Gaveled in 11:46 AM · Albany, New York · 2005–06 session
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 June 22, 2005 11 11:46 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 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 May I ask everyone present to 5 please rise and join me in the Pledge of 6 Allegiance to the Flag. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: In the 10 absence of clergy, may we each bow our heads 11 in a moment of silence. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Reading 15 of the Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Tuesday, June 21, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, June 20, 19 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 20 adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 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 The Secretary will read the report 4 of the Finance Committee. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson, 6 from the Committee on Finance, reports the 7 following nominations: 8 As a member of the State Board of 9 Parole, Patrick Gallivan, of Buffalo. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 Johnson. 12 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 13 nomination. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Volker. 16 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, I 17 apologize; I was detained. 18 I understand that Pat is up for 19 nomination. As I said in the Finance 20 Committee, Pat Gallivan is one of the 21 outstanding people in law enforcement in this 22 state who I've known since his State Police 23 days. He's been our sheriff for a number of 24 years. A fine sheriff, a fine gentleman, and 25 I know he'll make a great addition to the
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(518) 371-8910 1 Parole Board. 2 And we're happy to have you on the 3 board, although we're going to miss you in 4 Erie County. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Stachowski. 7 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 8 President, I'd like to rise and also second 9 the nomination of Patrick Gallivan. 10 He's done an outstanding job as 11 sheriff. He was an excellent state policeman. 12 I think he'll be a great parole officer. He's 13 got a wonderful family, he's been active in 14 the community, he's got a terrific resume. I 15 think the Governor made an exceptional 16 appointment. 17 And the thing that makes me 18 proudest of this appointment is that I can 19 call Pat Gallivan one of my friends. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 22 other Senator wish to be heard on the 23 nomination? 24 The question, then, is on the 25 nomination of Patrick Gallivan as a member of
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(518) 371-8910 1 the State Board of Parole. All those in favor 2 signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 5 opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 nominee is confirmed. 9 Mr. Gallivan is with us today in 10 the gallery. 11 So we congratulate you and wish you 12 well, sir. 13 (Applause.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 Secretary will continue to read. 16 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 17 the State Board of Parole, George C. Johnson, 18 of Buffalo. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Johnson. 21 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 22 nomination. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Nozzolio. 25 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President,
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(518) 371-8910 1 all four nominees who are before us today 2 received the unanimous support of the Crime 3 Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee. 4 Each of them brings a unique 5 quality to the Parole Board. As was already 6 addressed, Patrick Gallivan has a unique law 7 enforcement background, as does George 8 Johnson, the current nominee before us. 9 That George Johnson has served with 10 great distinction on the Parole Board, has had 11 a variety of responsibilities through his 12 extensive law enforcement career. And we are 13 very pleased with the performance as a member 14 of the Parole Commission. 15 Governor Pataki should be 16 congratulated for this renomination, and this 17 has the full support of the committee and 18 should be moved. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Volker. 21 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 22 very quickly. 23 George Johnson is also someone that 24 I've known for many, many years. He's been 25 involved in law enforcement issues in Erie
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(518) 371-8910 1 County for as long as I can remember. He was 2 a correction officer for a time. He's done a 3 lot of lecturing on drug enforcement in 4 various areas. 5 He's been an excellent member of 6 the Parole Board already, and I know he'll 7 continue to be a super member. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 9 other Senator wish to be heard on the 10 nomination? 11 The question, then, is on the 12 nomination of George Johnson as a member of 13 the Board of Parole. All those in favor 14 signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 17 opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 nominee is confirmed. 21 Mr. Johnson is with us today in the 22 gallery. He is accompanied by his fiancee, 23 Deborah Colosanta, and his nephew, Corey 24 Rivers. 25 Mr. Johnson, we congratulate you
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(518) 371-8910 1 and we wish you well with your important 2 duties. 3 (Applause.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 Secretary will continue to read. 6 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 7 the State Board of Parole, Vanessa A. 8 Clarke-McCarthy, Esquire, of Albany. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Johnson. 11 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 12 nomination. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Nozzolio. 15 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, Mr. 16 President. 17 It is with great pleasure that I 18 second this nomination. It was a nomination 19 that received the unanimous support of the 20 Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections 21 Committee, and it gives me extreme pleasure to 22 speak on behalf of Vanessa Clarke-McCarthy as 23 a renominee to serve as parole commissioner. 24 It's hard to believe nine years 25 have gone by since Commissioner McCarthy has
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(518) 371-8910 1 been on the Parole Commission. Those nine 2 years have been moving very quickly. Vanessa 3 was the youngest person that was nominated to 4 serve on the Parole Commission nine years ago. 5 She's still the youngest person to serve on 6 the Parole Commission. And that she has 7 served with great distinction. 8 That we all often read about those 9 tough decisions that parole commissioners make 10 and in many cases make out of a feeling of 11 compassion for those who have been 12 incarcerated. And oftentimes those 13 decisions -- difficult to call; often easy to 14 second-guess -- result in some very, very bad 15 things occurring. 16 I just want to point out in 17 Vanessa's case an incidence where her keen 18 insight and her continued efforts to protect 19 the public was manifest in her denying parole 20 for someone who was going to be let out of 21 prison anyway within a very short of period of 22 time, a matter of days. But her decision was 23 that even though the statute required release 24 of this individual who was incarcerated, she 25 believed the facts of the case and the lack of
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(518) 371-8910 1 rehabilitation in this individual should 2 warrant denial of parole. 3 Oftentimes commissioners allow 4 parole when only a few days are left on the 5 sentence. In this case, this individual who 6 was denied parole by Commissioner Clarke in 7 her vote went out and perpetrated extreme 8 violence on an individual. 9 This situation I raise to you as an 10 indicator of the difficult decisions parole 11 commissioners have to make and how sometimes, 12 even if the sentence is almost over and the 13 heart says let the individual out -- Vanessa 14 Clarke-McCarthy has a full heart, but a keen 15 mind, and one who is always focused on 16 protecting those of us from those who are bent 17 on breaking the law and wreaking violence. 18 This action was pointed out in an 19 newspaper article that I was very pleased to 20 read about that, that we do have a spirit on 21 the Parole Commission that says we're going to 22 protect the public. 23 Mr. President, Vanessa has her 24 roots in the Legislature. She has worked in 25 this capacity as a commissioner on the Parole
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(518) 371-8910 1 Board for nine years now. She's a tremendous 2 asset to the Parole Commission. We're very 3 proud she's there, and I move the nomination. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 5 other Senator wish to be heard on the 6 nomination? 7 The question, then, is on the 8 nomination of Vanessa A. Clarke-McCarthy as a 9 member of the New York State Board of Parole. 10 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye.") 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 13 opposed, nay. 14 (No response.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 nominee is confirmed. 17 Vanessa Clarke-McCarthy is with us 18 today in the gallery. 19 We congratulate you and wish you 20 well. 21 (Applause.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 Secretary will continue to read. 24 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 25 the State Board of Parole, Walter William
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(518) 371-8910 1 Smith, Jr., of Clarence Center. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Johnson. 4 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 5 nomination. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Nozzolio. 8 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President, 9 on the nomination. 10 Mr. President, again, Bill Smith 11 has been supported by the committee 12 unanimously. Senator Maziarz is keen in 13 moving this appointment, as Senator Volker was 14 very supportive. Congressman Reynolds advised 15 of his support to the committee. 16 Bill Smith served with distinction 17 first as a member of the Crime Victims Board 18 and brings that unique perspective to the 19 Parole Commission. An excellent nomination. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Maziarz. 22 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 23 much, Mr. President. 24 As Senator Nozzolio pointed out, 25 I've known Bill Smith for a long time. He was
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(518) 371-8910 1 a very active and very good member of the 2 Crime Victims Board. He really, really cares 3 about bringing justice to crime victims 4 throughout our state. He's done a great job 5 during his tenure on the Parole Board, and we 6 expect a continuation of that service for his 7 next term. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Rath. 11 SENATOR RATH: My sincere 12 congratulations and pleasure that this 13 reappointment is happening, as Bill Smith is a 14 professional's professional and one of my 15 constituents. 16 So we're very glad to have you 17 back. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 19 other Senator wish to be heard on the 20 nomination? 21 The question, then, is on the 22 nomination of Walter William Smith, Jr., as a 23 member of the New York State Board of Parole. 24 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 25 (Response of "Aye.")
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 2 opposed, nay. 3 (No response.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 nominee is confirmed. 6 Mr. Smith is with us today in the 7 gallery. 8 And we congratulate you and again 9 wish you well with your duties. 10 (Applause.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 12 Secretary will continue to read. 13 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 14 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 15 Nancy Shevell Blakeman, of New York City. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Johnson. 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 19 nomination. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Fuschillo. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 23 President, just briefly, let me just 24 compliment the nominee and Governor Pataki for 25 putting forth her nomination.
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(518) 371-8910 1 I commend her for wanting to be 2 reappointed to the MTA board, with all the 3 challenges that lie ahead. She brings an 4 extensive amount of experience, has done an 5 outstanding job, and I proudly second the 6 nomination. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 8 other Senator wish to be heard on the 9 nomination? 10 The question, then, is on the 11 nomination of Nancy Shevell Blakeman as a 12 member of the Metropolitan Transportation 13 Authority. All those in favor signify by 14 saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 17 opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 nominee is confirmed. 21 Ms. Blakeman is with us today in 22 the gallery. 23 And we congratulate you and again 24 wish you well with your duties. 25 (Applause.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 Secretary will continue to read. 3 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 4 the New York State Employment Relations Board, 5 George C. Frost, of South Glens Falls. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Johnson. 8 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 9 nomination. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 question, then, is on the nomination of George 12 C. Frost as a member of the New York State 13 Employment Relations Board. All those in 14 favor signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 17 opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 nominee is confirmed. 21 Mr. Frost is with us in the 22 gallery. 23 Congratulations, Mr. Frost, and 24 best wishes. 25 (Applause.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 Secretary will continue to read. 3 THE SECRETARY: As sheriff of 4 Cattaraugus County, Dennis B. John, of Little 5 Valley. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Johnson. 8 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 9 nomination. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 Young. 12 SENATOR YOUNG: I'm very pleased 13 and proud to speak on the nomination of 14 Sheriff -- Acting Sheriff Denny John, Dennis 15 John, to be the new sheriff of Cattaraugus 16 County. 17 Sheriff John is widely known in law 18 enforcement circles. He adheres to the 19 highest standards. He has a very strong 20 commitment to public service and law 21 enforcement. He's a graduate of Salamanca 22 High School, and he graduated from the 23 Chautauqua County Sheriff's Academy in 1978, 24 and then the Federal Bureau of Investigation 25 Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in 1997.
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(518) 371-8910 1 In addition, he is a certified 2 police instructor. He began his police career 3 with the Seneca Nation Law Enforcement Unit. 4 He has served on the Salamanca Police 5 Department and the Allegany State Park Police 6 before joining the Cattaraugus Sheriff's 7 Office in 1981. He steadily rose through the 8 ranks, serving as chief of detectives, 9 detective lieutenant, deputy sheriff sergeant, 10 and deputy sheriff before being named 11 undersheriff by Sheriff Ernie Dustman upon his 12 retirement last October. 13 Sheriff John is a member and past 14 president of the New York State Juvenile 15 Police Officers Association, and he serves on 16 the New York State Association of Counties' 17 Public Safety Committee, the Cattaraugus 18 County Fire/Police Association, the 19 Counterterrorism Zone 13 Committee, and he is 20 cochair of the Southern Tier Regional Drug 21 Task Force. 22 So it's wonderful that he's being 23 confirmed today because of his record, because 24 of his dedication. And we were talking last 25 night, and he's very happy about this
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(518) 371-8910 1 nomination -- confirmation, of course. But 2 the thing that he is most proud of, I think, 3 is that his son, Lance Corporal Dennis John, 4 who is serving in Afghanistan, is coming home 5 this weekend for a visit, after a year of 6 being away. So this is a time of great joy 7 for Sheriff John. 8 I congratulate him on both his 9 professional achievements and for his personal 10 life and his son returning home. So I'm just 11 very proud that he is the new sheriff of 12 Cattaraugus County. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Does any 14 other member wish to be heard on the 15 nomination? 16 The question, then, is on the 17 confirmation of Dennis B. John as sheriff of 18 Cattaraugus County. All those in favor 19 signify by saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye.") 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 22 opposed, nay. 23 (No response.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 25 nominee is confirmed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Sheriff John is with us today in 2 the gallery. He is accompanied by his wife, 3 Sharon. 4 Congratulations, Sheriff. 5 The Secretary will continue to 6 read. 7 THE SECRETARY: As sheriff of 8 Erie County, Timothy B. Howard, of South 9 Wales. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 Johnson. 12 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 13 nomination. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Volker. 16 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 17 this is not only a constituent, a friend; I 18 have to say that I've known Tim Howard for 19 many, many years. One of the -- maybe the 20 only person I know of who was a local police 21 officer, a trooper, member of the BCI, major 22 and troop commander, and undersheriff of Erie 23 County and in about three minutes, I assume, 24 the new sheriff of Erie County. 25 Good man, a police officer's police
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(518) 371-8910 1 officer. The kind of person that you would 2 want as sheriff, just as Patrick Gallivan was. 3 And we're happy -- we're unhappy, 4 of course, that Pat's leaving. But I think 5 the citizens of Erie County can feel very 6 secure in the fact that Tim Howard will be the 7 new sheriff of Erie County. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 9 Stachowski. 10 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 11 President, I too would like to rise to second 12 the nomination of Tim Howard. 13 He's -- his resume is terrific. 14 He's a professional police officer. He has a 15 great background. As Senator Volker alluded 16 to, he was a village policeman, a town 17 policeman, a trooper, a BCI captain, and an 18 undersheriff. I mean, that's just a great 19 background. He's a very professional person 20 and actually a very nice guy. 21 And I'm glad to get the opportunity 22 to stand and second the nomination. 23 Thank you. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 25 Rath.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR RATH: I rise also to 2 second the nomination of Tim Howard. 3 We're very, very happy that he's 4 going to be assuming this role in Erie County 5 at this time of shifting and changing 6 responsibilities which have made life very 7 difficult for us in Erie County for a lot of 8 reasons. 9 I wish you well. We will be there 10 to work with you as we look at the best way to 11 deliver services at the least possible cost. 12 So you've got your challenge there. And 13 certainly Sheriff Gallivan did that for us 14 through the years. 15 And I'm sorry I missed the 16 opportunity to say congratulations to Pat on 17 his new position, but congratulations to Tim. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 19 Brown. 20 SENATOR BROWN: Thank you, Mr. 21 President. I would also like to rise and take 22 this opportunity to commend and congratulate 23 the Governor on this excellent appointment. 24 Tim Howard has a tremendous 25 reputation in law enforcement, and already he
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(518) 371-8910 1 is being seen all over Erie County in his 2 capacity as the person who will be the next 3 sheriff of Erie County. I think this is an 4 excellent appointment, and I am pleased to 5 rise to also second the appointment. 6 I would also like to take this 7 opportunity to also congratulate Sheriff 8 Patrick Gallivan on being appointed to the 9 Parole Board, and George Johnson for also 10 being appointed to the Control Board -- to the 11 Parole Board. 12 I've got Control Board on my mind. 13 Sorry about that, Senator Volker. 14 (Laughter.) 15 SENATOR BROWN: But in any event, 16 Tim, congratulations on your nomination. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 18 other Senator wish to be heard on the 19 nomination? 20 The question, then, is on the 21 confirmation of Timothy B. Howard as the 22 sheriff of Erie County. All those in favor 23 signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those
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(518) 371-8910 1 opposed, nay. 2 (No response.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 nominee is confirmed. 5 Sheriff Howard is with us today in 6 the gallery, and he is accompanied by his son, 7 New York State Trooper David Howard. 8 Sheriff, congratulations. 9 (Applause.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 Secretary will continue to read. 12 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 13 the New York State Olympic Regional 14 Development Authority, Jerry Strack, of Lake 15 Placid. 16 As a member of the Port Authority 17 of New York and New Jersey, Michael J. 18 Chasanoff, of Oyster Bay. 19 As a member of the Niagara Frontier 20 Transportation Authority, Henry M. Sloma, of 21 Lewiston. 22 As members of the Rochester-Genesee 23 Regional Transportation Authority, Robert 24 Radley, of Batavia, and Milo Turner, of 25 Livonia.
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(518) 371-8910 1 As a member of the Dormitory 2 Authority, Jose Alberto Corvalan, M.D., of 3 Armonk. 4 As a trustee of the Power Authority 5 of the State of New York, Elise M. Cusack, of 6 Amherst. 7 As a member of the Industrial Board 8 of Appeals, Susan Sullivan Bisceglia, of 9 LaGrangerville. 10 As a banking member of the State 11 Banking Board, David C. Mancuso, of Dunkirk. 12 As a member of the Correction 13 Medical Review Board, Phyllis Harrison-Ross, 14 M.D., of New York City. 15 As a member of the Central New York 16 State Park, Recreation and Historic 17 Preservation Commission, Sandra Murphy Mead, 18 of Endicott. 19 As a member of the Niagara Frontier 20 State Park, Recreation and Historic 21 Preservation Commission, Donna M. Gioia, of 22 Buffalo. 23 As a member of the board of 24 directors of the New York Convention Center 25 Operating Corporation, Gary Lavine, of
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(518) 371-8910 1 Fayetteville. 2 As members of the Advisory Council 3 on Agriculture, Charles P. Bailey, Jr., of 4 Williamson; Philip Herrington, of Troy; and 5 Francis M. Moore, of Malone. 6 As a member of the Continuing Care 7 Retirement Community Council, Robert G. Spann, 8 of South Setauket. 9 As members of the Minority Health 10 Council, Oleg Gutnik, M.D., of New York City, 11 and Mohammad Khalid, of Staten Island. 12 And as members of the State 13 Hospital Review and Planning Council, Vincent 14 James Calamia, Jr., M.D., of Staten Island, 15 and Thomas E. Holt, of Jamestown. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Johnson. 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: Move the 19 nominations. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 21 those in favor of confirming the 22 aforementioned nominees signify by saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye.") 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 25 opposed, nay.
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(518) 371-8910 1 (No response.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 nominees are confirmed. 4 Senator Bonacic. 5 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, Mr. 6 President. 7 Due to a tooth abscess that I 8 incurred on Sunday, I've had to have two 9 medical procedures on Monday and Tuesday and 10 for a short period of time was not present in 11 the Senate chambers. And I would like to 12 reflect how I would have voted on those 13 issues. 14 First of all, starting with 15 Monday's calendar, Senate Bill 4087A, Senate 16 Bill 4517A, Senate Bill 4556A, Senate Bill 17 5162B, Senate Bill 5163 all deal with 18 tax-exempts, and I would have voted no. 19 With respect to Senate Bill 477, 20 Senate Bill 5615, Senate Bill 2431, Senate 21 Bill 4995, I would have voted yes. 22 With respect to Tuesday's calendar, 23 I would have voted yes on the following bills: 24 Senate Bill 407, Senate Bill 5532A, Senate 25 Bill 5620, Senate Bill 4737B, Senate Bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 5655A, Senate Bill 5664, Senate Bill 1405, 2 Senate Bill 2206, Senate Bill 4175, and Senate 3 Bill 5534A. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 record will so reflect. 6 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, Mr. 7 President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 9 Andrews. 10 SENATOR ANDREWS: Yes, Mr. 11 President. I'd like to enter into the record 12 that had I been present in chambers for 13 Calendar 319, Bill S3592, I would have been 14 voting yes on that bill. 15 Also the following bills, if I had 16 been present, I would have been voting no. 17 And those bills are the following: Calendar 18 Number 713, Bill S1003; Calendar Number 1263, 19 Bill S3541; Calendar Number 1356, Bill S407; 20 Calendar 1428, Bill S5532; Calendar Number 21 1627, Bill S5664; and finally, Calendar 1645, 22 Bill S2206. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 record will so reflect. 25 SENATOR ANDREWS: Thank you.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 Secretary will read the report of the 3 Judiciary Committee. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator 5 DeFrancisco, from the Committee on Judiciary, 6 reports the following nominations. 7 As a justice of the Supreme Court 8 of the First Judicial District, Lawrence V. 9 Cullen. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 DeFrancisco. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, Mr. 13 President, I move the nomination of Lawrence 14 V. Cullen as a justice of the Supreme Court of 15 the First Judicial District. 16 His qualifications have been 17 thoroughly reviewed. He appeared before the 18 committee and was unanimously recommended for 19 confirmation before the full Senate. 20 And in order to save some time, 21 since it's going to be a very long day, we 22 also reviewed the qualifications of other 23 judges -- for the Court of Claims, in this 24 case -- all of whom are reappointments. Each 25 of them, whose names will be coming up
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(518) 371-8910 1 shortly, their qualifications were also 2 reviewed, they also appeared before the 3 committee, and the Judiciary Committee 4 unanimously recommended their confirmations. 5 As to Lawrence V. Cullen, I just 6 would like to say one thing. His resume 7 speaks for itself, and I think it's an 8 exemplary resume. But also in that resume are 9 references to a period of time that he spent 10 in Vietnam as a combat -- in combat, and where 11 he received various medals. He served in 12 combat with the Marines. 13 And, you know, it's really 14 wonderful for us to see an individual who has 15 served his country progress through the legal 16 profession, and as a sole practitioner -- not 17 a member of a large law firm, but a sole 18 practitioner -- become a court examiner for 19 the Appellate Division, for the First 20 Department and the Second Department, and then 21 be nominated by the Governor for the Supreme 22 Court. 23 So I'm proud to move his 24 nomination, and I would request that you would 25 recognize Senator Maltese to second.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Maltese. 3 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 4 I'm very pleased to second the nomination of 5 Lawrence Cullen as a justice of the Supreme 6 Court. 7 As chairman of the Judiciary 8 Committee Senator DeFrancisco has indicated, 9 he is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, a 10 wounded combat veteran of the Vietnam War, and 11 I think that gives him an insight that would 12 be helpful in his capacity as a Supreme Court 13 justice. 14 But more than that, he is a 15 graduate of the school of hard knocks in many 16 ways and has very well merited this judicial 17 position. 18 In addition, he, as some of our 19 colleagues kid us, those of us on the 20 Judiciary Committee from Fordham College and 21 Fordham University and Fordham Law School, he 22 has those qualifications, not only from 23 Fordham College and Fordham in reference to a 24 master's degree, but because of my 25 Irish-American constituents I'm very pleased
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(518) 371-8910 1 that his master's was in Irish history, which 2 no doubt accounts for the many, many calls 3 that I've had from prominent attorneys, 4 members of the bar and jurists on his behalf. 5 But it is very well merited because 6 of his eminent qualifications, the work that 7 he's spent on a pro bono basis involved with 8 the World Trade Center, his work as a court 9 examiner, as Senator DeFrancisco has 10 indicated. But his experience in the courts, 11 his experience that will serve him well as a 12 jurist. I'm very proud to second the 13 nomination of Larry Cullen as a Supreme Court 14 judge. 15 He's present, by the way, as you 16 will indicate at the present time, with his 17 wife, Margaret, and his children, Anya and 18 Patrick, who are very proud of their daddy. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 20 other Senator wish to be heard on the 21 nomination? 22 Senator Malcolm Smith. 23 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 24 you, Mr. President. I also rise to second the 25 nomination of Justice Cullen.
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(518) 371-8910 1 I think you've heard from both 2 Senator DeFrancisco and Senator Maltese with 3 regard to statements of his military record, 4 obviously his experience on the bench. 5 Senator Maltese said he comes from the Fordham 6 University family, which clearly would 7 distinguish himself on the bench, no 8 disrespect to Syracuse or Duke. 9 But he is someone who I've known 10 for quite some time, and I'm looking forward 11 to his service on the bench. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 question is on the confirmation of Lawrence V. 15 Cullen as a justice of the Supreme Court -- 16 I'm sorry. Senator Larkin. 17 SENATOR LARKIN: Mr. President, 18 I've been asked by my good friend and 19 colleague Senator Maltese to ask Judge Cullen: 20 We're very proud of you, but we're also proud 21 that you are a member of the military order of 22 the Purple Heart. 23 But Serph asked me to ask you 24 publicly, will you please send us a copy of 25 your 214? We want you enrolled in America's
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(518) 371-8910 1 finest. 2 Thank you very much. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 4 other Senator wish to be heard? 5 The question, then, is on the 6 confirmation of Lawrence V. Cullen as a 7 justice of the Supreme Court. All those in 8 favor signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 11 opposed, nay. 12 (No response.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 nominee is confirmed. 15 Justice Cullen is with us today in 16 the gallery. And as Senator Maltese said, 17 he's accompanied by his wife, Margaret; his 18 daughter, Anya Sinead, and his son, Patrick. 19 Judge, we congratulate you and we 20 certainly wish you well. 21 (Applause.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 Secretary will continue to read. 24 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 25 Court of Claims, Joan Barbara Carey, of
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(518) 371-8910 1 New York City. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 DeFrancisco. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'm 5 proud to rise to move the nomination of Joan 6 Carey for the Court of Claims position. 7 Her resume is just unbelievable. I 8 certainly cannot go through this resume. But 9 I just wanted to point out one thing, and that 10 is presently she's deputy chief administrative 11 judge and is charged with the responsibility 12 of overseeing the operation of all state 13 courts within New York, Bronx, Kings, Queens 14 and Richmond Counties. That's 600 judges, 15 8,000 nonjudicial employees. That's about the 16 judicial structure of most countries. 17 And -- but her qualifications are 18 incredible, and I'm very proud to move her 19 nomination and request that you would 20 acknowledge Senator Maltese to second the 21 nomination. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Maltese. 24 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 25 I'm very proud to second the nomination of
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(518) 371-8910 1 Judge Carey. 2 As Senator DeFrancisco has 3 indicated, her experience is varied and so 4 distinguished that it isn't often that we have 5 the opportunity to confirm a justice with her 6 experience and knowledge. 7 In addition to her duties as an 8 administrative judge supervising hundreds of 9 staff members and literally, over the years, 10 thousands of people at various positions in 11 the court system, we also have the advantage 12 of her experience as a prosecutor. 13 She served in the Queens County 14 District Attorney's office at the same time as 15 I did, and as a matter of fact somewhat after 16 me served as -- in the same position I did, as 17 a deputy chief in the homicide bureau, and 18 boasts a very distinguished record thereafter 19 in all capacities of the law. 20 Her publications are legend, her 21 articles, her seminars. She has lectured as a 22 distinguished lecturer and jurist for many, 23 many years. 24 I am very pleased and proud to 25 second the nomination of Joan Carey for
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(518) 371-8910 1 renomination as a judge of the Court of 2 Claims. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Golden. 5 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. I too rise in seconding 7 the nomination of the Honorable Joan B. Carey 8 today. 9 She is, as has been pointed out by 10 my colleagues, extremely well qualified and 11 has done an outstanding job for the city and 12 state of New York. And she oversees, as my 13 good colleague has said, the 600 judges and 14 the 8,000 nonjudicial appointments as well as 15 a $500 million budget, which I think says an 16 awful lot that she's been able to do for the 17 court. 18 She was an appointment by Mayor 19 Koch way back when, as a prosecutor, and she's 20 also worked as a teacher and a social worker 21 and with a great education from St. Joseph 22 College, St. John's University, and New York 23 Law School. 24 And we are very proud of her 25 nomination today and moving her nomination.
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(518) 371-8910 1 She has seen the city at its worst. She has 2 seen the city when we had thousands of 3 homicides and robberies and burglaries, and 4 she's worked to bring this city together and 5 to bring that crime rate down to the lowest 6 we've ever seen since the 1950s. And it's a 7 record-setter. It's also something that is 8 looked at or looked upon not only in the city 9 and state of New York, but around this country 10 and around this world. 11 She's done a great job. And I too 12 move to second her nomination. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Malcolm Smith. 15 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank you 16 very much, Mr. President. 17 Again I rise, Mr. President, to 18 also second the nomination of Judge Carey. 19 But I must tell you, for the most part most 20 people will talk about her in terms of how she 21 dispenses justice and manages the court. But 22 we all remember what happened on 9/11. We 23 know how many officers that we lost from the 24 fire department. We know how many police 25 officers that we lost. What many people
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(518) 371-8910 1 didn't recognize and failed to put any 2 tremendous amount of attention to is that we 3 also had lost some court officers. 4 Judge Carey was -- had enough 5 humility and sensitivity in terms of the 6 people that she managed to recognize that 7 loss. She had a special program that she was 8 a part of and spoke very well about those 9 officers. The court officers are very -- 10 responded to her. I think it's that kind of 11 character and judgment that makes her the kind 12 of judge that she will be as well as what 13 she's doing on the bench. 14 It is my pleasure to second her 15 nomination. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 question is on the confirmation of Joan 18 Barbara Carey as a judge of the Court of 19 Claims. All those in favor signify by saying 20 aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 23 opposed, nay. 24 (No response.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
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(518) 371-8910 1 nominee is confirmed. 2 Judge Carey is with us in the 3 chamber, and she is accompanied by her 4 husband, Thomas Dana. 5 Judge, congratulations and best 6 wishes to you. 7 (Applause.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 Secretary will continue to read. 10 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 11 Court of Claims, Gregory Carro, of New York 12 City. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 DeFrancisco. 15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I move 16 the nomination of Gregory Carro, of New York 17 City, for the reappointment to the Court of 18 Claims. 19 And at this point I think it's 20 important to note the experience that each of 21 these reappointments, the judges have. And 22 this is a Criminal Court of Claims judgeship 23 that Judge Carro is being reappointed to. 24 And if you look at the background 25 in criminal justice from the trial bureau in
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(518) 371-8910 1 one of the largest prosecutor's offices in the 2 state, trial of complex conspiracy cases, 3 murder cases, homicide investigations -- 4 obviously, this individual, as all of the 5 nominees, are very, very well qualified. 6 And I'm proud to move the 7 nomination of Gregory Carro for reappointment 8 to the Court of Claims. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 10 other Senator wish to be heard on the 11 nomination? 12 The question, then, is on the 13 nomination of Gregory Carro as a judge of the 14 Court of Claims. All those in favor signify 15 by saying aye. 16 (Response of "Aye.") 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 18 opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Judge 21 Carro is confirmed. 22 Judge Carro is present with us 23 today in the gallery. He's accompanied by his 24 wife, Mary Elizabeth Carro, and his daughter, 25 Mackenzie Carro.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Judge, congratulations. 2 (Applause.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 Secretary will continue to read. 5 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 6 Court of Claims, Thomas J. Carroll, of 7 New York City. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 9 DeFrancisco. 10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I move the 11 nomination of Thomas J. Carroll, of New York 12 City, a Georgetown graduate who played 13 basketball for Georgetown -- against Syracuse 14 University, no doubt. 15 (Laughter.) 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: But despite 17 that problem, he is eminently qualified for 18 this position. 19 Once again, looking at his resume, 20 you know, you look for judges that have been 21 in the trenches before they became judges. 22 And the resume shows that he's tried many, 23 many cases to verdict in State Supreme Court, 24 and he has had legislation responsibility with 25 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
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(518) 371-8910 1 Development, and he's been a Court of Claims 2 judge since 1997. 3 Another fantastic appointment by 4 the Governor, and I'm proud to move his 5 nomination. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 DeFrancisco, as a fellow SU graduate I 8 compliment you on your tolerance and charity. 9 (Laughter.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 11 other Senator wish to be heard on the 12 nomination? 13 Senator Golden. 14 SENATOR GOLDEN: I too rise, 15 Acting President, to second the nomination of 16 the Honorable Thomas J. Carroll for his 17 contributions to the city and state of 18 New York. 19 Not only is he a former district 20 attorney and worked for the Commissioner of 21 Investigation, working for the Housing and 22 Urban Development with the general attorney's 23 office, and also being a judge since 1997. He 24 worked at Dewey Ballantine, was associate real 25 estate director, and he's also worked at the
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(518) 371-8910 1 St. Francis College with Frank Macchiarola and 2 is presently teaching there on trial advocacy, 3 an adjunct professor at that college. And 4 also worked at Fordham University Law as an 5 adjunct professor, also as a trial advocacy 6 attorney. 7 He has made many contributions to 8 our city and state. We're very, very proud of 9 him. And I second his nomination as well. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Does any 11 other member wish to be heard? 12 The question is on the confirmation 13 of Thomas J. Carroll as a judge of the Court 14 of Claims. All those in favor signify by 15 saying aye. 16 (Response of "Aye.") 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 18 opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 nominee is confirmed. 22 Judge Carroll is with us in the 23 gallery. He's accompanied by his wife, 24 Margaret, and his son, Brendan. 25 Judge, congratulations.
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(518) 371-8910 1 (Applause.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 Secretary will continue to read. 4 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 5 Court of Claims, Matthew J. D'Emic, of 6 Brooklyn. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 8 DeFrancisco. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I move the 10 nomination of Matthew J. D'Emic, from 11 Brooklyn, as a Court of Claims judge, a 12 reappointment. 13 He's been a Court of Claims judge 14 since 1996. And immediately prior to that, 15 from 1993 to 1996, he was a law secretary to a 16 couple of judges. And those who practice law 17 know how important law secretaries are. And 18 sometimes they actually make decisions, if the 19 truth be known. 20 But in any event, another fantastic 21 appointment by the Governor. I'm proud to 22 move his nomination. And I request that you 23 recognize Senator Golden, who seems to have a 24 monopoly on these seconds because of all the 25 fine people from his area of the state.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Golden. 3 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 4 Acting President. 5 And to my esteemed colleague, it's 6 good when home boys can do well from Brooklyn, 7 New York, and come up here from the city of 8 New York and represent the city and the state 9 of New York as well they do. We're proud of 10 each and every one of them. 11 And today I'm personally pleased 12 that I have two outstanding individuals 13 here -- I have several outstanding individuals 14 here for reappointment. But Judge D'Emic has 15 done an outstanding job. 16 I had the privilege of growing up 17 in a small Irish Catholic family myself, of 18 eight; I think you have seven, I think, in 19 your family, another small Irish Catholic 20 family that grew up in Bay Ridge -- you have 21 how many, 10? Ten, I apologize -- and has 22 done an outstanding job, especially in our 23 courts. 24 Judge D'Emic is a community leader 25 who's widely recognized for his advocacies on
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(518) 371-8910 1 behalf of children, and he's worked in the 2 courts to establish a -- on women's domestic 3 violence issues, the mentally ill and the 4 mentally challenged. He's opened up courts in 5 Brooklyn, and they've made a real difference. 6 To my friends and colleagues with 7 us here today, I'd like to state for the 8 record that any man who's possessed of the 9 knowledge and integrity worthy of appointment 10 is that of Matt D'Emic to the Court of Claims. 11 I second that nomination. 12 Thank you, God bless your family, 13 great success. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 question is on the confirmation of Matthew 16 D'Emic as a judge of the Court of Claims. All 17 those in favor signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 20 opposed, nay. 21 (No response.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 nominee is confirmed. 24 Judge D'Emic is with us in the 25 gallery. He's accompanied by his wife,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Rosemary; his son, Matthew; and his daughter, 2 Katherine. 3 Judge, congratulations. 4 (Applause.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 Secretary will continue to read. 7 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 8 Court of Claims, Vincent M. Del Giudice, of 9 Brooklyn. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 DeFrancisco. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I move the 13 nomination of Vincent M. Del Giudice for the 14 Court of Claims position, a reappointment. 15 He's been on the Court of Claims since the 16 year 2002. 17 And I don't think he's Irish, which 18 is an unusual trait with the group that's here 19 today. 20 But in any event, his resume is 21 equally as impressive as the resumes of the 22 others. He was an assistant district attorney 23 for over 13 years, doing very, very complex 24 litigation, and he was always upheld on 25 appeal, which is quite a record.
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(518) 371-8910 1 There are other very important 2 aspects of his resume, but I just want to 3 state that this is another great appointment 4 by the Governor, and I'm proud to move his 5 nomination. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Golden. 8 SENATOR GOLDEN: I too rise, 9 Acting President, to second the nomination of 10 Judge Vincent Del Giudice, another outstanding 11 contributor to the city and state of New York, 12 for his great contributions and his activities 13 and community activity and being involved in 14 our communities. 15 I think he was shocked when he was 16 brought to the -- in -- recently when he was 17 made a judge and sent to the Bronx. I think 18 he was awakened. And thank God we have him in 19 Brooklyn today. And he started the AD gun 20 court in Kings County, as a pilot program in 21 Kings County. 22 As my colleague has just pointed 23 out, he's never been -- all his cases have 24 been upheld, and he has over a hundred cases 25 in arraignments to -- in trial, in ready
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(518) 371-8910 1 status, and he was able to clear those 2 calendars and make a difference and save lives 3 in the city and state of New York by keeping 4 those people, the worst of the worst, off of 5 our streets. 6 He is recognized for his great 7 talent and continues to do a great job for the 8 city and state of New York. 9 God bless you -- and I second this 10 nomination -- and continue to do a great job. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 question is on the nomination of Vincent Del 14 Giudice as a judge of the Court of Claims. 15 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 16 (Response of "Aye.") 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 18 opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 nominee is confirmed. 22 Judge Del Giudice is with us today 23 in the gallery. He's accompanied by his son, 24 Anthony. 25 Judge, we congratulate you and wish
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(518) 371-8910 1 you well. 2 (Applause.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 Secretary will continue to read. 5 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 6 Court of Claims, John G. Ingram, of Brooklyn. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 8 DeFrancisco. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I move the 10 nomination of John G. Ingram, from Brooklyn, 11 for the Court of Claims position, which 12 he's -- for reappointment to the position that 13 he's held since 2003. 14 I'm getting repetitive. And I know 15 that not only does Senator Golden want to 16 speak, but also Senator Marchi. 17 So let me just say that he started 18 in the Court of Claims, right in the thick of 19 things, by being assigned to the narcotics 20 part in his court. Obviously a very serious 21 problem all throughout our communities. And 22 to have a judge of his experience and 23 integrity is really a great thing for the 24 State of New York. 25 So I proudly move his nomination
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(518) 371-8910 1 and ask you to recognize the official seconder 2 of judges today, Senator Golden. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Golden. 5 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 6 Acting President. And to my esteemed 7 colleague, thank you. 8 Again, I rise for a great man, a 9 great family man, somebody who grew up in our 10 communities in Brooklyn and Queens, knows what 11 it's about, and has been out there fighting 12 for the people for many, many years. 13 He is somebody that has an 14 outstanding record of achievement. You could 15 go on here for hours talking about his 16 achievements from his early ages to the 17 present, from his military record, being 18 involved in the Maritime College and being 19 involved with the different organizations that 20 he's been involved with -- the Cathedral of 21 Brooklyn, the Cathedral Club, and the Brooklyn 22 Benevolent Association, the Emerald 23 Associations of Long Island, the Behanda [ph] 24 Law Society. 25 And also being an active volunteer
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(518) 371-8910 1 firefighter, member of the Point Breezy 2 Volunteer Fire Department since 1959. He is 3 truly a great, great individual. He's 4 presently the rank of captain. 5 And we are -- I mean, I can't 6 express the gratitude that I have for each and 7 every one of these judges, for what they've 8 been able to do through their lives and 9 continue. I know they don't do it for the 10 money; I know they do it for what they really 11 believe, and that's in the people in this 12 great city, and in their families. 13 Judge Ingram is married, with four 14 of his children and three grandchildren living 15 in Bay Ridge. And Bay Ridge and Brooklyn and 16 New York City are truly proud, as well as 17 New York State. 18 The Governor has made great choices 19 here, and I second his nomination as well. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Marchi. 22 SENATOR MARCHI: Well, I'm really 23 delighted to have an opportunity, because John 24 Ingram is recognized and has an illustrious 25 record going for him, as has been pointed out.
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(518) 371-8910 1 But I'd like also to call attention 2 to the fact that he is accompanied, and I 3 don't -- by his wife, Maureen. Now, his wife, 4 Maureen, is the daughter of Assemblyman and 5 Senator Walter Cooke, who was a good friend, a 6 warm friend, and we served together for many 7 years. 8 So I'm so delighted. You start out 9 with a great advantage, Judge, to have a 10 marvelous spouse like that, because she 11 carried with her the goodwill and the 12 intelligence and the warm friendship of an 13 individual -- you know, I'm very proud to see 14 that the Irish are getting their day today. 15 Thank you. All the best. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Malcolm Smith. 18 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 19 you, Mr. President. I also rise to join my 20 colleagues. This seems to be judgment day for 21 me. 22 (Laughter.) 23 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: I will 24 tell you, Judge Ingram, who is a personal 25 friend, has clearly distinguished himself on
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(518) 371-8910 1 the bench. 2 But you should know one of the 3 things about him, boards -- he's on the board 4 of the Maritime College, also on the Alumni 5 Association of New York Maritime College, the 6 Brooklyn Benevolent Society, Emerald 7 Association, and most significantly, he is an 8 honorary usher at St. Patrick's Cathedral and 9 a voluntary firefighter for the Breezy Point 10 Fire Association. And that's a tremendous 11 honor. 12 And I am just delighted to stand 13 here before you and my colleagues to support 14 his nomination once again. Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 question is on the confirmation of John G. 17 Ingram as a judge of the Court of Claims. All 18 those in favor signify by saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye.") 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 21 opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 nominee is confirmed. 25 Judge Ingram is with us in the
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(518) 371-8910 1 gallery. He's accompanied by his wife, 2 Maureen. 3 Judge, congratulations. 4 (Applause.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 Secretary will continue to read. 7 THE SECRETARY: As a judge of the 8 Court of Claims, Juanita Bing Newton, of 9 New Rochelle. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 DeFrancisco. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Before I 13 move the nomination, I was a little concerned 14 that Senator Golden brought up the issue of 15 money, because that's been on everybody's mind 16 for a little while here. 17 But I am very proud to move the 18 nomination of Juanita Bing Newton, who has 19 been a Court of Claims judge, if my numbers 20 are correct, since January of 1987. And 21 through that period of time, since she became 22 a Court of Claims judge, she has moved through 23 various administrative positions and now holds 24 two extremely important ones: Deputy chief 25 administrative judge for justice initiatives
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(518) 371-8910 1 for the State of New York, she's held that 2 since 1999; and administrative judge of the 3 Criminal Court of the City of New York, which 4 she's held from February of 2003. 5 An outstanding jurist, a fantastic 6 lawyer, and we're really proud that we have 7 her to continue on acting as a Court of Claims 8 judge. 9 Would you please recognize Senator 10 Oppenheimer, to second the nomination. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Oppenheimer. 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 Well, I'm glad that we have crossed 16 the New York City border and are heading 17 north -- only 25 minutes on Metro North, but 18 glad to see you here, Judge Newton. Glad we 19 finally went beyond the New York City judges, 20 who I'm proud of also. But I couldn't be more 21 proud of you and what you've done. 22 In fact, in going through your 23 resume, I must say I had a moment of feeling 24 very inadequate. 25 But you have accomplished so much,
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(518) 371-8910 1 and it's all with such good purpose, that you 2 are evaluating, identifying and assessing the 3 impediments to justice, and doing this through 4 establishing -- looking at least to focus on 5 and hopefully establish stable funding for 6 civil legal services and criminal indigent 7 defense, increasing attorney pro bono 8 participation. And I'm very familiar with 9 that, because my husband's law firm 10 participates a great deal in that program. 11 These are things that are focused 12 on making our courts more accessible, more 13 friendly, more fair, more just, more equal. 14 And I'm just very proud of the work that you 15 do. And I'm also very delighted to see that 16 your bachelor's is from Northwestern, where my 17 second son went. 18 So all told, I think you have done 19 great things for our community as well as for 20 our courts, because by making our courts more 21 equal to all, it provides justice for everyone 22 in the community. So thank you for the work 23 you do. 24 I'm honored to second your 25 nomination.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Ada Smith. 3 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I would like to commend the 6 Governor for this renomination and to state to 7 Senator Oppenheimer that the judge's roots 8 began in the Bronx, so she has moved just a 9 little bit further away. But she is still a 10 product of the City of New York, where her 11 reputation precedes her. She is admired by 12 many, and she is trusted by all in the legal 13 profession. 14 But especially those of us in 15 communities of color, the name Juanita Bing 16 Newton is synonymous with fair judicial 17 practices, and she is known to be eminently 18 qualified, as her resume states. 19 And I am so very pleased and proud 20 that I can stand today to second this 21 nomination. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Malcolm Smith. 24 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 25 you, Mr. President.
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(518) 371-8910 1 This is obviously a banner day for 2 judicial appointments. And Judge Bing Newton 3 deserves to be in that class. She has 4 obviously been to Queens and been involved in 5 the program that we educated quite a few 6 people about the other programs that exist in 7 the judicial department. 8 Most people think that it's just a 9 matter of dispensing justice, but clearly the 10 programs that they administer -- educational 11 programs, the programs that they talk about in 12 terms of supporting young adults in terms of 13 knowing what the system does. I would 14 encourage all my colleagues to reach out to 15 Judge Newton and find out what they do in that 16 system and the other programs that they have, 17 because it is tremendous what they offer to 18 the community in terms of understanding what 19 goes on in that department. 20 So it is with great pleasure that I 21 join Senator Smith and Senator Oppenheimer in 22 seconding that nomination. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 question is on the confirmation of Juanita 25 Bing Newton as a judge of the Court of Claims.
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(518) 371-8910 1 All those in favor signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 4 opposed, nay. 5 (No response.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 nominee is confirmed. 8 Judge Bing Newton with us today in 9 the gallery. She is accompanied by her 10 sister, Patricia Bing, and by her staff, 11 Beverly Russell and Steven Ingenito. 12 Judge, congratulations. 13 (Applause.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Reports 15 of select committees. 16 Communications and reports from 17 state officers. 18 Motions and resolutions. 19 Senator Fuschillo. 20 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 21 President, are there any substitutions at the 22 desk? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 24 are. 25 The Secretary will read the
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(518) 371-8910 1 substitutions. 2 THE SECRETARY: On page 14, 3 Senator Spano moves to discharge, from the 4 Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 8834 5 and substitute it for the identical Senate 6 Bill Number 3417, Third Reading Calendar 515. 7 On page 26, Senator Padavan moves 8 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 9 Assembly Bill Number 5622A and substitute it 10 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3169A, 11 Third Reading Calendar 844. 12 On page 33, Senator Padavan moves 13 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 14 Assembly Bill Number 1979A and substitute it 15 for the identical Senate Bill Number 1055A, 16 Third Reading Calendar 1036. 17 On page 37, Senator Fuschillo moves 18 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 19 Assembly Bill Number 8025B and substitute it 20 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5370B, 21 Third Reading Calendar 1185. 22 On page 43, Senator DeFrancisco 23 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 24 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 8137A and 25 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 Number 5380B, Third Reading Calendar 1299. 2 On page 43, Senator Morahan moves 3 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 4 Assembly Bill Number 7878B and substitute it 5 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4877B, 6 Third Reading Calendar 1304. 7 On page 47, Senator Volker moves to 8 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 9 Assembly Bill Number 8777 and substitute it 10 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5680, 11 Third Reading Calendar 1701. 12 On page 48, Senator Seward moves to 13 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 14 Assembly Bill Number 8532 and substitute it 15 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5687, 16 Third Reading Calendar 1704. 17 On page 48, Senator Seward moves to 18 discharge, from the Committee on Local 19 Government, Assembly Bill Number 567A and 20 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 21 Number 1404A, Third Reading Calendar 1710. 22 On page 50, Senator DeFrancisco 23 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 24 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 8699B and 25 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 Number 5727, Third Reading Calendar 1733. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 3 Substitutions ordered. 4 Senator Fuschillo. 5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 6 President, at this time may we have the 7 reading of the calendar. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 Secretary will conduct the noncontroversial 10 reading of the calendar. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 80, by Member of the Assembly Weinstein, 13 Assembly Print Number 5770, an act to amend 14 the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 18 act shall take effect on the first of January. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, this 25 bill enacts the Transfer-on-Death Security
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(518) 371-8910 1 Registration Act. Unfortunately, this bill 2 has taken this long to pass. It's an 3 important bill. 4 If people are familiar with joint 5 accounts, bank accounts that automatically 6 pass to the survivor without having to go 7 through probate, that wasn't the case until 8 hopefully very soon when the Governor signs 9 this bill, that allows to securities to pass 10 in that same fashion, saving a lot of money 11 for people who are inheriting assets from a 12 loved one. 13 So it's an important bill. We've 14 been behind the eightball insofar as most 15 states -- probably only three or four states 16 have not passed this as yet -- and I'm happy 17 that we're able to do it this year. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 19 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the 20 affirmative. 21 Announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 112, by Member of the Assembly Weisenberg, 2 Assembly Print Number 112, an act to amend the 3 Public Health Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Alesi, to explain his vote. 13 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you. Very 14 briefly, Mr. President. 15 I appreciate the support that my 16 colleagues are showing for this bill. As you 17 know, it has passed in the Assembly already. 18 It runs parallel to a bill that we passed a 19 few years ago requiring schools to have 20 defibrillators. We know right now that we can 21 save upwards of 100,000 lives a year 22 nationally if we simply have these devices in 23 place. 24 So I appreciate the support that 25 this Senate has shown and that the Assembly
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(518) 371-8910 1 has shown and appreciate the work that 2 Assemblyman Weisenberg has given on this issue 3 as well. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 Alesi will be recorded in the affirmative. 6 Announce the results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 8 1. Senator Meier recorded in the negative. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 556, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 3972, an 13 act to amend the Retirement and Social 14 Security Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 16 a home-rule message at the desk. 17 Read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 573, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 842B, an 3 act to amend the Education Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 7 act shall take effect on the first of January. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 588, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 3266, an 16 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 595, by Member of the Assembly Destito, 4 Assembly Print Number 7293, an act to amend 5 the Uniform District Court Act and others. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 7 last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 10. This 9 act shall take effect on the first of January. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 603, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 2199, an 18 act in relation to requiring. 19 SENATOR SABINI: Lay it aside. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 21 bill aside. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 719, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 2473, an 24 act to amend the Penal Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
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(518) 371-8910 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect on the first of 4 November. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 780, by Member of the Assembly Crouch, 13 Assembly Print Number 6800A, an act to amend 14 the Tax Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 866, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 2 4853, an act to amend the Estates, Powers and 3 Trusts Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 921, by Member of the Assembly R. Diaz, 16 Assembly Print Number 4186, an act to amend 17 the Administrative Procedure Act and the 18 Executive Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 20 last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 22 act shall take effect on the first of January. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 24 roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 963, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 5165, an 6 act to authorize the Independent Group Home 7 Living Program, Inc. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 970, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4642, an 20 act to amend the Education Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 14. This 24 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1087, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 3641A, 8 an act to amend the Education Law. 9 SENATOR SABINI: Lay it aside. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 11 bill aside. 12 SENATOR WINNER: Star the bill. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Place a 14 sponsor's star on the bill. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1109, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 4282A, 17 an act in relation to limiting the size. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1178, by Member of the Assembly Benjamin, 5 Assembly Print Number 5957A, an act to amend 6 the Agriculture and Markets Law and the Public 7 Health Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1209, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 2180, 20 an act in relation to the participation of 21 part-time employees. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 23 a home-rule message at the desk. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1222, by Member of the Assembly Abbate, 10 Assembly Print Number 5394A, an act to amend 11 the Civil Service Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1225, by Senator Little, Senate Print 4912A, 24 an act to grant Christopher Paiser performance 25 of duty disability retirement benefits.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 9 Little, to explain her vote. 10 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 I'm very pleased to have sponsored 13 this bill and to have the support of my 14 colleagues for this bill. Christopher Paiser 15 is a young man living in my district who is a 16 correction officer at Franklin Correctional. 17 He's also a member of the National Guard of 18 New York, served in Iraq. He was wounded in 19 Iraq and has lost 98 percent of his vision; 20 therefore, is unable to perform any of the 21 duties as a correction officer again. 22 His colleagues, fellow correction 23 officers, have contributed their time and put 24 together 300 days so that Christopher Paiser 25 will reach the 10-year period and he would be
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(518) 371-8910 1 able to retire on a one-third pension. 2 This bill gives him a performance 3 of duty disability as if he had been injured 4 as performing duties at a correctional 5 facility. And therefore, this will certainly 6 help Christopher Paiser as he adjusts to his 7 new type of life, and help his wife and four 8 small children. 9 I thank everyone for their support 10 of this bill. Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Little will be recorded in the affirmative. 13 Announce the results. 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1230, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 5152, an 19 act to amend the Administrative Code of the 20 City of New York and others. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 22 a home-rule message at the desk. 23 Read the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1325, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5425, an 9 act to amend Chapter 846 of the Laws of 1970. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 11 a home-rule message at the desk. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 16 roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 20 is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1542, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 5376A, 23 an act to amend the Civil Service Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 25 last section.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1588, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 5111B, an 11 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 13 a home-rule message at the desk. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1710, substituted earlier today by Member of 25 the Assembly Magee, Assembly Print Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 567A, an act to amend Chapter 668 of the Laws 2 of 1977. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1711, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 1936A, 15 an act to amend the Public Health Law and the 16 Education Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 25 Golden, to explain his vote.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 2 Acting President. 3 This is a great day for the seniors 4 and for the people that live in the city and 5 state of New York, that we finally have, in 6 this great city and state, a drug retail price 7 listing of pharmaceutical drugs so that our 8 seniors and the people across the city and 9 state can look on a web page and can look at 10 their senior centers to find out the zip codes 11 by -- the pharmacies by zip code on the prices 12 of their pharmaceuticals. 13 For instance, we have a small 14 mom-and-pop in my district, and you can buy 15 Zithromax in 250 milligrams for $39.99, and 16 you go to a larger store, also in my 17 community, a block and a half away, and you 18 pay $99.99. 19 There's a great disparity in 20 pharmaceutical pricing. And today this bill 21 will allow our seniors across this state to 22 check those web pages and to get the best 23 prices that they can. 24 We started this over 2 1/2 years 25 ago. The Attorney General picked up a piece
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(518) 371-8910 1 and started on it a little while ago. And 2 finally we see a real bill that works for the 3 city and state of New York. And the Health 4 Department will be posting that listing, and 5 we're very happy and I think the city and 6 state should be proud of this bill and what it 7 will be able to do for our seniors. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote 9 aye. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 Golden will be recorded in the affirmative. 12 Announce the results. 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1712, by Senator L. Krueger, Senate Print 18 2522, an act to authorize the New York City 19 Employees Retirement System. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 21 a home-rule message at the desk. 22 Read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1713, by Senator Valesky, Senate Print 2543, 8 an act authorizing the Village of Hamilton. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 10 a home-rule message at the desk. 11 Read the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1715, by Senator Little, Senate Print 2936, an 22 act to grant Richard F. Kelly. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 24 a home-rule message at the desk. 25 Read the last section.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1716, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 3638, an 11 act to amend Chapter 657 of the Laws of 2002. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1717, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 4658, 24 an act to amend the Administrative Code of the 25 City of New York.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1718, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 5273, an 13 act to amend the Highway Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1719, by Senator Wright --
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 2 aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 4 bill aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1720, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 5441, 7 an act to amend the Penal Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1721, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 5471B, 20 an act to amend Chapter 172 of the Laws of 21 2002. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 23 last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1724, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 5614A, 9 an act to amend the Energy Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 18 Wright, to explain his vote. 19 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Mr. 20 President, to explain my vote. 21 First of all, I'd like to 22 acknowledge the Governor's leadership on this 23 legislation. It originally began as a program 24 bill that was sent up. And we've been working 25 with the Governor's staff and NYSERDA to
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(518) 371-8910 1 develop a balanced bill. 2 And I also want to acknowledge the 3 efforts of my colleagues. There have been a 4 number of changes and amendments to this bill 5 that we have developed in concert with a 6 number of my colleagues. And as a result, you 7 have a balanced bill that has the support and 8 endorsement of utilities, consumers, 9 environmental advocates and corporations. And 10 that was our intent, to establish another 11 component to a balanced energy policy here in 12 the Senate. 13 And obviously the bill speaks for 14 itself in terms of the efficiency standards, 15 the ability to lower residential rates, the 16 ability to improve reliability, and increased 17 energy independence here in the nation. 18 So I appreciate the support of my 19 colleagues on this legislation. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote 21 aye. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Wright will be recorded in the affirmative. 24 Senator Schneiderman, to explain 25 his vote.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 I also rise in support of this 4 legislation. And I think it is a good step. 5 This will require NYSERDA to establish energy 6 efficiency and performance standards. 7 Unfortunately, it is a good move by 8 the state because the federal government is 9 increasingly abandoning the field of energy 10 efficiency and promoting alternative forms of 11 energy. So I'm glad that we are stepping up 12 at the state level. 13 I would note, though, that as we go 14 forward and establish these performance 15 standards and regulations, we need to be 16 sensitive to the difference between the 17 consumer electronics that are now included in 18 this bill, which is a change from the 19 Governor's program bill, and larger 20 appliances. We are making an effort to 21 promote the use of consumer electronics in 22 this state, the manufacturing of high-tech 23 equipment. And we have to be very sensitive 24 to the distinctions. 25 Consumer electronics, high-tech
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(518) 371-8910 1 equipment, doesn't use a lot of energy. It is 2 included here in this bill. It is a new set 3 of regulations on an area that potentially is 4 economically very significant. So I hope that 5 we will be sensitive to that in the 6 development of the regulations and standards. 7 I vote aye. I compliment the 8 sponsor, and know that he has worked well with 9 Senator Parker and others on the other side of 10 the aisle on this. And I hope that we can 11 address the concerns raised by the consumer 12 electronics people about this issue. But I 13 think this is a very good first step, and I 14 encourage everyone to vote yes. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Schneiderman will be recorded in the 18 affirmative. 19 Announce the results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1725, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 5640, 25 an act to amend the Correction Law.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1726, by Senator Spano, Senate Print -- 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 14 aside. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 16 bill aside. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1730, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 57 -- 19 SENATOR LaVALLE: Lay it aside, 20 please. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 22 bill aside. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1731, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 5716, an 25 act to amend the Education Law.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1732, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 5722, an 13 act to amend the Civil Service Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 15 last section. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 17 aside. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 19 bill aside. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1733, substituted earlier today by the 22 Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print 23 Number 8699B, an act in relation. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 25 last section.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Valesky, to explain his vote. 8 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 Briefly, in explaining my vote, I'd 11 like to thank Senator DeFrancisco for the work 12 he has done on this issue and in bringing this 13 bill to the floor. 14 There are several school buildings 15 in the City of Syracuse School District that 16 are in a significant state of disrepair. The 17 school system and the City of Syracuse has put 18 forward a 10-year reconstruction plan. The 19 bill that we are voting on today provides a 20 cost-effective financing plan for the first 21 phase, up to seven buildings that will be 22 reconstructed beginning early in 2006. 23 I vote aye. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 25 Valesky will be recorded in the affirmative.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his 2 vote. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I appreciate the acknowledgment 6 from Senator Valesky. This was an effort from 7 the entire Central New York delegation to try 8 to get these schools in the City of Syracuse 9 back to par. 10 And there was a provision or a bill 11 such as this for the schools in Buffalo. I 12 think we improved upon that process during the 13 course of negotiations with the Assembly and 14 with all interested parties. 15 So it's important to have an 16 up-to-date school plant for kids to learn, and 17 I think Syracuse is going to accomplish it as 18 a result of this bill. 19 Thank you. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 21 DeFrancisco, you will be recorded as voting in 22 the affirmative on this bill. 23 The Secretary will announce the 24 results. 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1735, by Senator Spano, Senate Print -- 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 6 Fuschillo. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Can we please 8 return to Calendar Number 1732. It was in 9 inadvertently laid aside. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 11 will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1732, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 5722, an 14 act to amend the Civil Service Law. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 16 section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 1732 are 23 Senators Duane, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger 24 and Schneiderman. 25 Ayes, 54. Nays, 4.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1735, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 5747, an 5 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1736, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5751, an 17 act to amend the Highway Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
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(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1738, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 5756, an 4 act to amend the Elder Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 15. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1739, by Senator Young, Senate Print 5760, an 16 act to amend the Highway Law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Young, to 24 explain your vote. 25 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam
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(518) 371-8910 1 President, to explain my vote. 2 I want to thank my colleagues for 3 your support on this legislation, because it 4 honors someone who served New York State 5 government for a number of years who hailed 6 from Allegany County, in my district. This 7 bill designates a portion of Route 19, between 8 Scio and Wellsville, as the "William C. 9 Hennessy Memorial Highway." 10 William Hennessy was an ardent 11 supporter of Allegany County and made certain 12 that its concerns were heard and taken care of 13 in Albany. He served in the State Department 14 of Transportation for 36 years, working his 15 way up the ranks until his appointment as 16 commissioner from 1977 to 1982. 17 Among his many accomplishments, 18 Commissioner Hennessy oversaw property 19 acquisition for such notable projects as the 20 Southern Tier Expressway, Interstate 88, and 21 the Empire State Plaza. He also contributed 22 to the development of the New York State 23 Thruway Authority, becoming chair of it in 24 1987. And as a native son of Scio and a 25 graduate of Wellsville Central School, this
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(518) 371-8910 1 memorial highway is a fitting tribute to the 2 memory of Commissioner Hennessy. 3 He is survived by his wife, 4 Corinne; their two sons, Bill and Ed; and four 5 daughters, some of whom are with us today -- 6 Trish Hennessy, Sheila Michaels, Liz Bennison, 7 and Sue Hennessy. 8 So I very proudly vote in the 9 affirmative for this bill. Thank you. 10 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 11 recorded as voting in the affirmative on this 12 bill, Senator Young. 13 Senator Farley, to explain your 14 vote. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you. I'm 16 delighted to get up and speak in support of 17 this bill. 18 I knew Bill Hennessy quite well for 19 a number of years, and he was a remarkable 20 servant, Commissioner of Transportation, and a 21 native of Allegany County, as I recall. 22 And I think it's so appropriate 23 that this roadway or highway be named after 24 him, and that I think that would be very 25 meaningful to him and to his family. And he
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(518) 371-8910 1 was one of my favorite people, and he had a 2 beautiful family. And I applaud Senator Young 3 for doing this on behalf of Bill Hennessy. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 5 will announce the results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1740, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 57 -- 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 12 aside. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 14 aside. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1742, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 17 5799, an act to amend the Military Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect on the same date and in 22 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 23 2005. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1743, by Senator Young, Senate Print 5800, an 6 act to amend the Highway 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 PRESIDENT: Senator Young, to 14 explain your vote. 15 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam 16 President, to explain my vote. 17 I am so proud to carry this bill 18 today because it's in honor of someone who is 19 well known in this chamber, someone who was a 20 friend to me when I served on the Cattaraugus 21 County Legislature, and that is our Senator 22 Jess Present, who passed away in 1998. This 23 would name Route 430 in Chautauqua County in 24 his honor -- 25 THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Young. 2 Can I ask the members to stop their 3 conversations, please. 4 You may proceed. 5 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam 6 President. 7 There are so many great reasons to 8 do this honor. For nearly 40 years, Senator 9 Present was a compassionate public servant 10 dedicated to his constituency and to helping 11 his communities in his district. He was a 12 very positive force in people's lives. 13 He started in politics when he was 14 elected to the Jamestown City Council in 1959, 15 and he served as president of that body from 16 1962 to 1963. He was then elected to the 17 Assembly in 1965, in the general election, and 18 then went on to the Senate in 1968. 19 He served with the Eighth Air Force 20 in England during World War II and was a 21 lifetime member of the American Legion and the 22 Veterans of Foreign Wars. Among his many 23 accomplishments -- and I underscore many, he 24 was known for so many things. But he did 25 oversee the development of Interstate 86,
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(518) 371-8910 1 which was a great economic boon to the 2 Southern Tier area. 3 So it's a most fitting tribute to 4 name this section of roadway in honor of 5 Senator Present, mostly because it winds 6 around his beloved Chautauqua Lake and also 7 goes through his hometown of Bemus Point. And 8 those who served with Jess know how much he 9 loved Bemus Point. 10 He is survived by his two sons, 11 Jeffrey and Randall, and three grandchildren. 12 And so, Madam President, it's very 13 important that we support this legislation, 14 and that is why I so proudly vote yes. 15 Thank you. 16 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 17 recorded in the affirmative on this bill, 18 Senator Young. 19 The Secretary will announce the 20 results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 23 passed. 24 Senator Fuschillo, that completes 25 the noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 2 President, thank you. There will be an 3 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 4 the Majority Conference Room. 5 THE PRESIDENT: There will be an 6 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 7 the Majority Conference Room. 8 Senator Fuschillo. 9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: The Senate 10 will stand at ease pending the report. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate stands 12 at ease. 13 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 14 ease at 1:14 p.m.) 15 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 16 at 1:33 p.m.) 17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 18 Fuschillo. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 20 President, please return to the reports of 21 standing committees. I believe there's a 22 Rules Committee report at the desk. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Reports of 24 standing committees. 25 The Secretary will read.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 2 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 3 following bills: 4 Senate Print 33A, by Senator 5 LaValle, an act to amend the Education Law; 6 2157, by Senator Paterson, an act 7 to amend the Public Authorities Law; 8 2583B, by Senator Padavan, an act 9 to amend the Tax Law; 10 4398, by Senator Robach, an act to 11 amend the Parks, Recreation and Historic 12 Preservation Law; 13 4645A, by Senator Libous, an act to 14 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 15 4721, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 16 to amend the Tax Law; 17 4742B, by Senator Spano, an act to 18 amend the Mental Hygiene Law; 19 5055A, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 20 act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control 21 Law; 22 5182A, by Senator Johnson, an act 23 to amend the Public Officers Law; 24 5405, by Senator Padavan, an act to 25 amend the Education Law;
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(518) 371-8910 1 5486, by the Senate Committee on 2 Rules, an act to amend the Labor Law; 3 5487, by the Senate Committee on 4 Rules, an act to amend the Civil Service Law; 5 5553B, by Senator Winner, an act to 6 amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 7 5602, by Senator Fuschillo, an act 8 to amend the General Business Law; 9 5650A, by Senator Johnson, an act 10 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 11 5679, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 12 authorizing; 13 5690, by Senator Wright, an act to 14 amend the Public Service Law; 15 5708, by Senator Leibell, an act to 16 amend the Public Authorities Law; 17 5719, by Senator Maziarz, an act to 18 amend the General Business Law; 19 5724, by Senator Larkin, an act to 20 amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and 21 Breeding Law; 22 5726A, by Senator Young, an act to 23 amend the Correction Law; 24 5733, by Senator Morahan, an act to 25 amend the Penal Law;
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(518) 371-8910 1 5750, by Senator Padavan, an act to 2 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 3 5758, by Senator Farley, an act in 4 relation to affecting; 5 5764, by Senator Golden, an act to 6 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law; 7 5766, by Senator Golden, an act to 8 amend the Penal Law; 9 5772, by Senator Duane, an act to 10 amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 11 5818, by Senator Padavan, an act 12 authorizing; 13 5827, by Senator Fuschillo, an act 14 to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2005; 15 And Senate Print 5848, by Senator 16 Winner, an act to amend the Executive Law. 17 All bills ordered direct to third 18 reading. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Move to 20 accept the report of the Rules Committee. 21 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 22 accepting the report of Rules Committee please 23 signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
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(518) 371-8910 1 (No response.) 2 THE PRESIDENT: The report is 3 accepted. 4 Senator Fuschillo. 5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 6 President, can we return to the first calendar 7 and take up the reading of the controversial 8 calendar, starting with Calendar Number 603. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 10 will read. 11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 12 President, can we also ring the bells and 13 inform the members that we are taking up the 14 reading of the controversial calendar and ask 15 them to come to the chambers. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 17 will ring the bell. 18 And I request all members to return 19 to their seats so we can continue with the 20 controversial calendar. 21 The Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 603, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 2199, an 24 act in relation to requiring certain state and 25 federal education aid intended.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Explanation. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Golden, 3 an explanation has been requested. 4 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, Madam 5 President. 6 This bill would require a school 7 district to relinquish any funds received by 8 the school district which is intended for a 9 nonpublic school, to do that within a 45-day 10 period of receipt of such funds. The failure 11 to timely relinquish those funds would result 12 in the school district being charged 5 percent 13 interest per annum on that money. 14 I own a business, or owned a 15 business, and you'd believe within 30 days, if 16 I don't pay my bills, I am charged a percent 17 that's higher than 5 percent. And if I'm 45 18 or 60 days, it's much higher, and it continues 19 to go up. 20 This is 5 percent on a total for 21 the year, and I believe the nonpublic 22 schools -- it should be plenty of time to 23 relinquish those dollars to those nonpublic 24 schools. They, like any other business, need 25 to be able to use those dollars for their
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(518) 371-8910 1 children and for the administration of that 2 school building. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 4 Montgomery. 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 6 President, on the bill. 7 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed. 8 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I have 9 obviously some questions about this policy 10 that we are looking to implement requiring 11 school districts to disperse funds within 12 45 days of receiving them or be penalized at 13 5 percent on the funds that are not passed on 14 in 45 days. 15 Now, obviously we are not 16 challenging the fact that the nonpublic 17 schools receive public assistance for various 18 of their activities. But to place a burden on 19 the school district to be liable to be charged 20 if they are not able, for whatever reasons -- 21 and there could be any number of reasons that 22 they don't pass it on within this very limited 23 period of time -- I think is bad policy. And 24 it could indeed place a burden that the school 25 districts are not really able to live up to.
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(518) 371-8910 1 So I'm going to vote no on this 2 legislation, because while I understand the 3 intent that Senator Golden, he wants the 4 nonpublics to receive their funding as quickly 5 as possible, at the same time I don't think 6 that we should be moving to penalize the 7 public system because they're unable to 8 function as efficiently as many of us would 9 like them to in this case. 10 I'm going to be voting no. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 12 member wish to be heard? 13 Senator Stavisky. 14 SENATOR STAVISKY: Very briefly 15 on the bill, Madam President. 16 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 17 Senator. 18 SENATOR STAVISKY: As my 19 colleague indicated, there are many programs 20 that have been held constitutional that are 21 utilized by the nonpublic schools, whether it 22 be the Textbook Loan Act or putting a school 23 crossing guard at the intersection or school 24 health programs. These are all 25 constitutional, and government is providing
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(518) 371-8910 1 aid in that respect. 2 However, the legislation says that 3 any state -- on line 2, "any state or federal 4 education aid received." And I have questions 5 as to whether this is actually enforceable. 6 Secondly, there are very few 7 dollars available for public education. And 8 to penalize the school districts I think is 9 unconscionable. We should be trying to help 10 the school districts, not trying to hurt them. 11 And lastly, I heard the sponsor's 12 explanation. And school districts are not a 13 money-making, not a profit-making venture. 14 And I urge a no vote on this bill. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 16 member wish to be heard? 17 Then the debate is closed. 18 The Secretary will ring the bell, 19 and the members should please return to their 20 seats. 21 The members should be in their 22 seats so that we can proceed with the calendar 23 promptly. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect on the first of July. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Golden, 5 to explain your vote. 6 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, Madam 7 President. 8 Briefly, just -- I know some of my 9 colleagues are against this bill; I don't know 10 why. But just briefly, one of my colleagues 11 said that it might not be enforceable. It is. 12 Because of New York City not-for-profit 13 contracting law, it would be enforceable. 14 But the other reason that I rise is 15 because the -- you know, simple, if a dairy 16 was delivering milk to that not-for-profit 17 school, would we expect the dairy not to be 18 paid in 45 days or 60 days or 90 days because 19 of clerical errors at the school board? I 20 think it's up to the school board to make sure 21 that these bills are paid. 22 If I'm a small-time businessperson, 23 I have to be able to keep my business 24 operating. And if I can't, I have to go to a 25 bank to get a loan, of which I will have
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(518) 371-8910 1 interest, so I can have operating dollars to 2 keep my business alive. 3 I don't think we really want that 4 for our children across the city and state of 5 New York, and that's why this bill was 6 introduced. And I vote aye, Madam President. 7 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 8 recorded, Senator Golden, as voting in the 9 affirmative on this bill. 10 Senator Oppenheimer, to explain her 11 vote. 12 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you 13 very much. To explain my vote. 14 I agree with Senator Golden, we 15 ought to be paying our bills promptly, all of 16 us and every agency of government and 17 personally. However, I think it's very poor 18 public policy, poor education policy to be 19 fining school districts. It's at a time when 20 public education should be keeping every penny 21 it can find, under carpets, wherever they find 22 it. 23 I am in support of all the services 24 that we do provide -- the health services, the 25 transportation services, the library services,
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(518) 371-8910 1 computer software services. But I think that 2 this is a poor public policy direction, and 3 that's why I'm voting no. 4 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 5 recorded as voting in the negative on this 6 bill, Senator. 7 The Secretary will announce the 8 results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 10 the negative on Calendar Number 603 are 11 Senators Brown, Duane, Fuschillo, Gonzalez, 12 Klein, L. Krueger, LaValle, Marcellino, 13 Montgomery, Oppenheimer, Paterson, Sabini, 14 Serrano, A. Smith, Stavisky and Valesky. Also 15 voting in the negative, Senator Schneiderman. 16 Also voting in the negative, Senator Spano. 17 Those Senators absent from voting: 18 Balboni, Connor, Flanagan and Sampson. 19 Ayes, 39. Nays, 18. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 Senator Bonacic. 23 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 24 Madam President. 25 I had a brief meeting off the floor
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(518) 371-8910 1 and as a result, if I had been present, I 2 would have voted no on Calendar Number 963, 3 Senate Bill 5165. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The record will 5 so reflect, Senator Bonacic. 6 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 7 Madam President. 8 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. 9 The Secretary will continue to 10 read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1719, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 5285, an 13 act to amend the Tax Law. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 15 Explanation. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Wright, 17 an explanation has been requested. 18 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Madam 19 President. 20 The bill before us this afternoon 21 provides for a tax credit for a biofuel 22 production. Its intent is to encourage the 23 development of biofuels here in the state. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Madam President. If the sponsor could please 2 yield. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Wright, 4 do you yield? 5 SENATOR WRIGHT: Yes, I will, 6 Madam President. 7 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 8 Senator Krueger. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 10 Could you define biofuels as you 11 think they'll be meant here in New York State, 12 Senator? 13 SENATOR WRIGHT: Yes. It will be 14 fuels that are derivatives of corn, willow, a 15 number of different renewable products, as 16 well as the production of ethanol. 17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam 18 President, if the sponsor would continue to 19 yield. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Wright, 21 do you yield for a question? 22 SENATOR WRIGHT: I will, Madam 23 President. 24 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 25 Senator.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 2 What's the estimated cost of this 3 tax credit, Senator? 4 SENATOR WRIGHT: It is capped by 5 the legislation not to exceed a million 6 dollars per year per tax claimant. 7 And at the present time, there is 8 no production in the state, so there is no 9 impact on the current budget. 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 11 On the bill, Madam President. 12 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 13 on the bill. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Well, this 15 is a bill to provide tax credits for biofuels, 16 with the most well-known category being 17 ethanol, which is production of gasoline from 18 corn, although certainly it can be other 19 products. 20 I'd like to start by referencing 21 briefly the last episode of "The West Wing" 22 this year. I know Senator Spano likes "The 23 West Wing," and I do also. We've both 24 referenced that before. 25 In the final episode of "The West
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(518) 371-8910 1 Wing" this year, the Republican candidate for 2 president pointed out that making a gallon of 3 ethanol takes almost a gallon of oil and so in 4 fact has been the largest unexplained subsidy 5 in this country and is a billion dollars a 6 year from the federal government. 7 Certainly we don't want to use "The 8 West Wing" as our base for expertise. But I 9 found myself agreeing with Alan Alda, playing 10 Republican presidential candidate Arnold 11 Vinick in that show. 12 But perhaps more substantively, the 13 science shows us that this isn't a good deal 14 for anyone, that the production of ethanol has 15 been subsidized on an annual basis for decades 16 without moving forward. There's actually a 17 total of $3 billion in subsidies to the 18 ethanol industry, federal and various states. 19 That despite the fact that Archer Daniels 20 Midland, the largest ethanol producer, is 21 drawing down most of these subsidies, they're 22 never adding capacity over the years. 23 And the fact is that the research 24 shows that it takes 1.3 gallons of petroleum 25 to produce one gallon of ethanol. Therefore,
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(518) 371-8910 1 ethanol production, claimed to be a 2 replacement for our dependence on foreign oil, 3 actually increases our dependence on foreign 4 oil. And that in fact when you analyze the 5 total cost of a gallon of ethanol, it's 6 $4.70 per gallon. And this is research done 7 out of Cornell University, Professor David 8 Pimentel. 9 There is data from throughout the 10 country, the states that have active ethanol 11 programs, and some of those who are providing 12 tax credits, that it has never met the 13 standards that we hoped for itself. And in 14 fact, the data is pretty clear that ethanol is 15 not cost-effective as a replacement for oil, 16 that it uses more energy than it generates. 17 That while it has negligible environmental 18 impacts, it does appear to have some negative 19 environmental impacts. And that studies in 20 California by the California Air Resources 21 Board show that blending ethanol with gasoline 22 increases nitrogen oxide and other 23 smog-forming emissions. 24 The use of ethanol as a gasoline 25 additive also voids car warranties, which
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(518) 371-8910 1 might be a concern to some of us who own and 2 operate cars. It actually appears to lower 3 gas mileage when blended with gasoline, 4 decreasing gas mileage by between 3 and 5 5 percent and 6 to 10 percent with higher 6 mixes of ethanol. 7 Unfortunately -- and I understand 8 the Farm Bureau supports this bill -- but 9 national studies show that ethanol production 10 actually hurts livestock and poultry farmers. 11 So there appears to be a little disagreement 12 between different people in the farm industry 13 as to the pluses and minuses of ethanol. 14 The General Accounting Office of 15 the federal government concluded that higher 16 corn prices generated by ethanol hurts 17 livestock producers and poultry producers 18 because the cost of feedstock increases. The 19 National Center for Policy Analysis estimated 20 that ethanol production adds $1 billion 21 annually to the cost of beef production. So 22 we seem to perhaps have some disagreement 23 between different agricultural sectors about 24 the pluses and minuses from a farm 25 perspective.
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(518) 371-8910 1 It appears to increase food prices. 2 The cost of feedstock for livestock, poultry 3 producers increases the price to consumers for 4 meat, milk and eggs. It doesn't appear to 5 create net jobs, based on economic analysis 6 done in various states that have an ethanol 7 industry. 8 And unfortunately, it won't improve 9 energy security, because again, we have to use 10 more petroleum to produce it than we save by 11 using it. 12 So I would argue that we should not 13 make the mistakes of the federal government or 14 23 other states and encourage and support with 15 tax credits the use of ethanol in this state. 16 I would also like to point out that 17 sometimes it is argued that this is a tax 18 credit that helps small farmers, but in fact 19 the national data shows that the ethanol 20 subsidies go only to large agribusiness, not 21 to any small family farmers. They really are 22 not in this business and don't compete. 23 Again, to narrow it down, ethanol 24 does not burn clean, it does not process 25 clean, it is not renewable. It is, some
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(518) 371-8910 1 argue, one of the larger scams in the universe 2 of the arguments for clean replaceable energy. 3 I'm not going to stand here and say 4 that all biofuels might not have some 5 potential and that they are still in the 6 research process, but I would argue that we 7 should not pass this bill. We don't know how 8 much it will cost us. But if we follow the 9 experience of other states, over time it will 10 cost us a lot. And it's not clear what the 11 environment would get, what our farm universe 12 would get, or what we would get in return. 13 So I would urge that we not pass 14 this bill. The arguments for ethanol have 15 been debated state by state and nationally. 16 And despite the fact that too many of our 17 colleagues, with all due respect, in both 18 parties at the federal level continue to make 19 the arguments for subsidies of ethanol, it's 20 one of those questions after twenty years of 21 production, if it's such a great idea, why do 22 they need so much subsidy? 23 So I'll be voting no and hope 24 others will vote no with me. 25 Thank you, Madam President.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane. 2 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 3 President. 4 I hate to do this, but I'm going to 5 have to. Thanks to DVR technology, I tape 6 "The West Wing." And the episode that my 7 esteemed colleague referred to is actually not 8 the last episode of the season. 9 And I also -- though I don't want 10 to spoil the surprise, I have it on good 11 authority that Senator Vinick will not be 12 winning and will not be returning next year to 13 "The West Wing." I can't tell you how I know 14 that, but it's excellent authority. 15 Thank you, Madam President. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Moving right 17 along to germane issues, Senator Duane. 18 Does any other Senator wish to be 19 heard on germane issues? 20 Then the debate is closed. 21 The Secretary will ring the bell. 22 Read the last 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 PRESIDENT: Senator Wright, 3 to explain your vote. 4 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, Madam 5 President, to explain my vote. 6 Unlike my colleagues who are 7 watching "West Wing," I happen to be watching 8 reality TV. 9 (Laughter.) 10 SENATOR WRIGHT: That, in turn, 11 recognizes the fact that this Legislature 12 banned MTBE and the federal government did not 13 give us a waiver. Therefore, we need ethanol 14 as an additive in this state to achieve air 15 quality standards, particularly in 16 metropolitan areas of this state. To do that, 17 you either import ethanol or you can produce 18 it in this state, thereby creating jobs. 19 That's number one. 20 But more importantly, the tax 21 credit is intended to generate new technology. 22 And that is currently occurring in this state 23 at universities like Clarkson, universities 24 like Cornell, universities like the 25 Environmental School of Forestry and the
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(518) 371-8910 1 Renewable Energy Center of Excellence in 2 Syracuse. 3 All of those new technologies, like 4 any other technology in the renewable arena, 5 are being supported by NYSERDA, New York 6 State, in terms of energy research and 7 development funds. But equally important, we 8 provide tax credits in many arenas to 9 encourage new technologies that will reduce 10 our dependence upon old technology and old 11 fuels. 12 As a result, this is an investment 13 in renewable fuels, energy efficiency, and I 14 believe a good investment in new technology, 15 which is critical to our state's economy. 16 Therefore, I am voting aye and 17 encourage my colleagues to do likewise. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Wright, 19 you will be recorded as voting in the 20 affirmative on this bill. 21 Senator Montgomery, to explain your 22 vote. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 24 President, to explain my vote. 25 I think this is an extremely
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(518) 371-8910 1 important legislation. I certainly have heard 2 some of the testimony of my colleague Senator 3 Krueger. But I do want to say that I view 4 this as an environmental issue. Certainly 5 we're all looking for alternative sources of 6 energy, hopefully that are cleaner, renewable 7 sources especially. 8 But I also want to mention, too, 9 that this is an economic development issue, as 10 I see it. It's important for our state, the 11 farmers in our state who produce -- who are 12 going to be involved in producing this. 13 And I'm all for supporting whatever 14 we can do to encourage economic development, 15 especially in the rural and upstate areas. 16 And we hope that this begins a movement to 17 divest in the prison system as an industrial 18 economic development program and move toward 19 more constructive and productive ways of 20 building and expanding our economy, especially 21 upstate. 22 So I'm happy to support this 23 legislation for any number of reasons. 24 Thank you, Madam President. 25 THE PRESIDENT: You will be
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(518) 371-8910 1 recorded as voting in the affirmative, 2 Senator. 3 Senator Volker, to explain your 4 vote. 5 SENATOR VOLKER: Madam President, 6 to explain my vote. 7 You know, it's kind of fascinating 8 when I listen to all this. And, Senator, the 9 prison system, if it keeps going the way it's 10 going, is going to go down, so you don't have 11 to worry about that. It's not economic 12 development anyways. 13 But I have to laugh at Senator 14 Kerry. Senator Kerry voted for the Clean Air 15 Act on the national level, which costs us 16 30 cents a gallon on every gallon of gas that 17 we consume in this country, and particularly 18 here. The problem is, ethanol probably is 19 less -- we're not sure what ethanol does. But 20 we have to have it, whether we like it or not, 21 because of the feds, or we'll have to put 22 something worse into the gasoline. 23 But it does help some constituents 24 of this state, as opposed to MTBE or whatever 25 that was that didn't help us. And we're not
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(518) 371-8910 1 sure what that did, but it wasn't particularly 2 good. Which is of course the environmental 3 problem, because we're not sure what a lot of 4 this stuff does. 5 But I think the biggest thing is, 6 and what Senator Wright is saying is, as long 7 as we're in this situation, what we have to do 8 is make sure that we use this state's 9 products, and in this case farm products, to 10 help the state as best we can. Because we're 11 certainly not helping our motorists. But 12 that's something we can't deal with. 13 So my only problem with Senator 14 Kerry is -- of course, I think 15 whatchamacallit, the name of that company, I'm 16 pretty sure they contributed to Bush's 17 campaign, too. So I strongly suspect one of 18 the reasons he went after them may have had 19 something to do with the fact that they didn't 20 contribute to him and that they contributed to 21 Bush. 22 Anyways, I vote aye. 23 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 24 recorded as voting in the affirmative, Senator 25 Volker.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Krueger, to explain your 2 vote. 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 4 Madam President. 5 A fair shot that one shouldn't take 6 one's data from "The West Wing," although I 7 also do my homework. 8 Again, just for the record, the 9 reason we shouldn't be endorsing this bill has 10 been verified by studies by the EPA, the 11 National Academy of Sciences, the White House 12 National Science and Technology Council, the 13 Committee on the Environment and Natural 14 Resources of the National Science and 15 Technology Council, Sierra Club, Environmental 16 Defense and Resources for the Future, have all 17 opposed the use of ethanol on environmental 18 grounds. 19 And I think one of my colleagues 20 just raised an interesting issue about the 21 dilemma of MTBE as a mix in our gasoline. The 22 dilemma for changing to ethanol is that the 23 studies show that the higher VOCs emissions 24 that we were attempting to address through 25 removing MTBE from gasoline apparently are
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(518) 371-8910 1 equally high in release with the use of 2 ethanol. So we've still got the dilemma. And 3 trading one dilemma for the other is really 4 not the solution for our environment or for 5 the state. 6 So I continue to vote no, and I 7 think the record shows that the data is clear, 8 we should not go down this road. 9 Thank you, Madam President. 10 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 11 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator. 12 The Secretary will announce the 13 results. 14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 15 the negative on Calendar Number 1719 are 16 Senators Duane, L. Krueger, Sabini and 17 Serrano. 18 Absent from voting: Senators 19 Flanagan and Sampson. 20 Ayes, 55. Nays, 4. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 Senator Fuschillo. 24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 25 President, Calendar Number 1726 was
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(518) 371-8910 1 inadvertently laid aside. Please place it on 2 the noncontroversial calendar and take it up 3 at this moment. 4 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1726, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 5652, an 8 act to amend Chapter 57 of the Laws of 2005. 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, 59. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 The Secretary will continue to read 19 the controversial calendar. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1730, by Senator LaValle -- 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it aside 23 temporarily. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is laid aside temporarily.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1740, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 5771, an 3 act -- 4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 5 Explanation. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Spano, Senator Liz Krueger has requested an 8 explanation of Calendar 1740. 9 SENATOR SPANO: This bill makes 10 technical corrections to the bill on resale 11 pricing of entertainment tickets that we 12 debated on the floor here. 13 It does three things. It clarifies 14 that licensed brokers must still obey the 15 buffer zone within 1500 feet of a facility; 16 requires that the report that we wanted to be 17 done by the Legislature would be done by -- 18 completed by the Consumer Protection Board; 19 and the third part caps the resale of tickets 20 at 45 percent of the established price for 21 venues over 6,000 seats. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Krueger. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 25 Mr. President. If the sponsor would yield.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Spano, do you yield? 3 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 sponsor yields. 6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: What 7 happened to free-market capitalism for over 8 6,000? 9 SENATOR SPANO: Well, we had a 10 great debate on free market. On the other 11 hand, it became necessary, as we continued our 12 discussions and negotiations with the Second 13 Floor, to offer this chapter amendment. The 14 Governor, frankly, insisted upon capping the 15 resale of tickets at 45 percent. 16 And we were able to reach a 17 three-way agreement which would allow the 18 entire issue to continue without having to 19 expire. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 21 On the bill, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Krueger, on the bill. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 25 Well, we had this debate twice
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(518) 371-8910 1 already, a previous version of the bill and 2 the chapter amendment. And now we're amending 3 it again. 4 And while, frankly, having some 5 limit on the set price above a ticket price 6 that you can resell a ticket for may be an 7 advantage to some consumers, I don't really 8 think it changes any of the concerns I've 9 raised before that we will be expanding 10 dramatically the costs of tickets. We will be 11 limiting consumers' ability to purchase 12 tickets for the ticket price because clearly 13 the, I guess, now legal scalpers will become 14 even more aggressive, ensuring that they get 15 those tickets first and get to charge their 16 45 percent legal supplement to the ticket 17 price. 18 This chapter amendment doesn't do 19 anything to address my previously stated 20 concerns that we're not going to be able to 21 collect the legal sales tax we should be under 22 this system. 23 And while it to some degree puts 24 some regulation back in the process of resale 25 of tickets, it basically still leaves it as an
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(518) 371-8910 1 open market for those who figure out how to 2 take all the tickets away from consumers and 3 charge lots and lots of extra money for them. 4 So I'll be voting no. While I 5 think it's a move slightly in the right 6 direction, I think the fundamental question of 7 whether the State of New York should be 8 regulating scalping has not been addressed by 9 this legislation. I think we've done the 10 wrong thing here this year. This is slightly 11 a step back, but not good enough, so I'll vote 12 no. 13 Thank you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 15 other Senator wish to be heard on the bill? 16 Debate is closed, then. 17 The Secretary will sound the bell. 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 25 Stachowski, to explain his vote.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 2 President, to explain my vote. 3 It was sometime in the last three 4 weeks that USA Today carried an article on 5 concerts and tickets to sports venues, 6 et cetera, and it explained, to a large 7 degree, where all the tickets go. And it's 8 not because scalpers are better at the 9 computer and grab tickets and that way get the 10 advantage of selling them at a much higher 11 price. 12 But what goes on in today's market 13 is between the promoters, the record labels, 14 the people that run the facility, there's all 15 these side deals, and so many block tickets 16 are gone to different areas. And most of the 17 good tickets go that way. And so there's very 18 few tickets for people that walk up to the 19 gate and are able to buy it. 20 And the reality is that through 21 this effort to try to regulate scalping, we at 22 least will get some sales tax, because some of 23 the people selling the tickets over the 24 Internet will be located in New York. If 25 they're located in New York, New York will be
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(518) 371-8910 1 able to get the sales tax at this time. And 2 the fact is if we don't do anything, they will 3 continue to be located outside of New York, 4 officially, and we will get nothing. We'll 5 get the original amount, and that's it. And 6 people will be left to whatever they're left 7 to. 8 But the reality is, like with the 9 Super Bowl tickets, for those of you that go, 10 it's not meant for the regular fan anymore. I 11 mean, even concerts, the face value is $125 12 for a lot of concerts. That's $250 for 13 somebody to go see a concert, and most regular 14 people won't spend that. 15 So the fact is that it's a 16 different age, it's a different market, and I 17 think it's a good-faith effort to try to get a 18 handle on something that was running out of 19 control before we took any steps a couple of 20 years back to do anything in scalping. And I 21 hope that we continue to work at it and 22 continue to try to make sure that the 23 residents of New York and the State of 24 New York benefit from some sort of regulation. 25 I vote yes.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Stachowski will be recorded in the 3 affirmative. 4 Announce the results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 6 the negative on Calendar Number 1740 are 7 Senators L. Krueger, LaValle, Padavan, 8 Paterson, Schneiderman, Serrano and Valesky. 9 Also voting in the negative, Senators Duane, 10 Morahan and M. Smith. 11 Absent from voting: Senators 12 Flanagan and Sampson. 13 Ayes, 49. Nays, 10. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 15 is passed. 16 Senator Fuschillo. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 18 President, will you please take up 19 Supplemental Calendar A. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 Secretary will conduct the noncontroversial 22 reading of Supplemental Calendar A. 23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 24 Calendar Number 1745, Senator LaValle moves to 25 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Bill Number 88A and substitute it for 2 the identical Senate Bill Number 33A -- 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Lay it aside 4 for the day, please. 5 THE SECRETARY: -- Third Reading 6 Calender 1745. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 Substitution ordered. 9 Lay the bill aside for the day. 10 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 11 Calendar Number 1746, Senator Paterson moves 12 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 13 Assembly Bill Number 2516 and substitute it 14 for the identical Senate Bill Number 2157, 15 Third Reading Calendar 1746. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 17 Substitution ordered. 18 The Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1746, by Member of the Assembly Wright, 21 Assembly Print Number 2516, an act to amend 22 the Public Authorities Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 24 last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1748, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 4398, an 10 act to amend the Parks, Recreation and 11 Historic Preservation Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 15 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 23 Calendar Number 1749, Senator Libous moves to 24 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 25 Assembly Bill Number 7493A and substitute it
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(518) 371-8910 1 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4645A, 2 Third Reading Calendar 1749. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 4 Substitution ordered. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1749, by Member of the Assembly Magee, 8 Assembly Print Number 7493A, an act to amend 9 the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 21 Calendar Number 1750, Senator Nozzolio moves 22 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 23 Assembly Bill Number 5521 and substitute it 24 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4721, 25 Third Reading Calendar 1750.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 2 Substitution ordered. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1750, by Member of the Assembly Schimminger, 6 Assembly Print Number 5521, an act to amend 7 the Tax Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the first day of the 12 sales tax quarterly period. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 17 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1751, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 4742B, an 22 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 24 last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect on the first of April. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 Senator Duane, why do you rise? 9 SENATOR DUANE: To explain my 10 vote, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: We'll 12 withdraw the roll call. 13 Senator Duane is recognized to 14 explain his vote. 15 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr. 16 President. 17 I'm hopeful that this is a step 18 towards passage of what we call Timothy's Law 19 this session. There's still time to do so. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 22 Duane will be recorded in the affirmative. 23 The Secretary will announce the 24 results. 25 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
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(518) 371-8910 1 Calendar Number 1751: Ayes, 59. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 5 Calendar Number 1752, Senator DeFrancisco 6 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 7 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 7675A and 8 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 9 Number 5055A, Third Reading Calendar 1752. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 11 Substitution ordered. 12 The Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1752, by Member of the Assembly Schimminger, 15 Assembly Print Number 7675A, an act to amend 16 the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 25 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1754, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5405, 5 an act to amend the Education Law. 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: Lay it aside 7 for the day. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 9 bill aside for the day. 10 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 11 Calendar Number 1755, Senator Bruno moves to 12 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 13 Assembly Bill Number 8336 and substitute it 14 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5486, 15 Third Reading Calendar 1755. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 17 Substitution ordered. 18 The Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1755, by Member of the Assembly John, Assembly 21 Print Number 8336, an act to amend the Labor 22 Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 24 a local fiscal impact note at the desk. 25 Read the last section.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1756, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 11 Print Number 5487, an act to amend the Civil 12 Service Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 14 a home-rule message at the desk. 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 25 Calendar Number 1758, Senator Fuschillo moves
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(518) 371-8910 1 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 2 Assembly Bill Number 8381A and substitute it 3 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5602, 4 Third Reading Calendar 1758. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Substitution ordered. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1758, by Member of the Assembly Gianaris, 10 Assembly Print Number 8381A, an act to amend 11 the General Business Law and the Arts and 12 Cultural Affairs Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 16 act shall take effect on the 80th day. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1760, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 5650A, 25 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
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(518) 371-8910 1 Law. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 3 last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 5 act shall take effect on the same date as the 6 Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 11 2. Senators Duane and LaValle recorded in the 12 negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1764, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 5719, 17 an act to amend the General Business Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect April 1, 2006. 22 SENATOR DIAZ: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 25 1. Senator Meier recorded in the negative.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 4 Calendar Number 1764, Senators Meier and 5 Maltese recorded in the negative. 6 Ayes, 57. Nays, 2. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1765, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 5724, an 11 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering 12 and Breeding Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 21 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1768, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5750,
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(518) 371-8910 1 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 3 last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 7 roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 11 is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1769, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 5758, an 14 act in relation to affecting the health 15 insurance benefits. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Farley, to explain his vote. 25 SENATOR FARLEY: To explain my
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(518) 371-8910 1 vote very quickly. 2 This is a very significant bill 3 that protects the health insurance of our 4 retired public employees, and I applaud my 5 colleagues for supporting it. It's a bill 6 that is one of the major priorities of all 7 retired people in this state that work in 8 public service. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Farley will be recorded in the affirmative. 11 Announce the results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 16 Calendar Number 1770, Senator Golden moves to 17 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 18 Assembly Bill Number 8903 and substitute it 19 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5764, 20 Third Reading Calendar 1770. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 22 Substitution ordered. 23 The Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1770, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Print Number 8903, an act to amend 2 the Agriculture and Markets Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1771, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 5766, an 15 act to amend the Penal Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1772, by Senator Duane, Senate Print 5772, an 3 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Maziarz, to explain his vote. 13 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, Mr. 14 President. Just to explain my vote. 15 I was going to lay this bill aside, 16 as I had many questions about it. But in the 17 interests of time, and this being the 18 second-to-last day of session, I just want to 19 explain my vote and say that I was 20 disappointed with what little information I 21 could find about this bill in the bill memo as 22 to any hearings that were held throughout the 23 State of New York on this particular bill, 24 what the position is of the New York State Bar 25 Association on this rather dramatic change to
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(518) 371-8910 1 the Criminal Procedure Law, or what the 2 position was of the New York State District 3 Attorney's Office. 4 But despite those omissions, Mr. 5 President, I am going to be voting in favor of 6 this bill. Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 8 Maziarz will be recorded in the affirmative. 9 What a surprise. Senator Duane, to 10 explain his vote. 11 (Laughter.) 12 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr. 13 President. 14 Despite what just happened and 15 ruined my plans for sneaking this bill 16 through, I'm very happy that we're getting 17 this bill accomplished today. And my thanks 18 to members on both sides of the aisle. 19 Thank you very much. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Duane will be recorded in the affirmative. 22 The Secretary will announce the 23 results. 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1773, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5818, 4 an act authorizing the leasing of certain 5 parkland. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 7 a home-rule message at the desk. 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1774, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 5827, 19 an act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2005. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 21 last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 23 act shall take effect on the same date and in 24 the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 25 2005.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 6 is passed. 7 Senator Fuschillo, that completes 8 Supplemental Calendar A. 9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 10 President, will you please take up the 11 supplemental active list. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 Secretary will conduct the noncontroversial 14 reading of the supplemental active list. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 645, by Member of the Assembly Abbate, 17 Assembly Print Number 7187, an act to repeal 18 paragraph (e) of subdivision 4 of Section 209 19 of the Civil Service Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 21 last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 25 roll.
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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 4 is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 701, by Senator Bonacic -- 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 8 aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 10 bill aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 869, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 13 5062, an act to amend the Estates, Powers and 14 Trusts Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect on the same date as a 19 chapter of the Laws of 2005. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 897, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 3 4308A, an act to amend Chapter 367 of the Laws 4 of 1999. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 6 last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 964, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 5166, an 17 act to authorize the Independent Group Home 18 Living Program, Inc. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 20 last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 24 roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 2 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 4 is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1079, by Member of the Assembly Weinstein, 7 Assembly Print Number 6142A, an act to amend 8 the Retirement and Social Security Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 10 last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1180, by Member of the Assembly Pheffer, 21 Assembly Print Number 75A, an act to amend the 22 General Business Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 24 last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect on the first of 2 November. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1214, by Member of the Assembly Brodsky, 11 Assembly Print Number 5618, an act to amend 12 Chapter 103 of the Laws of 2004. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1233, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 25 5348, an act to amend the Education Law and
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(518) 371-8910 1 the Administrative Code of the City of 2 New York. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1272, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5415, an 15 act to amend Chapter 425 of the Laws of 2002. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 22 bill aside. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1304, substituted earlier today by Member of 25 the Assembly Brennan, Assembly Print Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 7878B, an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law 2 and the Education Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 6 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1481, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 15 Print Number 5545, an act to amend the Tax 16 Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 is passed. 2 Senator Fuschillo, that completes 3 the noncontroversial reading of the 4 supplemental active list. 5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 6 President, thank you. There will be an 7 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 8 the Majority Conference Room. 9 The Senate will stand at ease. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 11 Immediate meeting of the Senate Rules 12 Committee in the Majority Conference Room. 13 The Senate will stand at ease 14 pending the report. 15 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 16 ease at 2:43 p.m.) 17 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 18 at 3:02 p.m.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Fuschillo. 21 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 22 President, are there any substitutions at the 23 desk? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, 25 there are.
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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will read the 2 substitutions. 3 THE SECRETARY: On page 13, 4 Senator Nozzolio moves to discharge, from the 5 Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 6871B 6 and substitute it for the identical Senate 7 Bill Number 1567B, Third Reading Calendar 478. 8 On page 21, Senator Wright moves to 9 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 10 Assembly Bill Number 5969 and substitute it 11 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3519, 12 Third Reading Calendar 743. 13 On page 21, Senator Padavan moves 14 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 15 Assembly Bill Number 7384A and substitute it 16 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3483A, 17 Third Reading Calendar 756. 18 On page 27, Senator DeFrancisco 19 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 20 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 7255B and 21 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 22 Number 4854A, Third Reading Calendar 867. 23 On page 42, Senator Morahan moves 24 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 25 Assembly Bill Number 7555 and substitute it
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(518) 371-8910 1 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3840A, 2 Third Reading Calendar 1283. 3 On page 44, Senator Diaz moves to 4 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 5 Assembly Bill Number 4433A and substitute it 6 for the identical Senate Bill Number 2234A, 7 Third Reading Calendar 1407. 8 And on page 47, Senator Robach 9 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 10 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 7608A and 11 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 12 Number 4157B, Third Reading Calendar 1673. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 14 Substitutions ordered. 15 Senator Fuschillo. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 17 President, will you please return to the 18 reports of standing committees. I believe 19 there's a report of the Rules Committee. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Reports 21 of standing committees. 22 The Secretary will read the report 23 of the Rules Committee. 24 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 25 from the Committee on Rules, reports the
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(518) 371-8910 1 following bills: 2 Senate Print 1081, by Senator 3 Dilan, an act authorizing the City of 4 New York; 5 2706, by Senator M. Smith, an act 6 to authorizing the City of New York; 7 5606, by Senator Hannon, an act to 8 amend the Public Health Law; 9 5712, by Senator Robach, an act to 10 amend the Retirement and Social Security Law; 11 5740, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 12 to amend the Real Property Tax Law; 13 5744, by Senator DeFrancisco, an 14 act to amend the Judiciary Law; 15 5748, by Senator Maziarz, an act to 16 amend the Labor Law; 17 5754, by Senator Meier, an act to 18 amend the Domestic Relations Law; 19 5769, by the Senate Committee on 20 Rules, an act to amend the Insurance Law; 21 5770, by the Senate Committee on 22 Rules, an act to amend Chapter 650 of the Laws 23 of 1998; 24 5774, by Senator Little, an act to 25 amend the Labor Law;
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(518) 371-8910 1 5775, by Senator Balboni, an act 2 authorizing the Commissioner of General 3 Services; 4 5786, by Senator Marcellino, an act 5 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 6 5789, by the Senate Committee on 7 Rules, an act to amend the Retirement and 8 Social Security Law; 9 5791, by Senator Little, an act to 10 enact; 11 5793, by Senator LaValle, an act in 12 relation to the implementation; 13 5801, by Senator Johnson, an act to 14 amend the Insurance Law; 15 5803, by Senator Hannon, an act to 16 amend the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act; 17 5804, by Senator Golden, an act to 18 amend the Social Services Law; 19 5810A, by Senator Golden, an act to 20 amend the Social Services Law; 21 5811, by Senator Hannon, an act to 22 amend the Tax Law; 23 5812, by the Senate Committee on 24 Rules, an act to amend Chapter 179 of the Laws 25 of 2000;
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(518) 371-8910 1 5817, by Senator Saland, an act to 2 amend the Education Law; 3 5823, by Senator Saland, an act to 4 grant; 5 5830, by Senator Trunzo, an act to 6 amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 7 5831, by Senator Skelos, an act to 8 amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 9 5833, by Senator Marcellino, an act 10 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 11 5834, by Senator Wright, an act to 12 amend the Social Services Law; 13 5838, by Senator Rath, an act to 14 amend the Penal Law; 15 5842, by Senator Seward, an act to 16 amend the Insurance Law; 17 5843, by Senator Fuschillo, an act 18 to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2005; 19 5851, by Senator Robach, an act 20 directing the state comptroller; 21 5858, by Senator Rath, an act 22 relating to the payment; 23 5859, by Senator Morahan, an act to 24 authorize; 25 5863, by Senator Golden, an act in
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(518) 371-8910 1 relation; 2 5873, by Senator Winner, an act to 3 amend the Legislative Law; 4 5888, by Senator Seward, an act to 5 amend the Insurance Law; 6 And Senate Print 5897, by Senator 7 Skelos, an act to amend the General Business 8 Law. 9 All bills ordered direct to third 10 reading. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Fuschillo. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Move to 14 accept the report. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 16 those in favor of accepting the report of the 17 Rules Committee signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 20 opposed, nay. 21 (No response.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 report of the Rules Committee is accepted. 24 Senator Fuschillo. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
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(518) 371-8910 1 President, please return to the controversial 2 reading of the supplemental active list and 3 take up Calendar Number 701. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 Secretary will read Calendar 701 from the 6 supplemental active list. 7 The Secretary will ring the bell. 8 Members should be aware that we're on the 9 controversial list. 10 The Secretary will read Calendar 11 701. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 701, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 265, an 14 act to amend the Environmental Conservation 15 Law. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 Explanation. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 19 Bonacic, Senator Schneiderman has requested an 20 explanation of Calendar 701. 21 SENATOR BONACIC: This bill 22 requires that city-owned lands in the 23 watershed area, which are lands in Delaware, 24 Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster 25 County, be open to recreational purposes
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(518) 371-8910 1 similar to those allowed on state lands. 2 This emanates out of a watershed 3 agreement on January 21, 1997, an agreement 4 that was signed by 95 different parties, 5 including 72 towns and villages in several 6 counties. 7 This bill does not require the DEP 8 lands to be opened for recreation where there 9 is some safety, homeland security or related 10 to water supply protection. 11 The reason we need this bill is 12 that the city is spending $250 million a year 13 in my Senate district and in other adjoining 14 counties, and they're restricting their lands 15 to recreational uses. And under the watershed 16 agreement, they were required to allow the 17 same historical recreation activities that had 18 existed prior to the watershed agreement of 19 1997. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Schneiderman. 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 23 Through you, Mr. President, if the sponsor 24 would yield for a question. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
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(518) 371-8910 1 Bonacic, do you yield? 2 SENATOR BONACIC: Yes, I do. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 4 sponsor yields. 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 6 I just want to clarify a couple of 7 things about this bill. In addition to 8 imposing the requirements -- this is about the 9 land around the watershed that protects the 10 water supply for the City of New York. 11 In addition to requiring that if 12 the city purchased new land it make it 13 available for recreational use similar to the 14 adjoining land, or similar land in the same 15 area, that the City of New York is going to be 16 required to go back, within 90 days or the 17 effective date of this bill, and pass new 18 regulations -- and I'm reading now from 19 Section 4 of the bill -- to ensure that the 20 land is the same -- land already owned by the 21 city has the same recreational uses as state 22 lands which are nearby geographically and have 23 similar topography. 24 Is that not correct? 25 SENATOR BONACIC: If the city
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(518) 371-8910 1 doesn't do this, then a petitioner could 2 petition the DEC to force the city to do this. 3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: So through 4 you, Mr. President -- 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Bonacic, do you continue to yield? 7 SENATOR BONACIC: Yes. Yes. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 sponsor yields. 10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: So this 11 imposes a requirement on any future purchases 12 of land, but it also provides this 90-day 13 window that requires the city to go back and 14 pass regulations on all preexisting purchases 15 of land. 16 SENATOR BONACIC: Yes. 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. Thank the sponsor. 19 On the bill. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Schneiderman, on the bill. 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: This is a 23 piece of legislation that I think tampers with 24 a very delicate balance that has been achieved 25 and was achieved through the memorandum of
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(518) 371-8910 1 agreement that Senator Bonacic referred to. 2 This tampers with that balance. 3 Right now we have an investment by 4 the City of New York of $1 billion in the most 5 critical resource which sustains our city, 6 which sustains the economic engine of our 7 state, which is the water supply. This is one 8 of the great accomplishments of the 19th 9 century in terms of science, engineering and 10 politics. There are -- every year the city 11 pays more than $80 million in local property 12 taxes in watershed areas. 13 But because of the need to protect 14 this aquifer and prevent us from having to 15 invest much more money in filtration plants, 16 the city has, on an ongoing basis, acquired 17 additional land around the protected area. 18 What this bill will do is require 19 the city, unless the city makes an affirmative 20 showing to justify why it shouldn't do it, to 21 open up the land that is intended to be 22 pristine and to protect the aquifer to 23 recreational use. 24 In my view, this contravenes both 25 the letter and the spirit of the memorandum of
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(518) 371-8910 1 understanding. And quite honestly, the 2 bill -- you know, I understand that people in 3 that area may want to use this property. But 4 I think the whole idea of the memorandum of 5 agreement is that there is some property there 6 they simply cannot use because we have to 7 protect the aquifer, we have to protect the 8 purity from pollution. But more essentially, 9 now, is that we have to ensure that it is 10 secure. 11 This bill states land uses may not 12 be identical if the purchaser can show with 13 good cause a safety or security reason for not 14 allowing recreational use. Well, I would 15 respectfully submit that the research done by 16 Riverkeeper, the Riverkeeper report issued in 17 1999 showing the vulnerability of the water 18 supply, and additional information that has 19 been developed since September 11th, has shown 20 that our water supply is extraordinarily 21 vulnerable. 22 And were it not for the fact that 23 we're late in the session and we're all trying 24 to move along quickly, I would ask Senator 25 Balboni to expound on this issue. But I'm
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(518) 371-8910 1 going to try and do it briefly myself. 2 We have security concerns. And in 3 my view, the City of New York should not be 4 required on a piecemeal basis to identify each 5 separate piece of land and what the specific 6 security issue is there, what the specific 7 pollution protection issue is there. 8 I don't think this is a bill that 9 strikes a fair balance between the needs to 10 preserve the purity and the safety of our 11 water supply and the needs of the residents of 12 the area -- who admittedly put up with a 13 burden, you know, and suffer a burden. They 14 do get benefits pursuant to the memorandum of 15 agreement. 16 This breaks the balance of the 17 memorandum of agreement, in my view. And 18 everyone -- certainly, people from the city 19 should be opposed to this. But I think anyone 20 who cares about the security of our greatest 21 city and our economic development, the 22 economic development in downstate New York, I 23 think should also oppose this. 24 I would also note that there's a 25 lot of land that the city has acquired that
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(518) 371-8910 1 was never used for recreational purposes. 2 Some of it was just fallow land or 3 decommissioned agricultural land. This would 4 require the city to go back and make available 5 for recreational purposes land that was never 6 even used for recreation. 7 So I think it's an unfair bill. I 8 think it tilts against the city. I think it 9 does not fairly address the security and 10 environmental concerns. And I would urge all 11 of my colleagues to vote against, and I'd urge 12 the sponsor that we need to go back to the 13 drawing board if there are needs for 14 adjustments to the memorandum of agreement. 15 I think this really goes far too 16 far in the direction of putting a burden on 17 the city and exposing all the residents of the 18 city to the potential of pollution, the 19 potential of security problems, and unfairly 20 requires the government of New York City to 21 justify, on a piecemeal basis, every possible 22 piece of property and why it shouldn't be used 23 for recreational purposes. 24 In my view, the requirement that 25 the city show a safety or security reason has
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(518) 371-8910 1 been met with regard to all of the land around 2 the aquifer. And I think that, if anything, 3 the burden should be in the opposite 4 direction. 5 So I will be voting no on this, Mr. 6 President. I understand the sponsor's intent, 7 and I appreciate the issues that are raised by 8 his constituents about this. But this bill is 9 not the way to solve the problem. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Padavan. 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, Mr. 14 President, very briefly. 15 With all due respect to the sponsor 16 and his intention, I think you should all 17 understand, for those of you who may not be 18 familiar with it, that these reservoirs, the 19 properties in and about these reservoirs, are 20 open to recreation. You can go in there and 21 fish, you can have a boat from which to fish, 22 you could hunt. However, you have to get a 23 permit from DEP. And it's a very simple 24 process. You can do it by mail. 25 So they are imposing some
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(518) 371-8910 1 restrictions. You just don't walk in there 2 and do the things that you might do in a state 3 park -- Harriman State Park or any other state 4 park -- for the very reasons that have been 5 articulated. These are reservoirs, critical 6 to the life of the City of New York and other 7 areas that acquire their drinking water from 8 those reservoirs. 9 As far as I know, this opportunity 10 to get a permit to fish and hunt and boat in 11 these reservoirs continues as of this day. It 12 has not been eliminated. And as far as I 13 know, it will continue under the agreements 14 that were referred to. 15 You should also understand that 16 these reservoirs and the surrounding areas are 17 maintained to a reasonable degree, are 18 improved upon by the City of New York DEP as 19 the property owner. In some cases, they would 20 not be as desirable a place to fish in. I 21 know; I've fished in a number of them. 22 I've fished in Ashokan, I think is 23 how you pronounce it. I've fished in 24 Schoharie. I've fished in Pepacton. And 25 because of what they are and how they are
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(518) 371-8910 1 kept, they were desirable places to go to. 2 And I've been doing that since I was 14 years 3 of age. And, I'm sure, so have thousands of 4 others in the past and in the future. 5 So you should understand that when 6 you are considering what we're dealing with 7 here today. 8 I don't believe it's necessary to 9 pass this bill to allow people in these 10 localities, local residents, to continue to 11 have the benefit of fishing and hunting and 12 boating in these properties. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Sabini. 15 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Mr. 16 President. If the sponsor would yield for a 17 question. 18 SENATOR BONACIC: Yes. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 sponsor yields. 21 SENATOR SABINI: Through you, Mr. 22 President. I believe I heard the sponsor say 23 that -- and maybe I misheard, that the bill 24 was necessary to continue to implement the 25 memorandum of agreement.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR BONACIC: The watershed 2 agreement of 1997, as part of the agreement -- 3 and I have the language with me -- it said 4 that the city shall allow historical 5 recreational uses. 6 The problem is they do not allow 7 historical recreational uses. And the 8 barometer of the historical recreation uses is 9 what the state lands have, in compatible 10 property next to the city's lands, that have 11 been in existence over a hundred years. 12 Now the city comes up, and they do 13 parcel by parcel, and there's no consistent 14 policy as to what recreation uses you can do 15 on each of those lands. 16 And I'll just give you a perfect 17 example: hunting. You can hunt white doe, 18 deer. That's it. But on state lands, you can 19 hunt everything. You can hunt bear, muskrat, 20 rabbit, deer. So when they use the broad 21 category of allowing hunting, that is -- it's 22 only a small percentage of what the state 23 allows. 24 And why is this important? I'll 25 tell you why this is important. Forty-five
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(518) 371-8910 1 thousand acres is reservoir land, the waters. 2 They are entitled to be protected. We don't 3 want anybody going near the waters. And under 4 this bill, the DEC is required to consult with 5 homeland security when they lay out the 6 buffers on this city land, where you can go 7 and don't go. 8 What other city or municipality 9 anywhere in this nation, outside of its city 10 lines, can go buy $250 million worth of 11 property and tell the people up there, You 12 basically are restricted in using it, when the 13 people up there have been the protectors of 14 the environment, have been watching the water, 15 and are the eyes and ears in terms of security 16 of that region? 17 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, 18 through you, would the sponsor continue to 19 yield. 20 SENATOR BONACIC: Yes. 21 SENATOR SABINI: It just seems to 22 me that the 1997 memorandum of agreement, 23 which I helped work on when I was a member of 24 the Environmental Protection Committee of the 25 New York City Council, that this was known
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(518) 371-8910 1 then when it was signed by people in the 2 Catskill region, that there would be 3 restrictions on certain parts of the land to 4 protect the integrity of the water, in light 5 of September 11, 2001, to protect the 6 integrity of our homeland security around the 7 water system, and that this is nothing new. 8 And now what this bill seeks to do 9 is to take land that was acquired that had 10 never been recreated on before -- and if I'm 11 wrong, please tell me. Because some of this 12 land had not been recreated on before; it was 13 someone's farm, someone's estate, someone's 14 home -- and now say, this is open season, 15 everyone can go hunt and fish on it. And even 16 though it was never intended for recreational 17 purposes, we're now saying, well, everything 18 that the city owns is now going to be, in 19 effect, like a state park. 20 And I have a big problem with that, 21 as does the city. I mean, are you saying that 22 this is something that was understood in the 23 memorandum of agreement in '97? 24 SENATOR BONACIC: The purpose of 25 this agreement was to avoid litigation and to
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(518) 371-8910 1 help the city avoid building a water 2 filtration plant that would cost city 3 taxpayers between $8 billion and $10 billion. 4 So this consensus agreement was put 5 together. And they used language -- and the 6 people who were a party to it, when they said 7 historical recreation activities, they thought 8 that was easy to show. Look what the state 9 has been doing for over 90 years. 10 But the city comes up and -- I'm 11 only talking now of lands that are comparable 12 to the state lands. Not near the water. 13 Anything near the water can be restricted. 14 And in terms of fishing, you can use a rowboat 15 and you can do kayaking, but you can't do any 16 motorized boating. And we don't have a 17 problem with that. 18 What they have done is they're 19 going and buying up all of the land, as much 20 as they can, in the name of water protection. 21 And then they make it a wasteland in terms of 22 attracting tourism by diminishing the 23 recreational activities that bring the people 24 up there that are enjoyed on state-owned 25 lands.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, 2 if the sponsor would continue to yield. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Bonacic, do you continue to yield? 5 SENATOR BONACIC: I do. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 7 sponsor yields. 8 SENATOR SABINI: Is it the 9 sponsor's assertion that the land is being 10 sold under duress? 11 I mean, it's my recollection, 12 having worked on this a long time, that it was 13 a very strong effort to get willing 14 buyer-willing seller and to get community 15 agreement on this. 16 And that the residents of the 17 Catskills region who get, and they deserve, 18 free water treatment for their sewage, free 19 water supply from the City of New York -- you 20 have the benefit of our Art Commission 21 decorating the water treatment facilities that 22 I see on Route 28 that frankly are an 23 embarrassment, because the Art Commission 24 dictates what the wainscotting has to look 25 like -- you knew this was the case when the
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(518) 371-8910 1 memorandum of understanding was signed. 2 And Senator Schneiderman said it 3 very well, that this will sort of upset the 4 balance, if you will, of a hundred years of 5 animosity, to tip it again and make the 6 balance more, frankly, one that we as 7 residents of the city, have to defend against. 8 I mean, is there something that we 9 didn't know in 1997 that you know today that 10 causes this to happen? Or didn't you know 11 this was going to be the case? 12 SENATOR BONACIC: Absolutely. If 13 this agreement was proposed today, there's no 14 way that any of these counties would sign on 15 to this watershed agreement, because the city 16 did not keep its word in allowing historical 17 recreational activities. 18 What else could it mean but the 19 activities on state lands for a hundred years? 20 What else could it mean? 21 And I will say to you that this 22 agreement is in jeopardy. Because every five 23 years it gets renewed. And they're 24 prepared -- when I say "they," the coalition 25 of towns -- to commence a war chest to go
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(518) 371-8910 1 after the city for a breach of the watershed 2 agreement. 3 Do you want me to tell you some 4 other things the city is doing other than 5 this? Because I could share that with you 6 too. 7 SENATOR SABINI: No. No. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 10 other Senator wish to be heard on the bill? 11 Debate is closed, then. 12 The Secretary will sound the bell. 13 Members are asked to return to the 14 chamber for a vote, which will occur shortly. 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 22 Bonacic, to explain his vote. 23 SENATOR BONACIC: What I would 24 like to do is just read a letter -- 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
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(518) 371-8910 1 Bonacic has the floor. 2 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. 4 I'd like to read a letter to you 5 from a soldier serving in Iraq who comes from 6 Delaware County. 7 He says: "I've received a flyer in 8 the mail regarding the DEP and the historical 9 use of land. I am currently deployed to Iraq 10 as a reservist, and I'm home on leave, and I 11 saw your notice. 12 "I'm a deer hunter and a bird 13 hunter. This issue has been a sore spot for 14 me for some time. One of the best pieces of 15 partridge cover in Roxbury was purchased by 16 the DEP and is no longer open to bird hunting. 17 I hunted it for years, along with several 18 friends of mine. It is located in the West 19 Settlement. It breaks my heart to drive past 20 it all the time and not being able to hunt on 21 it. I am very interested in being part of 22 this fight. 23 "Brian Perazone, Commander from 24 Iraq." 25 Thank you, Mr. President.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Bonacic will be recorded in the affirmative. 3 Senator Sabini, to explain his 4 vote. 5 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Mr. 6 President. 7 You know, the historic tension 8 between those in the Catskill region and those 9 who use the water system in New York City, 10 which is considered one of the modern 11 miracles, where we get all our water, 12 basically through gravity, from Ulster and 13 Greene and counties like it, there's been 14 tension for a hundred years, and we know that. 15 And the city, over the last few 16 years, worked very hard to try and quell that 17 tension and be partners with people in that 18 region. I unfortunately think that it's -- it 19 makes for good -- good grist for the mill, if 20 you will, in those areas to continue to rail 21 about New York City and the water supply. It 22 makes for good water-cooler chatter. 23 And while I just heard the letter 24 the sponsor read, that's nice that -- and 25 unfortunate that this soldier can't hunt where
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(518) 371-8910 1 he wants to hunt. But I would submit to you 2 that the water supply of I believe it's 3 11 million people who at some point touch 4 New York City's water, the sanctity of that 5 water supply, the purity of it, the security 6 of it -- because we hear so much in this 7 chamber about homeland security -- should take 8 a little precedence over whether or not 9 someone can quail-hunt where they used to or 10 whether or not that was even legal hunting 11 then because it may have been someone's land. 12 I don't know. 13 But a balance has to be -- has been 14 struck, I think, and we are playing with a 15 very delicate ecosystem there. There is a 16 reason we bought all the land in that 17 watershed area, and there's a reason we have 18 to keep it pristine. I'll be voting in the 19 negative. 20 Thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 22 Sabini will be recorded in the negative. 23 Senator Balboni, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. President,
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(518) 371-8910 1 I would hope that everybody who votes on this 2 bill had had the opportunity, at least once in 3 their lives, to go up the watershed. It's one 4 of those issues where if you haven't seen it, 5 it's hard to comprehend it. 6 Several years ago, in 1999, the 7 Riverkeeper group came out with a report 8 citing security concerns about the safety of 9 the watershed and the vulnerability to weapons 10 of mass destruction. That actually was the 11 moment which I became involved in the whole 12 issue of weapons of mass destruction. 13 And at the time, a guy by the name 14 of Jerry Howard came up to Albany and sat and 15 briefed us on this issue. What became very 16 clear was that the size of the watershed was 17 its protection, that something on its 18 dilution, the millions and millions of gallons 19 of water, really prohibited any type of attack 20 against the system at that point. 21 So from a security perspective, 22 that's really not the concern. It's much more 23 concern in the way that the water is 24 transmitted to New York City. Enough said 25 about that.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Ladies and gentlemen, if you travel 2 through this watershed area, you're struck by 3 its beauty, you're struck by its isolation, 4 and you're struck by the fact that there are 5 so many people there who could walk in and 6 among the waterways, travel through them if 7 they wanted to. There is very little 8 enforcement in terms of people getting out on 9 the actual waterways. And so this whole thing 10 about security is really, I think, a red 11 herring. Not to be punny. 12 We need to give some more 13 flexibility in how the communities who live 14 around the watershed live there. And I think, 15 frankly, there are greater threats to the 16 purity of the water in the watershed now that 17 are being perpetrated outside of this 18 particular issue. And I wish the Attorney 19 General, frankly, would pay a little bit more 20 attention to that part of the world and to see 21 what's going on now, as opposed to opposing 22 the issue like this. 23 I'm going to vote aye, Mr. 24 President. Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
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(518) 371-8910 1 Balboni will be recorded in the affirmative. 2 Senator Schneiderman, to explain 3 his vote. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Well, 5 thank you. And I do think it's important to 6 share our statewide perspectives on this 7 issue. 8 I would urge my colleague, who I 9 know sponsors this bill with absolute 10 sincerity, that, as Senator Sabini said, we 11 have a very delicate balance in this state. 12 And we see the tension in this house. And we 13 have a very diverse state. We have the 14 greatest city in the world, an enormous 15 metropolis, dependent for water and for the 16 life of the city on this water supply. And we 17 have vast, beautiful rural areas where people 18 like to hunt partridge, I guess. 19 So the problem is, how do you 20 strike the balance. And I respectfully submit 21 that this piece of legislation goes beyond the 22 bounds of what is necessary. Requiring the 23 City of New York to justify all preexisting 24 land with a set of regulations that have to be 25 passed within 90 days is unreasonable.
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(518) 371-8910 1 The City of New York has fiscal 2 problems. We don't buy any land we don't 3 absolutely need. We can't afford it. So this 4 is something that is important. Each piece of 5 land is essential. As Senator Padavan noted, 6 you can come in with a permit. 7 Let's not tamper with a balance 8 that's working pretty well. We have other 9 problems. The people of the City of New York 10 subsidize other parts of the state by 11 approximately $10 billion a year. We don't 12 complain a lot about it. One thing we do 13 need, though, is our water supply to be 14 protected and for our aquifer to be pure. 15 I appreciate the sponsor's intent. 16 I don't think this bill is going to solve the 17 problem. And I hope we can work on something 18 that's a more moderate compromise between now 19 and the end of next year's session. 20 I'll be voting no. Thank you, Mr. 21 President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Schneiderman will be recorded in the negative. 24 Senator Seward, to explain his 25 vote.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Mr. 2 President. 3 First of all, I want to commend my 4 colleague Senator Bonacic for taking a 5 leadership role in developing this 6 legislation. Part of my district is included 7 in the counties listed in this bill. 8 And other speakers have referenced 9 the concept of some natural tension between 10 the city, who needs the water, and the upstate 11 counties and the Catskills, who have the water 12 and are supplying that to the city. It is 13 true, there's been tension over the years. 14 And early in Governor Pataki's 15 administration there was a watershed agreement 16 that was reached. It was a really important 17 agreement that was reached. And since that 18 time, however, we have seen DEP and the city 19 move beyond, in our estimation, some of these 20 agreements, buying properties not within the 21 watershed. 22 Now, I know in the small town of 23 Gilboa, in Schoharie County, they bought for 24 $700,000 the only restaurant in that 25 community, which is now closed. You can't
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(518) 371-8910 1 even get a cup of coffee in the town of Gilboa 2 today. So -- and then to just arbitrarily say 3 no hunting, no fishing, without a true process 4 of evaluation. 5 This legislation sets up a process 6 that, if the city truly feels that it should 7 not be allowing, for the benefit of the clean 8 water, hunting and fishing and the other 9 recreational purposes which we're so 10 accustomed to upstate, it's so important to 11 our economy, then let's follow that process 12 and let's vet the issue. 13 So I just want to say to Senator 14 Bonacic: I commend you for coming up with 15 this legislation. We do need to strike a 16 balance. This legislation does that. I vote 17 aye. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 19 Seward will be recorded in the affirmative. 20 The Secretary will announce the 21 results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar Number 701 are 24 Senators Andrews, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Golden, 25 Gonzalez, Hassell-Thompson, Klein, L. Krueger,
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(518) 371-8910 1 C. Kruger, Maltese, Montgomery, Padavan, 2 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino, 3 Schneiderman, Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, 4 Stachowski, Stavisky. Also Senator Connor. 5 Also Senator Brown. Also Senator Oppenheimer. 6 Absent from voting on Calendar 701: 7 Senator Sampson. 8 Ayes, 34. Nays, 26. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 Senator Fuschillo. 12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 13 President, will you please take up 14 Supplemental Calendar B. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 Secretary will conduct the noncontroversial 17 reading of Supplemental Calendar B. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1759, by Senator Dilan, Senate Print 1081, an 20 act authorizing the City of New York to 21 reconvey its interest. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 23 a home-rule message at the desk. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1776, by Senator M. Smith, Senate Print 2706, 10 an act authorizing the City of New York to 11 reconvey its interest. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 13 a home-rule message at the desk. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1777, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 5606, an 25 act to amend the Public Health Law.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it 2 aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 4 bill aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 6 Calendar Number 1779, Senator Nozzolio moves 7 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 8 Assembly Bill Number 4742A and substitute it 9 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5740, 10 Third Reading Calendar 1779. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 12 Substitution ordered. 13 The Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1779, by Member of the Assembly Cusick, 16 Assembly Print Number 4742A, an act to amend 17 the Real Property Tax Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect January 2, 2006. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 4 Calendar Number 1780, Senator DeFrancisco 5 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 6 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 7561A and 7 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 8 Number 5744, Third Reading Calendar 1780. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 10 Substitution ordered. 11 The Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1780, by Member of the Assembly A. Cohen, 14 Assembly Print Number 7561A, an act to amend 15 the Judiciary Law and others. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1781, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 5748, 3 an act to amend the Labor Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 5 last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 1782, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5754, an 16 act to amend the Domestic Relations Law and 17 the Civil Practice Law and Rules. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 4 Calendar Number 1783, Senator Bruno moves to 5 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 6 Assembly Bill Number 2840A and -- 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it 8 aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Well, 10 let's substitute it first. Then we'll lay it 11 aside, Senator. 12 THE SECRETARY: -- substitute it 13 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5769, 14 Third Reading Calendar 1783. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 16 Substitution ordered. 17 The Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1783, by Member of the Assembly Grannis, 20 Assembly Print Number 2840A, an act to amend 21 the Insurance Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is laid aside. 24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 25 Calendar Number 1784, Senator Bruno moves to
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(518) 371-8910 1 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 2 Assembly Bill Number 2843 and substitute it 3 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5770, 4 Third Reading Calendar 1784. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 6 Substitution ordered. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1784, by Member of the Assembly Grannis, 10 Assembly Print Number 2843, an act to amend 11 Chapter 650 of the Laws of 1998. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1785, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5774, an 24 act to amend the Labor Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
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(518) 371-8910 1 last section. 2 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside, 3 please. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 5 bill aside. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1786, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 5775, 8 an act authorizing the Commissioner of General 9 Services. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1787, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 22 5786, an act to amend the Environmental 23 Conservation Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 25 last section.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 2 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1788, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 11 Print Number 5789, an act to amend the 12 Retirement and Social Security Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1789, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5791, an 25 act to enact the North Country Flood
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(518) 371-8910 1 Assessment Relief Act of 2005. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 3 last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 7 roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 11 is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1790, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 5793, 14 an act in relation to the implementation of 15 the terms of a written agreement. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1791, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 5801, 3 an act to amend the Insurance Law and the 4 Vehicle and Traffic Law. 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it 6 aside. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 8 bill aside. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1792, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 5803, an 11 act to amend the Surrogate's Court Procedure 12 Act. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1795, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 5811, an 25 act to amend the Tax Law.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1796, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 13 Print Number 5812, an act to amend Chapter 179 14 of the Laws of 2000. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 1798, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5823, an 2 act to grant Anthony J. Cuomo performance of 3 duty disability retirement benefits. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 5 a home-rule message at the desk. 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 16 Calendar Number 1804, Senator Seward moves to 17 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 18 Assembly Bill Number 8513 and substitute it 19 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5842, 20 Third Reading Calendar 1804. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 22 Substitution ordered. 23 The Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1804, by Member of the Assembly Grannis,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Print Number 8513, an act to amend 2 the Insurance Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 14 Calendar Number 1809, Senator Golden moves to 15 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 16 Assembly Bill Number 8927 and substitute it 17 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5863, 18 Third Reading Calendar 1809. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 20 Substitution ordered. 21 The Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1809, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 24 Assembly Print Number 8927, an act in relation 25 to the powers of the Hudson River Park Trust.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 12 Calendar Number 1812, Senator Skelos moves to 13 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 14 Assembly Bill Number 204 and substitute it for 15 the identical Senate Bill Number 5897, Third 16 Reading Calendar 1812. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 18 Substitution ordered. 19 The Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1812, by Member of the Assembly Markey, 22 Assembly Print Number 204, an act to amend the 23 General Business Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 25 last section.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 7 1. Senator Maziarz recorded in the negative. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 9 is passed. 10 Senator Fuschillo, that completes 11 the noncontroversial reading of Supplemental 12 Calendar B. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 14 President, Calendar Number 1785 was 15 inadvertently laid aside. Will you please 16 take it up. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 Secretary will read Calendar 1785. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 1785, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5774, an 21 act to amend the Labor Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 23 last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 6 is passed. 7 Now, Senator Fuschillo, that 8 completes the noncontroversial reading of the 9 calendar. 10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Will you 11 please take up the controversial reading of 12 the calendar, starting with Calendar Number 13 1777. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 Secretary will conduct the controversial 16 reading, beginning with 1777. 17 Ring the bells. 18 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Explanation. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Just a 20 second, Senator. 21 The Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1777, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 5606, an 24 act to amend the Public Health Law. 25 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Explanation.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Hannon, an explanation has been requested by 3 Senator Montgomery. 4 SENATOR HANNON: This legislation 5 would update Article 35 of the Public Health 6 Law so that the current practice of nuclear 7 medicine technology and radiography that is 8 being conducted throughout this state would be 9 properly reflected and regulated in the 10 statutes. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Liz Krueger. 13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. If the sponsor could please 15 yield. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Hannon, do you yield? 18 SENATOR HANNON: Yes, sir. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 sponsor yields. 21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 22 This would expand the universe of 23 people who could serve the function of 24 injecting -- I'm looking for the exact 25 terminology -- intravenous contrast media into
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(518) 371-8910 1 patients. And it says under the authority of 2 a doctor. But what does that mean? Does the 3 physician have to be right there in case 4 something goes wrong but they don't actually 5 have to do the injection? Or do they not 6 actually have to physically be in the presence 7 of the radiology technician? 8 SENATOR HANNON: First of all, it 9 does not expand the actual practice of what's 10 taking place in the hospitals now. It does 11 change what's in the law, but the law is over 12 50 years old. 13 It would require that the physician 14 be in the same facility and not be involved in 15 anything else that would not allow them to 16 respond immediately if there's -- some event 17 were to take place. 18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 19 President, if through you the sponsor would 20 continue to yield. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 22 Hannon, do you continue to yield? 23 SENATOR HANNON: Yes. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 25 sponsor yields.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 2 I'm sorry, in your answer to my 3 last question you pointed out that this is 4 current practice, but it's not legal because 5 the law is 50 years old. Can you clarify 6 that? 7 SENATOR HANNON: Well, it's 8 really not covered. It's really not covered. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: It's not 10 covered. Thank you. 11 Mr. President, if the sponsor would 12 please continue to yield. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Hannon, do you yield? 15 SENATOR HANNON: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 sponsor yields. 18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 19 I know one should not legislate by 20 anecdote, but I know of at least one 21 constituent of mine who -- and perhaps it was 22 because it was the practice at the site, which 23 may not be legal because the law is not 24 up-to-date -- that went it in for a test, was 25 allergic to the contrast media, had a near
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(518) 371-8910 1 death experience because of the allergy, and 2 there was not a doctor immediately present and 3 they had to call an ambulance, take them from 4 the off-site location to a hospital. 5 And again, I'm not saying whether 6 it was legal or not. Maybe they were in 7 violation of the current law. But it raises 8 the concern for me that, is this something 9 that nondoctors should be providing? Is this, 10 you know, a category that we shouldn't be 11 expanding the universe of people who can 12 provide the intravenous contrast media but are 13 not qualified as physicians to deal with what 14 hopefully is a rare but apparently not 15 unheard-of medical emergency from an allergy? 16 SENATOR HANNON: Well, two parts 17 to the answer to your question, Senator. 18 First of all, reaction to contrast 19 media is one of the known contraindications. 20 That is something that is done -- the patient 21 is warned of that, they try to screen for 22 that. So while it is rare, it's also 23 something that does happen. 24 Second, to the extent it was done 25 in either a clinic or an office, this is
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(518) 371-8910 1 something that we have been concerned with and 2 tried to address in any number of different 3 ways, because it's -- you don't have that 4 emergency room right there. There is a 5 preference, if you could, to do it in the 6 hospital. 7 So to the extent -- so you 8 obviously know, it's being done. What we 9 would now do is set up some procedures to try 10 to regulate it. And to the extent of the 11 specific situation, as I understand it, that 12 you cited, there would have to be a doctor in 13 that clinic or in that office. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 15 Mr. President, if the sponsor would 16 yield to an additional question. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 18 Hannon, do you yield? 19 SENATOR HANNON: Yes, Mr. 20 President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 22 sponsor yields. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 24 So just to repeat, because I was 25 very happy with your last answer, under this
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(518) 371-8910 1 change in the law for freestanding 2 radiological sites -- at least in my district, 3 we have many freestanding MRI sites and other 4 radiological testing sites that are not part 5 of a hospital or a clinic. In some cases, 6 they are actually doctor's offices where of 7 course then you would argue a doctor might be. 8 But these freestanding clinics, 9 under your law it would require that there be 10 a doctor on-site and that currently that is 11 not required? 12 SENATOR HANNON: One of the 13 provisions that would cover that would be on 14 page 4 of the bill, under Section 4. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Were you 16 continuing? I didn't want to cut you off. 17 SENATOR HANNON: No, the 18 provisions would be in Subdivision 4, on 19 page 4 of the bill. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 21 Mr. President, on the bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Krueger, on the bill. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 25 I appreciate the sponsor's answers,
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(518) 371-8910 1 because it in fact changes my position on the 2 bill. 3 I thought that I would have to be 4 in opposition to this bill because of my 5 concern that we shouldn't be expanding the 6 situation where doctors would not have to be 7 at a physical site when there were 8 technologists administering these types of IV 9 contrast media -- I don't know that you call 10 them medicines, I suppose you call them test 11 media. 12 But in fact, in response to the 13 sponsor's answers to my question that in fact 14 what this bill would do was ensure that a 15 doctor did have to be on-site and therefore 16 would decrease my concern that we are now in a 17 situation where somebody can unknowingly be 18 injected, have an allergic reaction that I 19 believe does occasionally, unfortunately, 20 cause death or near-death experiences, but 21 that with a doctor on-site who would then be 22 hopefully prepared to deal with the emergency 23 situation and trained to do so, that this 24 actually could protect people who currently 25 are having these procedures done without a
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(518) 371-8910 1 doctor. 2 So in response to the Senator's 3 answers that this bill provides for a 4 requirement that there's medical personnel 5 on-site, I can support this bill. And I thank 6 him for his answers. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 9 other Senator wish to be heard on the bill? 10 Debate is closed, then. 11 The Secretary will ring the bell. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 14 act shall take effect one year after it shall 15 have become a law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Announce 20 the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 1777 are 23 Senators Breslin and A. Smith. 24 Absent from voting: Senators 25 Balboni and Sampson.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Ayes, 57. Nays, 2. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 Senator Fuschillo. 5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 6 President, on the supplemental active list, 7 Calendar Number 1272 was inadvertently laid 8 aside. 9 Will you please place that on the 10 noncontroversial calendar on the supplemental 11 active list and take it up at this moment. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 Secretary will read Calendar 1272, 14 noncontroversial. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1272, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5415, an 17 act to amend Chapter 425 of the Laws of 2002. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 Senator Fuschillo. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Will you 5 please return to Supplemental Calendar B and 6 take up Calendar Number 1783. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 Secretary will read Calendar 1783 on the 9 controversial calendar. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1783, substituted earlier today by Member of 12 the Assembly Grannis, Assembly Print Number 13 2840A, an act to amend the Insurance Law. 14 SENATOR SABINI: Explanation. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 16 Seward, an explanation has been requested with 17 regard to Calendar 1783. 18 SENATOR SEWARD: Certainly, Mr. 19 President. 20 This is a very straightforward 21 piece of legislation. It increases by 22 1 percent the percentage of admitted assets 23 that a life insurance company can invest in 24 foreign countries in the aggregate, from 8 to 25 9 percent of their admitted assets.
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(518) 371-8910 1 These investments in foreign 2 countries are very beneficial to the 3 policyholders of life insurance companies 4 because they do produce some attractive yields 5 and are a very important investment tool for 6 the benefit of the policyholders of life 7 insurance companies. 8 Many individuals now are looking to 9 foreign investments for their personal 10 portfolio for the very same purposes. This 11 legislation would go from 8 to 9 percent of 12 admitted assets for life insurance companies 13 to do the same. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Sabini. 16 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, 17 if the sponsor would yield for a question. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 19 Seward, do you yield for a question? 20 SENATOR SEWARD: Certainly. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 22 Senator yields. 23 SENATOR SABINI: Through you, Mr. 24 President, I was just wondering if the sponsor 25 can enlighten me as to why there's a limit at
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(518) 371-8910 1 all on foreign investment by these insurance 2 companies. Why is it regulated? 3 SENATOR SEWARD: Well, Mr. 4 President, this is something that started well 5 before I became chairman of the Insurance 6 Committee. I really can't speak to the 7 origins of such limitations. 8 But it is common in the law of the 9 State of New York, throughout the various 10 types of insurance, that the statutes of our 11 state do include limitations and various 12 investments and the types of investments that 13 life insurance companies and all other 14 insurance companies can make for the benefit 15 and security of policyholders. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Sabini. 18 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, 19 on the bill. 20 I'm sort of torn on this. I want 21 protect the integrity of our insurance 22 industry in the state and the policyholders. 23 At the same time, it seems to me that there is 24 a reason there's a limitation on the amount of 25 money that can be put into foreign investment;
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(518) 371-8910 1 probably to protect the policyholders in the 2 company from doing things that may not be in 3 their best interest, even though it may seem 4 that way in the short term. And with all the 5 outsourcing we're seeing with our service 6 jobs, I'm concerned. 7 I will accept the sponsor's 8 explanation, but I do it with some 9 trepidation. I'll vote aye, but I'm not so 10 sure this is the best idea. And I'd like to 11 learn more about the historical perspective of 12 this. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Stavisky. 16 SENATOR STAVISKY: Mr. President, 17 perhaps I can add a little bit on this issue. 18 Many, many years ago I worked in 19 the actuarial department of a life insurance 20 company. And that was one of the things we 21 took a look at. Back at the turn of the 22 century in New York State there were abuses as 23 to how the money was invested. And there 24 were -- in fact, I believe it was a 25 legislative committee appointed by the
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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly, known as the Armstrong Commission, 2 at the turn of the 20th century, to 3 investigate the abuses in the investments of 4 the life insurance industry, because there was 5 not enough money to pay claims. And I think 6 that was the nature or the reason behind 7 restrictions. 8 And I too share the same -- I will 9 vote for the bill also, but I have some 10 concerns also about foreign investments. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Does any 12 other member wish to be heard on this bill? 13 Debate is closed, then. 14 The Secretary will sound the bell. 15 Members are asked to return to the chamber for 16 a vote. 17 Read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Connor, to explain his vote. 25 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr.
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(518) 371-8910 1 President. 2 I'm going to be voting no, only 3 because while today, in an international 4 economy, investments overseas look very 5 attractive in terms of yield and are very 6 lucrative, and while today at least large 7 parts of the world seem to be more stable 8 politically and economically than they ever 9 were, the reality is that the United States of 10 America -- and some may argue about some of 11 the regulations we do, but we've never had a 12 government that confiscated property. We have 13 constitutional protections to honor contracts. 14 Not every nation on earth has a 15 constitutional provision that preserves the 16 sanctity of contracts. And so, in my opinion, 17 overseas investments are by definition riskier 18 than domestic investments. I think we ought 19 to keep the cap where they are. 20 Mr. President, the other thing that 21 hasn't been spoken on this is why are some of 22 these overseas investments so lucrative. Oh, 23 because workers work for 11 cents an hour and 24 children work for less. And I don't know that 25 we ought to be encouraging more overseas
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(518) 371-8910 1 investments. And I know everybody from our 2 comptroller with the pension fund and 3 everybody invests overseas, but I think the 4 cap right where it is is fine. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Connor will be recorded in the negative. 7 Senator Duane, to explain his vote. 8 SENATOR DUANE: To explain my 9 vote, Mr. President. 10 I'm concerned that the flip side of 11 this issue of the outsourcing argument is that 12 we will lose these companies from New York 13 State and thereby lose the jobs that go along 14 with them. So New York State has to be 15 competitive with other locations around the 16 country. 17 So I will be voting yes, Mr. 18 President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Duane will be recorded in the affirmative. 21 Announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar Number 1783 are 24 Senators Brown, Connor, Dilan, Klein, LaValle, 25 Libous, Maltese, Maziarz, Montgomery, Morahan,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Parker, Rath, Robach, Savino, Serrano, 2 A. Smith, Spano, Stachowski, Stavisky and 3 Wright. Also Senator Sabini. 4 Absent from voting on Calendar 5 1783: Senators Balboni and Sampson. 6 Ayes, 38. Nays, 21. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1791, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 5801, 11 an act to amend the Insurance Law and the 12 Vehicle and Traffic Law. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 Explanation. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 16 Johnson, an explanation has been requested by 17 Senator Schneiderman with regard to Calendar 18 1791. 19 Can we have some order in the house 20 first, please. 21 Senator Johnson. 22 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. President, 23 we have on the books for the last 25 years a 24 bill which I adopted called the defensive 25 driving course, point insurance -- a point
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(518) 371-8910 1 insurance reduction program. It's a driving 2 program in which you go take a course in 3 somebody's storefront or something and observe 4 how to drive properly, avoid accidents and so 5 forth. 6 And it's been pretty successful for 7 the past 25 years, but technology has reared 8 its ugly head and some places now are giving 9 this course over the Internet. 10 So what we devised in the bill is 11 Assemblyman Gantt and myself have a bill which 12 essentially says you can take the course over 13 the Internet. And it's a five-year 14 experimental program. We're going to 15 evaluate, see if it works properly. And if it 16 does, with proper precautions on who's taking 17 the test and how you identify that person and 18 so on, it will be adopted hopefully 19 permanently after five years. 20 So that's where it is now. This 21 bill has already passed, in case you're 22 questioning why it's here again -- it passed 23 about a month ago in this house, and Gantt 24 made some minor changes to it and it's back 25 here now.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 2 Explanation more than satisfactory. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 4 other Senator wish to be heard? 5 Debate is closed, then. 6 The Secretary will sound the bell. 7 Members are asked to come to the chamber for a 8 vote, which will occur shortly. 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 11 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Announce 16 the results. 17 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 18 the negative on Calendar Number 1791 are 19 Senators C. Kruger, Maltese, Saland and 20 Savino. Also Senator Spano. 21 Those Senators absent from voting: 22 Senator Sampson. 23 Ayes, 55. Nays, 5. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Fuschillo, that completes 2 Supplemental Calendar B. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 4 President, there will be a meeting of the 5 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 6 Room at 4:40, and the Senate will stand at 7 ease until then. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 9 will be a meeting of the Rules Committee in 10 the Majority Conference Room at 4:40. 11 The Senate will stand at ease 12 pending the report of the Rules Committee. 13 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 14 ease at 4:23 p.m.) 15 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 16 at 5:01 p.m.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 18 Fuschillo. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 20 President, please return to the reports of 21 standing committees. I believe there's a 22 report of the Rules Committee at the desk. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Reports 24 of standing committees. 25 The Secretary will read the report
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(518) 371-8910 1 of the Rules Committee. 2 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 3 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 4 following bills: 5 Senate Print 950, by Senator 6 Oppenheimer, an act to amend the Public 7 Officers Law; 8 2158, by Senator Sampson, an act 9 authorizing the City of New York; 10 2519, by Senator Maltese, an act to 11 amend the Retirement and Social Security Law; 12 3100, by Senator Fuschillo, an act 13 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 14 3159, by Senator Meier, an act to 15 amend the Education Law; 16 3661, by Senator Spano, an act to 17 amend the Education Law; 18 3674, by Senator Maltese, an act to 19 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 20 4697D, by Senator Golden, an act to 21 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 22 4812, by Senator Libous, an act to 23 amend Chapter 912 of the Laws of 1920; 24 4817, by Senator Marchi, an act to 25 amend the New York City charter;
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(518) 371-8910 1 4973A, by Senator Hannon, an act to 2 amend the Public Health Law; 3 5072, by Senator Spano, an act to 4 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 5 5192A, by Senator Marcellino, an 6 act to amend the Environmental Conservation 7 Law; 8 5358, by Senator Padavan, an act to 9 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 10 5407, by Senator Maltese, an act to 11 amend the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law; 12 5456A, by Senator Spano, an act to 13 amend the Labor Law; 14 5568, by Senator Marchi, an act to 15 amend the Administrative Code of the City of 16 New York; 17 5579A, by Senator Balboni, an act 18 to amend the County Law; 19 5674, by Senator Leibell, an act to 20 amend the Public Authorities Law; 21 5685, by Senator Young, an act to 22 amend the Penal Law; 23 5732, by Senator Hannon, an act to 24 amend the Public Health Law; 25 5736A, by Senator Saland, an act to
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(518) 371-8910 1 amend the General Business Law; 2 5743, by Senator Morahan, an act 3 authorizing; 4 5785, by Senator Alesi, an act to 5 amend the Public Health Law; 6 5787A, by Senator Johnson, an act 7 to amend the Public Authorities Law; 8 5790, by Senator Saland, an act to 9 amend the Education Law; 10 5792, by Senator Young, an act to 11 amend the State Finance Law; 12 5798, by Senator Little, an act to 13 amend the General Municipal Law; 14 5806, by Senator Farley, an act to 15 amend the Banking Law; 16 5808, by Senator Trunzo, an act to 17 amend the Public Authorities Law; 18 5824, by Senator Flanagan, an act 19 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 20 5829, by Senator Libous, an act to 21 amend the Public Authorities Law; 22 5846, by Senator Wright, an act to 23 amend the Tax Law; 24 5850, by Senator Robach, an act to 25 amend the Executive Law;
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(518) 371-8910 1 5855, by the Senate Committee on 2 Rules, an act to amend the Public Health Law; 3 5856, by Senator Flanagan, an act 4 to amend the Election Law; 5 5857, by Senator Saland, an act to 6 amend the Education Law; 7 5866, by Senator Wright, an act to 8 amend the Public Authorities Law; 9 And Senate Print 5886, by the 10 Senate Committee on Rules, an act to amend the 11 Labor Law. 12 All bills ordered direct to third 13 reading. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Fuschillo. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Move to 17 accept the report of the Rules Committee. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 19 those in favor of accepting the report of the 20 Rule Committee signify by saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 23 opposed, nay. 24 (No response.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
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(518) 371-8910 1 report of the Rules Committee is accepted. 2 Senator Fuschillo. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 4 President, are there any substitutions at the 5 desk? If there are, please take them up. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, 7 there are. 8 The Secretary will read the 9 substitutions. 10 THE SECRETARY: On page 27, 11 Senator Hannon moves to discharge, from the 12 Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 8800 13 and substitute it for the identical Senate 14 Bill Number 4943A, Third Reading Calendar 880. 15 On page 30, Senator Balboni moves 16 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 17 Assembly Bill Number 4040 and substitute it 18 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4857, 19 Third Reading Calendar 973. 20 And on page 36, Senator Spano moves 21 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 22 Assembly Bill Number 3288 and substitute it 23 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3281, 24 Third Reading Calendar 1142. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER:
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(518) 371-8910 1 Substitutions ordered. 2 Senator Farley. 3 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr. 4 President. 5 On behalf of Senator Winner, I 6 offer the following amendments to Calendar 7 1775, Senate Print 5848, and I ask that that 8 bill retain its place on the Third Reading 9 Calendar. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 amendments are received, and the bill will 12 retain its place on the order of third 13 reading. 14 Senator Bruno. 15 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 16 can we at this time take up the 17 noncontroversial Calendar C. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 19 Secretary will conduct the noncontroversial 20 reading of Supplemental Calendar C. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1813, by Senator Oppenheimer, Senate Print 23 950, an act to amend the Public Officers Law. 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Lay it 25 aside for the day, please.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 2 bill aside for the day. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1814, by Senator Sampson, Senate Print 2158, 5 an act authorizing the City of New York to 6 reconvey its interest. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 8 a home-rule message at the desk. 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1815, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 2519, 20 an act to amend the Retirement and Social 21 Security Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 23 a home-rule message at the desk. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 9 Calendar Number 1816, Senator Fuschillo moves 10 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 11 Assembly Bill Number 6146 and substitute it 12 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3100, 13 Third Reading Calendar 1816. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 15 Substitution ordered. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1816, by Member of the Assembly McLaughlin, 19 Assembly Print Number 6146, an act to amend 20 the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect on the first of 25 September.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 8 Calendar Number 1817, Senator Meier moves to 9 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 10 Assembly Bill Number 142 and substitute it for 11 the identical Senate Bill Number 3159, Third 12 Reading Calendar 1817. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 14 Substitution ordered. 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1817, by Member of the Assembly Destito, 18 Assembly Print Number 142, an act to amend the 19 Education Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 21 last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect on the first of 24 September. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 7 Calendar Number 1818, Senator Spano moves to 8 discharge, from the Committee on Higher 9 Education, Assembly Bill Number 116 and 10 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 11 Number 3661, Third Reading Calendar 1818. 12 SENATOR DIAZ: Lay it aside, 13 please. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator, 15 let's get the bill substituted first. 16 Substitution ordered. 17 The Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1818, by Member of the Assembly Paulin -- 20 SENATOR DIAZ: Lay it aside. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 22 bill aside. 23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 24 Calendar Number 1819, Senator Maltese moves to 25 discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Bill Number 6672 and substitute it 2 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3674, 3 Third Reading Calendar 1819. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 5 Substitution ordered. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1819, by Member of the Assembly Lafayette, 9 Assembly Print Number 6672, an act to amend 10 the Vehicle and Traffic Law and the State 11 Finance Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 23 Calendar Number 1820, Senator Golden moves to 24 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 25 Assembly Bill Number 7697C and substitute it
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(518) 371-8910 1 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4697D, 2 Third Reading Calendar 1820. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 4 Substitution ordered. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1820, by Member of the Assembly Morelle, 8 Assembly Print Number 7697C, an act to amend 9 the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 13 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 21 Calendar Number 1821, Senator Libous moves to 22 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 23 Assembly Bill Number 7496 and substitute it 24 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4812, 25 Third Reading Calendar 1821.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 2 Substitution ordered. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1821, by Member of the Assembly Morelle, 6 Assembly Print Number 7496, an act to amend 7 Chapter 912 of the Laws of 1920. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 19 Calendar Number 1823, Senator Hannon moves to 20 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 21 Assembly Bill Number 4122B and substitute it 22 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4973A, 23 Third Reading Calendar 1823. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 25 Substitution ordered.
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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1823, by Member of the Assembly Gottfried, 4 Assembly Print Number 4122B, an act to amend 5 the Public Health Law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 7 last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 11 roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 17 Calendar Number 1824, Senator Spano moves to 18 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 19 Assembly Bill Number 7421 and substitute it 20 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5072, 21 Third Reading Calendar 1824. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 23 Substitution ordered. 24 The Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 1824, by Member of the Assembly Paulin, 2 Assembly Print Number 7421, an act to amend 3 the Vehicle and Traffic Law and the Education 4 Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 6 last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1825, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 17 5192A, an act to amend the Environmental 18 Conservation Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 20 last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 22 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 24 roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1826, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5358, 6 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law and 7 the Administrative Code of the City of 8 New York. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 10 last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 20 Calendar Number 1827, Senator Maltese moves to 21 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 22 Assembly Bill Number 8433 and substitute it 23 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5407, 24 Third Reading Calendar 1827. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER:
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(518) 371-8910 1 Substitution ordered. 2 The Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1827, by Member of the Assembly Morelle, 5 Assembly Print Number 8433, an act to amend 6 the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 1829, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 5568, an 19 act to amend the Administrative Code of the 20 City of New York. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 10. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 7 Calendar Number 1833, Senator Hannon moves to 8 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 9 Assembly Bill Number 8799 and substitute it 10 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5732, 11 Third Reading Calendar 1833. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 13 Substitution ordered. 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1833, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 17 Assembly Print Number 8799, an act to amend 18 the Public Health Law and the Education Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 20 last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 24 roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1836, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 5785, an 6 act to amend the Public Health Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 18 Calendar Number 1838, Senator Saland moves to 19 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 20 Assembly Bill Number 8812 and substitute it 21 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5790, 22 Third Reading Calendar 1838. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 24 Substitution ordered. 25 The Secretary will read.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1838, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 3 Assembly Print Number 8812, an act to amend 4 the Education Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 6 last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 8 act shall take effect September 1. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1839, by Senator Young, Senate Print 5792, an 17 act to amend the State Finance Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1840, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5798, an 5 act to amend the General Municipal Law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 7 last section. 8 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside, 9 please. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 11 bill aside. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1841, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 5806, an 14 act to amend the Banking Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 13. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 1842, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 5808, an 2 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1843, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 5824, 15 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 2 Calendar Number 1848, Senator Flanagan moves 3 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 4 Assembly Bill Number 6533 and substitute it 5 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5856, 6 Third Reading Calendar 1848. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 8 Substitution ordered. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1848, by Member of the Assembly Galef, 12 Assembly Print Number 6533, an act to amend 13 the Election Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 23 is passed. 24 Senator Bruno, that completes the 25 noncontroversial reading of Supplemental
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(518) 371-8910 1 Calendar C. 2 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 3 can we at this time take up the controversial 4 reading of the calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 Secretary will conduct the controversial 7 reading of Supplemental Calendar C. 8 The Secretary will ring the bell. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1818, substituted earlier today by Member of 12 the Assembly Paulin, Assembly Print Number 13 116, an act to amend the Education Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Diaz. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Will the sponsor 17 yield for a question or two, please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 19 Spano, do you yield for a question from 20 Senator Diaz? 21 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 sponsor yields. 24 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you. 25 Senator Spano, would -- this bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 authorizes the distribution of the pill to 2 everybody over -- to everyone over the 3 counter? 4 SENATOR SPANO: This bill permits 5 dispensing of over-the-counter emergency 6 contraception, yes. 7 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 8 through you, Mr. President, will the 9 sponsor -- 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 Spano, do you continue to yield? 12 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 sponsor yields. 15 SENATOR DIAZ: Over the counter 16 means to everyone, no prescription necessary; 17 right? 18 SENATOR SPANO: Correct. 19 SENATOR DIAZ: Will a minor be 20 able to buy this pill? 21 SENATOR SPANO: Yes, a minor -- 22 our thinking with minors is that it's better 23 to allow a minor an opportunity to prevent an 24 unwanted pregnancy rather than have them 25 become pregnant and have an abortion, which is
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(518) 371-8910 1 legal for a minor in New York State. 2 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 3 through you, will the sponsor continue to 4 yield. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Spano, do you continue to yield? 7 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 sponsor yields. 10 SENATOR DIAZ: Would this minor, 11 he or she, to buy this pill, would the minor 12 need the parental consent? 13 SENATOR SPANO: No. 14 SENATOR DIAZ: So any minor could 15 go and purchase this pill? 16 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 17 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 18 through you, would the sponsor continue to 19 yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Spano, do you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR DIAZ: Would the minor -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Just a 24 second, Senator Diaz. 25 Do you continue to yield, Senator
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(518) 371-8910 1 Spano? 2 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 3 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Spano -- 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 Diaz, please. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: Oh, I'm sorry. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 8 Spano, do you continue to yield? 9 SENATOR DIAZ: He said yes. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: I'm 11 sorry, I didn't hear him. 12 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 sponsor yields. 15 SENATOR DIAZ: Can I continue, 16 Mr. President? Thank you, sir. 17 Senator Spano, we already said that 18 this pill could be bought by anyone over the 19 counter. We already said that anyone means 20 could buy it without prescription. We already 21 said that -- you already said that a minor 22 could buy this pill, and you already said that 23 the minor doesn't need the parental consent. 24 Would a -- would the minor need a 25 physician's oversight?
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SPANO: Would the minor 2 need what? 3 SENATOR DIAZ: Does the minor 4 need a physician's oversight to use the pill? 5 SENATOR SPANO: No. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 7 through you, would the sponsor continue to 8 yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Spano, do you continue to yield? 11 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Spano, I can't hear you. Are you continuing 14 to yield? 15 SENATOR SPANO: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 sponsor yields. 18 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Spano, 19 would this drug or this pill, would this pill 20 cause an abortion? 21 SENATOR SPANO: Will it cause an 22 abortion? Absolutely not. 23 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 24 through you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
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(518) 371-8910 1 Spano, do you continue to yield? 2 SENATOR SPANO: I'll yield for 3 one more question, sure. 4 SENATOR DIAZ: Oh, only one more? 5 I have a few more. 6 SENATOR SPANO: Ask them both at 7 the same time. 8 (Laughter.) 9 SENATOR DIAZ: You don't know. 10 You're going to show me that now? 11 When you say absolutely not -- when 12 you respond to when I asked you if this pill 13 would cause an abortion, you say absolutely 14 not. How can you prove that? Any 15 documentation, any proof on that? 16 SENATOR SPANO: We have looked at 17 a lot of scientific testimony and 18 presentations from experts across the country 19 who have told us that this pill will simply 20 prevent a pregnancy, would not cause an 21 abortion. 22 You didn't ask the second question. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Diaz. 25 SENATOR DIAZ: One more?
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SPANO: Last question. 2 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Spano, 3 yesterday or the day before, I think it was 4 yesterday, in the newspaper there came in the 5 news about the new book written by Pope 6 Benedict XVI. In his -- did you read that? 7 Did you read that yesterday in the news? 8 SENATOR SPANO: Did I read it 9 yesterday? 10 SENATOR DIAZ: Yeah. 11 SENATOR SPANO: Not yet. 12 SENATOR DIAZ: But in that -- in 13 his new book, Pope Benedict -- 14 SENATOR SPANO: Once we're done 15 with you, we'll read it tonight. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: In his new book, 17 Pope Benedict XVI says that there are no such 18 things as small murders. Abortion is a 19 murder. 20 And even though, Senator Spano, 21 you're absolutely sure that this pill will not 22 cause an abortion, because of experts, we have 23 other experts and other indications that this 24 pill might cause an abortion. 25 Thank you, Mr. President. Thank
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(518) 371-8910 1 you. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 3 other Senator wish to be heard on the bill? 4 Debate is closed, then. 5 The Secretary will sound the bell. 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This 8 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Spano, to explain his vote. 14 SENATOR SPANO: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 As we spoke with the previous 17 questions, this bill is probably the most 18 significant bill that we will pass this 19 legislative session, allowing or permitting 20 the dispensing of over-the-counter emergency 21 contraception, which is a safe and effective 22 way to prevent pregnancy, to reduce the 23 abortion rate in this state. 24 We'll join with seven other states 25 across this nation in reducing the abortion
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(518) 371-8910 1 rate, such as we see in Washington, the state 2 of Washington, where it's gone down 3 30 percent. 4 There have been advocates who have 5 been staunch supporters of this, including the 6 Family Planning Advocates and NARAL and so 7 many others who have made sure that we have 8 led the way in this state to reduce abortion, 9 to reduce unwanted pregnancies. And this bill 10 will do that. 11 I vote aye. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Spano will be recorded in the affirmative. 14 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his 15 vote. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I vote in 17 the negative. 18 And in the bill memo it talks about 19 that the first pill has to be given, taken 20 within 72 hours. Now, unless sperm are just 21 sitting there for 72 hours waiting to be 22 affected by this pill, I think that that's 23 kind of unlikely. I would think that there 24 would be some joining of the sperm and an egg 25 at some point in some human beings in
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(518) 371-8910 1 72 hours. If that happens, then the pill 2 aborts the pregnancy. So I just don't believe 3 that there is not an aborting of a pregnancy. 4 Beyond that, what is in my mind, I 5 don't quite understand what a 6 nonpatient-specific order is. We're going to 7 prescribe drugs that are nonpatient-specific? 8 What a precedent this is going to raise in our 9 state. 10 Senator Diaz mentioned about minors 11 and parental consent and you don't have to see 12 a physician. You know, I understand the issue 13 here, and I understand what the advocates are 14 after. But to call something one thing when 15 it really isn't and to change the whole 16 structure of prescription drugs and parents' 17 role in all of these issues I think is a very 18 big mistake. 19 And for those reasons, I'm voting 20 no. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 22 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the negative. 23 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote. 24 SENATOR DIAZ: Day by day, we are 25 seeing how parents have been taken out of the
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(518) 371-8910 1 picture and how parental consent have been 2 taken, you know, away. And we see our 3 children growing up, and we say that our 4 children are the precious thing and that we 5 have to care about our children. But 6 taking -- taking -- now, a 13-year-old girl 7 could have an abortion without parental 8 consent. And a parent doesn't have to be 9 notified. We give condoms, parents don't have 10 to be notified. 11 And everything that happens, 12 happens to take away the parental 13 responsibility and the parental discipline. 14 And this is wrong. This is the wrong message. 15 Again, now, we're telling children that he or 16 she could go and buy this pill that could 17 cause an abortion and might cause physical 18 harm, without parental consent. 19 I'm voting no, and I'm asking 20 everyone to hear me and that cares about our 21 children to vote no too. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Diaz will be recorded in the negative. 24 Senator Saland, to explain his 25 vote.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 2 needless to say, all of us were in the chamber 3 during the course of this exchange. And 4 there's very little that I heard Senator Spano 5 say that I could disagree with, including the 6 conclusion that he offered that this does not 7 amount to an act of abortion. 8 My problem, however, lies with the 9 fact that the ability of young children, 10 perhaps adolescents, young teenagers, to have 11 access over the counter with absolutely no 12 attempt whatsoever to intervene or counsel 13 flies in the face of so many of the things 14 that I did when I was chairman of the Senate 15 Children and Families Committee and certainly 16 flies in the face of a bill we just did 17 earlier this week dealing with child 18 protection. 19 For that reason, Mr. President, I 20 cast my vote in the negative. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 22 Saland will be recorded in the negative. 23 Senator Farley, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr.
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(518) 371-8910 1 President. 2 I rise -- I think this is a 3 terrible bill. It's flawed seriously. When 4 you think that a 12-year-old girl could go in 5 and get the morning-after pill with the 6 possibility that she might think she's 7 pregnant -- it's absolutely ludicrous that 8 there's no age limit on this bill. 9 Number two, I think it promotes 10 unprotected sex. I think it's a bad way to 11 go. I think it's a bill that is one of the 12 worst pieces of legislation, regardless of 13 however you feel on the issue of abortion. I 14 think it's a very poorly conceived bill and 15 one that should be voted down, and I vote no. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Farley will be recorded in the negative. 18 Senator Maltese, to explain his 19 vote. 20 SENATOR MALTESE: Yes, Mr. 21 President. One thing, just briefly, the bill 22 itself indicates that the Food and Drug 23 Administration has not yet approved that 24 availability of over-the-counter access to 25 this emergency contraception.
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(518) 371-8910 1 In addition, I share Senator Diaz's 2 concern with minors being able to obtain this, 3 apparently with no age restriction at all. 4 In addition, I take issue with my 5 colleague's adamant reply that this is not in 6 fact an abortion. I share DeFrancisco's 7 concern that once the egg is fertilized and in 8 any way it is hampered from attaching itself 9 to a portion of the woman's anatomy, that that 10 in fact can be considered an abortion. 11 In addition, Mr. President, I take 12 issue with the fact that young children can 13 take, apparently in unlimited amounts, 14 depending on how many pharmacists they visit, 15 hormones that could very well be determined in 16 later years to have permanent adverse effects 17 on them, their ability to bear children, and 18 their futures as far as their health and 19 welfare. 20 And therefore, Mr. President, I 21 will vote no on this legislation. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 23 Maltese will be recorded in the negative. 24 Senator Seward, to explain his 25 vote.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Mr. 2 President. 3 I certainly appreciate and support 4 the objective of the sponsor of this 5 legislation. Certainly it's important to 6 avoid unwanted pregnancies. It's certainly 7 important to prevent even the need for an 8 ultimate abortion because of an unwanted 9 pregnancy. 10 But as I review this legislation 11 before us, I have some problems with it. I'm 12 concerned about the precedents that this sets 13 in terms of a blanket prescription at the 14 drugstore that anyone can come in and receive 15 this medication. 16 Perhaps this type of pharmaceutical 17 should be available over the counter. I think 18 that's a decision for the FDA, not the New 19 York State Senate. And so I just don't feel 20 qualified to make that decision. Let's have 21 the FDA continue their vetting process and 22 give us the results of their analysis. 23 I also have concerns, as others 24 have expressed, with the fact that there's no 25 age restriction even for the notification of a
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(518) 371-8910 1 parent when this minor may go in to receive 2 this pharmaceutical. 3 So for all those reasons, as much 4 as I support the objective of the legislation, 5 Mr. President, I find myself voting no. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Seward will be recorded in the negative. 8 Senator Oppenheimer, to explain her 9 vote. 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: There seems 11 to be -- thank you, Mr. President. There 12 seems to be a lot of anxiety about this bill. 13 And I think we should note that millions of 14 women around the world have used emergency 15 contraception both safely and effectively for 16 decades now. It is available, emergency 17 contraception, in 100 countries and in six of 18 our states. 19 So, I mean, millions of women have 20 been using this. And it is only used as a 21 backup, normally, to their regular birth 22 control. If they are sexually active, they 23 normally are on some kind of birth control. 24 So this is only in an emergency when something 25 unforeseen has happened and they have not
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(518) 371-8910 1 taken their medication. 2 So I don't think people should be 3 worried about the health effects. I mean, I 4 can understand some of your concerns. 5 Depending, as I've said in the past, on what 6 our backgrounds are, what our upbringing is, 7 we may have different views on this. But 8 certainly to view it as a safe -- it is a safe 9 and effective and healthy way to approach this 10 problem. 11 And there have been several polls 12 taken of our voters, and we see that in the 13 country and in our state that somewhere 14 between 60 -- it's always between 60 and 15 70 percent of the voters and the pharmacists 16 believe that this is the right way to go. And 17 they want to participate in it, the 18 pharmacists. 19 So I just wanted to get that into 20 the record, that this is a safe thing and has 21 been utilized by millions of women around the 22 world. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Oppenheimer will be recorded in the 25 affirmative.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Schneiderman, to explain 2 his vote. 3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I'm very pleased to be able to rise 6 in support of this legislation. What we have 7 heard, I think, really is, from my point of 8 view, a lot of myth, myth based on prejudice. 9 The experts and the scientists who 10 weighed in with the FDA all agreed this should 11 be -- this is safe, demonstrably safe, as 12 Senator Oppenheimer has pointed out, and 13 should be legal. It's the political fix in 14 Washington that is forcing the State of 15 New York to act because the federal government 16 has abandoned the field on this issue. 17 Many of us who believe in abortion 18 rights -- and we have people who have 19 disagreements about this -- view this as a 20 fundamental issue of human freedom. But 21 whatever your view on the issue, we have over 22 240,000 unwanted pregnancies in this state 23 every year. This is a safe method of 24 preventing pregnancy. How can you tell me the 25 women of the State of New York that they don't
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(518) 371-8910 1 have the right to control their own bodies and 2 prevent a pregnancy through this safe means? 3 And many of these pregnancies result in 4 abortions, so people who want to make abortion 5 rare -- and we hear a lot of rhetoric about 6 that -- a vote for this bill is a vote to make 7 abortion rare. 8 This is safe, this is fundamentally 9 an issue of freedom and we should vote for it 10 for that reason. But most essentially, it is 11 a statement of our confidence in the women of 12 this state that they have this ability to make 13 these decisions for themselves. 14 I'd like to commend Senator Spano 15 for taking a Schneiderman bill and making it 16 much better, because he made it into a law. 17 And good work. And I commend all of my 18 colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and all 19 the advocates who worked very hard to get 20 everyone here in this room today -- NARAL, 21 Pro-Choice New York, FPA, ACOG, the nurses 22 association, the pharmacists. Thank you all. 23 And this is a great moment for the 24 State of New York and for this Legislature. 25 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote yes.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Schneiderman will be recorded in the 3 affirmative. 4 Senator Liz Krueger, to explain her 5 vote. 6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 I rise in support of this bill. 9 But I, as I often do, think that we should use 10 some science and some facts on this floor. So 11 just in response to some people's concerns 12 that this actually allows for abortion, I'd 13 like to go on the record that emergency 14 contraception cannot end a pregnancy. 15 According to the Food and Drug Administration, 16 emergency contraception pills are not 17 effective if the woman is pregnant. They act 18 by delaying or inhibiting ovulation and/or 19 altering tubal transport of sperm and/or ova, 20 thereby inhibiting fertilization or altering 21 the endometrium, therefore inhibiting 22 implantation. 23 So this is not a debate about 24 abortion. This is the reality that seems to 25 make many of my male colleagues uncomfortable,
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(518) 371-8910 1 but unfortunately women do get pregnant 2 unintentionally. Young women have sex, 3 whether we approve of it or not, and they end 4 up with unwanted pregnancies. And the 5 statistics show that one-third of young women 6 become pregnant at least once before they 7 reach the age of 20, and about 80 percent of 8 these 820,000 teenage pregnancies a year are 9 unintended, and a third of these end in 10 abortion. 11 Passing this law means we will have 12 fewer pregnancies that are unintended in the 13 State of New York, we will have fewer 14 abortions, we will have better public health, 15 better protections for our youth and our adult 16 women. And there's no argument that, other 17 than politics, this would already have been 18 the law in this state. I vote yes and hope 19 all of my colleagues will join me. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 22 Liz Krueger will be recorded in the 23 affirmative. 24 Senator Golden, to explain his 25 vote.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 2 Acting President. 3 I'm hearing so many good things 4 about this bill, maybe we should sell it in a 5 candy store. 6 It's pretty sad that people can 7 actually believe that this pill is not an 8 abortion. Pretty sad to believe that people 9 believe that when you have an egg in 72 hours 10 that it will not terminate the egg that has 11 already been promulgated. 12 It is amazing that I hear Senator 13 Schneiderman representing the Senate Majority, 14 especially on issues like this. I think it's 15 wrong. I think we send the wrong message. 16 And, yes, this is nothing more than 17 a termination, a termination of a child, an 18 abortion, and any which way you want to look 19 at it. There's no difference between a 20 morning-after pill and an abortion, as far as 21 I'm concerned, and many people here in the 22 State of New York. And the 120,000 abortions 23 that this state had last year will not 24 dramatically be reduced by this bill. 25 As a matter of fact, I dare to say
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(518) 371-8910 1 some of our children, some of our adults will 2 think, Hey, I'll be safe, I'll take this pill. 3 And everybody here believes that this pill is 4 like 100 percent, this is the silver bullet. 5 Well, it's not. And there will be 6 pregnancies. And there will be abortions from 7 this pill. 8 And there may be a hundred nations 9 out there that have been doing this for 10 10 years. But there are other nations out 11 there that aren't doing it. And the 12 Philippines and one of them that outlawed it 13 had it removed. 14 If anybody really thinks that we're 15 doing the right thing here on this bill 16 because we're protecting women's rights here, 17 I think they're making a mistake. I think 18 what you're doing is encouraging the incentive 19 for unprotected sex. I think we're acting too 20 fast, with only seven states authorizing this 21 and many countries not. 22 And this bill is about as broad as 23 you can get. As I said, pharmacists, nurses, 24 midwives, candy stores. I don't know what's 25 next.
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(518) 371-8910 1 It's sad to see this bill here on 2 the floor. It's sad that we have to vote for 3 this bill, for those that did vote for it. I 4 will be voting no. I'll be voting no for the 5 women of this state. I think it's the wrong 6 thing to do. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 8 Golden will be recorded in the negative. 9 Senator Stavisky, to explain her 10 vote. 11 SENATOR STAVISKY: Mr. President, 12 as I listened to the opponents, it seems to me 13 that if they had been willing to accept the 14 idea that in our schools we should be 15 educating our children, and if they had been 16 more willing to accept birth control 17 dissemination, then we might not be here 18 today. 19 There are seven states, I 20 understand, in the nation. I understand that 21 the Massachusetts Senate has passed an EC 22 bill. And I certainly hope that the number of 23 abortions will be reduced. 120,000 -- and I 24 support a woman's right to choose, but I don't 25 think there's a person here today who likes
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(518) 371-8910 1 the idea of an abortion. We all view it as 2 something to avoid. And hopefully this 3 legislation will do that. 4 Thank you, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Stavisky will be recorded in the affirmative. 7 Senator Montgomery, to explain her 8 vote. 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 10 President. I want to thank and commend 11 Senators Spano, Alesi, Bonacic, Leibell, and 12 Winner for sponsoring this legislation. And 13 I'm sure that if things were different, you 14 would have a number of other members on this 15 bill as well. But I thank you. 16 And I'm pleased to see that the 17 bill -- it says this act shall be known and 18 may be cited as the Unintended Pregnancy 19 Prevention Act. It further states that the 20 Legislature finds that the United States Food 21 and Drug Administration has declared emergency 22 contraceptive pills to be safe and effective 23 in preventing pregnancy. 24 So clearly the bill is being guided 25 by the findings of the FDA, and therefore I'm
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(518) 371-8910 1 assured that it is safe. 2 I have information that says nearly 3 half of America's 6.3 million annual 4 pregnancies are accidental. So clearly there 5 are -- 7 in 10 women of reproductive age are 6 sexually active and, though they're sexually 7 active, do not necessarily want to become 8 pregnant. But there are many, many millions 9 of instances where women do become pregnant 10 unintentionally. 11 Widespread use of emergency 12 contraception could prevent an estimated 13 1.7 million unintended pregnancies and 800,000 14 abortions each year. So clearly we're doing 15 the right thing. This is what we would like 16 to see as women, as health professionals, and 17 as men who care about availability of a safe 18 method of avoiding, avoiding an unintended 19 pregnancy. What more could we ask for? 20 This is not -- this has nothing to 21 do with abortion. And all due respect to our 22 religious leaders and our moral people 23 concerned about moral issues and morality, 24 this does not have anything to do with 25 abortion. It has to do with providing access
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(518) 371-8910 1 to women who are capable of becoming pregnant. 2 And it has nothing to do -- doesn't take away 3 the rights of men, and it doesn't take away 4 the rights of anyone, and it doesn't interrupt 5 any religious morality concerns. It clearly 6 just is allowing for access for women who may 7 become pregnant unintentionally to be able to 8 avoid being pregnant. 9 I think this is a wonderful thing. 10 I thank you as a woman. I hate to have to 11 stand up here and defend the rights of women 12 every other week in this house. But this 13 time, I'm thanking the men who have brought 14 this issue to the floor. You're brave, you're 15 courageous, you're doing the right thing. 16 And, Senator Spano, thank you, because we want 17 this. 18 Thank you. I'm voting yes. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Montgomery will be recorded in the 21 affirmative. 22 Senator Duane, to explain his vote. 23 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr. 24 President. 25 You know, I went through a period
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(518) 371-8910 1 where I really thought that I knew all there 2 was to know about protection and people who 3 were involved in sexual activity and how they 4 could protect themselves and the best way for 5 them to protect themselves. 6 But a few years ago I actually 7 learned a lesson from a young girl who was a 8 peer educator on HIV and AIDS issues. And we 9 were talking about the issue of condom 10 availability in high schools and how, if you 11 wanted to get a condom, you needed to go to a 12 resource room where you would meet with a 13 counselor who would give you a lecture on sex. 14 And after that, if the young person still 15 wanted a condom, they were given a condom. 16 But they had to have the lecture. 17 And I said, "Well, you know, I 18 actually think that's a good thing. I mean, I 19 don't object to that at all. I think you 20 should have to go someplace to get sex 21 education if you're thinking about being 22 sexually active." 23 And this young girl said, "You know 24 what? You are absolutely and totally wrong 25 about that." And I said, "Why? Why?"
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(518) 371-8910 1 She said, "Because I know if I'm 2 going to the resource room to get a condom, I 3 already know how high the stakes are if I'm 4 deciding to be sexually active. I already 5 know that it's a life-and-death issue. But 6 all those other kids who aren't going to the 7 resource room, who aren't getting their condom 8 that way, they're the ones that are at risk. 9 They're the ones that need the lecture. I 10 already know all this, because I know that I 11 need to get a condom. It's those other kids 12 that don't know about it." 13 And you know what? I figured she 14 was right. It was all those other young 15 people who weren't getting the message that, 16 unfortunately and sadly, today, deciding to be 17 sexually active is a life-and-death decision. 18 You know, the -- you know, we 19 wouldn't even need to be talking about this in 20 the same way if -- you know, frankly, if men 21 would use condoms more or if men would 22 actually think more -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator, 24 I've been trying to be indulgent with members, 25 but there is a two-minute limit in the rule.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Could I ask you to state your vote. 2 SENATOR DUANE: Well, I just 3 wanted to make clear that in a case -- on an 4 issue like this, it's important to listen to 5 women. And certainly an EC is better than 6 abortions, and it's certainly better for a 7 woman who has been the victim of incest or 8 date rape or sexual assault -- 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator, 10 could I ask you to state your vote, please. 11 SENATOR DUANE: -- to be able to 12 have access to this. 13 I'll be voting yes, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Duane will be recorded in the affirmative. 16 Members are reminded that the rule 17 states two minutes for the explanation of 18 one's vote. 19 Senator Ada Smith, to explain her 20 vote. 21 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 I too would like to commend the 24 sponsors of this bill because it has done 25 something positive in my community. I have
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(518) 371-8910 1 received more emails than I have received on 2 any other legislation since I've been here. 3 I've received hundreds of emails and letters 4 from women asking that this bill be passed 5 and -- brought to the floor and passed. I 6 only received three in opposition. 7 And when young women and mothers 8 write and ask for something to be done in 9 government, I think it is our responsibility 10 to comply. And therefore, I will be voting in 11 the affirmative. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Ada Smith will be recorded in the affirmative. 14 Senator Connor, to explain his 15 vote. 16 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 17 President. 18 I want to thank the sponsor for 19 moving this legislation, Senator Spano. I 20 think it's long overdue. Just I guess it was 21 a week ago, in talking on the Medicaid 22 abortion bill, I stated my position that I 23 thought we should do a lot of other things and 24 there were other things we could do and that 25 we hadn't done to make abortion rare. And now
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(518) 371-8910 1 we have concrete legislation here that I think 2 will make abortion less frequent. 3 Now, I know opponents say, Oh, but 4 this is an abortion measure. I disagree. The 5 intention, the intention of this pill and the 6 way it acts is to impede ovulation or the 7 motility of sperm. And that prevents 8 pregnancy. 9 Now, we read the memo, oh, it 10 could -- Catholic Conference memo -- it can 11 possibly alter the lining and prevent 12 implantation. Well, that's not the main 13 intention. 14 And I think I know the 15 philosophical premise upon which most 16 opponents to abortion operate, and the 17 operational word is always intentional 18 abortion or the intentional termination of a 19 pregnancy. I don't see, in the way this pill 20 operates, any intent to end the pregnancy. 21 The clear intent and the most operative way 22 that these drugs act is to prevent a 23 pregnancy. And in my mind, that's certainly a 24 better alternative than an unwanted pregnancy 25 or a woman being forced to have an abortion.
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(518) 371-8910 1 So, Mr. President, I'm voting aye. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Connor will be recorded in the affirmative. 4 Senator Paterson, to explain his 5 vote. 6 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you, Mr. 7 President. 8 I think that Senator Connor just 9 explained that quite well, that the 10 legislation provides for the use of a pill 11 that will impede ovulation and also the 12 motility of sperm. Meaning that it is 13 preventative, which is why it is a 14 contraceptive and not any type of an action 15 that does anything further. 16 Because of that, I think that when 17 we review Senator Montgomery's remarks -- and 18 she talks about people listening to women -- 19 it's the fact that only women can be in that 20 position. And the issue of age is really far 21 more of a reason why we should consider this 22 legislation, because a younger woman, 23 theoretically not as informed, perhaps in a 24 situation where she made a mistake, as we've 25 all made mistakes, would get a second chance
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(518) 371-8910 1 to reverse it without there being an abortive 2 procedure. If it's too late, then she isn't 3 going to get a second chance. And -- but if 4 it isn't, then she does. 5 And I think that's why so many 6 advocacy organizations have come together. We 7 want to thank them for their advocacy on this 8 bill. We want to thank Senator Spano for 9 introducing the bill. And we recognize that 10 this will provide perhaps a second chance to 11 those who didn't exercise the forethought that 12 they would have wished and within 72 hours 13 might be able to prevent a pregnancy which 14 would change the course of their entire lives. 15 So I very much want to thank all of 16 those advocates. And I guess I'm very happy 17 to be one of those men who Senator Montgomery 18 spoke of, along with the men and women of this 19 conference, who would want to provide the 20 votes to pass this bill. 21 We understand the strong feelings 22 on both sides of this issue. We understand 23 the feelings of those who are morally opposed 24 to abortions. But we ask them to reconsider 25 and look at the work of scientific experts,
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(518) 371-8910 1 who are on both sides of the issues, who have 2 demonstrated through their research for the 3 federal Food and Drug Administration that the 4 legislation and the medication is safe. 5 Thank you, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Paterson will be recorded in the affirmative. 8 Senator Bruno, to explain his vote. 9 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Mr. 10 President. 11 I'm going to and am supporting this 12 legislation because I became convinced that 13 this will help avoid unwanted pregnancies. 14 And I am also aware that there is an abortion 15 pill that is legal in this state that you can 16 get by prescription, which is an abortion 17 pill. And I'm convinced that this is not. 18 And it concerns me greatly that 19 there are 200,000 plus abortions in this 20 country. I think that is a horrendous fact 21 that we ought to all be aware of. I'm also 22 very conscious of the fact that a 14-year-old 23 child can go in and have an abortion because 24 they have an unwanted pregnancy, Senators -- 25 14, 13, 15.
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(518) 371-8910 1 I'm also aware that a parent or 2 guardian can take a child by the hand and get 3 this same medication to avoid a pregnancy, 4 which is a very worthwhile thing. 5 And I respect the judgments that 6 people make on behalf of their own 7 constituencies. But I would not be judging 8 others for having feelings when they become 9 convinced that we are doing the right thing to 10 avoid unwanted pregnancies. 11 So I'm proud to vote yes for this 12 legislation. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Bruno will be recorded in the affirmative. 15 Announce the results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 17 the negative on Calendar Number 1818 are 18 Senators DeFrancisco, Diaz, Farley, Flanagan, 19 Fuschillo, Golden, Hannon, Johnson, LaValle, 20 Libous, Little, Maltese, Marcellino, Marchi, 21 Maziarz, Meier, Morahan, Nozzolio, Padavan, 22 Rath, Saland, Seward, Skelos, Stachowski, 23 Trunzo, Volker and Young. 24 Ayes, 34. Nays, 27. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
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(518) 371-8910 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1840, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5798, an 4 act to amend the General Municipal Law. 5 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Little, an explanation has been requested by 8 Senator Paterson. 9 Can we have some order. Can we 10 have some order in the chamber, please, and in 11 the gallery as well. 12 Senator Little, an explanation has 13 been requested. 14 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Mr. 15 President. 16 Sometimes you get what you wish 17 for. Yesterday we talked about an IDA reform 18 when I had a bill that extended the IDA 19 ability to fund civic facilities. So today we 20 have an IDA reform bill. 21 This is a bill that we have been 22 working on for a number of weeks to address 23 some of the issues that we all have agreed 24 need to happen with Industrial Development 25 Agencies.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Some of the things that this bill 2 does is it extends the cap of $20 million to 3 $100 million for civic facilities, 4 not-for-profit agencies that could have 5 funding through an IDA that previously had a 6 $20 million cap. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Just a 8 second, Senator Little. 9 There's entirely too much 10 conversation going on in the chamber. We're 11 trying to deal with bills. And members are 12 asked, please, to preserve some order in the 13 chamber. 14 Senator Little has the floor. 15 SENATOR LITTLE: This, by the 16 way, is also a bill that we came up with after 17 several meetings with the Assembly in trying 18 to get an agreed-upon bill. And yet it is not 19 agreed upon at this point. 20 So it now has a $100 million cap on 21 the civic facilities that not-for-profit 22 groups would be able to fund through an IDA. 23 Their current cap is $20 million. 24 It also eliminates the ability to 25 segment projects. That was one of the
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(518) 371-8910 1 criticisms that people want to do away with. 2 It also allows that a municipality 3 can lease one-third of a project. For 4 instance, if this were a building that a 5 municipality, in order to fill up the 6 building, would be able to lease one-third of 7 one third of that building. Previously to 8 this, they may do that, but that part of the 9 building could not get funding for the 10 construction costs. 11 It also makes any IDA project 12 subject to the local building codes. It also 13 makes any IDA project comply with the 14 Americans with Disabilities Act. 15 We also wanted to see that IDA 16 funding could fund some agricultural projects. 17 However, the Assembly did not agree to that. 18 Therefore, this bill calls for the Department 19 of Economic Development to issue a report on 20 the value of funding agricultural projects. 21 This bill also requires that a 22 written summary of all hearings held on an IDA 23 project must be given to each member of the 24 IDA board before the project is voted upon. 25 It also says that by 2006, the
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(518) 371-8910 1 Empire State Development and the Department of 2 Economic Development must have uniform 3 tax-exempt policies for IDA projects. 4 It also allows for late PILOT 5 projects to have a 5 to 10 percent penalty if 6 they are late. 7 And it also extends the IDA ability 8 to fund civic facilities until 2008. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Liz Krueger. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. If the sponsor would please 13 yield. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Little, do you yield for a question? 16 SENATOR LITTLE: Yes, I yield. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 sponsor yields. 19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 20 I thought we might be back to IDAs 21 after the previous discussion. 22 Thank you for the explanation. And 23 this is a different bill than the three-year 24 straight extender we passed. 25 And you talked about, in your
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(518) 371-8910 1 explanation, that it increases the $20 million 2 cap on IDA financing for dormitories for 3 educational institutions, not-for-profit 4 healthcare facilities, to $100 million. Can't 5 these institutions go to the Dormitory 6 Authority already for bonds of much greater 7 than $20 million? Why do we need to include 8 these categories in IDAs? 9 SENATOR LITTLE: Well, we believe 10 that going through funding with an IDA 11 project, the money stays locally. In many 12 ways it's more control, more public 13 recognition of the project than going through 14 the Dormitory Authority. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 16 President, if the sponsor would continue to 17 yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 19 Little, do you continue to yield? 20 SENATOR LITTLE: Yes, I yield. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 22 sponsor yields. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: The bond 24 money doesn't come locally. They still go to 25 the bond market, whether you're talking about
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(518) 371-8910 1 it going through the IDA or the Dormitory 2 Authority; is that correct? 3 SENATOR LITTLE: Yes, that's 4 correct. 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 6 Mr. President, if, through you, the 7 sponsor would continue to yield. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 9 Little, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR LITTLE: Yes, I continue 11 to yield. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 sponsor yields. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 15 There's also a reference in your 16 bill in Section 1 that providing financial 17 assistance for any project where the applicant 18 has any agreement to subsequently contract 19 with a municipality for the lease or for 20 purchase of all or a portion constituting more 21 than one-third of the total project cost of 22 such project for its own use or occupancy. 23 What does that actually mean? Why 24 do we have that section in the bill? How 25 would that change either the deal or what the
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(518) 371-8910 1 IDA was doing in that situation? 2 SENATOR LITTLE: Well, there have 3 been occasions when a project may be built -- 4 for instance, the Renaissance Plaza in 5 Brooklyn, which involved a complex set of 6 leasing arrangements. The primary beneficiary 7 of IDA incentives was Empire Insurance. 8 However, the city tenant, the municipal 9 tenant, is the Brooklyn District Attorney's 10 Office. But that portion of the billing could 11 not receive -- come under the IDA funding. 12 Therefore, that had to be separate. 13 So what this says is sometimes a 14 particular project may need municipal support 15 while it gets underway. Certainly, as we look 16 at the downtown Lower Manhattan development, 17 there may need to be municipal offices in some 18 of these buildings in order to get the entire 19 building leased. This would allow that 20 one-third of that project could be a municipal 21 lease. Currently, that is not allowed, and 22 that portion of the project would have to be 23 exempt or be outside of the IDA funding for 24 the project. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President, through you, if the 2 sponsor would continue to yield. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Little, do you continue to yield? 5 SENATOR LITTLE: I continue to 6 yield. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 sponsor yields. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you 10 very much. 11 I'll preface by saying I'm very 12 glad to see that there's an evaluation built 13 into this bill of questions about -- that have 14 been raised about IDAs and there are timelines 15 for specific sections and there are 16 restrictions. But again, going back to this 17 provision on the one-third total project cost, 18 am I correct to believe that if this section 19 was implemented in any given project, that 20 that would then allow for the Wicks Law on 21 multicontracting requirements to be ignored or 22 that these projects would be exempt from the 23 Wicks Law? 24 SENATOR LITTLE: I truthfully 25 don't know.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm sorry, 2 I couldn't hear the answer. 3 SENATOR LITTLE: I said I don't 4 know. 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: You don't 6 know, okay. Thank you. 7 Mr. President, if, through you, the 8 sponsor would continue to yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Little, do you yield? 11 SENATOR LITTLE: Yes, I yield. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 sponsor yields. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 15 Also in this bill there's a section 16 that talks about having an independent entity 17 charged with evaluating IDA activities, which 18 I think is a very good suggestion -- or, 19 excuse me, a good section of your law. 20 But who will decide who this 21 independent entity is? What's the process? 22 Is there a competitive bidding? Why did you 23 decide not to ask the Comptroller's office to 24 do this kind of evaluation, since they've been 25 doing this kind of work on other authorities?
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LITTLE: Well, I suppose 2 if you're trying to get a project through and 3 you go to hearings and have approvals, that 4 you certainly will have someone who is 5 independent. And currently they do this now. 6 This continues to say that the 7 value of tax exemptions provided by IDAs and 8 the value of PILOTs received by municipalities 9 and school districts have to be evaluated and 10 assessed as to the public benefit. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 12 President, if, through you, the sponsor would 13 continue to yield. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Little, do you yield? 16 SENATOR LITTLE: Yes, I yield. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 sponsor yields. 19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 20 I'm sorry, I thought, as I read 21 your bill, that the section I was referencing, 22 Section 4, is not on any specific IDA project 23 but rather an independent entity contracted 24 with through the Department of Economic 25 Development to do a thorough evaluation of the
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(518) 371-8910 1 model used by IDAs overall, not on any 2 individual project. Perhaps I misread your 3 bill. 4 SENATOR LITTLE: We changed the 5 date from the last time it was done, in 1996, 6 to 2006. And the Commissioner of the 7 Department of Economic Development shall 8 submit to the director of the Division of 9 Budget, the temporary president of the Senate, 10 the Speaker of the Assembly, the chairman of 11 the Ways and Means Committee, the chairman of 12 the Senate Local Government Committee, 13 et cetera -- it goes on with a number of 14 committees -- an evaluation of the activities 15 of industrial development agencies and 16 authorities in the state prepared by an entity 17 independent of the department. 18 So it couldn't be one of them. 19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: It couldn't 20 be one of them. 21 I'm sorry, Mr. President, if the 22 sponsor would continue to yield. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Little, do you yield? 25 SENATOR LITTLE: Yes, I yield.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 sponsor yields. 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 4 And thank you for reminding me of the history 5 there. 6 So in the previous law there was a 7 requirement for reports in a different way. 8 Did we ever get those reports, or any reports? 9 SENATOR LITTLE: They did, but I 10 don't have a copy of that -- 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Little -- just a second, Senator. 13 There are members and staff, I 14 might add, that are having conversations in a 15 tone of voice that's just as loud as the 16 members debating the bill. We need to have 17 order in the chamber. 18 Senator Little. 19 SENATOR LITTLE: I said I believe 20 that they had a report, but I do not have any 21 copy of it. But that was provided for in the 22 law in 1996. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 24 President, on the bill. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
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(518) 371-8910 1 Krueger, on the bill. 2 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 3 I appreciate the sponsor's detailed 4 answers, and I share her opinion this is 5 complicated. 6 This is a better bill than the bill 7 we passed the other day, which would have been 8 a three-year extender with nothing new. There 9 are some things in here that I can be more 10 comfortable with. I hope that in an 11 independent evaluation, I hope with the input 12 of the Comptroller's office, since they've 13 done so much excellent work already 14 identifying problems with the existing model 15 of IDAs -- that again, as the sponsor pointed 16 out, this is not an agreed-upon bill, and so 17 we'll no doubt see another version somewhere 18 along the line -- that we should be taking a 19 very hard look at evaluating not just where we 20 go with new IDA language but also to truly 21 evaluate, from the reports from the previous 22 law, if they exist, and what their findings 23 were, from the reports of the Comptroller's 24 office, from the documented reports and 25 responses from different counties and IDAs,
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(518) 371-8910 1 that we will be looking very seriously at how 2 we make improvements and how we actually 3 penalize IDAs and the people they've been 4 doing business with for failing to meet their 5 obligations. 6 This bill lays out some of the 7 measures that I agree with Senator Little we 8 should be evaluating IDAs on. I have serious 9 concerns about expanding the role of IDAs to 10 finance not-for-profit institutions. Frankly, 11 I think that New York State has a stellar 12 model for this with the Dormitory Authority. 13 And so far I'm not convinced that there's any 14 reason we should have separate public 15 authorities, that technically are set up for 16 industrial purposes, going into the bonding 17 business for a broader universe of 18 institutions. 19 I am concerned that a $100 million 20 cap is too large a cap -- many of these IDAs 21 represent small towns and municipalities that 22 likely don't have the expertise or the cost to 23 themselves for creating that expertise to 24 successfully move these kinds of programs -- 25 is duplicate of what we've already set up very
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(518) 371-8910 1 well through the Dormitory Authority, and may 2 result in even greater problems. We already 3 have a history of problems with smaller bonds. 4 Moving that to a much higher level seems to me 5 to increase the chances that we'll have more 6 problems in the future. 7 So I want to congratulate the 8 sponsor. I think we're moving in the right 9 direction. It's still, unfortunately, not a 10 bill I can be comfortable with. But I thank 11 you very much for the explanations, and I 12 thank you for the work you're doing on behalf 13 of this issue. 14 Thank you. I'll be voting no, Mr. 15 President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Schneiderman. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Very 19 briefly on the bill, Mr. President. 20 For the reasons set forth in the 21 discussion between Senator Krueger and the 22 sponsor, I'm also going to be voting no on 23 this. 24 And I do think, as I said before 25 when we extended the IDAs, this is, as
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(518) 371-8910 1 acknowledged, a one-house bill. It is a bill 2 that again doesn't address the fundamental 3 problems with IDAs. It doesn't do us any 4 going to have a requirement to hold hearings 5 if there's no requirement the IDA board 6 members attend, no requirements relating to 7 notice. 8 And I emphasize again that 9 Section 1 actually is a back-door way to avoid 10 the application of the Wicks Law. 11 So I think that in addition to the 12 fact that this bill is not actually going to 13 reform IDAs, because it's not passing the 14 Assembly, and that much of what it does is 15 really sort of minimal, it actually does harm 16 in Section 1. 17 And I appreciate the sponsor's 18 efforts. I know there have been many long 19 meetings and many hours spent trying to come 20 up with some way to reform IDAs. I'm sorry 21 that we're adjourning without doing it. But 22 under these circumstances, and with the flaws 23 in this bill, I also will be voting no. 24 Thank you, Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any
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(518) 371-8910 1 other member wish to be heard? 2 Debate is closed, then. 3 The Secretary will ring the bell. 4 Members are asked to come to the chamber for a 5 vote. 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Announce 13 the results. 14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 15 the negative on Calendar Number 1840 are 16 Senators Andrews, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, 17 Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Parker, 18 Paterson, Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman, 19 Serrano, A. Smith and Stavisky. 20 Absent from voting: Senator 21 Gonzalez. 22 Ayes, 46. Nays, 14. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 Senator Bruno.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 2 can we at this time recognize Senator 3 Schneiderman. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 Schneiderman. 6 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 There will be an immediate 9 conference of the Minority in the Minority 10 Conference Room. 11 And we should turn things now back 12 over to the master of ceremonies, Senator 13 Bruno. 14 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, 15 Senator. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 17 will be an immediate conference of the 18 Minority. 19 Senator Bruno. 20 SENATOR BRUNO: And, Mr. 21 President, I would suggest that we have a 22 conference in the Majority Conference Room 23 with the Majority. And that we could 24 reconvene -- stand at ease in the interim -- 25 at 7:00, if that works for everybody, at
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(518) 371-8910 1 7:00 p.m. tonight. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 3 Immediate conference of the Majority in the 4 Majority Conference Room. 5 The Senate will stand at ease until 6 7:00. 7 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 8 ease at 6:46 p.m.) 9 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 10 at 7:18 p.m.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Skelos. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 14 if we could go to the supplemental active 15 list. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 Secretary will conduct the noncontroversial 18 reading of the supplemental active list. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 149, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 484C, an 21 act to amend the Public Health Law. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 is there a message of necessity at the desk? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, 25 there is, Senator.
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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 3 question is whether to accept the message of 4 necessity. All those in favor signify by 5 saying aye. 6 (Response of "Aye.") 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 8 opposed, nay. 9 (Response of "Nay.") 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 message is accepted. 12 The bill is before the house. 13 Read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of 16 November. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 478, substituted earlier today by Member of 25 the Assembly Kolb, Assembly Print Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 6871B, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 2 Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 717, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 1628B, an 15 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 17 last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 21 roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is high. It will be laid aside. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 867, substituted earlier today by Member of 2 the Assembly Weinstein, Assembly Print Number 3 7255B, an act to amend the New York City Civil 4 Court Act and others. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 6 last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This 8 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1283, substituted earlier today by Member of 17 the Assembly Zebrowski, Assembly Print Number 18 7555, an act to amend the Local Finance Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 20 last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 24 roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1299, substituted earlier today by Member of 6 the Assembly Christensen, Assembly Print 7 Number 8137A, an act to amend the Real 8 Property Tax Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 10 last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect on the first of January 13 next succeeding. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1597, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 5531, an 22 act to authorize the Town of Riga. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 24 last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1673, substituted earlier today by Member of 10 the Assembly Abbate, Assembly Print Number 11 7608A, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 12 Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it 18 aside. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Lay the 20 bill aside. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1701, substituted earlier today by the 23 Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print 24 Number 8777, an act to provide an accelerated 25 schedule.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1704, substituted earlier today by Member of 13 the Assembly Butler, Assembly Print Number 14 8532, an act to amend the Highway Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 16 last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 20 roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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(518) 371-8910 1 1741, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 5788, an 2 act to amend the Tax Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 12 is passed. 13 Senator Skelos, that completes the 14 noncontroversial reading of the supplemental 15 active list. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 17 would you please call up Calendar Number 1810. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 19 Secretary will read Calendar 1810. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 1810, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 5873, an 22 act to amend the Legislative Law. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 24 is there a message of necessity at the desk? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is
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(518) 371-8910 1 a message at the desk. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 4 those in favor of accepting the message of 5 necessity signify by saying aye. 6 (Response of "Aye.") 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those 8 opposed, nay. 9 (Response of "Nay.") 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 message is accepted. 12 The Secretary will read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 16. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Schneiderman, to explain his vote. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 It is a pleasure to be able to vote 24 on two very important bills in one evening, 25 the emergency contraception earlier and this
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(518) 371-8910 1 bill, which is also long overdue, but a 2 fundamental step forward in the regulation of 3 lobbying and trying to ensure that our 4 constituents get the quality of government and 5 the integrity of government they deserve. 6 This is a great step forward. I'm 7 very pleased that a deal was worked out and 8 that this bill is on the floor for us to vote 9 on this evening. I strongly urge everyone to 10 vote yes. 11 Thank you, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Schneiderman will be recorded in the 14 affirmative. 15 Senator Winner, to explain his 16 vote. 17 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, Mr. 18 President. 19 Obviously this is a very historic 20 moment for this body. This is a major step 21 forward in putting forth transparency and 22 openness with regard to the lobbying that goes 23 on in this state. I'm very proud to have 24 sponsored this bill, and I thank Senator Bruno 25 for his assistance and support in making this
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(518) 371-8910 1 bill a reality. 2 This bill contains a number of very 3 important factors dealing with opening up the 4 process of lobbying and making sure that the 5 procurement process in this state is -- goes 6 forward from now on with a great deal of not 7 only transparency but a great deal of 8 confidence from the public that in fact things 9 are aboveboard and things are done in the open 10 and things are done properly. 11 And there are a number of other 12 provisions in this legislation that provide 13 for lobbying on the local level. However, 14 there are also protections built in so that 15 certain economic development activities and 16 other things can go forward without the 17 necessity of having -- have them be unfettered 18 and cause dislocation with regard to our 19 ability to try to attract people that do 20 business in this state. 21 We want to bring this practice out 22 in the open. This bill does that. And I 23 thank you all for the support that this 24 measure is receiving. And I think we can 25 proud that we have accomplished a good deal of
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(518) 371-8910 1 reform in the area of procurement lobbying 2 tonight. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Winner will be recorded in the affirmative. 5 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his 6 vote. 7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'd 8 like to compliment the sponsor, Senator 9 Winner. 10 We talk -- a lot of people talk 11 about reform and talk about reform, but this 12 is a true reform bill dealing with procurement 13 lobbying. And it's a bill that we all should 14 be proud of, as part of this legislative body, 15 because this is the type of bill that will 16 restore confidence in the Legislature. 17 And, Senator Winner, it's a 18 wonderful job that you did and I'm glad to be 19 able to vote aye. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the 22 affirmative. 23 Senator Flanagan, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, Mr.
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(518) 371-8910 1 President. Just briefly to explain my vote. 2 I also compliment Senator Winner. 3 I had the distinction or dubious honor of 4 being the immediate preceding chair of the 5 Ethics Committee. Having worked on some of 6 these issues, I firmly and genuinely believe 7 that when we look back on this year's session, 8 this will be considered one of the top 9 achievements. 10 And, you know, we always hear about 11 reform, and there are people who criticize us. 12 This is really true, fundamental reform in 13 terms of how we do some business practices in 14 the State of New York. We have a couple of 15 bills tomorrow that are going to even add more 16 to what we're doing here this evening. 17 This is a great thing for this 18 body, for this state, and for the citizens of 19 the State of New York. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Flanagan will be recorded in the affirmative. 22 Senator Liz Krueger, to explain her 23 vote. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 25 Mr. President.
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(518) 371-8910 1 I also stand to applaud our moving 2 forward on this legislation. As Senator 3 Flanagan pointed out, he and I debated 4 different lobbying reform bills in 2002. I 5 carried one then, as I carry one today. We 6 weren't in agreement then. But I'm very glad 7 that much of what I was talking about in 2002 8 through 2005 is included in this bill. 9 And I appreciate that, because 10 everyone who has spoken is right, this is 11 reform we should be doing. And it's reform we 12 need to be doing, of course, because our 13 reputation has been harmed over the years by 14 ethical problems, by some criminal activities. 15 And it is, I think, the minimum the public can 16 expect from us that we would have good laws 17 around lobbying, that we would have 18 transparency. I don't think it's a perfect 19 bill, but we never get perfect bills here. 20 So in fact, this bill is a bill I 21 would be proud to put my name on as a sponsor. 22 And I'm sorry that we actually still have a 23 policy where we don't have open cosponsorship 24 of bills, because so frequently we find that 25 we do reach across the aisle, as we have now
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(518) 371-8910 1 earlier today on the emergency contraception 2 bill. And as part of reform for lobbying, I 3 also hope that at some point in time people 4 who want to sign on and cosponsor bills in 5 this house would be able to. 6 Again, this isn't the bill that I 7 think we, if we wrote it in a bipartisan group 8 manner, might have ended up with. I think we 9 might have added some specifics around banning 10 gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers and staff, 11 establishing at least a one-year cooling-off 12 period for legislative staffers and top party 13 officials before they're allowed to lobby the 14 Legislature. 15 I also think there's a couple of 16 questions that are reasonable to continue to 17 ask about the role of lawmakers in lobbying 18 commissioners and other top administration 19 officials on behalf of lobbyists and their 20 clients. I think that may be a loophole we 21 can go back and we can fix it. 22 Again, it is a good day. This is a 23 good bill, if not the best bill -- 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator, 25 the two minutes for you to explain your vote
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(518) 371-8910 1 has expired. How do you vote? 2 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 3 I'll be voting yes. And I was thanking you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 5 Krueger will be recorded in the affirmative. 6 Senator Stachowski, to explain his 7 vote. 8 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: I too rise 9 to congratulate the sponsor. Glad to see a 10 lobbying reform bill. As somebody, 11 unfortunately, that has served a life sentence 12 on the Ethics Commission -- 13 (Laughter.) 14 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Senator 15 Flanagan's lucky. He was on, he's gone. You 16 know? But I've been there since the start of 17 it. 18 And I'd like to congratulate 19 Senator Winner and especially on behalf of the 20 people that have worked on the Ethics 21 Commission. Because somehow or other, even if 22 it doesn't fall under our area, everybody 23 thinks it should. So the fact is that we got 24 a bill done and everybody was watching for a 25 bill of this nature, and I'm glad I get an
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(518) 371-8910 1 opportunity to vote for it. 2 I vote yes. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 4 Stachowski will be recorded in the 5 affirmative. 6 Senator Connor, to explain his 7 vote. 8 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr. 9 President. 10 I'm delighted to support this. The 11 idea of including procurement lobbying under 12 the Lobbying Law was something that I 13 supported many years ago when it was first 14 proposed by Senator Joe Bruno in, I guess, 15 1998. It caused quite an uproar at the time. 16 It was an idea that seemed to be ahead of its 17 time. At least some parts of this Capitol 18 thought so. But here we are today. 19 And thanks to the current sponsor, 20 thanks to support on both sides of the aisle, 21 we I think have done something to ensure that 22 New York State government is more transparent 23 and that the public can be assured that its 24 government is one in which it can have 25 confidence in its integrity.
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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Connor will be recorded in the affirmative. 4 The Secretary will announce the 5 results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 8 is passed. 9 Senator Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 11 believe Calendar Number 1673 was inadvertently 12 laid aside. If we could take it up at this 13 time. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1673. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1673, substituted earlier today by Member of 18 the Assembly Abbate, Assembly Print Number 19 7608A, an act to amend the Criminal Procedure 20 Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 5 is passed. 6 Senator Skelos, that completes the 7 supplemental list. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 9 is there any housekeeping at the desk? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: We have 11 some motions, Senator. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Nozzolio. 15 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, Mr. 16 President. I wish to call up, on behalf of 17 Senator Padavan, Calendar Number 844, Assembly 18 Print Number 5622A. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 844, by Member of the Assembly Canestrari, 23 Assembly Print Number 5622A, an act to amend 24 the Education Law and the Insurance Law. 25 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: I now move to
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(518) 371-8910 1 reconsider the vote by which this Assembly 2 bill was substituted for Senate Print Number 3 3169A on June 22nd. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 5 roll on reconsideration. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 8 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: I now move 9 that Assembly Print Number 5622A be 10 recommitted to the Committee on Rules, and the 11 Senate bill be restored to the order of Third 12 Reading Calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: So 14 ordered. 15 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: I now offer 16 the following amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 amendments are received. 19 The Secretary will read the 20 substitutions. 21 THE SECRETARY: On page 5, 22 Senator Skelos moves to discharge, from the 23 Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 8894 24 and substitute it for the identical Senate 25 Bill Number 479A, Third Reading Calendar 94.
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(518) 371-8910 1 On page 36, Senator Maziarz moves 2 to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 3 Assembly Bill Number 3163 and substitute it 4 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4818, 5 Third Reading Calendar 1143. 6 On page 46, Senator Oppenheimer 7 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 8 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 8769 and 9 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 10 Number 5666, Third Reading Calendar 1608. 11 On page 49, Senator Volker moves to 12 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 13 Assembly Bill Number 8583A and substitute it 14 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5540A, 15 Third Reading Calendar 1722. 16 On page 50, Senator Winner moves to 17 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 18 Assembly Bill Number 8851 and substitute it 19 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5742, 20 Third Reading Calendar 1734. 21 And Senator Saland moves to 22 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 23 Assembly Bill Number 8936 and substitute it 24 for the identical Senate Bill Number 5857, 25 Third Reading Calendar 1849.
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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 2 Substitutions ordered. 3 Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 5 tomorrow could be a long day. So I'm just 6 going to suggest that the members be here in a 7 timely fashion. 8 And on the controversial calendar, 9 we are going to try to keep the gap between 10 members coming from whatever business they're 11 performing into the chamber to vote to 12 approximately 2 minutes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 14 Two-minute rule tomorrow. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: There being no 16 further business to come before the Senate, I 17 move we stand adjourned until Thursday, 18 June 23rd, at 10:00 a.m. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On 20 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 21 Thursday, June 23rd, at 10:00 a.m. 22 (Whereupon, at 7:36 p.m., the 23 Senate adjourned.) 24 25
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(518) 371-8910
Highest impact first.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
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Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
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Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.