Friday, March 31, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 31, 2006 11 10:35 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 Thursday, March 30, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Wednesday, 19 March 29, was read and approved. On motion, 20 Senate adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 22 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 23 as 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 Bruno. 8 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 9 are there any substitutions at the desk? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Yes, 11 there are, Senator. 12 SENATOR BRUNO: I would request 13 that we make them at this time. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: On page 24, 17 Senator Johnson moves to discharge, from the 18 Committee on Finance, Assembly Bill Number 19 9554C and substitute it for the identical 20 Senate Bill Number 6454C, Third Reading 21 Calendar 496. 22 And on page 26, Senator LaValle 23 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 24 Finance, Assembly Bill Number 9908 and 25 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 Number 6696, Third Reading Calendar 522. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 3 Substitutions ordered. 4 Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, I 6 believe that there is a resolution at the desk 7 by Senator Parker. I would ask that the title 8 be read and move for its immediate adoption. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 12 Parker, Legislative Resolution Number 4339, 13 honoring the American Federation of Teachers 14 Black Caucus, New York State Chapter, upon the 15 occasion of hosting its Fourth Annual 16 Scholarship Dinner Dance. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: All in 18 favor of the resolution please signify by 19 saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye.") 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Nay? 22 (No response.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 24 resolution is adopted. 25 Senator Bruno.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 2 can we at this time have the noncontroversial 3 reading of the calendar. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 5 Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 493, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6451A, 8 an act making appropriations for the support 9 of government: Legislature and Judiciary 10 Budget. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 19 Announce the results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 22 bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 495, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6453C -- 25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it

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(518) 371-8910 1 aside. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 3 bill is laid aside. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 496, substituted earlier, Assembly Budget 6 Bill, Assembly Print Number -- 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 8 aside. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 10 bill is laid aside. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 499, Budget Bill, Senate Print 6457C, an act 13 to amend the Social Services Law and others. 14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it 15 aside. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 17 bill is laid aside. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 500, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6458C, 20 an act to amend the Education Law. 21 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 23 bill is laid aside. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 502, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6460C,

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(518) 371-8910 1 an act to amend the Tax Law. 2 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 4 bill is laid aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 522, substituted earlier by Member of the 7 Assembly Greene, Assembly Print Number 9908, 8 an act to amend the Public Health Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 17 Announce the results. 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 44. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 623, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 23 Print Number 7166, an act in relation to 24 providing. 25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it

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(518) 371-8910 1 aside. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read 3 the last section. 4 Did they say lay it aside? Didn't 5 hear it. Sorry. 6 Lay it aside. 7 You have to speak up, fellows. 8 Senator Bruno, that completes the 9 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 11 can we at this time have the controversial 12 reading of the calendar, starting with 13 Calendar Number 502. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 502, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6460C, 18 an act to amend the Tax Law. 19 SENATOR PATERSON: Explanation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 21 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been 22 requested. 23 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. President, 24 this is a bill which enacts the various tax 25 cuts and tax credits that are included in our

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(518) 371-8910 1 budget. And many things people have been 2 asking about -- child credit; married 3 taxpayers, taking away the marriage penalty; 4 STAR rebates; New York City personal income 5 tax credits; National Guard exemptions -- 6 various things which we've all been looking 7 for are in this bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 9 you, Senator. 10 Senator Krueger. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 If the sponsor would please yield. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 15 Senator Johnson, will you yield? 16 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr. 17 President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 19 Senator yields. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 21 If, through you, Mr. President, the 22 sponsor could explain, in the school tax 23 relief STAR rebate program, which is estimated 24 to cost the state of New York $805 million in 25 revenue this year and $960 million in lost

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(518) 371-8910 1 revenue in the following year, what percentage 2 of that revenue loss or tax rebate will go to 3 people in the City of New York. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 5 Senator Johnson. 6 SENATOR JOHNSON: Approximately 7 30 percent. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 9 Approximately 30 percent. 10 SENATOR JOHNSON: Right. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 12 If, through you, Mr. President, the 13 sponsor would continue to yield. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 15 Senator Johnson, will you continue to yield? 16 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 18 Senator yields. 19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 20 And if, through you, Mr. President, 21 the sponsor could estimate for me the total 22 lost revenue in this year for these tax-cut 23 proposals. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 25 Senator Johnson.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, I don't 2 call it lost revenue. I call it some fairness 3 for the taxpayers of this state who are going 4 to save on their tax bills and possibly 5 survive for another year economically. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 7 you, Senator. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm sorry, 9 if through you, Mr. President, the sponsor 10 could still give me an answer -- even if we 11 disagree about whether we're saving the people 12 of New York taxes or we're losing revenue -- 13 what the estimated total change in revenue is 14 from this bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Are 16 you asking the Senator to yield again? 17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm sorry, 18 Mr. President, yes. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 20 Senator Johnson, will you continue to yield? 21 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr. 22 President. 23 For the fiscal year 2006-2007 it is 24 1.66 million -- billion. Billion, million -- 25 a lot of zeros after it.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 1.66 2 billion, I think I heard? 3 SENATOR JOHNSON: That's correct, 4 yes. 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 1.66 6 billion. 7 And if the sponsor, through you, 8 Mr. President, would continue to yield. 9 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 11 One of the new proposed tax 12 reductions is Empire Zone qualified 13 investments, which my projections show that 14 would reduce state revenue by $50 million, not 15 in the next fiscal year but rather in 16 2007-2008. This is based on people who invest 17 over $500 million to qualify for additional 18 credits. 19 Have we done any outyear analysis 20 of how much this would grow in years beyond 21 that first year? So it's $50 million, I 22 believe, reduced state revenue for fiscal year 23 2007-2008, but there's no data I could find on 24 how much this would grow over time. And this 25 is the type of credit that would likely grow

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(518) 371-8910 1 significantly. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 3 you. 4 Senator Johnson. 5 SENATOR JOHNSON: I think your 6 question was about the Empire Zone tax 7 credits. Is that correct? 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes. How 9 much that would be projected to cost the State 10 of New York in lost revenue beyond the first 11 year, which I believe is a $50 million 12 projected loss of revenue. 13 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yeah, that -- 14 $50 million and possibly, altogether, 15 $100 million over the following years. 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Altogether 17 a hundred million dollars is projected. 18 What on the year after that? I'm 19 sorry, Mr. President, if through you -- I'm 20 just trying to clarify. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 22 Senator continues to yield. 23 SENATOR JOHNSON: We cannot see 24 beyond a couple of years right now. 25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I could not

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(518) 371-8910 1 hear the answer, Mr. President. 2 SENATOR JOHNSON: Okay, it's 3 $50 million for 2007-2008. Nothing for the 4 2006-2007 budget. Only 2007-2008, 5 $50 million. A hundred million in the 6 outyears, in the succeeding years. 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: So I 8 believe I'm hearing that it would be projected 9 to be a hundred million annual after the first 10 year? I apologize, I'm having a little 11 trouble hearing. 12 SENATOR JOHNSON: It's not 13 annual. That's the total amount of money we 14 expect to be out in the outyears, a hundred 15 million total. Not annually. That's the 16 consecutive following years. 17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: For 18 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 combined, you're 19 anticipating a hundred million? 20 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, 2006-2007 21 is really -- there's nothing anticipated in 22 2006-2007. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: And 24 $100 million in 2007-2008? 25 SENATOR JOHNSON: No, $50 million

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(518) 371-8910 1 in 2007-2008. And subsequently the total 2 altogether would be $100 million. Period. 3 Finito. 4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 5 Thank you, Mr. President. 6 On the bill, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 8 Senator Krueger, on the bill. 9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Oh, if I 10 could take one second. Thank you. 11 On the bill, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 13 Senator Krueger, on the bill. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 15 There are some reasonable tax cuts 16 and tax credits that the State of New York 17 should all explore making in each and every 18 fiscal year. And there are some sections of 19 this bill that I in fact can and do support, 20 including the exemption of sales and use tax 21 on clothing that we are not resuming on 22 April 1, 2006, which follows through on a 23 commitment we made to the people of New York 24 over the last several years that we would 25 finally end the sales tax at the state level

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(518) 371-8910 1 on clothing and footwear priced at $110. 2 There are continuations of changes 3 here that would affect low-income housing. 4 There's a proposal to eliminate the marriage 5 penalty, which seems like a fair and equitable 6 model for the people of New York State -- why 7 should they continue to live under unequal 8 treatment as to whether they are filing as 9 living together, married, or not married? 10 There are a number of specific 11 community-based tax credits that I think are 12 important and valuable in this bill. I think 13 the elimination of the S corporation 14 differential will mean a great deal to small 15 businesses in the State of New York, who 16 frequently are ignored when it comes to tax 17 credits or tax policy, while large 18 corporations always seem to be at the table 19 getting their advantages, through us in the 20 Legislature, through tax reductions and tax 21 credits. So the elimination of the S 22 corporation differential seems like a long 23 overdue change on behalf of tax fairness to 24 smaller businesses in the state. 25 And yet there are so many tax

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(518) 371-8910 1 credits and rebates and cuts in this bill that 2 I cannot justify to myself, both when we are 3 facing outyear deficits -- and it is my 4 understanding that these tax reductions 5 increase in the outyears -- and when we are 6 facing the situation where we are still 7 expanding our cap to bond out more borrowing 8 by the State of New York. We are borrowing, 9 in this year's budget, for undefinable and 10 undefined economic development and other 11 projects. We continue to borrow even for 12 operating costs, leaving our children and our 13 grandchildren with even greater debt to face. 14 That the concept that we would pass 15 a bill that would expand the STAR rebate 16 program, which has been argued many times on 17 the floor of this Senate as being inequitable 18 and unfair based on where you live in the 19 state of New York, whether or not you are a 20 homeowner or a renter, whether or not you live 21 in a part of the state that taxes through 22 school taxes or a part of the state that taxes 23 through local income taxes. 24 The fact that rather than 25 evaluating where we have gone with Empire Zone

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(518) 371-8910 1 policies and the amount of tax reductions we 2 already give to businesses in Empire Zones -- 3 this bill would expand the category of Empire 4 Zone qualified investments without our having 5 done our homework to ask why do we continue to 6 have open-ended tax credits for businesses who 7 are established in particular areas of the 8 State of New York or who do certain types of 9 work as opposed to other businesses -- that I 10 find it hard to justify voting for this bill. 11 It's going to leave us in a larger 12 deficit structure in the outyears. It's going 13 to require that we borrow more money, 14 increasing our deficit and our debt levels. 15 It's going to leave us with less money to 16 address the fundamental questions of education 17 funding, healthcare funding, public 18 protection, public transportation funding. 19 No one ever wants to vote against a 20 bill that says "I'm giving you tax cuts." And 21 as I've said for the record, some of the 22 changes in this bill I think are good and 23 justified. But overall, I don't believe we 24 can justify this package of tax credits and 25 special-use exemptions. I don't accept the

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(518) 371-8910 1 fact that we're sticking nontax revenue 2 language into this bill and the language bill, 3 including dealing with the Quick Draw lottery 4 game extender. 5 And so I find myself in a position 6 where I feel that I will have to vote no on 7 this legislation and hope my colleagues will 8 consider the dangers faced by going down this 9 road. 10 Thank you, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 12 you, Senator. Senator Krueger will be 13 recorded in the negative. 14 Any other Senator wishing to be 15 heard? 16 Senator Schneiderman. 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Just to 18 sum up, Mr. President. 19 There are great things in this 20 bill. I note that we're eliminating the sales 21 tax on clothing under $110, which is something 22 that was not in the original bill, one-house 23 bill that the Majority passed. Senator 24 Paterson explicitly raised it in the process 25 of negotiations, which is, I think, a tribute

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(518) 371-8910 1 to the openness of the process in some 2 respects. 3 This has the tax credit for film 4 production, which is tremendously important 5 for an industry that's very important to 6 people all over the state of New York. 7 But I must say that the net result 8 of this bill -- which has had an 9 extraordinary, extraordinary impact on 10 politics because it has united the right and 11 the left, every fiscal monitor from the 12 Manhattan Institute on the right, to the 13 Fiscal Policy Institute on the left, in saying 14 this creates a $10 billion deficit over the 15 next two years -- we can't fund our schools, 16 we can't fund our healthcare programs, we 17 can't keep raising spending and cutting taxes. 18 It's just not a balanced budget in the true, 19 meaningful sense of the word. 20 And I therefore feel that I am also 21 constrained to vote no. 22 Thank you, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 24 Senator Schneiderman, thank you. You will be 25 recorded in the negative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Savino. 2 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, Mr. 3 President. 4 Not to disagree with my colleagues 5 that this is not a perfect bill and we are not 6 addressing all the state's needs, there are 7 some really good things in this bill. And for 8 myself and for Senator Marchi, I can point to 9 one thing that is critically important, and 10 that is the elimination of the sales tax on 11 shoes and clothing under $110. 12 For those who represent border 13 communities like Staten Island, where we lose 14 thousands of shoppers every day who go over 15 the bridge to New Jersey and they buy their 16 clothes there and they buy their cigarettes 17 there and they buy their liquor there and they 18 buy their gas there -- our residents, our 19 retailers in Staten Island and South Brooklyn 20 can no longer continue. 21 So this bill I'm going to support 22 for that reason. And also for the Empire 23 State child credit. There are thousands of 24 people in this state whose families will 25 benefit, money will go back into their pockets

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(518) 371-8910 1 so they can use it to improve the lives of 2 their families. So I'm going to support this 3 bill. 4 Thank you. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Any 6 other Senator wishing to be heard? 7 Debate is closed. 8 The Secretary will ring the bell. 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 16 Announce the results. 17 Senator Parker, to explain his 18 vote. 19 SENATOR PARKER: To explain my 20 vote, Mr. President. 21 Actually, I rise, unfortunately, to 22 vote against this revenue bill, for many of 23 the same reasons that Senator Krueger and 24 Senator Schneiderman have outlined. So I'm 25 not going to kind of go through the motions

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(518) 371-8910 1 again about all the issues. 2 But it's certainly important for us 3 to create a real balanced budget. Back-door 4 borrowing is tantamount to, you know, buying 5 groceries on a credit card. And we are really 6 not just hurting ourselves and our state, but 7 we're also hurting our future generations, our 8 young people, our children, our grandchildren. 9 But more than that, we right now 10 hurt all of the children of this state by not 11 having a revenue formula that takes into 12 account the Campaign for Fiscal Equity 13 lawsuit, which the courts have demanded that 14 we take care of by tomorrow. This budget does 15 not in fact do that. 16 And so again, also on those 17 grounds, I vote no. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 19 you, Senator Parker. You will be recorded in 20 the negative. 21 Senator Sabini, to explain his 22 vote. 23 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 There are lots of good things in

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(518) 371-8910 1 this revenue bill, but there's also some 2 things that I don't agree with. But I like to 3 talk about process all the time, because 4 process really dictates the road we travel 5 here in Albany. 6 And we've been here since January 7 and doing almost unanimous calendars on 8 seemingly noncontroversial bills. And yet in 9 this particular piece of legislation, there 10 are about seven or eight really controversial, 11 one could argue good and bad things in this, 12 and yet they're presented to us as a package. 13 It's a package that is fiscally out of whack. 14 And what we should be doing as 15 Legislature is preparing for a day like this 16 by taking up these issues individually, taking 17 up brownfield tax credits, taking up movie 18 production tax credits, taking up the sales 19 tax elimination on clothing and the childcare 20 credit. 21 And I understand that the process 22 here is that you sort of throw everything in 23 and force people to vote this way. And that's 24 good for the two majorities in the two houses. 25 But I don't think it's good for the people of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the State of New York. I think, as Senator 2 Parker said, we are borrowing today to stick 3 the bill on folks tomorrow. I don't think 4 that's particularly right. 5 And while there are many things in 6 this bill I agree with, I think the process is 7 wrong. I'm glad we're getting it done on 8 time, but that doesn't make it any righter. 9 I'm going to be voting no. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 11 you, Senator Sabini. You will be recorded as 12 voting in the negative. 13 Announce the results. 14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 15 the negative on Calendar Number 502 are 16 Senators L. Krueger, Parker, Sabini, and 17 Schneiderman. 18 Absent from voting: Senator 19 Connor. 20 Ayes, 56. Nays, 4. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Bruno. 24 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 25 can we at this time take up Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 496. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 496, substituted earlier today, Assembly 6 Budget Bill, Assembly Print Number 9554C, an 7 act making appropriations for the support of 8 government: Health and Mental Hygiene Budget. 9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Explanation. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 12 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been 13 requested. 14 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is the 15 budget bill for health and mental hygiene. It 16 has, well, just everything you'd like to have 17 in here about mental hygiene. 18 And I think the advocates have been 19 here and they have done their work well. And 20 we've added a lot of new things in here, for 21 children, drug and alcohol programs, creative 22 arts programs, parenting programs, substance 23 abuse programs. I really can't -- even 24 increased the personal needs allowances for 25 people in mental hygiene.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And that's about it. And if you 2 want to read the rest, I have it here. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 4 Senator Schneiderman. 5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 I rise in support of this bill. 8 And it is a tribute to the process we've just 9 gone through that the Legislature has restored 10 the devastating cuts proposed in the Executive 11 Budget to our healthcare system. As we are 12 arguing in the case of education, you don't 13 grew the economy of this state, you don't 14 provide for our future in the long term if 15 people don't have healthcare and people don't 16 have access to a good public education in 17 every part of the state. 18 This bill takes a significant step 19 on the healthcare front. I will be voting in 20 the affirmative. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 23 you, Senator. 24 Any other Senator wishing to be 25 heard?

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Montgomery. 2 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, just 3 briefly, Mr. President. 4 I want to commend the legislative 5 leadership for making sure that we do have 6 funding in this budget. The Legislature did 7 put back funding that was missing from the 8 Governor's budget for school-based health 9 clinics, and that's very good. I'm very happy 10 about that. 11 However, I was hopeful that we 12 would invest in school-based health clinics 13 much to a much larger extent because, as we 14 know, there are many issues facing young 15 people and we in the State of New York need to 16 have an obligation, I think, to invest in 17 making sure they have the best quality of life 18 that we can afford. 19 So I would have hoped for a much 20 larger increase in school-based health clinic 21 funding. But I'm indeed happy that we did not 22 lose and that in fact we did increase that 23 funding. 24 So thank you, I'll be voting yes. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Malcolm Smith. 2 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 3 you, Mr. President. I too also will be 4 supporting this bill. 5 But I do want to underscore what 6 Senator Montgomery said about the school-based 7 healthcare facilities. That is a critical 8 area, especially for many of the schools in 9 the City of New York. I am hopeful that we 10 will next year put more money into that 11 particular area. 12 But in addition, Mr. President, the 13 fact that we have unresolved the area around 14 the inspector general for Medicaid, which is 15 so critical to us. And we're talking about 16 the need for revenue; clearly, there's an 17 area, with Medicaid fraud somewhere 18 approaching $44 million. We need to make sure 19 that issue is settled. I'm hopeful that we 20 will do that in the remainder of our session 21 before June. 22 I will be supporting this bill, but 23 I did want to underscore the concern of 24 Senator Montgomery, which I do agree with in 25 terms of the school-based healthcare

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(518) 371-8910 1 facilities. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 4 Senator Oppenheimer. 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you. 6 We seem to be hopping on Velmanette 7 Montgomery's initiative here. 8 But if we are talking about ways to 9 control our spending for medical needs in our 10 state, we really have to look much, much 11 closer at school-based health clinics. We are 12 putting in money for the Big Four school 13 districts in this bill, but there are so many 14 areas in our state where there is high need 15 and poor medical attention. 16 We are trying to focus now, taking 17 a new direction. We're looking at preventive 18 medicine. What better way than having it 19 right in the school? We talk about the huge 20 incidence now of diabetes, and we talk about 21 the inactivity of our children. What better 22 way than to have the healthcare provided for 23 them -- along with, I would add, very 24 important to me, a nutrition component, which 25 would be taught in every elementary school,

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(518) 371-8910 1 middle school, and high school. Because until 2 our students understand the importance of 3 nutrition, they are not going to get a handle 4 on the growing problem of obesity. 5 So we really have to take a close 6 look at this. Because one of the problems we 7 have in delivering healthcare, particularly to 8 children, is that the parents have to take off 9 time from their jobs to bring the student to 10 whatever doctor is their family doctor. Here, 11 the healthcare is right in the school. All 12 they have to do is walk down the corridor. 13 So I think it's just very 14 economically sound for us to put a much bigger 15 investment in child-based -- in school-based 16 health clinics. 17 Thank you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 19 you, Senator Oppenheimer. 20 Senator Libous. 21 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. I guess I'm explaining my 23 vote -- or on the bill. 24 This is a great budget, especially 25 as it pertains to mental health. And there

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(518) 371-8910 1 are a lot of good things in here. And I want 2 to commend the chairman, Senator Morahan, on 3 his fine work. 4 But there is something missing. 5 And what's missing is the appropriation for a 6 facility to confine pedophiles under a civil 7 commitment law that is still being worked on. 8 And it's unfortunate, because this house had 9 made the commitment to put the appropriation 10 in the bill, but the Assembly refused to 11 because the Assembly refuses to agree on a 12 civil commitment law. 13 We can't go much longer without 14 putting a law on the books. We are putting in 15 jeopardy women and children. This house, 16 under Senator Volker's leadership, Senator 17 Bruno's leadership, has worked very, very hard 18 to try to get the Assembly to come to the 19 table. 20 And I'm hoping, Mr. President, that 21 after the budget deliberations are over, that 22 they will come to their senses and understand 23 the importance of a civil commitment law in 24 this state so that dangerous pedophiles are 25 taken off of our streets and put in a facility

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(518) 371-8910 1 that is secure so that our women and our 2 children are safe. That's what's missing 3 here. 4 So I would hope that once this bill 5 is passed -- and it's a great piece of 6 legislation -- that we will be able to get the 7 Assembly to come to their senses before we 8 adjourn this year and make a commitment on 9 civil commitment. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 11 you, Senator Libous. 12 Senator Ada Smith. 13 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 I too join with my colleague 16 Senator Montgomery in praising the addition to 17 school-based health. That is something that 18 this side of the aisle has advocated for for 19 the last 18 years that I've been here. 20 And I'm pleased to see that in the 21 mental health there are initiatives that will 22 benefit communities such as mine. 23 But I would be neglectful if I did 24 not add that until we have what we once had in 25 the '60s, health care in the housing

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(518) 371-8910 1 developments where many of us represent, we 2 will not have complete healthcare. The 3 healthcare clinics that were in these housing 4 projects were accessible and of a low fee for 5 residents or no fee. And when we can return 6 to that, we will have a much better healthcare 7 system in the State of New York. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 9 you, Senator. 10 Senator Andrews. 11 SENATOR ANDREWS: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 I would like to commend this body 14 for what they have done as relates to 15 healthcare. But like my colleague Senator 16 Montgomery and others, I'd like to point out 17 some inequities in some of the things that we 18 are doing today. 19 First, as stated earlier, 20 school-based healthcare is very important, 21 especially for a district where I come from, 22 where in the last four years two hospitals 23 have closed. And those two hospitals, in 24 closing, they have also eliminated the OB-GYN 25 services related to those hospitals. And to

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(518) 371-8910 1 another hospital, the OB-GYN services have 2 been closed. 3 And with that in mind, it raises a 4 question to me why have we not increased the 5 WIC program. Because as we all know, 6 preventive healthcare is one of the best ways 7 to deal with healthcare. And infant mortality 8 is increasing in my district. And with the 9 closing of the OB-GYN at one hospital and then 10 the closing of the hospital that also had 11 OB-GYN services, that has created a very 12 difficult health disparity in my district. 13 Also with that in mind, it would 14 seem to me that we want to deal with 15 community-based health programs and expand 16 that, because of the fact that we're losing 17 hospital beds and losing hospitals. 18 And in closing, another concern 19 that has been brought up to me by my 20 constituents is the concern of mental health 21 for the homeless and the fact that this state 22 has not increased the mental health housing 23 for the homeless in this state. 24 So even though these things have 25 not been addressed properly, I still will be

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(518) 371-8910 1 voting yes on this bill. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 4 you, Senator. 5 Debate is closed. 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 13 Senator Hannon, to explain his vote. 14 SENATOR HANNON: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 I wanted to address the fact that 17 what the Legislature has done with this health 18 budget I think is monumental. We have 19 addressed serious issues confronting the 20 health of 18 million New Yorkers. 21 We have addressed the stability of 22 the nursing home industry by taking on the 23 rebasing that was initiated in this house last 24 year when we passed a one-house bill. 25 We have addressed the problem

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(518) 371-8910 1 created by the federal government with the 2 pharmaceutical drug program by extending the 3 wraparound for the people who used to get 4 drugs from Medicaid and now are dependent on 5 Medicare, a major initiative that we had to 6 do. 7 We have addressed the hospital 8 industry by not only restoring the cuts but by 9 taking a good look at the emergency room 10 rates, which, under the recent federal action 11 in their Deficit Reduction Act, would have had 12 an adverse effect if we had not acted to 13 increase the rates -- and an adverse effect 14 more so, I would submit, than all of the 15 other, smaller delivery systems such as 16 school-based health clinics. 17 In other words, what we have done 18 is addressed the major needs of New Yorkers. 19 And along the way, we were able to reach 20 agreement with the other house and with 21 consumer advocates and with the hospital 22 industry in regard to how we're going to 23 handle charity care for people who don't have 24 insurance or are not otherwise covered, in 25 terms of notifying them about the fact that

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(518) 371-8910 1 it's available, about the procedures to handle 2 it, about the eligibility, and finally as a 3 reporting system to the state. And we've done 4 that on a uniform basis so that it can be the 5 same wherever a patient might be in the state 6 and know what to ask for. 7 So I want to commend the leadership 8 for this. This has been a very arduous task, 9 and I think it has been a very successful one. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 12 you, Senator. 13 Senator Parker, to explain his 14 vote. 15 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 First, let me congratulate this 18 body on the great work that was done on this 19 part of the budget as relates to health and 20 mental hygiene. 21 But I want add my voice to the 22 chorus led by Senator Montgomery in regards to 23 school-based health clinics. They're of 24 critical importance in my district and across 25 the city, and we really need to take up the

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(518) 371-8910 1 mantle of leadership on this and do more as 2 relates to our young people and healthcare. 3 However, this part of the budget 4 being part of the total part of the budget 5 still does not deal with the issue of the 6 Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. We are 7 still about to be entirely in contempt of a 8 court order that demands us to put more money 9 in in terms of the operational aid and to 10 change the fundamental formula by which school 11 finances are in fact decided in the city. 12 And so, like on previous bills, 13 despite the good work that I think is done by 14 this bill, I'm forced to vote no. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 16 Senator Diaz, to explain your vote. 17 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 As ranking Minority member in 20 Mental Health, Mental Retardation and 21 Developmental Disabilities, I would like to 22 express my appreciation to the chairman of the 23 committee, Senator Morahan, and to all the 24 members of the committee. 25 Because even though, ladies and

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(518) 371-8910 1 gentlemen, we are not getting everything that 2 we asked for and even though we are going to 3 go back to our different communities and there 4 are going to be some groups and some sections 5 that will be maybe dissatisfied because we 6 cannot achieve everything, but the work, the 7 tenacious work, the commitment of all the 8 members in the Mental Health, Mental 9 Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 10 the chairman of the committee, and everybody 11 that worked on it, made me proud to be a 12 member of this committee. 13 So I thank all of you members, 14 again, the chairman and the staff of the 15 committee, because the work done, I repeat, 16 was something very difficult, very deep. And 17 as the ranking Minority member of the 18 committee, I'm proud to have been part of that 19 committee. And again, I thank all of you. 20 And those of you like me that might 21 be going back to our communities to face some 22 groups that will be dissatisfied, hey, I think 23 that we did a good job, I think that we 24 achieved something great in the mental health 25 budget, and the majority of everything that we

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(518) 371-8910 1 wanted to do are there. 2 So, Mr. President, thank you. And 3 I'm voting yes. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 5 you, Senator Diaz. 6 Senator Marcellino. 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 8 Mr. President. I also wish to stand up and 9 say congratulations to the people who did the 10 negotiations for this particular bill, led by 11 Senator Hannon on our side. This was a 12 fantastic budget. 13 In particular, I want to thank for 14 the restoration and the increase in the aid to 15 early diagnosis, prevention and control of 16 diabetes. There's over a million dollars in 17 this particular budget bill for that program. 18 And that is one of the leading causes of 19 health concerns to young people, our children. 20 Diabetes is on the rise. It's one of the 21 fastest-increasing health problems we have in 22 the country. And this will go a long way 23 towards helping us deal with that problem in 24 this state. 25 And I wish to thank and vote aye.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 2 you, Senator. 3 Announce the results. 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays, 5 1. Senator Parker recorded in the negative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 7 bill is passed. 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 would you please call up Calendar Number 499. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 499, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6457C, 15 an act to amend the Social Services Law and 16 others. 17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Explanation. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 20 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been 21 requested. 22 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, 23 Mr. Chairman. This is the Article VII bill 24 which implements the mental health budget 25 which we just passed for the 2006-2007 fiscal

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(518) 371-8910 1 year. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Any 3 other Senator wishing to be heard? 4 Debate is closed. Ring the bells. 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 97. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 12 Senator Parker, to explain his vote. 13 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you very 14 much, Mr. President. 15 This being the companion language 16 bill to the previous bill, again I put forward 17 my objections regarding CFE and the fact that 18 this budget does in fact not deal with the 19 court order, does not in fact provide for 20 high-needs districts anywhere around the 21 state, but particularly in New York City, 22 where the court has ordered to us deal with 23 that. 24 So again, I vote no. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Parker will be recorded in the 2 negative. 3 Announce the results. 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays, 5 1. Senator Parker recorded in the negative. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 7 bill is passed. 8 Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 10 would you please call up Calendar Number 623. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 623, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate 15 Print Number 7166, an act in relation to 16 providing for the administration of certain 17 funds and accounts. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 19 Explanation. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 21 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been 22 requested. 23 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is a bill 24 which is sort of a cleanup bill. It allows 25 for the administration of various funds and

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(518) 371-8910 1 accounts of the state in order to implement 2 the budget. It includes transfers between 3 various funds of the state and bonding 4 authority for projects authorized in the 5 state's five-year capital bill. 6 It essentially is a wrap-up bill of 7 all the other bills that need a little 8 wrapping up. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Any 10 other Senator wishing to be heard? 11 Debate is closed. 12 Are you going to be explaining your 13 vote, Senator? 14 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Yes, I 15 just want to explain my vote, Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 39. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 24 Senator Malcolm Smith, to explain his vote. 25 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Yes,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. I wanted to thank the 2 Legislature in particular. 3 As you know, there's been some 4 great discussion about New York State and this 5 portion of the country potentially being the 6 next portion of the country that has a major 7 disaster when it comes to weather. 8 The area that I represent in 9 Queens, which is the Far Rockaway area, is an 10 area that has a peninsula. That at this point 11 we are taking a lot of time to go over 12 practices and procedures on how actually to 13 move people off the peninsula. 14 I would just ask my colleagues to 15 be mindful of the fact that this is something 16 that we all need to consider. I appreciate 17 the Legislature in their effort in making sure 18 that there are some resources as we do this 19 entire cleanup piece. That piece of 20 $5.7 million is very important to an area in 21 Queens, which is the Rockaway area, as we 22 prepare for potential disasters that may 23 happen in that part of the state. 24 Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator. 2 Senator Parker, to explain his 3 vote. 4 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you very 5 much, Mr. President. 6 Again, I rise to object to even the 7 fiscal plan. The state financial plan in its 8 totality again just refuses to deal with the 9 issue of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity 10 lawsuit. We have not met our legislative 11 obligation. We have not met our fiscal 12 obligation. And we have -- as we stand here 13 and cast these votes for some things that are 14 very, very good, we've failed the 1.1 million 15 schoolchildren today who are in our classrooms 16 in New York City with inadequate resources. 17 So again, I'm forced to vote no. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 19 Senator Parker will be recorded in the 20 negative. 21 Senator Krueger, to explain her 22 vote. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 I too have decided I will vote no

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(518) 371-8910 1 on this bill, because it expands debt caps for 2 the State of New York for various public 3 authorities, and despite the efforts of my 4 conference to urge us to address the problems 5 of overwhelming debt for the State of 6 New York, the continuing growth of debt, and 7 no evaluation done by this Legislature this 8 year to explore any of the proposals that have 9 been made to put limits on debt, to put limits 10 on how much we continue to borrow and for what 11 purposes. 12 I am quite sure there are many 13 items individually in this bill that I can and 14 will support, and of course I will not change 15 the outcome of the vote today. But given the 16 fact that we continue to refuse to deal with 17 the ridiculous level of debt that this state 18 continues to leave to the next generation and 19 the generation after without being prepared to 20 evaluate how we should be changing our 21 approach to borrowing and debt, I find myself 22 unable to vote for a bill that would yet again 23 raise the cap on debt, allowing us to continue 24 our bad practices of more and more borrowing 25 without asking the hard questions.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'll be voting no. Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 4 Senator Krueger will be recorded in the 5 negative. 6 Announce the results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 8 the negative on Calendar Number 623 are 9 Senators L. Krueger, Parker, and Sabini. 10 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 12 bill is passed. 13 Senator Skelos. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 15 would you please call up Calendar Number 500. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 500, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print Number 20 6458C, an act to amend the Education Law. 21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Explanation. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 24 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been 25 requested.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR JOHNSON: Calendar Number 2 500 is the Article VII implementing bill for 3 the appropriations for education. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 5 Senator Oppenheimer. 6 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I'm rising 7 because I think there's an amendment at the 8 desk, and I'd like to waive its reading and 9 explain it. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 11 amendment is waived, and you will be heard on 12 the amendment. 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you. 14 This is a budget amendment that 15 deals with CFE, which is a very important 16 issue to not only myself but some of my 17 colleagues. Indeed, some of us were on the 18 original amicus brief that was filed 13 years 19 ago, so we've been with this for quite a while 20 now. And we went on it because there were 21 decades of underfunding and neglect that left 22 many parts of our education system in a state 23 of crisis back then. 24 And then we had the first decision 25 from the courts five years ago, and then

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(518) 371-8910 1 another decision after that was appealed, and 2 then another decision after that was appealed. 3 And so here we are now with a decision just 4 about a week ago. And our continued failure, 5 in light of the Appellate Division's ruling, 6 really leaves the entire Legislature in 7 contempt of court. 8 And I don't think it's responsible 9 for us to do more appeals and -- 10 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 11 could I ask, please, that there be some order 12 in the chamber. I'm having a difficult time 13 hearing Senator Oppenheimer, and I'd like to 14 hear her. 15 Thank you very much. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Can we 17 have a little order in the chamber, please. 18 Senator Oppenheimer has the floor. 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: So I think 20 it would be irresponsible to keep waiting for 21 more court action. 22 And anyway, the court action 23 ignores the state, it just deals with New York 24 City. And I think our problems are much 25 bigger than just New York City. And I think

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(518) 371-8910 1 we all feel that continued failure is 2 jeopardizing New York's economic future, as 3 more and more students are graduating without 4 the skills they're going to need for our 5 high-tech economy, and they will be more and 6 more dependent on government support rather 7 than building them up so that they can get 8 higher-wage jobs. 9 We know the statistics. We know 10 that 71 percent of our high school students 11 are graduating after five years. That means 12 there's 29 percent that aren't. And in 13 New York City we know the statistic is worse, 14 which is 53 percent of our students are 15 graduating after five years. And that leaves 16 almost half of our students not graduating. 17 So we don't seem to have much 18 choice. We have to make a move now. And I 19 think that the responsible solution applies to 20 the standards of the CFE decision, and we 21 believe it should be for every district, not 22 just New York. 23 We happen to have, it is true, the 24 highest average per-pupil spending in the 25 United States. However, as we know, our

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(518) 371-8910 1 poorest districts get much, much less than our 2 richest districts. And I believe we have the 3 largest gap between our richest and our 4 poorest districts of any state in our country. 5 Maybe we're second or third, but we're right 6 up there near the top. 7 So what we are proposing, we Senate 8 Democrats -- and I should mention, before I 9 get to that, that for many years we have been 10 advocating for a good capital program for 11 New York City. And I want to thank Senator 12 Bruno, and you folks on that side and this 13 side, for coming to a recent solution to that 14 problem. And I just wanted to make sure that 15 that was understood. I do appreciate what you 16 have come to do for something that we really 17 have advocated for for so many years. 18 But we do need a true statewide 19 solution, and we need to provide those funds 20 to the high-needs urban, suburban and rural 21 districts in every corner of this state. And 22 those of us that come from suburban areas know 23 that even though we have many high-wealth 24 districts, school districts, within our 25 counties, we have some really deplorably poor

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(518) 371-8910 1 districts within our county. And that's 2 pretty new advent, within the last decade or 3 two that we've seen this. But these are 4 things that we must address. 5 So we think what is required, we 6 Senate Democrats, is a multiyear plan and a 7 change in the distribution formula to reflect 8 the needs of some of these school districts. 9 So we think that we must revamp the state aid 10 formula; establish a base level of aid per 11 student; adjust for the number of poor 12 students; take into account tax effort; take 13 into account sparsity for some of our upstate, 14 less dense communities; and also take into 15 account regional costs, which particularly hit 16 those of us in suburbia. 17 Then we have to fund this new 18 formula, which is proposed in this amendment, 19 and we have to fund it appropriately. Only 20 then, I think, can we close this gap that I 21 mentioned earlier between our richest and our 22 poorest school districts. 23 So the amendment before us in the 24 current bill -- well, as I have said, you have 25 taken care of very nicely the problems that

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(518) 371-8910 1 the CFE court decision put before us as far as 2 the capital needs. So I'll only look at the 3 need to increase our operating aid by 4 $1.1 billion. 5 And also, because this does not 6 fulfill the CFE lawsuit requirement, because 7 it only adds in New York City, $400 million -- 8 which is a substantial amount of money. But 9 to meet the CFE requirement -- and indeed, it 10 has been said by several groups that just 11 keeping up with inflation and keeping things 12 as it is in New York City would require 13 $1.1 billion this year. And that's from the 14 Educational Conference Board. They say we 15 would need to boost it 1.076 billion just to 16 stay even in New York City. 17 So our proposal -- I'll try and do 18 this briefly -- it would fulfill the CFE case, 19 it would provide a $1.15 billion increase in 20 operating aid for New York City the coming 21 year, it would provide $580 million for the 22 Big Four school districts in operating aid -- 23 actually, our plan goes over four years, but 24 the Big Four school districts we feel are in 25 such dire shape that we have to put it in in

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(518) 371-8910 1 this first year. 2 This dramatically helps increase 3 funding for our high-needs rural, suburban, 4 and small city school districts. And for 5 those of us in districts of higher wealth, 6 we're not going to do the Robin Hood that was 7 so feared by so many. We are putting in this 8 2 percent increase every year for each of 9 these school districts of higher wealth. 10 It places more of the increase in 11 school funding with the state. And that, of 12 course, helps with the property tax burden 13 that we all are -- well, everyone is 14 complaining about, because it is burdensome. 15 And it just more fairly distributes the school 16 funding costs. 17 For example, in the Big Four city 18 school districts, we would cover -- under this 19 proposal, 78 percent of their costs would be 20 covered by the state. In the high-needs urban 21 suburban districts, about 70 percent would be 22 covered by the state. In the high-needs rural 23 districts, we're planning on 74 to 75 percent 24 would be covered by the state. And in 25 New York City, we would be covering less. It

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(518) 371-8910 1 would be 55 percent of the costs, and the city 2 would be providing the rest. 3 So this is what we put before you. 4 We think it is reasonable. And we hope we 5 hear from you soon. 6 Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 8 Senator Stavisky. 9 SENATOR STAVISKY: Mr. President, 10 on the amendment. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: On the 12 amendment. 13 SENATOR STAVISKY: As Senator 14 Oppenheimer indicated, the court case came 15 down about five years ago, but this has been a 16 problem in New York State as far as back as I 17 can remember. We had the famous Fleischman 18 Commission, we had the Levittown court case, 19 we had challenges in the federal courts under 20 the equal protection provisions of the federal 21 Constitution. But it wasn't until a lawsuit 22 was brought in State Supreme Court that we've 23 had the possibility of some relief. 24 What's happening is that the -- the 25 famous word is "the formula." The problem is

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(518) 371-8910 1 very few people understand the formula. 2 There's an excellent story in today's New York 3 Times that discusses this issue of the 4 formula. But there really is no formula. 5 It's a series of calculations that are made 6 when the decision -- when the determination is 7 made as to what monies are going where. In 8 other words, they're making the allocation -- 9 they're making the result fit the allocation. 10 It's like making the crime fit the punishment 11 rather than the reverse. 12 It seems to me that a child in 13 Buffalo should have the same education as a 14 child in Montauk and the child in Plattsburgh 15 as in Staten Island, and that where a child is 16 born should not determine the kind of 17 education, the quality of the education that a 18 child receives. 19 In other words, the allocation of 20 funds should be determined upon -- should be 21 determined by need, not geography. It should 22 be statewide in nature. There should be 23 regional cost factors, because it really does 24 cost more to educate a child on Long Island 25 than it did does in the North Country. And

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(518) 371-8910 1 yet that child is -- both children are 2 entitled to a sound, basic education. And 3 that does not mean an 8th grade education. It 4 means a sound, basic education that prepares 5 the child to enter society. 6 The allocation should be simple, so 7 that more than six people can understand it. 8 The method of distributing education should 9 not have such reliance on the property tax, 10 because some of our suburban communities are 11 being taxed unfairly. The reliance on the 12 property tax, I think, is a serious mistake. 13 I support the amendment. I think 14 that this is an excellent, excellent step 15 because it helps everyone in this chamber, 16 unrelated to political considerations. This 17 is a formula that will help everybody in this 18 chamber, and I urge its adoption. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 21 Senator Breslin. 22 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 I applaud Senator Oppenheimer for 25 bringing this amendment to this body. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendment is not about upstate versus 2 downstate. It's not about rich versus poor. 3 It's not about black versus white. It's about 4 what's right versus what's wrong. 5 As a lawyer, we're taught to obey 6 the Constitution. And 13 years ago a lawsuit 7 which we now refer to as CFE was brought to 8 the courts of the State of New York. Thirteen 9 years later, with a Court of Appeals mandate 10 and direction, this body is still not obeying 11 the law. 12 When that lawsuit was commenced, 13 over half the members of this Senate weren't 14 here. A whole generation of children have 15 been bypassed, a whole generation. Our 16 Constitution requires that our children be 17 given a basic education. The Court of Appeals 18 determined that that did not exist in the City 19 of New York. And it doesn't exist in Buffalo, 20 it doesn't exist in Rochester, it doesn't 21 exist in Syracuse, it doesn't exist in 22 Yonkers, and we turn our back. 23 This amendment changes all of that. 24 It outlines a formula that would allow those 25 cities -- and it goes beyond the Big Four. It

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(518) 371-8910 1 touches cities like Albany, Watervliet, and 2 Cohoes, in my district. It's the equalizer. 3 It's recognizing a wrong and providing a 4 right. 5 But it's the 800-pound gorilla. 6 This body has not addressed it. This 7 Legislature has not addressed it. And unless 8 and until we take our responsibility, change 9 the way we do things for our children, we 10 should hold our heads in shame. 11 This amendment covers it all. I 12 urge every member, both on the Republican side 13 and I know my brothers and sister on the 14 Democratic side are with this -- this finally 15 tackles equality. It finally addresses the 16 whole educational system. Each of us have 17 districts in upstate that are very wealthy, 18 that do more than more than a good job of 19 educating our children. And sometimes when 20 you go into those schools you're embarrassed 21 because you've been to the schools that don't 22 have that opportunity, where those children 23 will not have an opportunity to succeed in 24 life. And again, unless and until we address 25 that need, we hold our heads in shame.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I urge everyone in this body to 2 consider this amendment and vote in the 3 affirmative. 4 Thank you, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 6 you, Senator Breslin. 7 Senator Saland. 8 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: On the 11 amendment? 12 SENATOR SALAND: On the 13 amendment, Mr. President. 14 I certainly listened with great 15 interest to all of those who rose in favor of 16 the amendment. I must confess, between the 17 noise in the chamber and the softness of 18 Senator Oppenheimer's voice, I couldn't quite 19 hear everything she had to say. 20 But the concluding comments by 21 Senator Breslin, he was using the term "body" 22 and "Legislature" interchangeably. I'm a 23 little troubled by that. This house has time 24 and again expressed its willingness, its 25 eagerness to negotiate a statewide high-needs

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(518) 371-8910 1 solution to CFE. We have met with, until most 2 recently, utter indifference in the other 3 house. 4 As recently as this negotiated 5 budget, we attempted to negotiate a statewide 6 operating aid solution for multiple years, and 7 our friends in the Assembly did not want to go 8 there. So either they wanted to keep the 9 issue or they preferred to have the issue, to 10 the extent it would be negotiated to closure, 11 resolved under another governor. But this 12 house was ready, willing, able and eager to 13 negotiate a multiyear solution. 14 CFE's solution is no longer in the 15 courts, if you take the Appellate Division 16 decision. Because what the court did, very 17 clearly, it vacated the referee's report. It 18 says it is clearly in the decision, it says it 19 in that portion of the decision in which it 20 modifies the order of the trial court. So all 21 of those subtexts effectively have been 22 obviated by the Appellate Division decision. 23 That's not to say that they have 24 not said there are things for us to do. But I 25 take great faith and great heart in the fact

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(518) 371-8910 1 that they recognize that we're the ones to do 2 it. They have said this is for the Governor 3 and the Legislature. We have said, since the 4 very get-go, this is for the Governor and the 5 Legislature. 6 So I'm not troubled at all by what 7 the Appellate Division has said. I am, 8 however, troubled by some of the things I 9 hear, that I heard as recently, I believe, as 10 yesterday. I've seen it in some literature 11 that has come out under the CFE/AQE banner. I 12 was a little surprised -- I wasn't surprised 13 by AQE, I was a little surprised by CFE. I 14 sort of expect a certain amount of 15 misinformation from AQE, but I expect CFE to 16 be a little higher standard. 17 There's talk about this being 18 unconstitutional, the formulas are 19 unconstitutional. Now, out of the words of 20 the former executive director of CFE, 21 Mr. Rebell, Mike Rebell, who's also counsel in 22 this case, he has acknowledged, he 23 acknowledged it publicly at the hearings held, 24 the joint hearings, the budget hearings of the 25 Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means

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(518) 371-8910 1 Committee a couple of years ago, he 2 acknowledged that the formulas are not 3 unconstitutional. 4 The Court of Appeals has not said 5 the formulas are unconstitutional. They may 6 have said they're unwieldy, they may have said 7 they're not transparent enough, but clearly 8 they're not unconstitutional. 9 So when Senator Paterson, who I 10 have nothing but regard for -- I've enjoyed 11 the opportunity to debate him on several 12 occasions on one or another issue -- stood up 13 and talked about unconstitutionality either 14 yesterday or the day before, I was rather 15 taken aback, because I just held him to a 16 higher standard. Whether his counsel is 17 giving him bad advice or whether he hadn't 18 read the cases himself, I do not know. 19 The proposal here talks about using 20 a professional judgment model. It talks about 21 combining it with the successful schools 22 model. It doesn't tell us whether they're 23 using an efficiency filter. An efficiency 24 filter is something that the Regents used with 25 their successful school model.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And what the Regents will tell you, 2 and they've said it publicly, it's a matter of 3 record, is that in order to attain a sound, 4 basic education, you don't have to be spending 5 as much money as, for example, districts in 6 Senator Oppenheimer's district. They elect to 7 spend a lot of money. 8 Our system, I would hope people 9 would realize, is a progressive system. The 10 wealthiest decile gets somewhere in the area 11 of about $1,300. The poorest decile gets 12 somewhere in the area of $9,500. About 80 to 13 85 percent of what the state provides is 14 wealth-driven. So it's not like we're being 15 arbitrary in how these monies are apportioned. 16 If in fact you don't have an 17 efficiency filter, the Regents conclude that 18 you will be spending more money than you 19 need -- not me, the Regents -- more money than 20 you need to provide a sound, basic education, 21 and that's why they use the efficiency filter. 22 So I'm not sure -- there's nothing 23 in here that tells me whether there's an 24 efficiency filter. It just says they want to 25 use both the successful schools and the

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(518) 371-8910 1 professional judgment model. And for those of 2 you who don't know, Judge DeGrasse threw out 3 the professional judgment model. He rejected 4 it. He went to a successful schools model. 5 He changed the weighting to get to the same 6 number, but he threw out the professional 7 judgment model. 8 So I'm troubled by the idea that 9 somehow or other this measure is viewed as a 10 panacea. I understand the politics. I still 11 believe that the decisions for these types of 12 matters reside within both houses of this 13 Legislature and with the Executive. 14 We dealt with the capital issue, we 15 dealt with it in a fashion which I believe the 16 city obviously has a great comfort level with. 17 I believe that was a win-win. It provided the 18 money that the mayor sought for his capital 19 plan, and it provided it at less dollars than 20 the mayor was demanding initially from the 21 state. So the state won, the city won. It 22 was negotiated. It wasn't imposed by a court. 23 I truly believe and have said from 24 the very get-go that it's not for the courts 25 to make these type of decisions. There's no

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(518) 371-8910 1 precedent for it. The court doesn't even talk 2 in terms of trying to justify a precedent for 3 it other than what you might find in the 4 referee's report -- which, as I said, has been 5 vacated, not even relied upon to that extent 6 by Judge DeGrasse. 7 But I'm at a loss to figure out how 8 much money we're talking about in this 9 proposal, where the money is going to come 10 from. We are the entity that is responsible 11 for appropriating those dollars. And 12 certainly the idea of a statewide approach is 13 not novel. It is something we all embrace. 14 The question is, as always, what are the 15 details in getting there. 16 So I oppose this amendment. I 17 believe that, number one, in part its 18 procedural underpinnings have been in part 19 gutted by a combination of Judge DeGrasse and 20 the recent Appellate Division decision. I 21 believe that the kinds of dollars that are 22 being suggested -- and I don't know if Senator 23 Oppenheimer suggested amounts, but I've heard 24 from other advocates amounts -- are amounts 25 that are beyond the bounds.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I believe that notwithstanding 2 Senator Oppenheimer's comments -- and I had 3 the opportunity to look -- the formula for 4 sparsity has been tinkered with to basically 5 reduce the formula to make it harder to drive 6 money to rural districts. Notwithstanding the 7 fact that there's talk, I can only point to 8 whatever page this is, Subsection F, which 9 changes "sparsity count" to "sparsity factor." 10 You increase the denominator, you don't change 11 the numerator, the percentage has to be lower. 12 So at this late date, on March 31st 13 at five minutes to 12:00, to go through this 14 exercise, as well-intentioned as some might 15 want it to be, certainly is an exercise in 16 political gamesmanship and one which I'm not 17 going to embrace and will certainly be 18 opposing, Mr. President. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 21 you, Senator. 22 Senator Malcolm Smith, on the 23 amendment. 24 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 25 you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 On an unrelated matter, unfortunate 2 information. As I sat here, I received a 3 message that Senator Byron Brown's mother 4 passed away last night. And I would hope that 5 my colleagues would take the time after this 6 session to reach out to Senator Brown, extend 7 your condolences to him, as obviously this is 8 a very sensitive time for him. 9 With regard to the amendment that 10 Senator Oppenheimer has put forward and has 11 labored a great deal on this matter -- and I 12 do note that Senator Oppenheimer is from 13 Westchester County, which is outside of 14 New York City, and her passion and interest on 15 this matter is clear by what she represented a 16 moment ago -- I would ask that my colleagues 17 understand that this whole CFE decision goes 18 to more than just the underpinnings of 19 procedures and court rulings. It goes to 20 where we see ourselves as a society, how we 21 see what we like to consider as the "new 22 New York State" position around how do we 23 treat the children of this state. 24 The new New York State needs to be 25 sensitive to the fact that New York State by

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(518) 371-8910 1 itself cannot stand alone. We need to 2 understand the new New York State represents a 3 group of individuals who are no longer 4 competing just with New York State children. 5 I've had the pleasure, as well as 6 some of my other colleagues, of traveling 7 around this world -- China, India -- over the 8 last several years. And I will tell you, 9 Mr. President, that the new New York State has 10 to begin to think differently on how we go 11 about educating our children. Senator Golden 12 talks about it all the time when he talks 13 about charter schools and tax credits. And 14 that is, we've got to be able to make sure 15 that our children have the mental capacity to 16 compete, not just with each other here, but to 17 understand that as they sit in the classroom 18 there is someone from Asia that sits there, 19 there is someone from India, there is someone 20 from China, there is someone from Europe. 21 And if we don't position our 22 children in a place where they have the 23 ability to think and to grasp ideas and to 24 come up with concepts that will allow them to 25 contribute not only to their own well-being,

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(518) 371-8910 1 but to the well-being of this state -- the new 2 New York State has to be able to make a 3 commitment. 4 And I understand this -- the 5 billion dollars that we offered to capital 6 improvement. That's a good thing. There's no 7 question about that. But there is no question 8 while you build it, they're going to come. 9 And if you build it and there is no place -- 10 or I should say, the children that come there 11 are not prepared to undertake the teachings 12 that they're going to be given with the 13 resources that we need to give them, which is 14 what Senator Oppenheimer is talking about in 15 her amendment, we're going to be in a very 16 troubled situation. 17 There is no question there is a 18 direct link between the children of this 19 state, how they're educated, and the criminal 20 justice system in terms of where our children 21 end up going. We can no longer afford to pay 22 for the children in the criminal justice 23 system because the cost, as all the actuaries 24 have determined, as well as all the 25 educational economists, does not balance out.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So we have to make sure, 2 Mr. President, that in this new New York State 3 that we prepare our children in such a way 4 that their minds can give back to society what 5 we give to them in the way of teaching. We've 6 got to make sure that they are educated. 7 There's no question about it. It's just that 8 simple. 9 Our children today, if not 10 educated, will not make sure that as we stand 11 in these halls that they are adequately 12 trained to stand here behind us. We are not 13 going to be here that long. We may have five, 14 10, maybe 12 years at the most, out of all of 15 us. But if we do not begin to put aside what 16 some might consider party differences -- and I 17 know from time to time people will say, well, 18 I'm Democrat, I'm Republican. 19 But as Senator Breslin says, this 20 should not be a party matter. This shouldn't 21 be a matter of what party you're from. It 22 should be a matter of I have a son, I have a 23 daughter, you have a son, you have a daughter. 24 Whether they are downstate or upstate, at some 25 point in time they are going to be sitting

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(518) 371-8910 1 across from or debating with or negotiating 2 with some other child around this state that 3 is either in a position of management or in 4 the position of employee or in the position of 5 scientist, doctor, or perhaps even a teacher. 6 But if we do not prepare them, if 7 we do not prepare them in such a way that they 8 can contribute, those debates, those 9 discussions will not be going on with children 10 from this state, they will be going on with 11 individuals around the world, on the other 12 side of the planet. Which means that we as a 13 state will not have done our job. 14 So, Mr. President, all I'm saying 15 is that this amendment that Senator 16 Oppenheimer has introduced is a heartfelt one, 17 is one that took time. She has worked with 18 staff members, she has worked with people that 19 crunch numbers, she has talked to people 20 around the state. This is not an emotional 21 submission of an amendment. This is an 22 amendment that goes to the actual heart of 23 what needs to happen in this state if we 24 consider ourselves to be legislators that are 25 concerned about the well-being of this

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(518) 371-8910 1 state -- and I know we are. 2 There is no doubt in my mind that 3 there is no one in these chambers that does 4 not have the best interests of children. I 5 can look at Senator Bonacic, I know he has 6 that interest. I can look at Senator Marchi, 7 I know he has that interest. I look at 8 Senator Diane Savino, I know she has that 9 interest. Senator Diaz, I know he has that 10 interest. Senator Schneiderman, I know he has 11 that interest. Senator Spano, I know he has 12 that interest. We all share that common 13 interest. 14 What needs to happen at this point 15 is we all need to share the one goal that is 16 important to this body. And that is that we 17 make sure that our children are adequately 18 educated. This is a down payment on the 19 operating side, no question about it -- I mean 20 on the capital side, no question about it. 21 But we now need to take that next step. 22 Everything -- and everyone knows 23 when it comes to business or anything else, 24 you have phases by which you operate. Phase 25 one is this capital money that we're doing. A

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(518) 371-8910 1 great amount of money, wonderful that you give 2 New York City, through the transitional 3 finance authority, the ability to float bonds 4 in the future to do that construction. 5 But now with the facilities, and 6 now that there will be rehab, what are we 7 going to do about what we put inside there? 8 We can't put people who do not have the 9 ability and do not have the resources to be 10 educated. 11 So, Mr. President, I ask my 12 colleagues, I all those that are listening to 13 the sound of my voice to take the time, take 14 the moment, think this through. This is a 15 good time for us, there's no question. We're 16 doing a lot in the state budget. But Senator 17 Oppenheimer's amendment is one that requires 18 the support of this full body. There should 19 be no question about her desires, her 20 interests, the reason and the purpose behind 21 her amendment. And we should be proud to 22 endorse that amendment and vote on it 23 unanimously. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 25 you, Senator.

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(518) 371-8910 1 It's the rules of the house, just 2 to point them out -- I'm going to recognize 3 Senator Parker to address the amendment. 4 However, there's a half-hour allowed on each 5 side of the aisle for this, and we have about 6 five minutes left for you, Senator Parker. 7 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you very 8 much. I'll be brief. 9 Four score and seven years ago -- 10 (Laughter.) 11 SENATOR PARKER: No, I really 12 just want to stand up to add my voice to those 13 who are supporting this amendment. This 14 amendment is really, really critical. 15 And one of the lessons that we 16 learned here in this body today I want people 17 to pay attention to, because -- and Senator 18 Saland gave us the opportunity to learn it. 19 When you don't have the answer to the 20 problems, talk about the complexities of the 21 issue. 22 So let me make it real basic. The 23 children of the city of New York right this 24 moment receive $2,000 less per child compared 25 to every other child in the state of New York.

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(518) 371-8910 1 There is not one member outside of New York 2 City who would allow that for one day, let 3 alone for twenty years. This has been 4 something that's been going on for far too 5 long. Five years ago the court decided this. 6 We spent the entire beginning of the year 7 talking about protecting children, talking 8 about, you know, the crimes and how do we 9 protect children from sexual predators. And 10 we all said yes, we need to do that. That was 11 important, and this house overwhelmingly 12 passed those bills. 13 Now, when you get a real chance to 14 do something for the children of New York 15 State by simply -- you know, nothing 16 complicated. Put money into it, money that 17 everyone has agreed the city needs and 18 deserves. What everybody has also said is 19 look, we recognize that New York City is not 20 the only high-needs district in this state. 21 And so, yes, we're not only willing 22 to help New York City, but let's help 23 Brookhaven and Mount Vernon. And let's help 24 Yonkers, let's help Albany, Syracuse, 25 Binghamton, Buffalo, and Rochester. Let's put

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(518) 371-8910 1 money in all -- and also all the rural 2 districts that I've not mentioned. Let's put 3 money into all the districts around the state 4 that need the money so that we can make sure 5 that people in this state have the ability to 6 get what they most need, which is a full-time 7 job at a living wage with benefits. Because 8 education is the single most important factor 9 in economic viability and the life of this 10 state and the people in it. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 13 you, Senator Parker. 14 Senator Sabini, on the amendment. 15 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. On the amendment. 17 I heard an earlier speaker say at 18 this late date we shouldn't be doing this. 19 This lawsuit, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity, 20 was filed 13 years ago. The decision was 21 rendered four years ago. So we are late. 22 We're late in complying with it. 23 The economic future of the city of 24 New York and for other underperforming school 25 districts is at stake. I come from a district

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(518) 371-8910 1 where people come from all of the world, from 2 Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines. And our rate 3 of dropout amongst English-language learners 4 is now at 50 percent. That will continue to 5 grow. 6 Senator Parker said it very 7 correctly, there is a lack of funding to the 8 high-needs school districts, no matter how you 9 change it. It was said earlier that the court 10 decision says that it's up to us. There are 11 lawyers on both sides that agree with that or 12 disagree with that. If it is up to us, we 13 have to do the right thing. And the right 14 thing is to prioritize the high-needs 15 districts. 16 Senator Oppenheimer's amendment has 17 school runs that many of us got before we got 18 the school runs of the actual bill that detail 19 where the dollars will go. What we're doing 20 here by the original proposal that this 21 amendment seeks to correct is playing 22 political stall-ball. We have a governor 23 who's leaving, we have an election coming up. 24 The City of New York is declaring victory, and 25 that's good. We got something out of it by

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(518) 371-8910 1 getting more capital aid. But I'm sure 2 they'll be back next year to get more 3 operating aid to put teachers and desks and 4 books into the classrooms we're going to 5 construct. 6 But the sad thing is we're 7 abrogating our responsibility to the children 8 moving through the system. They don't come 9 back. Or if they do come back, they come back 10 on programs that require more job training, 11 public assistance, and the things we don't 12 like to pay for. 13 So, Mr. President, I'm proud to 14 support Senator Oppenheimer's amendment and 15 plan to vote in the affirmative. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 17 you, Senator Sabini. 18 Senator Schneiderman. 19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 We've reached the time limit, I 22 believe, in speaking on the amendment. 23 However, we will be speaking about the 24 underlying bill. And I hope that any of my 25 colleagues who need to call into contrast the

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(518) 371-8910 1 solution offered by Senator Oppenheimer's plan 2 and her amendment and the lack of a solution 3 offered by the underlying bill will speak at 4 that time. 5 I join my colleagues in strongly 6 urging everyone on both sides of the aisle to 7 vote for this amendment. The details are 8 there. The money is spelled out in more 9 detail than we usually get in education bills 10 that we vote on here. And the problem, as my 11 colleagues have articulated, is undisputable. 12 So I'm in strong support of this 13 amendment, as are my colleagues here. And we 14 hope that we will get some support from the 15 other side of the aisle. The Oppenheimer plan 16 is the best long-term solution that has come 17 to the floor in this house this year, and I 18 believe in many years. 19 And the rest of you who have more 20 to say, we can be speaking on the bill and 21 raise many of the same issues. I realize our 22 time is up. I urge everyone to vote yes, 23 Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 25 you, Senator Schneiderman.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Saland, on the amendment. 2 SENATOR SALAND: Just briefly to 3 close, Mr. President. 4 I would merely note that this 5 measure was not part of the Assembly budget 6 package, wasn't part of their one-house 7 package, has never seen the floor, as best as 8 I can determine, in the Assembly. 9 But I'm particularly troubled by a 10 comment, if I heard it correctly, that Senator 11 Parker made. And I understand his passion. 12 But if in fact I heard him correctly, he said 13 the City of New York gets $2,000 less than any 14 other district in the state. That is just a 15 total misstatement. 16 New York City is an average-wealth 17 district. And what that would mean would be 18 about half the districts in the state get 19 more, and about half the districts in the 20 state get less. 21 It's one thing for passion, it's 22 another thing maybe for my hearing. I 23 apologize, Mr. President, if that's what you 24 were alluding to. 25 Thank you, sir.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 2 you, Senator. 3 Senator Padavan, on the amendment. 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. I'm going to be very, very 6 brief. 7 I could ask Senator Oppenheimer if 8 this amendment is being introduced in the 9 Assembly, but I know the answer. No, it's 10 not. This is a one-house effort. It's a 11 political vehicle to raise various, various 12 points relevant to this issue. And that's 13 fine if you want to do that. I find it 14 somewhat distasteful using education as a 15 political vehicle, using our kids to advance 16 political agendas. 17 But let's get to some of the facts 18 that I think are important. If someone were 19 to drop into this chamber and not know 20 anything about anything we're talking to, they 21 would come away with somewhat of a distorted 22 view as to what has been going on in the City 23 of New York relevant to education. 24 Now, I asked the Department of 25 Education to provide me with specific numbers

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(518) 371-8910 1 which I think are important for us to 2 understand. If you go back to 2001, total 3 state funds were a little over $5.5 billion. 4 What are they in this budget? Over 5 $6.6 billion. A significant increase over 6 that period of time. 7 The total amount of money being 8 spent in the City of New York as a result of 9 our additions and the additions that the city 10 has provided -- basically because of the 11 maintenance of effort provision we mandated 12 upon them -- is over $17 billion. Now, if you 13 divide that by 1.1 million children, you do 14 the arithmetic. Some of these things that 15 I've heard said over here just don't ring true 16 at all. 17 Now, are we spending enough? Well, 18 that's a good question. And I guess various 19 educators and individuals and taxpayers and 20 experts would come up with different 21 conclusions. I know in my own district I have 22 schools that are performing at or above grade 23 level, 90-some-odd percent of the kids in a 24 given school. And yet in that same senatorial 25 district, I have other schools that are doing

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(518) 371-8910 1 very poorly. Yet they're getting the same 2 amount of money. The teachers are being paid 3 the same. 4 What's the difference? Parents. 5 Parents who get involved. So money isn't the 6 entire solution. But yet we recognize the 7 need for money to make up for that failure in 8 certain households for parental involvement 9 and all of those things that make a difference 10 in a child's life, particularly as it relates 11 to how they fare in school. 12 If you look at the total amount of 13 state aid we're providing as a percentage of 14 the total going into the City of New York, 15 it's 39.3 percent. 39.3 percent of the total 16 state aid package is going into the City of 17 New York. Operating. I'm not including 18 capital, totally aside. 19 What is the percentage of our pupil 20 population? It's 37.1 percent. So now where 21 are we? We are providing a percentage of 22 state aid in excess, by approximately 23 2 percent, of the number of pupils in the City 24 of New York. 25 Now, how did that happen? Because

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(518) 371-8910 1 it wasn't so when you go back to 1993, when 2 the CFE case was first initiated. We were not 3 getting an appropriate share. Everyone 4 acknowledges that fact. But over that decade 5 or more, slowly but surely, we have been 6 increasing state aid to our city and we have 7 been eliminating, with surety and with purpose 8 and with commitment, that disparity of numbers 9 which shortchanged our kids. 10 But when you're dealing with this 11 budget, you can't say that anymore. It's just 12 not factually correct. And if you don't trust 13 what I'm telling you, you go to the Department 14 of Education or the chancellor's office and 15 say "give me the numbers." I've got it right 16 here. 17 Now, again I repeat the rhetorical 18 question: Is it enough? And in many, many 19 parts of our city, it's still not enough. And 20 how we get to that optimum level of every 21 disadvantaged child, socioeconomic 22 environments which disparage your ability to 23 get a good education? How do we deal with all 24 of those issues? I'm not smart enough to 25 answer that question. Maybe some of you are.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But I do know that this budget and 2 what this Finance Committee did, and what 3 Senator Saland did, along with Cathy Nolan in 4 the Assembly -- which you sat at, Senator 5 Oppenheimer, and I don't recall you not voting 6 for our plan, the one we all came together and 7 advanced. Because it's a good plan, and it 8 goes a long way to getting where we want to go 9 to be. 10 So let's stop playing politics with 11 this issue, my colleagues. Let's get down to 12 the basic issue. We've got a good education 13 budget here. We're doing a lot of good things 14 in all kinds of areas, from special pre-K to 15 some of the things you've already noted in a 16 positive vein. And let's move on and get this 17 thing done. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 19 you, Senator Padavan. 20 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Can I just 21 have one minute? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 23 Senator, you can speak on the bill. 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Okay. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: On the

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendment, those Senators in agreement please 2 signify by raising your hands. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 agreement are Senator Andrews, Breslin, 5 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 6 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 7 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 8 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 9 Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, 10 Stavisky and Valesky. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 12 amendment is not agreed to. 13 Senator Oppenheimer, on the bill. 14 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I just 15 wanted to respond to a couple of things that 16 were said. 17 For me, this is really not a 18 political issue. For me, I have been working 19 with Mike Rebell for 13 years, and -- 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 21 President, if I could ask Senator Oppenheimer 22 to speak up. I'm unable to hear her. 23 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: My problem 24 is I have a deep voice and it doesn't carry. 25 But I will try and make it carry. If I may.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I was just saying that for me it 2 isn't a political issue, because I have been 3 working with Mike Rebell for 13 years, having 4 met with him, having attended meetings with 5 him and opened conferences. 6 And it is something that I do feel 7 strongly about. And I don't feel that anybody 8 should be against a transparent formula that 9 everybody could understand. None of us 10 understand the current formula. And it has, 11 you know, specific things in it so that we 12 know exactly how the distribution is going to 13 be done, and it is going to be done according 14 to need. I think we all have to agree with 15 that. And we should all agree also that we 16 need a multiyear plan. 17 It just seems like it's very 18 logical and very simple. And in my opinion, 19 yes, it is substantial money. But my feeling 20 has always been that you're either paying now 21 or you're paying later. So many of our young 22 people in prison have not graduated, the vast 23 majority have not graduated from high school. 24 And I think if they had graduated, they might 25 have been able to find employment and they

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(518) 371-8910 1 might not be in prison and they might not have 2 taken those drugs. I'm willing to take that 3 gamble. 4 And I think with the education, 5 that we could certainly be the Empire State in 6 a global economy. And I'm not sure we will be 7 without this kind of a measure. 8 Thank you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 10 you, Senator. 11 Senator LaValle, on the bill. 12 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 I'm going to speak about two 15 issues, one dealing with education and in the 16 second part I want to talk about higher 17 education. 18 I want to thank Senator Saland for 19 his presenting to this body an accurate 20 reading of the appellate decision and what it 21 does. Sometimes we've been blinded by 22 headlines and stories that, when you compare 23 the two, have nothing to do with the truth. 24 I want to thank Senator Padavan for 25 accurately talking about the numbers and what

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(518) 371-8910 1 the numbers do. Because, once again, those 2 are accurate, the numbers that he has been 3 given show an accurate portrayal of what the 4 city is getting and what the students are 5 receiving. 6 I think that every member, all 62 7 members, regardless of where they live, 8 education is one of the most important issues 9 to them. The investments that we make in the 10 education part of the budget are really second 11 to none, other than maybe healthcare. It's 12 all about investments in our future, 13 investments in our children. We should not be 14 caught up with the politicization of the 15 formula or what is there or not there. 16 This body has always been called, 17 and I believe, a deliberative body. And we 18 should be dealing with the facts, not with 19 mirage. Now, the state aid formulas are very, 20 very complex. They have changed over time. 21 Years ago when I was a staff member, in 1974, 22 Governor Malcolm Wilson at that time asked 23 that all of the categorical aid formulas that 24 had been part of the Diefendorf formula be 25 stripped, and we did that. But there was a

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(518) 371-8910 1 chairman in the Assembly who over a period of 2 time, Assemblyman Jose Serrano, who very 3 carefully and surgically built categorical aid 4 formulas so that the city would benefit at 5 that particular point in time. 6 We are now in a different point in 7 time, and those people who are the 8 afficionados of state aid formulas now are 9 talking about foundation formulas. And quite 10 honestly, at this point in time foundation 11 formula probably is more relevant than the 12 hodgepodge of what we have. 13 But when we talk about multiyear 14 formulas, things change. Every single year a 15 school district that was growing no longer has 16 growth aid. The equalization rates change in 17 a particular area, and it hurts certain school 18 districts. 19 So the state aid formula every 20 year, with a small P, there are politics of 21 the state aid formula. And what it -- what 22 drives that are all the members who are trying 23 to protect and trying to drive the most aid to 24 their school districts. 25 So I congratulate Senator Saland

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(518) 371-8910 1 and all the staff and Assemblywoman Nolan for 2 really putting together, in a very difficult 3 environment, a state aid formula that I think 4 does about as much good as a formula can do in 5 a very diverse state. 6 But what is always upsetting to me 7 is that -- when we drift from the facts. And 8 when we drift from the facts, we begin to 9 split ourselves apart in a state, and that is 10 not a healthy thing. But because where we can 11 come together and be united, where we are, 12 that every child in this state needs to have a 13 quality education regardless of where they 14 live. And that should be our focus, and not 15 playing to building headlines that do us no 16 good. 17 On the second issue of higher 18 education, I am very, very proud of what we 19 did, and the hard work that the staff, the 20 higher ed staff did. The higher ed budget is 21 probably the best that it has been in several 22 decades. 23 And one of the things that we 24 protected, the SUNY and CUNY operating 25 budgets. We've ensured that the independent

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(518) 371-8910 1 sector has ample funds. We've increased 2 monies to our community colleges. And we 3 created something I think is very special, a 4 part-time aid program that will really help 5 single parents and hardworking individuals who 6 want to lift themselves up beyond where they 7 are today. 8 And I think, when we look at this 9 higher ed budget, that part-time aid program, 10 across all three sectors -- SUNY, CUNY and the 11 independent sector -- will really be one of 12 the highlights that we should be very, very 13 proud of. We made reforms, we put in 14 accountability measures. So I think it's a 15 very, very good program. 16 One of the things that we put in is 17 some oversight on the community colleges. And 18 I'd just very, very briefly say that the 19 community colleges are the gateway to higher 20 education for so many individuals. And when I 21 look at the aid that we give, increases in 22 base aid, each and every year the tuitions 23 keep going up. And so there are some 24 oversight provisions in language here that I 25 hope will get our community colleges to

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(518) 371-8910 1 continue to provide the depth and breadth of 2 courses that students in our local communities 3 need but, at the same time, be ever so 4 vigilant of the increases in the tuition that 5 the students pay. 6 So I will be voting in the 7 affirmative on this bill, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 9 you, Senator. 10 Senator Saland. 11 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Mr. President, I merely rise in 14 support of this measure. It represents the 15 culminations of some very trying and 16 challenging negotiations. Several people have 17 alluded to the fact that this was worked out 18 closely, obviously, with the Assembly, with 19 the chair of the Assembly committee, Cathy 20 Nolan. 21 It is a product which represents 22 the most -- represents the largest increase in 23 state aid to education in the history of this 24 state. And at the same time, among the 25 below-the-line items, we have a significant

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(518) 371-8910 1 increase, which was an initiative of this 2 house, in library aid. Again, something which 3 has not occurred in quite some time. 4 So I just want to say that there's 5 little or no reason -- in fact, virtually no 6 reason whatsoever -- for anybody to be voting 7 against this particular measure. At least to 8 the extent that they might have concerns about 9 the education portion, $1.1 billion is a 10 significant amount of money in anybody's 11 league and certainly is going to be critically 12 important to children regardless of whether 13 they be in New York City, in Poughkeepsie, in 14 Jamestown or Plattsburgh. It's essential that 15 we continue our commitment to children. 16 And at the same time, these 17 additional dollars certainly going are to go a 18 considerable distance to mitigate the 19 otherwise painful property-tax increases that 20 in the absence of this might be imposed upon 21 people. 22 And lastly and most importantly, 23 this budget is going to be on time and it's 24 going to enable all of those independent 25 school districts, every one of those school

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(518) 371-8910 1 boards, to be able to contemplate what they're 2 getting, know what they're getting in state 3 aid and appropriately plan their budgeting. 4 And I would hasten to add in that 5 vein, had the amendment been adopted, we would 6 have had a serious problem. Because under our 7 rules -- and I would merely call attention to 8 page 24 of our rules -- you would see that 9 were an amendment to be adopted were it not 10 offered by a sponsor, it would have to go back 11 to committee for ten days. 12 So effectively, by pursuing the 13 amendment, seeking to pass the amendment, I 14 would assume you were asking that we delay the 15 timely adoption of the budget. Which I would 16 hope nobody really would have wanted to see 17 accomplished. 18 Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 20 you, Senator. 21 Senator Bonacic. 22 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 Let me started by thanking Senator 25 Bruno for his leadership on the education

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(518) 371-8910 1 budget, but also two of our colleagues in 2 particular who carried the heavy burden. 3 First, Senator LaValle, on the 4 higher education budget. And we thank him for 5 his work on that and for the product that he's 6 delivered. And secondly, certainly Senator 7 Saland, who, you know, worked in the trenches 8 many long hours in an exemplary fashion. And 9 we thank him for his hard work for the product 10 that he produced. 11 I would like to also start with 12 what Senator Paterson said when this session 13 first began. He was kind enough to point to 14 my legislation, in his opening remarks of the 15 session, where we talked about finding an 16 alternate of funding education. And we 17 believe we have to be more reliant on the 18 income tax, a means-based tax, and less 19 reliant or not reliant at all on the property 20 tax, which is a housing tax. 21 In many parts of the state, the 22 school property tax is the difference between 23 homeownership or renting. In Orange and 24 Ulster Counties, people who've bought their 25 homes years ago, maybe for $185,000, now it's

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(518) 371-8910 1 much more expensive, they're paying $8,000 or 2 more in school property tax. Over the course 3 of a mortgage, not only will be you paying the 4 principal twice with the interest, but 5 probably three times because of the property 6 tax. 7 This budget continues the state 8 commitment to public education. And it 9 provides some relief for property owners. But 10 in my view, in a manner which fundamentally 11 changes the way we have to finance education, 12 we didn't address it. 13 What is a good thing, there will be 14 a commission formed that will look at the very 15 thing that some of us have been talking about, 16 and they will report back by September or 17 October that maybe we should be thinking of a 18 different way for the future. 19 Now, education is always a 20 contentious issue. We all care about kids; 21 nobody is going to dispute that. There is not 22 a single one senator here who doesn't care 23 about his kids in his district. And maybe we 24 care more about the kids in our district who 25 we represent because we're their voice. But

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(518) 371-8910 1 when we're a senator, we have to care for all 2 of the kids. That's who we are, a state 3 legislative body. 4 There was a move initially by 5 Assembly Bill 100, which by the way doesn't 6 exist anymore, which would have driven 7 92 percent of the capital aid to the city. I 8 have nothing against the city, nothing against 9 the kids in New York City. Born there, went 10 to school there, went to law school there, 11 grew up there, so I care about the city and 12 those children too. 13 But as a father and grandfather, I 14 support all the students and a distribution 15 which has to always be fair and equitable. 16 And I think some of the senators who spoke 17 eloquently were saying the same thing. We're 18 not sent here simply to do what the loudest 19 voices scream for. We're not simply here to 20 do what a judge suggests is the minimum. 21 We're sent here to do what's right. 22 There are people in this state 23 would choose to litigate for more aid for 24 their kids. That is their right. I suggest, 25 however, it is our obligation and our duty to

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(518) 371-8910 1 legislate more for all the kids. We have done 2 that in this budget, in a bipartisan fashion, 3 and I thank you all for that. 4 I vote yes, Mr. President. Thank 5 you. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 7 you, Senator Bonacic. You will be recorded in 8 the affirmative. 9 Senator Liz Krueger. 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. On the bill. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 13 Senator Liz Krueger, on the bill. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Well, I 15 have to say it would have been a much better 16 bill if you -- if we had won our amendment. 17 And I'd like to respond to some of 18 the things that were said, because people are 19 getting up and using a lot of rhetoric that 20 there's political gamesmanship involved with 21 the Senate Democrats attempting to come up 22 with a fair funding formula for the children 23 throughout the state of New York at the last 24 minute. 25 So for the record, I got the runs

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(518) 371-8910 1 for the proposal before us today at 10:22 this 2 morning for a 10:30 session. So the question 3 of how do you actually do this in advance and 4 do your homework in advance is a challenging 5 one for all of us. I don't know when my 6 colleagues on the other side of the aisle knew 7 the information, but I received a copy at 8 10:22 for a 10:30 session. 9 And then I hear my colleagues 10 saying yet again, debating the CFE lawsuit, 11 who said what when. The Senate Democrats are 12 attempting, through what we're doing today, to 13 say it doesn't actually matter where we are in 14 the lawsuit. What matters is where we are in 15 delivering fair funding for the children of 16 the state of New York, not just the children 17 of New York City, which is the only locality 18 that the CFE lawsuit addresses, but rather the 19 children throughout the state of New York. 20 And in fact we don't have fair and 21 equitable funding for our children, because 22 under the current scenario -- and by the way, 23 we do nothing with the funding formulas this 24 year. We continue the unfair shares model of 25 distribution of state funds for operating

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(518) 371-8910 1 costs. But today in New York State, while 2 we're the third in the nation in average 3 education spending per child, we have the 4 largest gap between wealthy and poor districts 5 in this country, and we have the third largest 6 funding gap between districts that serve large 7 minority populations and districts serving few 8 students of color. 9 And so when one of my colleagues, I 10 believe Senator Padavan, got up and said we 11 get more money in percentage than we have 12 children, that's not an accurate statement. 13 Because while we can debate, as Senator Saland 14 has, the different interpretations of the 15 efficiency models versus other accountability 16 models for how you would redraw fair funding 17 formulas in the State of New York, there's no 18 question that it's not simply per child but, 19 rather, an evaluation of various categories of 20 need. 21 And I heard someone say that the 22 Regents haven't recognized the formula model 23 that we are using today in our alternative 24 proposal. But we know the Regents have 25 proposed dramatic increases in the dollar

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(518) 371-8910 1 amounts for operating funds for schools in the 2 state of New York. They've put out their own 3 report. We know that the Regents have said 4 the current funding formula is unfair and 5 unjustified and continuing forward with a 6 shares model does not address fairly all the 7 children of the state of New York. 8 And I heard questions from my 9 colleagues that I'm not sure have been 10 answered, so I want to just go over them. Our 11 proposal that was rejected and would have made 12 this a much better bill would have provided 13 $2.6 billion in additional operating aid. It 14 would have fulfilled the CFE case obligations, 15 at least as a down payment, because of the 16 statewide standards used. It would have 17 provided a $1.15 billion increase in operating 18 for New York City schools, provided over 19 $580 million for the Big Four school districts 20 in operating aid, an average increase of 21 68.2 percent. 22 It would have dramatically 23 increased funding for high-needs rural, 24 suburban and small city school districts. It 25 would have held harmless lower-need districts

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(518) 371-8910 1 so all districts received an increase of at 2 least 2 percent. It would have placed more of 3 the increases in school funding with the 4 state, which would have helped to provide 5 local property tax relief throughout the state 6 of New York. 7 Senator Bonacic is right when he 8 talks about the unfairness of the property tax 9 costs in various parts of the state, and we 10 recognize that. And while he and I might not 11 agree today, I think he and I do agree that 12 ultimately we have to evaluate the tax venture 13 structure in the state of New York and the 14 differences between how different counties and 15 localities pay for fundamental basic education 16 items and other items. 17 And I heard my colleagues, some of 18 them, saying that we were doing this for 19 little purposes. We are standing in the 20 Capital of the State of New York. What is it 21 that we do here that is not political? This 22 is a political process and a policy process. 23 Senator Oppenheimer moved forward 24 with an amendment that would in fact address 25 fundamental unfairness in the funding

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(518) 371-8910 1 categories of school aid in the state of 2 New York for every child. To argue that there 3 is no political process that gets us here 4 today is a ridiculous statement. Or we're all 5 in the wrong business, one or the other. 6 I think that the Mayor and the 7 Assembly did a good job in their arguments to 8 try to get us more. Unfortunately, they 9 couldn't get far enough, which is why we're 10 standing here today trying to highlight that 11 we have still not fulfilled our mission or a 12 commitment to the children and fair funding in 13 operating monies. 14 And I heard a colleague ask how 15 would we pay for this education funding. And 16 so as I try so often to do, I try to answer 17 the questions raised. In the next bill, the 18 appropriations bill, we're going to vote for 19 or against $188 million for professional 20 sports teams. If you add up the Empire Zone 21 dollars that we have already approved, 22 including earlier today in the revenue bill, 23 the State of New York loses $646 million a 24 year under the Empire Zone model, which is 25 fundamentally inequitable to both small

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(518) 371-8910 1 businesses and various districts throughout 2 the state. 3 If we hasn't passed the STAR rebate 4 program maybe an hour ago in the revenue bill, 5 we'd have another $900 million. 6 If we ever, ever opened up this 7 book and took a hard look at it, the New York 8 State Expenditure Report, the third portion of 9 the budget, we could debate billions of 10 dollars of money that we never do that we 11 exempt certain special-interest categories in 12 the state of New York from paying. I just 13 puddle out two: IDA sales tax exemptions, 14 $83 million. Have we really done the homework 15 we should on how IDAs operate in the state of 16 New York and how they have the authority, 17 without elected power, to exempt people from 18 taxes? 19 Crude oil petroleum, $45 million 20 tax exemption. As we have debated on this 21 floor, but I don't believe resolved, why are 22 we doing tax exemptions for an industry we're 23 supposed to be discouraging from expanded use 24 of? You're supposed to decrease dependence on 25 petroleum, we all are, and yet we continue to

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(518) 371-8910 1 provide tax exemptions. 2 Yesterday I spoke out about the 3 fact that we were reappropriating $2 billion, 4 over $2 billion in the state budget for MOU 5 agreements from previous years that have never 6 been determined, never made public, and never 7 spent. 8 So if I just add up the list I 9 mentioned, I could get us $3.73 billion that I 10 would argue are a better use of the taxpayers' 11 money if we were to invest that in education. 12 So in fact, there are good parts of 13 this legislation. And I will talk more on the 14 appropriations bill itself. But please don't 15 accept the argument that we have finished our 16 assignment for fair funding for public 17 education. Please don't get caught in the 18 endless details of he said/she said on the CFE 19 decisions in any given day. We didn't need a 20 lawsuit to know what was right for the 21 children of the state of New York, and so we 22 shouldn't be waiting to figure out those 23 questions to do what's right for the children 24 of New York. 25 We can pay for this. Education

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(518) 371-8910 1 should be a higher priority. I'm not saying 2 we didn't make some progress this year. The 3 capital construction monies will be critical. 4 But even there, there are questions about the 5 distribution and how we will be paying for 6 them over the long term because, again, we're 7 bonding out large sums of money again. 8 But again, I urge my colleagues 9 don't walk away and truly believe we did our 10 jobs on this. And I want to thank Senator 11 Oppenheimer for her work on this, and I'm 12 sorry that we're not passing a bill that 13 includes her analysis. 14 Thank you, Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 16 you, Senator. 17 Senator Diaz, on the bill. 18 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. On the bill. 20 I heard one of my colleagues saying 21 the State of New York will win with this 22 budget and the City of New York will win. I 23 heard that said by one of my colleagues here. 24 Well, the question is not if the 25 state will win or if the city of New York will

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(518) 371-8910 1 win. The question here is will the children 2 in public schools located in the black and 3 Hispanic community win. 4 So when someone says the state will 5 win, the city will win, that has some kind of 6 clue there. Maybe there is some kind of 7 something that we could say yes. But my 8 question is, again, will the children in my 9 district win? And the answer is no, I'm 10 afraid not. 11 I'm afraid -- I'm afraid that the 12 children in my district and the children in 13 the black and Hispanic districts will continue 14 to be left behind, will continue to be 15 ignored, and will continue to be begging for 16 more. 17 The Comptroller of the State of 18 New York, Alan Hevesi, recently issued a 19 report stating that the money allocated to do 20 away with overcrowding in the city schools was 21 diverted and used somewhere else. 22 Every year since I'm here, we have 23 been voting for more money for the City of 24 New York, and now we are dealing with CFE. 25 And when we talk about CFE, the Bible teaches

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(518) 371-8910 1 me to give credit where credit is due. And I 2 want to -- I intend to give some credit here. 3 CFE has been fought by black, 4 Hispanic -- and when you go to the City 5 Council in the City of New York, the people 6 fighting for CFE, black and Hispanic and a few 7 others. When you go to the New York State 8 Assembly, in the Assembly chambers, black and 9 Hispanic fighting for CFE money. When you 10 come to this body, mostly the same. 11 I have to commend and I have to 12 tell everyone, either people listening or 13 watching or whatever, that in this chamber we 14 have to be grateful for the work done by 15 Senator Eric Schneiderman. He and I, we 16 disagree most of the time. But I have to say, 17 I have to say that now that everybody is 18 salivating with the CFE money and how much 19 money is going to go to the city, I have to 20 say that the City of New York owes to members 21 of the chamber, to this conference, the 22 Minority conference, and to Senator 23 Schneiderman, because Senator Schneiderman has 24 been there giving his legal support and 25 fighting since day one.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Saying that, saying that, I have to 2 say that I'm afraid -- I'm concerned that the 3 one-plus billion dollars that is going to the 4 City of New York for education will never get 5 to our community. When you see all the groups 6 protesting and fighting for educational money, 7 you could look at the color of their faces and 8 you will see that the majority are brown and 9 black faces. When they come to my office to 10 lobby, brown and black faces. When they go to 11 the city, in all the demonstrations that I 12 see, black and brown faces. 13 And you know what is the travesty 14 of all of this? You know what is the thing 15 that really gets me? That there are going to 16 be elected officials that have been opposing 17 this and that have done nothing to get the 18 money, and their districts will be benefiting 19 more than my district. 20 You know what the travesty is? The 21 travesty is that the City of New York for 22 years is getting money, with the pretext of we 23 need money to educate our children because 24 children have to be educated, and they always 25 use the black and Hispanic children to show

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(518) 371-8910 1 our suffering, our need. But when the money 2 gets there, our schools, our districts are 3 always the same. 4 And let me tell you that when we 5 here send money to the city and the mayor and 6 the chancellor and everyone gets the money, 7 they distribute the money according to the 8 city school districts. Here in this chamber, 9 we only see the city as one district, one 10 school district. And when we vote and fight 11 for the money, the money goes to the city as 12 one school district. 13 It would be nice, Senator Smith, 14 Senator Schneiderman, it would be nice if we 15 could sit here: Now, the money is going to go 16 to these districts. But we can't do that. We 17 can't do that. The money is going to go to 18 one school district, the City of New York. 19 One school district. 20 Now the chancellor and the mayor 21 want to get the -- oh, money. And they're 22 going to sit down and they're going to cut the 23 pie there, and they're going to decide which 24 school district gets the money. And we have 25 nothing to do and we have no say in that. We

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(518) 371-8910 1 fight for the money, we protest for the money, 2 we use our children and our suffering to get 3 the CFE money. But when the money gets to the 4 city, one school district, the City of 5 New York, and the City of New York sends the 6 money to whatever they want. 7 I hope, I wish, and I pray that 8 next year, next year when I come back here, if 9 I come back -- and I hope to come back. And, 10 Senator Smith, with all due respect to you, 11 you said that we're going to be here 10, 15 12 years. I'm planning to be like Senator 13 Marchi. 14 (Laughter.) 15 SENATOR DIAZ: So next year -- 16 (Laughter.) 17 SENATOR DIAZ: When we come back 18 next year I hope, Senator Schneiderman, that I 19 could come here and stand here in this chair 20 and say: My district was benefited, the mayor 21 of New York took care of the black and 22 Hispanic districts. The chancellor took care 23 of the black and Hispanic districts. Ladies 24 and gentlemen, let's fight for more money, 25 more money, more money.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But I'm tired of fighting for more 2 money, I'm tired of fighting for more money, 3 I'm tired of people using my children, my 4 district, my suffering, my pain -- I'm tired 5 of that. When is it that we're going to 6 decide that that money, education money, is 7 going to go specifically for the district that 8 needs the money? 9 So all the work that Schneiderman 10 has done, all the work that the people in the 11 CFE, all the people have done for many years 12 to get this money, then we say -- excuse me, I 13 hope you understand what I'm trying to say -- 14 then I say, for what? 15 Are we really caring about 16 children? Is the City of New York really 17 going to care of the black and Hispanic 18 districts? Is this money going to be 19 earmarked for the South Bronx, for Harlem, for 20 Brownsville, for the areas that we really 21 need? Are we going to do that? No. 22 They are salivating. Give me the 23 money, give me the money. Show me the money. 24 Well, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Chancellor, we are now 25 showing you exactly what you asked. We're

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(518) 371-8910 1 showing you some money. Show me now how 2 caring you are about my children in my 3 district, about the children in the black and 4 Hispanic community districts. And next year, 5 next year I hope to come here and say the 6 mayor of the City of New York, the chancellor 7 of the City of New York and other people in 8 the City of New York took care of us blacks 9 and Hispanics finally. 10 Mr. President, I am voting for this 11 bill. Yes, I am. I'm not getting $2 billion. 12 We're not getting $5 billion. But we're 13 getting enough money now to take care of some 14 children in the South Bronx, in Harlem, and to 15 take care of some school districts in the 16 black and Hispanic community. I hope that we 17 do that, and then we'll talk about it. 18 So mucho gracias. Ha sido un 19 placer [it has been a pleasure]. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 21 you, Senator, for your good wishes. 22 Senator Malcolm Smith, on the bill. 23 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank 24 you, Mr. President. 25 I do want to just raise one item

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(518) 371-8910 1 which is sort of an ancillary piece to this 2 particular operating aid bill, and it goes to 3 all of the businesses in the state. We are 4 going to be spending in this first year, 5 according to the legislation that we passed, 6 $2.6 billion. In our language bill on the 7 economic development, we had a piece for 8 minority businesses, a disparity study, we 9 talk about an ombudsman. And I would just 10 hope that many of the members around this 11 chamber remember that, particularly in upstate 12 New York, where they're suffering, there are 13 small minority- and women-owned businesses up 14 there. They're going to have $800 million to 15 improve the schools up there. They need to 16 ensure that those businesses get a fair shot 17 of that money. 18 In our city, I hope that all my 19 colleagues will recognize in the city of 20 New York we have a large number of minority- 21 and women-owned businesses, there will be 22 $1.8 billion spent on improving those schools, 23 building construction. That is a lot of 24 resources that can be spent and articulated in 25 such a way that minority- and women-owned

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(518) 371-8910 1 businesses do get a part of that. 2 So I would only raise that so that 3 my colleagues remember, in addition to the 4 discussion around educating our children, as 5 part of this new New York we need to make sure 6 that the other side of the coin -- that is, 7 our businesses -- have an opportunity to 8 participate. Not just some of the larger 9 developers, who are quite frankly very good 10 friends, but let's make sure that the small 11 minority- and women-owned businesses in Tioga 12 County, Onondaga County, just like in Brooklyn 13 and Queens and Suffolk County, have an 14 opportunity to participate in that 15 $2.6 billion. 16 Thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 18 you, Senator Smith. 19 Senator Sampson. 20 SENATOR SAMPSON: On the bill. 21 I just rise in support of this 22 bill. This bill has done some fantastic 23 things. 24 But at the same time, you know, as 25 Senator Diaz really put it, it's not about us

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(518) 371-8910 1 trying to get headlines, it's not about us 2 trying to use education as a political 3 vehicle. It's about the frustration that we 4 all face in making sure that the funds that we 5 give to our school districts are administered 6 to our children. And it's the frustration 7 every day when we come into our districts and 8 we see our constituents, we see their children 9 telling us that they don't have this, they 10 don't have these resources. This is the 11 dilemma that we face. 12 You know, when we started this 13 session we talked about we wanted to protect 14 our children against pedophiles. We wanted to 15 protect our children against bullies. But we 16 are saying we want to protect our children and 17 give them the maximum opportunity to get the 18 best education possible. 19 Every year we talk about and we 20 tell all our children in our district, get 21 educated, go to school, because education is 22 the vehicle where they can uplift themselves. 23 But the frustration that we face is even when 24 we put money in, sometimes it doesn't go where 25 it needs to be.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So on this side of the aisle it's 2 not about politics, it's all about expressing 3 our frustration that when money is given to 4 our communities, we want to make sure that all 5 students, whether you're black, brown, green 6 or yellow, have an advantage, that we all want 7 our children to have an advantage to do better 8 than what we have done. 9 So I rise in support of this bill, 10 and I want to congratulate Senator Saland and 11 also Senator Oppenheimer for working hard, and 12 also Senator LaValle for working hard. 13 Because education is the only component where 14 we can really shorten the divide that is in 15 our communities. 16 Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 18 you, Senator. 19 Senator Ada Smith. 20 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you, 21 Mr. Chairman. I mean Mr. President. I'm on 22 the "chairman" today. 23 I must commend the other side of 24 the aisle for the hard work that they put into 25 this bill, and especially for the long overdue

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(518) 371-8910 1 capital aid. 2 But like the other Senator Smith, 3 that capital aid cannot benefit our 4 communities if our children do not have the 5 opportunity to learn, because they will not 6 have the opportunities to partake of the 7 benefits of being a contractor or even a 8 subcontractor. 9 And we as a Legislature cannot 10 continue to fail these young people, because 11 it's their economic future that's at stake. 12 And as we continue to underfund these programs 13 and the schools in my district, the students 14 continue to graduate ill-prepared. But more 15 than likely, three-quarters of them do not 16 graduate because they do not have the proper 17 tools. They're sitting in classrooms that are 18 overcrowded. They're being taught by teachers 19 who are not prepared. 20 And no matter what we do here 21 today, I know there's never enough money. But 22 we are under a court mandate, and I believe 23 that this is the one thing that we should have 24 done in the budget. And in good conscience, I 25 don't know how we can possibly vote for a bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 that continues to shortchange the children of 2 the City of New York. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 4 you, Senator. 5 Senator Montgomery, on the bill. 6 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 7 Mr. President. I want to also commend the 8 Governor for some of the proposals that came 9 from his budget and are continued by the 10 Legislature, agreed to by the Legislature. 11 And I want to especially thank 12 Senator LaValle, Senator Saland. Some of the 13 pieces in the higher ed budget, especially 14 under the higher ed opportunity programs, the 15 increases there are extremely encouraging and 16 important. Because those programs in the 17 universities and colleges supplement and 18 complement some of the missing pieces in the 19 high schools and middle schools and are 20 extremely important in that respect, as well 21 as to the college students themselves. 22 And I am especially pleased that we 23 have new initiatives to enhance the capacity 24 of teachers and middle schools to provide 25 math, science, technology, engineering

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(518) 371-8910 1 programs for young people. So there are some 2 very good things in this budget, some things 3 that I think are extremely important and I'm 4 very supportive of. 5 I am also unhappy that we're not 6 living up to the standards vis-a-vis the CFE 7 court decision. However, Mr. President, I do 8 want to point to one piece in this budget that 9 makes me extremely unhappy. 10 And that is on page 750 and 751 in 11 this budget there is a list of items, and 12 these items are not necessarily related to 13 education, though some of them are. They're 14 capital items under the rubric of economic 15 development and other projects. They are 16 supposed to be projects for colleges and 17 universities, for public recreation, for arts 18 and cultural facilities, and et cetera. 19 However, there is one of these that 20 does not fit under any of those areas, and 21 that is on line 41. It's Atlantic Yards 22 Railway-Nets Project, $33 million. 23 Now, as you know, this is a project 24 that has been proposed, yes, but it has not 25 been negotiated as a part of the communities

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(518) 371-8910 1 concerned. There are many concerns that have 2 been expressed vis-a-vis the project having no 3 comprehensive independent cost/benefit 4 analysis. So we don't know exactly what is 5 the benefit, and we -- those of us who live in 6 that area, who have not been able to negotiate 7 with the developer based on community 8 concerns, believe that it will cost us way 9 more than it will benefit. 10 There is no general project plan 11 for this, as is required. There has been no 12 environmental impact statement. We do not 13 know what the extraordinary costs are going to 14 be. So this $33 million is a down payment on 15 an unknown project that has not been agreed 16 upon, has not been finalized in terms of the 17 state's commitment to fund it, yet we have 18 money in here. And those capital funds come 19 directly out of education funds. 20 Many of us in here have needs in 21 our districts for school construction projects 22 way overdue. There is a high school missing 23 in my district because we don't have the funds 24 to pay for it. Yet we are asking the State of 25 New York to bond for $33 million, and over

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(518) 371-8910 1 30 years it will increase the cost of debt 2 service to our state by $2.5 million a year. 3 So, Mr. President, this is an 4 outrage. This is an absolute outrage. I 5 think that we have a better use of our funds. 6 We should not be asking our citizens to 7 finance and support this kind of a project, 8 especially since there's no way for the 9 elected officials who represent that area to 10 be involved in the negotiations, because it's 11 been done entirely in the dark. 12 So this is wrong. And so even 13 though I am totally and completely in support 14 of the education funding and the bill is good 15 and has good things in it, I cannot in good 16 conscience vote because this item is just 17 absolutely unacceptable. 18 Thank you, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 20 you, Senator Montgomery. 21 Senator Stavisky. 22 SENATOR STAVISKY: Mr. President, 23 I am delighted that the current bill accepted 24 my floor amendment, which unfortunately was 25 defeated when the one-house bill came before

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(518) 371-8910 1 us. I had proposed a $35 million increase in 2 funding for SUNY and CUNY to provide 3 additional full-time faculty because the 4 percentages of full time faculty at both SUNY 5 and CUNY are at an all-time low. At SUNY, for 6 example, it's below 60 percent, and I think 7 that's absolutely wrong. 8 The measure before us has an 9 increase of $45 million for SUNY and CUNY. 10 And I find that to be just indicative of the 11 excellent, excellent higher education budget 12 that is before us. 13 There are many other excellent 14 parts -- the part-time Tuition Assistance 15 Program, the increases in the educational 16 opportunity programs, et cetera. 17 I want to mention one other item 18 that's in this budget, and that's an 19 appropriation which affects my district of 20 $74,700,000. It's to permit bonding for the 21 new Shea Stadium. I understand that the Shea 22 Stadium proposal will -- the money will be 23 used for site preparation, particularly to put 24 in sewers, to prepare the parking lot for 25 construction. The new Shea Stadium is going

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(518) 371-8910 1 to be officially unveiled -- or the proposal, 2 the plans, I believe next week. And I think 3 this is an excellent advance in terms of 4 economic development. 5 And because of the higher education 6 portions, because of the way it affects my 7 district, I intend to vote for this bill. But 8 I must say I am terribly disappointed that the 9 issue of operating aid is not addressed. 10 I find myself in great difficulty 11 voting against a bill that I believe to be 12 unconstitutional. The courts have held that 13 the method of distributing educational monies 14 is unconstitutional. I think we've got to 15 make a better effort to address that issue, 16 the issue of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity 17 lawsuit, not as it affects New York City but 18 as it affects every child in this state. 19 But on balance, Mr. President, I 20 will vote yes. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 22 you, Senator Stavisky. 23 Senator Schneiderman, to close. 24 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 25 Mr. President. On the bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'd like to follow up on Senator 2 Stavisky's last comment, because there is a 3 great deal that is good in this bill. Some of 4 it has been addressed by my colleagues. 5 Certainly the capital aid, the resolution of 6 that problem, which is an important component 7 of the CFE decision, we must recognize the 8 work done by Mayor Bloomberg in order to get 9 us there. Thanks to the mayor on that issue. 10 He targeted it, he made it a political point, 11 he used some muscle, and we're there. 12 The MWBE, higher ed, other good 13 things in this bill. But let's come back to 14 the issue that divides this house today, which 15 is operating aid. 16 And I would suggest, my colleagues, 17 we're not fooling anyone. You know, when it's 18 in the newspaper, ladies and gentlemen, it's 19 in The New York Times, it's in editorials in 20 Syracuse, we're not fooling anyone when we 21 tell the people of this state that we're doing 22 everything we can to fund high-needs school 23 districts, that we're providing the operating 24 aid we need, we've dealt with the problem. 25 We've dealt with the problem? Look

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(518) 371-8910 1 at the statistics from this year. In the city 2 of New York, 53 percent of our children 3 graduate in five years. That's now. In the 4 four biggest cities outside of New York -- 5 Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers -- 6 55 percent of our children graduate in five 7 years. Is that doing our job? 8 This budget -- according to the 9 Education Conference Board, this bill before 10 us provides just enough money to keep up with 11 inflation, $1.1 billion. And about $1 billion 12 is necessary to keep up with inflation in the 13 area of operating aid. 14 In the city of New York, where my 15 daughter is in public school, in the grades 4 16 through 6 this year -- this is a recent 17 statistic -- 57,000 kids in three grades are 18 in classes of 30 or more. 19 So let's not engage in Orwellian 20 rhetoric and tell people we've solved the 21 problem. We've got a problem. Senator Diaz 22 was absolutely right. We have poor children 23 whose dreams are being crushed every year 24 because of our failure to provide operating 25 aid.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The second issue I need to address, 2 and I don't want to spend a lot of time on 3 this, is this notion that we keep saying, oh, 4 we're not under a court order to stop 5 violating the New York State Constitution, and 6 that somehow makes it true. 7 You don't have to go through the 8 very first section of the Court of Appeals 9 decision, original decision affirming justice 10 DeGrasse in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity 11 case, clearly ruling for the plaintiffs on the 12 claim that, quote, the state has violated the 13 mandate of the constitution, quote, by 14 establishing an education financing system 15 that fails to afford New York City's public 16 schoolchildren the opportunity guaranteed by 17 the constitution. 18 This is an unconstitutional 19 situation. It requires courage, it requires 20 honesty. We are in violation of the 21 constitution. The Appellate Division ruling, 22 which has been distorted all over the place in 23 the debate here today, ladies and gentlemen, 24 states clearly -- this is the order of the 25 court to us -- We must act by April 1st, and

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(518) 371-8910 1 contrary to the dissent's characterizations, 2 this directive -- I'm quoting -- does not 3 merely urge the Governor and Legislature to 4 consider taking action, they are directed to 5 take action. The matter for them to consider 6 is whether $4.7 billion or $5.63 billion or 7 some amount in between is the minimum 8 additional annual funding to be appropriated 9 for the city schools. 10 That is the court telling us by 11 April 1st we are to find something, at least 12 $4.7 billion a year, with a phase-in program. 13 Finally, ladies and gentlemen, this 14 again Orwellian effort to blame the Assembly. 15 The Assembly this year passed a multiyear 16 plan, Assembly Bill 10256. It's there. They 17 have a plan that is a multiyear plan. I think 18 Senator Oppenheimer's plan is a better plan, 19 but they passed a multiyear plan. 20 The place we can't get this done is 21 the Senate. The Governor even has stood by 22 his figure, because it came from the 23 defendants, of $4.7 billion a year every year 24 needed for operating aid for the city's 25 schools. The problem is here, ladies and

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(518) 371-8910 1 gentlemen. 2 So let's dispense with the 3 rhetoric. This issue is not going away. 4 You've heard my colleagues. It's something we 5 feel passionate about. It's personal for me. 6 The Campaign for Fiscal Equity was formed by 7 the parents in my district. We still have 8 overcrowded schools, we still have underfunded 9 schools. Reverend Diaz, Senator Diaz is 10 absolutely correct that the poorest districts, 11 the minority districts, are not necessarily 12 getting the money when we do get it. That is 13 an issue that has been documented over and 14 over again. 15 This year, in a special report by 16 the Education Trust, they found this. In the 17 state of New York the districts with the 18 smallest portion of minority students, black 19 and Hispanic students, on average are getting 20 $10,197 per student. The districts with the 21 largest portion of black and Hispanic students 22 in New York State this year are getting $7,778 23 per student. 24 Is that something that enables us 25 to tell our constituents we're doing

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(518) 371-8910 1 everything we can? I don't think so. We are 2 in violation of the State Constitution. We 3 are in violation of fundamental morality that 4 says every child, regardless of race, 5 regardless of the community you grow up in, is 6 entitled to a sound, basic education. 7 Senator Oppenheimer's plan would 8 resolve that. The bill before us today does 9 not deal with the issue of operating aid. We 10 are going to be coming back to this again and 11 again and again. There's a lot of good stuff 12 in this bill. Some of us feel we have to vote 13 no. Some of us are going to vote yes and 14 raise the objection. 15 But I would my urge our colleagues 16 and Senator Saland, who I know is always ready 17 for negotiation and discussion, this issue 18 will be here next week when we reconvene and 19 it will be here every year until we fairly 20 fund the high-needs school districts. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 23 you, Senator Schneiderman. 24 Senator Saland, to close. 25 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. 2 I certainly am loath to prolong 3 what has been, I think, a very healthy 4 expression by both sides of the aisle about 5 their sentiments about (a) this budget and (b) 6 CFE. But I feel constrained to address at 7 least some of the things that Senator 8 Schneiderman mentioned in his closing remarks. 9 I would respectfully disagree 10 that -- and clearly there's little or no 11 authority anywhere other than the hyperbole of 12 some of the advocates that would tell you that 13 the Court of Appeals has ruled the State of 14 New York's funding formula to be 15 unconstitutional. 16 Clearly they said that the State of 17 New York failed to abide by its constitutional 18 obligation to provide a sound, basic education 19 in certain schools in the City of New York. 20 That is the constitutional issue that was 21 framed by the Court of Appeals, and that's 22 what was sent back to initially Judge DeGrasse 23 to determine what the cost of funding that 24 sound, basic education would be and to 25 establish the accountability mechanism that

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(518) 371-8910 1 would ensure that those dollars were spent 2 appropriately and in a fashion that benefited 3 those children. 4 With regard to the Appellate 5 Division decision, now I have an 6 approximate -- it's not the reported copy, but 7 about 50 pages' worth of decision here, of 8 which about 30 are the majority opinion and 9 about 20 are the dissent. On page after page 10 after page after page the majority relays that 11 it believes that there are things that are 12 appropriately for the Legislature and things 13 that are appropriately for the courts, 14 emphasizes the importance of the separation of 15 powers, and takes great, great pains to say 16 that this is a matter for the Legislature. 17 And it goes on, at least again in 18 my copy, at page 29 -- and it's the same 19 language that you heard from Senator 20 Schneiderman earlier. After it directs that 21 Judge DeGrasse's order be modified on the law 22 and the facts to vacate the confirmation of 23 the referee's report that directs that in 24 enacting a budget for the fiscal year 25 commencing April 1, 2006, the Legislature and

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Governor consider -- and I emphasize the 2 word "consider." And I've had occasion to say 3 time and again that that word is not my word, 4 it's the court's word. 5 And certainly "consider" is, I 6 think, consistent with the idea that there is 7 a separation of powers, there are functions 8 for the court and functions for the 9 Legislature and the Governor -- and consider 10 as within the range of constitutionality 11 required funding for the New York City school 12 district, and goes on to say, as demonstrated 13 by the record, in an amount of $4.7 billion to 14 $5.63 billion. 15 It also in that section goes on to 16 talk about capital, and again couches its 17 decision in terms of a $9.179 billion award 18 and does that by also adding language, I 19 believe something to the effect of -- and I 20 can't get to it -- "or otherwise satisfies the 21 city schools." 22 I would merely submit to you that 23 the interesting thing about this from a 24 professional context, when you read all the 25 decisions, I was saddened on the part of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 state to read that the defendant, the 2 Governor, as represented by the Attorney 3 General, never proffered any evidence to 4 refute the CFE proposal with respect to 5 capital, which regrettably is tantamount to a 6 default. But nonetheless, it was a bit 7 troublesome to read that in the decision. 8 But be that as it may, that's what 9 we have to deal with and that's what I believe 10 we've effectively dealt with. 11 So I would merely conclude by 12 pointing out a couple of other things. Number 13 one, it's one thing to pass a multiyear budget 14 bill. We have done that in this house. The 15 Assembly has done it in their house. It's a 16 vastly different thing to try and negotiate 17 or, on the other side of the coin, to refuse 18 to negotiate a multiyear bill to deal with 19 this CFE issue. 20 One is public, one is for purposes 21 perhaps of attaining the public high ground 22 for purposes of being able to posture to the 23 folks in a particular constituency. But where 24 the rubber hits the road and people want to 25 come to the table, it's, as I've said

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(518) 371-8910 1 previously, awfully lonely to be there by 2 yourself. 3 And I don't quite recall the 4 statistic that Senator Schneiderman made 5 reference to earlier. And if I'm incorrect, 6 I'll be very happy to stand corrected. But I 7 think he talked about a disparity in funding 8 in school districts in which there are 9 significant amounts of minority students. 10 And you heard me mention a bit 11 earlier that within the deciles of state aid, 12 the highest -- which might include some of the 13 districts, perhaps, in districts such as you 14 might find in Westchester, in districts 15 perhaps such as you might find in Nassau or on 16 Long Island -- get the lowest amount. I mean, 17 it is a progressive system. 18 So if you're an average district, 19 as New York City is, you fall somewhere in the 20 middle. If you're an upstate district, a poor 21 rural district in which you're getting $9,000, 22 perhaps, and 90 percent or more of your 23 funding, or something close to 90 percent, or 24 mid to high 80s is coming from the state, 25 well, in those districts you're not going to

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(518) 371-8910 1 find, for whatever reason, as high of a 2 minority population as you might find further 3 downstate or in some of our larger urban areas 4 or in some of our suburban areas. That's just 5 a function of demographics. 6 So I'm not quite sure what validity 7 that data offers in terms of finding some kind 8 of meaningful sample. It basically is saying 9 in New York there are some very poor rural 10 districts that receive a lot of money that 11 don't have many minority students. And I have 12 no idea what the data would tell me on the 13 other end -- it wasn't offered -- as to what 14 happens in some of those more affluent 15 districts that are receiving some relatively 16 modest amounts of state aid. 17 With that, Mr. President, I will 18 once again indicate my support for the bill, 19 and thank you for your patience. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 21 you, Senator. 22 Debate is closed. 23 The Secretary will read a 24 substitution. 25 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson,

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(518) 371-8910 1 from the Committee on Finance, moves to 2 discharge Assembly Bill Number 9558B and 3 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 4 Number 6458C, Third Reading Calendar 500. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 6 substitution is ordered. 7 Ring the bells. 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 15 Senator Bonacic, to explain his vote. 16 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 When I spoke on the bill, I had 19 talked of a commission looking into an 20 alternate means of funding education other 21 than the property tax. I've just been advised 22 that that provision has been deleted in the 23 Assembly education bill, which is going to be 24 voted on later today. 25 Needless to say, I'm very

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(518) 371-8910 1 disappointed. But I would like to say that 2 the challenge to change the way we fund 3 education is going to have to rest with us in 4 this house. 5 And I would welcome the support of 6 any senator who wants to work with me and our 7 other colleagues in attaining this goal of 8 finding an alternate means of funding 9 education. 10 Thank you, Mr. President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 12 you, Senator Bonacic. 13 Senator Stachowski, to explain his 14 vote. 15 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 16 President, I just rise in support of this 17 bill. I'm planning on voting for it. 18 I think that with the largest 19 increase that we've ever had for education, 20 albeit it not enough for the court case, it 21 will be very helpful in the districts. And 22 all the school districts that I represent, 23 they're looking forward to it. 24 The higher education institutions 25 are tickled with the treatment that they got

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(518) 371-8910 1 in this year's budget. It's so good to see 2 some full-time positions going back into SUNY 3 after years of trying to get that done. 4 And to help with all the other 5 programs we help with in education this year, 6 I think it's a credit to the people in the 7 Legislature and I congratulate everybody 8 involved in the conference committees. 9 Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 11 you, Senator. 12 Senator Parker, to explain his 13 vote. 14 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 I'm unfortunately going to have to 17 vote no on this bill. I think there's a lot 18 of good things, particularly as it relates to 19 higher education, that's being done. 20 But I've heard people say that they 21 believe these provisions that are being made 22 here in the language bill and then later on in 23 the budget bill are going to somehow fulfill 24 the requirements of CFE. No one can possibly 25 think that. This is nothing further from the

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(518) 371-8910 1 truth. 2 The lawsuit and the problems that 3 we deal with fundamentally have to do with the 4 formula. It is unfair for New York City's 5 schoolchildren that denies them really an 6 access not just to an education now but to 7 really be a productive future. And I'm really 8 saddened by that. 9 And I really think we need to do 10 much better than we're doing. I think that 11 the members, you know, who live in New York 12 City, you know, really ought to oppose this 13 measure. This bill does not take us nearly 14 where we need to be on school finance. 15 My only regret in voting no on this 16 is I only have one no vote to cast for the 17 children of New York City, my district, and 18 the children of the state. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 20 you, Senator. 21 Senator DeFrancisco. 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I 23 think that -- I too rise in favor of this 24 bill. 25 And I think it's very important not

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(518) 371-8910 1 only to recognize that this is a record 2 spending on education, but as people are going 3 around the state criticizing the Senate and 4 the Assembly how much they spent on this 5 year's budget, I think it's really important 6 to note that if we did not use the surplus in 7 a responsible way by aiding the school 8 districts to educate our children, then the 9 alternative was astronomical property-tax 10 increases throughout the state. 11 So I think it's not only a 12 wonderful thing for all our children 13 throughout the state, but also this bill 14 substantially relieves the pressure on local 15 property taxpayers in the State of New York. 16 And I think for both reasons it was a wise use 17 of a substantial portion of the surplus that 18 the State of New York had this year. 19 I vote aye. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 21 you, Senator. 22 Senator Meier. 23 SENATOR MEIER: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. Briefly to explain my vote. 25 I don't want to lose sight of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 fact that within this budget we fund a number 2 of programs under the Office of Children and 3 Family Services. And earlier this year the 4 attention of this body and of this whole state 5 was riveted by the tragic case of Nixzmary 6 Brown and by some other cases around this 7 state where some children were horribly and 8 tragically abused and even murdered. 9 And this Senate has been responsive 10 to that ongoing concern, and we've reacted in 11 a very positive way. Contained in this budget 12 bill is additional money for Child Protective 13 Services, additional money for people and for 14 technology so that we can reduce Child 15 Protective Service worker caseloads. There's 16 additional money in here to extend and expand 17 the services of child advocacy centers, which 18 are on the front lines in a very 19 child-friendly way, a multidisciplinary 20 approach to combatting child abuse, and 21 additional supports out there for child 22 protective workers and for those who are 23 mandatory reporters. 24 These are positive investments in 25 protecting the children of this state and

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(518) 371-8910 1 particularly those who are really without 2 friends, without anyone to look after them. 3 It's something this Senate should be proud of, 4 because these were Senate initiatives. 5 Mr. President, I vote aye. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 7 you, Senator. 8 Announce the results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 10 the negative on Calendar Number 500 are 11 Senators Duane, Parker, Sabini, Savino, 12 Schneiderman, Serrano, and A. Smith. Also 13 Senator Montgomery. 14 Ayes, 53. Nays, 8. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 16 bill is passed. 17 Senator Bruno. 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 19 can we at this time take up Calendar Number 20 495. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 24 Calendar Number 495, Senator Johnson moves to 25 discharge, from the Committee on Finance,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Bill Number 9553C and substitute it 2 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6453C, 3 Third Reading Calendar 495. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 5 substitution is ordered. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 495, Assembly Budget Bill, Assembly Print 9 Number 9553C, an act making appropriations for 10 the support of government: Education, Labor 11 and Family Assistance Budget. 12 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Explanation. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 14 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been 15 requested. 16 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, 17 Mr. President. 18 Well, you know, we've had quite a 19 long conversation on the Article VII bill, 20 which of course included all the 21 appropriations under this bill. The 22 explanations by Senator Saland and Senator 23 LaValle about higher education and elementary 24 education, and all the other conversations, 25 demonstrated to me that everyone here knows

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(518) 371-8910 1 what's in this bill. And I'm sure they're 2 going to support it. 3 Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 5 you, Senator. 6 Any other Senator wish to be heard? 7 Senator Krueger. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. On the bill. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 11 Senator Krueger, on the bill. 12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 13 Well, this is the appropriations 14 language for education, labor, family 15 assistance. So not to belabor the previous 16 debate, while I ultimately voted for the 17 language bill, clearly I'm on record that we 18 failed to do what we were supposed to in 19 operating aid for education or for addressing 20 fair funding formulas or meeting our 21 obligations to the courts. 22 But having said that, and having 23 the same concerns within this bill, I would 24 like to highlight some issues within this 25 bill, the good and the bad.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I want to applaud the fact that 2 this is a good bill for higher education. It 3 holds the line on tuition for CUNY and SUNY. 4 It restores the Governor's TAP cuts. It 5 enhances TAP to include funding for eligible 6 part-time students. It provides an additional 7 $167 million for SUNY and CUNY operating aid. 8 It increases funding for the state's community 9 colleges. It increases opportunity programs 10 funding by 10 percent. It increases funding 11 for full-time faculty at SUNY and CUNY. It 12 increases funding for independent colleges 13 through Bundy aid. And it has a long list, 14 totalling $700 million, in capital grants to 15 help SUNY and CUNY campuses move forward with 16 the desperate need they have for construction 17 efforts, both to upgrade their buildings to be 18 21st century buildings for higher education 19 and also to deal with the fact that they have 20 growing student populations and some of them 21 have literally outgrown their campuses. So 22 that's the good news. 23 I think also good news is the fact 24 that we expanded money for public libraries, 25 both in aid to public libraries and in library

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(518) 371-8910 1 construction. We've talked about school 2 construction in the previous debate and the 3 fact that there's $1.8 billion more for the 4 City of New York, $400 million for more 5 high-needs school districts outside the city, 6 and $400 million for remaining school 7 districts to be distributed on a per-pupil 8 basis. 9 But I would like to highlight, 10 there's a little flaw with the concept of 11 distributing construction money on a per-pupil 12 basis, because it makes the assumption that 13 you're all starting at the same place. And of 14 course we know that in various high-needs 15 versus low-needs districts in the state of 16 New York, we're not starting at the same place 17 place. So under this formula, school 18 districts that have no additional need for 19 expanded school space will still get a 20 per-pupil allotment for school construction. 21 So again, just for the record, 22 school construction distributed under unfair 23 funding formulas is no better for the State of 24 New York than school operating monies 25 distributed under an unfair funding formula.

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(518) 371-8910 1 In the Office of Children and 2 Family Services -- and Senator Meier already 3 got up to speak about some of the issues, and 4 he's done a very good job as the chair of that 5 committee. And I am very, very happy that yet 6 again the Legislature has, I think for the 7 fourth year, rejected the Governor's 8 ill-thought-through proposals to have full 9 family sanction, do away with earned income 10 disregards for people on public assistance who 11 are working. We have rejected his proposals 12 to take income support away from families who 13 have SSI household members, whether it be 14 adults or children, people with special needs 15 who are disabled. And under the Governor's 16 proposal, we would have been reducing the 17 income to these desperately poor families with 18 special-needs family members. 19 Again, we have rejected any number 20 of the Governor's bad proposals and reinserted 21 the funding to make sure that these policy 22 changes don't go forward. 23 I do want to highlight, however, 24 that we have yet to address the fundamental 25 question of what happens with $1.3 billion in

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(518) 371-8910 1 TANF federal appropriations. And I know that 2 we'll be coming back to deal with these 3 issues. But again, the limitations of our 4 ability to change the Governor's budget 5 resulted in our simply removing that 6 $1.3 billion surplus in TANF, as opposed to 7 having serious debate over how it is spent. 8 And we must come back to the table and discuss 9 that, hopefully starting next week. 10 I would also like to highlight that 11 there is a section of this bill -- excuse me, 12 I have to not skip over the fact that I am 13 disappointed we continue to expand the STAR 14 rebate program and accept the Governor's aid 15 to localities STAR program in its entirety. 16 Again, my colleagues often talk 17 about the unequal burden of property taxes, 18 often forgetting some parts of the state have 19 local income taxes as well as property taxes. 20 But we also often gloss over the fact that we 21 have a system where we've got an inequitable 22 reimbursement system on property taxes, called 23 the STAR program, that dramatically 24 shortchanges both people in cities and 25 particularly renters versus homeowners, who

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(518) 371-8910 1 are most likely to be in the large cities of 2 the state of New York and are 3 disproportionately our lowest-income 4 New Yorkers. 5 So in fact expansion of the STAR 6 program continues to inequitably rebate monies 7 that we then do not have in the state budget 8 and continues to shift our state taxation 9 policy in the whole from a progressive to a 10 regressive model of taxation, which affects 11 people in every single one of our districts. 12 It's driven by whether or not your income is 13 higher or lower. And in a regressive tax 14 model, which the State of New York has and 15 continues to move towards, lower-income 16 New Yorkers are disproportionately burdened 17 with a higher share of taxes compared to their 18 income than higher-income New Yorkers. And 19 this bill fails to address or attempt -- it 20 doesn't even attempt to address the inequity 21 there. 22 I'd now like to bring my 23 colleagues' attention to the last pages of 24 this bill, starting at page 739. Because 25 starting at page 739, we stop dealing with

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(518) 371-8910 1 education, labor and family assistance 2 appropriations, even though that's the title 3 of the bill, and we go into a series of 4 chapter amendments to other bills we did 5 earlier in the week and large sums of money to 6 be bonded out for various economic development 7 operating and capital projects. 8 And so one of my concerns is what's 9 it doing in this budget bill? I'll tell you 10 the answer. We know the answer. These were 11 the items that were left to the last minute 12 for the mother ship to make determinations on. 13 All the other bills had already gone to print, 14 and so this was the only bill left to deal 15 with any of these issues on. 16 I just think it's a questionable 17 model of budgeting to put all the other items 18 that were unresolved into the final pages, 19 starting at page 739 and going through page 20 755, for those of you who might not have read 21 all through the budget bills, that this is 22 where we're dealing with hundreds of millions 23 of dollars of additional money. 24 Could I ask for -- Mr. President. 25 Could I ask for a little more quiet, please,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. 2 (Laughter.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Take 4 the conversations out of the chamber, please. 5 A little respect for Senator Krueger as she 6 closes her speech on the bill. 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I hope my 8 colleague is okay. 9 For the record, no one's laughing 10 at my request for order. There was something 11 else going on in the chamber. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. To 13 continue. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: What 15 page are we on here? 16 (Laughter.) 17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 18 sir. They were laughing at my request for 19 order? Oh, all right. 20 So in this bill we do add 21 $475 million for capital projects requested by 22 the Governor. We do have $387 million 23 additional line items in capital project 24 appropriations. We do have $15 million for 25 energy conservation, $15 million for something

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(518) 371-8910 1 called an International Nanotechnology 2 Photovoltaic Center. 3 Here's my questions to us all, 4 Mr. President. Even though it's line-itemed 5 out, there is far more money line-itemed out 6 in this budget bill than in previous years. 7 And I applaud the fact that we're not doing 8 memorandum of understanding budget language 9 this year. I take it as a personal victory, 10 after my raising these concerns over and over 11 again, that despite the fact that we 12 reappropriated $2.3 billion in MOU deals the 13 other day, there are no new MOU deals in this 14 year's budget. 15 I would be happier if we hadn't 16 created in its stead some new language where, 17 rather than MOUs to be determined at a later 18 date by agreement by three individuals, MOUs 19 that we, the public and the Legislature, can't 20 get access to copies of, we've replaced that 21 with new language. Quote, from page 751: 22 "other projects to be determined pursuant to a 23 plan to be developed by the Temporary 24 President of the Senate in consultation with 25 the Director of the Budget," "other projects

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(518) 371-8910 1 to be determined pursuant to a plan to be 2 developed by the Speaker of the Assembly in 3 consultation with the Director of the Budget." 4 It's certainly a different model 5 than MOUs, but I don't think I would argue 6 it's a better model in budget policy to simply 7 have lump-sum amounts of money in the millions 8 of dollars that will be no doubt borrowed and 9 will be determined through a plan. Do we have 10 a legal definition of a plan within the 11 budget? We never had a legal definition of an 12 MOU within the state budget. 13 I also stand to publicly say that I 14 don't think the State of New York should put 15 money into private, for-profit sporting 16 facilities. I've said it over and over again, 17 and I will continue to make the argument that 18 in the absence of adequate money for 19 schoolchildren, for hospitals and healthcare, 20 for public transportation and for public 21 safety, I can see no justification for a 22 $33 million capital line item for the next 23 project in Brooklyn. I can see no 24 justification for a $5 million line item for 25 a -- excuse me, I forgot the name of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 group -- for the Rochester Rhinos. I can see 2 no -- no disrespect to the team. 3 I can see no justification for 4 $74.7 million for the Mets in Queens. I can 5 see no justification for $74.7 million for the 6 Yankees in the Bronx. These are private, 7 for-profit sporting facilities. Just as I 8 spoke out against any special deals for the 9 Jets last year, I would argue this is a not 10 good use of taxpayers' money. 11 I will also raise one more question 12 to be thought through by my colleagues. Many 13 of these line items are to private companies. 14 There's $20 million for an ethanol factory, 15 $15 million for a nanotechnology photovoltaic 16 center. Apparently we are in the venture 17 capital business here in New York State. So I 18 ask the question, do our constituents get 19 shares in the company? Do we get royalties to 20 return to our constituents? Do we share in 21 the patents for any scientific discoveries 22 that private companies are making in the state 23 of New York with our taxpayers being 24 investors, without their actually having 25 gotten out and chosen to be investors?

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(518) 371-8910 1 There can be arguments for state 2 money for economic development. I will be the 3 first one to say there can be justification. 4 But if we're taking taxpayers' dollars and 5 we're investing it in private entities whose 6 goal, as it should be, is a bottom-line 7 profit, where is our return on that investment 8 and how do we justify to the people of 9 New York that we take their tax dollars, give 10 them to private companies, the shareholders 11 will hopefully make money and jobs will be 12 created but a significant percentage of the 13 investment and investors may get nothing on 14 the deal? 15 So because of the right things that 16 are in this budget appropriation bill, I will 17 vote for it. But for the record, there are 18 very serious questions about other items in 19 this bill, what they're for, and why they are 20 in a bill that is labeled "legislative 21 education, labor and family assistance 22 appropriation bill." 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 25 you, Senator.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Serrano, on the bill. 2 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 While I echo the concerns of my 5 colleagues on the disturbing numbers on school 6 funding, I rise today to speak on a very 7 important issue to myself and to the 8 colleagues in my conference, and that is the 9 funding in this bill for the arts and the 10 cultural community in the state of New York. 11 We all know in this chamber that 12 the arts and culture, not only in the city of 13 New York but throughout the state, is a 14 tremendous economic generator. It provides 15 jobs in communities, it provides educational 16 opportunities. But more importantly, it is an 17 economic engine and it helps communities come 18 out of poverty and it helps generate a 19 tremendous amount of revenue for the State of 20 New York. 21 I have old numbers, so they've 22 grown since then. But according to the 23 Alliance for the Arts, in 1997 the arts and 24 the cultural community generated $13.4 billion 25 in economic activity and 175,000 jobs

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(518) 371-8910 1 statewide. 2 It is one of our largest resources. 3 It is one that we should be investing more in. 4 Because more than it being a pillar of our 5 society, it is a tremendous resource and a 6 commodity for the state of New York. 7 And I ask my colleagues to consider 8 the fact that we are not doing nearly enough 9 for the arts and culture in this state and 10 that we should think about how we can do 11 better for arts. With the firm understanding, 12 as we saw with Senator Rath's roundtables over 13 the summer, tourism roundtables throughout the 14 state, that we have a tremendous resource 15 untapped and we should do better. 16 Thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 18 you, Senator. 19 Any other Senator wishing to be 20 heard? 21 The debate is closed. 22 Read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 4 Senator Balboni. 5 SENATOR BALBONI: I rise, 6 Mr. President, because we have come to the end 7 of the process and I believe that we should 8 not relegate the commentary on our proceedings 9 to the press or the so-called reformers. 10 Their views are seen through the prism of 11 cynicism. And a quick scan of the last few 12 days' press reveals their desire to tear down 13 our results regardless of the positive impact 14 that they may purvey. 15 They decry this budget as spending 16 too much, with debt rising too fast, yet not 17 enough spending on education and with 18 healthcare costs out of control. This list, 19 my colleagues, are the gripes du jour. I 20 refer to them in this way not to demean their 21 merits -- they are important issues -- but 22 because they constitute a continuous series of 23 complaints which emerge and fade year to year. 24 Gone from this year's list, you may 25 note, are the cries of last year: There will

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(518) 371-8910 1 be a huge deficit if you spend like this. 2 There is no transparency in the process. The 3 state has unreasonably burdened local 4 governments with mandated costs. 5 These issues are gone and 6 forgotten. We have one of the largest 7 surpluses in our state's history, over 8 $4 billion. That has not warranted any 9 mention during our budget proceedings. We 10 have a budget before us that was negotiated in 11 public. It has been on our desk for three 12 days, and we are passing it in the light of 13 day and on time. And we are providing a 14 record amount of aid to our localities. 15 And it is this surplus which has 16 enabled us to do this. Yet instead of 17 applauding us for our stewardship, our tax 18 cuts are decried as de minimis in effect and 19 political in motivation. 20 But let us not engage in this 21 exercise of cynicism. Let us instead, for 22 once, celebrate, and celebrate the fact that 23 we have done this all together, because of the 24 surplus we have. And that together we have 25 decided as a state that we should give back

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(518) 371-8910 1 some of the surplus to the overburdened, 2 overworked, and overtaxed residents of this 3 state. 4 And this is a wholly appropriate 5 decision on our part, given our place in 6 history, which, again, we never really refer 7 to. New York was the first among the 8 colonies. It has been one of the continuous 9 leaders in our nation. And this decision 10 marks for us the decision that we choose hope 11 over despair and hope for the process of this 12 state and for our future. 13 I vote yes on this budget, as an 14 affirmation of what we can do when we decide 15 to do it. 16 Thank you, Mr. President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 18 you, Senator. You shall be recorded in the 19 affirmative. 20 Senator Fuschillo. 21 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. That's certainly a tough act 23 to follow. I feel like rising and applauding 24 my colleague Senator Balboni. 25 But we've come a long way since

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(518) 371-8910 1 January 4th, when Senator Bruno stood up on 2 the floor, and I'll quote his words, when he 3 recognized what has to be done. "The people 4 look to us to be representative of their 5 needs, in education" -- now I have his 6 attention -- "in healthcare, in the 7 infrastructure of this state, in the energy 8 costs, in the prescription drug costs. It 9 goes on and on and on. And yes, to the tax 10 ramifications that affect the quality of their 11 lives." 12 "We recognize the pain out there 13 for the people on fixed incomes, for people on 14 moderate and low incomes, and that we must be 15 responsive to their needs." 16 I can look at all these papers on 17 my desk, as we all can, and look at 18 significant tax cuts, educational aid, the 19 continuing caps on Medicaid costs that will 20 save counties throughout this state, and on 21 and on and on. And despite the criticism that 22 I heard today on the floor of specific line 23 items, the commitment to invest in the future 24 of the state was made: a vision for growth, a 25 vision for excellence, and a vision for all

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(518) 371-8910 1 future generations. 2 I'll be voting aye. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 4 you, Senator. You will be recorded in the 5 affirmative. 6 Senator Savino. 7 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 You know, it's at moments like this 10 that I wish that we had the privilege that the 11 Governor does, that we could vote for the 12 parts and improve the parts of the budget we 13 like and vote against the parts that we don't. 14 About a month ago I actually voted 15 against every one-house bill that was put 16 forward on the budget. And in the past month 17 there's been a lot of work done by the members 18 of this body, in conjunction with the 19 Assembly, in an open budget process, and we 20 have made incredible progress. And for that, 21 I thank all of you. 22 And I voted for every budget bill 23 that came before me today, with the exception 24 of this one. And I'm disturbed by the fact 25 that I have to vote no, and I'll tell you why,

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(518) 371-8910 1 because it's really a good bill on a lot of 2 levels. There's a lot of good stuff in this. 3 As Senator Meier pointed out, the 4 increase in aid to the Office of Children and 5 Family Services will allow for caseload 6 reduction in child welfare and greater 7 training and increases in family preservation, 8 a lot of good things there. 9 There's a lot of good things in the 10 higher education budget. We've managed to 11 preserve TAP at its current level. We've 12 managed to prevent tuition increases. We have 13 appropriated $9 million for the College of 14 Staten Island, which serves the needs of my 15 district and Senator Marchi's. We've 16 increased aid to the Kingsboro Community 17 College by $4.5 million, serves the needs of 18 many of us in Brooklyn. 19 And on school construction capital, 20 that's $6.5 billion is going to allow us to be 21 able to do a couple of things in Brooklyn and 22 Staten Island, in my district. In Sunset 23 Park, there's a 1600-seat high school that has 24 been in the planning stage for years that will 25 alleviate the overcrowding in high schools

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(518) 371-8910 1 around my district, Senator Montgomery's, 2 Senator Andrews', Senator Parker's, and 3 Senator Golden's. That high school will 4 finally get built now. 5 But across the bridge in Staten 6 Island, I have two of the most overcrowded 7 high schools in the city of New York. Curtis 8 High School is at 162 percent capacity, 9 162 percent. There's no new high school being 10 planned for Staten Island. Tottenville High 11 School is at 113 percent capacity. There's no 12 new high school planned for the south shore of 13 Staten Island, in spite of the fact that 14 Staten Island is one of the fastest-growing 15 counties in the state of New York. 16 And I cannot ignore that without 17 additional operating aid, we are not going to 18 be able to address the needs of those schools. 19 We're not going to be able to address the 20 needs of Fort Hamilton High School, which is 21 150 percent capacity. We need to address 22 those needs. We need to give the City of 23 New York more operating money, as we have been 24 directed by the Court of Appeals to do so. 25 This budget does not do that.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I cannot in good conscience 2 ignore that we have been directed by the court 3 to provide that money to the City of New York 4 to address the operating needs in the 5 districts that aren't going to get capital 6 construction projects. I cannot in good 7 conscience vote for this bill, and for that 8 reason I'm voting no. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 10 you. You will be recorded in the negative. 11 Senator Parker. 12 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. To explain my vote. 14 I want to just first congratulate 15 this body on, I know, a lot of hard work on a 16 lot of people's parts. And on this particular 17 bill, I want to congratulate Senator LaValle 18 and Assemblyman Ron Canestrari, who worked 19 together on higher education. This is really 20 remarkable what we've been able to do. Both 21 as a CUNY professor and a member of PSC-CUNY, 22 I know how important this is going to be for 23 all the CUNY schools and the SUNY schools 24 around the state. Holding the line on 25 tuition, making sure that the TAP was restored

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(518) 371-8910 1 and that we have both accessibility and access 2 for higher education is really, really 3 critical. 4 However, what I'm afraid of is that 5 the problem is that we're not going to be able 6 to fill the seats in higher education at CUNY 7 and SUNY because we won't have people who are 8 eligible coming out of public schools because 9 we have not done a great job there. 10 And I think that Senator Balboni is 11 right, that this is a historical moment. It 12 is a very historical moment right now; we 13 ought to remember it. Because right now we're 14 casting our votes to defy a court order. 15 We're casting our votes to be in contempt of 16 court of the Court of Appeals of State of 17 New York. 18 You're right, we're making history. 19 And we're sending a signal to our young people 20 and to the children particularly of New York 21 City that not only don't we care about your 22 education and your life chances going forward, 23 but we don't care about the courts and what 24 they say. Essentially what we've said is, you 25 know, fine, you want a lawsuit, try to get the

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(518) 371-8910 1 money. And I think that's the wrong message, 2 certainly not the message I want to be sending 3 today. 4 And I think again that Senator 5 Balboni is right, that we can do anything at 6 all that's possible if we just decide to do 7 it. Everything in Albany is a matter of will. 8 And right now what we are being told is that 9 you will not fund education, you will not 10 listen to the court order, you will not 11 provide the proper resources for the young 12 people of the city of New York or the 13 high-needs districts around the state. 14 And I think, you know, if people 15 want to fall back, you know, and declare 16 victory, and the mayor is happy to do so, if 17 he's for some reason cut a deal with anybody 18 in this Legislature about not providing 19 operational dollars, shame on him. Because at 20 the end of the day, there are things that we 21 need to be doing in addition to building 22 buildings right this minute. We need to be 23 providing more money for English-language 24 learner programs, we need to be finding more 25 money for after-school programs, more money

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(518) 371-8910 1 for art, music and dance and athletics in our 2 schools as regular parts of the curriculum so 3 our children can be well-rounded and we're not 4 just teaching to the test. There's things 5 that we need to be doing in terms of providing 6 more language courses and more science courses 7 and mathematics courses in our classrooms 8 right this minute. 9 And so I have to vote no, despite 10 the fact that we've done some good things with 11 this budget. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 13 you, Senator. 14 Senator Volker. 15 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 16 very quickly. 17 I want to thank Senator Bruno, my 18 colleague here Senator LaValle, Senator 19 Saland. 20 I have to tell you, I've been 21 here -- this is my 34th budget. And I can 22 never remember, in all my years -- by the way, 23 Senator Parker, New York City is getting more 24 money for schools than it has ever gotten in 25 the history of this state. I believe that

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(518) 371-8910 1 school construction operation in New York City 2 will probably take 20 years to use up all the 3 money, the capital that's here. It's no 4 secret they can't build schools fast enough. 5 They're way behind in their numbers. It's a 6 huge problem. And unfortunately, that's 7 something the mayor should deal with because 8 it's been a problem for years. 9 Let me just say that as far as my 10 region is concerned, Western New York, we've 11 never received anything like the help that's 12 here. I don't believe I have ever been part 13 of a budget that provided the kind of money we 14 have, and not only provided the enormous 15 amount of tax cuts but there's something in 16 this budget I can't remember the last time. 17 As far as I know, there's not one 18 single tax increase in this budget, and I 19 don't believe there's one fee increase that 20 I'm aware of. And when Joe Bruno says no 21 taxes and no fees, he means it. And I'll tell 22 you, we had to do some wiggling to do that, 23 particularly in criminal justice, I can tell 24 you. But we took his advice. 25 Finally, let me say one thing more,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and that is there was another big reason why 2 Senator Bruno had to get this done on time. 3 And I want to thank, by the way, the Governor, 4 because the Governor is coming into Buffalo 5 today to announce an on-time budget. I don't 6 think I'm going to be there, but I really 7 appreciate him coming into Buffalo to announce 8 the on-time budget. 9 But let me just say the other 10 reason that he needed to get it on time is 11 because there's a particular person in this 12 chamber who needs desperately to be in 13 Indianapolis on Monday. He's one of the idols 14 of my life. He sits right there. 15 He's going to be one of the 16 officials in the final NCAA game in 17 Indianapolis. Which means he's one of the 18 best officials in the country. There's three 19 officials, I think, and they're supposed to be 20 the best in the country. And I just want to 21 say to John Cahill, he's my -- I admire him 22 immensely. 23 (Applause.) 24 SENATOR VOLKER: Obviously, I 25 vote aye.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 2 Announce the results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 495 are 5 Senators Duane, Montgomery, Parker, Sabini, 6 Savino, Schneiderman, Serrano and A. Smith. 7 Ayes, 53. Nays, 8. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 9 bill is passed. 10 (Cheers, applause.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 12 Senator Paterson. 13 SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you. 14 Thank you. 15 (Laughter.) 16 SENATOR PATERSON: I think we 17 have discussed the substantive issues. And 18 I'd just like to use this moment to turn the 19 camera inward and thank Senator Bruno for all 20 of his cooperation and help during the budget 21 negotiations. 22 He's made a lot of great decisions. 23 Maybe the greatest was appointing yours truly 24 to the general conference committee and 25 letting me participate in the last two

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(518) 371-8910 1 budgets, both of which passed on time. Now 2 I'm leaving, and I wish you all luck. 3 (Laughter.) 4 SENATOR PATERSON: I would also 5 like to thank Senator LaValle, Senator Volker, 6 the very kind remarks that Senator Bonacic 7 made about alternatives to education. 8 I thought honestly that the 9 education debate here was among one of the 10 most substantive and really outstanding 11 persuasion on both sides of the aisle. 12 I would say that if I'm ever in 13 danger -- if we restore the death penalty, if 14 I'm ever in danger of going to the electric 15 chair, I'm going to have Senator Saland at my 16 side. And I don't think they'll ever, ever 17 put me away. Even though I disagree with him, 18 I admire the way he works around the 19 constitution to make his points. 20 And -- but seriously -- 21 (Laughter.) 22 SENATOR PATERSON: Seriously, 23 he's a very good friend of mine and has 24 comported himself very well, with a lot of 25 passion and conviction.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I was very proud of those in 2 the Senate Minority, everyone who discussed 3 and debated this budget. 4 My only regret is I bet Senator 5 Bruno -- obviously not a financial bet, we'd 6 never do that -- but bet him we'd be done by 7 1:30, and we're not. And so as not to delay 8 the proceedings any further, defense rests, 9 Mr. President. 10 (Laughter.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 12 Senator Bruno. 13 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Paterson. 15 And thank you to my colleagues here in the 16 Senate. 17 Senator Paterson kept looking at 18 his watch while Senator Krueger was talking. 19 (Laughter.) 20 SENATOR BRUNO: And I notice it 21 didn't do any good. It didn't do any good. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 23 Everybody was looking at their watch. 24 (Laughter.) 25 SENATOR BRUNO: But you know

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(518) 371-8910 1 what, Mr. President and colleagues? This is 2 truly a proud moment for all of us. 3 You look at the clock, the sun is 4 shining, it's a beautiful day. Father Young 5 yesterday gave us credit in the Senate for the 6 sunshine and the beautiful weather. We accept 7 that fully. I think that was in our budget 8 bill. 9 (Laughter.) 10 SENATOR BRUNO: Like everything 11 else was that's of great consequence to the 12 people of this state. 13 But you know what? Really, we can 14 be proud, all of us can be proud, because what 15 we are doing today, on time, truly is 16 responsive to the needs of the people of this 17 state. 18 This is the Empire State, something 19 that all of us relate to and are proud of. 20 The people in this state are proud to be part 21 of New York State. We are accountable to the 22 people. And what we're doing here in our way 23 is being accountable, being responsible, 24 helping people who can't help themselves, as 25 their representatives.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We're investing in education, 2 breaking records. That's our present and 3 that's our future. We're investing in 4 healthcare, where people have a right to feel 5 good about themselves, to be well, to take 6 care of their children, to take care of their 7 loved ones and their neighbors. We have a 8 responsibility in society to do that. And 9 we're doing that, and we're stepping up and 10 we're doing it right. 11 People have a right to expect an 12 infrastructure, and we're investing in that. 13 All of the other things are in this budget -- 14 and it's 112-plus, maybe 400 million, four -- 15 $112.4 billion. And it's kind of amusing, 16 because the numbers keep changing depending on 17 where they come from, whether it's the Budget 18 Division on the second floor, the Assembly, 19 the Senate. 20 But colleagues in the Senate, be 21 proud, because we're always right. We're 22 always right. And what we are doing here 23 today is right. Senator Paterson said it 24 right, so many of you said it. There isn't 25 much more to say on the substantive part of

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(518) 371-8910 1 what we're doing. 2 Just understand that some of you, 3 you feel very strongly about some of what 4 we're doing. Some of you feel compelled to 5 kind of focus on a negative part of 6 112.4 billion, in the action or in the 7 inaction. But just be thankful, those of you 8 that have some negativity about any part of 9 this, that the collective judgment of this 10 house saves you, saves you from yourselves. 11 (Laughter.) 12 SENATOR BRUNO: So be thankful 13 for that, okay, because you'll go out there 14 and you'll take full credit for everything 15 that we're doing. 16 (Laughter.) 17 SENATOR BRUNO: There won't be 18 anybody there to debate you. And that's as it 19 should be. Because the one thing that we all 20 respect, people have a right, you know, to 21 express themselves, tell it like it is from 22 their own point of view. Don't have to be 23 right, but we respect people's rights to say 24 what's on their minds and how they feel. 25 That's what we're elected to do.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I believe there are 211 legislators 2 functioning in this state today, and all of us 3 can be proud because we have collectively done 4 this. We didn't do it by ourselves. None of 5 us have done any part of this. We have been 6 involved in the most open, public process in 7 government in the history of this state. And 8 that's something for us all to be proud of. 9 So I want to thank my colleagues, 10 my colleagues in leadership here, all of my 11 colleagues on this side, my colleagues on that 12 side. Because today, right now, there's only 13 one side, and that's our side here and the 14 right side on behalf of the people of this 15 state. 16 And I want to thank Speaker Silver 17 and all of his colleagues there that relate to 18 doing the good things that we're doing. 19 And I want to thank the Governor 20 for touring the state and applauding us for 21 having the second on-time budget. There are 22 some things that some people get right. And 23 that's one thing that they're getting right, 24 that this is the second on-time budget. 25 We're going to have some

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(518) 371-8910 1 differences as we go over this next week or 2 two. There are going to be some differences. 3 It's going to be publicly negotiated, publicly 4 debate. And when it's all said and done, 5 we're going to do the best things that we can 6 for the people of this state. That's what 7 governing is all about, differing. Just 8 differing. And negotiating. And you 9 compromise. And by compromising, you 10 accomplish something. 11 We have accomplished a great deal 12 today. And as much as I might try, I feel 13 that I have said all the things that are 14 necessary for me to say, and thank you, and 15 being proud. And I just cannot talk as long 16 as Liz Krueger. I just can't. 17 (Laughter.) 18 SENATOR BRUNO: So, Mr. 19 President, I want to just conclude and wish 20 you a healthy, safe passage as we go on into 21 this beautiful weekend, feeling good about 22 yourselves, everybody here that participated. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 24 Senator, I couldn't help but note that Senator 25 Krueger was just looking at her watch.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Laughter; applause.) 2 SENATOR BRUNO: I noticed that 3 the president was looking at his. 4 (Laughter.) 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 6 yes, you need to be relieved up there? 7 (Laughter.) 8 SENATOR BRUNO: No, he's 9 comfortable. He's comfortable, Dean. 10 Any other business at the desk? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Yes, 12 we have some housekeeping, Senator. 13 SENATOR BRUNO: Would you please 14 take care of that. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 16 Senator Nozzolio. 17 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 On behalf of Senator Volker, on 20 page number 14, I offer the following 21 amendments to Calendar Number 295, Print 22 Number 3353, and ask that said bill retain its 23 place on Third Reading Calendar. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 25 amendments are received, and the bill will

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(518) 371-8910 1 retain its position on the Third Reading 2 Calendar. 3 Senator Bruno. 4 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 5 can we at this time recognize Senator 6 Schneiderman. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: 8 Senator Schneiderman. 9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 There is a motion at the desk. I 12 would like to have it called up and speak very 13 briefly on it. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 17 1576A, by Senator Schneiderman, an act to 18 amend the Education Law. 19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: This is a 20 motion to bring to the floor the Unintended 21 Pregnancy Prevention Act. 22 This bill, which passed this house 23 but which we failed to override the Governor's 24 veto on before, would make it possible for 25 New York State to provide access to emergency

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(518) 371-8910 1 contraception to thousands of women presently 2 denied access by allowing nurses and 3 pharmacies to dispense it without first 4 requiring a doctor to write a patient-specific 5 prescription. 6 This bill will prevent thousands 7 and thousands of unwanted and unintended 8 pregnancies. It is not RU-486. It is 9 something that prevents pregnancy, does not 10 terminate pregnancy. 11 I would urge my colleagues that we 12 should not allow another year to go by with 13 thousands of women being forced to get 14 pregnant when they do not want to. In the 15 words of President Clinton, abortion should be 16 safe, legal and rare. This bill will keep it 17 more rare. And the Senate is the place where 18 we need to bring the bill to the floor and 19 muster the votes to override. 20 Senator Spano sponsors a similar 21 bill. It has passed this house before. And I 22 would urge all of my colleagues to vote for 23 this motion. Let us this year pass the 24 Unintended Pregnancy Prevention Act and let us 25 override, if necessary, a gubernatorial veto.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank 3 you, Senator. 4 All those Senators in favor of the 5 petition out of committee please signify by 6 raising their hands. 7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 8 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 9 Connor, Coppola, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 10 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, 11 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, 12 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, 13 Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, Stavisky and 14 Valesky. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The 16 petition is not agreed to. 17 Senator Bruno. 18 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 19 there being no further business to come before 20 the Senate at this time, I would move that we 21 stand adjourned till Monday, April 3rd, at 22 3:00 p.m., intervening days to be legislative 23 days. 24 Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: On

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(518) 371-8910 1 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 2 Monday, April 3rd, 3:00 p.m., intervening days 3 to be legislative days. 4 (Whereupon, at 2:17 p.m., the 5 Senate adjourned.) 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910