Monday, March 20, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 20, 2006 11 3:07 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 19, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 19 March 18, was read and approved. On motion, 20 Senate adjourned. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 24 Presentation of petitions. 25 Messages from the Assembly.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Messages from the Governor. 2 Reports of standing committees. 3 Reports of select committees. 4 Communications and reports from 5 state officers. 6 Motions and resolutions. 7 Senator Fuschillo. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 9 Madam President. 10 On behalf of Senator Skelos, I wish 11 to call up Senate Print Number 6829, recalled 12 from the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 14 will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 419, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6829, an 17 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 19 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 20 by which the bill was passed. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 22 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer

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(518) 371-8910 1 the following amendments. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 3 are received. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 5 President, on behalf of Senator Maziarz, on 6 page number 29 I offer the following 7 amendments to Calendar Number 432, Senate 8 Print Number 5849, and ask that said bill 9 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 11 are received. The bill will retain its place 12 on the Third Reading Calendar. 13 Senator Skelos. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 15 I believe there's a substitution at the desk, 16 if we could make it at this time. 17 THE PRESIDENT: We do. 18 The Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: On page 23, 20 Senator Young moves to discharge, from the 21 Committee on Finance, Assembly Bill Number 22 4452A and substitute it for the identical 23 Senate Bill Number 6269A, Third Reading 24 Calendar 356. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Substitution

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(518) 371-8910 1 ordered. 2 Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: I believe 4 there's a resolution at the desk, 4089, by 5 Senator Maltese. Could we have the title read 6 and move for its immediate adoption. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 8 will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 10 Maltese, Legislative Resolution Number 4089, 11 commemorating the 95th Anniversary of the 12 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire on March 25, 13 2006. 14 THE PRESIDENT: All those in 15 favor of the resolution please signify by 16 saying aye. 17 (Response of "Aye.") 18 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 21 adopted. 22 Senator Schneiderman. 23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 24 Madam President. 25 I move that the following bill be

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(518) 371-8910 1 discharged from its committee and be 2 recommitted with instructions to strike the 3 enacting clause: Senate Bill Number 1296, on 4 behalf of Senator Montgomery. 5 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered, 6 Senator. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 10 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 11 of the calendar. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 186, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 3347A, 16 an act to amend Alcoholic Beverage Control 17 Law, in relation to Class A-1 distiller's 18 license. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. Nays,

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(518) 371-8910 1 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 187, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 4075A, an 6 act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control 7 Law, in relation to authorizations. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. Nays, 15 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 280, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 4299, an 20 act to amend the Banking Law and the General 21 Business Law, in relation to the business and 22 licensing of budget planning. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 24 section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 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, 42. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 290, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4062, an 9 act to amend the Private Housing Finance Law, 10 in relation to the farmworker housing. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 340, by Senator Little, Senate Print 6387A, an 22 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to 23 authorizing the County of Hamilton. 24 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local 25 fiscal impact note at the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. Nays, 7 1. Senator Valesky recorded in the negative. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 356, substituted earlier today by Member of 12 the Assembly Christensen, Assembly Print 13 Number 4452A, an act to amend the Executive 14 Law. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 16 section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Young, to 22 explain your vote. 23 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam 24 President, to explain my vote. 25 This bill designates November 12th

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(518) 371-8910 1 as a day of commemoration for Elizabeth Cady 2 Stanton, who we know in New York State was a 3 pioneer for women's rights and actually basic 4 human rights. 5 One of her earliest memories was 6 that her brother passed away suddenly during 7 the night, and the next day she went in to 8 comfort her father, and he gathered her into 9 his arms and rocked back and forth and said: 10 "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy." 11 And at that moment, she really set 12 upon a course of doing all that she could to 13 excel. She was excellent in Greek, Latin, and 14 mathematics. She obtained the finest 15 education possible at the time, at the Troy 16 Female Seminary. And when she was married to 17 her abolitionist husband, Henry Stanton, the 18 word "obey" was omitted from the ceremony at 19 her insistence. 20 On their honeymoon they journeyed 21 to London to the great World's Anti-Slavery 22 Convention in 1840, and there the women 23 delegates were not seated. And again, 24 Elizabeth Cady Stanton saw a great injustice. 25 And eventually she drafted the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Seneca Falls Convention's "Declaration of 2 Sentiments," which got people together for the 3 first time for women's rights. And it was a 4 pivotal moment in New York State's history and 5 our country's history and actually the world's 6 history. 7 It was after that gathering that 8 she met her lifetime friend and partner Susan 9 B. Anthony. And they were a great team 10 together, but they also were a study in 11 contrasts. Susan B. Anthony was raised in a 12 plain Quaker upbringing; Elizabeth Cady 13 Stanton came from a privileged background. 14 Susan B. Anthony never married, so she was 15 free to travel about the country and give 16 speeches. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, married 17 with seven children, traveled when she could 18 but she mainly stayed at home in New York and 19 wrote speeches. Susan B. Anthony was a 20 strategist; Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an idea 21 person. Susan B. Anthony was reserved and 22 focused; Elizabeth Cady Stanton was joyful and 23 had diverse interests. 24 But what they stood for and what 25 they fought for really was profound.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Elizabeth Cady Stanton not only fought for the 2 women's right to vote, but she also fought for 3 women's rights, because at the time women were 4 considered to be the property of either their 5 husbands or their fathers. They could be in 6 the most direst situation in a marriage, for 7 example, where there might be domestic 8 violence, sexual abuse, alcohol abuse, and 9 they had no recourse. And so Elizabeth Cady 10 Stanton worked very hard to make sure that 11 women were protected and actually gained 12 rights. 13 So it is with great pride that we 14 now designate, through this bill, 15 November 12th as Elizabeth Cady Stanton Day in 16 New York State. And it's very appropriate 17 because, as we know, November is when we hold 18 our elections. And we will forever remember 19 Elizabeth Cady Stanton's contributions to 20 New York State, and that's the way that it 21 should be. 22 Thank you very much. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane. 24 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 25 President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I want to commend Senator Young for 2 bringing this bill honoring Elizabeth Cady 3 Stanton to the floor today, and I strongly 4 support the bill. As we all know, Elizabeth 5 Cady Stanton was a tireless advocate for 6 women's equality, and she accomplished much in 7 her day, although some was unfortunately left 8 undone. But she is absolutely a hero and a 9 New York hero. 10 And that's why it's so sad that 11 today, in 2006, New York State still does not 12 have an "Equal Rights Amendment" in its 13 Constitution. And until we have a state ERA, 14 every woman in New York State is on unequal 15 footing with their male counterparts. And 16 that's why Assembly Member Bing and I have 17 introduced S1864, Assembly 3465, which will 18 create an ERA in the New York State 19 Constitution. 20 And I want to invite everyone to a 21 public forum I'm having this Wednesday, from 22 10:30 to 2:00 in Room 120 of the Legislative 23 Office Building, where we will hear from 24 advocates regarding the Equal Rights 25 Amendment. The testimony will come from a

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(518) 371-8910 1 diverse group of women in government, labor, 2 sports and academics. And I hope that you 3 will all be able to attend. 4 Madam President, I'm voting yes. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Nozzolio. 6 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 7 Madam President, on the bill. 8 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed. 9 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 10 President and my colleagues, I rise in support 11 of Senator Young's legislation to establish an 12 annual day of commemoration for Elizabeth Cady 13 Stanton, a genuine American heroine, a woman 14 who spent much of her time in advocacy here in 15 New York State. 16 I commend to anyone who cares about 17 freedom, who cares about suffrage, who cares 18 about democracy in America to support this 19 resolution and to recognize the significant 20 contributions that this heroine gave to all of 21 us in a day when the Founding Fathers had 22 omitted very important designations as to who 23 should have the right to vote. 24 I share with my colleagues a 25 personal aside in that Elizabeth Cady Stanton,

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(518) 371-8910 1 in conducting the very first National Women's 2 Rights Convention in the United States, held 3 that in a place in upstate New York called 4 Seneca Falls. She conducted that convention 5 in Seneca Falls, New York, and her legacy 6 lives on in that community. 7 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the park, 8 the National Women's Rights Historical Park, 9 is named after her. She is in the National 10 Women's Hall of Fame. A school is named after 11 Cady Stanton. 12 But the point I'd like to put aside 13 is what she meant to all Americans and what 14 her sacrifices and contributions were. I'd 15 like to just illustrate a story that I told to 16 about 10,000 people upon the 150th anniversary 17 of the National Women's Rights Convention. 18 That anniversary celebration was held in 19 Seneca Falls. 20 On a side street in Seneca Falls, 21 Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived. And 22 coincidentally, when my grandmother and 23 grandfather and father came to America from 24 Italy, they moved into the house right next 25 door. Elizabeth Cady Stanton had long since

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(518) 371-8910 1 gone when they moved in, but I recall that 2 historic marker that was in front of her 3 house, that type of historic marker that you 4 all see that says someone lived here or 5 something happened here. That marker at that 6 time, when I was growing up, was the only 7 designation for Elizabeth Cady Stanton in our 8 community. 9 When I saw that marker at the age 10 of 4 or 5 years old, I remember asking my 11 grandmother, who was a naturalized American 12 citizen -- she took the test, she was very 13 proud of her citizenship. She same from a 14 country where women did not have the rights 15 that American women enjoyed, in large part 16 because of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 17 When I asked Grandma Tina, looking 18 at that historic marker, what that was all 19 about, at the age of 4 or 5, I'll never forget 20 what she said to me in her broken English. 21 She said: "Because of the lady who lived in 22 that house, I have the right to vote." A 23 right that she took seriously, that in this 24 day and age not enough Americans and 25 New Yorkers are taking seriously.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Upon the occasion of Elizabeth Cady 2 Stanton's Day, let's remember how treasured 3 that right to vote was, how she dedicated her 4 life so that we could see universal suffrage 5 in this country. Thank you, Elizabeth Cady 6 Stanton. 7 Thank you, Senator Young, for 8 bringing this to the floor. Madam President, 9 it's a wonderful bill; I support it 10 wholeheartedly. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Young, 12 Senator Duane, and Senator Nozzolio will all 13 be recorded as voting in the affirmative on 14 this bill. 15 The Secretary will announce the 16 results. 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 394, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6744, an 22 act to amend the General Municipal Law and the 23 Retirement and Social Security Law. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 3 aside. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 400, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 497, an 6 act to amend the Domestic Relations Law, in 7 relation to parents and other persons. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays, 15 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 405, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 5195, an 20 act to amend the Family Court Act and others, 21 in relation to legal powers. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 25 act shall take effect on the 90th day.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 452, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 1927, an 8 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 9 creating the crimes of solicitation or 10 recruitment. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it 12 aside. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 14 aside. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 476, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6331, an 17 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in 18 relation to prohibiting. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 478, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 1851A, an 6 act to amend the Election Law and the State 7 Finance Law, in relation to requiring. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 9 the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 481, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5021, an 20 act to amend Chapter 698 of the Laws of 1996 21 amending the Education Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 23 the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 490, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 6424, an 9 act to amend Chapter 672 of the Laws of 1993, 10 amending the Public Authorities Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 20 bill is passed. 21 Senator Skelos, that completes the 22 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. If we could go to the 25 controversial calendar at this time.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 2 Secretary will ring the bell. 3 The Secretary will read the 4 controversial reading of the calendar. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 394, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6744, an 7 act to amend the General Municipal Law and the 8 Retirement and Social Security Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 10 Duane. 11 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Would the sponsor yield for two 14 questions? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 16 Padavan, will you yield? 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, I will. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 19 Senator will yield. 20 SENATOR DUANE: Through you, 21 Mr. President. Does this bill, which talks 22 about surviving spouses, include domestic 23 partners? 24 SENATOR PADAVAN: Whatever the 25 definition in the current law is, relevant to

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(518) 371-8910 1 surviving spouses, is what it is. This 2 doesn't change any current definitions in law. 3 SENATOR DUANE: Through you, 4 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue 5 to yield. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 7 Padavan, do you continue to yield? 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 10 Senator yields. 11 SENATOR DUANE: Is there an 12 Assembly sponsor for this legislation? 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: Is there an 14 Assembly sponsor? 15 Yes, there is, but I don't have the 16 name here in front of me. I can get that 17 information for you, but I don't know right 18 now. 19 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you. Thank 20 you, Mr. President. 21 On the bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 23 Duane, on the bill. 24 SENATOR DUANE: I am not a 25 hundred percent sure -- in fact, I'm not even

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(518) 371-8910 1 50 percent sure if, under current law as it 2 applies to death benefits for police and fire 3 personnel, that domestic partners are 4 included. 5 And I'm going to, with the 6 permission of the sponsor, research and maybe 7 share with him that information. Because if 8 this bill is going to be reconciled with the 9 Assembly version, I would be much more 10 comfortable supporting it strongly if it 11 included domestic partners. 12 Because after the horrendous 13 bombing of the World Trade Center, we 14 discovered that, due to the flaw of the 15 legislation put forward by the then-mayor of 16 New York City, some benefits that should have 17 gone to the domestic partners of some police 18 and fire personnel who were killed that 19 terrible day were not entitled to get 20 benefits. 21 And that's something that we need 22 to rectify. The city part of the 23 responsibility has in fact been fixed, but the 24 state part still is not completely rectified. 25 So I'm hopeful that we will be able to get

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(518) 371-8910 1 that completed this session. 2 Thank you, Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 4 you, Senator Duane. 5 Senator Padavan. 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, just to 7 fully answer Senator Duane's question. 8 The Assembly sponsor is Markey, 9 Assembly Member Markey, Assembly Bill 10334. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Any 11 Senator wishing to be heard? 12 Debate is closed. 13 The Secretary will ring the bell. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect July 1, 2006. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: 21 Announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 23 Those Senators absent from voting: 24 Senators Hannon, Meier, Oppenheimer, and 25 Stavisky.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 2 bill is passed. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 452, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 1927, an 6 act to amend the Penal Law. 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Explanation. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 9 Balboni, an explanation has been asked for. 10 SENATOR BALBONI: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 This bill addresses the issue of 13 gang violence. According to a recent U.S. 14 Department of Justice survey, there are 15 750,000 gang members in the United States and 16 over 28,000 different gangs. In recent years, 17 there has been a spate of recent gang activity 18 in United States. Gangs like the Bloods, the 19 Crips, MS-13, they are becoming national in 20 stature. 21 In the county that I represent, 22 Nassau County, we have a number of gangs. 23 We've seen the number of gang members go up 24 from a handful in the early '90s to near 3,000 25 today. But gangs are not just a downstate

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(518) 371-8910 1 problem. Recent Times Union reports from the 2 city of Albany indicate that gangs are a 3 serious issue in this city. Likewise, in 4 Buffalo and around this state. 5 And they're getting younger, ladies 6 and gentlemen. Gang recruitment is targeting 7 children. Consider these recent episodes. 8 In May of 2005, an 8-year-old boy 9 in Brooklyn was attacked and slammed to the 10 pavement by classmates outside Public School 11 289 in Crown Heights and was ordered to choose 12 between the Bloods and Crips. 13 In April of 2005, a 14-year-old 14 New York City student was stabbed with an ice 15 pick in a gang-related melee. 16 On March 11th, teenagers were 17 suspended for gang-related brawls at a Niagara 18 Falls High School. 19 And it's not just assault, it's all 20 sorts of crime. And many of the crimes that 21 target children begin with an initiation 22 project, that the person who has been 23 solicited to join the gang and then accepts 24 must show their fealty to the gang by 25 committing a violent act. We've had this in

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(518) 371-8910 1 Nassau County. Slashings in malls, 2 particularly by female gang members, are the 3 most common practice to literally draw blood. 4 This bill creates two new sections 5 of the Criminal Procedure Law -- 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Excuse 7 me, Senator Balboni. 8 Could we have some order, please. 9 SENATOR BALBONI: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 I misspoke. It is not the Criminal 12 Procedure Law, it is the Penal Law we are 13 amending today. And this would create a new 14 section for the solicitation and recruitment 15 of gang members to become a part of a criminal 16 street gang, and creates an E felony for that 17 act. And it also creates another section of 18 the law to make it a D felony to go and 19 solicit minors in order to join a criminal 20 street gang felony. 21 My colleagues, this has become an 22 epidemic nationwide, but particularly here in 23 New York State. And these types of issues and 24 bills are difficult to craft because of the 25 constitutional protection of the right of free

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(518) 371-8910 1 association. But that should not limit us in 2 our attempt to try to bring justice for the 3 victims of criminal street gang solicitation. 4 If any of you have been the subject 5 of a bully when you were growing up in school, 6 you know the fear when someone says "You 7 better do this." Now imagine it is someone 8 who's a part of a gang that you know has 9 access to weapons and has violent tactics. 10 Mr. President, I offer the bill for 11 this house's consideration. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 13 you, Senator Balboni. 14 Senator Montgomery. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr. 16 President, briefly on the bill. 17 I want to thank Senator Balboni for 18 his explanation. And certainly one of the 19 incidents in particular that you mention was 20 in my district formerly. I'm very familiar 21 with that school, and we've had sessions there 22 with the police department on gangs. And so I 23 really do identify with the fact that we have 24 this level of violence, and it's very 25 unfortunate.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I just want to caution, however, 2 that I'm not sure that there is a direct 3 relationship between the incidents that you 4 listed and you iterated and this legislation. 5 Because the way that I read this, this is 6 specifically legislation which seeks to deal 7 with recruitment of minors into gangs. And 8 certainly I agree that we need to figure out 9 how to break that part of the cycle, the 10 recruitment process. 11 However, what we've done in this 12 bill, what this bill will do is simply add 13 some jail time based on this new gang activity 14 process. It does not speak to how we actually 15 break that cycle. It just says if you recruit 16 someone, you will get a longer sentence. And 17 the reason that I'm so troubled by this 18 approach -- 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 20 Balboni, why do you rise? 21 SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. President, 22 I was wondering if Senator Montgomery would 23 yield for one question, please. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 25 Montgomery, do you yield?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, I do. 2 But let me just finish my thought, if you 3 will. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 5 Senator will yield in a moment, Senator 6 Balboni. 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I will yield 8 in a moment. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 10 you, Senator. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The thing 12 that troubles me about this process is that we 13 now see already, from the kinds of incidents 14 that Senator Balboni has talked about -- which 15 I agree are violent crimes and we need to deal 16 with them -- we already see a rising number of 17 young people who are being incarcerated for 18 quite long sentences. 19 So that's already happening. We've 20 sort of moved in that direction. But what 21 this does is just adds on additional jail 22 time. 23 Now, if we can talk about, Mr. 24 President, if we can talk, Senator Balboni and 25 myself and others of us in this chamber, about

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(518) 371-8910 1 breaking the cycle, especially at the level of 2 when a young person decides or is recruited 3 into the gang, then I think it merits a lot of 4 attention on behalf of all of us. 5 I yield for Senator Balboni's 6 question. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 8 Balboni, Senator Montgomery yields. 9 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, Senator. 10 Mr. President, through you, would the Senator, 11 just for clarification purposes, just tell me 12 where the sentence would be added on. Because 13 as you can see from the bill itself, we are 14 creating two new crimes but these do not 15 currently exist. 16 And so therefore I just was 17 wondering if you could just let me know of 18 your reference to additional time. Added onto 19 what? 20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: My 21 interpretation of this legislation, it is part 22 of -- it amends the Penal Law. And it says 23 yes, we have two new crimes related to gang 24 activity, and these new crimes are going to be 25 part of any sentence that deals with gang

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(518) 371-8910 1 activity. 2 So if you have a violent act and 3 you are charged with a felony, felony A, and 4 that requires X number of years, and in 5 addition to that we have a new charge that can 6 be tacked onto that for an E or D, or D or E, 7 then that increases the length of time of the 8 sentence. 9 That's how the Penal Law works. 10 Ask any young person who's ever been to court, 11 they'll tell you. Ask any judge how it works. 12 So they look at the record and, depending on 13 the record or depending on the number of 14 charges, your sentence is long or short, 15 period, based on the maximum possibility for 16 that judge to give you in prison. And this 17 adds up to 7 years to that. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 19 Balboni. 20 SENATOR BALBONI: I'll speak 21 after the Senator. 22 Thank you very much, Senator. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: So, 24 Mr. President, I'm very, very reluctant to 25 support this. I'd like to hear some more from

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Balboni, but this really troubles me. 2 Because this is how we approach every single 3 issue, especially related to young people. 4 But we are not willing, on the other hand, to 5 invest in providing the types of support 6 systems so that young people who are bound to 7 get into trouble have an opportunity, based on 8 our willingness to support them, to get a 9 second chance ever in life. 10 So that concerns me. And I don't 11 think that I can support this legislation. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 14 you, Senator Montgomery. 15 Senator Volker. 16 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 17 I've been involved in these debates for some 18 time. And whenever I hear that young people 19 are telling somebody that people are going to 20 jail, I have to kind of laugh. 21 It's very hard to go to jail for 22 gang activity in New York City. Very hard. 23 It's hard to find anybody that goes to jail. 24 In fact, that's part of the problem. Judges 25 have tended to look at young people -- and

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(518) 371-8910 1 young people meaning not up to 18, but even up 2 to 21 -- as kind of disjointed and so forth. 3 And as a result, the amount of 4 people -- as someone just said to me some 5 years ago, it's hard to go to jail on a drug 6 charge in New York City. You know, we tell 7 about all these people that go to jail that we 8 look at their records and usually they've been 9 arrested about 20 or 30 times before they ever 10 go to jail. It's no secret, particularly in 11 the city. 12 As far as gangs are concerned, 13 very, very few people ever go to jail as far 14 as gangs are concerned. But Senator Balboni 15 is talking about here not necessarily gang 16 violence, he's talking more about gang 17 recruitment. 18 These are the hard-core people who 19 try to lure in young people and claim to them 20 that society is so terrible -- many times 21 these are not necessarily poor kids, by the 22 way. Maybe they have a few bucks. Or maybe 23 they sell drugs, which gives them a few bucks. 24 The problem we have is if we sit 25 back and say, Let's wait until we can give

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(518) 371-8910 1 them some sort of support -- of course, we 2 spend millions and millions and millions of 3 dollars in trying to do support. Often, it's 4 true, maybe the help doesn't get to them. But 5 the trouble is we sat here in the Legislature 6 and at home -- and I say at home, in 7 Buffalo -- and all kinds of places and 8 basically said: Well, we shouldn't sentence 9 these people to long sentences because they're 10 poor kids and they have problems and so forth. 11 What happened was a rash of drugs. 12 What happened was our neighborhoods got torn 13 apart by violence. And then we said enough is 14 enough. In this state, this Senate and the 15 Assembly and the Governor got together and we 16 said: We must take a stand. 17 Years ago I remember, when 18 everybody was telling me about the drug laws 19 were so terrible and all that sort of stuff, 20 75 percent of the people in prison were 21 nonviolent, 25 percent were violent. That is 22 all turned around entirely now. Approximately 23 75 percent of the people in our prison system 24 are violent, 25 percent are nonviolent. 25 In addition to that, we have the

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(518) 371-8910 1 shock incarceration program, which most people 2 believe is the best -- it's mostly drugs. 3 It's supposed to be nonviolent; it's less 4 violent. Because there's very few people that 5 go to jail that don't have some violence in 6 their background. We've sifted through 7 literally thousands of people, thousands of 8 young people, and most of them are doing 9 pretty well. But the problem is we still have 10 this reluctance to deal with these poor young 11 people. 12 Now, the vast majority of poor 13 young people do well. They don't get into 14 trouble. But there's a certain number of them 15 that are lured in, particularly by people who 16 are ready to get them out on the streets and 17 say, Look, we're giving you an opportunity to 18 get in with this group and you can make a lot 19 of money and you can do all kinds of things. 20 If we sit back and we don't do anything with 21 them, what unfortunately is going to happen, 22 more of those young people are going to get 23 sucked into this, and then they're going to 24 end up in jail. 25 My humble opinion, very few judges

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(518) 371-8910 1 in New York City are going to send anybody to 2 jail under his statute. But I will tell you 3 this. The ones they send are going to be good 4 people to go to jail, because they're going to 5 be the real hard-core people. And I don't see 6 anything wrong with that. 7 And when I say New York City, I'm 8 also talking about Long Island. I don't 9 mean -- but I mean the city is probably the 10 biggest problem. You know, you've got more 11 people. Quite obviously, it's a tough 12 problem. We have a problem in Buffalo. It's 13 a big problem. 14 What's happening in Buffalo is that 15 people just don't realize, we got way too few 16 cops now. We just had the sheriff's 17 department that lost nine people that used to 18 do undercover work in Buffalo. Suddenly we 19 got drug problems, we got killing problems, 20 and we've got -- my gosh, we're surprised, 21 we've got gang problems. We haven't had that 22 in years. 23 We need this kind of legislation. 24 We also need what you said. We need more 25 help, that's true. But let's start out by

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(518) 371-8910 1 getting rid of those people off the street who 2 are doing the recruiting, because they're the 3 ones that are going to scar these kids and 4 force them to end up in jail someday. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 6 you, Senator Volker. 7 Senator Schneiderman. 8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: If the 9 sponsor would yield for a question. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 11 Balboni, do you yield? 12 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, I do, 13 Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 15 you. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I think 17 that the -- hopefully our objective here today 18 is to try and come up with legislation that 19 can actually deal with a very serious 20 situation. I mean, the victims of gang 21 violence more often than not are people who 22 are represented by Senator Montgomery and 23 others. So that I hope there is no effort to 24 suggest that we're not serious, that everyone 25 in this chamber is not serious about trying to

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(518) 371-8910 1 address the problem. 2 These are just hard bills to write. 3 This is just hard drafting. Because you can 4 end up unintentionally, you know, causing 5 effects and roping people in who aren't 6 necessarily the people you want to get. No 7 one wants disagrees with Senator Volker that 8 the hard-core gang people are the ones you 9 want to get, and it's hard to get them 10 sometimes. 11 My question, Senator Balboni, on 12 page 2 of the legislation, lines 7 through 11, 13 this is a bill that prohibits -- that 14 criminalizes solicitation, just inviting 15 someone or intending to invite someone to join 16 an organization. And where you define 17 organizations, the definition of criminal 18 street gang, this is a new definition, is it 19 not? This is not something that exists 20 elsewhere in the law at this time; is that 21 correct? 22 SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. President, 23 through you. Yes, that's correct. 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And my 25 concern is this. Is there any requirement --

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(518) 371-8910 1 and if so, please point it out -- that the 2 person who is doing the recruiting actually is 3 a part of the agreement to commit crimes? 4 Because the way I read this, this 5 defines the organization and says the 6 organization is three or more individuals who 7 agree to act in concert with a purpose, not 8 the only purpose, but a purpose being that any 9 of these persons alone or in combination will 10 commit crimes. 11 So the way this is drafted, it 12 appears to me that as long as several people 13 in this organization agree that one of them 14 will commit crimes, there's no requirement 15 that everyone else involved in the 16 organization even know that that's true. 17 Could you point out, if I'm 18 incorrect, where there's the requirement that 19 the person who is being prosecuted under this 20 section actually be someone with knowledge 21 that people are in this organization to commit 22 crimes? 23 SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. President, 24 through you. First off, let me thank the 25 gentleman for his question.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And in responding to him, I just 2 want to point out to Senator Montgomery that 3 this bill, this approach is based upon some of 4 the conversations that you and I have had in 5 the past and does, in fact, create a simple 6 stand-alone crime of solicitation. In other 7 words, so it can't be added onto anything else 8 necessarily, it must be only as to recruitment 9 as a crime in and of itself. 10 As to Senator Schneiderman's 11 concern, as you know, the drafting of what 12 constitutes a criminal gang is in fact the 13 most difficult aspect of this type of 14 legislation. But if you read the front 15 section of the bill that talks about what is 16 the actual act -- that is, solicitation of an 17 individual to join a street gang and get that 18 individual to commit a crime -- that is what 19 is going to be presented to the jury. 20 Here is the difficulty with this 21 drafting. If you say that each and every 22 member of the gang, in order to constitute a 23 criminal street gang, must have the requisite 24 intent to commit a crime simultaneously, then 25 you will absolutely no prosecutions in the

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(518) 371-8910 1 State of New York whatsoever. 2 Instead what we have here is a 3 framework that could be presented to a jury 4 for them to consider whether or not, as under 5 all criminal law, you have to have the 6 requisite intent to commit the crime. If you 7 do not find that, you cannot be proven guilty. 8 So this statute would be utilized 9 in such a way that you would have the 10 individual who made the solicitation, you'd 11 have to have evidence of that. Then you would 12 have -- the other form of intent you'd have to 13 prove is that that person intended to solicit 14 someone to join the street gang and commit a 15 crime. And then other individuals in that 16 gang are in fact going -- have or are going to 17 commit a crime. Those are all the elements of 18 the proof that must be presented to a jury. 19 And that's for the jury to deliberate and 20 truly is a question of fact. 21 I think what we are doing is we are 22 saved -- at least this is my intent as the 23 sponsor -- we are saved by the intent 24 requirement under criminal law in general to 25 make sure that people cannot go to jail for

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(518) 371-8910 1 crimes that they never intended to commit. 2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank the 3 sponsor for his answer. 4 I do think that there are great 5 difficulties -- this is something that has 6 been addressed, that people are attempting to 7 address. Gang membership is serious. Senator 8 Sabini, Senator Parker, Senator Sampson and 9 others in our conference have raised this. 10 Senator Montgomery has been actively involved, 11 as Senator Balboni noted. 12 I do think that there are 13 tremendous problems in drafting a statute like 14 this. I would like to take the sponsor's 15 optimistic belief of this and be supportive of 16 the legislation, because I do think that it's 17 very difficult. I think it's extremely hard 18 to define membership in an organization where 19 there's no requirement that everyone in the 20 organization even know that it's a criminal 21 operation. 22 So I would urge you to consider 23 Senator Montgomery's concerns and objections 24 as we move forward in this area. We want to 25 address the real problems. We do want to make

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(518) 371-8910 1 it easier to put an end to the reign of terror 2 of many gangs in our communities. 3 I would, however, urge the sponsor 4 that I do think a little more work is required 5 in the section that defines "criminal street 6 gang" to make sure that this is not 7 something -- look, there are a lot of good 8 prosecutors out there; Senator Volker and 9 others of us who have worked in this system 10 for a long time. But you also open yourself 11 up to irresponsible conduct, should it ever 12 take place, that can be -- that sometimes does 13 take place in this area. 14 I would urge the sponsor to revisit 15 this. I think we will have time to, to take 16 into account the issues that I raised relating 17 to the definition of criminal street gang. 18 With that, I am going to try and be supportive 19 of the effort as we go forward. And I hope 20 that we will have further room for bipartisan 21 cooperation and discussion on this issue. 22 Thank you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 24 Ada Smith. 25 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. On the bill. 2 I will be voting in favor of this 3 legislation. But I'm greatly concerned -- 4 even though I understand how hard it is to 5 craft this type of legislation, I'm concerned 6 that we are creating new offenses with the 7 possibility of increasing sentences. 8 And I challenge my good friend 9 Senator Balboni, in this time of budgetary 10 concerns, to please remember that we must do 11 something so as not to make it attractive for 12 these young people to join a gang. 13 While we're creating legislation, 14 we also have to do something on the other 15 side. And we must not cut summer jobs 16 programs, we must not cut youth programs, we 17 must do everything to give them an opportunity 18 not to be a part of a gang. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 21 you, Senator Smith. 22 Any other Senators wishing to be 23 heard? 24 Debate is closed. The Secretary 25 will ring the bell.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 3 act shall take effect on the first of 4 November. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 9 Sabini, to explain his vote. 10 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Mr. 11 President. 12 I just want to mention a couple of 13 things regarding this legislation. I'm going 14 to be voting in favor of it. I agree with 15 Senator Montgomery that we cannot only do 16 penalties, but also we have to ensure that we 17 offer our young people alternatives. But I 18 want to commend Senator Balboni. This is an 19 epidemic problem. 20 His point about the gang members 21 being younger and younger is true, but they're 22 also older and older. We are getting gangs in 23 from other countries, as he mentioned. Many 24 of those people are coming in as adults, as 25 recruiters. They're coming in to avenge

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(518) 371-8910 1 actions that take place in the other country. 2 So that we have spillover violence in our 3 neighborhoods sometimes caused by incidents a 4 continent away. 5 So I want to commend Senator 6 Balboni and say we need more, we need more 7 prevention, but we also need more tools to 8 allow the police to track and apprehend gang 9 members and to stop their activities. This is 10 a good first step. I supported it the last 11 time it was up; I'll support it again and hope 12 it gets passed through the Assembly. 13 But I urge my colleagues to look at 14 a whole stack of legislation that I've 15 introduced, and Senator Sampson has a bill as 16 well on gangs. And I've introduced companion 17 bills with Assemblyman Peralta in the 18 Assembly, and hope we can move forward to 19 eradicate this growing cancer in our 20 neighborhoods. 21 Thank you. I vote yes. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 23 Sabini will be recorded in the affirmative. 24 Senator Montgomery, to explain her 25 vote.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 2 Mr. President, to explain my vote. 3 One man's cure is another man's 4 poison. We all understand that. And very 5 often I see the poison pill in some 6 legislation that really is intended to do a 7 good thing. And I think this is one of those 8 instances. 9 But I have never been in the 10 presence of a group of young people in my 11 district, especially young males, where they 12 have not said how many times they were 13 accosted in the subway by police. They get 14 picked up if they don't have an ID, they get 15 picked up if they have a desk warrant for 16 something that they've done. 17 And so there's tremendous pressure 18 on young people in my district. I know that's 19 not the case in all parts of the state, but 20 certainly where I represent. And each time we 21 do a penal law such as this, you can rest 22 assured that there are going to be some people 23 in my district who are going to be 24 specifically targeted and susceptible to this 25 law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so since that's always a 2 problem, and I feel like I have an obligation 3 to represent the young people in my district 4 specifically, I am going to vote no on this 5 legislation because we have so many other 6 different pieces of legislation with the same 7 intent of this, to solve a problem. 8 But I can tell you -- and I invite 9 you to come to my district, and I can 10 introduce you to police officers who I have a 11 very lot of contact with, and ministers in my 12 district who spend days and hours in court 13 trying defend young people. I will have you 14 meet them, Mr. President, and they can tell 15 you what the pressure is in terms of the 16 criminal justice on young people in my 17 district. 18 So I'm going to vote no on this 19 because I'm representing my young people. 20 Thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Thank 22 you, Senator Montgomery. You will be recorded 23 in the negative. 24 The Secretary will announce the 25 results.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 2 the negative on Calendar Number 452: Senator 3 Montgomery. 4 Those Senators absent from voting: 5 Senators Meier and Oppenheimer. 6 Those Senators absent pursuant to 7 Rule 9: Senator Stavisky. 8 Ayes, 55. Nays, 1. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 10 bill is passed. 11 Senator Hannon. 12 SENATOR HANNON: Yes, Mr. 13 President. A few minutes ago I was outside 14 the chamber in a budget meeting when Calendar 15 Number 394, S6744, passed. Had I been 16 present, I would have been in favor of that 17 measure. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 19 record will so reflect. Thank you, Senator 20 Hannon. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 is there any further business at the desk? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Yes, 25 Senator Skelos, Senator Fuschillo has a

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(518) 371-8910 1 motion. 2 Senator Fuschillo. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 4 Senator Volker, I move that the following bill 5 be discharged from its respective committee 6 and be recommitted with instructions to strike 7 the enacting clause: Senate Print Number 8 2843. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So 10 ordered. 11 Senator Schneiderman. 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 On behalf of Senator Oppenheimer, I 15 would move that the following bill be 16 discharged from its committee and be 17 recommitted with instructions to strike the 18 enacting clause: Senate Bill Number 3781. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: So 20 ordered. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 23 would you please recognize Senator Klein. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: Senator 25 Klein.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 2 have a motion at the desk. And I would like 3 to have it called up at this time and have the 4 opportunity to speak on said motion. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 8 2697A, by Senator Klein, an act to amend the 9 Social Services Law. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: This motion, 11 Mr. President, would create a system in 12 New York State of mandated reporting of 13 financial exploitation of the elderly. 14 All of us here certainly have a 15 vested interest in making sure that our senior 16 citizens are able to live out their golden 17 years in comfort and dignity. Unfortunately, 18 year after year, one of the growing crimes in 19 New York State and really around the country 20 is financial exploitation of the elderly. The 21 recent nationwide estimates show that 1 in 25 22 cases of financial exploitation is reported, 23 which translates to at least 5 million 24 financial abuse victims each year. And those 25 are actually the reported cases.

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(518) 371-8910 1 When we look a little further, 2 New York State has the dubious distinction of 3 being one of only six states that have no 4 mandatory requirements for reporting either 5 physical abuse against the elderly or 6 financial abuse. 7 My legislation is rather simple. 8 It would require certain persons in their 9 official capacity to report the suspected 10 financial exploitation of persons 62 years of 11 age or older. It would run the gamut of 12 people in the medical industry -- doctors, 13 nurses -- and would even require people at 14 banking institutions to have mandatory 15 reporting requirements of financial 16 exploitation of the elderly. 17 I think the time is now to pass 18 this legislation. I know Senator Golden has 19 legislation, which I voted for and I know 20 passed this house several years in a row, 21 which would create the crime of financially 22 exploiting the elderly. I think my motion 23 takes it one step further and requires 24 mandatory reporting. 25 I urge my colleagues to vote yes

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(518) 371-8910 1 on this motion. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: All 3 those Senators in favor of the petition out of 4 committee please signify by raising their 5 hands. 6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 7 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 8 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, 9 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, 10 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 11 Schneiderman, Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, and 12 Stachowski. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: The 14 petition is not agreed to. 15 Senator Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 17 there being no further business to come before 18 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until 19 Tuesday, March 21st, at 3:00 p.m. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WINNER: On 21 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 22 Tuesday, March 21, at 3:00 p.m. 23 (Whereupon, at 4:10 p.m., the 24 Senate adjourned.) 25

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(518) 371-8910