Monday, March 13, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 13, 2006 11 3:14 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 Sunday, March 12, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 19 March 11, 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 Senator Schneiderman. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam 3 President, has the Senate received a 4 resolution from the Assembly advising the 5 members of the Senate that the Senate and 6 Assembly will meet at noon tomorrow in the 7 Assembly chamber in joint session to elect 8 Regents of the University of the State of 9 New York, pursuant to Section 202 of the 10 Education Law? 11 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate does 12 acknowledge receipt of a communication from 13 the Assembly, and it has been filed with the 14 Journal Clerk's office. 15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you 16 Your Honor -- Madam President. 17 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. 18 Messages from the Governor. 19 Reports of standing committees. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson, 22 from the Committee on Finance, reports the 23 following bills: 24 Senate Print 6450B, Budget Bill, an 25 act making appropriations for the support of

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(518) 371-8910 1 government: Public Protection and General 2 Government Budget; 3 6451, Budget Bill, an act making 4 appropriations for the support of government: 5 Legislature and Judiciary Budget; 6 6452, Budget Bill, an act making 7 appropriations for the legal requirement of 8 the state debt service; 9 6453B, Budget Bill, an act making 10 appropriations for the support of government: 11 Education, Labor and Family Assistance Budget; 12 6454B, Budget Bill, an act making 13 appropriations for the support of government: 14 Health and Mental Hygiene Budget; 15 6455B, Budget Bill, an act making 16 appropriations for the support of government: 17 Transportation, Economic Development and 18 Environmental Conservation Budget; 19 6456B, Senate Budget Bill, an act 20 to amend the General Municipal Law, the 21 Municipal Home Rule Law, and the Village Law; 22 6457B, Budget Bill, an act to amend 23 the Social Services Law, the Public Health 24 Law, the Penal Law, and the Criminal Procedure 25 Law;

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(518) 371-8910 1 6458B, Budget Bill, an act to amend 2 the Education Law; 3 6459B, Budget Bill, an act to amend 4 the Environmental Conservation Law; 5 6460B, Budget Bill, an act to amend 6 the Real Property Tax Law; 7 6463, Budget Bill, an act to amend 8 Chapter 61 of the Laws of 2005; 9 And Senate Print 6872A, by Senator 10 Skelos, an act to amend the Public Health Law. 11 All bills ordered direct to third 12 reading. 13 THE PRESIDENT: All bills ordered 14 direct to third reading. 15 Reports of select committees. 16 Communications and reports from 17 state officers. 18 Motions and resolutions. 19 Senator Bruno. 20 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President, 21 I believe there is a resolution at the desk by 22 Senator Alesi. I would ask that it be read it 23 its entirety and move for its immediate 24 adoption. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary

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(518) 371-8910 1 will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Alesi, 3 Legislative Resolution Number 3896, commending 4 Dr. Manuel Rivera upon the occasion of his 5 designation as the 2006 National 6 Superintendent of the Year by the American 7 Association of School Administrators. 8 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 9 Legislative Body to recognize and commend 10 those illustrious individuals of distinguished 11 purpose whose lives have been committed to the 12 pursuit of excellence in education of the 13 youth of the Empire State; and 14 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 15 concern, and in full accord with its 16 long-standing traditions, this Legislative 17 Body is justly proud to commend Dr. Manuel 18 Rivera upon the occasion of his designation as 19 the 2006 National Superintendent of the Year 20 by the American Association of School 21 Administrators at its National Conference on 22 Education held on February 24, 2006; and 23 "WHEREAS, The annual awards 24 program, now in its 19th year, is cosponsored 25 by the American Association of School

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(518) 371-8910 1 Administrators and ARAMARK Education. Each 2 year, it bestows this most prestigious award 3 upon an individual who has demonstrated 4 outstanding all-around leadership; and 5 "WHEREAS, A national blue ribbon 6 panel of educators, business leaders and 7 government officials selected Dr. Manuel 8 Rivera from four national finalists, citing 9 his creativity in meeting student needs, 10 strength in personal and organizational 11 communication, improvement of administrative 12 knowledge and skills, providing professional 13 development opportunities and motivation to 14 others, participation in local community 15 activities, and an understanding of regional, 16 national and international issues; and 17 "WHEREAS, Dr. Manuel Rivera has 18 been the superintendent of the Rochester City 19 School District since 2002. Previously he was 20 executive vice-president of development for 21 Edison Schools, Inc. His desire to work more 22 closely with schools, students and their 23 families drew him back to Rochester, where he 24 had previously served as superintendent from 25 1991 to 1994 and where he began his

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(518) 371-8910 1 illustrious career as a teacher in 1975; and 2 "WHEREAS, Dr. Manuel Rivera 3 exemplifies high-quality leadership in our 4 nation's public schools. He has focused on 5 raising achievement standards and proving that 6 his schools could compete with the best in the 7 nation. He has rallied his school district 8 and community, business, and government 9 leaders to improve instruction and achievement 10 and to build a local social infrastructure to 11 support the learning process; and 12 "WHEREAS, Dr. Manuel Rivera's 13 determination and guidance have been 14 instrumental in the district's steady 15 improvements over the past three years. The 16 number of students passing statewide exams has 17 dramatically increased under his leadership, 18 and last year Newsweek magazine named the 19 Wilson Magnet High School one of the top 20 public schools in the nation; and 21 "WHEREAS, Widely known and highly 22 respected, Dr. Manuel Rivera is committed to 23 the best interest of children. His dedication 24 to the belief that public education gives 25 children access to opportunities that enables

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(518) 371-8910 1 dreams to come true and produces contributing 2 members of our society is unwavering; and 3 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 4 Legislative Body that when individuals of such 5 noble aims and accomplishments are brought to 6 our attention, it is appropriate to publicly 7 proclaim and commend those individuals for the 8 edification and emulation of others; now, 9 therefore, be it 10 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 11 Body pause in its deliberations to commend 12 Dr. Manuel Rivera upon the occasion of his 13 designation as the 2006 National 14 Superintendent of the Year by the American 15 Association of School Administrators; and be 16 it further 17 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 18 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 19 to Dr. Manuel Rivera." 20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Alesi. 21 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you. 22 Madam President, at the outset let 23 me, in commending Dr. Manuel Rivera, also 24 acknowledge that Senator Robach should, and 25 rightfully so, be listed as a prime cosponsor

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(518) 371-8910 1 on this bill, along with Senators Nozzolio and 2 Maziarz, who represent the Rochester area 3 collectively. And so it should be noted that 4 they should be equal sponsors on this bill -- 5 the resolution. 6 And in recognizing Manny Rivera, I 7 think that we recognize that the entire 8 nation, when it comes to educators and 9 superintendents, recognized that this fine 10 gentleman and good friend of all of ours has 11 led the way in innovation when it comes to 12 comes to improving the Rochester City School 13 District. He's been recognized by educators, 14 by business leaders and by government 15 officials as well. And he has set a benchmark 16 for schools nationwide to imitate the 17 successes that he has had. 18 And especially having had the 19 opportunity -- again, with my four colleagues 20 that I mentioned, Senator Robach, who 21 represents the majority of the City of 22 Rochester, by the way, and Senators Nozzolio 23 and Senator Maziarz as well, in a meeting with 24 Senator Bruno just last week, the innovative 25 spirit and programs that Dr. Rivera has

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(518) 371-8910 1 brought forth. 2 And especially appealing to me is 3 the Children's Zone. That is a vitally 4 important way of recognizing new ways of 5 educating our children, bringing them up from 6 poverty and taking them out of crime-ridden 7 neighborhoods. And when this is implemented 8 nationwide, as a result of his leadership, we 9 will see not only a higher quality of life for 10 our students, but we will see safer 11 neighborhoods and a better quality of life for 12 all people living in the United States as a 13 result of Dr. Rivera's leadership in the City 14 of Rochester. 15 And again, I want to apologize to 16 my colleagues Senators Robach and Maziarz and 17 Nozzolio. They most assuredly are equal prime 18 sponsors of this resolution. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Robach. 20 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam 21 President, let me too chime in and applaud 22 Superintendent Rivera. 23 I should note again that this is 24 kind of the equivalent of winning the 25 Superbowl, if you will, of school

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(518) 371-8910 1 superintendents. This isn't a statewide 2 award, this is a national award. 3 And it is not surprising to me, in 4 the City School District of Rochester there is 5 no doubt there are a lot of challenges for the 6 students in that district, concentrations of 7 poverty, a host of other issues that, as we 8 work to meet those higher standards and make 9 sure that our children are ready for the next 10 step in employment, it's critically important 11 that we use the many resources we have in a 12 good way. 13 And certainly Superintendent Rivera 14 is someone who has done that with a lot of 15 passion, concern, thinking outside the box, 16 and really creating programs that are working 17 to help the kids, our mutual constituents, in 18 the City of Rochester. 19 And as has been stated before, in 20 the outcomes -- and that's what we need to 21 focus on, improving scores, math, science, 22 English, other things -- the fruit of his 23 labor have worked. And it's nice that he's 24 got this acclamation at a statewide level. 25 And then I'd also say, too, it's

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(518) 371-8910 1 important to note -- and I want to thank him 2 publicly -- that even working oftentimes in a 3 challenging area of higher standards and other 4 things inside the City of Rochester, an urban 5 school district, we have some of the best 6 innovative programs, one of which was 7 mentioned in the resolution, Wilson Magnet, 8 one of the best schools in the whole country, 9 coming right from that school district, all 10 under the leadership of Superintendent Rivera. 11 So I want to applaud you publicly. 12 We are lucky to have you in the Rochester 13 area. Congratulations. Please keep up the 14 great work. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Nozzolio. 16 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 17 Madam President. 18 Madam President and my colleagues, 19 I wish to rise and thank Senators Alesi and 20 Robach for putting forth this very appropriate 21 resolution. 22 This resolution honors an educator 23 in New York State, honors an educator from 24 upstate, honors an educator from Rochester, 25 who it is not surprising he himself would be

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(518) 371-8910 1 selected for this honor. What is surprising 2 are the tremendous challenges the City of 3 Rochester has to overcome in managing its 4 school system. 5 And as Senator Alesi and Senator 6 Robach so well stated, the region depends on 7 the Rochester city schools succeeding, that 8 employment, economic development, job creation 9 all depend on having a sound city school 10 system. 11 Senators Alesi and Robach have 12 worked tremendously hard to partner and ensure 13 resources are brought to the city school 14 system. And I wanted to add my support for 15 their efforts and particularly for their 16 praise of the superintendent, who is working 17 very hard, and it was very nice to see that 18 hard work recognized in this very worthwhile 19 and deserved award. 20 Madam President, thank you. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Maziarz. 22 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 23 much, Madam President. I too want to join and 24 rise with my colleagues and congratulate 25 Superintendent Rivera for the great job that

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(518) 371-8910 1 he has done with the Rochester City School 2 District. 3 I represent only a very small 4 portion of the City of Rochester; Senator 5 Robach and Senator Alesi have the majority of 6 the city. But, you know, when I visit the 7 Rochester city schools I see the challenges 8 that they faced just a few short years ago, 9 under a prior administration, and the 10 improvements that have been made under 11 Superintendent Rivera's leadership. 12 So I rise too. This is a very well 13 deserved honor. And I offer my 14 congratulations. 15 Thank you. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno, to 17 close. 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Madam 19 President and colleagues. 20 I just want to add my 21 congratulations to the superintendent, 22 Dr. Rivera. I had the pleasure of meeting and 23 visiting with him. 24 This is quite a testimony to 25 Dr. Rivera, to all of the people that you work

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(518) 371-8910 1 with. And the beneficiaries are not just the 2 students there in your community, but all over 3 the state and all over the country. 4 And to get the recognition by your 5 peers throughout the whole United States takes 6 some doing. And the criteria that they were 7 using was extremely competitive. 8 So congratulations to you, and 9 thank you for your dedication, your 10 commitment, your good work. And hopefully 11 people all over this state and all over the 12 country follow what you're doing there on 13 behalf of the young people and all of the 14 people. And you represent truly a role model. 15 So congratulations to you and to 16 your colleagues, and that's for everybody here 17 in the Senate. And I'm sure the sponsors 18 would like to open the resolution up to 19 everybody in the chamber, unless you would 20 prefer not to be there. 21 Thank you, Madam President. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The question now 23 is on the resolution. 24 All in favor please signify by 25 saying aye.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 3 (No response.) 4 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 5 adopted. 6 As a former educator myself, I want 7 to congratulate you. Very few jobs are more 8 challenging or rewarding or worthwhile as your 9 job. It's a great achievement. Best wishes 10 for continued success. 11 (Applause.) 12 THE PRESIDENT: Any member who 13 does not wish to cosponsor the last resolution 14 please notify the desk. 15 Motions and resolutions. 16 Senator Farley. 17 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 18 President. 19 I wish to offer amendments to the 20 following bills that are on the Third Reading 21 Calendar: 22 For Senator Wright, on page 11, 23 Calendar 57, Senate Print 5532A; 24 Senator Saland, on page 16, 25 Calendar 189, Senate Print 471;

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Morahan, on page 29, 2 Calendar 395, Senate Print 6763; 3 And on behalf of Senator Maziarz, 4 on page 31, Calendar 418, Senate Print 6689. 5 Madam President, I move that these 6 bills retain their place on the Third Reading 7 Calendar. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 9 are received, and the bills will retain their 10 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 11 Senator Bruno. 12 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President, 13 can we have the noncontroversial reading of 14 the calendar. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 16 will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 43, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4097A, an 19 act to amend the Real Property Law, in 20 relation to reverse mortgage loans. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 22 section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 80, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 5463A, an 7 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to the 8 special task force for the apparel industry. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 12 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 120, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 506, an 20 act to amend the Public Housing Law, in 21 relation to the members of the Geneva Housing 22 Authority. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 123, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4344, an 9 act to amend the General Business Law, in 10 relation to real estate syndication offerings. 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, 58. Nays, 18 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 20 passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 143, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6280, an 23 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 24 establishing the crimes of possession. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last

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(518) 371-8910 1 section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect on the first of 4 November. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 144, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6281, an 12 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to the 13 definition of the term "retail value." 14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the first of 18 November. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 22 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 145, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6282, an 2 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 3 trademark counterfeiting. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect on the first of 8 November. 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 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 205, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4326, an 16 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 17 relation to the power of the State of New York 18 Mortgage Agency. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 277, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 2856, an 5 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to 6 unauthorized entities. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 10 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 278, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 2860, an 18 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to 19 the enforcement of provisions. 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.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 339, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6334A, an 6 act to amend Chapter 185 of the Laws of 2005, 7 relating to authorizing. 8 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local 9 fiscal impact note at the desk. 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 342, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 6448A, an 20 act to amend Chapter 365 of the Laws of 2005, 21 amending the Tax Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 343, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6508, an 8 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to 9 conforming provisions. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 13 act shall take effect March 1, 2006. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 352, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 2453A, an 21 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 22 certain contracts. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 384, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 2563, an 9 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 10 relation to persons authorized. 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 PRESIDENT: Senator 18 Montgomery, to explain your vote. 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 20 President, I just rise to commend Senator 21 Hannon on this legislation. It's very 22 important. Every single time we include the 23 nurse practitioner as being a meaningful 24 important part of the health delivery system 25 in any way I think strengthens our system.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I want to thank you, Senator, 2 for looking to always include the nurse 3 practitioner along with the physician 4 assistant and the physician. 5 So I'm certainly voting yes on this 6 bill. 7 Thank you. 8 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 9 recorded, Senator, as voting in the 10 affirmative. 11 The Secretary will announce the 12 results. 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 14 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 398, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 6806A, an 19 act to amend the Retirement and Social 20 Security Law, in relation to investments. 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.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 433, by Senator Little, Senate Print 6828B, an 7 act to amend the Navigation Law and the 8 Insurance Law, in relation to requiring. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This 12 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Little, 16 to explain your vote. 17 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Madam 18 President. 19 I'd first like to express my thanks 20 for all of those who had an interest and 21 concern in regard to the tragic boating 22 accident that occurred in my district on 23 October 2nd of this year. Twenty lives were 24 lost on a tour boat on Lake George. 25 What we have discovered since then

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(518) 371-8910 1 is that many of the Navigation Laws in 2 New York State need to be addressed and 3 changed. The Governor has changed many of 4 those through administrative ways. But one of 5 the ones that we found needed to be done is to 6 require that all of these commercial boats who 7 carry passengers, paying passengers, that they 8 be required to carry maritime liability 9 insurance. 10 Most of the tour boat operators in 11 New York State have maritime liability 12 insurance; however, it is not required. This 13 bill requires that they carry that insurance 14 with a minimum of $1 million, and that they 15 buy their insurance from an insurance agent 16 who is certified in New York State to sell 17 insurance, and that excess insurance brokers 18 be able to provide additional insurance over 19 the $1 million. 20 Many of these boats have more 21 insurance than this, but this provides a good 22 minimum liability insurance. And it is 23 supported by the tour boat operators of 24 New York. The bill was done in consultation 25 with Senator Seward, the chairman of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Insurance Committee. 2 And we feel that this would provide 3 an adequate way of making the passengers on 4 these boats confident that they have insurance 5 should something tragic, as happened on Lake 6 George, happen to them. 7 So I vote in the affirmative, and I 8 thank all of those who join me in voting for 9 this bill. 10 Thank you. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, 12 Senator Little. You will be so recorded as 13 voting in the affirmative on this bill. 14 The Secretary will announce the 15 results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 Senator Bruno, that completes the 20 reading of the regular noncontroversial 21 calendar. 22 Senator Bruno. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President, 24 and colleagues, as you all know, we're about 25 to take up the supplemental calendar, which

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(518) 371-8910 1 will be the beginning of the Senate version of 2 the budget bills that we hope to get passed 3 today at some reasonable hour, and then go 4 into conference committees -- with the 5 Assembly doing their budget today and 6 finishing it tomorrow -- and hopefully be on 7 with the process that we had described that 8 will get us, with all the members 9 participating, as they have since we got the 10 Governor's budget, with the process so far. 11 And with the open public discussion 12 of whatever differences we have with the 13 Assembly, we hope to get those differences 14 resolved so that we can start passing bills 15 together by March 27th. 16 So this starts the process towards 17 getting a budget done on time on behalf of the 18 people of this state. The bills that are 19 submitted will describe what we have before 20 us, and the resolution will take place after 21 the conference committees in terms of the 22 togetherness that we can create. 23 So thank you for your input, thank 24 you for the discussion, thank you for the 25 contemplated comments, which will always be

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(518) 371-8910 1 creative, imaginative, and positive on behalf 2 of the people of this state. 3 Thank you, Madam President. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 5 will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 492, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6450B, 8 an act making appropriations -- 9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 10 aside. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 12 aside. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 493, Senate Budget Bill -- 15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 16 aside. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 18 aside. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 494, Senate Budget Bill -- 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 1 495, Senate Budget Bill -- 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 3 aside, please. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 5 aside. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 496 -- 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 9 aside. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 11 aside. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 497 -- 14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 15 aside, please. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 17 aside. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 498 -- 20 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 21 aside. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 23 aside. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 499 --

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 2 aside. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 4 aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 500 -- 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 8 aside. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 10 aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 501 -- 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 14 aside, s'il vous plait. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 16 aside. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 502 -- 19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 20 aside. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 22 aside. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 503 -- 25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it

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(518) 371-8910 1 aside. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 3 aside. 4 Senator Skelos, that does complete 5 the reading of the noncontroversial calendar 6 completely, regular and supplemental. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 8 if we could now take up the Supplemental 9 Calendar 20A, controversial. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 11 will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 492, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6450B, 14 an act making appropriations for the support 15 of government: Public Protection and General 16 Government Budget. 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Explanation. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson, 20 an explanation has been requested. 21 SENATOR JOHNSON: This budget 22 bill pertains to Public Protection and General 23 Government Budget. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini. 25 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I 2 ask that the reading of the amendment be 3 waived, and I'd like to be heard on the 4 amendment. 5 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 6 on the amendment, Senator Sabini. 7 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam 8 President. 9 I have an amendment at the desk 10 which would provide additional money to our 11 schools for school violence prevention. Gangs 12 are a problem that are now running through our 13 state -- upstate, the suburbs, New York City. 14 Every year, thousands of our young people in 15 the United States fall victim to crime in 16 schools. Many of those instances involve gang 17 violence. Some are minor assaults, some end 18 in tragedy. 19 Just a few months ago, in Newtown 20 High School in my district, 30 students got 21 involved on a mistaken identity over the 22 wearing of gang colors. Three came home from 23 school that day stabbed. Not the way we would 24 hope that people would send their children to 25 school, to come home the victim of violence

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(518) 371-8910 1 within the school. 2 These tragedies require educators, 3 students, and all Americans to address the 4 causes of school violence and search for 5 solutions. Recent information tells us today 6 that school violence may be decreasing, but 7 school violence, like societal violence, runs 8 in cycles. Gang violence is up around our 9 schools. 10 The threat of attacks in schools 11 creates fear and disorder amongst students and 12 teachers alike and leads to a disruptive 13 environment in our classrooms. And no matter 14 how much money we spend on education, if 15 parents don't feel their children are safe in 16 schools and children don't have an atmosphere 17 of learning, we'll be nowhere. 18 As legislators, it's our duty to 19 assist every school district in the state to 20 prevent and reduce school violence and to 21 restore order and a learning environment in 22 the classrooms. The grants in my budget 23 amendment, which total $6 million, will go to 24 schools that have partnered with law 25 enforcement agencies to target specific

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(518) 371-8910 1 problems related to crime and violence in and 2 around our schools. These are grants that 3 will be used to create special programs for 4 disruptive students, conflict resolution, 5 increased security equipment, personnel, and 6 to help police identify and educators identify 7 what is going on within the schools with 8 regard to gangs. 9 Anecdotally, we have a very sad 10 situation in the district I represent. When 11 the police were telling us that gang violence 12 was not on the rise, we had a situation at 13 Elmhurst Hospital, which is our municipal 14 hospital provider within the neighborhood. 15 The emergency room at Elmhurst Hospital is 16 requiring now that emergency room personnel 17 understand the markings involving tattoos and 18 knife wounds involving gangs, so that the 19 medical staff can understand what it is 20 they're seeing as someone moves through the 21 emergency room process. 22 Schools are a place for learning, 23 not a place for violence. We can't turn our 24 heads to this anymore. And so I offer an 25 amendment which would increase $6 million to

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(518) 371-8910 1 address gang violence in our schools and to 2 create an atmosphere of learning within those 3 schools. 4 Thank you, Madam President. 5 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment, 6 those Senators in agreement please signify by 7 raising your hands. 8 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 9 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 10 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 11 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 12 Onorato, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, 13 Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith, 14 Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is 16 not agreed to. 17 THE SECRETARY: Also, excuse me, 18 Senator Oppenheimer. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is 20 still not agreed to. 21 (Laughter.) 22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Klein. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 24 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I 25 ask the reading of the amendment be waived and

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(518) 371-8910 1 I have the opportunity to be heard on the said 2 amendment. 3 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 4 on the amendment, Senator Klein. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: My amendment 6 would create a grant program to local law 7 enforcement agencies for the purchase and 8 expenses related to global positioning 9 systems, GPS electronic monitoring devices, 10 and public notification of sex offenders, for 11 a cost of $17 million. 12 I've gotten up over the last couple 13 of months and probably even last year to speak 14 about our lack of doing something concrete in 15 the State of New York to protect our 16 communities, to protect our families and loved 17 ones from this threat of violent sexual 18 predators. 19 I know we've passed the bills that 20 I have supported in this house, but still, 21 most of this legislation hasn't had any type 22 of meaningful action in the State Assembly. 23 We still don't have a law on the books in 24 New York State dealing with the very important 25 issue of civil confinement. We still do not

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(518) 371-8910 1 have mandatory notification for our 2 communities under Megan's Law. And we still 3 don't have any type of email notification to 4 make sure that our communities know when a 5 dangerous sexual predator is living in our 6 community. 7 So I think it's very, very 8 important at least that we have a GPS system 9 to at least track very dangerous sexual 10 predators in our communities. I understand 11 what's in the budget today would put in 12 $500,000 for a pilot program. I think that's 13 great, but I think the time is now to do a 14 full-blown system across the state of 15 New York. 16 I've said this before, I think 17 anything else we do but civil commitment or 18 civil confinement is merely a Band-Aid 19 approach. But I do think that if we do 20 something, we should be at least do a GPS 21 monitoring system, which would be statewide. 22 I know I represent portions of 23 Westchester County; they adopted their own 24 program last year, and it's been very, very 25 successful in being able to determine the

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(518) 371-8910 1 whereabouts of dangerous sexual predators in 2 Westchester County. 3 So this program, while it sounds 4 like a lot of money, I think when it comes to 5 protecting family members to make sure we at 6 least do know where dangerous sexual predators 7 are -- ticking time bombs -- at least we do 8 know they're in our community and we can 9 effectively let local law enforcement track 10 their whereabouts. 11 Thank you, Madam President. 12 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment. 13 Senator Skelos, first. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 15 if I could just comment. 16 Once again, Senator Klein, you have 17 forgotten that this house has passed 18 legislation -- Senator Bonacic's omnibus bill, 19 individual bills, GPS tracking, email 20 notification, mandatory community notification 21 all on the Internet, on and on and on. 22 And my suggestion to you, once 23 again, go back to the house that you served in 24 in the majority, convince Speaker Silver, a 25 member of your party, the Democrat Party, to

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(518) 371-8910 1 pass this legislation. 2 Symbolic, what you're doing today, 3 congratulations. But the issue is that we 4 need the Assembly to partner with us. Very 5 simple. The bills are there, have them vote 6 for it, we'll pass it, and we do not any 7 longer need the charade that you're putting 8 this house through. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Volker. 10 SENATOR VOLKER: Very quickly. 11 These are good ideas. In fact, the past -- 12 the gang violence and -- and this is good 13 ideas. 14 And I suggest that you discuss with 15 the members of the Assembly and with the 16 members of our conference committee these 17 issues, because they're issues could well be 18 part of the debate when we start the 19 conference committees. 20 So I just want to tell you that. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Connor. 22 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam 23 President. 24 As long as it's debatable, I just 25 rise in support of -- I want somebody to make

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(518) 371-8910 1 a point of order, but nobody is. It's my 2 understanding that these motions aren't 3 debatable. But as long as we're being really 4 loose here -- amendment. Oh, amendments are. 5 Okay. 6 I want to compliment Senator Klein 7 for his amendment. I think it is appropriate 8 in having an open budget process to have 9 members bring their ideas to the floor when 10 they're not contained in the bill. And I 11 would take exceptions to characterize that 12 it's a charade. Members care very, very much 13 about these issues that they're raising. Our 14 constituents care about them. They're 15 important issues. And we just take the 16 moments that it requires to have a little 17 airing of these issues as we go forward in 18 this budget process. 19 Because as Senator Bruno said, and 20 I applaud him for it, it is now a much more 21 open process where we are going to have these 22 discussions in the light of day, in front of 23 the press and public, and talk about the 24 issues that are of concern to the citizens of 25 New York.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 3 Schneiderman. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 5 Madam President. 6 We do have a lot of material to 7 cover here, and I -- there are people who 8 think that, you know, going through passing 9 one-house budget bills with massive tax-cut 10 proposals that will never come to law, that 11 that could be construed as a charade. 12 Senator Bruno started us off on a 13 positive note today, said the suggestions that 14 he anticipated hearing would be positive. 15 There is certainly no argument that Senator 16 Klein has very strong feelings and a 17 demonstrated record on the issues he raises 18 today. 19 So I hope my colleagues on the 20 other side of the aisle will accept that we -- 21 not having been included in the process that 22 produced the draft and which we'll vote on 23 today, this is our opportunity to have input. 24 It may take a little bit of time, but that's 25 what the legislative process is supposed to be

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(518) 371-8910 1 about, as Senator Connor just noted. 2 I hope we're not intending to have 3 lengthy debates on these amendments, but we do 4 want to make our points, we do want to make 5 them respectfully and have them received 6 respectfully and then proceed hopefully in the 7 atmosphere that I believe we started out with 8 today when we began this process. 9 We have a long way to go before we 10 finally produce a budget, but I don't think 11 there's any basis for any assertion that the 12 points being made by the amendments today are 13 any less sincerely felt that the points that 14 are being made by the budget bills and 15 resolution offered by the other side of the 16 aisle. 17 I also support Senator Klein's 18 amendment. Thank you, Madam President. 19 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment, 20 those Senators in agreement please signify by 21 raising your hands. 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 23 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 24 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 25 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 2 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 3 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 4 Valesky. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is 6 not agreed to. 7 The Secretary will ring the bell. 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 14 Montgomery, to explain your vote. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Could we please 17 have order. If the members would take their 18 seats. 19 Senator Montgomery. 20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 21 President. I'm voting no on this particular 22 budget appropriations bill because it contains 23 a provision which I opposed last year, and I 24 have the same opposition this year. 25 And that is that we propose to

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(518) 371-8910 1 raise several thousand dollars from each 2 person who is on probation, for a number of 3 fees. And I see that we have now, rather than 4 bringing it to the floor as a freestanding 5 bill, we've slipped it into the budget 6 language. And it establishes a number of 7 different fees which will be charged to people 8 who are on probation. And we also are now 9 requiring people to pay a fee for their DNA 10 sample, a fee for their registration as a sex 11 offender, and additional fees for 12 administration and probation fee. 13 So while we're giving a tax break 14 to people who can afford, we are actually 15 creating a very onerous tax on people who can 16 least afford. It certainly does not help with 17 the whole issue of giving a second chance. 18 And certainly we're not establishing an 19 alternative to incarceration that we as a 20 state support; we're trying to make 21 probationers pay for this themselves. 22 So I'm voting no on this, because I 23 think that's an onerous tax on a very, very 24 poor and vulnerable group of people in our 25 state.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you. 2 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 3 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator. 4 The Secretary will announce the 5 results. 6 Senator Krueger. 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 8 To explain my vote, Madam President. 9 I also will be voting no on the 10 bill, but I thought I would highlight two 11 issues that I think should concern us in this 12 bill. 13 One is that in the Senate bill, as 14 opposed to the Executive's proposal, they have 15 done away with the opportunity to increase 16 traffic-law enforcement cameras in work zones, 17 dangerous stretches of highway, and 18 traffic-light intersections, imposing 19 hundred-dollar penalties on registered owners 20 of vehicle that exceed the posted speeds. 21 Speaking as a legislator from 22 New York City, we have a very serious problem 23 throughout Manhattan Island -- and I believe 24 all the boroughs -- with vehicles not 25 following the traffic laws. We don't possibly

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(518) 371-8910 1 have enough enforcement agents to catch 2 everyone speeding through red lights. We've 3 had any number of incidents of pedestrians 4 being hit while crossing the streets or, in 5 fact, being killed because people are crossing 6 through red lights. 7 It's been my experience that 8 red-light cameras have been an effective 9 deterrent to slow people down from speeding 10 through dangerous intersections, certainly in 11 the city of New York and I suspect in other 12 parts of the state. So I am disappointed that 13 we have removed that section of the Governor's 14 proposed budget from the Article VII language 15 bills under criminal justice. 16 I'm also, I suppose, a little 17 surprised that we've done away, through 18 Article VII legislation language in this bill, 19 on the Lobbying Act Enforcement Fund that 20 deletes current statutory language which 21 stipulates the monies recovered by the 22 Attorney General or received by the commission 23 from the assessment of civil penalties 24 pursuant to the Lobbying Act enforcement will 25 no longer be available for lobbying

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(518) 371-8910 1 enforcement. 2 When we pass laws, we have to 3 ensure that our agencies and our commissions 4 have the revenue to follow through and do 5 their job. And so I am disturbed that in this 6 bill we remove a current statutory mandate 7 that the monies collected remain with the 8 Lobbying Commission. 9 I'll be voting no. Thank you, 10 Madam President. 11 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 12 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator. 13 Senator Parker. 14 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, Madam 15 President, to explain my vote. 16 I'm voting no on this budget bill, 17 in part because I just can't understand how we 18 are willing to do as much as we've done around 19 public protection but we're not at all 20 interested in protecting people or communities 21 or particularly children before they get 22 involved with the criminal justice system. 23 So while we are, you know, happy to 24 increase dollars for probation and parole and 25 for jails, to continue to fund the prison

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(518) 371-8910 1 industrial complex, we still have not decided 2 to do what the court has mandated for us to do 3 around the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. 4 So I'm voting no on this. 5 And then on top of that, we then 6 add insult to injury, as Senator Montgomery 7 has indicated, by back-dooring taxes on people 8 who have been convicted. And we shouldn't 9 be -- you know, people who have committed 10 crimes, they should pay. But if we're going 11 to have fines, let's fine them up front and 12 let's vote on a fine for people if we're going 13 to fine them. 14 But to create these back-door taxes 15 and cost-shifting to people who have the least 16 ability to pay doesn't -- you know, at the 17 same time, if we were taking those dollars and 18 using them for some kind of rehabilitation or 19 some kind of remediation for people who have 20 committed crimes, then you'd have my vote in a 21 minute. 22 But just to take that back-door 23 taxes and at the same time that we're talking 24 about cutting, you know, $8 billion worth of 25 taxes, to shift those taxes here just doesn't

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(518) 371-8910 1 make any sense, from either a budgetary 2 perspective or from a public policy 3 perspective. 4 I vote no. 5 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 6 recorded as voting in the negative. 7 The Secretary will announce the 8 results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 10 the negative on Calendar Number 492 are 11 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Diaz, 12 Dilan, Duane, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Parker, 13 Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman, and A. Smith. 14 Ayes, 46. Nays, 13. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 The Secretary will continue to 18 read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 493, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6451, an 21 act making appropriations for the support of 22 government: Legislature and Judiciary Budget. 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Explanation. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson,

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(518) 371-8910 1 an explanation has been requested. 2 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is a bill 3 for the support of government dealing with the 4 Legislature and Judiciary Budget. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 6 Schneiderman. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, if 8 the sponsor would yield for a brief question. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson, 10 do you yield for a question? 11 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Madam 12 President. 13 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed, 14 Senator Schneiderman. 15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: In this 16 budget that covers the judiciary, the 17 judiciary has not received any pay increase 18 since 1999. Does this legislation include any 19 provision for a pay increase for the 20 judiciary? 21 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, there's 22 no legislation enacting a pay increase, but 23 there is money in this budget available, 24 $69.5 million, subject to a chapter which we 25 have yet to enact.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through 2 you, Madam President. So the money is there, 3 but there is no provision that it should be 4 used for a pay increase? 5 SENATOR JOHNSON: Did you ask me 6 a question? 7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson, 8 did you yield for that question? 9 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 10 Yes, you are correct. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 12 Thank the sponsor. 13 I will be voting against this 14 because I find that, you know, the politics 15 here are superseding public policy. And I 16 would urge that it is time to revisit the 17 issues of the salaries last raised in 1999. I 18 think it's shameful that we aren't dealing 19 with that. 20 Given the absence of specific 21 provisions on that front, I will be voting 22 against this bill. 23 Thank you, Madam President. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 25 member wish to be heard?

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(518) 371-8910 1 Then the debate is closed. 2 Senator DeFrancisco, first. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Just to 4 make a point. 5 I think as an advocate for the 6 judicial pay increases, I think it's extremely 7 important that the money has been set aside 8 for that to happen if there's an agreement 9 between the houses and the Governor's office 10 as to how it would be structured and any other 11 parts of the bill -- because the other parts 12 of the proposal dealt with a commission being 13 appointed to study other potential reviews of 14 other elected officials and appointed 15 officials and the like. 16 So I think the fact that the money 17 is in here is, I think, a good first step. 18 And hopefully during the conference committees 19 and the process that goes on from this point 20 forward, we can resolve this issue to the 21 satisfaction of everyone. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The debate is 23 closed. 24 The Secretary will ring the bell. 25 Read the last section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Connor, 6 to explain your vote. 7 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam 8 President. 9 I'm voting yes because I agree with 10 Senator Schneiderman that it's absolutely 11 atrocious that we haven't done a judicial pay 12 raise in all this time. But I'm an optimist, 13 and I'll take things step-by-step. And since 14 the money is in this bill for the judicial pay 15 raise, I want to vote for this bill because I 16 want to make sure that money is in there. 17 So hopefully, in my optimistic 18 foresight, we will get around to doing an 19 authorization as well setting judicial 20 salaries higher. 21 Thank you, Madam President. 22 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 23 recorded as voting in the affirmative, 24 Senator. 25 Senator Malcolm Smith.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 2 you, Madam President. 3 I will be voting no for this 4 particular bill only because, like my 5 colleague Senator Schneiderman, clearly having 6 the money set aside for the judicial pay 7 raises is only a possibility. And we know 8 from history, we've had money set aside for a 9 particular cause and it has gone there for 10 several years, reappropriated year after year. 11 And I just think if we have 12 language in the bill that makes it clear as to 13 the judges who deserve this raise -- it's an 14 embarrassment that you have first-year law 15 associates making more money than our judges. 16 I think we should do them the justice by, even 17 this particular first bill, making sure the 18 raise is very clear in addition to the 19 establishment of the commission. 20 So I'll be voting no. 21 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 22 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator. 23 Senator Krueger. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 25 To explain my vote, Madam President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I've also voted no on this bill, 2 but I think it's important to raise one more 3 issue that no one else did, the fact that this 4 state underfunds legal-service representation 5 for indigent New Yorkers. 6 And year after year we hear people 7 come to us to talk about the fact that poor 8 people, usually in civil court proceedings, 9 cannot get attorneys, they end up having to 10 represent themselves pro se. It is not an 11 even playing field in our courts. 12 And I agree with my colleagues when 13 they talk about the importance of ensuring 14 that our judges continue on our bench because 15 they are getting fair pay for the work they 16 do, but I also think it's important for 17 someone in this house to rise and say we have 18 been underfunding legal representation for the 19 poor, both particularly in civil matters, 20 where there isn't the mandate that there is in 21 criminal matters. 22 And I hope when we move forward to 23 two-house bills sometime in the next few weeks 24 that we will take under consideration the 25 desperate need for legal representation of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 poor. 2 Thank you, Madam President. 3 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 4 recorded in the negative on the bill. 5 The Secretary will announce the 6 results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 8 the negative on Calendar Number 493 are 9 Senators Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, 10 Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Parker, 11 Paterson, Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman, 12 A. Smith, M. Smith, and Stavisky. Also 13 Senator Andrews. 14 Ayes, 43. Nays, 16. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 16 passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 494, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6452, an 19 act making appropriations for the legal 20 requirements of the state debt service. 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.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 495, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6453B, 7 an act making appropriations for the support 8 of government: Education, Labor and Family 9 Assistance Budget. 10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 11 Explanation. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson, 13 an explanation has been requested. 14 SENATOR JOHNSON: This budget 15 bill makes appropriations for education, 16 labor, and TANF family assistance. That's it. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Savino. 18 SENATOR SAVINO: Madam President, 19 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I 20 ask the reading of the amendment be waived, 21 and I ask to be heard on the amendment. 22 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 23 on the amendment. 24 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, Madam 25 President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I have an amendment at the desk 2 that would increase funding for subsidized 3 child daycare slots. In New York State, more 4 than 650,000 children qualify for subsidized 5 daycare, yet there are only 183,400 subsidized 6 slots available. 7 The capacity within the daycare 8 system actually exists, but funds for 9 subsidies are insufficient to meet the need. 10 In fact, in the past year many counties have 11 lowered their income eligibility levels and 12 have increased parent copayments because of 13 the lack of funding. 14 This appropriation of $100 million 15 would make more than 20,000 subsidized slots 16 accessible for working New Yorkers. 17 It should be further noted that 18 changes in federal work requirements will 19 further increase the need for subsidized child 20 daycare slots. 21 And finally, I would like to 22 mention that March, while it's Irish Heritage 23 Month, in some places it's known as Social 24 Work Month, it is also Women's History Month. 25 And all month long many of us going to be

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(518) 371-8910 1 attending events and handing out proclamations 2 and granting resolutions, you know, 3 commemorating the progress of women over the 4 past hundred years. 5 The sad fact is women have not kept 6 pace with men. We still earn 70 cents on 7 dollar to men. And we are still hampered by 8 our ability to progress in the workplace, and 9 the single greatest reason why is because of 10 the lack of affordable daycare. 11 It falls upon women 90 percent of 12 the time to arrange for daycare for their 13 children, to provide it, to for it. And the 14 least we can do is really give women a leg up 15 and assist them and provide more subsidized 16 daycare slots. 17 So I would ask all of my colleagues 18 that as we celebrate Women's History Month, 19 let's actually do something for women today. 20 Thank you. 21 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment, 22 those Senators in agreement please signify by 23 raising your hands. 24 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 25 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 2 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 3 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 4 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 5 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 6 Valesky. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is 8 not agreed to. 9 Senator Stavisky. 10 SENATOR STAVISKY: Madam 11 President, I believe there's an amendment at 12 the desk. I ask that the reading be waived 13 and that I be heard on the amendment. 14 I gather that's a yes. 15 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed 16 on the amendment, Senator. 17 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you. 18 This amendment would provide an 19 additional $20 million for CUNY and 20 $15 million for SUNY, in addition to the 21 appropriation already in this Majority 22 version. It would provide 300 new additional 23 new full-time faculty at SUNY and 150 24 full-time faculty at CUNY. 25 The three words we hear when we

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(518) 371-8910 1 talk about SUNY and CUNY and the public 2 colleges are affordability, accessibility, and 3 quality. And unfortunately, the quality is 4 there, but the accessibility and the 5 affordability are declining. 6 For one thing, adjuncts work hard 7 but often do not have office hours, they don't 8 participate in campus activities, in 9 department activities, and they don't have the 10 opportunity to interact with the student body 11 because they have to go on and teach someplace 12 else. 13 Secondly, a college degree today is 14 extremely important. Over the course of a 15 lifetime, a college graduate will earn 16 anywhere between 65 and 75 percent more than 17 the graduate with a high school diploma. In 18 order to compete in the global marketplace, it 19 becomes increasingly important that they 20 obtain a college degree, particularly -- as 21 we've had hearings in the past -- in the area 22 of science, engineering, and mathematics. 23 And to be able to compete and to be 24 able to earn their degrees, the courses have 25 to be there for the students so that the

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(518) 371-8910 1 students can enroll in these courses. 2 In New York State, we are 3 underproducing baccalaureate degrees by 11,000 4 degrees a year. Chancellor Ryan, at the 5 budget hearings, indicated that there are 7500 6 students who would normally be admitted to the 7 four-year institutions at SUNY but they have 8 to be turned away because there's nobody to 9 teach those classes. The number, 10 incidentally, is the same for the City 11 University of New York. 12 Lastly, the students' graduations 13 are often deferred because the courses that 14 they need to complete the degree are not 15 offered. And this would increase the 16 percentage of full-time faculty. Back in 17 1994, 72 percent at SUNY were full-time 18 faculty. Today the number is 58.2 percent. 19 We've had a dramatic decline in the full-time 20 faculty over the last 12 years. 21 And for that reason, if you support 22 the concept of full-time faculty, increasing 23 the numbers of full-time faculty, then you 24 will support this amendment. 25 Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 2 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 3 signify by raising your hands. 4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 5 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 6 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 7 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 8 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 9 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 10 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 11 Valesky. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 amendment is not agreed to. 14 Senator Oppenheimer. 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I think 16 there's an amendment at the desk, and I'd like 17 to ask that the reading be waived but that I 18 be heard on it. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 reading is waived, and you're recognized to 21 explain the amendment. 22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Okay. This 23 concerns universal prekindergarten. 24 I think we all know that a strong 25 statewide pre-K program is the key to

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(518) 371-8910 1 establishing a sound foundation for closing 2 the academic achievement gap that we've been 3 hearing so much about. Strong prekindergarten 4 programs provide the advantage for preschool 5 students with disabilities and with cultural 6 disadvantages to get the services that are 7 needed. 8 Establishing prekindergarten as a 9 child's first year of public education is 10 needed to ensure that all children attain the 11 skills necessary for a successful academic 12 experience. In New York State there is an 13 actual need for a statewide pre-K program, and 14 this is evident from the following facts. 15 Currently only 73,000, a little 16 more -- approximately 30 percent of our 17 quarter of a million children who are 4 years 18 old -- are in state-funded pre-K programs, 19 though 80 percent of all 8-year-olds are in 20 placement outside of their homes. And I think 21 some of those placements are of lesser quality 22 than we would like. And we all know why that 23 is, because both parents, usually, in a family 24 are now working, even when the children are 25 very young.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Several statewide studies have 2 shown the effectiveness of prekindergarten 3 programs and their cost-effectiveness. 4 Effects of universal prekindergarten include 5 the reduction of grade repetition, which we 6 estimate would fall between maybe 10 and 7 13 percent, and yield savings of maybe 8 $25 million over the course of that 9 prekindergartener's school career. 10 Special ed spending would drop 11 between maybe 8.5 and 12 percent, and there 12 the savings would be sizable, maybe 13 $240 million to $300 million. 14 We also forecast an improvement in 15 learning productivity that will create cost 16 savings, a 1, 1.5 percent cost savings 17 systemwide, achieved by lowering teacher 18 turnover, reducing classroom disruptions and 19 school vandalism, and improving the use of 20 curriculum materials. 21 We have been waiting quite a while, 22 haven't we, since we first said we were going 23 to move on this issue. Maybe it's five years, 24 maybe it's six; I'm not exactly sure. It was 25 part of what we all agreed to in the LADDER

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(518) 371-8910 1 program. And we have not been moving forward 2 on it, and we are missing an opportunity to 3 educate and keep these children in school. 4 They are missing out because we are not 5 providing for them. 6 And the gap between the 7 disadvantaged student and the advantaged 8 student is growing wider and wider, and we are 9 perhaps the state with the largest gap. 10 I feel passionately about this. 11 All the information that has come out of 12 Washington, D.C., on the studies -- and there 13 have been numerous -- have shown the advantage 14 of taking full advantage of those years from 15 birth to age 5. We really have to do it, not 16 just for these children who are missing out, 17 but for all of us and for the economy of the 18 future, which we hope will be sound because 19 these children will have the proper education. 20 Thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 22 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 23 signify by raising your hands. 24 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 25 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 2 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 3 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 4 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 5 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 6 Valesky. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 amendment is not agreed to. 9 Senator Valesky. 10 SENATOR VALESKY: Mr. President, 11 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I 12 ask that the reading of the amendment be 13 waived and that I have the opportunity to 14 explain the amendment. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Reading 16 is waived, and you're recognized for the 17 purpose of explaining the amendment. 18 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, Mr. 19 President. 20 The amendment that is before us 21 today is language that is similar to an 22 amendment that we have seen before in this 23 house, based on Senate Bill 5995. We are all 24 undoubtedly aware of the pressures that school 25 districts have been facing in this academic

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(518) 371-8910 1 year in regard to higher-than-anticipated 2 energy costs, both natural gas and heating oil 3 costs as well as diesel fuel. And those 4 increased costs are having a negative impact 5 on academic programs, transportation for 6 various field trips, and other opportunities. 7 School districts are left with very 8 little choice in regard to what they can do. 9 And I am concerned that as we go to school 10 budgets in a couple of months, we may be 11 seeing higher school property taxes as a 12 result of the pressure in energy costs. 13 So this amendment would authorize 14 the Commissioner of Education to provide 15 school districts with grants. The total grant 16 allocation or statewide pool would be in the 17 amount of $50 million. Factors that would be 18 considered upon making grants would be a 19 district's ability to cover the increased 20 costs in energy, as well as the impact that 21 energy prices have had on academic programs 22 and a potential impact, of course, on property 23 taxpayers, and also would look at efforts that 24 have been undertaken by the school district to 25 reduce costs through energy conservation

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(518) 371-8910 1 measures. 2 Mr. President, I urge a yes vote on 3 this amendment. Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 5 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 6 signify by raising your hands. 7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 8 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 9 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 10 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 11 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 12 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 13 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 14 Valesky. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 amendment is not agreed to. 17 Senator Schneiderman. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 There's an amendment at the desk. 21 I would request that its reading be waived and 22 I be heard on the amendment. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 24 reading is waived, and you're recognized to 25 speak on the amendment.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 2 This is another amendment to this 3 legislation relating to education in the State 4 of New York. This amendment would do two 5 things that are critical. It would add funds 6 for operating aid for the high-needs school 7 districts in this state and, more centrally, 8 it would change the funding formula to deal 9 with the overall problem of the distribution 10 of education funds within the state. 11 Now, the budget bill as proposed 12 does make some small adjustments in the 13 funding formula and it does provide some 14 additional funds, but it still falls far short 15 of the funding that we know we need for all 16 high-needs districts. 17 And I would suggest that there are 18 three central reasons to support this 19 amendment to fix our funding formula, and 20 they're the same reasons I would argue require 21 a "no" vote on this particular budget bill. 22 This is a serious problem. This is 23 a statewide problem. And unfortunately, my 24 colleagues, I believe that in this particular 25 area this is specifically a Senate problem.

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(518) 371-8910 1 This is a serious problem, as we 2 know from the findings of fact in the Campaign 3 for Fiscal Equity case. There is no better 4 record before this house on any issue than 5 there is about the failures of our public 6 schools. And anyone who cares about the 7 future of our state and anyone who cares about 8 the children of our state -- that, you know, 9 the most hard-hearted venture capitalist in 10 New York should be for more investment in 11 public schools, because that is our future. 12 But on a moral basis, the fact that 13 hundreds of thousands of children have had 14 their dreams destroyed while we sit here 15 watching them getting an education in classes 16 where routinely people get to the 12th grade 17 only reading at an 8th-grade level, where 18 routinely teachers who are not certified or 19 are not certified in the areas in which they 20 are teaching are concentrated in the 21 high-needs districts -- they are not getting 22 their fair share. The schools are failing. 23 We have a constitutional 24 responsibility. We tried the defenses, the 25 state shamefully tried the defenses in the CFE

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(518) 371-8910 1 case that, oh, it's not our fault, it's the 2 fault of the local government. That was 3 rejected. The State Constitution doesn't say 4 the mayor is responsible for a system of 5 common schools. It doesn't say the Department 6 of Education is. It says the Legislature is. 7 So this is a serious problem, a fundamental 8 failure of government here. 9 Second of all, it's a statewide 10 problem. This amendment and the proposal that 11 was made today in the Assembly would redress 12 this problem on a statewide basis. The court 13 in the CFE case only has jurisdiction to award 14 funds to the City of New York, and we know 15 there's resistance to even that. But we must 16 enact legislation that deals with this on a 17 statewide basis. 18 This is a problem in Buffalo in 19 high-needs areas, in Syracuse, in Yonkers, in 20 rural areas throughout the state of New York. 21 So this is a statewide problem that will not 22 be addressed by the court. We have to deal 23 with the statewide solution here. 24 And finally, my colleagues, this is 25 a Senate problem. Because right now the

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(518) 371-8910 1 education advocates pretty much understand 2 what we have to do to fix the funding formula 3 and to fund the schools. The Assembly today 4 has taken a major step forward to that end. 5 The Republican mayor of the City of New York 6 has stood up and said: We are not getting our 7 fair share. 8 The barrier is in this house. And 9 we've heard encouraging words from my 10 colleagues on the other side of the aisle that 11 sometimes we should go to the Assembly and try 12 and convince people to do the right thing. 13 Well, today we're here trying to convince our 14 colleagues on the other side of the aisle to 15 do the right thing. 16 Since the CFE decision first was 17 issued, the Majority in this house has been in 18 opposition to it. The first report that came 19 out right after the trial court's decision, 20 "Staff Analysis 2001-2002," by my colleagues 21 on the other side of the aisle, attacked the 22 CFE decision. The arguments made there were 23 rejected by the appellate courts; they've been 24 rejected repeatedly. 25 This case will not go away. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 issue will not go away. We must stop being 2 the barrier to fair funding for high-needs 3 districts. We must stop being the barrier to 4 the realization of dreams for millions of 5 children in the State of New York who deserve 6 a fair shot in life. We're not guaranteeing 7 success. But everyone deserves a fair shot. 8 That's what this amendment would 9 provide for, and I would urge everyone to vote 10 for it. And in the absence of the amendment, 11 I would urge a "no" vote on this piece of 12 budget legislation. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 15 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 16 signify -- I'm sorry. 17 Senator Saland. 18 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 19 first, I would like to point out that this 20 Senate and certainly this Senate Majority has 21 been keenly interested in a statewide 22 resolution of this issue since virtually the 23 onset. 24 Unfortunately, what we have found 25 ourselves with is a situation in which the

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(518) 371-8910 1 decisions of the referee and the trial court 2 have created a floor, a floor in terms of a 3 dollar amount through which the Assembly 4 cannot negotiate. We believe that to be an 5 unrealistic, an unattainable ceiling. 6 There are issues, there are issues 7 between the Governor's Zarb Commission, long 8 since forgotten, and the CFE decision as 9 written by the trial court. And incidentally, 10 what's interesting about the court decision is 11 the court didn't absolve the City of New York 12 in that particular case. The court said, if 13 you remember correctly, the city has an 14 obligation to put up money. 15 The court also said even if the 16 city has been remiss in failing to provide 17 money, the city is a subdivision of the state 18 and the state should therefore make the city 19 pay more money if the city thinks that it 20 should. A very nice way of dealing with a 21 very controversial issue, but really a means 22 by which the court offered no remedy to deal 23 with that issue. 24 I would respectfully submit that 25 the record in the CFE case certainly tells us

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Court of Appeals has said "fix it." The 2 Court of Appeals said "fix it" in June of 3 2003. They said that the state had failed to 4 abide by its constitutional obligation to 5 provide a sound, basic education in the City 6 of New York. That provided the ability, I 7 believe, to deal with this as a statewide 8 issue if in fact we could get people to the 9 table. 10 Given the change of direction, if 11 we go back and take a look -- we arrived at 12 that number, or the advocates arrived at that 13 number based on a professional-judgment model. 14 The court, through the referees, adopted a 15 successful-schools model. But unlike the 16 Regents, they failed to use a so-called 17 efficiency filter, which the Regents have 18 always used when they've done their foundation 19 formula. 20 So effectively, as the commissioner 21 testified, there are reasons for using an 22 efficiency formula. The court chose not to 23 use the efficiency -- the efficiency filter, 24 excuse me, for whatever reasons known only to 25 them.

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(518) 371-8910 1 This matter is on appeal. I 2 personally believe that any governor would be 3 derelict in letting a decision of this 4 magnitude -- for that matter, any decision 5 involving appropriation of funds -- to a trial 6 court. I wouldn't care if that court was in 7 Manhattan, I wouldn't care if that court was 8 in Buffalo, I wouldn't care if that court was 9 in Plattsburgh, I wouldn't care if that court 10 was in Poughkeepsie. 11 There is, believe it or not, a 12 separation of powers doctrine that has served 13 this institution and served this state and has 14 served the federal government as well. And 15 absent the willingness of the Assembly to come 16 to the table, they're resting on the 17 $5.6 billion number without the issue of 18 capital that they've been provided by the 19 decision of the referees and the trial court. 20 There's little or no likelihood 21 that they're going to come to the table. 22 We've been ready, willing and able for the 23 longest period of time to get there. That's 24 the only way we're going to deal with the 25 high-needs solution to this issue.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I understand the rhetoric. It 2 is certainly popular in any number of circles. 3 It's however, in my opinion, grossly divorced 4 from reality, and it remains to be seen 5 whether we will ever get to the table. I 6 would certainly hope so. I can speak for 7 myself as the chairman of the Senate Education 8 Committee and say I'm most eager to get to 9 that table, but it's awfully lonely being 10 there by yourself. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 12 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 13 signify by raising your hands. 14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 15 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 16 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 17 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 18 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 19 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 20 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 21 Valesky. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 amendment is not agreed to. 24 Senator Krueger. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'd like to ask the sponsor to yield, please. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Johnson, will you yield for a question from 4 Senator Krueger? 5 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, 6 Mr. Chairman. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 sponsor yields. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 10 Through you, Mr. President. 11 We just heard Senator Saland make 12 an eloquent argument about whether or not the 13 Assembly is coming to the table in CFE and how 14 much money they realistically would or 15 wouldn't put on. 16 And regardless of the role of the 17 courts, Senator Johnson, how much money is the 18 State Senate putting on the table as an 19 increase to school aid in this bill? 20 SENATOR JOHNSON: This year, 21 $1.1 billion. 22 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: $1.1 23 billion. 24 Mr. President, if, through you, the 25 sponsor would continue to yield.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Johnson, do you continue to yield? 3 The sponsor yields. 4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 5 And does that include the money for 6 construction or just the operating aid? 7 SENATOR JOHNSON: No, that's 8 operating aid. Construction is a separate 9 item. 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 11 Mr. President, on the bill. 12 Thank you, Mr. Sponsor. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Liz Krueger, on the bill. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Well, one 16 can debate whether the court should have had a 17 role in deciding education aid or not. I 18 would argue if we had done what we were 19 supposed to do in this Legislature for 30 20 years, nobody would have taken us to court, 21 nobody would have needed to. 22 I would also argue that whether one 23 wants to debate $6 billion operating, 24 $9 billion capital, some numbers otherwise, 25 that in the year 2006 this Senate, in a

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(518) 371-8910 1 one-house budget bill, could certainly do 2 better than what is before us today. Which, 3 as I've just learned, is $1.1 billion 4 statewide. And I believe when you adjust for 5 inflation, that dollar value actually 6 decreases dramatically. 7 It's also my reading of the bill 8 for construction that it would be $240 million 9 in debt service costs, with a one-year 10 commitment to help pay off the costs on the 11 debt service, leaving perhaps the City of 12 New York and the other large school districts 13 to have to pay off these bonds for new 14 construction for decades to come, with or 15 without the help of the State Legislature and 16 the next Governor. 17 And I would argue that we have to 18 do better than this package, even if one 19 disagrees or agrees with the role of the 20 courts or the other house. 21 So I'll be voting no on this bill, 22 for a variety of reasons. One is it is 23 completely inadequate in its commitment to 24 K-12 education funding. 25 Second, it is completely inadequate

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(518) 371-8910 1 in its response to the need for higher 2 education funding in the State of New York. 3 We hear over and over again -- the Governor's 4 State of the State speech, other speeches that 5 have been made in this house, on both sides 6 and in the Assembly, on both sides -- that the 7 State of New York is failing in our 8 responsibility to ensure that our young people 9 are graduating our universities with the 10 educations that they need to be competitive in 11 a 21st century labor market. I've heard 12 endless speeches about Tom Friedman's book 13 about the flat earth and how we are not 14 competitive with every other state in the 15 nation and many countries. 16 And yet what we do here is we offer 17 to our universities that they should increase 18 their tuition for their students who are 19 already working to try to make the payments 20 for their tuition. We are proud of ourselves, 21 I suppose, for cutting back on the Governor's 22 proposal to cut TAP, but we are not doing 23 anything to truly expand our commitment to our 24 universities, which we desperately need for 25 our 21st century workforce.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We yet again make tax cuts in this 2 bill, through the STAR Plus and the enhanced 3 STAR program and the small business STAR, all 4 of which end up cutting funds for education at 5 a time when we know we need more, none of 6 which are based on an equity model of 7 progressive taxation and all of which, 8 frankly, end up being unfair to people who 9 live in our big cities in comparison to people 10 who own homes in the rest of the state. 11 Finally, this bill also, very 12 disturbingly, does not challenge the 13 Governor's proposal to go forward with full 14 family sanctions for households receiving 15 public assistance, for decreasing the earned 16 income disregard for people who are both 17 working and on public assistance. 18 It does not challenge the 19 Governor's assumptions about sanctions for 20 counties where they cannot reach a 50 percent 21 combined work participation rate for families, 22 despite the fact that the disproportionately 23 large number of families left on public 24 assistance in the year 2006 either have 25 disabled adult household members or disabled

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(518) 371-8910 1 children in their households. 2 This bill also does not reverse the 3 Governor's proposal to change the formula for 4 calculation of SSI benefits for disabled 5 adults within households also receiving public 6 assistance. 7 We could have done so much better 8 in this bill, even as a one-house bill, to 9 challenge both our colleagues in the Assembly 10 to do better, to do more, and to challenge the 11 Governor. I urge my colleagues to vote no on 12 this bill. 13 Thank you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Parker first, then Senator Diaz. 16 Senator Parker. 17 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, 18 on the bill. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Parker, on the bill. 21 SENATOR PARKER: I'm voting no on 22 this bill because we have once again, for the 23 entire time that I've had the honor to 24 represent the people of Flatbush, East 25 Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington and

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(518) 371-8910 1 Borough Park in this austere body, rejected 2 the notion that there ought to be a fair and 3 equal opportunity for young people in New York 4 City to have the same kind of education that 5 young people around the state, you know, have 6 an opportunity to get. 7 And it really troubles me that as 8 we talk about rhetoric that it seems that, you 9 know, the rhetoric here is that, you know, we 10 should look at other places and blame other 11 people. One of the things that I find is kind 12 of interesting here and I've learned in 13 politics is that when we don't have the answer 14 to a problem, we talk about the complexities 15 of the issue. And we get lots of discussion 16 here about the complexities of the issue. 17 The reality is is that we can do 18 anything in this body we decide that we want 19 to put our minds to. Anything. And right 20 now, when we talk about a $110.7 billion 21 budget, for us to talk about putting a 22 significant down payment on the Campaign for 23 Fiscal Equity lawsuit that would level the 24 playing field for children in New York City, 25 it just doesn't seem like it's, you know, that

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(518) 371-8910 1 complex. 2 Put the money in the budget. A 3 priority, by definition, means it's something 4 that you do first. Right? It means making 5 sure -- you know, the main thing is to make 6 sure that the main thing is the main thing. 7 And we're saying that education of our 8 children is the most important thing. 9 If I'm being told by my colleagues 10 across the aisle that they care about the 11 children in my district getting an education 12 and the children in the city that I live in 13 and the borough that I live in -- if you say 14 you care about those children getting an 15 education just like you care about the 16 children in your district getting an 17 education, then you in fact would make a 18 larger contribution in the budget this year 19 that in fact would satisfy CFE. It is simply 20 a matter of doing it. 21 We can't on one hand say we're 22 going to get rid of $8 billion worth of taxes 23 and forgo $8 billion worth of revenue and then 24 at the same time say, Sorry, children of the 25 city of New York, we don't have, you know,

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(518) 371-8910 1 $2 billion to get you that the court said you 2 ought to have. And oh, yeah, and we're sorry 3 also, Brookhaven and we're sorry, Yonkers. 4 We're sorry, Mount Vernon; we're sorry, 5 Albany. Oh, Syracuse, we're sorry. 6 Rochester, we're sorry. Buffalo, oh, sorry. 7 We're sorry. Oh, don't forget Binghamton, 8 sorry. We don't have the money because we 9 gave all the money back. 10 In a year where there's, you know, 11 arguably a $3 billion surplus to say simply 12 there are no funds and it's not reasonable to 13 find, you know, 3 plus 8 which is now 14 $11 billion, you know, worth of money that 15 we're either giving back or, you know, wasting 16 away in some other way -- and then to continue 17 to come here and say that education is the 18 most important issue and the protecting of 19 children is the most important issue, you 20 know, there's a significant contradiction 21 there that I am not willing to stand here and 22 to continue to accept in this body, in myself, 23 or in this Legislature. 24 We began the year talking about a 25 lot of sex crimes. And particularly one of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the arguments that was made very strongly by 2 my colleagues was the fact that we in fact 3 needed to protect our communities, 4 particularly our children, from sex predators. 5 And we want to, you know -- we create, we put 6 $130 million in a new facility. You know, we 7 want to monitor people, we're going to create 8 civil confinement, we want to do all these 9 things to protect our communities. But what 10 are we doing from protecting them from the 11 dangers of unemployment, of underemployment, 12 of the reality that when you start looking at 13 where crime comes from, it's from places where 14 you in fact have no job opportunity. 15 We're in fact talking about cutting 16 taxes because we want to attract companies to 17 our state. And that's a very, very, very 18 admirable goal. I want to attract companies 19 to this state. But the reality is that when 20 you look at where companies decide to move, 21 it's not based on tax cuts. And I don't care 22 what studies you look at. Go to Wharton, go 23 to Harvard, I don't care, get the studies out. 24 Tax cuts are not what attracts businesses. 25 Having a qualified and educated workforce is

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(518) 371-8910 1 number one. 2 And will you in fact move your 3 business -- in fact, when we start talking 4 about the issue of, you know, outsourcing and 5 we look at why are all of our, you know, 6 businesses are moving to India and China, not 7 only is it lower fees but also an educated 8 workforce. We have to invest in our own 9 communities, in our own children. This is our 10 future. 11 And as much as, you know, many of 12 my colleagues don't live in New York City and 13 feel like it's not their problem, but the 14 reality is, you know, if your children are 15 going to continue to live in this state, 16 they're going to be living next door to the 17 children, in the same state with the children 18 who are getting undereducated in my community 19 because we did not make the right decision 20 now. 21 No longer is it acceptable for us 22 to continue to talk about what we're going to 23 do in the future. We have to do this now. We 24 have to put in a significant amount of money 25 to pay for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity

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(518) 371-8910 1 lawsuit so that we can start creating some 2 educational justice in this state. The 3 playing field must be balanced. It's $2,000 4 less per child in New York City versus every 5 other child in the state. 6 And so we need to do that. And at 7 the same time, we need to take care of every 8 other school district in this state that needs 9 more money. Why? Because not just it's the 10 right thing to do, it's the thing that we must 11 do if we're going to say that we are 12 legislating to take care of the future of the 13 city of New York and the state. 14 I implore you, ladies and 15 gentlemen, to really make the right decision 16 here, to really go back and look at these 17 numbers, to in fact put the money on the table 18 that needs to be put on the table so that we 19 can in fact move forward -- and not just, you 20 know, build buildings, but so that we can 21 raise the salaries of teachers. 22 We need to attract more people and 23 better people to the profession of teaching. 24 We need more materials. We need money for 25 English language learners in our communities.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We need money for after-schools. We need 2 money for all of the things that we in fact 3 know create good citizens and good adults in 4 our community. But we can't wait until they 5 become adults and put that money into criminal 6 justice, we have to start now and put the 7 money into education. 8 Because we know, as public policy 9 people, that in fact education creates the 10 greatest externalities, positive externalities 11 from -- one dollar gives you more, better 12 results as that dollar is moved to the 13 education system than any other program that 14 we in fact can invest dollars in. And so for 15 us not to make the right decision here is 16 absolutely criminal. 17 I vote no, and I ask us to relook 18 at this issue. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Diaz. 21 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 22 Mr. Chairman. On the bill. 23 The problem of education in 24 New York City is not new. The problem of lack 25 of money to the system in the city is not new.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We used to have a system where we had what we 2 called community planning boards. And we used 3 to have the centralized school board, we used 4 to have a chancellor and a mayor. 5 Then Mayor Bloomberg came, Mayor 6 Michael Bloomberg came, and I was a member of 7 the City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg 8 came and told us: "I want to end the abuses, 9 and I would like to end the problem with 10 education. I would like to be called the 11 educational mayor. Give me control of the 12 school system, and I promise you that I will 13 solve the problem of the educational system in 14 the City of New York." 15 And I believed that. And I fought 16 and I pushed and I voted to give the mayor of 17 the City of New York control of the school 18 system. The same lack of money that we have 19 now, we had it then. But the mayor said: 20 "Give me control, and stop passing the hot 21 potatoes." 22 Because the problem was that we 23 used to say, the school committee -- the local 24 committee school board used to say: Oh, it's 25 not my problem, it's the problem of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 central board. The central board used to say: 2 It's not my problem, it's a problem of the 3 chancellor. The chancellor used to say: It's 4 not my problem, it's a problem of the mayor. 5 So we used to have something called passing 6 the hot potato from one to another. And our 7 children always, always had the worst 8 education. 9 But Mayor Bloomberg said: Give me 10 control of the school board, and I will solve 11 the problem. I will not ask anybody to shoot 12 to accuse anybody, I will ask, shoot at me. I 13 am responsible. 14 And I was a City Council member, 15 and I voted and pushed for mayoral control. 16 Guess what? Now the Mayor of the City of New 17 York is saying: "Oh, I cannot do anything, 18 because I need money." We knew that before, 19 when he said "shoot at me." We cannot do 20 anything, we need more money. To the point 21 that he is closing, in the district that I 22 represent, two schools, and he's stopping 23 construction on all schools. 24 So the schools -- the children in 25 the school that I represent are being

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(518) 371-8910 1 affected. They always have been affected. 2 They are now being affected. And I'm afraid, 3 I am afraid that I will continue being 4 affected. Because every year we send money to 5 the City of New York. Last year we sent close 6 to $100 million. And the money never gets to 7 the black and Hispanic community. The money 8 always goes to areas that are not needy. The 9 children in the district that I represent, the 10 children in the black and Hispanic community 11 are always left behind no matter how much 12 money we get in the city. We always, we 13 always get behind. 14 And now we have the CFE. And I 15 bless, God bless Judge DeGrasse. God bless 16 him wherever he is. Because yes, we need that 17 money. And yes, we have to support to get the 18 money. We all need the money. However, my 19 concern is that when we get the money, that 20 everyone is salivating. Everybody's 21 salivating about the money. 22 My concern is that when we give the 23 money to the City of New York, I am afraid, 24 Mr. Chairman and members of this body, I am 25 afraid that the children in the black and

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(518) 371-8910 1 Hispanic community will continue being left 2 behind, that the children in the black and 3 Hispanic community will continue to have 4 overcrowded schools, poor teaching, no money 5 for extracurricular activities, no money for 6 materials. Because that's what always 7 happens, somebody else gets the money. The 8 money goes to other places. 9 And I was saying this morning in 10 the conference that my daughter, my daughter, 11 she's a sergeant in New York City, she lives 12 in Milltown, New York. And when I go visit my 13 daughter, I go to those schools. I will say 14 that in those schools, the best private school 15 in my district is worse than the worst school 16 in that district. And those schools in that 17 district, the children have ski training, 18 volleyball, baseball, swimming, opera, 19 dancing. They have everything. 20 It breaks my heart to see what they 21 have in the public education in those cities 22 in those area and in the area that I 23 represent. And the area in our city, in the 24 black and Hispanic community, we don't have 25 none of that. We have the worst -- bathrooms,

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(518) 371-8910 1 classes that look like pigs. 2 And ladies and gentlemen, if we're 3 going to get the money -- and I'm going to 4 repeat myself again, God bless Judge DeGrasse. 5 But I'm afraid that when we get that money, we 6 will be left behind again. So there should be 7 something done that that money should go, 8 earmarked, straight to needy areas. Not to 9 New York City as one school district, while 10 the chancellor and the mayor decide where to 11 go. I know where they're going to put the 12 money -- in the same place that they always 13 have been putting the money. 14 Not in my district, not in the 15 black and Hispanic community -- what you say, 16 madam? -- in Staten Island, the best part of 17 Queens, some parts of Brooklyn and Riverdale 18 in the Bronx. But in my district, in the 19 black and Hispanic, we never get anything. 20 So yes, let's salivate for that 21 money. Let's get the money. But let's be 22 sure that that money goes where it's needed, 23 not wherever the chancellor and the mayor want 24 to put it. 25 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you

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(518) 371-8910 1 very much. I appreciate you listening to me. 2 But I have to vent, because the frustration to 3 see what some of the kids in poor education 4 gets in the state of New York, and what we 5 cannot get, is heartbreaking. It's -- it's -- 6 it's painful. 7 So, Mr. Chairman, thank you for 8 this opportunity, and thank you for listening 9 to this black guy from the Bronx. Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 11 other Senator wish to be heard? 12 Debate is closed, then. 13 The Secretary will ring the bell. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Saland, to explain his vote. 22 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Mr. 23 President. 24 I heard a lot during the course of 25 the debate about what this bill wasn't. And

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(518) 371-8910 1 perhaps nobody took the time to mention, 2 and -- 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Order in 4 the chamber, please. 5 SENATOR SALAND: -- I will do it 6 very briefly, what this education portion of 7 the budget actually does. 8 It increases, by $1.1 billion, 9 school aid in this coming school year. It's 10 the largest increase in the history of our aid 11 to education. It represents a 6.7 percent 12 increase, certainly well above the rate of 13 inflation. It adopts our LEARN package, which 14 includes, in effect, the first-year funding 15 for that package. It also provides the second 16 year of SBE funding, 375 million on top of the 17 $325 million provided last year. 18 And I think it's important to note, 19 for those who have heard from school boards, 20 teachers, parents, that there's some 21 $668 million in unrestricted aid that's been 22 added. We have backfilled the Governor's 23 BOCES cuts, we have backfilled his private 24 excess cost cuts. And we effectively have 25 expanded real property tax relief through the

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(518) 371-8910 1 mechanism of STAR Plus in a fashion not 2 provided for by the Governor, no bounties on 3 school budgets. 4 Thank you, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Stavisky, to explain her vote. 7 SENATOR STAVISKY: I thank 8 Senator Saland for the description of what it 9 includes. But I didn't hear a description of 10 some resolution of the operating aid for the 11 Campaign for Fiscal Equity. 12 I vote no for that reason. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 14 Stavisky will be recorded in the negative. 15 Senator Parker, to explain his 16 vote. 17 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, Mr. 18 President. 19 I also vote no. And where I did 20 note Senator Saland's -- all the aid that was 21 in this bill, certainly, unfortunately, 22 despite the fact that it raises more money 23 than we've ever put in, actually, we ought to 24 be ashamed of ourselves that we've never put 25 more money into education, particularly given

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(518) 371-8910 1 that we, 20 years ago, made people vote for 2 and accept the lottery because we promised 3 them the lottery money would go there. That's 4 another conversation. 5 But the reality is that this bill 6 does not designate how the money gets laid 7 out. So you can in fact raise the money and 8 put more money into the budget totally, but 9 that doesn't mean that it in fact addresses 10 the needs of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, 11 which in fact says there needs to be more 12 money for New York City, which is a high-needs 13 district. 14 And then what we're saying -- you 15 know, what I'm saying and I believe my 16 conference is saying is that what we ought to 17 do, above and beyond what you need to do for 18 New York City, is in fact deal with the issues 19 of other high-needs districts across the state 20 from Buffalo to Brooklyn. 21 And so we in fact, you know -- I'm 22 voting no on this thing, because this bill 23 doesn't nearly go far enough. And I haven't 24 even had the chance to in fact deal with the 25 CUNY part of the budget and, in fact, what are

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(518) 371-8910 1 we doing raising the tuition at CUNY and SUNY 2 schools when in fact we ought to be making 3 four years of college as common as a high 4 school diploma at a very time when we have a 5 Governor and some members of the State 6 Legislature who are saying 8th grade is 7 enough. Unacceptable. 8 I vote no. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Parker will be recorded in the negative. 11 Senator Malcolm Smith, to explain 12 his vote. 13 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 14 you, Mr. President. 15 I will be voting no on this bill 16 also, just simply because education, as 17 housing, is critical to this entire state. 18 This particular bill is not addressing that 19 CFE decision. It is not addressing the 20 operating aid. 21 And at some point we need to take 22 the right steps toward doing what is right for 23 the people of this state. So I will be voting 24 no. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Malcolm Smith will be recorded in the 2 negative. 3 The Secretary will announce the 4 results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 6 the negative on Calendar Number 495 are 7 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Diaz, 8 Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, 9 Montgomery, Onorato, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 10 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, 11 M. Smith, and Stavisky. 12 Ayes, 39. Nays, 20. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 496, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6454B, 17 an act making appropriations for the support 18 of government: Health and Mental Hygiene 19 Budget. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Parker. 22 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, I 23 believe there's an amendment at the desk. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 25 is.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PARKER: I ask that you 2 waive the reading of the amendment, and I ask 3 to be heard on said amendment. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 5 reading is waived, and you're recognized to 6 speak on the amendment. 7 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you much, 8 Mr. President. 9 This amendment deals with the 10 New York State Supplementary Nutrition 11 Assistance Program, or SNAP. It aims to 12 improve the well-being of seniors who are at 13 high nutritional risk, with particular 14 emphasis on the provisions of service to the 15 low-income, minority, and frail and isolated 16 seniors. 17 This is particularly important, I 18 think, for everyone's district. And I think 19 that in this particular bill we ought to be, 20 in fact, looking at adding more funding. This 21 is personally important because I have two 22 senior parents at home. And I know many 23 people in this body, you know, have parents 24 and grandparents, clearly constituents who are 25 seniors and who are gravely affected by this

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill. 2 Nutrition is at the top of the list 3 of the things that are important for, you 4 know, at-risk populations, particularly 5 seniors. And when we created this program 6 over 30 years ago, this program was meant to 7 address that. And it's really a great, great 8 program that really does what it aims to do, 9 which is to provide quality, hot, nutritious 10 meals for literally millions of people across 11 the state of New York. 12 Unfortunately, this program, 13 despite its success, has not been able to keep 14 up with the numbers of seniors who need it. 15 And so although this program could, under its 16 guidelines, deal with seniors who are 60 and 17 up because the eligibility requirements 18 allowed that, this program currently only 19 targets those who are 75 and up. 20 What this amendment that I'm 21 putting forward today would do is that at an 22 average of $5.82 for a home-delivered meal, an 23 additional appropriation, which this amendment 24 would add, of $2 million would provide almost 25 350,000 additional meals for seniors across

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(518) 371-8910 1 this state. That is something that not only 2 is worthy but something that we ought to do 3 just because of the merits and the immediate 4 impact it would have on the health of seniors 5 across the state. 6 I think that we pay attention to 7 that, you know, in this body because this is a 8 place that I'm looking forward to being. I 9 hope to one day be at least eligible for this 10 program. And so I'd like to know that if I, 11 you know, fall on hard times, there's a 12 program out there that's going to help me out. 13 Especially being that the benefits that we're 14 getting may be cut, Social Security and other 15 things. 16 So I'm asking my colleagues and I'm 17 really challenging my colleagues on the other 18 side of the aisle to vote for this bill that 19 would help their constituents, that would help 20 their parents and their grandparents and their 21 older aunts and uncles have hot meals and 22 create a warmer climate in this entire state. 23 Thank you very much. I'm hoping 24 you vote yes on this amendment. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Parker, I'm sure one of us would bring you a 2 sandwich, at least. 3 Senator Diaz. 4 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Mr. 5 President. 6 Again, I rise to talk to you about 7 another injustice for the seniors, and this 8 time the seniors in the Bronx. This amendment 9 that Senator Parker is talking about is a nice 10 one. It's a good one. I'm voting for it. 11 However, if you go to the city of New York, 12 every senior citizen in the city of New York 13 receives a daily hot meal, a daily hot meal 14 delivered to their home by a person that not 15 only delivers the food but also serves as a 16 person that watch out for the seniors -- but 17 in every borough they are receiving, I repeat 18 myself again, a daily hot meal except in the 19 borough of the Bronx. Except in the borough 20 of the Bronx. 21 Because our beloved mayor, Michael 22 Bloomberg and the chairman of the Aging 23 committee decided to have a pilot project 24 where they took away the hot meal, the daily 25 hot meal to senior citizens, and instead they

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(518) 371-8910 1 are giving senior citizens in the Bronx -- not 2 in other parts of the city, only in the 3 Bronx -- they are giving the senior citizens 4 frozen meals. Only to the seniors of the 5 Bronx. That's the one of the good ideas from 6 the mayor's administration. 7 So yes, our seniors deserve better. 8 They deserve hot daily meals. They deserve to 9 get the best things that we could give them. 10 And I am calling on you that if we're going to 11 do this, don't allow the rest of the city, the 12 rest of the senior citizen population in the 13 city to get frozen meals. Frozen meals are no 14 good. 15 Besides, the person -- as I said 16 before, the person that delivers the daily 17 meals also looks out for the seniors and make 18 sure that the senior's in good health and that 19 nothing happens to the senior. 20 By giving a frozen meal once a week 21 for seven days, that will do many things. The 22 seniors have to use, some of them, microwaves, 23 or others have to use the oven. That's 24 dangerous. Some of them don't have the 25 microwave, or to use the oven is dangerous.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And another thing, that if a senior 2 eats the frozen meal that they give them for 3 seven days, if they eat it in three, the 4 senior will be without food for four days. 5 And they also will not have the person to look 6 out for them on a daily basis. 7 So the frozen meals given to the 8 seniors of the Bronx is wrong, and we should 9 not allow this program to be expanded to the 10 rest of the city. And we should stop the 11 senior citizens in the Bronx getting frozen 12 meals and we should give back the daily hot 13 meal to those seniors. 14 Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you very 15 much. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Ada Smith. 18 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. I believe there's an amendment 20 at the desk. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: We have 22 to dispose of this amendment first, Senator. 23 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Oh, sorry. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: That's 25 okay.

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(518) 371-8910 1 On the amendment, those Senators in 2 agreement please signify by raising your 3 hands. 4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 5 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 6 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 7 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 8 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 9 Sampson, Savino, A. Smith, M. Smith, 10 Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky. Also 11 Senator Onorato. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 amendment is not agreed to. 14 Senator Ada Smith. 15 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 I believe there's an amendment at 18 the desk. I request that the reading of the 19 amendment be waived and that I be permitted to 20 speak on the amendment. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Sorry, 22 Senator, just a little confusion. We're 23 straightened out now. 24 The amendment is at the desk, the 25 reading is waived, and you're recognized to

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(518) 371-8910 1 explain the amendment. 2 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 This amendment would request 5 $2 million for the Cancer Services Program, 6 which is housed in the Bureau of Chronic 7 Disease Services. And it would expand local 8 screening services and education programs 9 pending the FDA approval of a known cervical 10 cancer vaccine. 11 Almost a year ago, scientists 12 reported the creation of the first vaccine 13 which was able to prevent cervical cancer. 14 This vaccine immunizes against a specific form 15 of a common sexually transmitted virus called 16 human papilloma virus. This particular form 17 of HPV causes half of the known cervical 18 cancers. 19 This conference proposes $2 million 20 to improve access to cancer screening and 21 public education surrounding the future FDA 22 approval of the cervical cancer vaccine. 23 Funds will be distributed by the state's 24 Cancer Services Program and the Bureau of 25 Chronic Disease Services. Community-based

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(518) 371-8910 1 organizations throughout the state will then 2 be able to recruit more women for the most 3 advanced screening services as well as treat 4 younger women to prevent future infections. 5 Worldwide, cervical cancer is the 6 second most common cancer among women. In the 7 United States, there are over 13,000 cases a 8 year and 4,100 deaths. The incidence of new 9 cervical cancer indications in New York is 10 8.8 percent, and the mortality rate is 11 2.7 percent. Both rates are just above the 12 national average. 13 While cervical cancer screening is 14 just below the national average, 15 African-American and Hispanic women are 16 disproportionately affected by cervical 17 cancer. And this weekend, while meeting with 18 the NMA, the National Medical Association, it 19 is one of the primary programs on their 20 agenda. 21 And as one of my colleagues stated 22 earlier, this is Women's History Month. We 23 must begin to do something for the women of 24 the state. And while effective vaccines offer 25 the greatest hope for cervical cancer

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(518) 371-8910 1 elimination, access to the most advanced and 2 appropriate screening continues to play a 3 critical role. 4 Women with limited or no health 5 insurance and women screened in free clinics 6 may not have the same access that many of us 7 do to the most advanced, FDA-approved 8 screening and prevention technologies. This 9 increased funding will ensure further access 10 to these lifesaving treatments and 11 preventative measures. 12 This is a very small investment in 13 the health of your mothers, your wives, your 14 daughters or your sisters. And I'm sure that 15 you each care about the women in your lives. 16 Thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 18 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 19 signify by raising your hands. 20 I'm sorry. Senator Hannon. 21 SENATOR HANNON: Mr. President, I 22 just wanted to go on record and say that what 23 we have done in restoring hundreds of millions 24 of dollars to the healthcare budget that was 25 sent to us is to address a whole range of

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(518) 371-8910 1 programs, including the early detection of 2 cancers that are very much afflicting the 3 population, such as breast cancer, cervical 4 cancer, colorectal cancer. 5 I can't support this amendment, 6 because this is merely a $2 million addition 7 to one part of the program that goes out and 8 does testing -- the Healthy Women 9 Partnership -- throughout the state. 10 It doesn't try to address any of 11 the issues mentioned, legitimately mentioned 12 by the proponent of the amendment, but which 13 need to be listed in the amendment. This is 14 just a one-line item. 15 You have to address this by saying 16 what are you going to do in Medicaid, what are 17 you going to do in Medicare, what are you 18 going to do in community clinics, what are you 19 going to do in diagnostic and treatment 20 centers, what are you going to do in regard to 21 requirements for private insurance. 22 Given all of those lacks, I don't 23 think that this approaches what we need to be 24 doing. I think what we've presented as a 25 budget does approach it in a balanced way for

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(518) 371-8910 1 the health of all parts of the community of 2 New York. And for that reason, I can't 3 support this amendment. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 5 amendment, then, those Senators in agreement 6 signify by raising your hands, please. 7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 8 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 9 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 10 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 11 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 12 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 13 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 14 Valesky. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 16 amendment is not agreed to. 17 Any other Senator wish to be heard 18 on the bill? 19 Debate is closed, then. 20 The Secretary will ring the bell. 21 Read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 25 roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Balboni, to explain his vote. 4 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 No, we can talk too, it's okay. We 7 can do this. 8 In this bill for the first time is 9 an appropriation to prepare Long Island for 10 the eventuality of a hurricane. As we all 11 saw, with the Katrina report from the White 12 House and from Congress, the devastation 13 wrought by a natural disaster. And we've 14 received new information that we are entering 15 into a new phase of climate change. And there 16 are experts, meteorologists who say that 17 again, like so many things in this world, 18 unfortunately it's not a matter of if, it's a 19 matter of when. 20 So $5 million, and it's a match 21 program with the counties. It's the first 22 time we've added this kind of money to ensure 23 that we have shelters for the 2.7 million 24 people who live on the island. 25 With that, I'm going to be voting

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(518) 371-8910 1 yes on this bill. Thank you, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Balboni will be recorded in the affirmative. 4 Senator Montgomery, to explain her 5 vote. 6 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 7 President. I note in this legislation there 8 is no increase in the funding for school-based 9 health clinics. 10 And I think that we all in this 11 room, on both sides of the aisle, agree that 12 school-based health clinics are important to 13 the young people in this state. So why we 14 resist and we continue to overlook the need 15 and our commitment, based on putting 16 additional funds there, really baffles me. 17 I'm not going to vote against this 18 bill, but I certainly hope that the chair of 19 Finance in our house, the ranking member on 20 Finance -- Senator Breslin, on our side -- and 21 Senator Bruno, and the people in the Assembly, 22 I do hope that we had all come away from that 23 table with additional funds for school-based 24 health clinics. 25 Thank you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Montgomery will be recorded in the 3 affirmative. 4 Could we see the negatives on the 5 bill again, please. 6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 7 the negative on Calendar Number 496 are 8 Senators Andrews, Connor, Coppola, Dilan, 9 Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Parker, Paterson, 10 Sabini, Savino, A. Smith, Stachowski, and 11 Stavisky. Also Senator Breslin. 12 Those Senators absent from voting: 13 Senator Wright. 14 Ayes, 43. Nays, 15. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 16 is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 497, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6455B, 19 an act making appropriations for the support 20 of government: Transportation, Economic 21 Development and Environmental Conservation 22 Budget. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 24 Malcolm Smith. 25 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Mr. President. 2 I believe there is an amendment at 3 the desk. I ask that its reading be waived so 4 I can speak on the amendment. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 reading is waived, and you're recognized to 7 speak on the amendment, Senator. 8 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 9 you, Mr. President. 10 One of my colleagues, Senator Liz 11 Krueger, just acknowledged the book "The World 12 Is Flat," by Thomas Friedman. And, Mr. 13 President, it is my belief, and given the fact 14 if the world is truly flat, obviously the 15 State of New York is flat also. 16 And that being the case, we have an 17 obligation not only to reform our government, 18 but we also have an obligation to reinvent 19 programs and practices that exist currently so 20 that our particular government here in the 21 State of New York can operate more 22 efficiently, more effectively, and be able to 23 produce the kind of services that the 24 individuals of this state deserve. 25 This particular amendment that I am

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(518) 371-8910 1 putting forward is an amendment that deals 2 with a situation that is as critical to the 3 citizens of this state as is the educational 4 funding concern that we have. It deals with a 5 bill or an amendment that requires 6 $750 million, $650 million of which would come 7 out of the surplus and $100 million which 8 would come out of the recording mortgage tax 9 surplus that currently exists. 10 There are two programs that are in 11 this amendment, both of which will deal with 12 two different portions of the housing 13 requirement that we have. The first would be 14 an affordable workforce rental development 15 program. That is affordable workforce rental 16 development program. It would cost us about 17 $250 million. 18 The first year would produce a 19 thousand units of rental housing. That 20 thousand units of rental housing would allow 21 for 800 units to be provided for those who are 22 80 percent of the area median income. The 200 23 remaining units would go to those who are 24 20 percent of the area median income. Fifty 25 million dollars the second year would come out

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(518) 371-8910 1 of the mortgage recording tax surplus. And in 2 10 years we believe, Mr. President, that we 3 will be able to produce 3,250 units of rental 4 housing. 5 It is clear to us, Mr. President, 6 that affordable housing is something that is 7 critical to many people in this house. And 8 this particular program, the affordable 9 workforce rental development program, would 10 yield a thousand units in that first year, 11 3,200 units, roughly, 10 years thereout. 12 The other good part of this 13 program, Mr. President, is that it would be 14 run by a nonprofit agency falling under the 15 auspices of DHCR. 16 But the real critical part of this 17 program, Mr. President, is the rental income 18 we could then turn into a revolving loan that 19 would be pledged for security to finance the 20 future development of rental housing. 21 So essentially, Mr. President, 22 there would be no need to continue funding 23 this program out into the future, because the 24 income from the rent from that first year 25 would be enough to finance the future

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(518) 371-8910 1 development of rental housing. 2 The second program, which is called 3 the below-tax-rate mortgage program, is a very 4 exciting program as well. This particular 5 program, the below-tax-exempt-rate mortgage 6 program, is a program again reinventing 7 government, being creative, trying to make 8 government more efficient. It will provide 9 3,000 new homes, Mr. President, 3,000 new 10 homes that will be able to be available for 11 those individuals who are in need of homes. 12 Now, the beauty of this program, 13 Mr. President, is that it also, given that the 14 State of New York is flat, it deals with 15 homeowners from Western New York to Nassau 16 County, New York City in between. The 17 mortgages that we'd be able to provide under 18 this program range from $150,000 to $350,000. 19 It would be a program where the 20 interest rate for these mortgages would be 21 half of that of a 30-year tax-exempt rate that 22 exists right now. We have about 4.5 now, so 23 you're talking about 2.5. In addition to 24 that, you would have an interest-free mortgage 25 of about $40,000 which would go to the

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(518) 371-8910 1 particular homeowner, or 15 percent of that 2 particular mortgage, whichever is less. 3 It is a program again, Mr. 4 President, that requires no more than 5 $500 million, which would be used for that 6 first year. And again, the proceeds of that 7 mortgage would be used to finance future new 8 homes into the future. And it would just 9 continue in a revolving state such that this 10 particular program would go out into 10 years 11 and produce 15,000 new homes within a 10-year 12 period. 13 We are excited about both of these 14 programs, Mr. President, because, again, one 15 of the things that is important to this state 16 is that we have to utilize our support 17 services as well as our funding in a much more 18 efficient manner. Both of these programs only 19 require the one-shot that we so often do in 20 this particular body, and they will 21 self-finance themselves out into the 10 years. 22 That's 3,000 units, roughly, of rental 23 development, and then also 15,000 new homes 24 10 years thereout. 25 I also would like to bring to your

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(518) 371-8910 1 attention an article that was in The New York 2 Times on Sunday which supports the notion for 3 both of these programs. It was an op-ed in 4 The New York Times that talks about mortgages, 5 mortgaging New York's future. And it simply 6 states: "First, the new governor should amend 7 the state's real estate transfer tax law so 8 that it dedicates equal portions of these tax 9 revenues -- expected to be $930 million in 10 2006 fiscal year, $800 million in 2007, and 11 $750 million annually in the next two fiscal 12 years -- toward affordable housing development 13 and to environmental purposes." Currently, 14 the law only requires that that money be used 15 toward environmental purposes. 16 It is clear, Mr. President, that if 17 we decide to adopt this amendment -- and I'm 18 hoping that all my colleagues understand the 19 value that these particular programs create on 20 out into the future, the 3,200 workforce 21 development rental apartments as well as 22 15,000 new homes -- it is critical that this 23 particular program, these programs will make a 24 serious, significant dent in the housing need 25 that we have.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President, I am asking all my 2 colleagues to support this amendment. In 3 addition, in closing, I do want to thank my 4 Senate Finance staff, Ahmed Diomande, for 5 their work, Frank Rooney also, for his work, 6 and their very creative thinking in terms of 7 how we use the financial surplus that we have 8 today to not only create a good program, but 9 to leverage itself out into the future such 10 that we do not need any money coming from the 11 state anymore other than to recycle the money 12 that we're asking for this program. 13 I ask that you have my colleagues 14 support us on this, as well as bringing in 15 some of your colleagues as well, because this 16 is one program that is a bipartisan program 17 that needs the support of everybody in this 18 chamber. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 21 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify 22 by raising your hands. 23 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 24 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 25 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,

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(518) 371-8910 1 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, 2 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 3 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, 4 M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 amendment is not agreed to. 7 Senator Breslin. 8 SENATOR BRESLIN: Mr. President, 9 I believe I have an amendment at the desk. I 10 would ask that reading be waived and I be 11 heard on that amendment. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 reading is waived, and you're recognized on 14 the amendment, Senator Breslin. 15 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, Mr. 16 President. 17 This amendment deals with making a 18 tech-space initiative. Now, I'm from Albany, 19 and we have Albany Nanotechnology, which is a 20 kind of nice model to look at, where we look 21 to small businesses, particularly in the 22 upstate sector, where we're really hurting for 23 jobs, to provide a helping hand for those new 24 incubator-type projects, to give them space, 25 to give them advice.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We have the first and third largest 2 universities in this country. Those 3 universities could be actively involved in a 4 synergistic way with these new startup 5 companies. 6 You know, we have so much venture 7 capital from the private sector in New York 8 State that a lot of times we don't get to the 9 use of that private-sector capital because the 10 idea, the concept, the follow-through with 11 that incubator level never reaches the private 12 investor. 13 If we took $19 million and used 14 that across this state to develop that small 15 company, the RPI person who comes up with an 16 idea, who wants to turn it into a project, 17 turn it into a new scientific development that 18 can be marketed which will assist in the 19 upstate economy. 20 So I ask you for $19 million to 21 have this, that will help the economy 22 throughout the State of New York, but in 23 particular to the very, very distressed areas 24 in upstate New York. 25 Thank you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 2 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 3 signify by raising your hand. 4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 5 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 6 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, 7 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, 8 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 9 Sampson, Savino, A. Smith, M. Smith, 10 Stachowski, Stavisky, Valesky, and Senator 11 Connor. Also Senator Schneiderman. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 13 amendment is not agreed to. 14 Senator Liz Krueger. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 I believe I also have an amendment 18 at the desk. I would like to waive reading 19 and speak on the amendment. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 amendment is waived. You're recognized to 22 speak on the amendment. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 24 So part of this bill deals with the 25 question of funding for housing in the state

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(518) 371-8910 1 of New York. And as my colleague Senator 2 Malcolm Smith already very articulately 3 spelled out in his presentation for some of 4 his proposals in his amendments, we are 5 desperate to address the problem of protecting 6 the affordable housing we still have remaining 7 in this state, which shrinks day by day. 8 Between the year 2000 and 2004, the 9 New York State adjusted gross income of 10 lower-middle and low-income persons -- that 11 is, persons earning between 80 percent and 50 12 percent of the New York State median adjusted 13 gross income -- decreased by roughly 14 7.4 percent. 15 Mitchell-Lama housing, one of the 16 most successful models of affordable housing 17 for working people and low-income people in 18 the state of New York, has been suffering from 19 exactly these same scenarios. Since 1999, 20 despite the fact that median income has not 21 kept up with the cost of housing, New York 22 State has made no new appropriations to the 23 Mitchell-Lama Housing Repair Fund Program. 24 These are complexes throughout the state of 25 New York that were built approximately 30 to

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(518) 371-8910 1 40 years ago at this point in time. They 2 desperately need repairs and upkeep to ensure 3 that they continue to be a supply of 4 affordable housing in the city of New York. 5 Many of them are in desperate need of major 6 rehabilitation. 7 We are proposing that we increase 8 the housing project repair fund, which was 9 created in 1980 to provide a mechanism for 10 treating construction-related deficiencies in 11 Mitchell-Lama projects, when many so 12 desperately need this. The repair situation 13 is precarious, and the longer we wait to 14 invest money in the repair of Mitchell-Lama 15 projects through the housing project repair 16 fund, the more increased the costs will be for 17 us down the line, the increase in the number 18 of units that will come out of the supply of 19 affordable housing in the state of New York. 20 I urge my colleagues to support 21 this amendment to provide additional funding 22 for the repair of Mitchell-Lama apartment 23 complexes throughout the state. 24 Thank you, Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify 2 by raising your hands. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 5 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 6 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 7 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 8 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 9 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and 10 Valesky. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 12 amendment is not agreed to. 13 Senator Balboni. 14 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, Mr. 15 President, on the bill itself. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Balboni, on the bill. 18 SENATOR BALBONI: This 19 transportation bill has a Section L in it, and 20 for the last two years in the Governor's 21 budget submission there has been language that 22 indicated the desire of the state to enter 23 into private/public partnerships for the sale 24 or operation of certain assets. 25 One of the assets not specifically

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(518) 371-8910 1 mentioned in the budget proposal but that is 2 out there in terms of a possible asset to be 3 sold is the Tappan Zee Bridge. And for those 4 folks who live in Rockland County -- Senator 5 Morahan, in particular -- and Westchester, 6 this is of great concern. 7 But moreover, if you talk to 8 security experts, they will tell that you the 9 Tappan Zee Bridge is one of the key assets in 10 this state for security. 11 So why do I rise? Because in the 12 language that the Governor submitted, there 13 was a reference to the ability of a foreign 14 country to come in and purchase an asset of 15 the state. Sound familiar? The Dubai Port 16 deal. We have our own little Dubai Port deal. 17 And what this raises is the need 18 that if we're going to scrutinize foreign 19 countries when they come in and try to 20 purchase national assets, we should certainly 21 set up a process by which we will scrutinize 22 countries that want to purchase a state asset, 23 particularly one as important as the Tappan 24 Zee Bridge. 25 So as we go forward in this budget

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(518) 371-8910 1 cycle and we have these negotiations, I'm 2 going to urge all of us to urge that any 3 language that authorizes the creation of a 4 private/public partnership include a security 5 vetting process, so that if a foreign country 6 wishes to come in and take over a major, 7 crucial asset that we have the same type of 8 guarantees that there are no links to 9 terrorism as they would to a federal asset. 10 I've been on the phone for a good 11 part of this afternoon with Commissioner Tom 12 Madison of the Department of Transportation. 13 He agrees with this approach. And frankly, we 14 didn't really consider this as a problem until 15 the Dubai Ports World issue that exploded over 16 the last couple of weeks with the port came to 17 light. 18 So, Mr. President, I intend to 19 support this legislation but urge all of us as 20 we go forward in the negotiations that we urge 21 and demand this language to make sure that we 22 have the security background checks for any 23 country that would want to do business in 24 New York State. 25 Thank you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 2 other Senator wish to be heard? 3 Senator Liz Krueger. 4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 If the sponsor would please yield 7 for a question or two. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 9 Johnson, do you yield to a question from 10 Senator Krueger? 11 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr. 12 President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 sponsor yields. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 16 A section of this bill -- I'm 17 sorry, I don't have the numbering -- is on the 18 Empire State Development Corporation. And in 19 the Governor's original proposed budget for 20 capital projects through ESDC he made 21 appropriations totaling $505 million which he 22 broke down into subgroups. 23 And in this bill today, those line 24 items have been removed and replaced instead 25 by three lump-sum appropriations with no

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(518) 371-8910 1 detail provided of how this $505 million is 2 going to be spent beyond a very broad set of 3 categories: $185.5 million for economic 4 development, $141.5 million for university 5 development projects, and $128 million for 6 arts and cultural facility improvement 7 projects. 8 My question is, what is the 9 intention of the use of these funds put in the 10 budget this way? And how would appropriations 11 be decided about these funds under the plan of 12 the Senate? 13 SENATOR JOHNSON: That money will 14 be subject to negotiation between both houses 15 and the Governor. 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 17 President, if the sponsor would continue to 18 yield. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 20 Johnson, do you yield? 21 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 sponsor yields. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 25 Would these negotiations take place

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(518) 371-8910 1 in the form of a memorandum of understanding 2 between Senator Bruno, Speaker Silver, and 3 Governor Pataki at some point in the future? 4 SENATOR JOHNSON: Not 5 necessarily. It may be -- the items may be 6 all lined out in the final budget. 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 8 Mr. President, if, through you, the sponsor 9 would continue to yield. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 11 Johnson, do you continue to yield? 12 The sponsor yields. 13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 14 In this budget bill the Senate also 15 creates an additional $475 million lump-sum 16 appropriation, does not disclose what it is 17 for, only that it shall be for economic 18 development, university development, arts and 19 cultural facility projects, the same language 20 as it is applied to the $505 million. 21 What is the intention of the Senate 22 in proposing a further $475 million lump-sum 23 appropriation for the same undescribed 24 categories? 25 SENATOR JOHNSON: Senator, this

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(518) 371-8910 1 is part of the problem originating from the 2 court decision which essentially said we 3 cannot change any of the Governor's figures or 4 language. 5 So we had to take the item out 6 completely, and we will put it back in the way 7 we believe, as a legislature, it should be. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 9 President, if, through you, the sponsor would 10 continue to yield. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Johnson, do you yield? 13 The sponsor yields. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: So, 15 Senator, if I understand your last answer, 16 that applies to the $505 million that in your 17 proposal today you are changing the definition 18 of how that $505 million might be spent. But 19 my second question was on a new $475 million. 20 Are you suggesting you took another 21 $475 million somewhere else out of the 22 Governor's budget and replaced it with this? 23 Or is this a new, additional $475 million? 24 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, we did 25 add some money to the Governor's budget. And

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(518) 371-8910 1 that will also be appropriated in the same 2 manner as the $505 million which you talked 3 about. 4 So you're going to have to play a 5 role in this, Senator. And all your 6 colleagues will play a role in how this money 7 is ultimately apportioned. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: If, through 9 you, Mr. President, the sponsor would continue 10 to yield. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 12 Johnson, do you yield? 13 SENATOR JOHNSON: Oh, yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 sponsor yields. 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 17 How would I play that role, sir? 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: I beg your 19 pardon? 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: How would I 21 play a role? What role would I play in the 22 ultimate appropriations of approximately a 23 billion dollars of money just lump-summed into 24 the budget? What role would I play? 25 SENATOR JOHNSON: These will be

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(518) 371-8910 1 handled in the committees established between 2 both houses to reconcile the budget items. 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: If, through 4 you, Mr. President, the sponsor could continue 5 to yield, please. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Johnson, do you continue to yield? 8 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 10 sponsor yields. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: So it's my 12 understanding, Senator, that you're proposing 13 then, when we get to budget conference 14 committees, these just short of a billion 15 dollars in funds will be line-itemed out 16 before we move forward with a two-house 17 proposal? 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: I didn't get 19 the last two words of your -- 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm sorry. 21 If I might repeat my question, Mr. President, 22 through you. 23 I was asking the sponsor if you are 24 answering my previous question by saying when 25 we get to budget conference committees between

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(518) 371-8910 1 the two houses and we ultimately get to a 2 point in time where both houses submit same-as 3 budget bills, this approximately billion 4 dollars in Empire State Development 5 Corporation capital money will actually be 6 line-itemed for specific purposes? 7 SENATOR JOHNSON: That's my 8 expectation, yes. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: That is 10 your expectation. Thank you. 11 If, through you, Mr. President, the 12 sponsor would yield for an additional 13 question. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 15 Johnson, do you yield? 16 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. Yes. I 17 was waiting for the question. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 19 sponsor yields. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 21 In the same section of the budget 22 bill, you further -- not you, but the Senate 23 further proposes to reduce the renewable 24 energy project appropriation of the Governor 25 that was $30 million. You propose to reduce

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(518) 371-8910 1 it by $15 million and then shift $15 million 2 to an International Nanotechnology 3 Photovoltaic Center. 4 What happens when we reduce our 5 renewable energy project monies by half? 6 SENATOR JOHNSON: The money which 7 we removed from the budget did not address any 8 specific programs, and therefore we removed 9 it. 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 11 Mr. President, on the bill. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Liz Krueger, on the bill. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 15 It's a complex bill. It covers 16 endless numbers of agencies. And I would 17 argue that we have not done justice to it here 18 tonight, despite quite a bit of discussion and 19 several amendments. 20 I am, as I think I have shown in my 21 questioning of the sponsor, very concerned 22 about the continued, in my opinion, abuse of 23 our budget authority by lump-summing hundreds 24 of millions of dollars of the people's money 25 into nondefinable categories that then move

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(518) 371-8910 1 through an off-budget authority, the Empire 2 State Development Corporation, often through 3 memorandums of understanding that the public 4 cannot get access to, rarely having an 5 opportunity to see what those dollars will 6 actually be spent for until years after they 7 are spent. 8 So I have to say that I think that 9 the Senate is going down the completely wrong 10 road by taking some of the Governor's 11 proposals, which I might have had problems 12 with in their own right, lump-summing them 13 rather than line-iteming them, adding almost 14 the equivalent doubling of the money with no 15 explanation. 16 This is absolutely counterintuitive 17 to the concept of a clean, clear, transparent 18 budget process. We should not be taking the 19 people's money and lump-summing it as if it is 20 simply piggy-bank money for someone to divvy 21 up at a later date. We owe it to the people 22 of New York State to explain to them how we 23 collect their tax revenue, how we spend their 24 tax revenue. I think this budget bill is an 25 exceptionally good example of what's wrong

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(518) 371-8910 1 with the budget process and how we conclude 2 our business here in the Legislature. 3 So for the reasons I've raised 4 tonight, in addition to a number of other 5 concerns specifically around the Environmental 6 Conservation Fund section of this budget bill, 7 I will be voting against this bill and urge my 8 colleagues to do so. 9 Thank you, Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any 11 other Senator wish to be heard on the bill? 12 Debate is closed, then. 13 The Secretary will ring the bell. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 21 the negative on Calendar Number 497 are 22 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Coppola, 23 Dilan, Duane, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, 24 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino, 25 Schneiderman, A. Smith, and Stavisky. Also

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Diaz. 2 Those Senators absent from voting: 3 Senator Wright. 4 Ayes, 40. Nays, 18. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 498, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6456B, 9 an act to amend the General Municipal Law and 10 others. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 12 last section. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 Explanation. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 16 Johnson, Senator Schneiderman has requested an 17 explanation. 18 SENATOR JOHNSON: This bill is 19 the language bill for the bill which we just 20 adopted. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: For the 22 Public Protection? 23 SENATOR JOHNSON: Public 24 Protection, yes. 25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 2 Johnson. 3 SENATOR JOHNSON: The bill number 4 which this effectuates is 6450B, the first 5 bill, the budget bill for Public Protection 6 and General Government Budget. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 16 the negative on Calendar Number 498 are 17 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, 18 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Parker, Sabini, 19 Savino, Schneiderman, and A. Smith. 20 Those Senators absent from voting: 21 Senator Wright. 22 Ayes, 46. Nays, 12. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 499, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6457B, 2 an act to amend the Social Services Law and 3 others. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 Explanation. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 7 Johnson, an explanation has been requested. 8 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is the 9 Article VII bill for public health, the bill 10 number which we already passed, 6454B. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 15. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 17 roll. 18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 19 the negative on Calendar Number 499 are 20 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Coppola, 21 Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger, 22 Montgomery, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino, 23 Schneiderman, A. Smith, and Stavisky. 24 Those Senators absent from voting: 25 Senator Wright.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ayes, 41. Nays, 17. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 500, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6458B, 6 an act to amend the Education Law. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 Explanation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 10 Johnson, Senator Schneiderman has requested an 11 explanation. 12 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is the 13 Article VII bill for education, labor and 14 family services. It includes the Board of 15 Trustees of SUNY and so on. The 6453B is the 16 companion bill. 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 23 roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the negative on Calendar Number 500 are 2 Senators Breslin, Connor, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, 3 Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, 4 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 5 Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith, and 6 Stavisky. Also Senator Andrews. 7 Those Senators absent from voting: 8 Senator Wright. 9 Ayes, 39. Nays, 19. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 11 is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 501, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6459B, 14 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 15 Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Stachowski. 18 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 19 President, I believe I have an amendment at 20 the desk. I'd like to waive reading of the 21 amendment and be heard on it. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 23 reading is waived, and you're recognized to 24 speak on the amendment. 25 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr.

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(518) 371-8910 1 President, this amendment proposes that the 2 state withhold 15 percent of all benefits, tax 3 benefits provided to eligible businesses under 4 the Empire Development Zones until this next 5 tax year. 6 The reason for this would be to 7 make sure that that company fulfilled their 8 obligations in the contract they made with the 9 state. The Empire Zone then, if they 10 fulfilled the contract in the following tax 11 year, would deliver the other 15 percent of 12 the benefits. 13 Now, that make seem like a strange 14 proposal to some, but we have examples. Two 15 years ago, when the Comptroller did an audit 16 on Empire Zones, he found that in one case a 17 company created one job for $26,000 and 18 received a tax credit of more than $50,000. 19 In another example in another area, a company 20 added one $10,000-a-year position and received 21 a tax credit of $137,000. 22 So in essence, this is a -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Excuse 24 me, Senator Stachowski. 25 Can we have some order in the

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(518) 371-8910 1 chamber, please. There's a member who has the 2 next door. 3 Senator Stachowski. 4 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 In essence, this is a good 7 government bill. We only have so many tax 8 credits to give out and so many areas with 9 Empire Zones. And so what we would be doing 10 here is safeguarding our investment to make 11 sure that these companies that take advantage 12 of these tax credits create the jobs that they 13 say they're going to create. It does us no 14 good to give companies huge tax benefits and 15 they in return don't create any new jobs or 16 not enough jobs or not even come close to the 17 commitment that they promised to the State of 18 New York. 19 So because of those reasons, I 20 would hope that all my colleagues would 21 support this amendment. 22 Thank you, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 24 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify 25 by raising your hand.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 2 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 3 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, 4 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, 5 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 6 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, M. Smith, 7 Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 amendment is not agreed to. 10 Read the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 14 roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Liz Krueger, to explain her vote. 18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 I'll be voting no on this bill, 21 again for a number of reasons. But just to 22 rearticulate and expand on my concerns from 23 the discussion about the Empire State 24 Development Corporation capital funds. 25 A section of this bill, Part W,

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(518) 371-8910 1 allows the State of New York bonding 2 authorization for the $980 million for ESDC 3 off-budget programs that we have no details 4 about. Which translates to me, to my 5 understanding, that the people of the State of 6 New York over time would be paying far more 7 than $980 million, almost a billion dollars 8 for unexplained programs potentially through 9 MOUs that they will never learn how that money 10 is spent. 11 So again, I'll vote no. And I 12 again emphasize we're handling this situation 13 wrong. 14 Thank you, Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 16 Liz Krueger will be recorded in the negative. 17 Announce the results. 18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 19 the negative on Calendar Number 501 are 20 Senator Andrews, Breslin, Diaz, Duane, 21 Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, 22 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino, 23 Schneiderman, A. Smith, and Stavisky. 24 Those Senators absent from voting: 25 Senator Wright.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ayes, 43. Nays, 15. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 502, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6460B, 6 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 8 Valesky. 9 SENATOR VALESKY: Mr. President, 10 I believe there is an amendment at the desk. 11 I ask that the reading of the amendment be 12 waived and that I be heard on the amendment. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 14 reading is waived, and you're recognized on 15 the amendment. 16 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, Mr. 17 President. 18 The Legislature in 1977 enacted the 19 real property tax credit circuit-breaker to 20 allow for low-income New Yorkers to take a 21 credit against their personal income taxes for 22 property taxes paid. 23 The bill before us actually does a 24 number of positive things to address and 25 provide a greater benefit in terms of property

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(518) 371-8910 1 taxes for low-income New Yorkers. It raises 2 the household income minimum threshold from 3 $18,000 to $36,000. The bill before us raises 4 the value of a house from $85,000 to $100,000, 5 but it does not address the actual tax credit 6 itself. 7 And so the amendment that is before 8 the house at this time would increase the 9 maximum credit amount for senior citizens from 10 the current statute of $375 to a total of 11 $1,125 and would increase the maximum credit 12 amount for all others from $75 to $225. 13 Mr. President, I encourage my 14 colleagues to support this amendment and 15 enhance this legislation in terms of property 16 tax breaks for low-income New Yorkers. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 18 Diaz. 19 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Mr. 20 President. 21 I stand to support and commend 22 Senator Valesky for this amendment. When 23 anyone looks out for the low-income 24 New Yorkers and senior citizens, they earn my 25 admiration. And, Senator Valesky, I commend

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(518) 371-8910 1 you for introducing this amendment. 2 This amendment provides a 3 long-overdue tax cut to senior citizens. This 4 proposal will greatly expand all aspects of 5 this credit by increasing the maximum credit 6 amount for senior citizens from $375 to 7 $1,125. Low-income New Yorkers, particularly 8 senior citizens living on fixed incomes, have 9 borne the fiscal brunt of skyrocketing 10 Medicaid costs over the last 10 years. 11 Double-digit property tax increases, year 12 after year, are incorporated in the rent paid 13 by low-income tenants. 14 The abuses and lack of 15 consideration to our senior citizens have to 16 come to an end. Senior citizens have given 17 too much toward the development of our city, 18 and now it's about time for us not only to 19 respect them but also to do everything 20 possible for them to have good services 21 instead of more burdens in their life. 22 As I said before, not long ago, in 23 order to save $1 million, the New York City 24 administration and the New York City 25 Department for the Aging took away the daily

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(518) 371-8910 1 hot meals that senior citizens used to enjoy 2 in the County of the Bronx and forced them to 3 eat frozen meals. Now the same city 4 administration and the same Department for the 5 Aging of the City of New York, one more time, 6 at this very moment they are proposing to put 7 another burden on senior citizens and the 8 residents of the New York City Housing 9 Authority. 10 It is well known to everyone that 11 senior citizens right now have to decide how 12 to spend their limited incomes between rent, 13 their utility bills, paying for their 14 medicine, or buying something to eat. To add 15 to the burden that our senior citizens are 16 carrying, the mayor of the City of New York 17 and the New York City Department for the Aging 18 now want them, the senior citizens, to pay -- 19 among other things, ladies and gentlemen, 20 those residents in the New York City Housing 21 Authority, for a toilet paper holder, for a 22 toilet paper holder, they want senior citizens 23 to pay $13.66. For a toilet seat, they want 24 senior citizens to pay $21.46. 25 For a clothes pole, a pole to hang

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(518) 371-8910 1 the clothes, they want our senior citizens and 2 the residents of the New York City Housing 3 Authority to pay $23.25. For a door cylinder, 4 they are asking our senior citizens and the 5 New York City Housing authority residents, 6 they are asking, for a door cylinder, to pay 7 $47.25. 8 For a key duplicate, if they have 9 to duplicate a key, they want them to pay 10 $14.85. For the door hinges, they want senior 11 citizens to pay $15.51. 12 If a senior citizen or any other 13 New York City resident by accident drops their 14 key into the elevator shaft or the compacter, 15 they will be charged $50 for retrieval of 16 those keys. 17 If a senior citizen or any other 18 New York City Housing Authority resident for 19 any reason is locked out, he or she will be 20 charged $50 if the New York City Housing 21 Authority has to come and open the door for 22 them. 23 If a radiator valve or radiator 24 handle has to be replaced, the senior citizens 25 or the New York City Housing Authority will be

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(518) 371-8910 1 charged $89.26 for the valve and $18.46 for 2 the handle. 3 I am here in support of this 4 amendment and support and commend, as I said 5 before, Senator Valesky. Because our senior 6 citizens are giving, have given too much to 7 our city, to our state. So even though, 8 Senator Valesky, this is an amendment that 9 will help every low-income resident in the 10 State of New York, this is something that is 11 greatly welcome in New York City, especially 12 for the residents and the senior citizens in 13 the district that I represent. So I support 14 you, I commend you, and people should be proud 15 of people like you that support the senior 16 citizens and to do everything possible to 17 protect our senior citizens. 18 So, ladies and gentlemen, I urge 19 all of you to support this amendment. It's a 20 good amendment that will protect our senior 21 citizens and the low-income residents 22 especially in New York City. 23 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 25 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify

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(518) 371-8910 1 by raising your hand. 2 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 3 agreement are Senator Andrews, Breslin, 4 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, 5 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, 6 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 7 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, 8 M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 10 amendment is not agreed to. 11 Senator Parker. 12 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, Mr. 13 President, I believe you have an amendment at 14 the desk. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There 16 is. 17 SENATOR PARKER: I ask that 18 reading of the amendment be waived and I be 19 heard on said amendment. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 21 reading is waived, and you're recognized to 22 speak on the amendment, Senator. 23 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you very 24 much, Mr. President. 25 Some of you may remember about a

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(518) 371-8910 1 month or so ago we had a very vigorous 2 discussion in this house about the taxes 3 regarding fuel costs. As everyone knows, the 4 prices have spiked, and it's been -- you know, 5 on fuel costs, and it's been particularly hard 6 on people, particularly low-income folks, 7 people with jobs who have to also drive a lot. 8 These folks are put in the position where they 9 have to spend a greater portion of their 10 incomes on fuel and really leave less money 11 for them to spend on the essentials. 12 My amendment goes a little further 13 than Senate Bill 6460B, Part O, which would 14 exempt the price of a gallon of gas in excess 15 of $2 from the state sales and use tax. This 16 amendment, if passed, would really guarantee 17 that all money collected from the exemption be 18 returned to the taxpayer directly. 19 One of the arguments that I made 20 that last time that S6460B came up was in fact 21 we had no mechanism to ensure that the tax 22 savings that we were passing on were going to 23 get passed on further to the consumer, that in 24 fact there's not -- we agreed that there's not 25 enough enforcement, not enough monitoring to

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(518) 371-8910 1 make that happen. 2 This bill in fact adds those 3 components to make sure -- and actually 4 creates a mechanism such that those dollars, 5 Mr. President, go directly to the taxpayers 6 themselves. 7 Additionally, the increased retail 8 price of motor fuel oil and diesel oil has 9 created a windfall. And this windfall of 10 about approximately $200 million, you know, if 11 we're going to give it back, we should make 12 sure it goes directly back to the taxpayers 13 themselves. 14 I'm asking that my colleagues vote 15 for this amendment because this amendment not 16 only continues to do what this house tried to 17 do a while ago, but in fact takes us a step 18 further of really making sure that the 19 taxpayers who are paying the extra money into 20 this windfall get their dollars back and 21 they're not captured by these different oil 22 conglomerates that we can't trust. 23 And so I ask you today to vote for 24 this amendment and make sure that taxpayers 25 get back, you know, get back the money that

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(518) 371-8910 1 they've worked so hard for and help them to 2 ease their financial burdens. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the 4 amendment, those Senators in agreement raise 5 your hand. 6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 7 agreement are Senators Breslin, Coppola, 8 Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, L. Krueger, 9 Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, 10 Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 11 Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, 12 Stavisky, and Valesky. Also Senator Andrews. 13 Also Senator Connor. Also Senator Diaz. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 15 amendment is not agreed to. 16 Senator Liz Krueger, on the bill. 17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 Well, we've had our amendments, but 20 I'd like to remind everyone that this is a tax 21 and revenue bill. And while everybody says 22 they like to lower taxes, I need everyone to 23 remember that with this bill, if you project 24 out into the full implementation, we're 25 talking about over $8 billion in annualized

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(518) 371-8910 1 tax cuts in this bill. 2 And everybody likes to say let's 3 reduce taxes, but you then have to ask the 4 hard questions: What aren't you spending the 5 money on? 6 So when played out over the years, 7 this bill would reduce taxes that are 8 currently spent to fund public education by 9 the tune of about $2.6 billion. So when we 10 earlier said you can't do better than 11 $1.1 billion, remember, this is the same house 12 that now seems to want to vote to cut taxes 13 that would go currently into education by 14 $2.6 billion. 15 And in this bill it reduces, over 16 time, taxes in personal income taxes by 17 $1.23 billion. And people love to reduce PIT, 18 except you have to ask the question about 19 who's getting their taxes cut. 20 So this interesting education tax 21 credit that people are bouncing around in both 22 houses would translate to about $100 a year 23 for low-income New Yorkers, the New Yorkers we 24 argue need the most help in ensuring that 25 their children get the education they need.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So if your income is under $17,000 a year, 2 you're only going to get about a hundred 3 dollars in this tax credit but the State of 4 New York going to lose $420 million. 5 And we like to cut -- well, 6 actually, we're a little confused on whether 7 we're raising user taxes and fees or reducing 8 them. Usually we do both them in the same 9 budget in the same year. But let's 10 objectively look at who would be getting tax 11 deductions versus tax increases through fees 12 in the actual proposed budget versus this 13 bill. 14 I would argue, if a fair analysis 15 was done about the proposed new fees and 16 increased taxes compared to the proposed 17 reductions in this bill today, you would find 18 that, yes, a select subgroup of New Yorkers -- 19 again, not in a progressive model, but in a 20 regressive model of taxation -- would see 21 their taxes cut. 22 We also cut corporate taxes in 23 New York State in this bill. Some would 24 wonder if there are any corporations of 25 certain sizes paying any taxes in New York,

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(518) 371-8910 1 given how much we've reduced the tax rate for 2 corporate New York. So I have to question why 3 we're proposing over $600 million in 4 specialized tax breaks for corporate New York 5 at this point in time. 6 We also are proposing corporate 7 reductions in a number of what we call small 8 business categories. Well, part of the 9 dilemma there is what's a small business and 10 where are you. One of the small business STAR 11 rebate programs would only be for small 12 businesses in locations that pay school taxes. 13 So for the record, if you're a small business 14 in New York City, this isn't going to do 15 anything for you. So don't misunderstand what 16 this bill does when it talks a good game about 17 helping the small businessperson. 18 In addition, this bill, when played 19 out to its final conclusion, would reduce the 20 estate and gift taxes by $850 million by 2010. 21 Those are rich people's taxes, ladies and 22 gentlemen. So let's not confuse the fact that 23 we're talking about reducing the taxes for the 24 wealthiest New Yorkers at a time when we are 25 telling middle-income and working and poor

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(518) 371-8910 1 New Yorkers that the state can't be there for 2 them to help them. 3 I also want to spend just a minute 4 on the fact that within this tax reduction 5 bill is a proposal that we've seen as a 6 separate bill on this house floor before, and 7 that is a proposal to move through "freedom 8 plan" health insurance programs. And there 9 has been a lot of research done on the dangers 10 of "freedom plans." The question is who is 11 freed from what. Apparently New Yorkers are 12 freed from having insurance that covers the 13 illnesses that they may suffer from. 14 So within a tax bill is a proposal 15 to create a "freedom plan" health insurance 16 program in New York State. And I have spoken 17 against this model before, and I will do it 18 again, whether it's a freestanding bill in a 19 healthcare budget or in a tax and revenue 20 bill. 21 Freedom plans, based on national 22 studies released by Harvard University, found 23 that more than half the people filing for 24 personal bankruptcy cited medical debt as the 25 reason for their financial ruin, and the

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(518) 371-8910 1 majority of these people filing bankruptcy for 2 medical debt are people who had health 3 insurance. The problem is the health 4 insurance doesn't cover their illnesses, and 5 freedom plans would eliminate mandated 6 benefits and shift medical costs to 7 individuals, exacerbating this problem. 8 The state's own external review 9 program, which gives consumers denied care by 10 their health plan the ability to appeal the 11 decision to independent medical reviewers -- 12 the linchpin of this program -- would be done 13 away with under these so-called freedom plans, 14 which would exempt health insurance companies 15 from the regulations issued by the 16 superintendent with regard to covered 17 healthcare services which must currently be 18 included in the policy. 19 So it's the freedom to say no to 20 you, the beneficiary of the insurance plan, 21 when you are sick and need to have health 22 insurance. 23 The State of New York is proud of 24 the fact that we have had health insurance 25 coverage that covers you when you're sick.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Many people here -- I would argue probably 2 most of us here -- have voted over time to 3 ensure that when there is health insurance in 4 New York State it covers breast cancer, it 5 covers prostate cancer, it covers off-label 6 cancer drugs, it covers women's 7 contraceptives, it covers radiation treatment. 8 Under health savings plans, there 9 is absolutely no guarantee that your health 10 insurance coverage will have to cover you when 11 you are sick. 12 So again, over and over again we 13 are told that these are good for us, and over 14 and over again the research coming out, state 15 by state, at the national level, by hospitals, 16 by healthcare analysts are showing us that 17 these programs are reducing the cost of health 18 insurance at the expense of people not having 19 access to healthcare. 20 So I urge my colleagues, think 21 about tax policy, think about who's paying and 22 who's not when we change our tax rules. Ask 23 the fundamental question, where are we going 24 in this state both with our revenue 25 projections and who is paying the tax burden

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(518) 371-8910 1 for the people of New York. And please stop 2 putting healthcare policy into our tax revenue 3 bills. 4 Vote no on this bill for all the 5 reasons that I have described tonight. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 8 last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 12 roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 15 the negative on Calendar Number 502 are 16 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Diaz, 17 Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery, 18 Onorato, Padavan, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 19 Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith, and 20 Stavisky. 21 Those Senators absent from voting: 22 Senator Wright. 23 Ayes, 40. Nays, 18. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 25 is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 503, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6463, an 3 act to amend Chapter 61 of the Laws of 2005 4 relating to authorizing certain payments. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 6 Schneiderman. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. On the bill. 9 I don't think we require an 10 explanation. This is just a supplemental 11 appropriation to the sound, basic education 12 aid set aside last year. 13 I will be voting in support of it. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 503 are 23 Senators Duane and Parker. 24 Absent from voting, Senator Wright. 25 Ayes, 56. Nays, 2.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 2 is passed. 3 Senator Skelos, that completes the 4 supplemental calendar. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr. 6 President. 7 There's a Resolution 3941 at the 8 desk, by Senator Bruno. Could we have the 9 title read and move for its adoption. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 11 Secretary will read the title. 12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno, 13 Concurrent Resolution Number 3941, adopting a 14 budget resolution proposing amendments to the 15 2006-2007 Executive Budget submission. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 17 Schneiderman. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: On the 19 resolution. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 21 Schneiderman, on the resolution. 22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Mr. 23 President, I will be voting against this 24 resolution because it incorporates, by 25 reference, a report of the Senate Finance

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(518) 371-8910 1 Committee which reflects a lot of the 2 provisions in the bills that were presented 3 earlier today. 4 Any of us who have voted against 5 any of the appropriation bills earlier, I 6 believe are -- I certainly feel that I am 7 constrained to vote against the resolution. 8 I also note that while it purports 9 to be a report of the Senate Finance 10 Committee, in listing the members of the 11 Finance Committee it omits all of the Minority 12 members of the Finance Committee. So I hope 13 that will be corrected. 14 I will be voting no. 15 Thank you, Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 17 Secretary will call the roll on the 18 resolution. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 21 the negative on Concurrent Resolution Number 22 3941 are Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, 23 Coppola, Diaz, Duane, L. Krueger, Montgomery, 24 Onorato, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, 25 Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Stachowski, and Stavisky. Also Senator 2 Gonzalez. 3 Absent from voting, Senator Wright. 4 Ayes, 38. Nays, 20. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 6 resolution is adopted. 7 Senator Skelos. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 9 is there any further business at the desk? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, we 11 have a motion, Senator. 12 Senator Fuschillo. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 14 President, on behalf of Senator Skelos, on 15 page number 32 I offer the following 16 amendments to Calendar Number 425, Senate 17 Print Number 6817, and ask that said bill 18 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 20 amendments are received and adopted, and the 21 bill will retain its place on the order of 22 third reading. 23 Senator Skelos. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: I believe 25 there's a motion to petition a bill by Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Schneiderman. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 3 Schneiderman. 4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, thank 5 you, Mr. President, I have a motion at the 6 desk. I'd like to be heard. Very, very 7 quickly. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 9 Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 11 1588, by Senator Schneiderman, Concurrent 12 Resolution of the Senate and Assembly. 13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 14 This is a motion to bring to the 15 floor a bill that was discussed a great deal 16 when reform was in the air and on the voters' 17 minds. It would reform our redistricting 18 process to provide for an apportionment 19 committee independent of politics and require 20 that districts be in as compact a form as 21 possible. 22 This is the number-one issue of 23 good government groups. And I would hate to 24 think that reform was only an issue for us 25 when the voters were outraged about it in

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(518) 371-8910 1 2004. 2 I would urge everyone to vote in 3 support of this petition and support 4 redistricting reform so that we can have 5 compact districts that preserve communities. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All 8 those in favor of the canvass on the petition, 9 raise your hand. 10 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 11 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 12 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, 13 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, 14 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, 15 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, 16 M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 18 petition is lost. 19 Senator Skelos. 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 21 there being no further business to come before 22 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until 23 Tuesday, March 14th, at 2:00 p.m. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On 25 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until

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(518) 371-8910 1 Tuesday, March 14th, at 2:00 p.m. 2 (Whereupon, at 7:05 p.m., the 3 Senate adjourned.) 4 5 6 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