Wednesday, May 9, 2007

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 9, 2007 11 11:07 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JAMES S. ALESI, 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 ALESI: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 All rise and please repeat with me 5 the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: In the 9 absence of clergy, may we observe a moment of 10 silence. 11 (Whereupon, the assemblage 12 respected a moment of silence.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Reading 14 of the Journal. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Tuesday, May 8, the Senate met pursuant to 17 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, May 7, 18 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 19 adjourned. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Without 21 objection, the Journal stands approved as 22 read. 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 Skelos. 7 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 8 if we could adopt the Resolution Calendar at 9 this time. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: All in 11 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar say 12 aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Opposed, 15 nay. 16 (No response.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The 18 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: And I believe, 20 Mr. President, there's one substitution to be 21 made at this time. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The 23 Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: On page 43, 25 Senator Volker moves to discharge, from the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Committee on Local Government, Assembly Bill 2 Number 5381 and substitute it for the 3 identical Senate Bill Number 1963, Third 4 Reading Calendar 797. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: 6 Substitution ordered. 7 Senator Skelos. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 9 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading 10 of the calendar. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 27, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 224A, an 15 act to amend the Labor Law, the Arts and 16 Cultural Affairs Law, and the General Business 17 Law. 18 SENATOR LARKIN: Lay it aside for 19 the day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Lay the 21 bill aside for the day. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 309, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 2397A, an 24 act to amend the Insurance Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the

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(518) 371-8910 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 3 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 462, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 3827, an 12 act to amend the Civil Service Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 476, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 2045A, 25 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 2 last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 6 roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 10 is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 536, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 3909, an 13 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 15 last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41. Nays, 22 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 24 is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 582, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 1591, an 2 act to amend the Religious Corporations Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 4 last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 8 roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42. Nays, 11 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 583, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 1684, an 16 act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 43. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 600, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 245A, an 4 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 6 last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 13 the negative on Calendar Number 600 are 14 Senators Connor, L. Krueger and Sabini. 15 Ayes, 40. Nays, 3. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 620, by Senator Little, Senate Print 1052, an 20 act to establish a blue ribbon commission. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the

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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 4 Bonacic, to explain his vote. 5 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 I'm going to support this bill, but 8 I'm voting with frustration. This is a bill 9 to form a blue ribbon commission on property 10 tax reform. Don't you think it's time that we 11 stopped studying and we start acting on 12 legislation? 13 Now, this is no reflection on our 14 sponsor, because I know she is frustrated 15 wanting to change the property tax system, the 16 way we finance education. 17 You know, many times people will 18 say there is no difference between the Senate 19 and the Assembly. On the issue of property 20 taxes, there is a dramatic difference between 21 the Senate and the Assembly. 22 I don't know of any issue that's 23 more important on the Island, Hudson Valley, 24 than school property taxes. And this Senate 25 has at least on four occasions done study

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(518) 371-8910 1 bills, and on two occasions we actually voted 2 on solutions. 3 For example, Senator Leibell, 4 Senator Saland, and myself last year, in June 5 of 2006, passed a bill to phase out the 6 property taxes for primary homeowners. 7 What does the Assembly do? The 8 representatives from the Island, the 9 representatives from the Assembly, they do 10 nothing. And if they're doing nothing on this 11 important issue, maybe they shouldn't be here. 12 Maybe they're pretending. But they're putting 13 their head in the sand. They're not looking 14 for a solution. 15 Let me just tell you what the 16 Assembly is studying, if I may, real quick. 17 Bill 1677, last year, studied the feasibility 18 of developing a regulatory system to achieve 19 sustainable development. Assembly 8557, in 20 June of 2005, passed a bill requiring the 21 Comptroller to study the deferred retirement 22 option plans of public employees. Let me tell 23 you, New Yorkers are deferring retirement for 24 having to pay the property taxes. 25 And get a load of this one. In

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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly 8873, last March, a study by the 2 Electronic Procurement Council on the 3 implementation of a statewide electronic 4 procurement notification system. I don't even 5 know what this is, but they're studying it. 6 I don't mean to be glib. I know 7 it's important to some sponsors. But on 8 May 15th our voters are going to have to 9 decide: Better-quality education, more 10 expensive housing? 11 I will end this by saying how long 12 are we going to wait for the Assembly to act. 13 A newspaper last year entitled, ironically, 14 the Sullivan County Democrat stated: "The 15 New York Senate has done its part for school 16 property tax reduction. Now it's the 17 Assembly's turn." 18 We're waiting for Sheldon Silver. 19 We're waiting for the Assembly majority. I 20 vote aye. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 23 Bonacic will be recorded in the affirmative. 24 Senator Marcellino, to explain his 25 vote.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, thank 2 you, Mr. President. I rise to explain my vote 3 on this issue. 4 This issue, combined with Senator 5 Bruno's bill that we debated the other day on 6 rebate checks for seniors, Senator Morahan's 7 bill we just passed a few moments ago on 8 capping the property tax on seniors for school 9 taxes, a whole host of other measures that 10 have passed -- I know other members of this 11 house have legislation relating to property 12 tax relief. This is an important issue. This 13 is a very important issue to our constituents. 14 And I share my colleagues' 15 frustration at the inaction of the other 16 chamber. We need to get some motion. People 17 are in need. We have senior citizens on fixed 18 incomes that are making choices between food, 19 medication, or paying their bills. This is 20 not the way we should be. This is not -- this 21 should not happen in this great country and in 22 this great state. 23 We need to find a way to ease the 24 burden on the hard-pressed, overburdened 25 taxpayers of this state. Property tax is the

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(518) 371-8910 1 most onerous of the taxes that we have, and we 2 should find a way to relieve that burden. And 3 we ask the other house to step up to the 4 plate, come to the table, pass some version of 5 these bills, let's get it to conference 6 committees so we can get some resolution to 7 this issue. 8 The public is screaming for 9 results. My mail -- and I bet each and every 10 one of you are getting the same mail that I'm 11 getting, both email and snail mail. It's all 12 coming the same way: Help us with property 13 taxes. Help us with property taxes. That's 14 the scream, that's the cry from all of our 15 residents, and it doesn't matter what their 16 age range. 17 We need to do something, or we're 18 going to drive everyone out of this state -- 19 businesses, older generations, and the young 20 who won't be able to come here because they 21 won't be able to afford to live here. 22 I support this bill, the others 23 that were mentioned. I intend to vote aye and 24 urge us all to do so, and let's send a message 25 and get the other house moving.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 3 Marcellino will be recorded in the 4 affirmative. 5 Senator Little, to explain her 6 vote. 7 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 Obviously property taxes are not 10 just the number-one issue in my district but 11 the number-one issue in many of your districts 12 as well. 13 And in the last few years, I have 14 had a number of property tax organizations 15 crop up within the district because people are 16 so concerned about their ability to pay their 17 property taxes and to be able to remain in 18 their home. 19 Just yesterday I had a woman in my 20 office who bought a house four years ago for 21 $130,000. She has done absolutely nothing to 22 her house -- I mean, keep it clean and all 23 that kind of good stuff -- but as far as 24 improvements or changes to the house. She 25 received her new assessment this week,

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(518) 371-8910 1 $230,000 assessed value on her home. Her 2 taxes will increase. Her ability to pay those 3 taxes has not increased at the same rate. 4 Now, I sponsor a myriad of bills. 5 I have bills on "circuit breaker," cycle bill 6 for assessment, deferments for senior 7 citizens. We have all kinds of bills, and all 8 of my colleagues have important property tax 9 bills. I sponsor tax-exempt bills with my 10 colleague Senator Bonacic. We're looking at 11 every possible way of helping relieve our 12 citizens of property taxes. 13 And we need consensus. We need to 14 know how we can do this the best way so that 15 that it helps the entire state. This blue 16 ribbon commission is so critical. These will 17 be experts, financial experts who will address 18 the issue, who will look at all the ideas, who 19 will look at what other states do, who will 20 come up with a new way of doing property taxes 21 in our state, a new way of funding our 22 schools, a better way of assessments and real 23 property values. 24 Assemblywoman Sandra Galef sponsors 25 this bill in the Assembly. We have an

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(518) 371-8910 1 opportunity to not only pass this bill here 2 but to encourage our Assembly colleagues to 3 pass this bill in the Assembly so that we can 4 move forward and have real property tax relief 5 and get rid of this label that New York State 6 has as having the highest local property 7 taxes, among the highest local property taxes 8 in the entire country. 9 I certainly will vote aye on this 10 bill and hope everyone else will as well. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 13 Little will be recorded in the affirmative. 14 Senator Craig Johnson, to explain 15 his vote. 16 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank 17 you, Mr. President. 18 I rise to support this bill and the 19 creation of a blue ribbon panel. It's 20 interesting that my colleague Senator Little, 21 who is the chairwoman of the Local Governments 22 Committee -- and every week when we meet in 23 the Local Governments Committee, we see time 24 and time again bills coming before our 25 committee talking about property tax exemption

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(518) 371-8910 1 for various groups. And the bills are getting 2 longer and the calendar is growing longer for 3 people seeking exemptions. 4 And we go home and we talk with our 5 residents, who -- May 15th is coming up in the 6 school budget votes. And the schools are 7 nervous because they have to raise taxes, 8 notwithstanding our hard efforts to bring more 9 school aid to our localities. They're nervous 10 about whether or not these budgets are going 11 to pass, because they have to raise property 12 taxes to meet the growing healthcare costs and 13 the pension costs and the utility costs that 14 our schools face. 15 This bill is very simple. It's 16 just asking us to talk about it, talk about 17 property tax reform. We're not being asked to 18 do anything other than create a commission to 19 talk about alternatives, examine alternatives. 20 Senator Little and I have been 21 appointed -- for Senator Little, by Senator 22 Bruno; and for myself, by my leader, Senator 23 Smith -- to the Governor's commission on 24 examining efficiencies in local government. 25 And that's one aspect to help reduce the

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(518) 371-8910 1 property taxes facing our citizens. 2 What a perfect complement is this 3 commission to address property taxes as a 4 whole, all throughout, and explore the 5 alternatives, the possible alternatives. All 6 we're saying to our brethren in the Assembly 7 is let's talk about it, let's go around the 8 state, let's have people appointed to the 9 commission, present testimony and address the 10 issue. 11 In Suffolk County they appointed a 12 commission to study the issue on the property 13 taxes, and they came back with an interesting 14 report about what may or may not be 15 appropriate. But they did it. We should do 16 the same thing all across the state in our 17 other counties, because it's important to talk 18 about and address the issues. And a lot of 19 unknowns. And it's very simple to say this is 20 an answer when we don't know if it's going to 21 be based upon the empirical evidence. 22 I urge the Assembly majority to 23 pass this bill, to move it on to the Governor, 24 for the Governor to sign it into law and to 25 create this commission so we can get the hard

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(518) 371-8910 1 evidence, the hard answers to address this 2 issue. Because it's time we provide real 3 relief and real reform to our residents. 4 I vote aye on the bill, 5 Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 7 Craig Johnson will be recorded in the 8 affirmative. 9 Senator Klein, to explain his vote. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 I too rise in favor of this 13 legislation. But I do agree with my colleague 14 Senator Bonacic. I think the public wants 15 some answers. And I think it's rather 16 frustrating that even though we increased 17 state aid in this year's budget, a very 18 interesting article came out in the New York 19 Times where property taxes are still 20 increasing. Even in my district, while maybe 21 they're not higher than they were the year 22 before, property taxes still increase. 23 So I think part of me says we need 24 to have action, but another part of me says we 25 need a study like this. Because I think

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(518) 371-8910 1 there's no one answer to the problem of rising 2 property taxes. 3 I think it's a combination of maybe 4 looking towards something like an income tax, 5 which was proposed by Senator Saland in his 6 legislation, giving the individual school 7 district the authority to -- they're looking 8 at increasing sales taxes, as I said, a local 9 income tax, giving them full authority to 10 decide how they want to raise money. 11 This is also a problem, as I see 12 it, in Westchester County and I think around 13 the state. I never get a complaint about 14 local school districts as far as education is 15 concerned in any of my communities. They love 16 the school system, they all agree their 17 children are getting a first-rate education. 18 But at the same time, they are complaining 19 about forever-increasing property taxes. 20 So I think it's a combination of 21 things. I think we have to take a good hard 22 look on how we can sort of shift the burden to 23 another source of state revenue to pay for 24 education. And I think also, as Senator 25 Johnson said, we do have to take a close look

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(518) 371-8910 1 on how local school districts spend the 2 taxpayers' money. 3 You know, I'm not saying they're 4 doing the wrong thing, because as I said 5 before, the education in these school 6 districts is second to none. But at the same 7 time, maybe they can do a better job. Maybe 8 they can do a more efficient job. But I think 9 certainly it's incumbent upon us to do 10 something, because the taxpayers are watching. 11 I vote yes on this legislation. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 13 Klein will be recorded in the affirmative. 14 Senator Liz Krueger, to explain her 15 vote. 16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 I also rise to support the bill and 19 to thank the sponsor. 20 You know, it's not that simple. 21 Yes, the public wants a reduction in property 22 taxes. Yes, property taxes have gotten out of 23 hand. But to disagree with my esteemed 24 colleague Senator Bonacic, I think one of the 25 reasons that we haven't moved bills through

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(518) 371-8910 1 both houses is because we attempt individual 2 bills that might sound good but leave other 3 big gaps in answering the question. 4 And so what I like about this bill 5 and this commission, task force, is it says we 6 need to look at property taxes in relationship 7 to other alternative sources of funding. 8 As I've said many times, we won't 9 get to the underlying problems of inequity and 10 skyrocketing property taxes or school funding 11 until we're prepared to look at the entire 12 state tax policy system and its relationship 13 to our local taxes. 14 And so this blue ribbon commission, 15 while it's specific to property taxes, talks 16 about looking at the alternative sources of 17 funding to property taxes. I would argue it 18 even explores the question is taxing property 19 the most equitable and progressive way to meet 20 our government's responsibilities to provide 21 public services, because I'm a big believer in 22 reevaluating the regressive nature of our tax 23 policy at the state and local level and 24 shifting us to a progressive model of tax 25 policy.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I also appreciate that this task 2 force or commission would be looking at 3 assessments. Because we all know that we have 4 serious problems with inequitable modeling of 5 assessments. We all know that we've got too 6 many different units of government doing 7 assessments in the state of New York, which is 8 driving up administrative costs and increasing 9 inequities not just from county to county but 10 sometimes from township to township just next 11 door to each other. 12 I also like that this bill says we 13 have to look at how we put controls on 14 spending, how we evaluate how these monies are 15 being used in school budgets and at the local 16 level. 17 So I don't think it's as simple as 18 some of my colleagues might like it to be. 19 And I want to applaud both Assemblywoman Galef 20 and Senator Betty Little for continuing year 21 after year to try to move this legislation so 22 that legislators, experts sit down and try to 23 answer these very tough questions in a 24 holistic manner of bringing together all the 25 questions about how do we ensure that we have

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(518) 371-8910 1 the adequate revenue to provide the public 2 services at the local level and the state 3 level that we must and we all support, in the 4 most equitable, fair and progressive way that 5 we can through our tax policies. 6 So I actually think it's a big job, 7 and I hope we do get started on it. And so 8 I'm very happy to support this bill and look 9 forward to working with my colleagues on this. 10 Thank you, Senator. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 12 Liz Krueger will be recorded in the 13 affirmative. 14 Announce the results, please. 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 16 0. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 18 is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 648, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4034, an 21 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 23 last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 25 act shall take effect immediately.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 2 roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays, 5 2. Senators Duane and Montgomery recorded in 6 the negative. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 656, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4212, an 11 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of January. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 708, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 1653, an 24 act to amend the Executive Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the

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(518) 371-8910 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 737, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 4728, an 12 act to amend the Family Court Act. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect on the first of 17 November. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 19 roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 22 Montgomery. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 24 Mr. President. I want to explain my vote. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Montgomery, to explain her vote. 2 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 3 Mr. President, I have voted no in the past, 4 along with a number of my colleagues, and I 5 continue to oppose this legislation. 6 And one of the reasons is it seems 7 to remove conditional discharge, which often 8 is used, it's my understanding, by district 9 attorneys and possibly judges to create an 10 alternative to a criminal charge. And since 11 this legislation is specifically targeting 12 juveniles, it creates a criminal offense which 13 will remain with them for life for desecration 14 of a cemetery. 15 I think that we need to rethink how 16 many different ways we in this Legislature, 17 this legislative body, are creating pathways 18 to criminal charges. Now, we just the last 19 vote taken, or the last vote that I voted no 20 on, would make it possible for anyone who is 21 hiring a police officer or peace officer to 22 open up juvenile records and for petty crimes, 23 as it is described in the memo, they would be 24 able to deny employment. 25 So we need to really think about

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(518) 371-8910 1 how many ways we create problems for young 2 people, just based on the fact that they have 3 poor judgment and are mischievous and get into 4 various and sundry activities that they should 5 not, but nonetheless we make them pay for the 6 rest of their lives. 7 So I'm going to continue to vote in 8 the negative on this legislation, and I urge 9 my colleagues to join me in opposing this 10 legislation. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 12 Montgomery will be recorded in the negative. 13 Announce the results. 14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 15 the negative on Calendar Number 737 are 16 Senators Duane, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger 17 and Montgomery. 18 Ayes, 53. Nays, 4. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 20 is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 759, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 480, an 23 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 25 last section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 4 roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 8 is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 761, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 578, an 11 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of 16 November. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 21 Stewart-Cousins, to explain her vote. 22 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Yes, to 23 explain my vote. 24 I want to rise to support this 25 legislation and thank Senator Larkin for

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(518) 371-8910 1 talking about safety on baseball fields and 2 football fields and all-terrain vehicles not 3 being able to be driven on those fields 4 without permission. 5 And because we're talking about 6 baseball and football and school fields, I 7 wanted to certainly acknowledge the fact that 8 there is a class, a student government class 9 here from the great city of Yonkers, from 10 Emerson Middle School, with their teacher, 11 Ms. Hartwell. 12 So I want you all to enjoy your 13 time in Albany. Be very, very careful in 14 terms of how you drive when you eventually 15 drive. And know that we are here making laws 16 that will benefit you. 17 So I thank you and of course want 18 to be recorded in the affirmative. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Senator 20 Stewart-Cousins will be recorded in the 21 affirmative. 22 Announce the results. 23 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 24 the negative on Calendar Number 761 are 25 Senators Farley, Griffo, Libous, Little,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Maziarz, Seward, Winner and Young. 2 Ayes, 49. Nays, 8. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 4 is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 763, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 885, an 7 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 11 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 764, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 903, an 20 act to amend the Highway Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the

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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 4 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 6 is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 765, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 1485, an 9 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 11 last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 15 roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 19 is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 766, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 1655, an 22 act to amend the Highway Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 24 last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 3 roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 7 is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 791, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 514, an 10 ability to incorporate the Hartland Volunteer 11 Exempt Firefighter's Benevolent Association. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 13 last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 17 roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 21 is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 794, by Senator Little, Senate Print 1138, an 24 act to amend the Local Finance Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the

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(518) 371-8910 1 last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 5 roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 9 is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 796, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 1481, an 12 act to amend the Village Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 14 last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 18 roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 22 is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 797, substituted earlier today by Member of 25 the Assembly Schimminger, Assembly Print

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(518) 371-8910 1 Number 5381, an act to amend the Local Finance 2 Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: There is 4 a home-rule message at the desk. 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 9 roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 13 is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 800, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 2772, an 16 act to amend the General Municipal Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 18 last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 22 roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 801, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 3229, an 4 act to amend the General Municipal Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 6 last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 8 act shall take effect on the first of January. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 10 roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 14 is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 802, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 3232, an 17 act to amend the General Municipal Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 19 last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect on the first of July 22 next succeeding. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 24 roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 3 is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 807, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 3878, an 6 act in relation to authorizing the Town of 7 Potter, County of Yates. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 9 last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the 13 roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 17 is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 823, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3903, an 20 act to amend the Education Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Read the 22 last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Call the

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(518) 371-8910 1 roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 4 the negative on Calendar Number 823 are 5 Senators Adams, Duane, Hassell-Thompson, 6 Montgomery and Sampson. 7 Ayes, 53. Nays, 5. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The bill 9 is passed. 10 Senator Wright, that completes the 11 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 12 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 Is there any other business at the 15 desk? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: Thank 17 you, Senator Wright. Senator Nozzolio has a 18 motion. 19 Senator Nozzolio. 20 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 21 Senator Alesi. 22 Mr. President, I'd like to call up 23 my bill, Print Number 3672, recalled from the 24 Assembly, which is now at the desk. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 529, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 3672, 4 an act to amend the Penal Law. 5 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President, 6 I now move to reconsider the vote by which 7 this bill was passed and ask that the bill be 8 restored to the order of third reading. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: The 10 Secretary will call the roll on 11 reconsideration. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 14 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President. 15 I now move to recommit Senate Print Number 16 3672, Calendar Number 529 on the order of 17 third reading, to the Committee on Codes, with 18 instructions to said committee to strike the 19 enacting clause. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: So 21 ordered. 22 Senator Wright. 23 SENATOR WRIGHT: Mr. President, 24 there being no further business, I move we 25 adjourn until Monday, May 14th, at 3:00 p.m.,

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(518) 371-8910 1 intervening days being legislative days. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT ALESI: On 3 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 4 Monday, May 14th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening 5 days being legislative days. 6 (Whereupon, at 11:43 a.m., the 7 Senate adjourned.) 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910