Monday, May 22, 2006

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 22, 2006 11 3:06 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President 19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 3 please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 THE PRESIDENT: With us this 10 afternoon is the Reverend Peter G. Young, who 11 obviously needs no introduction. For those of 12 you who might not know him, as we do well, he 13 is the pastor of Blessed Sacrament Church in 14 Bolton Landing, New York. 15 REVEREND YOUNG: Dear God, as we 16 are blessed today, we see the bright sunshine. 17 It's a beautiful and delightful feeling that 18 we share with Noah as he saw the return of the 19 bird to the ark, indicating the end of the 20 flood. 21 Sometimes we need the reminder of 22 Your greatness, O God, with the gift of Your 23 heartbeat and Your life-giving nourishment to 24 the earth, that we will bring us then a 25 rewarding bounty of needed foods to feed all

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(518) 371-8910 1 of our New York State citizens. 2 It's with pride that we are here 3 today as leaders in New York State as an 4 agricultural state. And we turn our products 5 then to our great country, to help and feed 6 them in their daily need. 7 As we turn to technology for the 8 many essentials of life, we need to again be 9 reminded of the gift that You, O God, only can 10 give. 11 Amen. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 13 Journal. 14 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 15 Sunday, May 21, the Senate met pursuant to 16 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, May 20, 17 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 18 adjourned. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Without 20 objection, the Journal stands approved as 21 read. 22 Presentation of petitions. 23 Messages from the Assembly. 24 Messages from the Governor. 25 Reports of standing committees.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Reports of select committees. 2 Communications and reports from 3 state officers. 4 Motions and resolutions. 5 Senator Farley. 6 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 7 President. 8 On behalf of Senator Maziarz, I 9 wish to call up his bill, 6225, which was 10 recalled from the Assembly and it's now at the 11 desk. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 389, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 6225, an 16 act to amend the Highway Law. 17 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 18 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 19 this bill was passed. 20 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 21 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. 24 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 25 I now offer the following amendments.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 2 are received. 3 SENATOR FARLEY: Also on behalf 4 of Senator Maziarz, I wish to call up his 5 bill, 7321A, which was recalled from the 6 Assembly and it's now at the desk. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 8 will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 753, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7321A, 11 an act to amend the Labor Law. 12 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 13 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 14 this bill was passed. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 16 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 19 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 20 I now offer the following amendments. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 22 are received. 23 SENATOR FARLEY: On behalf of 24 Senator Marcellino, Madam President, I wish to 25 call up his bill, Senate Print 6932, recalled

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(518) 371-8910 1 from the Assembly, and it's now at the desk. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 3 will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 790, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 6932, 6 an act to authorize the Town of Oyster Bay. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 8 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 9 this bill was passed. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 11 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 14 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 15 I now offer the following amendments. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 17 are received. 18 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 19 on behalf of Senator Golden, I move that the 20 following bill be discharged from its 21 respective committee and be recommitted with 22 instructions to strike the enacting clause. 23 That is Senate Print 5890A. 24 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 25 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendments are offered to these following 2 Third Reading Calendar bills: 3 On behalf of Senator Golden, on 4 page 33, Calendar 371, Senate Print 2197A; 5 On behalf of Senator DeFrancisco, 6 on page 41, Calendar 597, Senate Print 7011; 7 On behalf of myself, Senator 8 Farley, on page 42, Calendar 607, Senate Print 9 6432; 10 On behalf of Senator Spano, on 11 page 49, Calendar 752, Senate Print 7318; 12 On behalf of Senator Maziarz, on 13 page 57, Calendar Number 876, Senate Print 14 Number 5719A; 15 On behalf of Senator Bruno, on page 16 61, Senate Print 948, Senate Print 7194; 17 And on behalf of myself, Senator 18 Farley, on page 29, Calendar 281, Senate Print 19 5806. 20 Madam President, I move that these 21 bills retain their place on the Third Reading 22 Calendar. 23 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 24 are received, and the bills will retain their 25 place on the Third Reading Calendar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Skelos. 2 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 3 I believe there are substitutions at the desk, 4 if we could make them at this time. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, there are, 6 Senator. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: On page 23, 9 Senator Volker moves to discharge, from the 10 Committee on Codes, Assembly Bill Number 8351 11 and substitute it for the identical Senate 12 Bill Number 6330, Third Reading Calendar 70. 13 On page 24, Senator Volker moves to 14 discharge, from the Committee on Codes, 15 Assembly Bill Number 7027 and substitute it 16 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4120, 17 Third Reading Calendar 138. 18 On page 32, Senator Maltese moves 19 to discharge, from the Committee on Labor, 20 Assembly Bill Number 7066 and substitute it 21 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6435, 22 Third Reading Calendar 360. 23 And on page 51, Senator Balboni 24 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 25 Transportation, Assembly Bill Number 2915A and

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(518) 371-8910 1 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 2 Number 3575A, Third Reading Calendar 806. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Substitutions 4 ordered. 5 Senator Skelos. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 7 there's a Resolution 5327 at the desk by 8 Senator Winner. If we could have the title 9 read and move for its immediate adoption. 10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 11 will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 13 Winner, Legislative Resolution Number 5327, 14 honoring Mr. Warren J. Ingham upon the 15 occasion of his designation as recipient of 16 the 2005 Senior Citizen Award by the Chemung 17 County Office for the Aging, on Wednesday, 18 May 24, 2006. 19 THE PRESIDENT: On the 20 resolution, all in favor please signify by 21 saying aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 24 (No response.) 25 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is

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(518) 371-8910 1 adopted. 2 Senator Skelos. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 4 Senator Balboni has three resolutions at the 5 desk: 5186, 5187, and 5188. If we could have 6 the titles read, move for their immediate 7 adoption, and open them up for cosponsorship. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 9 will read all three resolutions. 10 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 11 Balboni, Legislative Resolution Number 5186, 12 commending Manhasset High School upon the 13 occasion of being ranked in the Top 100 High 14 schools in the Nation by Newsweek. 15 By Senator Balboni, Legislative 16 Resolution Number 5187, commending Great Neck 17 South High School upon the occasion of being 18 ranked in the Top 100 High Schools in the 19 Nation by Newsweek. 20 And by Senator Balboni, Legislative 21 Resolution Number 5188, commending John L. 22 Miller-Great Neck North High School upon the 23 occasion of being ranked in the Top 100 High 24 Schools in the Nation by Newsweek. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Balboni.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, Madam 2 President. 3 I'd like to rise in support of the 4 resolutions and hold up a copy of Newsweek. 5 And I am green with envy that I didn't get a 6 chance to go to these high schools, as much of 7 the nation is green with envy at how well 8 New York State did. 9 Madam President, there are 15,199 10 public high schools in the United States. New 11 York has 707 public high schools. And 12 Newsweek recently listed the 100 best in 13 America. And they chose these schools based 14 upon their ability to prepare the students for 15 college. 16 And out of those 100 around the 17 nation, 17 schools were chosen in New York 18 State. Seven of those were from Long Island, 19 and three of those were from the district I 20 have the privilege of representing. 21 And representing those districts 22 here today are representatives from the 23 Manhasset School District and the Great Neck 24 North and South schools up in the gallery. 25 And what's neat about this is that

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(518) 371-8910 1 on this side of the chamber we have 2 youngsters; on this side of the chamber we 3 have achievers. You guys want to be there, 4 and one day their kids are going to be where 5 you are. And it's a neat little confluence of 6 events. 7 We talk about education in this 8 state often in terms of the poor outcomes, the 9 poorer school districts, the need for more 10 money and investment. We rarely highlight the 11 educational excellence that frankly many parts 12 of our state are known for. 13 And lest anybody in this chamber, 14 particularly from New York City, think that 15 this is the result of this incredible amount 16 of state aid going to these districts, guess 17 what, Madam President? Both these districts 18 that did so well nationally have about 19 5.5 percent state school aid. And that's 20 because their communities made a decision that 21 their futures are predicated upon great 22 schools. And that that's what they've 23 accomplished. 24 One little anecdote. There are 25 students in this group here who wanted to take

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(518) 371-8910 1 every single AP course they can that is 2 offered before they graduate high school. And 3 in a little tale that I heard from one of the 4 teachers, three of the students went to the 5 math department and said: We want to take the 6 top calculus AP course. They said: Well, you 7 can't; you're missing some parts of math that 8 you need. 9 Well, guess what? The students 10 went out, read the books, and a month later 11 went back and said: Okay, we've done all 12 that, now can we take it? I mean, it's an 13 incredible testament to what you can do when 14 you put your head down with determination and 15 you have an excellent educational background. 16 So, Madam President, I am thrilled 17 to support these resolutions. 18 And welcome to Albany, and thank 19 you for all your great work. 20 Thank you very much, Madam 21 President. 22 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of 23 the resolutions please signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (No response.) 2 THE PRESIDENT: The resolutions 3 are adopted. 4 Senator Skelos. 5 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 6 now that the resolutions are adopted, I just 7 want to point out that South Side, which is in 8 my hometown of Rockville Centre, was Number 9 32, something I'm very proud of. 10 And I also want to point out that 11 Senator Balboni did not attend any one of 12 those three schools. 13 (Laughter.) 14 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 15 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 16 I believe Senator Balboni wants the 17 resolutions to be opened up for sponsorship. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Any member who 19 does not wish to cosponsor the last three 20 resolutions please notify the desk. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 23 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 24 of the calendar. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary

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(518) 371-8910 1 will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 33, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 103, an 4 act to amend the Election Law. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 44, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 5756B, an 16 act to amend the Elder Law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 49, by Senator Little, Senate Print 3309, an 3 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 70, substituted earlier today by Member of the 15 Assembly Tokasz, Assembly Print Number 8351, 16 an act to amend the Penal Law. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect on the first of 21 November. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 25 DeFrancisco, to explain your vote.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I'm going 2 to vote aye. And I assume it makes sense that 3 signalpersons, in addition to ticket 4 inspectors, conductors, bus operators, or 5 station agents employed by a transit 6 authority, also be protected by a felony 7 punishment for someone assaulting them. 8 The only comment I have and the 9 only reluctance I have in supporting it is 10 that when you start singling out individuals, 11 it's obvious that you forget somebody and 12 you've got to get another individual in a 13 special category, like now signalpersons. 14 It just seems to me that an assault 15 should be an assault should be an assault. 16 And no matter what you happen to be, the 17 penalty should be the same. 18 So I'll vote for this bill, but I 19 just hope that we have broader-range bills in 20 the future that apply to everyone across the 21 board. 22 Thank you. 23 THE PRESIDENT: You will be 24 recorded, Senator DeFrancisco, as voting in 25 the affirmative on this bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will announce the 2 results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 138, substituted earlier by Member of the 8 Assembly Colton, Assembly Print Number 7027, 9 an act to amend the Penal Law. 10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 18 passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 222, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 2552, 21 an act to amend the Election Law. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 5 passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 244, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6471C, 8 an act to authorize the Urban Development 9 Corporation. 10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Lay it 11 aside. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid 13 aside. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 360, substituted earlier today by Member of 16 the Assembly Colton, Assembly Print Number 17 7066, an act to amend the Workers' 18 Compensation Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 381, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 2071, an 5 act to amend the Environmental Conservation 6 Law. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 520, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6927, an 18 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law 19 and the Real Property Tax Law. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 3 passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 600, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 5997, an 6 act to amend the Business Corporation Law. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 672, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2353, an 18 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 678, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6783, an 5 act authorizing the assessor of the County of 6 Nassau. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 716, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 1849A, an 18 act to amend the Tax Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Farley,

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(518) 371-8910 1 to explain your vote. 2 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 3 President. 4 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome. 5 SENATOR FARLEY: This is a very 6 significant piece of legislation, one that is 7 very important to poor people and to senior 8 citizens. It's estimated it's going to save 9 the state, Taxation and Finance says, 10 $1.2 million in a year. 11 It basically says that for state 12 income tax, that they'll follow the federal 13 guidelines and that these people won't have to 14 file an income tax on the federal equivalent 15 of those standard deduction. 16 It can mean an awful lot to poor 17 people and to senior citizens, it brings us 18 into conformity with the feds, and it's a 19 pretty significant piece of legislation and I 20 thank you for the support of it in this house. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 22 you. Senator Farley will be recorded in the 23 affirmative. 24 The Secretary will announce the 25 results.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 763, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 1079A, an 6 act to amend the Executive Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 10 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 764, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 1621A, an 19 act to amend the Correction Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 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, 55. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 806, substituted earlier today by Member of 7 the Assembly Weprin, Assembly Print Number 8 2915A, an act to amend the Public Authorities 9 Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 826, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 3207, an 22 act to amend the Judiciary Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 24 the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 935, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7515, an 10 act to amend the Retirement and Social 11 Security Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 970, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 4901, 24 an act to authorize the Independent Group Home 25 Living Program.

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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, 53. Nays, 9 2. Senators Bonacic and Larkin recorded in 10 the negative. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 971, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5257, an 15 act to amend the General Municipal Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 19 act shall take effect on the first of 20 November. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1035, by Senator Sampson, Senate Print 84, an 4 act to amend the Penal Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1051, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 199, an 17 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the first of 22 November. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1056, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 2318, an 6 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect on the first of January 11 next succeeding. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1070, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print -- 20 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 21 the day, please. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 23 bill is laid aside for the day. 24 Senator Skelos, that completes the 25 reading of the noncontroversial calendar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President, 2 if we could go to the controversial reading at 3 this time. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 5 you. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 244, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 6471C, 9 an act to authorize the Urban Development 10 Corporation. 11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: 12 Explanation, please. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 14 you. 15 Senator Nozzolio, for an 16 explanation. 17 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 18 Madam President. 19 Could you advise me which Senator 20 required the explanation? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 22 Liz Krueger. 23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 24 Madam President. 25 Madam President and my colleagues,

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(518) 371-8910 1 as we enter this Memorial Day season -- Madam 2 President, may I have some order please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Can we 4 please have quiet in the chamber. 5 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 6 Madam President. 7 Madam President and my colleagues, 8 as we enter this Memorial Day season, we all 9 will be giving pause to the tremendous 10 sacrifices that our veterans have made to 11 ensure that we here in this state and in this 12 nation enjoy the wonderful democracy that we 13 have. Those sacrifices none of us take 14 lightly. 15 What this measure before us does, 16 it in small way tries to recognize the 17 contributions and sacrifices of those veterans 18 by establishing a transfer of property from 19 the State of New York that has long been 20 declared surplus property. And we utilize a 21 hundred acres of that transfer for the 22 establishment of a veterans cemetery. 23 Not only will the cemetery be 24 established in a place of our state that is 25 significant because it is indeed in fact

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(518) 371-8910 1 hallowed ground, it is the site of the former 2 Sampson Naval and Air Force Base, where, Madam 3 President, over 400,000 young men and women 4 trained to defend our nation, to perpetuate 5 democracy in this world. They trained at the 6 site of the former Sampson Naval and Air Force 7 Base. 8 There is an active alumni group of 9 tens of thousands who are still living, 10 representing both the Navy and the Air Force, 11 who have promoted the establishment of a 12 veterans cemetery at this site. 13 Much of the site had been 14 established as a New York State park. And the 15 land adjacent to that park was acquired by the 16 State of New York in a series of transfers 17 back and forth. It was acquired back by the 18 State of New York, and the purpose at the time 19 was to utilize the property as a site for a 20 state prison. That prison was never built at 21 the site the property was acquired for. 22 The site has lain dormant for at 23 least three decades. And that it is the 24 intention of the veterans of the region and 25 the state as well as the county itself, of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Seneca, to take the property and utilize at 2 least a hundred acres of that property for a 3 veterans cemetery. 4 The additional acreage of the 5 435 -- there will be at least 90 acres set 6 aside that will go over directly to the Finger 7 Lakes Land Trust or back to the State Parks, 8 where an additional acreage will be 9 established along a lake trail that runs from 10 the park to the hamlet of Willard along the 11 east shore of Seneca Lake -- a beautiful trail 12 that the Nature Conservancy, the Finger Lakes 13 Land Trust and the State Parks would all like 14 to make sure is preserved. And this 15 legislation will establish that preservation. 16 Any land that is not used for a 17 veterans cemetery, or if for some reason the 18 veterans cemetery is not established or if for 19 some reason the parkland is not established, 20 the property will revert back to the state and 21 be held as surplus property by the Office of 22 General Services. 23 The veterans cemetery is something 24 that we indeed support, and that I hope my 25 colleagues will support it as well.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 2 you. 3 Senator Krueger. 4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 5 Madam President. If the sponsor would yield, 6 please. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 8 you. 9 Senator Nozzolio, do you yield for 10 a question? 11 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Yes, Madam 12 President. 13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 14 I very much appreciate the 15 explanation, Senator. And I certainly agree 16 with you that using a hundred acres of state 17 land for a veterans cemetery is a good and an 18 honorable thing to do. 19 And I also am delighted to hear, as 20 the bill says, that 90 acres additional will 21 be used for parkland, as you describe it, 22 along the river. That also sounds like an 23 excellent use of state land. 24 My question involves the remaining 25 245 acres. What will those 245 acres be used

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(518) 371-8910 1 for? 2 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 3 President, the acreage will be likely less 4 than 245 acres. Of course, a road system 5 needs to be -- continue to be established. 6 That will take a few acres. That land that is 7 adjacent to Route 96 is likely to be used by 8 the county for other economic development 9 purposes. 10 That we're also working with the 11 county to assure if there is a sale or a 12 transfer of the property in any way, that the 13 proceeds of that property will be utilized to 14 support the development of the veterans 15 cemetery. 16 That the reverter established for 17 the -- if none of those purposes -- or if any 18 of those purposes are not followed, property 19 will be reverted back to the state. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam 21 President, if the Senator will continue to 22 yield. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 24 you. 25 Senator Nozzolio, do you continue

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(518) 371-8910 1 to yield? 2 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Yes, Madam 3 President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 5 you. 6 The Senator yields. 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 8 Senator, my understanding was that 9 perhaps this land might be sold by the county 10 for a biofuel factory. Is that your 11 understanding? 12 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 13 President, no, it is not my understanding. To 14 the contrary, the site would not be 15 appropriate for a biofuels or any other major 16 commercial endeavor of that nature. 17 That the biofuels plant I've 18 suggested be located at the site of the former 19 Seneca Army Depot, which is a number of miles 20 away from this facility -- from this site. 21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 22 Madam President, if the sponsor 23 would continue to yield. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 25 you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Nozzolio, do you continue 2 to yield? 3 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Yes, Madam 4 President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 6 you. 7 The Senator yields. 8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 9 You've mentioned the Seneca Army 10 Depot which is nearby but is not the land 11 we're talking about. But the Seneca Army 12 Depot land had an environmental review done by 13 the Army in around 2000 showing that there 14 were some serious environmental and health 15 concerns. 16 Is that also true of this land, and 17 how would that be factored in for use by the 18 county? Or would there be a requirement of 19 some type of health assessment, as was done 20 for the Army depot land? 21 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 22 President, the property in question was the 23 site of a former naval base during World War 24 II and air force base during the Korean 25 conflict and then was -- a major portion of it

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(518) 371-8910 1 was utilized for a state hospital. There have 2 been a variety of uses that those entities 3 maintained through the history, the 25-, 4 30-year history of the property. 5 The question about environmental 6 was in large part taken care of by New York 7 State and overseen by the New York State 8 Department of Corrections when the state took 9 title to the property again. It was put into 10 private hands for a few years, deeded back, 11 acquired back from the state. 12 And as the state prepared the site 13 to create and build a medium-security prison, 14 that they took necessary steps to remove 15 asbestos from some of the decaying buildings 16 that were there, as well as some additional 17 cleanup. 18 The other environmental issues that 19 the questioner -- Senator Krueger questions 20 have nothing to do with this parcel of 21 property. That it's a totally separate base. 22 The Seneca Army Depot was much different in 23 ownership and use than the facilities at the 24 site of the former Sampson Naval and Air Force 25 Base. So two very different sites, different

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(518) 371-8910 1 issues and different environmental reviews 2 that have been undertaken. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 4 you, Senator. 5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam 6 President, if the sponsor would yield for an 7 additional question. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 9 you. 10 Senator Nozzolio, do you continue 11 to yield for an additional question? 12 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Yes, Madam 13 President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 15 you. 16 The Senator yields. 17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 18 Your information is very helpful to me, 19 Senator. Thank you. 20 This bill has gone through four 21 prints. It's now on the C print. And 22 originally it was a transfer to the county IDA 23 from the Department of Corrections, and now it 24 has moved to a Urban Development Corporation 25 ownership to the County of Seneca itself.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Could you explain to me how and why that 2 changed? 3 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: We believe 4 that it was a more direct transfer and that 5 the input of the county was an input, in the 6 regular course of business, much broader than 7 the normal policies, practices and procedures 8 of local industrial development authorities. 9 We thought -- I thought it was a 10 step in the right direction to have broader 11 review of this issue, that the county itself 12 is going to be a very important partner in the 13 development of the cemetery, that the Town of 14 Romulus has already agreed to be the custodian 15 of records here. 16 I'd like to make it clear that this 17 is not going to be a state veterans cemetery, 18 because of the myriad of procedures and 19 frustrations that the development of these 20 cemeteries have had. 21 So in order to make this a fitting 22 tribute, a permanent tribute to the wonderful 23 sacrifices of our veterans, the County of 24 Seneca is going to be a very important 25 participant. And, as I mentioned,

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(518) 371-8910 1 particularly the Town of Romulus, which has 2 already agreed to be the formal custodian of 3 the records of the cemetery as well as a 4 partner in its further development. 5 I should add parenthetically that 6 Seneca County will again be celebrating 7 Memorial Day as a special day for that region. 8 The county seat, the county capital is in the 9 Town of Waterloo. And Waterloo is the 10 nationally recognized birthplace of Memorial 11 Day. 12 So having the county's 13 participation -- full, complete participation 14 in this process made all the sense in the 15 world. 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam 17 President, on the bill. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 19 you. Senator Krueger on the bill. 20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I want to 21 thank Senator Nozzolio for his explanation and 22 also for the work he put into changing the 23 bill. 24 I had concerns about the original 25 bill when it came through committee. I think

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(518) 371-8910 1 he and I now share concerns about an IDA 2 making the decisions rather than the county 3 and the elected officials of the county and 4 the towns of his community making the 5 decisions on what will be happening with the 6 land or the 200-plus acres that are not the 7 cemetery for veterans or the park space. 8 And so I appreciate the fact that 9 this has gone through many different steps, 10 and I am very comfortable with the final 11 outcome. So I thank him for the explanation, 12 and I will be voting for the bill. 13 Thank you, Madam President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 15 you, Senator Krueger. You will be recorded in 16 the affirmative. 17 Senator Stavisky. 18 SENATOR STAVISKY: I just have 19 one question, if the sponsor would yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 21 you. 22 Senator Nozzolio, will you yield? 23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Yes, Madam 24 President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you. 2 The Senator yields. 3 SENATOR STAVISKY: Was this bill 4 on the Finance Committee calendar last year? 5 I'm trying to -- it sounds familiar. And it 6 was? It was an earlier print; is that 7 correct. 8 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Did you revise 9 your question, Senator? I couldn't tell. 10 Madam President, I heard -- I 11 wasn't sure I heard the question. Would the 12 Senator be so kind as to repeat it. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 14 you. 15 Senator Stavisky, repeat your 16 question, please. 17 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes, I'm 18 sorry. 19 Through you, Madam President, was 20 this bill brought before the Legislature last 21 year? 22 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 23 President, no. This land transfer had not 24 been before the Legislature last year. 25 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Madam President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 3 you. 4 Is there any other Senator wishing 5 to be heard? 6 If not, the debate is closed. 7 The Secretary will ring the bell. 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator 15 Nozzolio, to explain his vote. 16 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 17 Madam President. 18 Madam President, I wish to thank my 19 colleagues for supporting this important 20 measure. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Please 22 proceed. 23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam 24 President and my colleagues, thank you for 25 supporting this very important measure. But

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(518) 371-8910 1 in doing so, you're not supporting this bill 2 per se, you're supporting the sacrifices and 3 contributions made by veterans of this state 4 and across the nation. Over 400,000 Air Force 5 and naval veterans trained at the former 6 Sampson Naval Base and Air Force Base through 7 the history of its development. They left 8 this shore, some never to return. 9 And to create a lasting memorial, a 10 tribute to them, a cemetery where many wish to 11 return and make their final resting place on 12 this hallowed ground, is what is part and 13 parcel of the establishment of this 14 legislation. 15 That Waterloo, New York, just a few 16 miles away from this site, is the nationally 17 recognized birthplace of Memorial Day, and as 18 such it is a fitting tribute to our veterans. 19 Madam President and my colleagues, 20 thank you very much for your positive 21 consideration of this legislation. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank 23 you. 24 Senator Nozzolio will be recorded 25 in the affirmative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will announce the 2 results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 4 0. 5 Absent from voting: Senator 6 Parker. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The 8 bill is passed. 9 Senator Skelos, that completes the 10 reading of the controversial calendar. 11 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam 12 President. 13 Is there any further business at 14 the desk? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: No, 16 there is not, Senator. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: There being no 18 further business, I move we stand adjourned 19 until Tuesday, May 23rd, at 3:00 p.m. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On 21 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 22 Tuesday, May 23rd, at 3:00 p.m. 23 (Whereupon, at 3:48 p.m., the 24 Senate adjourned.) 25

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(518) 371-8910