Monday, January 9, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 January 9, 2006 11 3:43 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 please come to order. 4 Would everyone present please rise 5 and repeat with me the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 THE PRESIDENT: In the absence of 9 clergy, may we bow our heads in a moment of 10 silence, please. 11 (Whereupon, the assemblage 12 respected a moment of silence.) 13 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 14 Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Friday, January 6, the Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment. The Journal of Thursday, 18 January 5, was read and approved. On motion, 19 Senate adjourned. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Without 21 objection, the Journal stands approved as 22 read. 23 Presentation of petitions. 24 Messages from the Assembly. 25 Messages from the Governor.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Reports of standing committees. 2 Reports of select committees. 3 Communications and reports from 4 state officers. 5 Motions and resolutions. 6 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 7 President. 8 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. 9 SENATOR FARLEY: I move that the 10 following bills be discharged from their 11 respective committees and be recommitted with 12 instructions to strike the enacting clause: 13 On behalf of Senator Balboni, 1744, 14 2001, 2943, 4786, and 5400. 15 On behalf of Senator Flanagan, 16 1809, 1810, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814, 2067, 17 3650, and 3686. 18 On behalf of Senator Fuschillo, 19 2161, 4378. 20 On behalf of Senator LaValle, 21 Madam President, 585, 684, 836, 999, 1560, 22 1625, 2080, and 2599. 23 On behalf of Senator Skelos, 2725, 24 3046, 3442. 25 And on behalf of Senator Wright,

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(518) 371-8910 1 4379, 4488, and 5335. 2 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered, 3 Senator. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 6 please recognize Senator Schneiderman. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 8 Schneiderman. 9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 10 Madam President, I would move that 11 the following bills be discharged from their 12 respective committees and be recommitted with 13 instructions to strike the enacting clause: 14 Senate Bill Number 3123, by Senator 15 Breslin, and 675, by Senator Toby Stavisky. 16 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered, 17 Senator. 18 SENATOR VOLKER: Thank you. 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 21 there will be an immediate meeting of the 22 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 23 Room. 24 THE PRESIDENT: There will be an 25 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Majority Conference Room. 2 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 3 ease at 3:49 p.m.) 4 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 5 at 3:57 p.m.) 6 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 8 if we could return to reports of standing 9 committees. 10 I believe there's a report of the 11 Rules Committee at the desk, if we could take 12 it up at this time. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Reports of 14 standing committees. 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 17 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 18 following bills: 19 Senate Print 6007, by the Senate 20 Committee on Rules, an act to amend the Tax 21 Law; 22 And Senate Print 6019, by Senator 23 Skelos, an act to amend the Correction Law. 24 Both bills ordered direct to third 25 reading.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Without 2 objection, both bills ordered directly to 3 third reading. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept 6 the report of the Rules Committee. 7 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 8 accepting the report of the Rules Committee 9 please signify by saying aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 12 (No response.) 13 THE PRESIDENT: The report is 14 adopted. 15 Senator Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 17 if we could take up the calendar, 18 noncontroversial. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 20 will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 29, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 23 Print 6007, an act to amend the Tax Law. 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 25 aside.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 2 aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 30, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6019, an 5 act to amend the Correction Law. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 9 aside. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 11 aside. 12 Senator Skelos, that completes the 13 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Can we go to the 15 controversial reading, please. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 17 will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 29, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 20 Print 6007, an act to amend the Tax Law. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Brief 22 explanation. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Volker, 24 an explanation has been requested. 25 SENATOR VOLKER: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 I think as everyone here knows, the County of 2 Erie last year went through a prolonged fiscal 3 crisis, and the county in reality is still not 4 functioning by any means at one hundred 5 percent. A number of the agencies in Erie 6 County are down to bare minimums. The Erie 7 County Clerk's Office is just catching up from 8 a mess that was created earlier in the year by 9 layoffs of probably about half the clerk's 10 office. 11 What happened was that the county 12 legislature, after agonizing for most of the 13 year, finally, after we in this chamber passed 14 legislation for an Emergency Control Board, 15 finally came to an agreement at the last 16 minute, just before the control board took 17 over total and firm control. 18 And part of the agreement was that 19 the county legislature, as part of the budget 20 for 2006 -- and, by the way, 2007, because 21 this bill applies to the budgets for this year 22 and for next year -- that the county 23 legislature would authorize an additional 1/2 24 of 1 percent for the County of Erie to keep 25 their budget functioning.

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(518) 371-8910 1 There was a great deal of concern. 2 And what happened was, because of the fact it 3 was unclear whether we would come back in 4 December, a bill was introduced by both houses 5 of the Legislature -- this is agreement 6 between the Assembly, the Senate, and the 7 Governor that a bill would be introduced, the 8 county legislature would pass a home rule 9 message, as they did, and we would then, 10 before January 15th, pass legislation which 11 affirms the 1/2 percent sales tax. 12 I must point out -- it's something 13 I've pointed out before -- this is not a state 14 sales tax, this is a local sales tax. The 15 only reason we're doing this is because this 16 bill is a home rule bill. 17 The final thing I want to say is 18 that in reality we were asked to make a 19 commitment to Wall Street that this bill would 20 pass today, because otherwise the county would 21 have its ratings reduced and downgraded. We 22 did, and that's what this bill is for. It 23 will keep the bond rating of the county at a 24 higher rate and will also stabilize the County 25 of Erie for the rest of this year.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 2 Schneiderman. 3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 4 I know we're on a short time frame 5 today. I thank the sponsor for his 6 explanation and request that we move forward 7 on this piece of legislation. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 9 Senator wish to be heard? 10 Then the debate is closed. 11 The Secretary will ring the bell. 12 The Secretary will first read the 13 substitution. 14 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 15 Calendar Number 29, Senator Bruno moves to 16 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 17 Assembly Bill Number 9081 and substitute it 18 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6007, 19 Third Reading Calendar 29. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Substitution 21 ordered. 22 There is a local fiscal impact note 23 at the desk. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 29, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 2 Assembly Print Number 9081, an act to amend 3 the Tax Law. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 11 1. Senator Valesky recorded in the negative. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 The Secretary will continue to 15 read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 30, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6019, an 18 act to amend the Correction Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Explanation. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos, 24 an explanation has been requested. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 this legislation would require all sex 2 offenders currently registered, and those who 3 would be prospectively registered after 4 they've committed their crime, to have to 5 register for life. That would be all Level 1, 6 2, and 3. 7 For Level 1 offenders who are not 8 designated as a sexual predator, sexually 9 violent offender, or a predicate sex offender, 10 they would have to register for 20 years and 11 then after 20 years they could petition the 12 sentencing court to be removed from the 13 registry. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 15 Schneiderman. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 17 Madam President. I believe there's an 18 amendment at the desk. I ask that the reading 19 of the amendment be waived and that I be heard 20 on the amendment. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The reading is 22 waived, and you may be heard on the amendment. 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 24 Madam President. 25 This is an amendment in the spirit

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(518) 371-8910 1 of the day, in which we are setting out the 2 criminal justice agenda of the house. We've 3 already been notified that the civil 4 commitment for sexual predators bill is going 5 to be accelerated so it can be considered next 6 week. 7 Senator Volker has advised us that 8 the calendar of the Codes Committee that met 9 today is being moved so that we can consider 10 that legislation next week, which includes 11 bills on gang sexual assaults, DNA evidence, 12 and other matters. 13 And today we are moving on Senator 14 Skelos's bill to extend the registry for sex 15 offenders, which is something that we are 16 certainly committed to doing before the 17 expiration of Megan's Law. 18 I would add in this amendment 19 something that has passed the Assembly today 20 but is noticeably and glaringly absent from 21 the criminal justice agenda in this house, and 22 that is a package of bills to follow up on our 23 success in the special session a few weeks ago 24 to deal with the plague of illegal guns that 25 in the hands of criminals are causing

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(518) 371-8910 1 devastation across the state. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: If I could 4 interrupt for a moment, I think we have a real 5 germaneness problem right now in terms of -- I 6 understand the amendments that are going to be 7 offered. But in consultation with Senator 8 Bruno, I think I should indicate we're not 9 going to raise the germaneness issues, but 10 certainly we're not looking to detract, which 11 I believe is a ploy of the Minority right now, 12 from the importance of passing this amendment 13 to Megan's Law, this reforming of Megan's Law 14 to protect our children and to protect our 15 communities. 16 So I think it's very, very 17 important that we recognize we're not going to 18 raise the germaneness issue, but the issue of 19 the day is the fact that unless the Assembly 20 follows the lead of the Senate, there will be 21 hundreds and hundreds and thousands of sex 22 offenders off the registry who the police, our 23 parents, our communities, our children will 24 not be able to track because of that. 25 So thank you, and again, we will

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(518) 371-8910 1 not raise the germaneness issue at this time. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 3 I appreciate it. And certainly I do want to 4 speak on the amendment -- 5 THE PRESIDENT: You may continue 6 to speak, Senator Schneiderman. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: -- and 8 then we'll get to the substance of this 9 important legislation. 10 I would note that the Assembly has 11 already passed their own version of an 12 extension, so that this is a problem that 13 really should be able to be resolved between 14 the two houses. 15 But as to that, this amendment is 16 something that I believe we committed 17 ourselves in the special session to acting on. 18 The Assembly today has demonstrated its 19 commitment to dealing with the issue of gun 20 violence and of guns that are used in crimes 21 by passing a comprehensive package of gun 22 violence and gun safety legislation. 23 Unfortunately, in spite of the 24 rhetoric in the special session, this house is 25 the graveyard of gun safety and gun control

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(518) 371-8910 1 bills. This house is the place that, as 2 recognized by the Daily News, New York Times 3 and other sources, is called NRA-friendly. 4 This is where the NRA can block gun safety and 5 gun violence bills. And it's time for that to 6 end. 7 We heard rhetoric during the 8 special session that we are prepared, as we 9 move forward, to take action against sexual 10 predators, to take action against gang 11 violence, to take action against those who 12 would harm our communities, that we are going 13 to add to that this year, that the Senate is 14 going to stop being the barrier to gun safety 15 and enact the other critically important 16 community-safety legislation that this state 17 needs. 18 Today was the arraignment of the 19 two men charged in the shooting of New York 20 City police officer Enchautegui. That was the 21 arraignment. We spoke about it at the special 22 session. Let's not take one step, let's not 23 put one piece in place of a 10-piece puzzle, 24 as we would be doing if we stopped after we 25 passed the important gun-trafficking

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(518) 371-8910 1 legislation in the special session and failed 2 to take action on the other bills that have 3 passed the Assembly today. 4 So this amendment would get us 5 started and show the commitment of this house 6 to taking action in the 2006 legislative 7 session on the critical issues of guns used in 8 crimes. 9 The three elements of the amendment 10 are very, very straightforward. First of all, 11 this would enact provisions that are in a 12 piece of legislation carried by Assembly 13 Member Paulin that impose common-sense 14 requirements on gun dealers. 15 There's a fiction that is advanced 16 by some -- certainly promoted by NRA and its 17 related agencies -- there's a fiction advanced 18 that there's a difference between legal guns 19 and illegal guns. There's no one down at the 20 Smith & Wesson or the Glock factory who says, 21 Oh, 10 p.m., time to stop making the legal 22 guns, let's start making the illegal guns. 23 These all start as legal guns, and 24 they are diverted by a very small number of 25 gun dealers into the illegal market. We know,

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(518) 371-8910 1 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 2 Firearms, that 1.2 percent of the federally 3 licensed gun dealers are responsible for 4 57 percent of the guns used in crimes. 5 Most gun dealers are honorable 6 businessmen and -women, but there's a small 7 portion that the Assembly wants to crack down 8 on, that this amendment would allow us to 9 crack down on by imposing simple 10 requirements -- requiring that they maintain 11 records, back up the records, and provide them 12 to law enforcement officers, requiring that 13 employees who sell guns are at least 21 years 14 old and receive training. 15 This amendment would require that 16 guns are safely stored. Some of you may 17 recall that right here in the Capital District 18 there was a robbery at Accurate Arms & Ammo 19 gun store, which is in Colonie, where 29 20 handguns ended up in the hands of a notorious 21 drug dealer and one was used in a homicide in 22 New York City. This amendment would solve 23 that problem. 24 This amendment would also enact a 25 piece of legislation that Senator Stavisky

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(518) 371-8910 1 carries separately. And it is astonishing to 2 me that the members of the Majority in this 3 house would not support that bill. It's a 4 bill that would prevent violent felons from 5 being able to obtain gun licenses. 6 Understand, that bill passed the Assembly. 7 The Majority in this house will not let to the 8 floor a bill that would prevent violent felons 9 from being able to obtain gun licenses. That 10 we should move forward, and that's in this 11 amendment. 12 And, finally, there's a component 13 of this amendment that corresponds to a bill 14 carried by Assembly Member Koon that requires 15 the submissions of crime guns and shell 16 casings to the database so that we can track 17 them. 18 Right now we have a database that's 19 of very little use because there's no 20 requirement that law enforcement agencies, 21 when they find crime guns, submit it to the 22 database so we can see if the guns were used 23 in other crimes in other parts of the state. 24 That's what this amendment would do. 25 And I'm going to stay very, very

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(518) 371-8910 1 brief on this issue -- although as many of you 2 know, I feel strongly about it and can speak 3 about it at length -- in the spirit of 4 cooperation indicated by Senator Skelos. It 5 is critical that this house act on the 6 rhetoric during the special session, that this 7 house stop being the barrier to gun safety and 8 gun control laws. 9 If we care about protecting our 10 police officers from violent criminals armed 11 with guns that they obtained from the legal 12 market diverted into the illegal market, we 13 must take action. 2006 cannot pass -- we 14 cannot finish this session without addressing 15 the critical issues of gun safety and gun 16 violence. 17 And we suggest this in the true 18 spirit of cooperation today that this 19 amendment be accepted, that this amendment be 20 added to Senator Skelos's critically important 21 bill. Let's get the issue of gun violence and 22 gun safety on the floor of the Senate this 23 year. Let's bring these bills that never make 24 it to the floor in this house to the floor and 25 vote on them. Let's provide our citizens with

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(518) 371-8910 1 the protection they deserve. 2 I hope that everyone will support 3 this amendment, Madam President. And then we 4 look forward to speaking on the substance of 5 the bill itself when we are done with this 6 vote. 7 Thank you. 8 THE PRESIDENT: All Senators in 9 favor of the amendment please signify by 10 raising your hand. 11 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 12 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 13 Connor, Diaz, Dilan -- 14 SENATOR DIAZ: No. 15 THE SECRETARY: Excuse me. Those 16 recorded in agreement are Senators Andrews, 17 Breslin, Connor, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 18 Hassell-Thompson, Klein, L. Krueger, 19 Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, 20 Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 21 Schneiderman, Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith and 22 Stavisky. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is 24 not agreed to. 25 Senator Schneiderman.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, very 2 briefly, Madam President, as I indicated, on 3 the bill. 4 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 5 on the bill. 6 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I just 7 want to note I will vote in support of this 8 legislation. It's obviously essential that we 9 deal with this issue before the deadline. 10 I would note that the Assembly 11 today has passed its own version of an 12 extension, which requires sex offenders to 13 register annually until March 31, 2007, in 14 anticipation of what we hope will be action by 15 the federal government to create a national 16 registry. 17 So if we pass this bill today and 18 the Assembly passes its bill, I would urge 19 that this is an excellent example of a case in 20 which a conference committee should 21 immediately be convened. And that if we had 22 adopted the rule that has been proposed for 23 mandatory conference committees, that would 24 happen. 25 In the absence of that, we urge the

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(518) 371-8910 1 leadership in both houses to act to move this 2 along as quickly as possible. 3 I will be voting in support of 4 Senator Skelos's bill. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 7 Montgomery, on the bill. 8 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 9 President, briefly on the bill. 10 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I just want 12 to raise an issue that I think I raised last 13 session, and I will maintain my position on 14 this legislation. 15 One, unfortunately, we can't just 16 do a bill that extends what we already have. 17 We have to go one step beyond that and try to 18 catch many, many more people into this web. 19 So I'm very unhappy about that. 20 The bill would require all sex 21 offenders, including Level 1 -- and my fear is 22 that I see some young men up there who sit 23 here and watch this session right now. If one 24 of those young men got caught up as a Level 1 25 offender, unfortunately, in this, you are

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(518) 371-8910 1 asking that person to be -- to have their 2 names as part of this registry for the rest of 3 their lives. Then, in 20 years, they could 4 possibly apply for -- to have -- am I on the 5 wrong bill? 6 SENATOR SKELOS: No, no. If you 7 could yield for a moment. 8 Under what circumstances would 9 those young men have to register for life? 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Under your 11 bill, if they were Level 1 sex offenders. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: What crime would 13 they have committed? 14 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Well, it 15 would depend on whatever you define as a 16 Level 1 sex offense. 17 Are you saying that there are some 18 sex offenses that are not -- that under this 19 law would not be covered? 20 SENATOR SKELOS: If we had -- it 21 depends on the activity that took place. The 22 laws of the State of New York have made as 23 public policy a very definite decision that 24 the age of consent is 17, over 17. And also 25 that for a person to be convicted of statutory

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(518) 371-8910 1 rape, that that person would have to be over 2 the age of 21. 3 So you're dealing in a situation 4 and I think what you're trying to bring out is 5 if it was two 16-year-olds and it was -- 6 there's no statutory rape, and this would not 7 take place. 8 If an individual was over 21 and 9 the young woman is under 17, then you have, 10 yes, then you do have statutory rape, because 11 this Legislature has made a very definite 12 decision as a matter of public policy -- now, 13 you may want to lower the age of consent -- 14 but has made a definite decision that it is 15 under the age of 17 that you cannot give that 16 type of consent. 17 So you're sort of wrong in terms of 18 saying all these individuals would be 19 categorized as Level 1. 20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you 21 for that explanation. 22 But let me just respond by saying 23 to you that what I intend to say is that any 24 young college student -- 17, 18, 19 -- that 25 has a charge against that young person that

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(518) 371-8910 1 results in that young person being charged 2 with Level 2, no matter if it's with that 3 person's sweetheart, who is 16, maybe, or 17, 4 maybe, they could still be charged under your 5 law here. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: If the crime 7 that they have committed would require that 8 they be categorized as a Level 1 sex 9 offender -- 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Exactly. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: -- they could 12 petition the sentencing court after 20 years 13 to be removed from the registry unless they 14 have been categorized as a sexually violent -- 15 let me get the words correctly here -- 16 sexually violent predator, there's a predicate 17 offense that's involved, or they're a sexual 18 predator. 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 20 Senator Skelos, for your explanation. 21 I think you've agreed with me that 22 there are some cases where we would question 23 whether or not we would want that young person 24 to be registered in your sex registry based on 25 the fact that there was a charge based on a

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(518) 371-8910 1 19-year-old having an encounter with a 2 17-year-old even though they may have been -- 3 or there could be very, very minor contact 4 here and they would still fall under your law. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: If the existing 6 law -- 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Point of 8 order. Is Senator Skelos asking Senator 9 Montgomery to yield? 10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos -- 11 Senator Skelos -- do you have a point of 12 order? 13 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Oh, we 14 forgot. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 16 I think we're having a very good discussion. 17 It's interesting how Senator Schneiderman, 18 when issues of germaneness are not raised, 19 he's happy, but if we're having a very civil 20 discussion to enlighten the chamber, Senator 21 Schneiderman is on his feet objecting. 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I mean no 23 disrespect. I'm just protecting the 24 prerogative of the presiding officer to keep 25 us on track here.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 3 Montgomery, do you yield some time for Senator 4 Skelos to speak? 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Well, yes, 6 I -- 7 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Senator 10 Montgomery, you realize that if the crime 11 that's committed by the young people is 12 considered a sexual offense under existing 13 law, then they would have to register. 14 But I think existing law takes into 15 account certain ones of these crimes if they 16 fall within certain age limits and there's 17 been no force and there's been no drugs used 18 and there's been no coercion. Then they are 19 protected. 20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Okay, thank 21 you. 22 On the bill, Madam President. 23 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 24 on the bill, Senator Montgomery. 25 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill would require all offenders, regardless 2 of risk level, to register with the sex 3 offender registry for life. Certain Level 1 4 offenders are permitted to petition for relief 5 from registration once they have been 6 registered for 20 years. 7 The crimes for which an individual 8 may be required to register as a Level 1 sex 9 offender are oftentimes very minimal offenses. 10 For example, consensual sex between teenagers 11 and acts of lewdness or forceable touching 12 could potentially result in an individual 13 having to register for the rest of their life. 14 For that reason, I am adamantly 15 opposed. I have a son who is in college, I 16 know many of us in this room have sons who are 17 in college -- maybe they're going to be going 18 off to college, maybe they're 21 now, maybe 19 they're out of college -- but they could still 20 be required to register for the rest of their 21 lives. 22 And you and I know who it's going 23 to fall on most. And I do not want one more 24 reason for young men in my district to be 25 charged with something where they have to

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(518) 371-8910 1 register for the rest of their lives for 2 something they did when they were 17 or 18. 3 So I vote no. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Nozzolio. 5 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 6 Madam President. On the bill. 7 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 8 bill, Senator Nozzolio. 9 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 10 President and my colleagues, I first, as 11 chairman of the Crime Victims, Crime and 12 Corrections Committee of the New York State 13 Senate, wish to thank my colleagues who were 14 so instrumental in pushing this legislation, 15 particularly Senator Skelos. 16 Senator Skelos, thank you for your 17 leadership on this issue. Ten years ago, when 18 Megan's Law was first created, you brought 19 New York State out of the dark ages into 20 establishing again a zero tolerance for 21 violence and sexual assault in this state. 22 Also, I wish to thank my colleagues 23 who participated in the hearings that we have 24 conducted across this state on updating, 25 modernizing Megan's Law as it has existed now

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(518) 371-8910 1 for 10 years. 2 Our mission was clear. We wanted 3 to modernize it, update it, ensure that law 4 enforcement had appropriate input into how we 5 could, overall, protect more children. That 6 was the objective of the Senate Republican 7 Majority. That was our objective, to ensure 8 that there would be a broader scope of Megan's 9 Law, that the most successful notification 10 program in the history of the nation needed to 11 be modernized, updated, changed so that we 12 would have more children protected. 13 By requiring lifetime registration 14 for all levels, that that is something, as 15 Senator Montgomery very surprisingly protested 16 against, it's our view that those very 17 important crimes that were committed shouldn't 18 be overlooked. Level 1 offenses are very 19 serious offenses. They involve, in many 20 cases, the use of power and authority over the 21 innocent, and that there are children that are 22 the victims of those who have committed 23 Level 1 sex offenses. 24 That I believe you should very much 25 support this legislation, as I know most of,

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(518) 371-8910 1 if not all of our colleagues on this side of 2 the aisle are going to do, because it protects 3 more children, pure and simple, and that it is 4 cried out for time and time again. 5 This is not additional punishment. 6 It's a notification. It's letting the sun 7 shine on the fact that there was a criminality 8 involved and that people have the right to 9 have notification when an individual that 10 committed this crime moves into the area. 11 If you're a parent, I believe you 12 certainly would want this type of notice. 13 You'd want to do all you could to protect your 14 children. That's what the objectives of this 15 conference were. That's why I congratulate 16 Senator Skelos for pushing hard to establish 17 this legislation. That's why I look forward 18 to voting aye. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 21 President. On the bill. 22 Now, I'm amazed to see the level of 23 hypocrisy when people try to use the suffering 24 of our minority community. We say we are 25 supposed to protect our community. Today I

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(518) 371-8910 1 voted against an amendment to this magnificent 2 and good piece of legislation. I want to tell 3 you why. 4 Two weeks ago they called us back 5 here in Albany to deal with a piece of 6 legislation to increase the penalties on those 7 that kill a police officer. And I said on 8 that occasion that my daughter, my only 9 daughter, is a police sergeant in the New York 10 City Police Department, and I'm concerned with 11 that. 12 But I said on that occasion that if 13 we want to protect the community and we are 14 really concerned in protecting our community, 15 the life of a police officer should not be 16 worth more than the life of a bodeguero, of a 17 taxi driver, of a senior citizen, of any other 18 New York State citizen. 19 And on that occasion, nobody cared 20 about -- nobody showed care about the 21 bodegueros, the senior citizens, the taxi 22 drivers, the whole community. We came here 23 and everybody voted in favor of increasing the 24 penalty for those that kill police officers. 25 So where was the concern for our

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(518) 371-8910 1 community on that occasion? Where was the 2 concern for our community, for our people? 3 Only two of us voted against it, Senator 4 Parker and myself. Not because we don't 5 believe in increasing the penalty, but we 6 believe that we are to put an end to crime, we 7 should increase the penalty for everybody. 8 But today we come here trying to 9 put an amendment because we've got to protect 10 our community. We've got to protect our 11 community. That's pure hypocrisy. 12 And I'm voting yes on this piece of 13 legislation. Thank you. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 15 Marcellino. 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Madam 17 President, when I first got elected, one of 18 the first press conferences I attended was on 19 the Capitol steps, and Senator Skelos was 20 there with a bunch of people, and we were 21 championing the beginning and the opening 22 salvo in the movement to pass Megan's Law for 23 the first time. 24 And I was very pleased to be there. 25 It was an important piece of legislation that

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(518) 371-8910 1 was the result of a lot of work on the part of 2 Senator Skelos, for which he is to be 3 congratulated. And I congratulate him again 4 on recognizing the fact that this law has to 5 be amended. This law needs to be changed. 6 When this law expires, thousands of 7 sexual predators will simply disappear. They 8 will no longer be recognized where they are, 9 they will no longer have to register, they 10 will disappear from the public's view. We 11 have to ask ourselves, where will they go? In 12 whose neighborhood will they move? Who will 13 they move next door to? Where will they work? 14 How many more children will they abuse and 15 rape and murder? 16 That's what's at stake here. Never 17 let that escape your mind. Never forget that 18 point. We're trying to protect our children 19 from people who cannot control their own 20 urges. Even they say so. They ask for help 21 in many cases. The system fails them, and it 22 fails our children when we allow them to 23 continue their perverted behavior. We must 24 take firm action to protect our communities 25 and our children's very lives.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ladies and gentlemen, this is an 2 important piece of legislation. The Assembly 3 has suggested we should wait, we should wait 4 for the federal government to act on this 5 issue. 6 I remember a couple of years ago 7 when we passed legislation on the minimum wage 8 and the statement was made by some we should 9 wait because the federal government will act 10 soon and we will not have to. Ladies and 11 gentlemen, we acted. The federal government 12 minimum wage is still what it was, $5.15 an 13 hour. It hasn't moved. 14 There's no guarantee the federal 15 government will act. The way their bills are 16 moving now, chances are they will not act in a 17 timely fashion. In the meantime, this law 18 will have expired, kids will be put at risk, 19 communities will be put at risk, and parents 20 will be threatened and given great anxiety. 21 I commend Senator Skelos for his 22 efforts and his great work on this issue. But 23 this bill has to pass now and pass 24 unanimously. There is no excuse for not 25 passing this bill in both houses. There is no

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(518) 371-8910 1 excuse for this bill not becoming the law of 2 the State of New York. I urge an aye vote 3 from everyone. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Balboni. 5 SENATOR BALBONI: Thank you, 6 Madam President. 7 I have three things to say on this 8 issue. First, to follow up on what Senator 9 Marcellino said, to suggest that this has 10 suddenly become a national issue is 11 ridiculous. 12 I've spoke on the floor before 13 about the issue of preemption; that is, the 14 federal government taking away the purview of 15 the states, the constitutionally granted 16 purview of the states, particularly as it 17 relates to police power to protect our own 18 citizens. 19 Well, there's no more local issue, 20 no more community-based issue than this one. 21 I've said it time and time again, when you 22 pick up the phone and you dial 911, it does 23 not ring in Washington. We must preserve the 24 police powers we have always maintained. We 25 should not wait for the federal government to

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(518) 371-8910 1 act on this. 2 The second is that it was suggested 3 before by one of the prior speakers that we 4 should wait for the Assembly; if we pass the 5 amendments, that the Assembly would do this. 6 Well, I offer a counterview. Madam 7 President, I've come to learn that actions 8 speak louder than words. Just last week in 9 the State of the State address, when Governor 10 Pataki urged the State Legislature to pass his 11 legislation, there were two reactions as 12 relates to Megan's Law. One was a standing 13 ovation from many of the people in this 14 chamber, and the other was a deafening silence 15 on the part of the Assembly majority. If you 16 don't believe me, go back and look at the 17 tape. 18 And the last aspect is, you know in 19 this Legislature we get a chance to hopefully 20 make our mark on a particular issue. And as a 21 result of diligent work, of commitment and 22 persistence, when someone carves out an issue 23 that they believe in, have researched and care 24 deeply about, we should listen to them. 25 And on this issue, Senator Skelos

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(518) 371-8910 1 has become not only a state leader but a 2 national leader. And so when he's urging us 3 to do this particular measure, I think we 4 should take him and his leadership at his 5 word. 6 Thank you, Madam President. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Klein. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: On the bill, 9 Madam President. 10 I've had the distinction of voting 11 for Megan's Law and being one of the original 12 cosponsors 10 years ago. It was Senator 13 Skelos' bill in the Senate and then Assembly 14 Member Dan Feldman. 15 I think what we're seeing now is, 16 10 years later, I'm hopeful that we're now 17 judging its effectiveness. While I'm a firm 18 believer in the importance of notification, I 19 think we really have to make some changes. 20 Because I think what we're doing now, we're 21 giving the public, I think, sort of a sense of 22 safety that we're just releasing these 23 individuals, Level 1, 2 and 3 -- more 24 specifically, Level 3, the most dangerous -- 25 into their communities.

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(518) 371-8910 1 While I think it's important to be 2 able to track their whereabouts and know where 3 they live, I think what we're doing time and 4 time again is releasing ticking time bombs 5 into our community. 6 So I really think the answer -- and 7 I know we're going to be debating this, 8 hopefully next week -- is civil confinement. 9 I think anything we do as far as Megan's Law 10 is truly a Band-Aid approach, but an important 11 one. 12 And I think today the legislation 13 which we're going to pass I understand is an 14 extension. And I certainly agree with the 15 lifetime notification for 1, 2 and 3 level 16 offenders. I think we really need to do a lot 17 more. And I'm hopeful we're going to pass the 18 legislation again that I know Senator Skelos 19 passed last year. 20 But I want to highlight, I think, 21 one specific example which is very, very 22 important. Over the summer my office 23 conducted a study where we looked at over 24 250 zip codes which make up New York City and 25 Westchester County. And what we found was

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(518) 371-8910 1 there was seven Level 3 sexual predators 2 living in each of those zip codes. Seven. 3 That's a real problem. 4 And I think what we're seeing now 5 is again, 10 years later, while some 6 communities, I think, around the state take 7 the notification requirement very, very 8 seriously, I don't think it's being done as 9 well in New York City. And I think everyone 10 knows that the law says that local law 11 enforcement may notify the community. And I 12 think in many cases, especially in New York 13 City, that's just not getting done. 14 Just over the last two months, in 15 my community of the Zerega community, which I 16 represent within my Senate district, we had 17 three Level 3 sexual predators moving into one 18 zip code in a three-month period, living right 19 across the street from a school, up the block 20 from a school. The community never knew. 21 You know, I'm not blaming my local 22 law enforcement. But they in some cases have 23 something else to do or just aren't doing it 24 in a timely fashion. 25 I also represent the Tuckhoe

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(518) 371-8910 1 community in Westchester County. When they 2 had a Level 3 sexual predator moving into 3 their community, there was instant 4 notification. Local law enforcement went door 5 to door with handouts, they held community 6 meetings, I think in a very, very orderly 7 fashion. 8 So I think what we're seeing now is 9 that places around the state -- in New York 10 City, in Westchester, around the state -- are 11 really handling this requirement very, very 12 differently. 13 So one of the things that I'm 14 advocating, and I hope it's going to be in the 15 final version of the legislation that's passed 16 in the Senate, as well as which ultimately 17 becomes law, I think we need a system of 18 instant email notification. 19 If you think about it for a moment, 20 we use the Internet for a whole host of 21 things -- up-to-the-minute weather forecasts, 22 up-to-the-minute stock market quotations. I 23 think we should be using it to give our local 24 communities and our families the ability to 25 take matters into their own hands in

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(518) 371-8910 1 protecting their children. 2 I think in this instance knowledge 3 is power. And I think we have to give people 4 the ability to be able to register online, 5 give the zip codes they're interested in 6 knowing about, where their kids go to school, 7 where their grandkids go to school. And I 8 think, again, that's still a Band-Aid 9 approach, but at least we're allowing our 10 communities to be notified when a dangerous 11 sexual predator moves into their community. 12 Thank you. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Robach. 14 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam 15 President. On the bill. 16 I would just quickly like to add, I 17 think we should be taking a very pragmatic and 18 somewhat populist approach to this. I would 19 agree with my colleague from the Bronx, we 20 should do more. But this is an important 21 piece of many of the things we have to do. 22 While it is not the cure-all, it 23 has been helpful. It was much better than we 24 were at prior to the 10-year time period. And 25 we are now asking for this to be extended and

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(518) 371-8910 1 somewhat strengthened. 2 This has to get done. There should 3 have to be agreement. If people think we 4 aren't doing enough or this is important, I 5 would suggest we go to where the debate may 6 occur. And I don't think any of those bills 7 will have trouble passing this house. 8 My feeling is -- not my feeling, I 9 know that the difficulty would be actually in 10 the other house, the Assembly. Maybe we 11 should go to conference committees or use our 12 collective independent powers perhaps to move 13 them so we can get the right thing done to 14 protect our children. 15 On the populist side, I've spent an 16 inordinate amount of time in the urban part of 17 my district and the suburban part of my 18 district with the PAC-TACers, the neighborhood 19 crime watch people, neighborhood preservation 20 groups. And I can assure you that every one 21 of those people, every one of those groups 22 wants us to pass this bill and go on for GPS 23 tracking, longer sentences, and many other 24 things that would protect kids. 25 And you know what? We should be

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(518) 371-8910 1 responsive to them. Waiting for the federal 2 government, in my opinion, is crazy. We got 3 elected to be here to lead, to take action, 4 not wait for anybody else. And as my 5 colleague Senator Marcellino said, whether 6 it's been labor policy, education policy, 7 social service policy, one of the reasons why 8 I've been very proud to be part of this house, 9 this government, is because we don't wait, we 10 lead. And it should be no different on this. 11 These are our most vulnerable, our 12 kids. We should be doing everything. This 13 should be permanent, this should be 14 strengthened. And this should just be the 15 start of what we need to do to continue to 16 protect our kids. 17 Hopefully this bill will pass here 18 overwhelmingly. And if we need to go to 19 conference committees, so be it. But in the 20 interim, I would ask all my colleagues who 21 support this, and I believe we all should, to 22 do what we can to get the other side to make 23 these permanent changes. We need not rely on 24 another level of government to do the right 25 things for our kids, the people we represent,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and do what we got sent down here to do. 2 Thank you, Madam President. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 4 Oppenheimer. 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you. 6 Most of what I was going to say has 7 already been said. There was only one point I 8 guess at this juncture that I would like to 9 make, and that is that I feel the federal 10 registry is so much preferred to the state 11 registry, because there can be sex offenders 12 living in Connecticut five minutes from my 13 house that will be coming into Westchester. 14 So I guess the point I want to make 15 here is that if the federal government is not 16 responding to what we see as a very grave need 17 for legislation in this area, we really ought 18 to be holding their feet to the fire. Because 19 just having it in our state, while it's 20 comfortable and makes us feel good that we are 21 doing something, unless it is throughout our 22 nation, people move around too easily. We are 23 a very transient society. 24 And I think it has much less value 25 than if it were federally based. And we

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(518) 371-8910 1 really ought to be holding all our 2 representatives' feet to the fire. 3 Thank you. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Flanagan. 5 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 6 Madam President. On the bill. 7 Obviously I've listened to the 8 comments of my colleagues, and I have great 9 respect for people's thoughts and opinions, 10 but I don't necessarily always agree. 11 I don't agree with Senator 12 Schneiderman that we should be dealing with 13 the gun violence bills today. I think they 14 are separate issues. I respect his passion. 15 And I hope that we do have an engaging debate 16 on that at some point, and some point in the 17 short term rather than the long term. 18 I respect Senator Skelos for his 19 leadership, Senator Nozzolio for his 20 leadership on these issues. 21 And there are three things that I 22 just want to say. One just sort of ties into 23 what Senator Oppenheimer just mentioned. And 24 this ties into all issues about security. 25 If you look at some of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 tremendous issues we've had to deal with, the 2 bulk of the work, even when there's federal 3 legislation that gets done, always gets done 4 at the local level. If you look at the 5 thousands of law enforcement personnel, the 6 overwhelming majority of them are New York 7 State people. Yes, we have people from the 8 FBI and from the federal government, but the 9 real work is done at the local level. 10 So I think we should be focusing on 11 our local efforts. Yes, if the federal 12 government wants to do something, great. But 13 we should also bear in mind that what they 14 have set is minimum standards. We should be 15 doing better than that. I mean, think, it's 16 just minimum standards. We have an 17 opportunity and an obligation to go beyond 18 that. 19 And it's not like all this is new 20 information. We have statistics and facts and 21 horrific stories all across this state and all 22 across this country. I listened to Senator 23 Golden today describe some details of some 24 sexual offenses. I'm getting like sick to my 25 stomach, because he's talking about young boys

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(518) 371-8910 1 who are being molested. I have two sons who 2 are 15 and 12. It scares me that this type of 3 activity goes on. And it scares me that we 4 haven't been as aggressive as we possibly 5 could be. 6 Now, I am slightly unique to the 7 rest of my colleagues in this body because we 8 all get an opportunity to listen and learn 9 from our constituents. I have a constituent 10 named Laura Ahearn who lives in Stony Brook 11 and is the executive director of Parents for 12 Megan's Law. Certainly our colleagues are 13 respected in this field, but she's nationally 14 recognized for her passion, her perseverance, 15 her -- I can think of a hundred different 16 words, all pushing in the right direction, 17 talking about protecting children. 18 You know, this is not -- we can all 19 be accused of being political to a degree, 20 even when we're being governmental. Here's 21 somebody who is dispassionate and yet very 22 passionate. She's an expert. She's a great 23 resource for me, as her Senate representative, 24 but also for all of us in the context of the 25 work that we're attempting to do. To hear her

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(518) 371-8910 1 speak today, you really don't need anything 2 else. If people were to hear this, it's 3 common sense. 4 And I'll make a distinction with 5 the Assembly, as opposed to the work that she 6 does. Senator Schneiderman mentioned the 7 efforts of the New York State Assembly. And 8 there's no question that they do do some good 9 things. But if we're going to look to their 10 efforts in this area, for 10 years we've tried 11 to get the language in the statutes changed 12 about notification. We cannot get the 13 New York State Assembly to go for one word, 14 switch from "may" to "shall." 15 That was part of the compromise. 16 That's one of the ways that it got done 10 17 years ago. Most people, I would bet 90 18 percent of the people, if you asked them that 19 question, yes, absolutely. Senator Klein, law 20 enforcement should have that obligation, I 21 agree with you. Make that notification. 22 So the Assembly has lagged way 23 behind in that respect, and I don't want to 24 lag behind with them on this issue. Parents 25 for Megan's Law have underscored, in their

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(518) 371-8910 1 efforts -- and I'll give you one example. 2 They have a program out in Stony Brook where 3 they do mock trials. They have a children's 4 therapy room to help children get ready for 5 having to appear in court to relive these 6 nightmares. 7 I've met with the people who work 8 on this. I met with Laura Ahearn. If you 9 were to go out and see this, you'd think to 10 yourself, again, this is common sense. We 11 should be moving forward, we should be passing 12 this bill. And the Assembly doesn't want to 13 do it, we should immediately go to conference 14 committees and have a great public airing and 15 public debate about the real safety of 16 children. 17 Thank you. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Alesi. 19 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, Madam 20 President. 21 It seems as though at least once a 22 year or so, maybe even more often than that, 23 back in my district we hear about the presence 24 of a sex offender. And neighbors come to a 25 town meeting and express their concern and

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(518) 371-8910 1 their fear for their children. And they're 2 amazed to learn how many sex offenders there 3 really are living among us. And amazed even 4 more so how many we don't know are living 5 among us. 6 And probably one of the most 7 effective tools that people have to protect 8 their families is the sex offender registry. 9 When I listen to my colleague 10 Senator Montgomery express her concerns that 11 Level 1 or 2 sex offenders would bear the 12 scars of being on this registry for life, I 13 respect her passion for caring about her 14 constituents. But her constituents, like all 15 of ours, would also be the victims of sex 16 offense, not just the perpetrators. And the 17 scars that those victims bear will last a 18 lifetime, whether you see them or not. 19 And those perpetrators -- and I 20 should underscore, Level 1 or 2 doesn't mean 21 they're any less dangerous than Level 3. 22 There are extenuating circumstances that 23 determine the level. Those sex offenders we 24 know have an extremely high recidivism rate. 25 The chances are very good that they will find

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(518) 371-8910 1 another way, seize another opportunity, 2 destroy another life. 3 And all we're suggesting in this 4 legislation is that we continue to make those 5 dangerous people known to their neighbors so 6 that they can be protected. That's all we're 7 asking. And if 10 years for a Level 1 or 2 8 has proven to be good enough, then why not a 9 lifetime? Because as I said before, the scars 10 of being a victim of a sex offender last a 11 lifetime. 12 Now, I don't know what's going to 13 happen in the Assembly. I'm not entirely sure 14 whether it's a political game that's being 15 played over there or not. But what I can tell 16 you is this. In a few short weeks, if we 17 don't have a bill in both houses, in my 18 district, where I live, 122 sex offenders are 19 going to fall off the screen. They'll be 20 lost. But they will not be changed. They 21 will be invisible, and they'll be more 22 dangerous as a result of that. 23 For the life of me, I can't imagine 24 why anybody would not support this 25 legislation. If I know that 122 sex offenders

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(518) 371-8910 1 are going to disappear from scrutiny in my 2 district, then ask yourselves how many are 3 going to disappear in your district and your 4 district and in Senator Montgomery's district. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Golden. 6 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, Madam 7 President. 8 I too rise to speak on the bill and 9 to thank Senator Skelos and all of my 10 colleagues here. 11 But there is no Democratic or 12 Republican way in protecting our children. 13 And I don't think the families of the children 14 that are assaulted want to hear about our 15 squabbles. They want action. 16 And in Kings County, in Brooklyn, 17 where I come from, there are 1619 sex 18 offenders living in Brooklyn. A number of 19 them will fall off by the end of this month, 20 and a tremendous number of them will fall off 21 by the end of this year. There are 5400 in 22 all the city of New York and 20,000 in the 23 state of New York. And there are over 550,000 24 nationwide. Pretty sad numbers. 25 Before one of these people are

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(518) 371-8910 1 arrested, they assault over 100 children. 2 Their lifetime record is about 350, although 3 some go on to do thousands. Take a look at 4 these numbers of children that are being 5 assaulted, the families that are being hurt, 6 the scars that we are putting on those 7 children and those families. 8 We have to pass this legislation 9 because it's the right thing to do. 10 Mr. Lunsford was here in June, and he'll be 11 back up again probably next week or the week 12 after. Mark Lunsford's child Jessica, they 13 didn't know that 50 feet from them was a 14 Level 3. They didn't know that Jessica was 15 still alive 48 hours after and that she was 16 hidden in a closet, tied up. And that if they 17 had the proper tools for the police 18 department, either GPS or civil confinement, 19 they could track, that child would be alive 20 today. 21 I dare to say I'd hate to see a 22 Jessica in the city, I'd hate to see a Jessica 23 in Brooklyn, I'd hate to see a Jessica 24 anyplace across this country and have to face 25 that family and tell them we couldn't get it

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(518) 371-8910 1 together. 2 So I'm hoping that everybody in 3 this body sees the reason why we should vote 4 for this and that we should give the police 5 departments across this state the tools they 6 need to protect our children and our families. 7 I vote yes. Thank you. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 10 On the bill. 11 I will be voting for this bill, but 12 I think that we're both oversimplifying and 13 losing track of a few things here today. 14 One, we don't have to worry about 15 people falling off this list as long as we go 16 to conference committee. The Assembly today 17 has passed a bill. We will pass this bill. 18 What is incumbent on us is to get to a 19 conference committee as quickly as possible to 20 come to agreement. 21 So I don't want people to walk away 22 or for the press to tell a story that the 23 actions of the Senate or the Assembly in some 24 way are putting us at risk of having people 25 fall off this registry, because that is not

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(518) 371-8910 1 correct. 2 Second, I do think we oversimplify 3 the question with this bill by not going far 4 enough. My colleague Senator Klein raised 5 some of the concerns, and I will go further. 6 I worry that after 10 years of 7 putting people on a registry list, that we 8 perhaps have comforted ourselves or the public 9 that that protects them. Knowing that there 10 is a sex offender in a community does not 11 necessarily do anything to address a better 12 coordinated model of law enforcement, to 13 provide the funding for the services that may 14 be required, in coordination with law 15 enforcement, to ensure monitoring and 16 supervision and treatment of sex offenders. 17 I think we oversimplify when we 18 mostly talk about attacks on children, when of 19 course this is attacks on everyone, adults -- 20 primarily women, but sometimes men -- and 21 children. 22 And we do oversimplify, and I share 23 the concerns of my colleagues such as Senator 24 Montgomery who pointed out that there are 25 differences between Levels 1, 2, and 3.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I respect Senator Skelos's 2 argument that a crime is a crime. But I think 3 we do danger to our own planning that we ought 4 to be doing to expand protections in our own 5 communities if we do label the response to a 6 flasher the same as the response to someone 7 who is a rapist or a pedophile, because we 8 know that those are different activities. 9 And so simply defining Level 1, 2, 10 3, whatever the realities of the crime were, 11 as "go in the computer for the rest of your 12 life and be looked up that way," that that's 13 not smart public policy. 14 So I hope we do go into conference 15 committee quickly and that we actually have 16 substantive discussion about how do we address 17 these concerns in our communities. Because a 18 number of my colleagues have mentioned 19 numbers, and those numbers are scary. And the 20 truth is, and I think Senator Golden knows 21 this, and he referenced the New York City 22 numbers, we don't have a system in place for 23 the police to actually follow up if somebody 24 chooses not to reenter their information into 25 the computer.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I had a situation in my own 2 district this year where we learned that in 3 fact there are quite a few Level 3 sex 4 offenders who don't seem to go and report, and 5 no one does anything about it. 6 And so one can argue that, well, we 7 have the law -- but if we don't have the plan, 8 the funding, the resources at the level of the 9 community where our police professionals, our 10 treatment providers, our case managers can in 11 fact figure out what we're doing to do about 12 this, I feel that simply saying we passed a 13 law, you have to sign up on the computer for 14 life, isn't really going to get us any real 15 increased security for our communities. 16 My colleague Senator Bonacic had a 17 bill last year that I believe talked about GPS 18 bracelet monitoring. I believe that was your 19 bill, Senator. Am I right? You're listening. 20 I think it was Senator Bonacic's bill on GPS 21 monitoring and bracelets. And that may in 22 fact be a very important response for some 23 level of sex offenders. 24 We should be having conference 25 committee with the Assembly immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Let's put out all these various proposals that 2 go far further than just this one bill today, 3 and let's see where we can get. But let's 4 also not panic our communities that some cliff 5 is about to be fallen off of, because we all 6 know that is not the case. 7 I think our assignment is to see, 8 after 10 years of Megan's Law's existence, 9 what can we do to better protect our 10 communities and not oversimplify the 11 questions. 12 I will be voting yes. Thank you, 13 Madam President. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Larkin. 15 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 We've been discussing this bill for 18 an hour and five minutes. This bill is dated 19 16 December '05. Since that time, I discussed 20 it back in my district with people from all 21 walks of life. Their general comment was: 22 What is taking you so long to do something so 23 simple to protect people? 24 Now, I just heard Senator Krueger 25 talk like this was just, you know, a little

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(518) 371-8910 1 toothache. It isn't a toothache. This is a 2 very serious matter. 3 On Saturday I celebrated the birth, 4 one year old, of a 12th grandchild and a 13th 5 grandchild. And as I looked at them, I said, 6 I have to worry, because there's people out 7 there that people want to protect. 8 We want to protect our families. 9 And I can't believe that anybody in this 10 chamber in reality, who thinks right, doesn't 11 put protection of our families and our 12 children first. 13 When we talk about lifetime on the 14 registry, I think it's a wonderful idea. 15 Because at my age, I won't have to worry about 16 my grandchildren. Somebody else will after 17 me. 18 You know, it's a shame that we are 19 talking here at this time of the year about an 20 issue that should have been done before. And 21 then I hear someone say, Well, let's wait 22 until the federal government does in March of 23 '07. I've heard in this chamber people say, 24 We can't wait for the federal government, we 25 have to do it.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Yes, we should do it. And we 2 should do it now. And I'd be ashamed of 3 anybody who says they can't vote for this. 4 Why can't you vote for it? Because it's the 5 right thing to do? 6 And I heard someone say, Well, a 7 conference committee. Well, you know, Senator 8 Bruno said that before. He and Senator Skelos 9 said it this morning at a press conference. 10 We're waiting. We'll be willing to discuss it 11 with the other house. But every time we come 12 up to this, it's protect the criminal, not 13 protect the innocent. 14 I think it's about time we started 15 to remember what our mission is here, what we 16 were elected to do. We were elected to 17 protect the people of the State of New York. 18 And we should be in the front line of showing 19 the rest of the nation that the State of 20 New York takes care of its people. 21 Thank you, Madam President. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator LaValle. 23 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 24 Madam President. I'm going to be very brief. 25 First, I wanted to commend Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Skelos for his good work on this issue and his 2 focus; Laura Ahearn, who is an advocate on 3 this issue and has done a lot of work. 4 But there's -- for me, I'm sitting 5 here listening to the debate, and I'm saying, 6 what am I missing? In the '05 session we 7 passed I don't know how many bills and how 8 many debates that we had on this very issue -- 9 not only Megan's Law, but the sexual predator 10 issue. We looked at it from every angle that 11 we could look at it. 12 As everyone is remindful, towards 13 the end of '05 this issue got a lot of 14 attention in the press. And there was even 15 discussion that in December we might deal with 16 Megan's Law, civil commitment and other 17 related issues. That did not happen. 18 We are now into January. I am 19 reminded -- and I think everyone here will 20 identify with what I'm going say -- when I was 21 first elected, there was a bill dealing with 22 students. It was a bus safety issue. And 23 having been the former director of the 24 Education Committee, I looked at the bill and 25 I was really being a techie, and I said, Oh,

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(518) 371-8910 1 you know, there's problems with this bill, I'm 2 not going to vote for this bill. 3 The senior member came over to me 4 and said: "Ken, I would be very, very careful 5 of voting against this bill. Because God 6 forbid one student is injured or killed and 7 you will have voted in the negative and we 8 will not have passed -- or the bill doesn't 9 pass if you get up and debate it." And I've 10 always thought about it. 11 This bill takes effect immediately. 12 Everyone has talked about this issue ad 13 infinitum. And I think it is about our 14 children. And to further delay this issue is 15 really a disappointment. It's a 16 disappointment in this body because we've 17 taken such great leadership on all the bills, 18 and it's passed with bipartisan support in 19 this house, and yet the Assembly has not come 20 to the table on a critical issue to protect 21 our children. Shame, shame on them. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Little. 23 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Madam 24 Speaker. 25 I'd like to speak on the bill for a

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(518) 371-8910 1 moment and certainly thank Senator Skelos for 2 putting this bill forward. I'm very pleased 3 to be a cosponsor of it. 4 I know that anytime I read about a 5 sexual offense, a child, an adult, a girl or a 6 boy, I get a very sickening feeling in my 7 stomach. And I'm sure that I'm not the only 8 one who feels that way. 9 My second thought is always how 10 would I feel if this were one of my children 11 or my parent or my loved one, my grandchild. 12 And then you get very angry, because you can't 13 help but think how can this be prevented, how 14 can we protect our children. 15 One of the tools that we have had 16 to protect our children is Megan's Law. And 17 this bill helps reinforce that and extend it. 18 Certainly there is no way to 19 identify a sexual offender. They come from 20 all walks of life, all sizes, all ages. But 21 the one thing we can use to identify a 22 convicted sexual offender in our 23 neighborhoods, in our municipalities, is 24 Megan's Law. And our schools use it, our 25 parents use it. People need this. They need

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(518) 371-8910 1 this way of identifying those who are 2 convicted. 3 Keep in mind, there are thousands 4 of sex offenders out there who are not on 5 Megan's list that we have no way of 6 identifying. But let's make sure that we 7 continue to have Megan's list, that we can 8 identify every convicted sexual offender, 9 Level 1, 2, or 3, for their lifetime. 10 Thank you. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 12 Fuschillo. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 14 Madam President. 15 This has certainly been a spirited 16 discussion about such a critical issue. But 17 as I sit hear and I listen to all the 18 comments, I think about myself as a parent. 19 From the minute my wife and I wake 20 up, and I'm sure it's similar in other 21 households, we think about everything to 22 protect our children. We make sure they eat 23 the right foods, we make sure they dress 24 properly, we make sure they get to school 25 safely. We drive them ourselves to ensure

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(518) 371-8910 1 that. When they come home, we make sure they 2 know where we were to pick them up. We 3 monitor their activities. We watch every 4 single thing they do in their lives every 5 minute of the day till they go to bed and we 6 go to bed, and the cycle starts over. 7 Now, my kids, my oldest just turned 8 15, my middle guy is 11 1/2, and my daughter 9 is 6. And I'm sure this is going to be for 10 the rest of my life, even when they go out of 11 the house. 12 This is a no-brainer. But what's 13 upsetting to me on this particular issue -- 14 and my compliments to Senator Skelos. And 15 unfortunately, Dean, 10 years went by like 16 that. And this has to be reevaluated, and the 17 right thing has to be done. 18 But what's upsetting is on an issue 19 like this, to protect what we cherish so much, 20 our children and parents throughout this 21 state, is that 212 legislators aren't 22 screaming, yelling that this has to be done 23 immediately. It shouldn't be debated. It 24 shouldn't be conferenced, in my opinion. It 25 should be done, the right thing that should be

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(518) 371-8910 1 done. 2 It's not a federal issue. Today 3 we're dealing with a state issue. And in the 4 absence of any federal agreement, we have an 5 obligation to protect the children and 6 families of this state. I'll be voting in the 7 affirmative. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bonacic. 9 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 10 Madam Speaker. 11 I ask you, take a moment and think 12 that you're not a politician, you're not an 13 elected official. And I ask you a simple 14 question: What is the most sacred thing in 15 your life? Think about it. Is it your 16 wealth? Is it your friends? It's simple. 17 It's your family. And it's the protection of 18 your family. 19 Now, whenever we have an 20 opportunity when it comes to children and 21 especially women, who I think are the 22 quarterbacks in taking care of a family -- 23 tending to their health care needs of 24 children, making sure that they get to school 25 on time. They're there every day, for the

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(518) 371-8910 1 most part, taking care of the family while the 2 man is out working, bringing money home. 3 How can anyone not pass bills that 4 safeguard the safety of children and women 5 from sexual predators? It's unheard-of. And 6 any elected official that doesn't stand up and 7 run to vote to make more strict and more 8 harsher laws to protect our women and children 9 should be impeached, in my opinion. 10 Now, the people in this chamber 11 will vote for this bill, for the most part. 12 We are talking about who is the strongest and 13 the voice of the Democratic Party in the State 14 of New York. And I will tell you who that is. 15 That's Sheldon Silver. And he is the Assembly 16 leadership. He is the head of the Democratic 17 Party. 18 And the philosophy that we have 19 seen when it comes to criminal enforcement 20 legislation is they're more concerned with the 21 rights of the criminals than they are with the 22 victims. 23 Just take two weeks ago. Sheldon 24 Silver made a stupid remark that "I don't go 25 to cops' funerals." That set off a lightning

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(518) 371-8910 1 rod of public pressure, of law enforcement 2 officials throughout the state of New York. 3 And Democrats, good Democrats from the state 4 of New York were nervous. It didn't agree 5 with their values. And they pressured Sheldon 6 Silver and the leadership to vote to change 7 cop-killer legislation and make it tougher, 8 and they voted for gun trafficking. 9 Did he want to do it? He didn't 10 want to do it. He was backed into a corner. 11 That's why he reacted. And it's the same kind 12 of tactics that are going on with this 13 legislation. 14 So I know we will be together when 15 it comes to protecting our children and our 16 families from sexual predators. But I will 17 say to you we have a greater obligation. 18 Every Democrat in this chamber that 19 votes yes for this legislation and every woman 20 Democrat should be standing up with us at 21 press conferences and bashing Sheldon Silver, 22 the leader of the Democratic Party, and that 23 Assembly leadership, of why they are not doing 24 everything in their power to protect our 25 children and our women from the most deviant

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(518) 371-8910 1 and dangerous criminals out there. That's 2 what I ask of you. 3 Thank you, Madam Speaker. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. It's 5 "President." 6 To close, Senator Skelos. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 8 President. 9 Recently I was asked by a reporter 10 why I feel so passionate about the reforming 11 of Megan's Law. Number one, it makes those 12 who commit these crimes accountable to the 13 victim and accountable to society. 14 I've met with Maureen Kanka, young 15 Megan's mom, who talked to me about what 16 happened to her daughter. Her daughter would 17 be in college right now. Three convicted 18 pedophiles living across the street, and they 19 didn't know. 20 Sitting down with Mark Klaas, whose 21 daughter Polly out in California was just 22 taken out of her bedroom, brutally raped and 23 murdered; with Mark Lunsford -- we know the 24 story of Jessica -- with Laura Ahearn and 25 other experts in the field, how important it

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(518) 371-8910 1 is to have zero tolerance for sexual 2 offenders. 3 We've had a very good discussion 4 today, and certainly people feel very 5 passionate about this. I mean, the only 6 regret I have about the debate today, quite 7 frankly, is the Minority putting up an 8 amendment that certainly was not germane, that 9 was intended to deflect attention away from 10 what this chamber is doing today, and using 11 inappropriate, inflammatory language that 12 somehow if you're a Republican you're in the 13 pocket or you just take the lead from the NRA. 14 That would be like me saying that 15 if you vote against this or you're a Democrat 16 legislator, you're controlled by pedophiles. 17 Right? If you want to use inflammatory 18 language. It's inappropriate to have used 19 that type of language and try to deflect away 20 from what we are doing today. 21 We're elected to lead. We're not 22 elected to follow. And Senator Marcellino 23 mentioned about the minimum wage. I heard all 24 our good friends on the other side of the 25 aisle say raise the minimum wage, don't wait

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(518) 371-8910 1 for the federal government. But yet when it 2 comes to protecting children and women, we're 3 being asked to support an extender for over 4 one year, until March of '07 -- till March of 5 '07 -- to see if the federal government may 6 act. Not that they're going to act. 7 And what the Speaker has not 8 pointed out, and the Assembly majority, is the 9 bill that they hang their hat on is dead in 10 the Congress. Because we've discussed it with 11 the Judiciary Committee. There's a new bill 12 that, quite honestly, is starting the 13 watering-down process. Because the federal 14 government establishes the minimum standards. 15 And we can go beyond those and 16 establish maximum standards. And that would 17 be, quite frankly, the bill that we have 18 before us today with lifetime registration. 19 If we had waited for the federal 20 government, we wouldn't have the EPIC program 21 which we passed in 1986 in this state. If we 22 waited for the federal government, and we 23 mentioned the minimum wage increase, we 24 wouldn't have college-tuition deductibility in 25 this state.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I just find it very interesting 2 that our friends on the other side of the 3 aisle and the Democrat majority in the 4 Assembly now wants us to be led by the federal 5 government. I think that's wrong. 6 And Senator Klein mentioned the 7 list of legislation. Email notification. We 8 passed it in the Senate. GPS tracking, 9 Senator Bonacic's bill, we passed it in the 10 Senate. Civil commitment or confinement, 11 Senator Volker's bill, we've passed it in the 12 Senate. All on the Internet, we've passed it 13 in the Senate. Statute of limitations, 14 eliminating the five-year statute of 15 limitations on rape, we've passed it in the 16 Senate. 17 Spend your time in the Assembly to 18 get your colleagues to pass this legislation. 19 That's what it's about, getting your 20 colleagues to pass legislation that is going 21 to protect our children from individuals who 22 would take a young girl, brutally rape them, 23 kill them, and then throw them in the forest 24 or in the street like they're a piece of 25 garbage. That's what we're dealing with.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So there should be zero tolerance 2 when it comes to sexual offenders. And all of 3 us, the Assembly, should be talking about 4 passing this legislation, not passing an 5 extender. 6 Now, Senator Bruno has indicated, 7 willing to go to conference committee. We 8 have a bill that's real. The Assembly has 9 passed an extender changing a couple of words. 10 It's not even their position in terms of what 11 type of notification there should be. So 12 we're going to go to conference committee with 13 a real bill, and we're going to discuss with 14 the Assembly to see whether there should be a 15 moratorium for over a year to see if the 16 federal government acts? That's absurd. 17 So the bottom line is we have to 18 act, we have to act in a timely fashion, or by 19 the end of January there are going to be 20 several hundred people off the registry, 21 800 more in February, over a thousand more in 22 March, and, by the end of this year, 3579 23 Level 1 and Level 2 offenders will no longer 24 be in the registry so that we'll have the 25 information to protect our kids.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I urge you, vote for this bill 2 and certainly talk to your colleagues in the 3 other house to make sure that they pass this 4 bill to protect our children. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The members being 7 present, I'll ask the last section to be read, 8 please. 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 Duane, to 14 explain your vote. 15 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 Even after the debate on the bill, 18 I remain concerned about the potential 19 mistakes or miscarriages of justice that could 20 happen even for those or maybe particularly 21 for those who are considered Level 1 offenders 22 who might be captured in the category of 23 someone having sex with someone who is 24 underage. And I have raised this before. 25 The law doesn't take into account

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(518) 371-8910 1 the difference -- the law as it is now doesn't 2 take into account, and this wouldn't be 3 changed under this legislation either, the 4 difference between a 21-year-old having sex 5 with a 17-year-old, which is entirely 6 different than a 40-year-old having sex with a 7 is a year old. And I don't want to at this 8 time put at risk juveniles being put on the 9 list for 20 years. For a 21-year-old, that's 10 a very long time. 11 Now, I also think that the bill 12 does disregard level designations and the 13 reasons that we have level designations. You 14 know, a Level 1 is not a Level 2, a Level 2 is 15 not a Level 3, a Level 3 is not a Level 1. 16 So I also predict that we'll have 17 another chance to debate and vote on this 18 bill, and I hope that we'll also cover the 19 issue of rehabilitation then. 20 And finally, I also think that we 21 have our work cut out for us in terms of 22 lengthening the statute of limitations for 23 civil cases -- 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane, 25 how do you vote? Your time is up.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DUANE: -- and also the 2 statute of limitations for rape now that we 3 have DNA. 4 I vote no. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 6 Senator. You will be so recorded as voting in 7 the negative on this bill. 8 Senator Bonacic, to explain your 9 vote. 10 SENATOR BONACIC: Madam 11 President, in my district, if we do not have 12 an agreement on this legislation, we will have 13 a little less than a hundred sexual predators 14 preying on our families in my particular 15 Senate district. 16 And the other point that I'd like 17 to make -- and I wanted to thank Senator 18 Skelos and the conference who has exercised 19 leadership on this role. But we have many 20 working men and women that are out there in 21 the marketplace. And their children many 22 times are unattended, and they need even more 23 protection from the sexual predators. They 24 need information in order to help themselves 25 protect their children.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'd like to thank every member in 2 this chamber, on both sides of the aisle, that 3 vote yes for this legislation. I vote aye. 4 Thank you. 5 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 6 recorded as voting in the affirmative. 7 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain 8 your vote. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'm 10 going to vote yes. 11 I heard some of the opposition 12 concerned about the individual who may be the 13 perpetrator. I think what's most important 14 when we deal with legislation is we're always 15 balancing things. There's no clear-cut 16 anything in this world. We're always 17 balancing things. 18 And, first of all, I think it's 19 important that before someone gets on a 20 registry, they've either pled guilty to a sex 21 crime or they were found guilty. And when you 22 balance that person being on a registry to 23 protect other people, especially children, 24 against the embarrassment of someone who is 25 convicted of a crime such as this, I don't

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(518) 371-8910 1 think the balance is even close. 2 For those reasons, I'm voting aye. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 4 DeFrancisco, you will be recorded as voting in 5 the affirmative. 6 Senator Nozzolio, to explain your 7 vote. 8 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 9 Madam President. I ask permission to explain 10 my vote. 11 As chairman of the committee that 12 reviewed this legislation, I wish to thank all 13 the law enforcement officers who provided 14 testimony, all the educators who provided us 15 input, all the citizen activists who came 16 before the committee time and again, and thank 17 them for their assistance in making this law a 18 law that will achieve the objective of 19 protecting more children. 20 Lastly, I'd like to thank our 21 members, the leadership of Senator Bruno and 22 Deputy Majority Leader Senator Skelos for 23 their leadership on this very important issue. 24 I vote aye, Madam President. Thank 25 you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 2 recorded as voting in the affirmative. 3 Senator Johnson, to explain your 4 vote. 5 SENATOR JOHNSON: I'd like to 6 thank Laura Ahearn for being here today, for 7 leading the charge against this continuing 8 child sex abuse and doing something about it. 9 She came to my district and put a program on 10 for my constituents, we passed out 11 information. It was very helpful and 12 enlightening to a lot of people. 13 And I want to thank you for being 14 here all day today to make sure that we got 15 this done. 16 Thank you. 17 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 18 recorded as voting in the affirmative. 19 Senator Maziarz, to explain your 20 vote. 21 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 22 much, Madam President. Just very briefly to 23 explain my vote. 24 You know, it's almost -- I listened 25 to this entire debate, and it's almost

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(518) 371-8910 1 incomprehensible that the Assembly passed 2 today and some of my colleagues positively 3 reflected on the fact that they passed an 4 extender today. You know, we pass extenders 5 for budget bills, for programs in the Health 6 Department and DEC and things like that. 7 We're talking about legislation that protects 8 children. 9 There's no deadline, there should 10 be no deadline on legislation that protects 11 children from sexual predators. To have a 12 deadline of March 31, 2007, which some policy 13 person on the other side just pulled out, and 14 then to use the excuse that we're waiting for 15 the federal government -- some of my 16 colleagues, Senator Skelos and Senator 17 Marcellino and others pointed out how we 18 didn't wait for the federal government. We've 19 always been the leader on issues like this, 20 and we should continue to be the leader on 21 issues just like this. 22 I'm going to be voting in the 23 affirmative. Thank you, Madam President. 24 THE PRESIDENT: And you will be 25 so recorded.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will announce the 2 results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 30 are 5 Senators Duane, Montgomery, and Parker. 6 Ayes, 54. Nays, 3. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 Senator Bruno. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President, 11 is there any further business there at the 12 desk? 13 THE PRESIDENT: No, there is not. 14 The calendar is completed. 15 SENATOR BRUNO: There being no 16 further business, I would move that we stand 17 adjourned until tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. 18 Thank you, Madam President. 19 THE PRESIDENT: On motion, the 20 Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday, 21 January 10th, at 11:00 a.m. 22 (Whereupon, at 5:30 p.m., the 23 Senate adjourned.) 24 25

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