Monday, March 26, 2007

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 26, 2007 11 3:09 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 assembled to please 5 join with me in observing our Flag by reciting 6 the Pledge of Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 THE PRESIDENT: It is indeed a 10 special day here in the Senate, as it is every 11 year when we get this wonderful visit from 12 Rabbi Shmuel Butman. He and all the other 13 rabbis of the Lubavitcher movement have joined 14 us today. 15 And so let me present to you Rabbi 16 Shmuel Butman, in memory of the Grand Rebbe of 17 the Lubavitcher, Menachem Schneerson, 1902 to 18 1994, of blessed memory. 19 RABBI BUTMAN: Boy. That's so 20 nice, David. 21 Let us pray. 22 [Hebrew] Our Heavenly Father, we 23 ask You to bestow your blessings upon all the 24 members of this great institution, the State 25 Senate of the State of New York. Bestow Your

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(518) 371-8910 1 blessings on them and the members of their 2 family, for good health, long life, happiness 3 and fulfillment in all their endeavors. 4 As mentioned earlier, we are here 5 to celebrate the 105th birthday of the 6 Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. 7 Schneerson. It is customary that we say the 8 chapter in Psalms corresponding to our age, 9 but we say the next chapter, because we are 10 already in next year. So when the Rebbe 11 becomes 105 years old, he is in his 106th 12 year. 13 In the first verse of Chapter 106 14 in Psalms, written by King David, he says 15 [Hebrew], which means: Thank Almighty God, 16 for He is good and His benevolence is eternal. 17 There was a great sage, Rebbe Levi 18 Yitzchok of Berditchev, and when you would ask 19 him how he is, he would say [Hebrew], meaning: 20 [Hebrew] I thank God for the past, [Hebrew] I 21 thank God for the present. Almighty God is 22 good. [Hebrew] I thank God for His eternal 23 benevolence. 24 Each and every single one of us is 25 thanking God. We thank God for the past, we

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(518) 371-8910 1 thank God for the present, and we thank God 2 for the future, especially each and every one 3 of you, who is elected by the great people of 4 the State of New York to be their 5 representative in the past, in the present, 6 and hopefully in the future. You are the 7 custodians of goodness, kindness, honesty, 8 decency in the State of New York. 9 I remember that years ago when I 10 went to Washington, in 1991, to open the 11 United States Senate, your sister 12 organization, the Rebbe told me: "Take a 13 tzedakah pushkeh with you, and while you will 14 pray, you should offer a dollar and let 15 everybody see what charity should go for." 16 I'm going to do what the Rebbe 17 asked me to do. I'm going to make this 18 offering of one dollar, and on this dollar it 19 does say: "In God we trust." They did not 20 forget. On this dollar it says: "In God we 21 trust," and I'm making this offering. 22 The Rebbe says we live in a special 23 generation: The last generation of exile, the 24 first generation of redemption. We can bring 25 the redemption closer by doing more deeds of

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(518) 371-8910 1 goodness and kindness. Putting a dollar into 2 a pushkeh is an act of goodness and kindness. 3 So I don't want you to think this 4 is a fundraising campaign. However, if anyone 5 wants to contribute one dollar into the 6 pushkeh to do an act of goodness and kindness, 7 that would be greatly appreciated. 8 May Almighty God bestow his 9 blessings on you, as every Saturday we say a 10 special blessing for you. In our synagogues 11 on Saturday, we say [Hebrew]: All those who 12 serve the public faithfully, as you do, 13 [Hebrew], which means Almighty God himself 14 should reward their deeds. 15 We as human beings are too small to 16 be able to reward you for all the good things 17 that you do. But Almighty God Himself, in His 18 eternal benevolence, will reward you for all 19 the good things you do and for all the service 20 you offer for the great people in the State of 21 New York -- and, by extension, to all the 22 people in the United States and all the people 23 in the free world -- for health, for 24 happiness, for fulfillment in your personal 25 life and in your communal life.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And let us say amen. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Amen. 3 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 4 Mr. President. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Skelos. 6 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 7 would like to once again welcome -- I'd like 8 to welcome the distinguished Rabbi and learned 9 Rabbi to the chamber. 10 And, Rabbi, I just want to point 11 out that the dollar that the Lieutenant 12 Governor gave you, he borrowed it from me. 13 (Laughter.) 14 THE PRESIDENT: Ten more minutes 15 and we'll all agree on the avails. 16 (Laughter.) 17 THE PRESIDENT: The reading of 18 the Journal. 19 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 20 Sunday, March 25, the Senate met pursuant to 21 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, 22 March 24, was read and approved. On motion, 23 Senate adjourned. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Without 25 objection, the Journal stands approved as

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(518) 371-8910 1 read. 2 Presentation of petitions. 3 Messages from the Assembly. 4 Messages from the Governor. 5 Reports of standing committees. 6 Reports of select committees. 7 Communications and reports from 8 state officers. 9 Motions and resolutions. 10 Senator Nozzolio. 11 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 I wish to call up, on behalf of 14 Senator Marcellino, Print Number 699, recalled 15 from the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 17 will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 144, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 699, 20 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 21 Law. 22 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President, 23 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 24 this bill was passed. 25 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary

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(518) 371-8910 1 will call the roll upon reconsideration. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 4 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: On behalf of 5 Senator Marcellino, I offer the following 6 amendments. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments 8 are received and adopted. 9 Senator Nozzolio. 10 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you 11 again, Mr. President. 12 On behalf of Senator Maltese, I 13 move that the following bills be discharged 14 from their respective committees and be 15 recommitted with instructions to strike the 16 enacting clause: Senate Number 301. 17 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I 20 believe there's one substitution at the desk. 21 If we could make it at this time. 22 THE PRESIDENT: Could we have a 23 little order in the chamber. I'm having 24 trouble hearing Senator Skelos. And he did 25 lend me a dollar earlier; I'd like to hear

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(518) 371-8910 1 everything that he says. 2 The Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: On page 21, 4 Senator Oppenheimer moves to discharge, from 5 the Committee on Investigations and Government 6 Operations, Assembly Bill Number 3358 and 7 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 8 Number 1553, Third Reading Calendar 275. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Substitution 10 ordered. 11 Senator Skelos. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 13 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 14 of the calendar. 15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 16 will conduct the noncontroversial reading of 17 the calendar. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 85, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 1621, an 20 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 21 directing a review. 22 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 23 will read the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary 2 will call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE PRESIDENT: And the Secretary 5 will announce the results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 7 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 8 passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 118, by Senator Little, Senate Print 1129, an 11 act to amend the Town Law, in relation to 12 appointment. 13 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE PRESIDENT: Results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 205, by Senator Young, Senate Print 391, an 25 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in

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(518) 371-8910 1 relation to the definition of drug. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 3 section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 5 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 6 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE PRESIDENT: Results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 10 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 12 passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 227, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 2625, an 15 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 16 relation to adjusted base proportions. 17 THE PRESIDENT: By all means, 18 read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 228, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 2626, an 3 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in 4 relation to allowing. 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, 57. 12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 13 passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 229, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 827, an 16 act to amend Chapter 591 of the Laws of 2001 17 amending the Banking Law. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 244, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 223, an 3 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 4 requiring institutions. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect on the first of January 8 next succeeding. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger, 12 to explain her vote. 13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 Well, we've debated this here in 16 previous years, so I won't go through the 17 debate with Senator Larkin again. 18 But in voting no for the bill, let 19 me both make the same point that if not 20 carefully crafted and implemented, passage of 21 this legislation would violate the federal 22 FERPA law, putting federal funds in jeopardy 23 for our colleges. 24 And, second and most fundamental 25 for me, if you're 18 and you're in college,

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(518) 371-8910 1 therefore you're defined as an adult -- we 2 send you to war at 18 -- that you and your 3 parents should work out the details of when 4 you provide them grades. 5 I respect that many of my 6 colleagues feel, having college-student 7 children, that they sometimes don't know what 8 they're doing. And they want to know more, 9 and they want to be involved, and I totally 10 respect that. I don't think we have to 11 legislate it. 12 If your children don't want to give 13 you their grades from college and they are 14 dependents, don't pay the next semester's 15 tuition until you get the grades. We in the 16 Legislature don't need to be involved in this 17 relationship. 18 I vote no, Mr. President. Thank 19 you. 20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger 21 will be recorded in the negative. 22 Senator Connor, to explain his 23 vote. 24 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, 25 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 You know, when I first sat in this 2 chamber, I wasn't so many years -- just a few 3 years out of school. And I opposed raising 4 the drinking age because in my generation, in 5 the late '60s and '70s, while New York had 18, 6 we fought to get 18 in other places, because 7 at 18 my generation was sent to war, and they 8 weren't volunteers. A lot of them weren't 9 volunteers. 10 And so when FERPA first passed, I 11 thought that's great, why should the parents 12 get the grades and all. 13 You know, was it Churchill that 14 said when you get older, you know, you're a 15 fool if you're not more conservative? Well, 16 it's not that I'm older. I happen to have two 17 college-age sons, and I write the checks. And 18 yes, they're legally adults -- but, at 18, not 19 mature. 20 In conference I offered Senator 21 Krueger or any of my other colleagues who 22 don't have college-age kids that they could 23 adopt one and pay the tuition for a year and 24 see if they want to see the grades or not. 25 But I think, on a serious level,

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(518) 371-8910 1 parents ought to know the grades. More 2 importantly, they ought to know how their 3 child is doing. 4 I went to a very sad funeral on 5 Saturday of a young woman who had gone off to 6 Yale, I guess flunked her first semester, then 7 went to Columbia, flunked her second semester. 8 You know, it took a while for her parents to 9 catch on. She had a serious drug problem, and 10 unfortunately she passed away last week from 11 it. 12 So there are serious issues here. 13 And I think we ought to rethink about the role 14 parents play in the lives of 18- and 19- and 15 20-year-olds. If the school can't tell you if 16 your child is cutting all their classes 17 because they have some problem, whether it's 18 substance or whatever -- psychological -- and 19 they can't show you the grades, it's very hard 20 for parents to take steps when their son or 21 daughter is in some sort of trouble. 22 Albeit legally an adult, they are 23 still learning and finding their way, and 24 problems do develop. And I think we ought to 25 be helping parents.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So I'm voting for this bill, and I 2 applaud the sponsor for bringing it out. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Connor 4 will be recorded in the affirmative. 5 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote. 6 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 I'm also joining my colleague 9 Senator Connor in supporting this bill. I 10 believe that a parent has all the right to 11 know, as long as their children live in their 12 home and they are responsible for those 13 children, even though they are 18, 19, 14 whatever age they are. 15 For a parent to send their children 16 to a university, sometimes they have to spend 17 money paying, helping their children in their 18 education. And for them to be prevented of 19 knowing the grades or how our children are 20 doing in any university or college is 21 something that I would not support. 22 I think that parents have the 23 right. I voted last year for this bill. And 24 again, I'm voting for it again. And a parent 25 has all the right in the world to know. To

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(518) 371-8910 1 deny the parent the right to know is something 2 that the State of New York should not get 3 involved in. 4 So I'm supporting the sponsor and 5 praising the sponsor of the bill and joining 6 everyone that is voting in favor of this bill. 7 Please, Mr. Chairman, count me in 8 favor of the bill. Thank you. 9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz will 10 be recorded in the affirmative. 11 The Secretary will announce the 12 results. 13 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 14 the negative on Calendar Number 244 are 15 Senators Breslin, Duane, L. Krueger, Parker, 16 Perkins and Serrano. 17 Ayes, 54. Nays, 6. 18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 19 passed in loco parentis. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 263, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 2338, an 22 act to authorize the executive director of the 23 Office of Real Property Tax Services. 24 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE PRESIDENT: Announce the 6 results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 275, substituted earlier today by Member of 12 the Assembly Bradley, Assembly Print Number 13 3358, an act to amend the Tax Law. 14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 22 passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 310, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 3020A, an 25 act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation to

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(518) 371-8910 1 establishing. 2 THE PRESIDENT: Last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is 9 passed. 10 Senator Skelos, that completes the 11 reading of the calendar. 12 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any 13 further business to come before the Senate? 14 THE PRESIDENT: There is no 15 business at the desk, Senator Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: There being no 17 further business, I move we stand adjourned 18 until Tuesday, March 27th, at 3:00 p.m. 19 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will 20 stand adjourned until Tuesday, March 27th, at 21 3:00 p.m. 22 (Whereupon, at 3:28 p.m., the 23 Senate adjourned.) 24 25

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(518) 371-8910