Monday, April 24, 2006

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

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 stand 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. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 15 Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Sunday, April 23, the Senate met pursuant to 18 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 19 April 22, was read and approved. On motion, 20 Senate adjourned. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 24 Presentation of petitions. 25 Messages from the Assembly.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Messages from the Governor. 2 Reports of standing committees. 3 Reports of select committees. 4 Messages from the Governor again. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: The Governor 7 returned, without executive approval, Senate 8 Bill Number 6460C, Veto Number 208, entitled 9 "an act to amend the Tax Law." 10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 12 I move to lay said bill as vetoed by the 13 Governor upon the table. 14 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered, 15 Senator Skelos. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: The Governor 18 returned, without executive approval, Line 19 Items 22 through 73 of Senate Bill Number 20 6455C, Chapter 55, entitled "an act making 21 appropriations for the support of government: 22 Transportation, Economic Development and 23 Environmental Conservation Budget." 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 I move to lay said line items as vetoed by the 2 Governor upon the table. 3 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 4 The Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: The Governor 6 returned, without executive approval, Line 7 Items 188 through 207 of Senate Bill Number 8 6457C, Chapter 57, entitled "an act to amend 9 the Social Services Law and others." 10 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 12 I move to lay said line items as vetoed by the 13 Governor upon the table. 14 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: The Governor 17 returned, without executive approval, Line 18 Items 74 through 77 of Senate Bill Number 19 6459C, Chapter 59, entitled "an act to amend 20 the Environmental Conservation Law." 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 23 I move to lay said line items as vetoed by the 24 Governor upon the table. 25 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Reports of standing committees. 2 Reports of select committees. 3 Communications and reports from 4 state officers. 5 Motions and resolutions. 6 Senator Farley. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 8 President. 9 On behalf of Senator Golden, Madam 10 President, I move that the following bill be 11 discharged from its respective committee and 12 be recommitted with instructions to strike the 13 enacting clause. That's Senate Print 2212. 14 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 16 I wish to call up my bill -- this is on my own 17 behalf -- Senate Print 6396, which was 18 recalled from the Assembly and it's now at the 19 desk. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 21 will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 595, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6396, an 24 act to amend the Public Officers Law. 25 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 2 this bill was passed. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 4 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 8 I now offer the following amendments. 9 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 10 are received. 11 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 12 amendments are offered to the following Third 13 Reading Calendar bills: 14 By Senator Young, page 12, Calendar 15 Number 62, Senate Print 5685; 16 On behalf of Senator Golden, on 17 page 30, Calendar Number 524, Senate Print 18 4458B; 19 And on behalf of Senator Morahan, 20 on page 40, Calendar Number 686, Senate Print 21 7169. 22 Madam President, I move that these 23 retain their place on the Third Reading 24 Calendar. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you. The amendments are received and adopted, 2 and the bills will retain their place on the 3 Third Reading Calendar. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 6 I believe there's a substitution at the desk, 7 if we could make it at this time. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Yes, 9 there is. 10 The Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: On page 37, 12 Senator Volker moves to discharge, from the 13 Committee on Codes, Assembly Bill Number 10339 14 and substitute it for the identical Senate 15 Bill Number 7072, Third Reading Calendar 653. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 17 substitution is ordered. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 20 there's a resolution at the desk by Senator 21 DeFrancisco, 4758. Could we have the title 22 read and move for its immediate adoption. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 24 you. 25 The Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 2 DeFrancisco, Legislative Resolution Number 3 4758, commending Christopher Cruz of the 4 Hampton Boys & Girls Club of Syracuse, 5 New York, upon the occasion of his designation 6 as the recipient of the Boys & Girls Club of 7 Syracuse's "Youth of the Year Award." 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On the 9 resolution, all those in favor please signify 10 by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye.") 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Those 13 opposed, nay. 14 (No response.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 16 resolution is passed. 17 Senator Skelos. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 19 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 20 of the calendar. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. 23 The Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 175, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 6365, an

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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Public Health Law, in 2 relation to demonstration programs. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 4 the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 390, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 6420B, an 15 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 16 designating. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 613, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 5684A, 4 an act to amend the Executive Law, in relation 5 to obtaining fingerprints. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 9 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 625, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7132, an 18 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 19 performance. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect April 1, 2007. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 638, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 237, an 7 act to amend the Penal Law and the Criminal 8 Procedure Law, in relation to fixing 9 sentences. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 13 act shall take effect on the first of 14 November. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 19 the negative on Calendar Number 638 are 20 Senators Andrews, Duane, Montgomery and 21 Parker. 22 Ayes, 51. Nays, 4. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: In relation to

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(518) 371-8910 1 Calendar Number 638: also in the negative, 2 Senator Dilan. 3 Ayes, 50. Nays, 5. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 651, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 7054, an 8 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 9 adding a prior conviction. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect on the first of 14 November. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 19 Duane, to explain your vote. 20 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 21 President. 22 I'm voting against the bill today 23 because I believe it's too harsh. It adds a 24 prior conviction for aggravated criminal 25 contempt to a list of predicate offenses for

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(518) 371-8910 1 criminal contempt. 2 And I do applaud the attempt here 3 to better protect victims of domestic 4 violence. However, as this bill proves, there 5 is a terrible cycle to domestic violence, and 6 anyone involved in these terrible situations 7 certainly needs mental health services. 8 People in these situations need and 9 deserve the help that they would get if we 10 passed Timothy's Law. If we had Timothy's 11 Law, we might be able to stem the tide of this 12 issue or this problem of domestic violence and 13 domestic problems. But so far the Senate has 14 refused to pass Timothy's Law, and that's just 15 wrong. 16 I'm voting no on this bill, Madam 17 President, but I absolutely believe that we 18 have to get Timothy's bill out here on the 19 floor and vote in favor of it. 20 Thank you, Madam President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. Senator Duane will be recorded in the 23 negative. 24 The Secretary will announce the 25 results.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 2 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 652, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 7055, an 7 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 8 penalty. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect on the first of 13 November. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 18 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 653, substituted earlier today by Member of 23 the Assembly Lentol, Assembly Print Number 24 10339, an act to amend Chapter 689 of the Laws 25 of 1993.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 9 1. Senator A. Smith recorded in the negative. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 656, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 425, an 14 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 15 relation to dealers and dealer registration. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 19 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 659, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 1310, 3 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, 4 in relation to operation of a motor vehicle. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect on the first of 9 September. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 660, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 1684, an 18 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 19 relation to the penalty for operating certain 20 commercial motor vehicles. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 22 the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect on the first of 25 November.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 663, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 2746, an 9 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to 10 the designation. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 12 the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 665, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3149, an 23 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in 24 relation to requiring a licensee's residential 25 address.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 680, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 7061A, 13 an act authorizing. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 15 the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 22 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 24 bill is passed. 25 Senator Skelos, that completes the

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(518) 371-8910 1 reading of the calendar. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 3 President. 4 Is there any further business at 5 the desk? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: No, 7 there is not. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Would you please 9 recognize Senator Montgomery for a motion to 10 petition. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 12 you. 13 Senator Montgomery. 14 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Madam 15 President, I have a motion at the desk. I 16 would like to have it called up at this time. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print 20 6895, by Senator Montgomery, an act to amend 21 the Correction Law. 22 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 23 President, I would like to explain the bill. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you. For an explanation, Senator Montgomery.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank 2 you. 3 This is legislation which would 4 prohibit the use of mechanical restraints, 5 including handcuffs and shackles, on any 6 pregnant female prisoner who is about to give 7 birth in our correctional system, unless the 8 officer in charge has determined that such an 9 inmate would be a flight risk while she is in 10 the process of having labor and delivering her 11 baby. 12 According to Amnesty International, 13 only two states, California and Illinois, have 14 laws forbidding the use of restraints on 15 inmates during labor. The corrections 16 departments of five other states and the 17 District of Columbia have written policies 18 prohibiting this practice. New York State is 19 not among the small number of states that 20 prohibit the shackling of these inmates. 21 Currently, healthcare standards 22 that are set by the State Commission on 23 Correction state that prisoners should be 24 placed in restraints only if other means are 25 insufficient. We should be -- we can do

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(518) 371-8910 1 better. We should do better. We must ban 2 this abhorrent practice, since there are 3 obviously no overriding concerns about a woman 4 taking flight, breaking out of prison while 5 she is in labor and the process of having a 6 baby. 7 In 1990, a federal judge prohibited 8 the New York City Corrections Department from 9 shackling inmates during childbirth. The use 10 of mechanical restraints on a pregnant inmate 11 constitutes a cruel and inhumane form of 12 punishment. It poses a serious risk to both 13 the mother and her unborn child. 14 Madam President, I invite my 15 colleagues -- all of us in this room, I'm 16 sure, can relate to the fact that during 17 childbirth it is a very vulnerable moment in a 18 woman's life, especially as it relates to not 19 only her but the baby. And babies should not 20 be forced to pay a price to be put in the 21 unreasonable position of jeopardy because 22 their mother happens to be in prison. 23 Physical restraints have interfered 24 with the ability of physicians to safely 25 practice medicine by reducing their ability to

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(518) 371-8910 1 assess and evaluate the physical condition of 2 the mother and the fetus, and have similarly 3 made the labor and delivery process more 4 difficult than it needs to be, thus overall 5 putting the health and lives of women and 6 unborn children at risk. 7 Madam President, I ask that my 8 colleagues join me in voting yes on this bill 9 because it is the most humane thing that we 10 could do in this Legislature today. 11 Thank you for listening. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 13 you, Senator Montgomery. 14 All those Senators in favor of the 15 petition out of committee please signify by 16 raising your hand. 17 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 18 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin, 19 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, 20 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato, 21 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 22 Schneiderman, Serrano, A. Smith, M. Smith, 23 Stachowski, Stavisky and Valesky. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 25 petition is not agreed to.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 3 there being no further business to come before 4 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until 5 Tuesday, April 25th, at 11:00 a.m. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 7 you. There being no further business, the 8 Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday, 9 April 25th, at 11:00 a.m. 10 (Whereupon, at 3:36 p.m., the 11 Senate adjourned.) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910