Tuesday, January 24, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 January 24, 2006 11 11:05 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25

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

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(518) 371-8910 1 Messages from the Governor. 2 Reports of standing committees. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson, 5 from the Committee on Finance, reports the 6 following bills: 7 Senate Print 5763B, by Senator 8 Marcellino, an act to amend the Tax Law; 9 5846A, by Senator Wright, an act to 10 amend the Tax Law; 11 5965A, by Senator Spano, an act to 12 amend the Tax Law; 13 5968, by Senator Robach, an act to 14 amend the Tax Law; 15 5970A, by Senator Hannon, an act to 16 amend the Tax Law; 17 And Senate Print 6410, by Senator 18 Hannon, an act to amend the Public Health Law. 19 All bills ordered direct to third 20 reading. 21 THE PRESIDENT: All bills ordered 22 direct to third reading. 23 Reports of select committees. 24 Communications and reports from 25 state officers.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Motions and resolutions. 2 Senator Farley. 3 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 4 President. 5 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. 6 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 7 Senator Volker, on page 10 I offer the 8 following amendments to Calendar Number 18, 9 Senate Print 6277, and I ask that that bill 10 retain its place on the Third Reading 11 Calendar. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 13 are received, and the bill will retain its 14 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 16 on behalf of Senator Nozzolio, I move to 17 restore an amended Senate bill to its original 18 previous print. And I move to amend the 19 Senate Bill 1323C by striking out the 20 amendments made on January 23rd and restoring 21 it to its previous print number, 1323B. 22 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 23 Senator Skelos. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 25 I believe there are substitutions at the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, there are, 2 Senator. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Senator Hannon, 5 from the Committee on Health, moves to 6 discharge Assembly Bill Number 9462 and 7 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 8 Number 6410, Third Reading Calendar 88. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Substitution 10 ordered. 11 Senator Skelos. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 13 adopt the Resolution Calendar at this time. 14 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 15 adopting the Resolution Calendar please 16 signify by saying aye. 17 (Response of "Aye.") 18 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 THE PRESIDENT: The Resolution 21 Calendar is adopted. 22 Senator Skelos. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 24 I believe there's a resolution at the desk by 25 Senator Meier. If we could have the title

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(518) 371-8910 1 read and move for its immediate adoption. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 3 will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Meier, 5 Legislative Resolution Number 3306, honoring 6 Pearl "Pi" Gentile upon the occasion of her 7 retirement as Executive Director of Hospice & 8 Palliative Care, Inc., of Oneida, Herkimer and 9 Eastern Madison County. 10 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor 11 please signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 14 (No response.) 15 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 16 adopted. 17 Senator Farley. 18 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 19 I'd like to offer Resolution 3298 to the rest 20 of the body. It's asking Governor Pataki to 21 proclaim February 5th as Inventors' Week. 22 It's been one that's been sponsored by the 23 chamber. 24 So if anybody would like to sponsor 25 it, would you please see the desk. Or

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(518) 371-8910 1 everybody could be on it, unless there's an 2 objection. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 5 we'll open up the resolution. If anybody 6 wishes not to sponsor the resolution, they 7 should notify the desk. 8 Would you please recognize Senator 9 Connor. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Any member who 11 does not wish to cosponsor the resolution 12 referred to by Senator Farley, please notify 13 the desk. 14 Senator Connor. 15 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 Madam President, Resolution Number 18 3296 on today's calendar, sponsored by myself 19 and Senators Duane, Golden, Savino, and 20 Stavisky, commemorates the Asian-American 21 New Year, which this year is on our 22 January 29th. It ushers in the Year of the 23 Dog, 4704. 24 People born in the Year of the Dog 25 are responsible and compassionate. They're

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(518) 371-8910 1 known for offering kind words, support and 2 advice to friends and family; attentive 3 listeners, they always make themselves 4 available to lend an ear or a shoulder to a 5 friend in need. 6 Those born under the sign of the 7 dog are reliable, generous, thoughtful of 8 others, work well with people, and like to 9 finish what they start. They are ethically 10 and morally strong, honest, and trustworthy. 11 This resolution is something we do 12 every year, and it really honors the many, 13 many Asian-Americans we are privileged to have 14 living in New York State and in New York City, 15 where there's a large community, obviously. 16 And we do offer this resolution to extend our 17 good wishes for a happy new year to the 18 Asian-Americans. 19 And, Madam President, if any other 20 member would like to cosponsor it, myself and 21 the cosponsors are certainly amenable to 22 opening it to such sponsorship. Thank you. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos, 24 do you have any objection to opening it for 25 cosponsorship?

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(518) 371-8910 1 Then any member who does not wish 2 to cosponsor the resolution referred to by 3 Senator Connor, please notify the desk. 4 Senator Schneiderman. 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, thank 6 you, Madam President. 7 I concur with Senator Connor's fine 8 words about the Year of the Dog. And it's 9 important for us to recognize, through our 10 resolutions, things like Chinese New Year -- 11 Xin Nian, Guo Nian -- Guo Nian I think is the 12 way they talk about it in that part of his 13 district. But Guo Nian is always a good year 14 for progressives and reformers, traditionally, 15 so I look forward to celebrating that as well. 16 I would also like to note, Madam 17 President, on a less happy note, that while we 18 are doing some excellent resolutions today 19 commemorating people's achievements, achieving 20 ranks of Eagle Scouts, retirements, wedding 21 anniversaries, we did have a request today, 22 that Senator Krueger and I and 12 other 23 members put in, for a resolution commemorating 24 the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. I'm very 25 disappointed that we were unable to get that

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(518) 371-8910 1 on the calendar. 2 This is the 33rd anniversary of one 3 of the most important decisions protecting the 4 freedom and rights of women in the history of 5 the U.S. Supreme Court, and it saddens me that 6 the New York State Senate, which led the way 7 before the federal government changed the law, 8 is not able to commemorate that critical 9 decision in support of women's lives and 10 women's freedom today. 11 Thank you, Madam President. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 14 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 15 of the calendar. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 17 will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 480A, an 20 act to amend the Penal Law. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 22 aside. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 24 aside. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 2, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 498, an act 2 to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the first of 7 November. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 3, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 913A, an 15 act to amend the Penal Law and the Correction 16 Law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 20 act shall take effect on the first of 21 November. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

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(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 4, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 932, an 4 act to amend the Penal Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This 8 act shall take effect on the first of 9 November. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 5, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 1170, an 17 act to amend the Criminal Procedure 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, 50. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

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(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 6, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 1517, an act 4 to amend the Penal Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect on the first of 9 November. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. Nays, 13 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 7, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 1531, an 18 act to amend the Penal Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the first of 23 November. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 2 the negative on Calendar Number 7 are Senators 3 Duane and Montgomery. Ayes, 51. Nays, 2. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 8, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 1619, an 8 act to amend the Penal Law. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect on the first of 13 November. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 9, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 2452, an 21 act to amend the Penal Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect on the first of

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(518) 371-8910 1 November. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. Nays, 5 2. Senators Duane and Montgomery recorded in 6 the negative. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 10, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 2724, an 11 act to amend the Penal Law. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of 16 November. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays, 20 1. Senator Montgomery recorded in the 21 negative. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 23 passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 12, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 3230, an

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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Penal Law and the Correction 2 Law. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 11 passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 13, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 3509, an 14 act to amend the Penal Law. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 16 section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 16. This 18 act shall take effect on the first of 19 November. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 14, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 3841, an 2 act to amend the Penal Law. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 6 act shall take effect on the first of 7 November. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays, 11 1. Senator Montgomery recorded in the 12 negative. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 15, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 4032, an 17 act to amend the Penal Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the first of 22 September. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 17, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 5355A, an 5 act to amend the Penal Law. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 33. This 9 act shall take effect on the first of 10 November. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 14 the negative on Calendar Number 17 are 15 Senators Duane, Gonzalez, Montgomery and 16 Parker. Ayes, 50. Nays, 4. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 19, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 204A, an 21 act to amend the Correction Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect on the first of

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(518) 371-8910 1 November. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 20, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 481, an 9 act to amend the Correction Law. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays, 17 1. Senator Montgomery recorded in the 18 negative. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 21, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 483A, an 23 act to amend the Correction Law. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays, 6 1. Senator Montgomery recorded in the 7 negative. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 22, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 496B, an 12 act to amend the Correction Law. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 16 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays, 20 1. Senator Montgomery recorded in the 21 negative. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 23 passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 23, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 1169A, an

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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Correction Law. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 3 section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays, 9 1. Senator Montgomery recorded in the 10 negative. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 24, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 1323B, 15 an act to amend the Correction Law. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 17 section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 19 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 25, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 4025A, an 2 act to amend the Correction Law. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the first of 7 November. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 14 Calendar Number 25: Ayes, 52. Nays, 2. 15 Senators Duane and Montgomery recorded in the 16 negative. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 26, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4656B, an 21 act to amend the Correction Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 25 act shall take effect on the 120th day.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 27, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4793C, an 8 act to amend the Correction Law. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 27. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays, 16 2. Senators Duane and Montgomery recorded in 17 the negative. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 28, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print -- 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 23 amendments, please. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 25 aside for amendments.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 35, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 6378, an 3 act to amend the Election Law. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 5 aside. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 7 aside. 8 The Secretary will continue to 9 read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 88, substituted earlier today by Member of the 12 Assembly Gottfried, Assembly Print Number 13 9462, an act to amend the Public Health Law. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside 15 temporarily. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 17 aside temporarily. 18 Senator Skelos, that now completes 19 the reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 21 President. If we could go to the 22 controversial reading of the calendar. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 24 will read. 25 Senator Skelos.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Please ring the 2 bells. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 4 will ring the bell, and the members should 5 return to their seats so we can proceed with 6 the controversial calendar. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 480A, an 10 act to amend the Penal Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane. 12 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 13 President. If the sponsor would yield for a 14 question. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos, 16 do you yield for a question? 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, Madam 18 President. 19 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 20 Senator Duane. 21 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you. 22 Would a member of the clergy be 23 included as a person in a position of trust? 24 SENATOR SKELOS: The whole issue 25 is whether the person is in a position of

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(518) 371-8910 1 trust. 2 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 3 President. 4 On the bill. 5 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 6 on the bill, Senator. 7 SENATOR DUANE: For the record, I 8 think this is an excellent bill, and I am 9 going to be supporting it. 10 And though while we seem to be 11 doing a lot, both at the end of last session 12 and the beginning of this session, on sex 13 crimes bills, I can't help but notice that 14 there is a glaring omission, and that is 15 regarding the specific issue of clergy sexual 16 abuse. 17 Really, nothing has been done to 18 really address this issue in this chamber 19 since 2002, when the issue burst on to the 20 national scene with reports of clergy abuse 21 and victims coming forward. 22 As many of you know, I held 23 hearings on the issue, and I heard testimony 24 from countless survivors of clergy sex abuse, 25 and also I've heard from countless survivors

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(518) 371-8910 1 outside of that hearing, and I really hear 2 from them on a weekly and sometimes daily 3 basis. 4 And from my point of view, there 5 are four things that I think we need to do. 6 One is the mandatory reporting of clergy 7 abuse. And, you know, I think it's pretty 8 inexcusable that the two chambers can't get 9 their acts together and pass a bill. There 10 has been a bill languishing in both houses 11 since 2002. And I think it's just time for 12 both sides of the aisle and both chambers to 13 sort of lay aside the politics and get a bill 14 passed. 15 As you know, I have a bill which 16 would require mandatory clergy reporting 17 dating back 50 years, and there would be stiff 18 felony penalties for repeat failures to 19 report. 20 And I also think that we have to 21 end the loophole of allowing charity 22 organizations to get out if they're engaging 23 in closed or gagged settlement agreements. 24 There are examples of bishops using Catholic 25 charity money in sex abuse cases under a gag

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(518) 371-8910 1 settlement agreement, and that's wrong. It's 2 just wrong for any charity to use charitable 3 dollars in secret. And again, I have a bill 4 that would fix that loophole. 5 We also have to eliminate the 6 statute of limitations for child sex abuse. 7 Remember, it often takes years and year for a 8 child in any kind of sex abuse situation or 9 trauma to come to terms with his or her abuse. 10 We also need to open a one-to-three-year 11 window on the civil statute of limitations for 12 childhood sex abuse claims in state courts. 13 You know, I hope that my colleagues 14 noticed that the New York Times recently 15 endorsed this exact position. And California 16 and Illinois have done this. 17 And, you know, some people think it 18 would be a terrible thing if there were 19 lawsuits on this issue and that there might be 20 a torrent of lawsuits. But if we look at the 21 experience of what happened in California, 22 that's not what's happened. 23 You know, it's almost impossible 24 for a sexually abused child to talk about what 25 happened to them at the time that the abuses

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(518) 371-8910 1 happened. And more often than not, the 2 statute of limitations will run out and the 3 perpetrator will escape justice. 4 The New York State Court of Appeals 5 recently heard arguments on this very issue, 6 and Judge Kaye stated during that oral 7 argument that the Legislature should take 8 action. 9 So in conclusion, we need to pass 10 bills this session on this issue. The 11 Assembly passed Assembly Member Markey's bill 12 last June, which is a very good bill. And 13 there's no reason why we can't do that or 14 something similar and bring both houses and 15 both parties together to really address this 16 terrible issue. 17 Thank you, Madam President. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 19 Hassell-Thompson. 20 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 21 you, Madam President. On the bill. 22 Senator Duane talked about the fact 23 that he has a bill, and I think that we have 24 witnessed in this house several attempts on 25 the part of other legislators to pass a child

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(518) 371-8910 1 sexual assault bill that would cover a variety 2 of ills -- 3 THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, 4 Senator. I want to get some order. 5 You may proceed, Senator. 6 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 7 you, Madam President. 8 For the last three years I have 9 been working very closely in this Senate with 10 several members of the Senate on both sides of 11 the aisle. And one of the things that's 12 glaringly missing, each of the bills that we 13 have been at least successful in passing in 14 this house have all been without the provision 15 of elimination of the statute of limitations. 16 Some of us want it to be eliminated 17 altogether. 18 I know that in the three years that 19 I have been attempting to get a bill at least 20 presented and introduced in this house, I have 21 been talking with DAs, and one of the things 22 that they've said is that part of the physical 23 evidence and some of the kinds of testimony 24 that we would expect to get that would create 25 accuracy perhaps would be lost if we were to

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(518) 371-8910 1 have an indeterminate period. And so that we 2 have adjusted the bill to talk about at least 3 back 30 years. 4 It is interesting to me how, 5 whenever many of my colleagues have presented 6 bills on this floor, they have talked about 7 those states that have passed this bill and 8 they think that New York ought to keep up with 9 the times. And yet here we have sexual 10 assault bills on children that have been 11 passed in other states and in states 12 contiguous to our state who have looked at 13 this issue for as long if not longer than we 14 have, and we cannot seem to do a comprehensive 15 bill that meets these kinds of requirements. 16 I would like to hope that the next 17 bill that comes before us does at least 18 attempt to address this issue of the statute 19 of limitations and that we close all the 20 loops. 21 And if we're really concerned about 22 sexual assault, and not just those that make 23 big headlines, but those that happen to our 24 children every day, those that are abuses of 25 incest, those that are abuses by people that

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(518) 371-8910 1 our children know -- we teach our children to 2 not speak to strangers, we teach our children 3 that those who are strange to them they should 4 avoid. 5 But we have bills in this house 6 that address the issue, and we tiptoe around 7 the fact that these are people of trust. And 8 those people of trust include teachers. Those 9 people of trust include our clergy. And if 10 we're afraid to deal with these issues, we do 11 a great disservice to our children, because 12 they count on us to be their voice. They 13 count on us to have some integrity about how 14 we stand up and really support them. 15 And it is strange to me that those 16 issues that make sensational headlines are the 17 ones that we come and we browbeat each other 18 with and we talk about, Oh, we must do 19 something. And those that want to be 20 hesitant, those that want to be cautious are 21 accused of being in the pockets of the 22 perpetrators. 23 But rather, that same caution -- I 24 always advocate that we use caution. But 25 there's a difference between being cautious

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(518) 371-8910 1 and -- you know, I use the analogy for people 2 that you don't stand still at a stop sign. 3 It's not a rest stop, it's a stop sign. We 4 pause for caution. 5 But we have to move forward. And 6 we have to act in this Legislature as though 7 we really do understand the depth and breadth 8 of the nature of the kinds of crimes that are 9 being perpetrated against our children. 10 Thank you, Madam President. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 12 Schneiderman. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 14 Madam President. On the bill. 15 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I commend 17 my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for 18 moving ahead on this important package of 19 legislation measures to protect our most 20 vulnerable populations, bills on sexual 21 assault and abuse. 22 But I would urge my colleagues 23 that, as we discussed in debates last week, if 24 we pass bills that don't pass both houses and 25 become laws, we're actually doing nothing.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I would urge that we have an 2 unusual opportunity here to move forward this 3 year in this area. Last week we went 4 downstairs for the Governor's signing of the 5 Megan's Law extender which Senator Skelos and 6 others had fought so hard for, and several of 7 my colleagues voiced their hope that the 8 Assembly would agree to conference committees 9 on the bills in this important area. 10 Well, ladies and gentlemen, I am 11 pleased to report that Speaker Sheldon Silver 12 yesterday, in announcing that the Assembly 13 would move forward on civil confinement, 14 stated that his goal was to move forward with 15 conference committees on all legislation that 16 passes both houses where differences exist. 17 And we should include in these 18 conference committees Senator Duane's 19 proposals on clergy sex abuse, the issue of 20 the statute of limitations as raised by 21 Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, as raised by 22 Senator Klein. 23 This is an opportunity we have to 24 seize. It is important to make statements 25 when we can only make statements. But when we

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(518) 371-8910 1 can actually move forward through conference 2 committees to pass legislation, we must take 3 action. Let's get all these issues into a 4 conference committee, let's resolve it that 5 way, and then let's move on to the next 6 critical set of issues facing us in the 7 Senate, to funding high-needs school 8 districts, to dealing with all of the 9 difficult issues that are before us. 10 But on the issue of the Senate 11 package that we passed today with overwhelming 12 support on most of these pieces of 13 legislation, let's get to a conference 14 committee. The Assembly has taken the offer 15 extended by my colleagues on the other side of 16 the aisle last week. Let's do this the right 17 way. Let's deal with this. Let's put this 18 together with issues related to DNA, statute 19 of limitations, clergy sex abuse in the 20 conference committees, and let's pass actual 21 legislation this year. 22 Thank you, Madam President. I will 23 support this bill, as I have supported others, 24 but I urge that this is a critical time for us 25 to take the Speaker up on his offer and move

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(518) 371-8910 1 ahead. 2 Thank you. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 5 if I could comment, this house and certainly 6 this Majority is not just making a statement, 7 we're taking action by passing this 8 legislation. 9 In order to go to joint conference 10 committee, as Senator Schneiderman knows, we 11 need similar legislation passed by the other 12 house. So I anxiously await the Assembly in 13 an expeditious way, hopefully next week, that 14 they pass their legislation so that we then 15 can go to conference committee. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 17 member wish to be heard? 18 Senator Diaz. 19 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you. Thank 20 you, Madam President. 21 Standing here on the bill, on the 22 bill, to congratulate Senator Skelos, this 23 time, for two things. First, for this bill, 24 which creates a new crime of sexual assault 25 against a child by the person in a position of

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(518) 371-8910 1 trust. So I congratulate him for that. And 2 also for the fantastic way, the magnificent 3 way, the sophisticated way in which he turns 4 the table, always, on us. 5 But talking about the bill, I heard 6 some of my colleagues asking if this bill 7 includes clergy. And I am a clergy, and I am 8 the president of the New York Hispanic Clergy 9 Organization, an organization that represents 10 150 Hispanic clergy in the City of New York. 11 And yes, yes, that is true that in 12 the latest years, clergies have been abusing 13 children. And we have to take whoever it is 14 and prosecute, clergies or no clergy. 15 But you know what makes me wonder, 16 what makes me wonder is that for years we know 17 of an organization named NAMBLA, an 18 organization that publicly promotes and push 19 and do everything possible to promote sex 20 between an adult and children. And members 21 here that I hear being so happy because clergy 22 now are included, they all have been 23 supporting NAMBLA. So this is known now, that 24 children have been abused? Our children have 25 been abused for years.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But, ladies and gentlemen, you 2 cannot have your cake and eat it too. If you 3 really are going to protect children, you have 4 to denounce NAMBLA. And you have to denounce 5 an organization and anybody that promotes sex 6 between an adult and children. 7 So let's be fair; let's be honest. 8 Yes, Senator Skelos, thank you for including 9 clergy. I support that. I'm a clergy too. 10 But people here have to understand that NAMBLA 11 has been there for many years and there are 12 people out there promoting sex between 13 children and adults that here have been 14 applauded by people. 15 So let's be honest with us, and 16 let's be fair. Thank you for including 17 clergies -- 18 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: It 19 didn't include clergy. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes. Yes, he says 21 people of trust. People of trust include 22 clergy; right? 23 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: No 24 clergy. 25 SENATOR DIAZ: No clergy.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But we should include clergy too. 2 We should include clergy. Why not? Clergy 3 also have been committing sexual abuses with 4 children, so clergy should be included too. 5 And anybody, anybody that promotes 6 sex between children and adults should be 7 included in this bill and should be punished 8 for the fullest extent of the law. 9 But I support the bill. Thank you, 10 Madam President. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The debate is 12 closed. 13 The Secretary will ring the bell. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 16 act shall take effect on the first of 17 November. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 21 will announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 23 Calendar Number 1, those absent pursuant to 24 Rule 9 are Senators Breslin, Johnson and 25 Montgomery.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ayes, 56. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 The Secretary will continue to 5 read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 35, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 6378, an 8 act to amend the Election Law. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini. 10 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President, 11 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. 12 I'd like to waive the reading and ask to be 13 considered and to speak on it. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The reading is 15 waived, and you may be heard on the amendment. 16 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam 17 President. 18 My amendment, which would tack onto 19 Senator Flanagan's bill my bill, which would 20 solve us a lot more debate and tsuris and 21 problems and angst, my bill, S5625, very 22 simply takes the voting machine selection 23 process and settles it in something that I 24 think virtually every member here understands, 25 agrees with, and we could have in place by

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(518) 371-8910 1 September -- and that's optical scanning. 2 Optical scanning is so well known 3 to New Yorkers now that anyone that has taken 4 a test as a student past 1964 knows how to do 5 it, anyone who's filled out a New York State 6 lottery ticket knows how to do it. It 7 guarantees a paper trail, it's verifiable, 8 it's accurate, it's cheap, and it's technology 9 we know now and in fact have in place in some 10 places in this state either for voting or for 11 our absentee ballots. 12 Senator Flanagan's bill expands 13 this committee on -- the modernization 14 advisory committee and adds some people on, 15 and that may be all well and good. But if you 16 see today's New York Times, there's an 17 editorial in there that says what is it that 18 New York State is doing wrong that we still 19 haven't come to a conclusion, we are last in 20 the country in implementing HAVA. 21 Now, I don't want to contradict 22 myself, and a couple of months ago I said, you 23 know, maybe we actually lurched uncontrollably 24 into something good by being last. We didn't 25 buy voting machines that don't work. We

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(518) 371-8910 1 didn't make the mistakes that other states 2 made. Maybe we can learn from some of the 3 mistakes that other states have made. 4 And I think my amendment does that 5 by implementing optical scanning, which would 6 make virtually every interest group that has 7 expressed a desire on elections happy, would 8 provide the voters a simple way of voting, 9 would settle it once and for all, and we'd 10 have a verifiable paper trail that people 11 would feel comfortable with. 12 So that's why I'm happy to offer 13 this amendment. It's not, in an adjectival 14 sense, a hostile amendment; rather, a friendly 15 way for us to settle this once and for all and 16 push the Assembly into a situation where I 17 think that individually, if you got us 18 individually in a room, every member of this 19 body would probably feel very comfortable with 20 an optical scanning voting system, I think the 21 voters would, I think the Boards of Elections 22 would, and that's why I offer the amendment. 23 Thank you, Madam President. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 25 Schneiderman.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Krueger, you're being 2 acknowledged. 3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very 4 much. Thank you, Senator Schneiderman. 5 I rise in support of Senator 6 Sabini's amendment. We are a few months away 7 from a mandate to have new voting machines up 8 in every voting precinct in the State of 9 New York. And regardless of how we got, to 10 this point in time, this close to a mandate, 11 it is so clear that the only possible 12 technology we can go forward with at this 13 point in time, that we can assure the voters 14 of New York State that their votes will be 15 counted, that the audits will be available, 16 that there will be transparency and 17 reliability, are precinct-based optical 18 scanners. 19 So I hope that we will revisit this 20 question today, not in dispute with Senator 21 Flanagan's bill, but in recognition, I think, 22 of the same thing he knows, that New York 23 State is in serious trouble right now when it 24 comes to assuring the integrity of our next 25 set of elections into the future.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And if we were to move this 2 amendment of Senator Sabini's, which is also a 3 freestanding bill, which is also a bill that 4 has been introduced in the Assembly, we could 5 assure the voters of New York State that we 6 could meet our obligations not just under 7 federal law but to protect the integrity of 8 their vote through a technology that has been 9 used for decades throughout the State of New 10 York, which is reliable, which is affordable, 11 and we believe is available. 12 So I urge everyone to consider a 13 vote for this amendment. 14 Thank you, Madam President. 15 THE PRESIDENT: All those 16 Senators in favor of the amendment please 17 signify by raising your hand. 18 The Secretary will announce the 19 results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 21 agreement are Senators Andrews, Diaz, Duane, 22 Gonzalez, Hassell-Thompson, Klein, L. Krueger, 23 C. Kruger, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, 24 Paterson, Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman, 25 Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Stavisky, and Valesky. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is 3 not agreed to. 4 Does any other member wish to be 5 heard on the bill? 6 Then the debate is closed. 7 The Secretary will ring the bell. 8 Read the last 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 Flanagan, 14 to explain your vote. 15 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 16 Madam President. Just briefly to explain my 17 vote. 18 This bill is relatively simple. It 19 extends the modernization advisory committee 20 for three months. We add two new members; one 21 is the League of Women Voters, and one is the 22 Disabled Veterans. That's it. It gives more 23 time to deal with the issues relative to 24 machine certification. 25 I wouldn't want anyone to leave

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(518) 371-8910 1 here thinking that we did not complete this 2 process in terms of HAVA and the 3 implementation of HAVA. Conference committees 4 went on ad infinitum long before I ever became 5 chair of the committee, and there was a 6 consensus reached last year, on a bipartisan 7 basis, that was overwhelmingly supported by 8 both houses. 9 Let's be clear on a few things. We 10 do have a voter-verifiable paper trail. We 11 mandated that. We have the most stringent 12 accessibility and disability requirements of 13 any state in the country, and that's something 14 that we should be lauding and be positive 15 about. And that's part of the certification 16 process. 17 How do we as the State of New 18 York -- we add a sip-and-puff requirement. 19 We've made it tougher for the machine 20 manufacturers. That's a good thing. That 21 will provide greater access for more people to 22 vote. So the things that people are concerned 23 about, we have already addressed. 24 I would hasten to add that the 25 State Board of Elections has an obligation,

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(518) 371-8910 1 just the way we do, to get on it, stay 2 involved, and get it done. That's what really 3 matters. We still have time to do it the 4 right way. They should be working 24/7 until 5 everything is dealt with in a proper fashion. 6 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 7 recorded as voting in the affirmative on your 8 bill, Senator Flanagan. 9 The Secretary will announce the 10 results. 11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 12 Calendar Number 35, those absent pursuant to 13 Rule 9 are Senators Breslin, Johnson and 14 Montgomery. 15 Ayes, 56. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 20 with the consistent of the Minority, would you 21 please call up Calendar Number 88, by Senator 22 Hannon, noncontroversial. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Back to the 24 noncontroversial calendar. 25 The Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 88, substituted earlier today by Member of the 3 Assembly Gottfried, Assembly Print Number 4 9462, an act to amend the Public Health Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 Senator Skelos, that completes the 15 reading of the calendar. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 17 thank you. Is there any further business at 18 the desk? 19 THE PRESIDENT: No, there is not, 20 Senator. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: There being no 22 further business to come before the Senate, I 23 move we stand adjourned until Monday, 24 January 30th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days 25 being legislative days.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: On motion, the 2 Senate stands adjourned until Monday, 3 January 30th, 3:00 p.m., intervening days 4 being legislative days. 5 (Whereupon, at 11:59 a.m., the 6 Senate adjourned.) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910