Monday, February 27, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 February 27, 2006 11 3:13 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 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 Friday, February 24, the Senate met pursuant 18 to adjournment. The Journal of Thursday, 19 February 23, was read and approved. On 20 motion, 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 Reports of select committees. 4 Communications and reports from 5 state officers. 6 Motions and resolutions. 7 Senator Fuschillo. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 9 Madam President. 10 On behalf of Senator Meier, I move 11 that the following bill be discharged from its 12 respective committee and be recommitted with 13 instructions to strike the enacting clause: 14 Senate Print Number 4302. 15 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 17 President, amendments are offered to the 18 following Third Reading Calendar bills: 19 Sponsored by Senator Spano, page 20 number 14, Calendar Number 119, Senate Print 21 Number 6440; 22 By Senator Nozzolio, page number 23 16, Calendar Number 155, Senate Print Number 24 1947; 25 By Senator Leibell, page number 20,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Calendar Number 204, Senate Print Number 3813; 2 By Senator Leibell, page number 21, 3 Calendar Number 210, Senate Print Number 5102; 4 And by Senator Nozzolio, page 5 number 24, Calendar Number 258, Senate Print 6 Number 4015. 7 I now move that these bills retain 8 their place on the order of third reading. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Without 10 objection, the amendments are received and the 11 bills will retain their place on the Third 12 Reading Calendar. 13 Senator Nozzolio. 14 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 15 Madam President. 16 I move that the following bills be 17 discharged from their respective committees 18 and be recommitted with instructions to strike 19 the enacting clause: 3377. 20 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 21 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 22 President, I move that the following bills be 23 discharged from their respective committees 24 and be recommitted with instructions to strike 25 the enacting clause, on behalf of Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Wright: 5534A and 5834. 2 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 3 Senator Skelos. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 5 are there any substitutions to be made at this 6 time? 7 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, there are, 8 Senator. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: On page 14, 11 Senator Robach moves to discharge, from the 12 Committee on Civil Service and Pensions, 13 Assembly Bill Number 9421 and substitute it 14 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6479, 15 Third Reading Calendar 112. 16 And on page 19, Senator Meier moves 17 to discharge, from the Committee on Social 18 Services, Children and Families, Assembly Bill 19 Number 9617 and substitute it for the 20 identical Senate Bill Number 6469, Third 21 Reading Calendar 196. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Substitutions 23 ordered. 24 Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 there's a resolution at the desk, 3667, by 2 Senator Balboni. Could we please have it read 3 in its entirety and move for its immediate 4 adoption. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 6 will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 8 Balboni, Legislative Resolution Number 3667, 9 urging a further investigation into the sale 10 of certain port operations at the Port of 11 New York from Peninsular and Oriental Steam 12 Navigation Company to Dubai Ports World. 13 "WHEREAS, The Port Authority of 14 New York and New Jersey testified at a hearing 15 on port security by the Senate's Committee on 16 Veterans, Homeland Security and Military 17 Affairs that the port contributes 18 $24.4 billion to the nation's economy; and 19 "WHEREAS, It also stated that cargo 20 that is handled in the port serves 80 million 21 people, or roughly 35 percent of the United 22 States population. The port handles 5,000 23 ships per year and, on average, transfers 24 roughly 6,000 containers each day; and 25 "WHEREAS, The sale of critical

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(518) 371-8910 1 infrastructure to a company controlled by a 2 foreign power may be reviewed by the Committee 3 on Foreign Investment in the United States. 4 It is chaired by the federal Department of 5 Treasury and includes the Departments of 6 Defense, State, Homeland Security, and the 7 Attorney General. The committee determines if 8 these sales could affect national security and 9 if those sales should go forward; and 10 "WHEREAS, On January 17, 2006, the 11 committee approved the transfer from the 12 Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation 13 company to Dubai Ports World; and 14 "WHEREAS, The committee is allowed 15 to authorize an investigation which may take 16 up to 45 days, to allow a detailed 17 investigation; now, therefore, be it 18 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 19 Body urges the New York State Congressional 20 delegation to memorialize the President to 21 order the committee to exercise its authority 22 to investigate this transaction with respect 23 to all salient security issues; and be it 24 further 25 "RESOLVED, That copies of this

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(518) 371-8910 1 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 2 to each member of the New York State 3 Congressional delegation." 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Balboni. 5 SENATOR BALBONI: Thank you very 6 much, Madam President. 7 While most of us were doing 8 something else last week than being here, the 9 nation and I would daresay part of the globe 10 was engaged in a debate over whether or not 11 this country should allow a country to own and 12 operate a major portion of the port of 13 New York and other ports around this nation. 14 The concern has revolved around 15 whether or not the proper security checks have 16 been made on the company seeking to run the 17 port. 18 In conversations with various 19 people, including Congressman Peter King, 20 chairman of the Homeland Security Committee 21 for the United States Congress, what has 22 become very apparent is that though an 23 investigation was undertaken, it did not have 24 the proper transparency or sufficiency 25 necessary to assure us, both as citizens of

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(518) 371-8910 1 this nation and citizens of this state, that 2 the owner and operators of that port, the Port 3 of New York, would in fact not have any 4 terrorist links or capabilities. 5 This Senate will be seeing bills 6 later on that will talk about trying to shore 7 up port security. Right after 9/11, there 8 were many books written about various 9 vulnerabilities in the United States. One of 10 them pointed to the vulnerabilities of the 11 Port of New York. Shortly thereafter, several 12 Senators from this chamber -- in particular, 13 Senator Leibell and Senator Wright and Senator 14 Morahan -- all went to the port and discussed 15 with representatives from Howland Hook, one of 16 the major operators, what their security 17 concerns were. And at that time, their 18 ability to look into containers that were 19 coming into the United States was very 20 limited. 21 Since that time, time and time 22 again, experts in the field of homeland 23 security and security in general have pointed 24 to the port as being vulnerable. And yet 25 today, many experts still have that

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(518) 371-8910 1 expectation, that, God forbid, something of a 2 weapon of mass destruction nature and category 3 could be smuggled into the Port of New York or 4 any port in this nation. 5 You heard some of the statistics 6 about the Port of New York, but I guess one of 7 the things that really make this so compelling 8 for me is this statistic: within 50 miles 9 from the Port of New York there lives 10 40 million people. That is some of the 11 greatest population concentration in the 12 globe. It's the third or fourth largest port 13 in the nation. The economic impact, if 14 something happened there, would be dramatic. 15 What we seek and we should all seek 16 in this chamber is not a closing of the door 17 to global interests in the Port of New York 18 and not to have a company-specific strategy 19 against terrorism, because that would be 20 narrow-minded, shortsighted, and ultimately 21 ineffective -- because our enemies across the 22 globe would simply change the name of their 23 business or the country from which they 24 operate and would come at us another way. 25 But what we have to be assured of

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(518) 371-8910 1 is that the steps that are taken by the 2 federal government as well as the state are 3 such that can convey to us that the people who 4 are doing business in our ports and running 5 our ports are in fact terrorist-clean. 6 This resolution today basically 7 sums up what the individual company has agreed 8 to do; that is, wait for 45 days. But a part 9 of it is also to say to the President of 10 United States: Please look at this company 11 with a very, very hard eye to see if in fact 12 the proper security checks have been done. 13 Because at the end of the day, all New Yorkers 14 and, frankly, all citizens of the United 15 States need and deserve a process that is 16 uniform and that is clear and safe. 17 I would urge all the members of 18 this chamber to vote in favor of this 19 resolution. 20 Thank you, Madam President. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Leibell. 22 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 23 Madam President. On the resolution. 24 And to echo what Senator Balboni 25 has been saying, it was after 9/11 that a

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(518) 371-8910 1 number of us did go down to the Port of 2 New York, had the opportunity to review some 3 of their procedures there. 4 It's become quite clear over time 5 that our greatest vulnerability is going to be 6 our ports. And certainly we have had an enemy 7 during this period of international terrorism 8 that has struck at many of our transportation 9 hubs. 10 These are particularly dangerous 11 times for our state and our nation. And 12 certainly we also live in a unique period of 13 international commerce, and no one wishes to 14 see that deterred. However, every country and 15 its people have the first obligation to be 16 secure in their national endeavors. As we 17 look at the future, we unfortunately can be 18 quite certain that we will be hit again by 19 those who oppose us and our way of life. 20 I would urge that the United States 21 Congress and our federal officials proceed 22 with the greatest caution and understand the 23 great dangers that we all face. And, in their 24 efforts to make friends and possibly new 25 allies, to remember these most dangerous of

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(518) 371-8910 1 times and that no one will take better care of 2 us and no nation will take better care of us 3 than we will of ourselves. 4 So I support this resolution and 5 would urge its passage. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Nozzolio. 7 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 8 Madam President. On the resolution. 9 Madam President, my colleagues, I 10 rise to thank Senator Balboni for his 11 leadership in pursuing this important issue 12 rapidly. Because we as a state need to stand 13 tall to send the message clearly to 14 Washington, D.C., that the important security 15 of our ports should not be held to any entity 16 that is not totally accountable to the people 17 of the United States of America. 18 Accountability is the issue. And 19 that a decision, however made, must be 20 reviewed through the scrutiny of establishing 21 accountability. 22 There's no more important security 23 issue than at the pinpoint of our commerce, 24 the commerce of the United States of America, 25 through each port through our great nation.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Those ports present great opportunities and 2 also present great concern. The concern is 3 with security. 4 And unless and until we fully have 5 a complete and fundamental accountability of 6 what we can expect in terms of security, any 7 provision should not move forward. 8 Senator Balboni, Senator Leibell, 9 thank you for your leadership on this very 10 critical question. And that I rise to 11 admonish all those who are making these 12 decisions that New York requires 13 accountability. 14 Thank you, Madam President. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 16 Marcellino. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, Madam 18 President, I also rise to thank my two 19 colleagues for bringing up this very important 20 resolution. 21 I think the key message -- I won't 22 repeat what others have said, because I agree 23 with all of it. But the key point here, and I 24 think that Senator Balboni and Senator Leibell 25 have spoken to it, is that security is

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(518) 371-8910 1 everybody's responsibility. We can't simply 2 allow it or leave it to the federal government 3 or any other entity. New York State, every 4 locality, every citizen is responsible for our 5 own protection and our own self-protection, 6 and we must take a leadership role. 7 And I again thank my two colleagues 8 for bringing this to the forefront and 9 bringing this resolution forward. I support 10 it wholeheartedly. 11 THE PRESIDENT: On the 12 resolution, all in favor please signify by 13 saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 16 (No response.) 17 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 18 adopted. 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 21 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 22 of the calendar. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 24 will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 59, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 5575, an 2 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 3 relation to the procedure following a verdict. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 7 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 91, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 6421, an 15 act to amend Chapter 676 of the Laws of 2002 16 amending the Education Law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 98, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 110A, an 3 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 4 the designation. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 112, substituted earlier today by Member of 16 the Assembly Lupardo, Assembly Print Number 17 9421, an act to amend the Civil Service Law 18 and the State Finance Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 22 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane, to

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(518) 371-8910 1 explain your vote. 2 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 3 President. 4 Each year billions of dollars are 5 expended on outside contracts in New York 6 State. And often the public does not know the 7 true costs of the contracts which are given to 8 outside contractors and we have no way to 9 compare the cost-effectiveness of those 10 contracts with the work that's performed by 11 public employees, because when public 12 employees do the work we know what the cost 13 ratio is for those services. 14 This bill was unanimously passed 15 last year in this house. I note that the 16 sponsor of the legislation has crafted new 17 language in the bill which addresses the 18 Governor's objections and which the Governor 19 says caused him to veto that legislation. 20 I'm hopeful that the Governor will 21 sign the bill this year, because this bill 22 will make state government more transparent 23 and accountable. And so for that reason, I'm 24 recommending that we all cast a yes vote on 25 this piece of legislation.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Madam President. 2 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 3 recorded as voting in the affirmative, Senator 4 Duane. 5 The Secretary will announce the 6 results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 157, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 42, 12 an act to amend the Real Property Law, in 13 relation to allowing an assignment of 14 mortgage. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 16 section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 23 passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 158, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 43,

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(518) 371-8910 1 an act to amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts 2 Law, in relation to the disqualification. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect on the first of January. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 11 passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 167, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2475A, an 14 act to amend the General Business Law, the 15 Highway Law, and the Vehicle and Traffic Law, 16 in relation to peddling. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 20 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 169, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 6355, 3 an act to amend the General Business Law, in 4 relation to clarifying. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the 6 last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays, 13 1. Senator Meier recorded in the negative. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill 15 is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 179, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5643A, an 18 act to amend the Retirement and Social 19 Security Law, in relation to earnings 20 limitations. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the

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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill 5 is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 196, substituted earlier today by Member of 8 the Assembly Scarborough, Assembly Print 9 Number 9617, an act to amend the Family Court 10 Act. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the 12 last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the 16 roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill 20 is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 253, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 1515, an 23 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 24 relation to restrictions. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the

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(518) 371-8910 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 3 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 254, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2069, an 12 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 13 relation to certification. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill 23 is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 261, by Senator Little, Senate Print 724, an

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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Town Law, in relation to 2 authorizing. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill 12 is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 265, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1353, an 15 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 16 relation to allowing. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 266, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2622A, an 4 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 5 relation to enacting the Local Government 6 Mergers Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This 10 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill 16 is passed. 17 Senator Skelos, that completes the 18 reading of the calendar. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you much, 20 Madam President. 21 Senator Duane, I just want to 22 congratulate you on the great job, how 23 efficiently everything moved. And perhaps 24 you'll be sitting in that chair for years to 25 come.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Laughter.) 2 SENATOR DUANE: Madam President, 3 I'm hopeful that will be the case, with just 4 one teeny, tiny little minor change. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: What 6 would that be? 7 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 8 President. 9 (Laughter.) 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Any further 11 business to come before the Senate? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: There's 13 no business. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: There being no 15 further business, I move we stand adjourned 16 until Tuesday, February 28th, at 3:00 p.m. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: On 18 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 19 Tuesday, February 28th, at 3:00 p.m. 20 (Whereupon, at 3:36 p.m., the 21 Senate adjourned.) 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910