Thursday, March 29, 2007

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 29, 2007 11 11:10 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JAMES W. WRIGHT, Acting 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 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 3 Senate will 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 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: In the 10 absence of clergy today, may we bow our heads 11 in a moment of silence. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Reading 15 of the Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Wednesday, March 27, the Senate met pursuant 18 to adjournment. The Journal of Tuesday, 19 March 26, was read and approved. On motion, 20 Senate adjourned. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Without 22 objection, the Journal stands approved as 23 read. 24 Presentation of petitions. 25 Messages from the Assembly.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Messages from the Governor. 2 Reports of standing committees. 3 Reports of select committees. 4 Communications and reports from 5 state officers. 6 Motions and resolutions. 7 Senator Robach. 8 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, 9 Mr. President. On page 27 I offer the 10 following amendments to Calendar Number 432, 11 Senate Print Number 177, by Senator Alesi, and 12 ask that said bill retain its place on the 13 Third Reading Calendar. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 15 amendments are received and adopted, and the 16 bill will retain its place on the Third 17 Reading Calendar. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 20 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 21 of the calendar. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 23 Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 145, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 1559,

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(518) 371-8910 1 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 2 Law, in relation to management of wildlife 3 resources. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 7 act shall take effect on the first of January. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. Nays, 12 1. Senator Serrano recorded in the negative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 178, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 17 242A, an act to amend the Labor Law, in 18 relation to prohibiting. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 22 act shall take effect on the first of January. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 2 Sabini. 3 SENATOR SABINI: To explain my 4 vote, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 6 Sabini, to explain his vote. 7 SENATOR SABINI: I want to 8 commend Senator DeFrancisco on this bill that, 9 in an earlier version, passed the Senate under 10 Senator Spano's sponsorship. The bill now has 11 better definitions, increased penalties. 12 This is an issue that I have met 13 with a number of groups on from my district, 14 women from the South Asian community, women 15 from the Southeast Asian community -- women 16 from the Philippines, from Bangladesh, from 17 Pakistan, from India. 18 And it speaks to an issue that 19 lives in our bedrooms and living rooms that 20 people don't want to talk about, but the abuse 21 of workers who are not on the books who are 22 used as domestics, whose immigration status 23 may be questionable but whose status as human 24 beings is no less important to them -- or to 25 us, frankly.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I commend the sponsor for his 2 bill. 3 Thank you. I vote in the 4 affirmative. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 6 Sabini will be recorded in the affirmative. 7 Results? 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 45. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 247, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1527, an 13 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 14 unlawful sale of dissertations. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 45. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 312, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 1691, an 2 act to authorize the Town of Marlborough, in 3 the County of Ulster. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: There 5 is a home-rule message at the desk. 6 Read the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 45. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 316, by Senator Sampson, Senate Print 115, an 17 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 18 changing sexual abuse in the second degree 19 from a Class A. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 45. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 322, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 2373, an 7 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 8 assaults. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect on the first of 13 November. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 18 DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I vote yes. 20 But I just wanted to mention that 21 if an assault on someone in a certain location 22 is an assault in the second degree, it should 23 not depend upon who that someone is. 24 Originally the law apparently said 25 assault on a train operator, a ticket

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(518) 371-8910 1 inspector, conductor, signal person, et 2 cetera, et cetera, it elevated it to a Class D 3 felony; namely, assault in the second degree. 4 Now we're adding station cleaner, terminal 5 cleaner. 6 I just don't get it. I mean, if 7 it's -- I understand the need to protect these 8 people. But if there's a need to protect 9 everybody that's working in this capacity in a 10 situation where it's a subway or a train, it 11 doesn't make much sense to me why you'd do it 12 in a way that you name every conceivable human 13 being that's working in that place and if you 14 forget one, you add another one. 15 So I think assault in the second 16 degree should be the penalty for anyone who 17 commits assault in certain circumstances. And 18 I'll vote yes, however, but I think it's a 19 better way to do it. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 21 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the 22 affirmative. 23 Senator Volker. 24 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 25 very quickly, to explain my vote.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I agree with you, Senator 2 DeFrancisco. There's only one problem. To 3 get this bill through the Assembly, I have to 4 do it this way. I don't particularly -- I 5 agree with you a hundred percent. In fact, I 6 think assault, as I've said for years, ought 7 to be upgraded on a general basis, which makes 8 very good sense. 9 Unfortunately, the way we have to 10 deal with the Assembly, this seems to be the 11 only way that we can get upgrades of this 12 type. So I agree with you a hundred percent. 13 But unfortunately, we have to deal with 14 reality, and that's why this bill. 15 I vote aye. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 17 Volker will be recorded in the affirmative. 18 Results? 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 384, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 1071, an 24 act to amend the Social Services Law, in 25 relation to abandoned infants.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 2 the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This 4 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 394, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 3588, an 13 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 14 unlawful defilement. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 16 the last section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 18 act shall take effect on the first of 19 November. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 397, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 3743, an 3 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 4 increasing port security. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 401, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 1815, an 17 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to 18 assaults at a sports contest. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the first of 23 November. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 3 Robach, to explain his vote. 4 SENATOR ROBACH: Mr. President, 5 just very briefly. I want to applaud Senator 6 Skelos for this bill. 7 Unfortunately, this is no longer a 8 minor issue in our society. I think we have 9 to do all we can -- I'm someone who loves 10 sports, loves kids, whether it's my own or 11 coaching other children. And I continue to be 12 amazed that in spite of all the efforts to 13 promote sportsmanship and civility, you know, 14 from all parts of the country, let alone the 15 state, we have a rising incidence of violence 16 not by the student athletes or the players 17 themselves, but by the parents. 18 And just this last month, we can no 19 longer even have the sectionals for high 20 school basketball at our biggest facilities, 21 something the students look forward to, 22 because the fans, including parents, were 23 fighting. We had to bring in almost the 24 entire Rochester Police Department to break up 25 that incident.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so from large-scale incidents 2 to things you see on the news of parents 3 charging out to beat up an official or someone 4 who doesn't agree with them or makes a call, I 5 think this legislation is very, very much 6 needed, in addition to us continuing to teach 7 our children about civility and the importance 8 of fair play and respecting others. 9 Maybe we could even use a little of 10 this in this chamber ourselves, respecting 11 civility and other things. 12 But I'm very happy to vote in the 13 affirmative and thank Senator Skelos for the 14 bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Senator 16 Robach will be recorded in the affirmative. 17 Senator Sabini, to explain his 18 vote. 19 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 I'm going to vote in the 22 affirmative and want to be recorded as such. 23 I don't want to go through the theater of the 24 debate that I've had through last few years 25 with the sponsor on this.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But I just wish we would amend this 2 bill to include the players. Because we've 3 had a number of incidents where players have 4 gone in and assaulted fans. And I think the 5 fans we represent deserve no less protection 6 from some of these players. 7 We've had two Yankees assault one 8 of the ground crew in Boston. We had the 9 horrible incident between the Pistons and the 10 Pacers where several fans were hurt. And then 11 we had the dreaded attack on the Italian 12 Sausage in Milwaukee, which I took personal 13 affront to. 14 So I just wish that in the 15 future -- and I assume this bill will again 16 not pass the Assembly -- that we would try to 17 find a way to protect everyone, including the 18 spectators, who pay good money to come to 19 these games and have been in some cases 20 assaulted by the players. 21 Thank you. I vote aye. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Thank 23 you. Senator Sabini will be recorded in the 24 affirmative. 25 Can we have some quiet, please, in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the chambers. 2 Results? 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 401 are 5 Senators Montgomery and Perkins. 6 Ayes, 52. Nays, 2. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 402, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 1965, an 11 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in 12 relation to peace officers appointed. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 14 the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 21 the negative on Calendar Number 402 are 22 Senators Dilan, Duane, Hassell-Thompson, 23 L. Krueger and Perkins. 24 Ayes, 49. Nays, 5. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 425, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3065 -- 4 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for 5 the day, please. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Lay the 7 bill aside for the day. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 428, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2600, an 10 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to 11 hazing. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of July. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 431, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 3828, an 24 act to amend the Family Court Act and the 25 Domestic Relations Law, in relation to

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(518) 371-8910 1 abandoned infants. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Read 3 the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 10. This 5 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: The 11 bill is passed. 12 Senator Skelos. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 14 is there any further business at the desk? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: There 16 is none. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: There being no 18 further business to come before the Senate, I 19 move we stand adjourned until Friday, 20 March 30th, at 11:00 a.m. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT WRIGHT: On 22 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 23 Friday, March 30, at 11:00 a.m. 24 (Whereupon, at 11:27 a.m., the 25 Senate adjourned.)

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(518) 371-8910