Wednesday, March 22, 2006

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

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 THE PRESIDENT: In the absence of 10 clergy, may we bow our heads in a moment of 11 silence, please. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 15 Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Tuesday, March 21, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, March 20, 19 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 20 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 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. 11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 12 Senator Johnson, I wish to call up Senate 13 Print 6450B, recalled from the Assembly, which 14 is now at the desk. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 16 will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 492, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6450B, 19 an act making appropriations for the support 20 of government: Public Protection and General 21 Government Budget. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 23 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 24 passed. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary

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(518) 371-8910 1 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 45. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 5 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 6 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 8 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 9 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6451, 10 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 11 the desk. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 493, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6451, an 16 act making appropriations for the support of 17 government: Legislature and Judiciary Budget. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 19 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 20 passed. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 22 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to

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(518) 371-8910 1 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 2 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 4 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 5 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6453B, 6 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 7 the desk. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 9 will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 495, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6453B, 12 an act making appropriations for the support 13 of government: Education, Labor and Family 14 Assistance Budget. 15 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 16 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 17 passed. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 19 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 23 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 24 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam

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(518) 371-8910 1 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 2 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6454B, 3 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 4 the desk. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 6 will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 496, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6454B, 9 an act making appropriations for the support 10 of government: Health and Mental Hygiene 11 Budget. 12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 13 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 14 passed. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 16 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 20 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 21 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 23 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 24 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6455B, 25 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at

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(518) 371-8910 1 the desk. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 3 will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 497, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6455B, 6 an act making appropriations for the support 7 of government: Transportation, Economic 8 Development and Environmental Conservation 9 Budget. 10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 11 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 12 passed. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 14 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 18 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 19 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 20 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 21 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 22 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6456B, 23 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 24 the desk. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary

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(518) 371-8910 1 will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 498, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6456B, 4 an act to amend the General Municipal Law and 5 others. 6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 7 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 8 passed. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 10 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 14 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 15 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 17 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 18 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6457B, 19 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 20 the desk. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 22 will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 499, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6457B, 25 an act to amend the Social Services Law and

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(518) 371-8910 1 others. 2 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 3 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 4 passed. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 6 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 10 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 11 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 13 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 14 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6458B, 15 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 16 the desk. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 18 will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 500, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6458B, 21 an act to amend the Education Law. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 23 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 24 passed. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary

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(518) 371-8910 1 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 5 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 6 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 8 President, on behalf of Senator Johnson, I 9 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6459B, 10 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 11 the desk. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 501, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6459B, 16 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 17 Law. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 19 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 20 passed. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 22 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to

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(518) 371-8910 1 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 2 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 4 President, finally, I wish to call up Senate 5 Print Number 6460B, recalled from the 6 Assembly, which is now at the desk. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 8 will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 502, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6460B, 11 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 13 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 14 passed. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 16 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 20 recommit the bill to the Committee on Finance. 21 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Meier. 24 SENATOR MEIER: Thank you, Madam 25 President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 On behalf of Senator Little, on 2 page number 25 I offer the following 3 amendments to Calendar Number 411, Senate 4 Print 3376C, and ask that said bill retain its 5 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 6 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 7 are received. The bill will retain its place 8 on the Third Reading Calendar. 9 Senator Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 11 I believe there's a substitution at the desk, 12 if we could make it at this time. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, there is. 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: On page 25, 16 Senator Skelos moves to discharge, from the 17 Committee on Local Government, Assembly Bill 18 Number 9853B and substitute it for the 19 identical Senate Bill Number 6829A, Third 20 Reading Calendar 419. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Substitution 22 ordered. 23 Senator Skelos. 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 25 I have two resolutions at the desk, 4127 and

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(518) 371-8910 1 4128. If we could have the titles read, and 2 then I'd like to open them up for sponsorship. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 4 will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 6 Skelos, Legislative Resolution Number 4127, 7 paying tribute to the memory of Master 8 Sergeant Michael Henry Maltz upon the occasion 9 of a memorial bench being dedicated in his 10 honor on the boardwalk in Long Beach, 11 New York. 12 And by Senator Skelos, Legislative 13 Resolution Number 4128, paying tribute to the 14 memory of Specialist Jacob Samuel Fletcher 15 upon the occasion of a memorial bench being 16 dedicated in his honor on the boardwalk in 17 Long Beach, New York. 18 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 19 the resolutions please signify by saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye.") 21 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 THE PRESIDENT: The resolutions 24 are adopted. 25 Senator Skelos.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes. If we 2 could open them up again for cosponsorship. 3 If anybody wishes not to sponsor them, they 4 should notify the desk. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Any member who 6 did not wish to cosponsor the last two 7 resolutions please notify the desk. 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 10 there's a Resolution 4148 at the desk, by 11 Senator Parker. Could we have the title read 12 and move for its immediate adoption. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 14 will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 16 Parker, Legislative Resolution Number 4148, 17 honoring Marietta Small upon the occasion of 18 her retirement. 19 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 20 the resolution please signify by saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 23 (No response.) 24 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 25 adopted.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 3 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 4 of the calendar. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 6 will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 189, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 471A, an 9 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 10 relation to abandoned infants. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 12 section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This 14 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 190, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 488A, an 22 act to amend the Family Court Act and the 23 Domestic Relations Law, in relation to 24 abandoned infants. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last

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(518) 371-8910 1 section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 10. This 3 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 286, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6641, an 11 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 12 contractors. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 16 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 21 passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 293, by Senator Winner, Senate Print -- 24 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 25 the day.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 2 aside for the day. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 414, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 5607, an 5 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 6 relation to third-party notice. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 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 SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 418, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6689A, 18 an act to amend Chapter 712 of the Laws of 19 1968, relating to the incorporation. 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, 53. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 419, substituted earlier today by Member of 6 the Assembly DiNapoli, Assembly Print Number 7 9853B, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 8 Law. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 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, 54. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 472, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 6836, an 20 act to amend the Civil Service Law, in 21 relation to resolution. 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, 54. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 509, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 1137, an 8 act authorizing how certain casino revenue 9 monies from the Seneca Niagara Casino shall be 10 disbursed. 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 Coppola, 18 to explain your vote. 19 SENATOR COPPOLA: Thank you, 20 Madam President. 21 While I appreciate Senator Maziarz 22 putting this bill before us today to release 23 $1 million from the Niagara Casino share of 24 the funding mechanism that has been put in 25 place by this state, I would be remiss if I

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(518) 371-8910 1 didn't mention that there are other entities, 2 such as the City of Niagara Falls, such as the 3 school district, that have to date not 4 received their fair share of the funds '04 and 5 '05. 6 And as we know, in upstate New York 7 there are many entities that are suffering, 8 school districts, there are many cities 9 suffering from the lack of funds. And these 10 casino revenues were meant to support those 11 local entities. 12 So again, while I support the 13 Convention and Tourism Bureau to get their 14 funds, I would again be remiss not to mention 15 that the Governor to date has not released the 16 share to those other entities. And I 17 encourage and urge the Governor to release 18 those funds so that some burden can be lifted 19 from the taxpayers and that the benefits of 20 the casino are realized in the City of Niagara 21 Falls and the surrounding area. 22 Thank you very much, Madam 23 President, and I vote yes. 24 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 25 recorded as voting in the affirmative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will announce the 2 results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 4 1. Senator Padavan recorded in the negative. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 511, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2351, an 9 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering 10 and Breeding Law, in relation to free passes, 11 cards or badges. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini, 19 to explain your vote. 20 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam 21 President. 22 In explaining my vote, I wanted to 23 mention that, in discussion with the sponsor 24 and our chairman, that this bill will in no 25 way obstruct the State Lobbying Commission's

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(518) 371-8910 1 ban on gifts to legislators, so I'll be voting 2 in the affirmative. 3 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so 4 recorded as voting in the affirmative. 5 The Secretary will announce the 6 results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 8 1. Senator Padavan recorded in the negative. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 10 passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 513, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 3346, an 13 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to 14 issuance. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 16 section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays, 22 2. Senators L. Krueger and Padavan recorded 23 in the negative. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 526, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 6531, an 3 act to amend the Retirement and Social 4 Security Law, in relation to benefits payable. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 8 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 531, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 4939, an 16 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 17 relation to third-party notice. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is

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(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 532, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 5804, an 4 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 5 relation to requiring. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 Senator Skelos, that completes the 16 reading of the calendar. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 18 President. 19 Is there any further business at 20 the desk? 21 THE PRESIDENT: No, there isn't, 22 Senator. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: Would you please 24 recognize Senator Klein. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Klein.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 2 I believe there's a motion on the desk. I ask 3 that the reading be waived and I have the 4 opportunity to speak on the said motion. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 6 does need to read the petition, the motion. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 9 5581, by Senator Klein, an act to amend the 10 Public Health Law. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Klein. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: This motion would 13 actually sort of be an amendment to what we're 14 already doing in the state of New York, where 15 presently we can get price information on the 16 Internet for prescription drug prices. 17 I conducted a study last year which 18 showed the tremendous disparities in 19 prescription drug prices, especially when it 20 comes to chain-store pharmacies. What we 21 found was that time and time again, 22 chain-store pharmacies are charging more money 23 for the same exact prescription drug than 24 independent pharmacies -- in some cases, 25 anywhere from 25 to 50 percent more for the

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(518) 371-8910 1 same prescription drug, the same dosage. 2 We also found something that was a 3 lot more frightening, that even within the 4 same chain there's a disparity in prices. In 5 other words, you can go to one Eckerd 6 drugstore or a Duane Reade drugstore and pay a 7 different price according to where the 8 chain-store pharmacy is located. We also 9 found a tremendous disparity between the 10 individual chains. 11 So what in essence we're doing, 12 we're forcing people, mainly senior citizens, 13 to have to shop around. And in many cases 14 they can't do that, because their local 15 pharmacy is the pharmacy that's nearest to 16 them and charging such a ridiculous price. 17 I applaud the effort we made last 18 year in a bipartisan fashion in having this 19 information on the Internet. But we have a 20 problem. Most senior citizens across the 21 state of New York still don't use the 22 Internet. I'm always fond of going into 23 senior centers and talking about this new law, 24 and when I ask them to raise their hand, maybe 25 three or four raise their hand, and I jokingly

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(518) 371-8910 1 tell them, "Well, you better get a 7-year-old 2 to teach you how to use the Internet to be 3 able to get your prescription drug prices." 4 So this legislation is very, very 5 simple. What it would do is, in addition to 6 our Internet system that we presently have, it 7 would create a 1-800 number where senior 8 citizens or anyone can call and access that 9 information. 10 I guarantee you, once we educate 11 our constituency across the state of New York 12 with the Internet, with this new 1-800 number, 13 I guarantee you we're finally going to see the 14 price of prescription drugs plummet throughout 15 the state of New York. 16 So I urge passage of this 17 amendment. 18 THE PRESIDENT: All those 19 Senators in favor of the petition out of 20 committee please signify by raising your hand. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 23 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Gonzalez, Klein, 24 C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 25 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Schneiderman, Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, 2 Stachowski, Stavisky and Valesky. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The petition is 4 not agreed to. 5 Senator Skelos. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 7 there being no further business to come before 8 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until 9 Monday, March 27th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening 10 days being legislative days. 11 THE PRESIDENT: On motion, the 12 Senate now stands adjourned until Monday, 13 March 27th, 3:00 p.m., intervening days being 14 legislative days. 15 (Whereupon, at 11:31 a.m., the 16 Senate adjourned.) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910