Monday, February 26, 2007

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 February 26, 2007 11 3:32 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 LT. GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON, 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 come to order. 4 I would ask all those assembled to 5 please rise and recite 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, I would ask that we bow our heads in a 11 moment of 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, February 25, the Senate met pursuant 18 to adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 19 February 24, was read and approved. On 20 motion, Senate adjourned. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved. 23 Presentation of petitions. 24 Messages from the Assembly. 25 Messages from the Governor.

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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, 8 Mr. President. 9 On behalf of Senator LaValle, I 10 move that the following bill be discharged 11 from its respective committee and be 12 recommitted with instructions to strike the 13 enacting clause: Senate Print 2860. 14 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President, 16 on behalf of Senator Maziarz, on page 11 I 17 offer the following amendments to Calendar 18 Number 63, Senate Print 947, and I ask that 19 that bill retain its place on the Third 20 Reading Calendar. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 22 are received and adopted, and the bill will 23 retain its place on the Third Reading 24 Calendar. 25 Senator Skelos.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 2 there's a Resolution 574 at the desk, by 3 Senator Bruno. I ask that the title be read 4 and move for its immediate adoption. 5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 6 will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: By Senators Bruno 8 and Little, Legislative Resolution Number 574, 9 congratulating Fred Abbott upon the occasion 10 of celebrating his 100th birthday on 11 February 25, 2007. 12 THE PRESIDENT: On the 13 resolution, all those in favor please indicate 14 by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay. 17 (No response.) 18 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is 19 adopted. 20 Senator Skelos. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 22 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 23 of the calendar. 24 THE PRESIDENT: We will now have 25 the noncontroversial reading of the calendar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 21, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 78A, an 3 act to amend the Penal Law and others in -- 4 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside, 5 please. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Lay the bill 7 aside. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 49, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 1270, 10 an act to amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts 11 Law, in relation to disqualification. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 13 will read the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of January. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 17 will call the roll, please. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE PRESIDENT: Results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 50, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 1271, 25 an act to amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts

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(518) 371-8910 1 Law, in relation to the right of election. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect on the first of January. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 58, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 680 -- 12 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside, 13 please. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 60, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 856, an 17 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 18 burglary. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE PRESIDENT: Results. 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 2 passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 64, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 951, an 5 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 6 creating definitions. 7 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 9 act shall take effect on the first of 10 November. 11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 15 passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 65, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 952, an 18 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 19 relation to permitting a social worker. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the first of 23 November. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane, to 2 explain his vote. 3 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, 4 Mr. President, to explain my vote. 5 I commend the purpose of this bill, 6 to allow those facing the traumatic experience 7 of testifying before a grand jury the ability 8 to have a social worker or a rape crisis 9 counselor or a psychologist present with them 10 at the grand jury to provide emotional 11 support. And again, I think it's a great idea 12 and something we should provide in fact to 13 everyone who's testifying before a grand jury. 14 I don't think it's appropriate to 15 imply that older people as a class need more 16 emotional support than anyone else. And 17 because we're excluding those who are not 18 older from getting the emotional support, I'm 19 going to vote no on this bill in the hope that 20 the service of a professional to be with 21 someone in a grand jury is available to 22 everyone. 23 I'll be voting in the negative. 24 Thank you, Mr. President. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Duane. 2 Senator Duane will be recorded in 3 the negative. 4 The Secretary will announce the 5 results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays, 7 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 90, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 189, an 12 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 13 suspending. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE PRESIDENT: Results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 That completes the reading of the 24 noncontroversial calendar, Senator Skelos. 25 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 if we could go to the controversial reading of 2 the calendar. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 4 will ring the bell. 5 We'll have a moment to allow some 6 of the members to get into the chamber, and 7 then we will have the controversial reading of 8 the calendar. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 21, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 78A, an 12 act to amend the Penal Law and others. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini. 14 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, 15 would the sponsor yield for a question. 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Padavan 18 yields. 19 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, 20 since this bill or similar attempts have been 21 made in this house before, I'm just wondering 22 what the difference is between this bill and 23 the prior years' version. 24 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. We 25 increased the penalties, based on input from

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(518) 371-8910 1 many of the advocate organizations who felt 2 the penalties were not severe enough. We went 3 right down the line in every category 4 contained within this bill and increased those 5 penalties substantially. 6 It also expands to some degree the 7 procedures where individuals who are victims 8 can reach out for aid and assistance from both 9 local and state authorities to get an 10 opportunity to not only deal with their 11 immediate problems but also to have an 12 opportunity to deal with the trafficking. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini. 14 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, I 15 believe there's an amendment at the desk. And 16 I'd ask that the reading be waived and I be 17 heard on the amendment. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the 19 amendment is waived. 20 Senator Sabini, on the amendment. 21 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 My amendment would substitute my 24 bill, S1650, for the bill on the agenda today. 25 Senator Padavan's bill is good, and I don't

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(518) 371-8910 1 think that the perfect should be the enemy of 2 the good. That's not my goal. That's often 3 the goal of a lot of people in legislative 4 life, but not here, not in Albany, not in 5 2007. 6 I think what my bill does is more 7 likely to get a law passed, because this topic 8 has been floating around this Capitol for a 9 long time. And it's been the subject of many 10 commentaries in the media and by advocates of 11 the damage that Albany gridlock does in the 12 streets of New York State. 13 Human trafficking is a very tragic 14 crime. People are taken, mostly from other 15 countries, plopped down into areas of our 16 state -- not just New York City; there was a 17 situation in Rockland County a year ago -- and 18 forced in some sort of servitude, slavery, 19 forced labor, prostitution. 20 And while the bill that Senator 21 Padavan has produced is a good one, the 22 Assembly version has some benefits that are 23 not in this legislation that's before us 24 today. And what my bill seeks to do is what 25 we should be doing all the time in this body,

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(518) 371-8910 1 which is having a conference committee. So I 2 took it upon myself to try and take the best 3 of both the bills. 4 How is mine different than Senator 5 Padavan's? My bill does a number of very 6 tough enforcement measures, just like Senator 7 Padavan's does. But perhaps most importantly, 8 it creates a whole section of law on the 9 victims. 10 Because unlike trafficking in 11 narcotics or stolen goods, cars, these are 12 people. They have needs. Once the curtain is 13 pulled away from the horrors of human 14 trafficking, what's left is a bunch of human 15 beings, mostly who don't have identities 16 because their identities have been stripped 17 from them, they don't have immigration status 18 because they were brought here illegally, they 19 don't have healthcare, they don't have job 20 skills, they don't have dental care, they 21 don't have any social services whatsoever. 22 And so what my bill seeks to do is 23 set up a process by which people would be 24 afforded those opportunities by the social 25 service and healthcare and job providers that

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(518) 371-8910 1 are in government now. 2 Now, last year Senator Padavan and 3 I had a colloquy on this and he said that he 4 thought that, you know, the government 5 structure through law enforcement was 6 adequate. I submit to you I don't think it 7 is. And I would also submit to you that it's 8 not going to pass the Assembly in that 9 version. 10 I want to see something done. So I 11 want to advance this amendment in the hope 12 that we can come to an agreement with the 13 other house and that the Governor will see fit 14 to make this a priority and to try to change 15 what is a bad situation and show that New York 16 cares about this issue. 17 Other states have passed laws that 18 don't have problems anywhere near ours. Just 19 in my district alone, we had a situation about 20 10 years ago of the deaf Mexicans, 40 21 hearing-impaired Mexicans who were living in a 22 one-family house, forced to beg on the subway 23 by their captors, and no one knew they were 24 there for like three years. 25 And once they were there and the

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(518) 371-8910 1 people were brought to justice, the question 2 then became, what do you do with them? And 3 thankfully the City of New York opened its 4 arms and tried to effect some positive things 5 for them. But there's nothing in the law that 6 says you have to do that. 7 And frankly, hearing-impaired folks 8 may get a little more sympathy and publicity 9 living 40 to a house than a prostitution ring 10 where the girls are now forced to figure out 11 what to do with the rest of their lives and 12 their identities and their healthcare and 13 their job prospects. 14 In January of 2004, federal 15 authorities raided a home in Corona run by the 16 Carreto brothers, who lured women from all 17 over Central and South America, individually 18 promising them the dreams of America, in some 19 cases promising them marriage if they came to 20 the United States with them. And what they 21 wound up doing was the lowest form of street 22 prostitution that we can imagine. And those 23 men were arrested and brought to justice, but 24 the women who remained were left without a 25 net.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I'm happy Senator Padavan's 2 promoting this bill again. I'm happy we're 3 doing this early enough in the year where 4 perhaps we could get a conference committee. 5 But I'd like to see the process moved along. 6 That's why I offer this amendment 7 to substitute my bill, because I believe my 8 bill would pass the Assembly and become the 9 law and allow this to be an example of what we 10 hear about in campaigns all the time, that we 11 want to have the logjam broken and that 12 problems get addressed. I would like to see 13 that logjam broken now, early enough in 14 session, and address this issue. 15 And I urge my colleagues to support 16 the amendment. Thank you. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 18 Schneiderman, on the amendment. 19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 Very briefly, I want to speak in 22 support of Senator Sabini's amendment and urge 23 my colleagues that this is an excellent use of 24 our procedures in this house to try and come 25 up with a compromise bill that can pass both

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(518) 371-8910 1 houses. 2 I think that it's important to 3 recognize that we are very far from going 4 anywhere in this critical area of criminal 5 justice legislation because we keep passing 6 bills that bear little resemblance to the 7 Assembly's bill. 8 The Assembly has serious problems 9 about doing anything about trafficking, and I 10 think we should acknowledge that. Senator 11 Volker held hearings on the issue. I do 12 believe that the Senate Majority is willing to 13 go to a conference committee, as Senator 14 Sabini is urging them to do. But it's no 15 longer acceptable for us to go year after year 16 after year passing two one-house bills that 17 don't change the law when there are thousands 18 and thousands of people suffering under a 19 tremendously brutal system that, quite 20 honestly, is just another aspect of the law of 21 supply and demand. 22 There is a demand for the work of 23 these people, and it's really a tragedy that 24 we can't take stronger action to prevent human 25 trafficking in this day and age.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I would urge everyone to support 2 this amendment, and I also am going to vote 3 for Senator Padavan's bill. But we have to do 4 something this year. And that means we have 5 to move as far as we can -- and I know we've 6 moved already towards the position of some of 7 the advocates with Senator Padavan's bill and 8 with other proposals, but we have to get the 9 Assembly to the table. 10 So let's not finish this year 11 without a conference committee. I think 12 Senator Sabini is showing us the way with a 13 bill that would probably be significantly more 14 likely to pass the Assembly than the current 15 bill offered today. 16 I support the amendment. I hope 17 that we will move forward together to get 18 something done in this area of the law this 19 year. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Padavan, 22 on the amendment. 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President, 24 I'd just like to draw attention to the simple 25 fact that the amendment substitutes a bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 that would reduce the penalties that are 2 before you, contrary to what the advocates 3 have said to me, have said before a Senate 4 committee that we held in Manhattan. 5 I think you were there, were you 6 not, Senator Duane? You were there to see 7 them, hear them, listen to them. We even had 8 a victim there tell us her horrible 9 experience. And we have tried to include all 10 of that in this legislation. 11 Now, we passed this in 2005 and 12 2006. This body unanimously voted for it. 13 Last year, in the last week of the session, 14 the Assembly passed a bill. I don't fault 15 Assemblyman Dinowitz, because I believe, as I 16 and most of you, he is genuinely interested in 17 passing a bill and having it become law. What 18 his problems are with his leadership, I don't 19 know. 20 I have already gone on record 21 asking for a conference committee. And I'm 22 prepared to deal with that in any way that I 23 can. But they've got to pass a bill. We're 24 doing it early. I want them to do it early. 25 And then we'll sit down and try and iron out

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(518) 371-8910 1 any problems that we may have. 2 But this bill is about as 3 comprehensive a proposal as you could have 4 anywhere. It covers not only all of the 5 categories of criminality, from servitude to 6 sexual tourism, where individuals go on these 7 sex trips from this country and have sexual 8 activity with children. Children. Our bill 9 deals with that in a very significant way in 10 terms of the penalty. 11 We mandate that local law 12 enforcement agencies work with a victim to 13 provide an opportunity and the avenues of 14 approach with immigration authorities so that 15 they can get legal status. We provide an 16 opportunity for the victim to get financial 17 redress from the trafficker. Everything is in 18 this bill. 19 Now, you know, you can do as much 20 as there is to do and ask for your support, as 21 I'm doing, and then we have to try and 22 convince the other house. And so I would 23 suggest to the last two speakers that you help 24 me with the Assembly to get them moving on 25 this issue.

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(518) 371-8910 1 It is a form of modern-day slavery, 2 no doubt about it. The federal government 3 tells us annually we have about 20,000 4 individuals trafficked into this country, the 5 majority of them women and children, put into 6 all kinds of horrible situations and 7 circumstances. Internationally, it's a 8 billion-dollar industry. 9 But we can do something here in 10 New York, and this is what that bill is all 11 about. 12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger, 13 on the amendment. 14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 15 I appreciate Senator Padavan's 16 comments. But I also stand up to argue let's 17 pass the hostile amendment as a replacement 18 for your bill, or in addition to your bill. 19 Because while I respect the points 20 you just made about the criminal penalties -- 21 and the fact is I have met with the advocates, 22 I have spoken on panels around this issue, and 23 your description is absolutely correct. This 24 is modern-day slavery. It is modern-day 25 slavery here in this country. It is

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(518) 371-8910 1 exploitation of the most vulnerable women and 2 men -- although, by and large, women and 3 children -- in this country. 4 It also, while no one has mentioned 5 it, we're talking about the crime of 6 exploitation through tourism and basically 7 companies in the U.S. advertising travel tours 8 to foreign destinations where women can be 9 victimized in their home countries. 10 But I have to agree with my 11 colleague Senator Sabini that if you ask the 12 question why won't Assembly pass the bill, 13 it's because my understanding, in talking to 14 many, is that while the Assembly has some 15 concerns with the extreme increases in the 16 criminal penalties in this bill -- but I would 17 back you on those, Senator Padavan -- the 18 Assembly is very concerned that a bill never 19 comes out of the Senate that provides for 20 social services and healthcare for the victims 21 of human trafficking, and that they don't 22 necessarily trust us to do that separately. 23 So I think what Senator Sabini is 24 attempting in good faith to do with this 25 amendment is saying let's take the good work

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(518) 371-8910 1 of Senator Padavan and his proposals, which we 2 all agree are not yet moving in both houses, 3 let's recognize the human side of the reality 4 of the victims in these crimes, who often have 5 been so desperately harmed and damaged that 6 the truth is they can't even go back to their 7 country if that was available to them because 8 they would be so shunned and in some countries 9 perhaps even killed for the activities they 10 participated in, even though as victims, in 11 our own country. 12 And that if we are serious about 13 trying to move a bill through both houses for 14 the Governor to sign to finally implement 15 stronger criminal penalties for the abusers 16 and stronger protections for the victims, that 17 we need to try to come to some merging of the 18 minds. 19 And I think that what Senator 20 Sabini is doing here is simply trying to get 21 us started on this. So however we get there, 22 to the point of a conference committee, to the 23 point of sitting down and saying what is 24 stopping each of us in each house from moving 25 forward with one bill, that let's take today

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(518) 371-8910 1 as an opportunity, perhaps even after session 2 today, to talk about the differences between 3 your own bill and Senator Sabini's amendments, 4 and let's see if we can walk over to the 5 Assembly and move this legislation. 6 So I do thank you for your work and 7 appreciate that we are doing this relatively 8 early in the session and that that gives us 9 some time to try to move it through both 10 houses. But I believe that what Senator 11 Sabini has offered us is a road plan to get us 12 from this chamber to a bill that will pass 13 both houses and be signed by the Governor. 14 So I want to thank you both. I'll 15 be voting for the amendment and Senator 16 Padavan's bill. 17 Thank you, Mr. President. 18 THE PRESIDENT: There is an 19 amendment before the house that we'll take up 20 right after we hear from the Acting Minority 21 Leader, Senator Duane. 22 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 I want to first say that the 25 hearing that the Senate held on this issue was

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(518) 371-8910 1 really a wonderful experience. Incredibly 2 painful, but extraordinarily helpful in 3 gathering information and I think helping us 4 work towards the best possible legislation we 5 could put forward. 6 I want to particularly -- I believe 7 it was Senator Volker's committee that held 8 the hearing. It was really -- though painful 9 and tragic and sad -- outstanding. Everyone 10 got their say, and I think everyone was 11 incredibly moved. 12 Senator Padavan has been passionate 13 on this issue, and I commend him for that. 14 It's great to see and to hear him. And 15 Assemblymember Dinowitz has championed this in 16 the other house. 17 But it is absolutely true that 18 Senator Sabini's bill moves us much closer to, 19 I believe, a place where we'll have a bill 20 that the Governor could sign into law. 21 Compromise is a good thing. Blame 22 is a bad thing. Already Senator Padavan 23 changed some language in his bill that many 24 were concerned about. And just one example, 25 that someone that might be patronizing someone

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(518) 371-8910 1 who was forced into sexual slavery in order to 2 get the higher punishment would have to 3 knowingly engage in sexual activity with that 4 person that was trapped into sexual slavery. 5 The "knowingly" wasn't in there before. Now 6 it is. 7 There are other instances where 8 changes have been made to satisfy the concerns 9 that were raised before, during and since the 10 hearing. 11 Many of us have spoken to people in 12 the other house, many of us have spoken to 13 people on the other side in a very collegial 14 way on how can we make this legislation move 15 forward. 16 Again, the willingness to 17 compromise, that's a good thing. Blaming is a 18 bad thing. I don't think we can change what 19 the Assembly is doing, just like we can't 20 change what the sponsor of this legislation is 21 doing. I don't believe any of the Minority 22 members are on the bill and in a position to 23 make the changes. If we could, we would. 24 So the next best thing is to be 25 supportive of Senator Sabini's legislation,

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(518) 371-8910 1 which actually looks like something that would 2 happen at the end of the day if we had a 3 conference committee where compromise would 4 take place. Not blame, which is a bad thing, 5 but compromise, which is a good thing. 6 Now, just to show how far we've 7 come, a few years ago this issue would not 8 even have been on the floor here. How far 9 we've come that we're even willing to talk 10 about this incredibly painful, painful, 11 horrible, inhuman issue. It wasn't even 12 discussed before. It is now. We've taken 13 that giant step. Just a few more steps and we 14 would actually be able to have legislation 15 that we could all be proud to support and that 16 the Governor would be happy to sign. 17 So let's move forward on 18 compromise. Let's not do blaming. That's the 19 old way of how things are done in this 20 Legislature. The new way is to try to work 21 together, both parties, both houses. Let's 22 get a bill signed into law. I commend Senator 23 Sabini because I think he's given us a path to 24 have a bill that will become law in our state. 25 Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Are there any 2 other Senators wishing to speak on the 3 amendment? 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 5 Mr. President. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 7 Marcellino. 8 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 9 Mr. President. Senator Sabini's amendment to 10 bring up a bill, that in effect is a 11 negotiating employ and a negotiating position. 12 I take Senator Duane's comments 13 seriously. I think he's right. But the 14 negotiations ought to be done in the 15 conference committees. And should conference 16 committees be set up on this legislation, and 17 I hope they will be, then perhaps Senator 18 Sabini's position could be brought up there 19 and then, because I think that's the place. 20 Why should we negotiate with 21 ourselves? Let's negotiate with the other 22 house in a serious way. I suggest we defeat 23 the amendment and move the bill to the 24 Assembly and get them to pass a bill. Instead 25 of the last day of session or the last week of

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(518) 371-8910 1 session they did last year, let's pass it now 2 and get committees set up so we can get this 3 thing moving. 4 This bill is, in my mind, a serious 5 issue and should be dealt with immediately. 6 And we should not be negotiating here. So I 7 suggest, Senator, it might be a wise idea if 8 you would withdraw the amendment and let's 9 move this bill, seriously move it, and ask 10 that conference committees be started 11 immediately. 12 Thank you, Senator. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz. 14 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 Would Senator Sabini stand for a 17 question? 18 SENATOR SABINI: Yes. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini 20 yields for a question, Senator Diaz. 21 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Sabini, 22 it's clear that your bill and your amendment, 23 as Senator Padavan's bill -- when we talk 24 about negotiation, we're talking about your 25 amendment includes two parts, human services

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(518) 371-8910 1 and crime punishment. Right? 2 SENATOR SABINI: Right. 3 SENATOR DIAZ: What is the 4 difference between -- dealing with the crime 5 punishment part, what is the difference 6 between your amendment and Senator Padavan's 7 bill? Who has the highest grade in 8 punishment? 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini. 10 SENATOR SABINI: There's not an 11 easy answer to that question, because there's 12 different degrees of punishment depending on 13 if you are the person who is the perpetrator 14 of human trafficking, the person who 15 patronizes someone who is a victim of human 16 trafficking. 17 A lot of what my bill does is 18 create new categories of felony, as does 19 Senator Padavan's. I believe that my bill 20 more closely reflects the Assembly version on 21 penalties, which is a notch less, I believe. 22 But on the other side of the 23 ledger, what my bill does is specifically 24 outline what we have to do to get people 25 immigration status. It creates a T status, a

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(518) 371-8910 1 T nonimmigrant status or U nonimmigrant 2 status, and propels our social service people 3 to ask the immigration service for that. 4 It asks for short-term and 5 long-term housing from DHCR. It dictates that 6 agencies go into motion to help these people. 7 The difference in that as opposed 8 to Senator Padavan's bill, Senator Padavan's 9 bill says: Law enforcement who cracks the 10 case, you make the provisions. I don't think 11 those are the best people to make those 12 provisions. 13 SENATOR DIAZ: So, Mr. President, 14 through you. 15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Would Senator 17 Sabini allow some other question? 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini, 19 do you yield for a question from Senator Diaz? 20 SENATOR SABINI: Yes. 21 THE PRESIDENT: He yields. 22 SENATOR DIAZ: So are you saying, 23 Senator Sabini, that your amendment -- let me 24 be clear again -- your amendment and Senator 25 Padavan's bill, when it deals regarding the

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(518) 371-8910 1 crime punishment parts, you have equally, or 2 more, or who has less? 3 SENATOR SABINI: Mine is just, as 4 I said earlier, a notch lower on the criminal 5 aspect in an effort to more mirror the 6 Assembly version. 7 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm talking about 8 crimes and punishment. 9 SENATOR SABINI: Right. That's 10 what I said. In an effort to more closely 11 mirror the Assembly version, as an attempt to 12 have a compromise. 13 SENATOR DIAZ: So that means -- 14 Mr. President, through you, would Senator 15 Sabini continue yielding? 16 SENATOR SABINI: Yes. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini 18 continues to yield, Senator Diaz. 19 SENATOR DIAZ: So, Senator 20 Sabini, are you saying that the Assembly 21 bill's -- that the crime punishment part is 22 less than Senator Padavan's? 23 SENATOR SABINI: First of all, 24 both bills create special categories of crimes 25 that aren't in the law today. So to say it's

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(518) 371-8910 1 less is sort of telling half the story. 2 No, it's not -- what my bill does 3 is more closely reflect the Assembly's 4 version. It's a new category of crime. The 5 penalties are a notch less under felony law 6 but more closely resembles the Assembly 7 version. 8 Look, what we're trying to do 9 here -- and I heard an earlier comment that we 10 should just, you know, try to negotiate this. 11 And I'm all for that. But, you know, they say 12 that the definition of insanity is doing the 13 same thing over and over and expecting a 14 different result. So what I'm saying is maybe 15 we should try something different to try and 16 get a compromise. 17 But I think both bills are very 18 good bills. All three bills are very good 19 bills. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 21 through you, will Senator Sabini continue 22 yielding? 23 SENATOR SABINI: Yes. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The Senator 25 continues to yield, Senator Diaz.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DIAZ: So to negotiate, 2 the negotiation part means -- there are two 3 parts, the social services part and the crime 4 punishment part. Right? 5 SENATOR SABINI: Mm-hmm. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: So your amendment 7 regarding the part of social services, your 8 amendment includes or has more social services 9 for the victims than Senator Padavan's bill? 10 SENATOR SABINI: Basically the 11 same answer I'll give you on the crime end. 12 It's not more, it's more closely defined as to 13 what we want to see happen in terms of food 14 stamps, in terms of job training, in terms of 15 housing, in terms of dental, in terms of 16 counseling and who should do it. That's the 17 difference in the two bills, in my opinion. 18 Senator Padavan wants to provide 19 the same things but says it will be taken care 20 of, I guess -- in fact, last year we talked 21 about that, and he said through law 22 enforcement. Mine says we have law 23 enforcement doing the enforcement piece, let's 24 have social services people do the social 25 services piece.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz. 2 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 3 through you, will Senator Sabini -- 4 THE PRESIDENT: The Senator 5 continues to yield. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: So the bottom 7 line, if I understand you right, is that 8 Senator Padavan's bill isn't clear on who 9 would be responsible for what? 10 SENATOR SABINI: It leaves it 11 more up to the interpretation of the people 12 enforcing the law. 13 We had a colloquy, as I said 14 earlier, Senator, last year with Senator 15 Padavan where he said that he thought that the 16 Division of Criminal Justice and the Attorney 17 General and the Police Department and federal 18 agencies -- I assume he means like the INS, 19 who cooperate under this statute -- would be 20 sufficient to do the job if we give them the 21 law and the tools to do it with. 22 I don't want to leave that up to 23 the INS, the Police Department, and the 24 Attorney General's office. I think we have a 25 responsibility to the victims to spell out

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(518) 371-8910 1 under the law that they need to get all these 2 things done for them and specifically do it so 3 we're not -- if we're going to pass something, 4 do something that we can be assured that the 5 victims, the human beings, get the necessary 6 services they require. 7 In fact, in Senator Padavan's bill 8 it specifically says every police agency in 9 the state, as defined in Subsection 835 of the 10 Executive Law, shall provide these services. 11 I'm just not convinced that the Assembly will 12 pass a law that outlines it that way. 13 Let's hope they do. If my 14 amendment fails, let's hope they do. But the 15 point is, let's get something done. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you 17 Mr. President. On the amendment. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz, on 19 the amendment. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: I believe that 21 the -- listening to Senator Sabini's 22 explanation, it is clear to me that by 23 supporting Senator Sabini's amendment we will 24 be more clear and more precise in what is it 25 that we're going to do for the -- not only for

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(518) 371-8910 1 the victim, but also for the perpetrators. 2 So the punishment is clear, who's 3 going to take care of the punishment. And the 4 services for the victim are also clear, and 5 how -- the extent of the services. 6 So I asked the question to Senator 7 Sabini so in order for us to be clear that by 8 supporting Senator Sabini, even though Senator 9 Padavan's bill is a good bill that we should 10 all support in case that the amendment 11 don't -- doesn't go through, but I'm clear now 12 to support Senator Sabini's amendment. 13 Because now I understand clearer that this 14 would be better not only for the victim but 15 also will be stronger, solid in the penalty 16 for the perpetrator. 17 So thank you, Mr. President. And 18 thank you, Senator Sabini. And thank you, 19 Senator Padavan. And thank you, all of you, 20 because you Senators are wonderful. God bless 21 you all. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Are there any 23 other Senators wishing to speak on the 24 amendment? 25 The amendment stands before the

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(518) 371-8910 1 house. All those in agreement with the 2 amendment should indicate so by raising their 3 hands. 4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 5 agreement are Senators Breslin, Diaz, Dilan, 6 Duane, Gonzalez, Hassell-Thompson, C. Johnson, 7 Klein, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Oppenheimer, 8 Parker, Perkins, Sabini, Sampson, Savino, 9 Schneiderman, Serrano, Smith, Stachowski, 10 Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins, Thompson and 11 Valesky. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is 13 not agreed to. 14 On the bill, Senator Padavan. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 There is in New York State an 18 antitrafficking coalition -- I'll tell you 19 what they're made up of. Coalition Against 20 Trafficking in Women, that's one group. 21 Equality Now. GEMS. My Sisters' Place. 22 National Organization for Women-New York 23 State. National Organization for 24 Women-New York City. And, finally, an 25 organization known as Sanctuary for Families.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We've had a lot of dialogue with 2 this organization over a period of years. 3 Most recently, they asked for some changes to 4 the bill we had last year. One of them was 5 the definition of trafficking. They said our 6 definition was too narrow. They made a 7 suggestion; we incorporated it in the bill 8 before us that you voted for. 9 However, in voting for the 10 amendment, you didn't vote for that. You 11 voted for something different. You voted for 12 what they call the narrow definition. 13 They asked for an increase in 14 penalties, and I'll read it to you: "The bill 15 makes sex trafficking a C felony and labor 16 trafficking a D felony. We believe that both 17 crimes should be C violent felonies. Human 18 trafficking should not be a probation-eligible 19 offense." 20 We took that recommendation and we 21 put it in the bill. The amendment you voted 22 for did not, in addition to lesser penalties 23 right down the lines. And we did a number of 24 other things in the bill that's now before us 25 to make it better.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Now, I have no problem, as I said 2 earlier, in having dialogue. As a matter of 3 fact, Assemblyman Dinowitz and I have talked 4 on more than one occasion, and I applaud his 5 sincerity. And I hope that he prevails in 6 getting something moving over there. 7 I would urge you all to vote for 8 this bill unanimously, to send a clear message 9 that we're serious about this issue and we 10 want the Assembly to move and move now, so 11 that before the spring comes we'll have a bill 12 on the books and one that the Governor can 13 sign into law. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Is there any 15 other Senator wishing to be heard on the bill? 16 The debate is closed. 17 The Secretary will ring the bell 18 for the members that have stepped out for a 19 moment. 20 The Secretary will read the last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 23 act shall take effect on the first of 24 November. 25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 3 Marcellino. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yeah, 5 Mr. President, I'd like to explain my vote. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. 7 Senator Marcellino, to explain his vote. 8 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 9 Mr. President. You know, I appreciate the 10 work that Senator Padavan has done on this 11 very important piece of legislation. 12 And again, I urge my colleagues to 13 vote for this bill. Because as I said 14 earlier, the place for negotiation is not 15 necessarily on the floor of the chamber. It 16 should be in the conference committees that we 17 hope will be set up as a result of passage of 18 this particular piece of legislation. 19 So I will vote aye on this 20 particular bill in the hopes that the Assembly 21 will pass a version acceptable to them and 22 that the members of the respective conference 23 committees can get together, sit down and in 24 good faith negotiate to bring together a bill 25 that will do service to the people of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 State of New York. 2 Mr. President, I vote aye and urge 3 all my colleagues to do the same. Thank you. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 5 Marcellino will be recorded in the affirmative 6 on the bill. 7 The Secretary will announce the 8 results we've all been waiting for. 9 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 10 Calendar Number 21: Ayes, 55. 11 Absent from voting: Senators 12 Alesi, Connor, and C. Kruger. 13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 14 passed. 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 58, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 680, an 18 act to amend the Penal Law. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 20 will read the last section. 21 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 22 President. 23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 24 Montgomery. 25 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I would -- in the interests of time, I did 2 have a question for the sponsor, but I'm just 3 going to speak on this legislation, because 4 it's -- 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator 6 Montgomery, on the bill. 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you. 8 It really is pretty 9 straightforward, as I read it. It is a bill 10 which intends to protect children in child 11 abuse cases. So initially, when the bill was 12 passed, it was to cover children up to the age 13 of 11. I believe this bill extends that up to 14 age 14. 15 And, Mr. President, of course we 16 certainly want to protect children as well as 17 young teens. But I just -- I feel very, very 18 much conflicted about this, because it also, 19 in addition, to raising the age of the young 20 person that it covers, it extends the statute 21 of limitations, so to speak, so that once one 22 is convicted under this legislation, for the 23 next 10 years they carry the burden of having 24 been convicted under this. 25 In addition, it raises the charge

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(518) 371-8910 1 from a misdemeanor to a felony. Which means 2 now we're not talking 10 years anymore, we're 3 talking life, because a felony is a lifetime 4 charge. And we do not close -- we do not 5 expunge, we do not have a means of expunging 6 felonies at this point in time. 7 And, Mr. President, when we talk 8 about 50 percent of the African-American men 9 who are unemployed, we all must understand 10 that a large percent of that 50 percent is 11 based on felony convictions. 12 So I'm very, very cautious about 13 this process. Every time that an opportunity 14 seems to me that someone in this Legislature 15 finds a need to increase the charge. If it's 16 a misdemeanor, we always want to go up to a 17 felony. If it's a felony E, we want to go to 18 felony D. And so forth and so on. And we 19 also are increasing the time that a person is 20 charged. 21 Now, I understand, based on the 22 memo from the sponsor, that in fact there have 23 been a number of prosecutions under this law 24 as it stands, but there have been no 25 convictions. So that in and of itself, to me,

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(518) 371-8910 1 is a signal that we need to rethink this -- 2 whatever the problem as we see it that causes 3 us to want to change this legislation. 4 So for those reasons, I am going to 5 continue to oppose this bill. And I know that 6 people will try to say, Oh, soft on crime. 7 I'm not soft on crime. I don't like criminals 8 any more than anybody else. But in this 9 Legislature, we have begun to criminalize 10 everything. And eventually, everybody will be 11 a criminal in one way or another. 12 So I think we need to rethink this 13 process. And I'm not sure this is necessary. 14 And certainly, even if we want to cover up to 15 14, I think we need to think about why we 16 should make it -- suddenly change it from a 17 misdemeanor to a felony. Which is a lifetime 18 charge, Mr. President. 19 So I'm going to vote no on this 20 bill. Thank you. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Is any other 22 Senator wishing to speak on this bill? 23 The debate is closed. 24 The Secretary will ring the bell. 25 Read the last section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect on the first of 3 November. 4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE PRESIDENT: Announce the 7 results. 8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Flanagan 10 wishes to explain his vote. 11 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. To explain my vote. I just 13 want to clarify two points that were raised in 14 the comments by Senator Montgomery. 15 This bill is about expanding 16 protections for kids who are 12, 13, and 14 17 years old. We're not talking about, you know, 18 simple crimes. We're talking about aggravated 19 assault in the first, second and third degree. 20 And what we're doing is we're 21 extending the time period. We're not 22 extending the statute of limitations, we're 23 basically saying if you're convicted of a 24 previous offense, we're now going to extend 25 the look-back period from three to ten years.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I kind of look at this as common 2 sense, saying I don't mind going from three to 3 10 years. And if you are someone who has 4 abused a child and been convicted of that 5 crime twice, we're going to raise the penalty. 6 And we're going to raise it to at least an 7 E felony. 8 It's not a lifetime conviction. It 9 can go to at least an E felony, which is one 10 to three years. And for someone who's 11 committed that type of crime twice within 12 10 years, I think one to three years is not 13 much to pay at all. In fact, maybe we should 14 be contemplating making it more severe. 15 This is about protecting children. 16 It has nothing to do with race. It has 17 everything to do with justice for victims of 18 sexual assault and abuse. 19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Flanagan 20 will be recorded in the affirmative. 21 The Secretary will announce the 22 results. 23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 24 Calendar Number 58: Ayes, 55. Nays, 1. 25 Senator Montgomery recorded in the negative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Absent from voting: Senators Alesi 2 and Connor. 3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 4 passed. 5 Senator Marcellino. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 7 President, is there any further business at 8 the desk? 9 THE PRESIDENT: We have completed 10 the controversial reading of the calendar. 11 We do have a motion at the desk. 12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Can we have 13 the motion, please. 14 THE PRESIDENT: The chair 15 recognizes Senator Robach. 16 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, 17 Mr. President. On page 15 I offer the 18 following amendments to Calendar Number 114, 19 Senate Print Number 2084, and ask that the 20 said bill retain its place on Third Reading 21 Calendar, please. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 23 are received and adopted, and the bill will 24 retain its place on the Third Reading 25 Calendar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 That completes the order of 2 business, Senator Marcellino. 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 There being no further business, I 6 move we adjourn until Tuesday, February 27th, 7 at 3:00 p.m. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate is 9 adjourned until Tuesday, February 27th, at 10 3:00 p.m., intervening hours being 11 legislative. 12 (Whereupon, at 4:28 p.m., the 13 Senate adjourned.) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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