Wednesday, March 8, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 8, 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

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(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. I ask everyone present 4 to please rise and repeat with me the Pledge 5 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, please, in a 10 moment of silence. 11 (Whereupon, the assemblage 12 respected a moment of silence.) 13 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 14 Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Tuesday, March 7, the Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, March 6, 18 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 19 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.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(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 Fuschillo. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 8 Madam President. 9 On page number 28 I offer the 10 following amendments to Calendar Number 377, 11 Senate Print Number 6805A, and ask that said 12 bill retain its place on Third Reading 13 Calendar. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 15 are received, and the bill will retain its 16 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 20 Senator DeFrancisco has passed a resolution 21 and would like to comment on it at this time. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 23 will read the resolution. 24 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 25 DeFrancisco, Legislative Resolution Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 3782, congratulating Judy Morenz and Peter 2 "Sonny" Manos, III, as recipients of the 2006 3 New York Association for Continuing/Community 4 Education Student of the Year Award. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 6 DeFrancisco. 7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you, 8 Madam President. 9 We have with us Judy Morenz and 10 Sonny Manos in chambers. And, you know, we 11 technically passed this resolution yesterday, 12 but they came here today and I thought it 13 would be important for us to honor them as a 14 body. 15 These are two individuals that had 16 some difficulties early in life as far as 17 education was concerned. But as a result of 18 the effort of many, many people and as a 19 result of the New York State Association for 20 Continuing/Community Education, they were able 21 to overcome some serious, serious obstacles 22 and obtain their education and become 23 successful members of the community since. 24 I just want to mention one thing 25 about each one of them. Judy was an

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 individual who had to drop out of school in 2 the 7th grade. Despite that, because of some 3 difficulties she had in school, she never, 4 ever stopped pursuing her education and she 5 was able to obtain her high school 6 equivalence. And she's now a volunteer tutor. 7 And we're so proud in my district about Judy's 8 accomplishments, and that's why we're honoring 9 her today. 10 Secondly, Sonny Manos, who is also 11 here, Sonny had some even more serious 12 problems. He had serious substance abuse 13 problems and problems that made him not the 14 most productive person in society. In fact, 15 he wasn't a productive person at all. 16 However, due to these incredible 17 people that helped him, but also due to his 18 own motivation, he obtained that education, 19 got off of those terrible drugs and alcohol, 20 and is now not only a productive member of the 21 community but he's a successful businessman in 22 our community, having a construction firm. 23 And one thing I wanted to mention, 24 in getting that education, he would have to 25 ride his bike, as an adult, five miles each

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 way each day to get that education. I'm sure 2 most of us have not had to make that kind of 3 sacrifice, because the education was right 4 there for us. 5 So to both Judy and Sonny and to 6 all those that helped them and to OCM BOCES, 7 who nominated them for students of year, and I 8 just want to congratulate them and let you 9 know that we passed this resolution 10 unanimously yesterday to honor both of you. 11 Thank you. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution 13 was previously adopted on March 7th. 14 Congratulations and best wishes to 15 you. 16 Senator Skelos. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 18 I believe there are some substitutions at the 19 desk, if we could make them at this time. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 21 will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: On page 23, 23 Senator Saland moves to discharge, from the 24 Committee on Consumer Protection, Assembly 25 Bill Number 9279A and substitute it for the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 identical Senate Bill Number 6298A, Third 2 Reading Calendar 304. 3 And on page 29, Senator Saland 4 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 5 Transportation, Assembly Bill Number 8279 and 6 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 7 Number 5332, Third Reading Calendar 387. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Substitutions 9 ordered. 10 Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 12 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 13 of the calendar. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 15 will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 200, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 2049, an 18 act to amend the Business Corporation Law, in 19 relation to allowing homeowners associations. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 201, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 2153, 6 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 7 relation to tort claims. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 208, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 4728 -- 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 20 the day. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 22 for the day. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 210, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 5102A, 25 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 relation to prohibiting. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 3 section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside 9 temporarily. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 11 aside temporarily. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 258, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 4015A, 14 an act to amend the Highway Law, in relation 15 to designating a portion of the state highway 16 system. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 304, substituted earlier today by Member of 3 the Assembly Pheffer, Assembly Print Number 4 9279A, an act to amend the General Business 5 Law, in relation to fees. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 47. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 329, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 786, 17 an act to amend the Education Law, in relation 18 to notice to school districts. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46. Nays,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 1. Senator Parker recorded in the negative. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 350, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 5560, an 6 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law, in 7 relation to electronic submission. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the first of January. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 355, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6221, an 19 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 20 extending provisions. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 22 section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 387, substituted earlier today by Member of 7 the Assembly Zebrowski, Assembly Print Number 8 8279, an act to amend the Public Authorities 9 Law, in relation to quorum and voting 10 requirements. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. Nays, 18 2. Senators Duane and Spano recorded in the 19 negative. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 389, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6225, an 24 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 25 extending the "Niagara Wine Trail East."

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 401, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 933, an 12 act to amend the Family Court Act and the 13 Domestic Relations Law, in relation to 14 issuance. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 16 section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 23 passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 406, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5228, an

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 2 relation to health professionals. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 11 passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 407, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 147, an 14 act to amend the General Municipal Law, in 15 relation to allowing. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 17 section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 419, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6829, an 2 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 3 relation to allowing. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 420, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6830, an 15 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 16 relation to adjusted base proportions. 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, 51. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will now read 2 Calendar 210. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 210, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 5102A, 5 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 7 the day. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 9 aside for the day. 10 Senator Skelos, that completes the 11 reading of the calendar this morning. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any 13 further business at the desk? 14 THE PRESIDENT: No, there is not, 15 Senator. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Would you please 17 recognize Senator Duane. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane. 19 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 20 President. 21 I have a motion at the desk, and 22 I'd like to have it called up at this time. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 24 will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 1454, by Senator Duane, an act to amend the 2 Education Law. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane. 4 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 5 President. 6 My bill would prohibit harassment 7 against all students in public schools, 8 including harassment and discrimination based 9 on a person's actual or perceived race, color, 10 national original, ethnic group, religion, 11 religious practice, disability, sexual 12 orientation, gender, or sex. 13 It would require each public school 14 district to establish an antiharassment policy 15 and an antidiscrimination policy. It would 16 create school training programs on harassment 17 and discrimination. It would raise 18 sensitivity and awareness as well as enable 19 staff to respond to harassment. And it would 20 develop nondiscrimination instruction and 21 counseling methods. 22 Finally, it would direct the 23 commissioner of education to provide 24 assistance and support to school districts, 25 which may include model policies and direct

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 services, and to promulgate regulations to 2 assist school districts in determining the 3 proper response to violations of the act, with 4 an emphasis on intervention education. 5 Madam President, every student 6 deserves a safe, welcoming and affirming 7 environment in school in order to concentrate 8 on their academic and personal growth. And I 9 know you personally worked on this issue as 10 well. They should not have to be preoccupied 11 by the threat of violence or harassment or 12 discrimination, whether it's physical or 13 whether it's verbal, either from other 14 students or, for that matter, from school 15 employees. 16 So the Dignity for All Students Act 17 would promote civility among students and 18 between students and teachers. It would also 19 help create an atmosphere where learning is 20 paramount and distractions to learning are 21 minimized. 22 Now, this bill is a preemptive 23 bill. It's not punishing after the fact, it's 24 preventing bad situations -- harassment and 25 discrimination -- from happening in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 schools. And it would go a very long way 2 towards making it possible for students to not 3 be afraid and to really be able to concentrate 4 on their studies and on their academic work. 5 So if, as I hope we will pass this 6 Dignity for All Students Act -- by stopping 7 harassment and discrimination before it 8 starts, it would be a major step in creating a 9 much better learning environment in all of our 10 schools. And I'm hopeful that my colleagues 11 will vote in the affirmative on this. 12 Thank you, Madam President. 13 THE PRESIDENT: All those 14 Senators in favor of the petition out of 15 committee please signify by raising your 16 hands. 17 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 18 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 19 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Klein, 20 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 21 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 22 Schneiderman, A. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky 23 and Valesky. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The petition is 25 not agreed to.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 3 there being no further business to come before 4 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until 5 Monday, March 13th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening 6 days being legislative days. 7 THE PRESIDENT: On motion, the 8 Senate now stands adjourned until Monday, 9 March 13th, 3:00 p.m., intervening days being 10 legislative days. 11 (Whereupon, at 11:26 a.m., the 12 Senate adjourned.) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910