Monday, March 27, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 27, 2006 11 3:20 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: With us this 10 afternoon to give the invocation is a 11 gentleman who needs no introduction, the 12 Reverend Peter G. Young, of Blessed Sacrament 13 Church in Bolton Landing, New York. 14 REVEREND YOUNG: As we enjoy a 15 beautiful, sunny, spring day, may we pray for 16 the improving good health of Senator Marchi 17 and for all of the blessings, too, to our 18 members in the Senate and their families. 19 God, by Your love You made a world 20 where we have become neighbors to each other 21 and we are enabled to love one another. Grant 22 that we too may use the Senate to strive 23 toward a way of life in keeping with God's 24 plan. 25 We call upon all of the blessings

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(518) 371-8910 1 of this chamber for our troops that are now 2 serving our country. We ask You this now and 3 forever. Amen. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 5 Journal. 6 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 7 Sunday, March 26, the Senate met pursuant to 8 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 9 March 25, was read and approved. On motion, 10 Senate adjourned. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Without 12 objection, the Journal stands approved as 13 read. 14 Presentation of petitions. 15 Messages from the Assembly. 16 Messages from the Governor. 17 Reports of standing committees. 18 Reports of select committees. 19 Communications and reports from 20 state officers. 21 Motions and resolutions. 22 Senator Nozzolio. 23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 24 President, on behalf of Senator Winner, on 25 page number 23 I offer the following

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendments to Calendar Number 373, Print 2 Number 4813A, and ask that said bill retain 3 its place on Third Reading Calendar. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 5 are received, and the bill will retain its 6 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 7 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 8 President, on behalf of Senator Morahan, on 9 page 28 I offer the following amendments to 10 Calendar Number 443, Print Number 6909A, and 11 ask that said bill retain its place on Third 12 Reading Calendar. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 14 are received, and that bill will retain its 15 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 16 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 17 President, on page 34 I offer the following 18 amendments to Calendar Number 547, Print 19 Number 6905, and ask that said bill retain its 20 place on Third Reading Calendar. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 22 are received, and that bill will retain its 23 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 24 Senator Libous. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 may we please have the reading of the 2 noncontroversial calendar, please. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 4 will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 28, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5404A, an 7 act to amend the Correction Law, in relation 8 to requiring. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 10 section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 12 act shall take effect on the first of January. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 17 passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 432, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 5849A, 20 an act to amend the Parks, Recreation and 21 Historic Preservation Law, in relation to 22 lease or license agreements. 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, 49. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 6 passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 474, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6854, an 9 act to amend the Civil Service Law, in 10 relation to leaves of absence. 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, 50. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 533, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 6948, an 22 act to amend Chapter 642 of the Laws of 2004, 23 constituting Chapter 35A of the consolidated 24 laws relating to the elderly. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last

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(518) 371-8910 1 section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 14. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 535, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 1965A, 11 an act to authorize Bais Mahari Assad to file 12 an application. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 20 Calendar Number 535: Ayes, 49. Nays, 2. 21 Senators Bonacic and Larkin recorded in the 22 negative. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 24 passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 543, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 6291, an 2 act in relation to permitting the Salvation 3 and Deliverance Church, Inc. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 11 the negative on Calendar Number 543 are 12 Senators Bonacic, Larkin, and Rath. 13 Ayes, 48. Nays, 3. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 545, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6634A, an 18 act to amend the County Law, in relation to 19 wireless communications service. 20 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local 21 fiscal impact note at the desk. 22 Read the last 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, 51. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 546, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6762, an 7 act to authorize the Town of Wappinger, County 8 of Dutchess, to convey a permanent easement 9 across. 10 THE PRESIDENT: There is a 11 home-rule message at the desk. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 548, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 415, an 22 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 23 requiring institutions. 24 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Lay it 25 aside.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 2 aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 550, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 840, an 5 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 6 disclosure of gifts. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect on the first of August. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 Senator Libous, that completes the 17 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 18 SENATOR LIBOUS: Madam President, 19 may we now read the controversial calendar, 20 please. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 22 will ring the bell. 23 Read the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 548, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 415, an

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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Education Law. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger. 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 4 I'd like to speak on the bill, Madam 5 President. 6 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed. 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I won't ask 8 Senator Larkin for an explanation, since we've 9 had this debate in previous years, but of 10 course he's welcome to get up whenever he 11 wishes. 12 I'm asking my colleagues again not 13 to pass this law, not because I don't believe 14 that parents have the right to ask their 15 college-age-student children about their 16 grades, but rather that I don't think the 17 State of New York should legislate it, for 18 several reasons. 19 One, the federal FERPA law, Family 20 Educational Right to Privacy Act, explicitly 21 says -- 20 USC, 34CFR, Part 99 -- that a 22 college should not provide this information to 23 a parent unless the student has formally given 24 permission for their grades to be provided to 25 their parents.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And yes, it is true that you could 2 go through a waiver request where parents 3 asked for a release of student information to 4 them, and colleges could ask the students to 5 sign off on that. The fact is that you can 6 already do that. 7 A parent can request copies of the 8 grades from their children. A parent could 9 even say "I won't pay next month's tuition if 10 you don't give me your grades." Or a parent 11 today, under FERPA, could get their son or 12 daughter to sign a consent to release student 13 information. So all of the above can already 14 be done. 15 The danger, I believe, in passing 16 such a law in New York State, in basically 17 implying that the State of New York says 18 colleges should and must release students' 19 grades to parents, is it does violate FERPA. 20 And it potentially puts our colleges and 21 universities in a position where they could 22 lose federal funding for violating the federal 23 FERPA law -- which I know Senator Larkin does 24 not want to have happen, none of us want to 25 have happen.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I understand the frustration of 2 many of my colleagues on both sides of the 3 aisle who have spoken in previous years about 4 their own frustration that their own children 5 don't necessarily want to share with them 6 their college grades, and that knowing your 7 son's or daughter's grades in college can in 8 fact be, I suppose, a warning light for you 9 that they might be having trouble in school. 10 But we've got the reality that when 11 you turn 18, both under federal law and under 12 so many laws of the State of New York, we 13 recognize you're not a minor. We treat you as 14 an adult. You have the right to vote. We 15 send you now to war. And despite the fact 16 that parents want to know this information, I 17 don't think the state should legislate that 18 colleges must give grades to parents. 19 But again, I do believe there is an 20 answer. If you are sending your child to 21 college and you are paying for it, tell them 22 you won't continue to pay if they don't 23 provide you with a copy of their grades. 24 I don't think this needs 25 legislation. I think it's a dangerous road to

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(518) 371-8910 1 go down, particularly in light of federal law. 2 And again, I don't think that the State of 3 New York wants to involve itself at this level 4 in adult child/parent relationships. 5 So I will continue to vote no for 6 this bill, and I urge my colleagues to think 7 this through and join me in voting no. 8 Thank you, Madam President. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other 10 member wish to be heard on this bill? 11 Senator Diaz. 12 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 13 President. On the bill. 14 Somebody just told me that I only 15 have three years here, they were telling me 16 that I'm a rookie. And yes, ladies and 17 gentlemen, I am a rookie. But every day that 18 I come here, I feel more amazed. 19 The Bible says that there are 20 things, in the latest times, there are -- good 21 things will be called bad and bad things will 22 be called good. And there are things that, 23 you know, we don't even have to discuss. A 24 bill like this is something that we don't even 25 have to discuss.

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(518) 371-8910 1 That's a good bill. Giving the 2 authority of parents -- taking away the 3 parent's authority not to know where -- what 4 their children are doing in college when they 5 send them to college is wrong. Parents should 6 know. 7 Ladies and gentlemen, when are we 8 going to stop, when are we going to stop 9 putting money and putting other things before 10 what's right? What is right is that if my 11 children goes to college, I should know, the 12 college should send me -- I'm a pastor, and 13 every Sunday I ask, when the school gives them 14 their grades, every member, even in college, 15 elementary school, or even in Bible Institute, 16 they have to bring me, as the pastor, their 17 grades. And I see their grades, and I discuss 18 with them their grades. And I'm only a 19 pastor. 20 But to tell a parent you are not to 21 meddle, you are not to interfere with your 22 children when they are in college -- you know 23 how many parents send their children to 24 college and they don't know what they're 25 doing? And then when something bad happens,

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(518) 371-8910 1 then we blame the parent. We blame the 2 father, we blame the mother. 3 There are bills that come to this 4 floor that sometimes I feel why are we 5 discussing it, why are we arguing about it. 6 There's nothing to argue about it. Parents 7 should have the right to know, and the college 8 should send the parent the grades of their 9 children. They should know what their 10 children are doing. 11 To take away that right from a 12 parent is wrong. And if the federal 13 government wants to take the money, they can 14 take all the money that they want. But 15 parents are parents no matter what. 16 Thank you, Madam President. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The debate is 18 closed. 19 The Secretary will ring the bell. 20 Read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the first of January 23 next succeeding. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Announce 2 the results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 548 are 5 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Duane, L. Krueger, 6 Serrano, and A. Smith. 7 Those Senators absent from voting 8 pursuant to Rule 9: Senators Fuschillo, 9 LaValle, and Stavisky. 10 Those Senators absent from voting: 11 Senator Parker. 12 Ayes, 50. Nays, 6. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill 14 is passed. 15 Senator Libous, that completes the 16 controversial reading of the calendar. 17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 18 is there any further business before the 19 house? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: No, 21 there is not, Senator. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Would you 23 recognize Senator Valesky, please. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: 25 Certainly, Senator Libous.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Valesky. 2 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. 4 I believe I have a motion at the 5 desk, and I'd like to have that motion called 6 up at this time. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 10 6024A, by Senator Valesky, an act to amend the 11 Executive Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator 13 Valesky. 14 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 This bill, Senate Print 6024A, is 17 about openness and government accountability, 18 allowing people of the State of New York to 19 have access to information -- 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Can we 21 have some order in the chamber, please. 22 Senator Valesky. 23 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you. 24 It's about the people of the State 25 of New York having access to information that

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(518) 371-8910 1 they ought to have. 2 Specifically, this would require 3 the state or any of its political subdivisions 4 to file with the Office of the State 5 Comptroller information regarding the bonding 6 process, information including, at a minimum, 7 the official statement, a copy of the 8 prospectus, the total cost of the bond, and an 9 estimate of the fees paid to bound counsels, 10 underwriters, swap providers, counsels to the 11 underwriters, and so forth. 12 This is very important information 13 that is very, very difficult to find right 14 now, if almost impossible. If we go back to 15 2004, in the Comptroller's report on public 16 authority reform and his report about reining 17 in New York State's secret government, as he 18 had called it, he had found that the 19 17 authorities that have issued at least 20 $100 million in debt have a total of 21 $105 billion in outstanding debt -- 22 $105 billion in outstanding debt. And the 23 public, the people of the State of New York 24 have very little recourse in terms of where 25 this money is and how it's being spent.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So again, very simply, all of this 2 information would be provided, required to be 3 provided within 30 days to the Office of the 4 State Comptroller. He would be required to 5 establish a website where any member of the 6 public could visit and see exactly where that 7 money is going and how that money is being 8 spent. 9 Mr. President, I urge a vote in 10 support of this motion to bring Senate Bill 11 6024A to the floor. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Those in 14 favor of the canvass -- Senator Breslin. No? 15 All right. Those in favor of the canvass 16 raise your hands -- yes, you can go. 17 Those in favor of the canvass, 18 raise your hands. 19 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 20 agreement are Senators Breslin, Connor, 21 Coppola, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, 22 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 23 Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 24 Schneiderman, Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, 25 Stachowski, and Valesky.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The 2 petition is lost. 3 Senator Libous. 4 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 5 is there any further business before the 6 house? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There is 8 none. 9 SENATOR LIBOUS: If there's no 10 further business before the Senate, I move 11 that we stand adjourned until Tuesday, 12 March 28th, at 3:00 p.m. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On 14 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 15 Tuesday, March 28th, at 3:00 p.m. 16 (Whereupon, at 3:44 p.m., the 17 Senate adjourned.) 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910