 17 other side of this issue are young men and 18 women who really have very little information 19 that they can use to guide their activities. 20 And God forbid if they get into a situation 21 where they become involved in sexual activity, 22 sex activity, that they either don't intend to 23 or don't understand or someone decides, This 24 is not what I want. That other person 25 automatically becomes a sex predator and can

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(518) 371-8910 1 be charged as a Level 1 person and will be in 2 a registry for the rest of their lives. 3 So I would like for my colleagues 4 to really think through this from both sides 5 of the issue. And, you know, we can't control 6 our environment. I understand that. But to 7 jump to include every single body that may 8 possibly be charged under this law is really a 9 mistake. 10 Because we have done this over and 11 over again with our drug laws, every law that 12 we do, we try to cast the net as wide as 13 possible to capture everybody in it. And 14 ultimately it becomes as hurtful to many 15 people in our society as it does helpful to 16 the victims that we want to protect. 17 So, Madam President, 18 notwithstanding all of the testimony that 19 we've heard this morning as to how important 20 this is, how great it is, I want to remind my 21 colleagues we do have laws on the books. So 22 it's not that we're not going to be monitoring 23 and making sure that we take care of these 24 sexual predators. But I do believe we need to 25 give a little bit more time.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I note that the Assembly is going 2 to do some hearings on this legislation -- on 3 this issue. This is a very serious issue for 4 us in our state. And so I would hope that 5 between now and when the Assembly does their 6 hearings and when we conclude with 7 legislation, that it makes sense, that it 8 protects all aspects of our society, 9 especially young people, who are the most 10 vulnerable groups. Even though I understand 11 some older men are becoming sexual predators. 12 I don't know when they did or didn't. But 13 certainly young people, I think, could get 14 caught in this net if we cast it way too wide. 15 So I'm going to be voting no. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 17 you, Senator Montgomery. 18 Senator Flanagan. 19 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 20 Madam President. Just briefly on the bill. 21 I know a lot of people have lauded 22 the efforts of Senator Skelos. I want to add 23 my voice to that. And I'm very happy to be a 24 member of the Senate in passing legislation 25 like this.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I want to make one point in 2 particular. There's a group been very 3 influential and very involved, particularly 4 with Senator Skelos's office, called Parents 5 for Megan's Law. And the executive director 6 of that is a woman named Laura Ahearn, who 7 happens to be a constituent of mine. 8 And many of you have probably met 9 Laura. But she is passionate, she's a great 10 advocate, she's aggressive, assertive, she can 11 drive you crazy. But she really, really 12 believes in what she does. And we've worked 13 with her not only on legislation but on 14 getting funding for programs aimed at 15 protecting children. 16 And following up on part of what 17 Senator Savino said, they have -- in their 18 office they have a mock courtroom just so they 19 can help kids get used to what that atmosphere 20 is like. They have building blocks and they 21 have all kinds of things to make them be 22 prepared for what's going to be an 23 extraordinarily difficult task. And it gave 24 me a better appreciation for some of the basic 25 importance of this issue.

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(518) 371-8910 1 You know, it's hard enough for us 2 as adults to get involved in serious and 3 weighty issues. It's ten times more 4 difficult, at least, for children. 5 So their efforts and, in 6 particular, Senator Skelos's efforts are 7 terrific. I'm hoping that the Assembly sees 8 the wisdom of what we're doing and that we can 9 have some chapters before the end of the 10 session. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you, Senator Flanagan. 14 Senator Farley. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 Megan's Law was one of the most 18 significant pieces of legislation that was 19 ever passed in this house and became law. And 20 I think the only reason it happened in the 21 other house was they were embarrassed somewhat 22 by the family and by the pressure that was put 23 on by the sponsor and a few others. 24 But let me just say in the 29 years 25 I've been here, I have never seen a more

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(518) 371-8910 1 hot-button issue that is out there. People 2 are absolutely demanding that we address this 3 issue. It has become something that is 4 torturing every single parent and family in 5 this state. 6 And, you know, this bill that we're 7 doing here today addresses 25 things that can 8 be done. I don't think it's a time for 9 hearings. We've had hearings on this. And I 10 think if something can be done by those of you 11 on the other side of the aisle, it's to speak 12 to your colleagues in the other house and 13 address how important this is. 14 I think what Senator Savino said 15 was so moving, that these predators that are 16 out there you can't recognize them. Our 17 children can't recognize them. They're very 18 subtle in the ways that they approach, these 19 predators. You know, you call them predators, 20 and you expect to find somebody that looks 21 like an ugly Dracula. But they're not. They 22 have to be identified. People have to be 23 warned. 24 The horror stories that I just 25 heard from my colleagues, Senator Golden and

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(518) 371-8910 1 so forth, they're terribly moving. And the 2 statistics are absolutely unbelievable. The 3 recidivism. The fact that hundreds of these 4 crimes are committed before they're even 5 caught, so many times. And unfortunately, so 6 many children. That even your own children 7 have been approached and never say anything 8 about this issue because they're embarrassed. 9 But if we can't act on this issue, 10 we can't do very much. And I applaud the 11 support that my colleagues are giving this 12 legislation. And I think it's definitely time 13 that we act and that we send a message not 14 only to our constituents, but to the other 15 house, and make this a law this year. 16 Thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 18 you, Senator Farley. 19 Senator Stachowski. 20 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Madam 21 President, I too rise. I wasn't going to say 22 anything on this. But due to some of the 23 other comments, I thought I should say a few 24 things. 25 I think the bill is a good bill. I

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(518) 371-8910 1 think it's about time. I think there's 2 nothing that people want protection against 3 more than these sexual predators. 4 I don't know how many other people 5 have anything to do with certain schools, but 6 in the Catholic school system -- and this I 7 think is nationwide, but I know in Erie County 8 we all have to take a course on sexual 9 predators. And you get continual updates. 10 But in the three hours that you 11 take this initial course, you watch some 12 videos that are pretty rough to watch, because 13 they have these -- they have some convicted 14 predators speaking. And the interesting thing 15 is what rang through on all of them was would 16 they do it again, and the answer inevitably 17 was yes. 18 And the other thing was some of 19 them were -- like the one in particular, how 20 he got involved, he was a father with a couple 21 of kids. And he would have his kids have 22 their friends overnight. And that's who he 23 was selecting and abusing. 24 And so it's -- it is something that 25 is invisible to the naked eye. And the whole

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(518) 371-8910 1 point of the course is to try to have people 2 that work with kids try to find ways to keep 3 these -- or detect people that might be these 4 kind of people. 5 Because what they do is they work 6 themselves into the community. They work 7 themselves into your family. They work 8 themselves -- a lot of times they might even 9 be relatives. But they get everybody's 10 confidence. And they try to involve 11 themselves, like they work at playgrounds, 12 they work at skating rinks. They try to get 13 those kind of positions. 14 And so that to think you've got to 15 have hearings to figure out this is a major 16 problem, to me, just baffles me. I'm sorry. 17 I just don't see that. And yes, I vote more 18 or less on law and order. But in this 19 particular case, I've even taken courses on 20 this. And to hesitate on instituting 21 bracelets for Level 3 offenders, I don't have 22 the least bit of hesitation. 23 Would I feel bad that somebody then 24 would have to wear that? No. Because they -- 25 they merited wearing that. It's kind of

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(518) 371-8910 1 something that they won, you know, in an odd 2 sense of the use of the term. 3 But I think the bill's time is now. 4 I think the public wants it. I think every 5 parent wants it. And I think even friends of 6 families with kids want it, because they don't 7 want to see children they know or that they 8 work with ever have to fall under the abuse of 9 one of these predators. 10 So I also am supporting this bill. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you, Senator Stachowski. 13 Is there any other Senator wishing 14 to be heard? 15 Senator Schneiderman. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 17 Madam President. Very, very briefly. 18 This has been an interesting debate 19 about a very important and very difficult 20 subject. I would urge my colleagues here -- 21 and there are issues in this particular bill 22 that I have concerns about. I think Senator 23 Montgomery's calling our attention to the 24 issue of the Level 1s, and the conduct that 25 gets you into Level 1, I think is important.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I think that there are some ways in 2 which this bill dramatically improves the 3 current system: the provision for notice to 4 offenders, the provisions for monitoring 5 Level 3. 6 But I would urge my colleagues, the 7 one thing I disagree with in the debate was 8 when one of my colleagues over there -- I 9 think it was Senator Nozzolio, and I think it 10 was well-intentioned -- said "We're not here 11 to negotiate with the Assembly over safety." 12 I hope we are here to negotiate 13 with the Assembly. Because I'd like to see a 14 law rather than just a one-house bill. And I 15 think there are sufficient issues that are 16 still on the table that we may be able to 17 address in cooperation with the Assembly. 18 And I do sincerely hope we are here 19 to negotiate, because this bill doesn't 20 address one critical area that I think should 21 be a part of any solution, and that's 22 treatment. And that's treatment. 23 And I gather there were hearings, 24 and I'm always happy when we have hearings 25 before we pass bills. But I gather there

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(518) 371-8910 1 weren't experts on the area of treatment of 2 sexual predators at the hearings. 3 There is a 43 percent reduction in 4 recidivism for sexual offenders if they 5 receive treatment. We should be funding that 6 too. A lot of my colleagues said we should 7 use every tool available, we should do 8 everything we can. I agree. So let's agree 9 address the issue of treatment. Senator 10 Paterson has proposals to fund treatment, and 11 I think we should be doing that as well. 12 I hear the concerns that have been 13 raised by many of my colleagues, particularly 14 the references Senator Valesky and others made 15 to when you think about this as a parent it 16 certainly changes your point of view, to the 17 extent you had doubts. 18 I will be voting in support of this 19 bill, but I urge my colleagues let's try and 20 make it a law, let's negotiate with the 21 Assembly, and let's address the issue of 22 treatment. 23 Thank you, Madam President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you, Senator Schneiderman.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Is there any other Senator wishing 2 to be heard? 3 The debate is closed. 4 The Secretary will ring the bell. 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 32. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 12 Diaz, why do you rise? 13 SENATOR DIAZ: To explain my 14 vote. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 16 you. 17 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote. 18 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 19 President. 20 It is unbelievable and maybe 21 shameful to see the time that we have spent 22 today listening to the other side lecturing us 23 on how to protect the children and how to 24 protect the women and how to protect the 25 senior citizens in the community.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We all, when we are campaigning, we 2 all keep saying, we always say: If you vote 3 for me, I will protect the community, I will 4 protect the children, I will protect the 5 women, I will protect the senior citizens. 6 I don't know why -- I keep asking 7 myself, why is it that a bill like this has 8 been laid aside? There is nothing to ask. 9 There's nothing to question about a bill like 10 this. This is simple. It's supposed to be 11 simple. Ladies and gentlemen, we all are 12 committed to protect children. We all are 13 committed to protect women. We all are 14 committed to put criminals in jail and to take 15 them out of the street. 16 So, you know, why is it that we are 17 giving time to the other side to lecture us? 18 It's shameful. One by one on the other side 19 they have taken the time today to lecture us 20 on how to protect children and how shall we be 21 protecting communities, on how shall we be 22 protecting our senior citizens. 23 It should not happen. It shouldn't 24 happen. It doesn't matter if the bill is a 25 Republican bill, it doesn't matter if the bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 is a Democratic bill. As long as the bill 2 protect our community and keep our children 3 safe and keep our women safe, we shouldn't lay 4 it aside. There's no question about it. 5 Let's do it and let's get over with it. 6 Yes, I'm voting yes with this bill. 7 Congratulations, Senator Skelos. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 9 Diaz will be recorded in the affirmative. 10 Senator Libous, to explain his 11 vote. 12 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Madam 13 President. 14 I'd like to rise and explain my 15 vote and certainly thank my colleagues, thank 16 Senator Skelos and Senator Nozzolio, Senator 17 Golden, Senator Bonacic, and certainly Senator 18 Bruno for allowing the time that they took to 19 have hearings across the state. 20 I spent some time, as Senator 21 Nozzolio mentioned, at the Albany hearing. 22 And it was very interesting to get a total and 23 overall perspective from not only victims' 24 parents and certainly law enforcement 25 officials and others.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But we have come a long way in 2 10 years. And certainly while 10 years ago 3 this body was well-intended on doing the right 4 thing -- and we did -- there have been a 5 number of instances and circumstances that 6 have actually caused a number of local 7 governments in New York State to begin doing 8 their own things. I know that back home in 9 Binghamton and Broome County, the county 10 legislature is passing laws, the City of 11 Binghamton is passing laws. 12 But today we are passing an 13 umbrella. Twenty-five different improvements, 14 as Senator Skelos mentioned, to a good piece 15 of legislation. And it's going to be equal 16 and the same across the state so that one 17 community doesn't attack this very serious 18 problem in a different way, but it's going to 19 be attacked in a similar way. 20 Many of you have stood up this 21 afternoon and talked about the reasons why 22 this bill is important. And certainly it 23 just, to me, makes such common sense to pass 24 this legislation. 25 As we continue to read about, learn

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(518) 371-8910 1 about some of the horrific murders and 2 situations that take place with our young 3 children from these predators, I don't see how 4 anybody could not support this legislation. 5 Certainly you may not agree with everything in 6 it. But the whole concept of the enhancement 7 of Megan's Law is an excellent concept. 8 I want to address one issue that I 9 think Senator Schneiderman said. And he's 10 somewhere -- I guess he's not here right now. 11 I chaired the Mental Health Committee for 12 12 years. And while I wouldn't profess to be 13 an expert, I've learned a lot. And we've 14 talked to a number of psychiatrists, we had 15 hearings and discussed different types of 16 mental illnesses. 17 And when it came to those sexual 18 predators, we would often hear from the 19 psychiatrists that the disease of pedophilia 20 could not be cured, that they will strike 21 again. We were told that time and time again. 22 And that treatment may be helpful, 23 but it would not stop them from committing 24 another act again. Nothing could stop that. 25 But treatment may calm them down for a period

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(518) 371-8910 1 of time -- and I'm not saying that treatment 2 should not be imposed, because it is being 3 imposed. 4 You know, there's a facility in my 5 district that is run by the Office of Mental 6 Retardation that is a facility -- it's a 7 center for intense treatment. Senator Little 8 has one in her district. 9 And those facilities, those 10 facilities have a number of sexual predators 11 in them. But they are not allowed to go out. 12 They have to be under supervision all the 13 time. 14 And, Madam President, I just want 15 to say that I think this is an excellent piece 16 of legislation, I applaud my colleagues, and I 17 vote aye. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 19 you. 20 Senator Libous will be recorded in 21 the affirmative. 22 Senator Stavisky, to explain her 23 vote. 24 SENATOR STAVISKY: To explain my 25 vote. I want to follow up on what Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Libous said. 2 I had a Level 3 offender living in 3 my district. And as I became more and more 4 familiar with Megan's Law and the requirements 5 for reporting, et cetera, we tried to find out 6 what the rate of recidivism was. And the more 7 statistics that were thrown at us, the more 8 inaccurate I think they became. 9 And I am absolutely convinced, 10 number one, we have an absence of research in 11 this area, and, number two, that the rate of 12 recidivism for Level 3 offenders is extremely 13 high. 14 And while I think this bill is a 15 little harsh on Level 1 offenders, I think 16 that Level 3 offenders have to be protected by 17 the state -- or I should say the victims of 18 the Level 3 offenders have to be protected by 19 the state. And I vote aye. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you. 22 Senator Stavisky will be recorded 23 in the affirmative. 24 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his 25 vote.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Very 2 briefly. Everything has been said that could 3 possibly be said. I just wanted to respond to 4 Senator Diaz. 5 I don't think anybody is talking 6 down to you or anyone else, or lecturing you 7 or anyone else about this bill. I think 8 what's being said on the floor today and what 9 has been said over and over again, very 10 passionately by many on both sides of the 11 aisle, is that this is an important bill for 12 the protection of our children. 13 And I think if there's a message to 14 anyone, I think the message is really being 15 delivered from this chamber to the other 16 chamber of the importance of having a same-as, 17 so that this can become law and protect the 18 most vulnerable in our community. 19 I vote aye. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you. 22 Senator DeFrancisco will be 23 recorded in the affirmative. 24 Senator Balboni, to explain his 25 vote.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR BALBONI: Madam 2 President, when Senator Skelos first began 3 looking at this issue, he was perceived by 4 some, particularly in the Assembly, as being a 5 reactionary, someone who was piling on. 6 I can remember the discussions in 7 the Assembly at the time, where people said 8 this was a bill that was not appropriate, that 9 the penalty for these crimes was prison and 10 that in and of itself was satisfactory. 11 And what has happened in this state 12 and across this nation is this issue has 13 evolved. And frankly, in some aspects, it is 14 a horrifying evolution. We're beginning to 15 appreciate that these individuals are not 16 people that can be rehabilitated, as startling 17 as that is. 18 And so as Senator Skelos now comes 19 back to this issue again and tries to 20 recognize the fact that this plague simply 21 will not go away, he comes back with 22 commonsense extensions of the current law, 23 things that recognize the technology and how 24 it will help track these individuals. 25 I stand up and continue to support

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(518) 371-8910 1 his efforts and just pray to God that we find 2 some foolproof system to protect our children 3 from the most horrible scourge that we can 4 consider in a, quote, civilized society. 5 I vote aye. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 7 you. 8 Senator Balboni will be recorded in 9 the affirmative. 10 The Secretary will announce the 11 results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 13 2. Senators Duane and Montgomery recorded in 14 the negative. 15 Those Senators absent from voting 16 on Calendar Number 1368 are Senators Connor 17 and Gonzalez. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 19 bill is passed. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1391, substituted earlier today by Member of 23 the Assembly Bradley, Assembly Print Number 24 6722, an act to amend the General Municipal 25 Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 2 Explanation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you. 5 Senator Leibell, for an 6 explanation. 7 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 8 Madam President. 9 This bill would add a new article 10 19B to the General Municipal Law to authorize 11 municipalities in New York State to create and 12 establish municipal theme districts within 13 their borders. 14 A municipal theme district would be 15 a defined geographic area within a 16 municipality designated by such for the 17 purpose of constructing, renovating and/or 18 geographically coordinating a common area for 19 arts, entertainment, education, culture or 20 business. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. 23 Senator Krueger. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 25 Madam President. If the sponsor would please

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(518) 371-8910 1 yield. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you. 4 Will the sponsor yield? 5 SENATOR LEIBELL: Yes. 6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 7 I have to say, having read the 8 bill, I'm a little confused about what it 9 actually would do. It creates the ability to 10 create a theme district, and it provides for a 11 seven-person board to oversee the district. 12 And it defines that you have to define a 13 geographic area and have X number of buildings 14 in it. 15 But what does any of that mean? 16 How does it affect either planning or zoning 17 or local law? What does it actually do 18 besides say there's seven people who will 19 oversee said entities? 20 SENATOR LIBOUS: To answer your 21 question, Senator, what this will do is to 22 allow -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Excuse 24 me, Senator Leibell. 25 Can we have order, please, so the

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(518) 371-8910 1 speakers can be heard. 2 SENATOR LEIBELL: -- is to allow 3 a municipality to have the freedom and the 4 flexibility to create within its community, 5 its municipality, these special areas. 6 And it would not be the same as 7 zoning or planning, but it would allow them 8 the ability to create -- for instance, it may 9 be an area that would be dedicated to the 10 arts. It could be something that would be an 11 antique district, which is common. It would 12 allow for a defined area and would allow for 13 more coordinated planning. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam 15 President, if the sponsor would continue to 16 yield. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 18 you. 19 Senator Leibell, do you continue to 20 yield? 21 SENATOR LEIBELL: Yes. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 23 you. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 25 What in New York State law stops

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(518) 371-8910 1 them from doing this now, if they want to, on 2 a local level? 3 SENATOR LEIBELL: There's no 4 authority for them to do it. 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam 6 President, if the sponsor would continue to 7 yield. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 9 you. 10 Senator Leibell, do you continue to 11 yield? 12 SENATOR LEIBELL: Yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 14 you. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Does this 16 bill include any mechanism by which they can 17 exempt entities from taxes? 18 SENATOR LEIBELL: No. 19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: No. 20 Thank you, Madam President. On the 21 bill, Madam President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 23 you. 24 Senator Krueger, on the bill. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Senator. 2 I have to say I read the bill 3 carefully, because I tend to be nervous about 4 creating any new types of umbrella entities 5 throughout the state. And I looked and I 6 said, Well, it doesn't appear that there's a 7 cost associated, it doesn't appear that it 8 exempts these entities from any local zoning 9 laws, it doesn't appear that it provides for 10 tax exemptions or credits, which the sponsor 11 has confirmed. 12 It is very broad, since it includes 13 almost any category a locality might 14 consider -- arts, entertainment, education, 15 culture or business. 16 And so I was left with the 17 question, which I still have, of why do we 18 need this. What really stops a town from 19 saying, now, We want to work together and 20 coordinate with a theme around the district? 21 It doesn't even seem to address 22 questions of signage or announcements of said 23 districts, since I would assume that would 24 also fit into local zoning or local land use 25 or even local signage ordinances.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So my concern is not that this bill 2 could do harm. My concern is that I don't see 3 a reason why New York State actually needs to 4 do this, since I don't see anything in here 5 that a town couldn't do regardless of whether 6 we acted. 7 But I am concerned that it's 8 potentially a precedent for coming back to the 9 Legislature and asking for other things later, 10 asking for the right to do tax exemptions, as 11 IDAs do, for example, since this is 12 specifically allowing business-themed 13 districts as well as cultural, arts and 14 education-themed districts. 15 And I'm concerned that there might 16 be a proposal to come back for expansion with 17 matching with Empire Zones in some way, which 18 I have real concerns about, despite the 19 changes that we made this year. 20 So while I can't be sincere in my 21 analysis, I can't say that I find anything 22 specifically wrong with this bill, Senator. 23 The precedent worries me for what might come 24 next in the request. And I don't see how, if 25 we don't pass this law, any town in the State

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(518) 371-8910 1 of New York can't move forward to do exactly 2 this, absent legislation by the state. 3 So I'll vote no, because I don't 4 think we need this bill. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 7 you. 8 Senator Farley. 9 SENATOR FARLEY: Yeah, I rise in 10 support of this bill. 11 This is, in my judgment, a very 12 significant bill, particularly for smaller 13 upstate cities and communities in the upstate 14 areas, small cities in particular that are 15 having a difficult time in attracting people 16 downtown. They've gone off to the malls and 17 the suburbs and so forth. 18 And this can be something that can 19 set up a center in downtown Albany, downtown 20 Schenectady -- Schenectady has got one that 21 they're trying to do with Little Italy, that 22 sort of thing -- and to attract people to come 23 downtown again and revitalize what we see are 24 really deteriorating downtown areas. 25 We've made quite a few efforts in

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(518) 371-8910 1 my hometown, in Schenectady, to revitalize it, 2 and things have been happening here in Albany 3 also. This is just another step towards 4 trying to help some of the smaller cities 5 upstate, and particularly to excite and make 6 some excitement and revitalization in the 7 downtown areas. 8 I think it's a great piece of 9 legislation, and I urge its support. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you. 12 Is there any other Senator wishing 13 to be heard? 14 The debate is closed. 15 The Secretary will ring the bell. 16 Read the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 23 1. Senator L. Krueger recorded in the 24 negative. 25 Those Senators absent from voting

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(518) 371-8910 1 on Calendar 1391 are Senators Connor and 2 Gonzalez. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 4 bill is passed. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1400, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 5171, an 8 act to amend the Penal Law. 9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Explanation. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you. 13 Senator Robach, for an explanation. 14 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam 15 President. This bill, on the technical side, 16 would make it a Class A misdemeanor to 17 knowingly possess or sell drug paraphernalia 18 for the purpose of using an illegal controlled 19 substance, is the technical explanation. 20 On the pragmatic application, in 21 the street side, what the intent of this bill 22 is is, working along with Neighborhood Crime 23 Watch groups, community organizations, 24 neighborhood empowerment teams in Rochester, 25 we are really trying to put some of the onus

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(518) 371-8910 1 on the people who also are not only the drug 2 users but sell in their shops, on a daily 3 basis, kits, tubes packaged totally for 4 selling everything from crack and other 5 illegal drugs. 6 Yet at the same time, in the city 7 of Rochester, the same shop owners are 8 complaining about drug murders and activity 9 outside their shops. Yet I feel very strongly 10 that they are not doing anything to deter the 11 usage or that activity outside their places of 12 business. 13 This would address the already 14 existing law which says there has to be drug 15 residue, and really try and stop it and take 16 that kind of activity out of those areas as a 17 preventive strike, rather than a post-strike, 18 which only goes to those people who are using 19 the drugs themselves. 20 That's as brief as I can be. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. 23 Senator Schneiderman. 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 25 Madam President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 If the sponsor would yield for a 2 few brief questions. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you. 5 Senator Robach, do you yield? 6 SENATOR ROBACH: Gladly. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: If we 8 could have it just a bit quieter in here, 9 please. 10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: My first 11 question is, this bill states that if you 12 possess steel wool or glass tubing under 13 circumstances -- and I'm reading from the 14 bill -- evincing knowledge that some person 15 intends to use the same unlawfully, then you 16 are guilty of a crime. 17 Could you please explain to us what 18 that means? That's about as vague as I can 19 imagine. What would be proof of circumstances 20 evincing knowledge that some person intends to 21 use the steel wool someone is in possession of 22 unlawfully? 23 SENATOR ROBACH: Yeah, I think 24 that how I would best explain it -- and 25 obviously this would be a judgmental decision.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But I would say that prior to the 2 activity, when you see these things called 3 zoom tubes, a number of names, power tubes -- 4 or they actually package, believe it or not -- 5 and I know there's some real application for 6 these things, steel wool and other things, in 7 our legal lives or life outside of drug use. 8 But when they package them together and 9 everybody, I think, in our society, as well as 10 law enforcement, as well as those people who 11 sell it, know what it's used for, that would 12 be my definition of knowingly want to use 13 drugs. 14 And I would hope that law 15 enforcement and retail people, as well as the 16 courts, would take the same interpretation. 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 18 Through you, Madam President, if 19 the sponsor would continue to yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you. 22 Senator Robach, do you continue to 23 yield? 24 SENATOR ROBACH: Certainly. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I'm on the 3 Codes Committee, and I don't recall seeing 4 this bill. Did this bill go through the Codes 5 Committee? 6 SENATOR ROBACH: I believe it 7 went through Rules. 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 9 And through you, Madam President. 10 In fact, this went through Rules yesterday, I 11 believe. Is that not correct? 12 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Was there 14 any debate on any of these issues in the Rules 15 Committee? 16 SENATOR ROBACH: I do not know. 17 I'm not a member of the Rules Committee. But 18 I do not believe so. 19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And 20 through you, Madam President, if the sponsor 21 would continue to yield. 22 SENATOR ROBACH: That's what we 23 have today for. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Do you 25 continue to yield?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Were there 2 any public hearings or hearings of any kind 3 related to this issue before this bill went to 4 the Rules Committee yesterday and came to the 5 floor today? 6 SENATOR ROBACH: Yeah, 7 absolutely. And I would say that the public 8 hearings have been -- and this is not just for 9 Rochester. This is Buffalo, Syracuse, New 10 York City. We have heard from advocates 11 across the state who do pat tack walks [ph], 12 Neighborhood Crime Watch, empower neighborhood 13 teams who want this stopped before it's done. 14 There's been a number of news 15 stories on this very issue all across the 16 state. It's one of the few issues in bills I 17 have where I've also been contacted by other 18 communities in other news places saying what 19 is the status of this bill, what is going to 20 happen. 21 So I would say that while we have 22 not had specifically a public hearing on this 23 very issue, we have had them on a number of 24 quality-of-life issues and crime issues across 25 this state. But this is one where this is not

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(518) 371-8910 1 an idea from a legislator, this is an idea 2 that's come from the public where I am merely 3 the conduit of putting this into print. So I 4 think there's been a lot of public dialogue on 5 the bill. 6 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 7 Madam President. Thank the sponsor. 8 On the bill. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 10 you. 11 Senator Schneiderman, on the bill. 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I think 13 that I have some questions about the language 14 of this bill and how it would be applied. But 15 my major problem with this bill really has to 16 do with the process by which it reached us on 17 the floor of the Senate. 18 This is not an issue that -- it's 19 the end of the session, I don't think this 20 bill is going to pass in the Assembly. But I 21 think that this is emblematic of what the 22 public perceives as a dysfunctional process by 23 which a bill cannot go through the substantive 24 committee, cannot have public hearings, can 25 show up in Rules on a Tuesday, come to the

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(518) 371-8910 1 floor on a Wednesday and be -- I note that 2 there's one sponsor on it. I don't think it's 3 been -- it has not been opened to bill 4 sponsorship. 5 And we really do, as we end this 6 session, have to think back to the beginning 7 of the session when we made commitments to the 8 public that we were going to reform the rules 9 of the Senate. We have a situation on our 10 hands here where we have moved backwards, in 11 my view, while the Assembly, in a limited 12 way -- but at least it has moved forward. 13 The efforts to reform the rules of 14 the Senate so this circumstance does not arise 15 have -- we're not allowed to bring motions 16 anymore, resolutions to the floor of the 17 Senate to reform the Senate rules. We're 18 required to go into the Rules Committee to do 19 that. 20 We have submitted 11 different 21 proposals, resolutions submitted by members of 22 this conference to the Rules Committee, 23 starting in February, and we have not received 24 any response. They've never showed up on the 25 calendar --

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 2 Skelos, why do you rise? 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 4 I'm really not looking to prolong the 5 discussion, but I don't really believe this is 6 totally germane to Senator Robach's 7 legislation. 8 I don't believe there's a hearing 9 held on every single bill that passes the 10 Legislature. I've seen a number of bills that 11 have passed, Senator Stachowski and others; I 12 don't believe they all held hearings on their 13 bills. 14 In fact, if you want to discuss the 15 rules change, perhaps you could discuss the 16 rules change -- well, that's not germane, 17 though, so I guess we shouldn't do it right 18 now. But the Rules Committee is intended to 19 review bills. 20 In the past, you would give us 21 24-hour notice to make a rules change. Now it 22 goes to the Rules Committee, which can 23 deliberate over the proposed changes. So in 24 fact, you're regressive in the direction you 25 want to go.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So again, Madam President, what I 2 would suggest is that we maintain the 3 discussion on Senator Robach's legislation. 4 And if at some point -- I believe there's an 5 opportunity at the end of session, near the 6 end of session -- after everything is done, if 7 you want to sit here and talk for a while, 8 you're more than welcome to do it. 9 But perhaps right now we can stick 10 to the legislation. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam 12 President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 14 you. Senator Skelos, your point is 15 well-taken. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam 17 President, I wish to address the points 18 Senator Skelos made, since he spoke at length. 19 I'm speaking about the process by 20 which this bill came to the floor. I have 21 never before heard anyone ruled to be making 22 nongermane comments when they discuss the 23 process by which a bill reaches the floor. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 25 Schneiderman, excuse me, but you are out of

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(518) 371-8910 1 order. This is not germane to the bill that 2 is on the floor. 3 Would you continue to address the 4 bill. 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Frankly, 6 Madam President, at this point I want to 7 appeal from the ruling of the chair and ask to 8 be heard on that. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Should 10 the ruling of the chair be overruled? A yes 11 vote is to overrule the chair. A no vote is 12 to uphold the chair. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 14 Madam President. Very briefly. 15 The reason I'm seeking to have the 16 chair overruled -- and I don't believe that 17 the chair is trying to apply the rules 18 incorrectly. But this is -- I believe would 19 be a dramatic departure from Senate procedure 20 if you rule -- 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 22 Schneiderman -- 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: -- that we 24 are not allowed to debate the process by which 25 a bill reaches the floor of the Senate.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 2 Schneiderman, excuse me. But are you debating 3 the germaneness of the bill or -- 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I am. I'm 5 appealing the ruling of the chair that these 6 comments were not germane. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: We need 8 to take a vote on overruling the ruling of the 9 chair. 10 SENATOR PADAVAN: It's not 11 debatable. 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: No, it is 13 debatable. I asked to be heard. And every 14 other time we've appealed a ruling of the 15 chair, we've been heard on it. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Are you 17 debating overruling the chair? 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, Madam 19 President. I'm just speaking -- attempting to 20 speak briefly on our application to have the 21 ruling of the chair overturned. 22 And the reason is that I think it 23 is critical -- some people in this house have 24 voted and have stated, on the other side of 25 the aisle, that they might agree with the

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(518) 371-8910 1 substance of a bill but they are so offended 2 the process by which it came to the floor, 3 they're going to vote no. 4 I believe that the process by which 5 bills become law is something that is germane 6 each and every time a bill reaches the floor 7 of the Senate, and that we should be allowed 8 to debate the process by which a bill reaches 9 the floor. That is what I'm attempting to 10 raise. 11 The fact that this went into the 12 Rules Committee yesterday, didn't go through 13 Codes, is here today, is, I think, bad 14 process. 15 I would respectfully submit that 16 the 11 resolutions submitted to the Rules 17 Committee are quite germane, because the Rules 18 Committee has refused to take any action or 19 calendar them so we can address this issue of 20 process that allows this bill to come to the 21 floor under these circumstances. 22 And I would respectfully request 23 that we not have a ruling that can hurt all of 24 us down the line that says that you cannot 25 debate the process by which a bill comes to

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(518) 371-8910 1 the floor as well as the substance of that 2 bill on the floor of the Senate. And I would 3 request that all my colleagues join me in 4 voting to overturn the ruling of the chair. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Shall 7 the ruling of the chair be overruled? All 8 those voting yes to overrule the chair; all 9 these voting no to uphold the chair. 10 The Secretary will ring the bell. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam 12 President, can we get a clarification? 13 Madam President, point of order. 14 What was the vote, and was the ruling of the 15 chair upheld? Where are we now in the debate 16 on this bill? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: We're 18 taking the roll call now. 19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: On the 20 issue of overturning the chair? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: All 22 those in favor of overruling the chair signify 23 by raising your hand. 24 (Raising of hands.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 motion is defeated. The ruling of the chair 2 is upheld. 3 Senator Schneiderman, do you wish 4 to continue on the bill? 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 6 Madam President. 7 Just to close, I do believe that 8 there are issues in this bill related to the 9 language, the lack of a clear standard of 10 proof. This is, to my knowledge, 11 unprecedented language, this issue of 12 possessing steel wool under circumstances 13 evincing knowledge that some person intends to 14 use the same unlawfully. And I would 15 respectfully suggest that some more process in 16 the Senate might lead to us a better bill. 17 I do think it is a shame that the 18 process -- that the rules not been reformed 19 since January. I would respectfully submit to 20 my colleagues that all of the resolutions 21 submitted by people on this side of the aisle 22 to the Rules Committee should be addressed 23 before the end of session. 24 And I would suggest that even 25 though I appreciate Senator Robach's sincerity

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(518) 371-8910 1 in attempting to resolve a loophole in the 2 law, that the process by which this bill has 3 come to the floor is Exhibit A on the 4 dysfunctionality of the Legislature, and that 5 I will be voting against it with the hope -- 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 7 Schneiderman -- 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: -- that we 9 will have a period of time to rewrite -- 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 11 Schneiderman, excuse me, but that has already 12 been ruled nongermane. 13 So continue on the bill. 14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: My hope 15 is, as I was just saying, that we can rewrite 16 the bill and consider it in a more 17 deliberative fashion. I don't think it's 18 going to become law this session. And I am 19 certainly willing to work with Senator Robach 20 on that, because I know his intent in bringing 21 this bill before this body is sincere. 22 Thank you, Madam President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 24 you. 25 Is there any other Senator wishing

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(518) 371-8910 1 to be heard? 2 Senator Padavan. 3 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, 4 Madam President. 5 The issue here of relevance in 6 terms of the wording of the bill was 7 questioned by the previous speaker. By way of 8 clarifying that issue, as a sponsor of the 9 original law that dealt with drug 10 paraphernalia and the outlawing of head shops 11 in the state of New York back in the late 12 '70s, when we did that, the very same language 13 that you see here was used. 14 The bill was challenged -- and, by 15 the way, it was preceded by a number of public 16 hearings, I might add. The bill was 17 challenged in the courts on a number of legal 18 issues that were raised by the drug 19 paraphernalia industry, the head shop industry 20 in New York State, which at that point in time 21 was quite extensive. It went up to the 22 New York State Court of Appeals, and we 23 prevailed. 24 And the law is now enforceable 25 statewide, including a component of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Attorney General's office that has that 2 responsibility. At the time they were very 3 busy enforcing the law. And over the years, 4 because of the virtual elimination of head 5 shops, their work has been diminished. 6 Now, what Senator Robach is doing 7 here is expanding the law. And it's been 8 changed a couple of times since, to expand it, 9 to clarify it in terms of what types of 10 instruments of dual use, instruments that are 11 used, either chemical or physical, in the 12 consumption of illegal substances. And that's 13 what he's seeking to do here. And I think 14 it's a worthwhile effort. 15 But the question of intent to use 16 for was clarified by the courts, the highest 17 court in this state decades ago, and therefore 18 is not a valid criticism of this Legislature 19 at this point in time. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you, Senator Padavan. 22 Is there any other Senator wishing 23 to speak? 24 The debate is closed. 25 The Secretary will ring the bell.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect on the first of November 4 next succeeding the date on which it shall 5 have become a law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 10 Krueger, to explain her vote. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 12 Madam President. 13 I rise to vote no on this 14 legislation. I think that the concept that is 15 being passed in this bill would in fact imply 16 that many Lowe's, Home Depots, Wal-Marts and 17 small individual hardware stores would 18 suddenly find themselves potentially guilty of 19 being accused of carrying drug paraphernalia. 20 So I think it's bad-precedent law. 21 But I think what is worse is in 22 fact the gag order that we have used today on 23 the discussion of this bill on the floor of 24 the Senate. So I'm sorry we went down that 25 road. I hope we don't continue to go down

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(518) 371-8910 1 that road. This is supposed to be a democracy 2 where we get -- 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 4 Krueger, how do you vote? 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'll be 6 voting no. 7 Thank you, Madam President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 9 you. 10 Senator Krueger will be recorded in 11 the negative. 12 The Secretary will announce the 13 results. 14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 15 the negative on Calendar Number 1400 are 16 Senators Andrews, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, 17 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Parker, Paterson, 18 Savino, Schneiderman, Serrano, and A. Smith. 19 Ayes, 46. Nays, 12. 20 Those Senators absent from voting 21 are Senators Connor and Gonzalez. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 23 bill is passed. 24 Senator Skelos, that completes the 25 controversial reading of the calendar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 2 President. 3 There will be an immediate meeting 4 of the Rules Committee in the Majority 5 Conference Room, and then the committee report 6 will be read and accepted on the floor. And 7 we will adjourn. 8 I believe there are some motions on 9 the floor, though, at this time. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 11 you. 12 Senator Seward, for a motion. 13 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes, Madam 14 President. I wish to call up Senator 15 Balboni's bill, Print Number 2579, recalled 16 from the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 525, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 2579, an 21 act to authorize the Village of Floral Park. 22 SENATOR SEWARD: Madam President, 23 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 24 this bill was passed. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 Secretary will call the roll on 2 reconsideration. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 5 SENATOR SEWARD: Madam President, 6 I now offer the following amendments. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 8 you, Senator Seward. The amendments are 9 received. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 12 Skelos. 13 Could we have quiet, please. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could just 15 stand at ease pending the report of the Rules 16 Committee. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 18 Senate stands at ease. 19 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 20 ease at 2:10 p.m.) 21 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 22 at 2:22 p.m.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 24 Leibell. 25 SENATOR LEIBELL: If we could

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(518) 371-8910 1 return to reports of standing committees, I 2 believe there's a report of the Rules 3 Committee at the desk. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Reports 5 of standing committees. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 8 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 9 following bills: 10 Senate Print 431A, by Senator 11 Trunzo, an act to amend the Executive Law; 12 1684, by Senator Trunzo, an act to 13 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 14 1736, by Senator Larkin, an act to 15 authorize the Town of New Windsor; 16 Senate Print 2234, by Senator Diaz, 17 an act to amend the Agriculture and Markets 18 Law; 19 Senate Print 2369, by Senator 20 Marcellino, an act to require the New York 21 State and Local Employees Retirement System; 22 Senate Print 2514, by Senator 23 LaValle, an act to amend the Education Law; 24 Senate Print 2737, by Senator 25 Golden, an act to amend the Executive Law;

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senate Print 2892A, by Senator 2 Spano, an act to amend the Election Law; 3 Senate Print 2946, by Senator 4 Larkin, an act to provide for the 5 classification; 6 Senate Print 3263, by Senator 7 Leibell, an act authorizing Bryan R. Watson; 8 Senate Print 3320, by Senator 9 Volker, an act in relation to allowing Carol 10 A. Meissner; 11 Senate Print 4478, by Senator 12 Maziarz, an act to amend the Civil Service 13 Law; 14 Senate Print 4553, by Senator 15 Padavan, an act to amend the Local Finance 16 Law; 17 Senate Print 4611, by Senator 18 Hannon, an act to amend the Vehicle and 19 Traffic Law; 20 4893, by Senator Flanagan, an act 21 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 22 Senate Print 4951A, by Senator 23 Seward, an act in relation to granting David 24 Tobias; 25 Senate Print 4967, by Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Leibell, an act authorizing the Town of 2 Yorktown; 3 Senate Print 5128, by Senator 4 Flanagan, an act to amend the Executive Law; 5 5308, by Senator Wright, an act to 6 amend Chapter 519 of the Laws of 1999; 7 Senate Print 5309, by Senator 8 Leibell, an act to amend the General City Law; 9 Senate Print 5413A, by Senator 10 Wright, an act to amend the Highway Law; 11 Senate Print 5468A, by Senator 12 Maziarz, an act to amend the Vehicle and 13 Traffic Law; 14 Senate Print 5474, by Senator 15 Meier, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 16 Law; 17 Senate Print 5502, by Senator 18 Meier, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 19 Law; 20 Senate Print 5532, by Senator 21 Wright, an act to amend the Penal Law; 22 And Senate Print 5548, by Senator 23 Golden, an act to amend Chapter 779 of the 24 Laws of 1986. 25 All bills ordered direct to third

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(518) 371-8910 1 reading. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 3 Leibell. 4 SENATOR LEIBELL: Madam 5 President, move to accept the report of Rules 6 Committee. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: All in 8 favor of accepting the report of the Rules 9 Committee signify by saying aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: 12 Opposed, nay. 13 (No response.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 15 report is accepted. 16 Senator Leibell. 17 SENATOR LEIBELL: Madam 18 President, move to adjourn until Thursday, 19 June 9th, at 11:00 a.m. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you. On motion, the Senate stands adjourned 22 until Thursday, June 9th, at 11:00 a.m. 23 (Whereupon, at 2:26 p.m., the 24 Senate adjourned.) 25

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(518) 371-8910