Thursday, June 14, 2007

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 June 14, 2007 11 11:08 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JOSEPH A. GRIFFO, 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 GRIFFO: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 The chair recognizes Senator Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, 6 Mr. President and colleagues. 7 We are joined here this morning on 8 a very, very happy occasion. Father Catena is 9 going to give the invocation and the prayer. 10 And Father Paul Catena, five years an 11 associate of ours here in the Senate. 12 And we are honored and privileged 13 that Father Paul Catena, after five years in 14 the Senate, despite that service, went on to 15 this great glory serving the Lord, serving an 16 extended public in such a holy and 17 distinguished way. A teacher, a reporter 18 early in his life, a man who has lived and 19 understands the complexities of life. 20 And, Father, thank you for joining 21 us. Thank you for your thoughts and your 22 prayers. And let me just share with you, on 23 behalf of my colleagues, this year more than 24 other we need you intervening with the 25 Almighty on our behalf mutually.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you very much, Father. 2 Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: We now 4 ask the Reverend Father Paul Catena, whose 5 home parish is St. Michael's Church in 6 Amsterdam, who has been assigned to Christ the 7 King in Westmere, to give us the invocation. 8 REVEREND CATENA: Almighty God, 9 You are the God of our ancestors, the God of 10 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. You have made each 11 of us in Your image and have blessed us with 12 so much, so that we can know You, love You and 13 serve You by the way we treat one another. 14 Help these children of Yours now 15 and always to enact laws that will benefit all 16 our brothers and sisters, not only a select 17 few. Fill them with Your wisdom and Your 18 strength so that Your justice may always 19 prevail. 20 Amen. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 22 you, Father. God bless you. 23 I would now ask on this Flag Day 24 that you all join me in the recital of the 25 Pledge of Allegiance to our Flag.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 2 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 4 Bruno. 5 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, I 6 would just like to add, Senator Farley is -- 7 he is -- where is he? He is representing the 8 Senate here elsewhere in the Capitol. And 9 Father Catena is a constituent and, I know, a 10 close personal friend. 11 So I want to just extend his best 12 wishes and his regards, because we asked him 13 to be representative elsewhere. He may be 14 back here before we break. 15 And, Senator Saland -- 16 Mr. President, would you recognize Senator 17 Saland. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 19 Saland. 20 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 It seems like eons ago I had the 23 good fortune of working with a young man by 24 the name of Paul Catena who was a Senate 25 fellow when I was the chair of the Senate

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(518) 371-8910 1 Children and Families Committee. An 2 extraordinary gentleman, extraordinarily 3 conscientious, as decent of a human being as 4 I've ever had the good fortune of knowing. 5 There may have been a time when 6 someone considered what we did a high calling. 7 I doubt if there's anybody who would subscribe 8 to that at this particular time. But 9 certainly Father Catena has gone to a much 10 higher calling. We are all proud of his 11 accomplishments. 12 We all take great comfort in 13 knowing that you as a man of the cloth will be 14 there to spread your message, not only to your 15 flock but really to the greater universe. And 16 we thank you and wish you nothing but the best 17 in all your endeavors. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 19 Little. 20 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 Although I was not in the Senate 23 when this young fellow was serving in the 24 Senate, I did have the wonderful opportunity 25 of attending Father Catena's ordination on

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(518) 371-8910 1 Saturday, since my son also had a friend who 2 was ordained at the same time. 3 But it was a wonderful experience, 4 and very inspiring and spiritual. And I just 5 want to thank you, Father, for your career 6 choice and wish you the best. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 9 Morahan. 10 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 I knew Father Paul in another life, 13 one that was fraught with politics, one that 14 was doing the battle of the people, where he 15 stood out not so much more the political 16 campaigning -- on his own time, by the way -- 17 but more he showed a difference then. 18 And he was the glue that kept so 19 many young people who were involved in this 20 activity together, motivated. And all sensed 21 that Paul was a very special person and a very 22 decent young man. 23 We saw him go through the struggles 24 of making a career decision to answer the 25 call, to assume his vocation, and all that it

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(518) 371-8910 1 meant and all the hardships that he would have 2 to face till he got to this past weekend and 3 his ordination. 4 So I stand here to congratulate 5 you, Father, proud to call you "Father," and 6 wish you all the best. And I know those 7 parishioners who you will serve will really 8 know they have a very special leader, a very 9 special shepherd. God bless you. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: We have 12 been honored today to welcome back to the 13 chamber Father Catena. We wish him well, and 14 we feel much more enriched knowing that you 15 will be praying for all of us in this chamber. 16 I ask you now to all join me in a 17 round of applause in celebration of his 18 priesthood. 19 (Sustained applause.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 reading of the Journal. 22 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 23 Wednesday, June 13, the Senate met pursuant to 24 adjournment. The Journal of Tuesday, June 12, 25 was read and approved. On motion, Senate

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(518) 371-8910 1 adjourned. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without 3 objection, the Journal stands approved as 4 read. 5 Presentation of petitions. 6 Messages from the Assembly. 7 Messages from the Governor. 8 Reports of standing committees. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Senator O. 11 Johnson, from the Committee on Finance, 12 reports the following nomination: 13 As a member of the Crime Victims 14 Board, Tina Marie Stanford, of Buffalo. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 16 Johnson. 17 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I rise to 18 move the nomination. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 20 Thompson. 21 SENATOR THOMPSON: Yes, 22 Mr. President, I rise to support the 23 nomination of Tina Marie Stanford, someone 24 that I've known for several years now, someone 25 who has a very good character, a very good

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(518) 371-8910 1 professional ability. 2 I think that Governor Spitzer, the 3 chairman of the Crime Committee, in addition 4 to the members of the Finance Committee, have 5 supported this nomination. I think she's 6 going to do an awesome job. She did a very 7 good job as an assistant district attorney in 8 Erie County. 9 And I believe that she's going to 10 be an asset to this administration, and I 11 proudly will vote for Tina Marie Stanford as 12 chairperson of the Crime Victims Board. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 15 you, Senator Thompson. 16 The chair recognizes Senator Adams. 17 SENATOR ADAMS: Yeah, thank you. 18 I too stand as a member of the Crime Victims 19 and Correction Committee. I had an 20 opportunity to speak with Ms. Tina Marie 21 Stanford. And I think it's important that we 22 take a new look at how we treat victims. 23 Often, as they go through the 24 system, they are victimized not only by the 25 crime but they're victimized by the system

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(518) 371-8910 1 itself. And I'm encouraged and I'm excited 2 about what Ms. Stanford is going to bring to 3 the board. And we would like to ensure that 4 we could assist her in any way possible. 5 I think it's a new direction that 6 we're talking on treating victims and making 7 sure that victims are received with the level 8 of respect and dignity as they overcome some 9 of the crimes that impact their lives. 10 So I too stand in support of this 11 nomination. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 13 Nozzolio. 14 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. On the nomination. 16 Mr. President and my colleagues, 17 Ms. Stanford came before the Crime Victims, 18 Crime and Corrections Committee with 19 tremendous qualifications. And I applaud this 20 nomination; the committee supported it 21 unanimously. 22 And that the perspective brought to 23 the Crime Victims Board from a prosecutor, one 24 who has experience in developing cases on 25 behalf of victims, is great training to be an

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(518) 371-8910 1 advocate for victims on this important 2 position on the Crime Victims Board. 3 One of the things that the 4 committee addressed is that the Crime Victims 5 Board is a board that helps provide justice in 6 the form of compensation to victims. And that 7 when that compensation, when the claim of a 8 crime victim is delayed, that becomes justice 9 denied. 10 Justice denied was the situation of 11 a Crime Victims Board for too long. But I'm 12 very pleased that over the last decade the 13 Crime Victims Board has aggressively sought to 14 reduce the time frame when a claim comes 15 before them and in so doing provides victims 16 with compensation in a much swifter way. 17 The backlog of cases has been 18 reduced significantly. We hope that 19 Ms. Stanford, as a member of that board, will 20 focus continually on providing victims with 21 their claims and satisfying those claims to 22 the board as soon as possible, to keep the 23 backlog down and to keep the claims current 24 and compensation coming as soon as absolutely 25 possible.

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(518) 371-8910 1 With that, I heartily endorse this 2 candidacy. I support it fully and will be 3 voting in the affirmative and urge all our 4 colleagues to do the same. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 6 you, Senator Nozzolio. 7 The chair recognizes Senator 8 Volker. 9 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 10 I've met Tina Stanford. She seems like a very 11 wonderful and very intelligent woman. 12 And I must tell you that, for those 13 of you from New York City, she's a graduate 14 from Fordham. And fortunately she came back 15 to Buffalo and graduated with her juris doctor 16 from SUNY Buffalo. 17 She has a history with the district 18 attorney's office in Buffalo, is very well 19 respected. And I have no question that she 20 will do a fine job on the Crime Victims Board. 21 Congratulations. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 23 you, Senator Volker. 24 The question is on the confirmation 25 of Tina Marie Stanford as a member of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Crime Victims Board. All in favor signify by 2 saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 nominee is confirmed. 9 We want to congratulate Tina Marie 10 Stanford and also recognize members of her 11 family who are in the gallery with us today -- 12 her aunt Dr. Evelyn Kerney, her daughters 13 Devin and Skyler, and her son James. 14 Our congratulations and best 15 wishes. 16 (Applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 20 the State Board of Parole, Sally A. Thompson, 21 of Putnam Valley. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 23 Johnson. 24 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I rise to 25 move the nomination.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 2 Leibell. 3 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I'd like to rise in support of this 6 nomination. We just a short while ago had the 7 chance, the opportunity in the Senate Finance 8 Committee to meet with the nominee. And I had 9 not had the chance previously. 10 But for a very difficult position, 11 the Governor has sent us someone who is 12 superbly qualified, who has an excellent 13 resume, who has a long and distinguished 14 career in law enforcement. 15 So I'm very pleased to rise on the 16 floor today to support this nomination. It's 17 an excellent one. And I know she'll do an 18 excellent job for the people of the State of 19 New York. I move it. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 chair recognizes Senator Adams. 22 SENATOR ADAMS: Yes, 23 Mr. President. First, we're in a very unique 24 situation. Historically, the person -- as I 25 always use a sports analogy, the player you

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(518) 371-8910 1 receive first goes to the minor leagues and 2 then goes to the professional leagues before 3 they're able to show their skills. 4 Here we have retired Detective 5 Sally Thompson, who has already been in the 6 professional leagues. She policed the most 7 terrain -- that's New York City Police 8 Department. She rose through the ranks, not 9 only to become a detective, but she was 10 promoted to a second-grade detective, a very 11 difficult feat to accomplish. 12 She served in the Bronx narcotics 13 major case division. And the level of 14 commitment and know-how and investigatory 15 skill that she brings, we have a major league 16 player that's now going to take the skills 17 that she has acquired on the streets of the 18 City of New York, some of the most difficult 19 beats to patrol, and now we have her 20 participating on the State Board of Parole. 21 This is an asset to her abilities 22 to be able to look at men and women and make 23 the determination if they should remain on the 24 streets of our state and of our country. 25 I think this is an excellent

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(518) 371-8910 1 nomination, not only because she comes from 2 the police department that I retired from, but 3 because she brings a high level of expertise, 4 a high level of commitment. And she has 5 served for over twenty years in that agency 6 and now she's bringing that expertise not to 7 hang on the wall and allow it just to wither 8 away, but to bring it into the important parts 9 of the State Board of Parole. 10 I commend the Governor on this 11 appointment, and I look forward again to 12 ensuring she has the tools and the opportunity 13 to do her job correctly. I support this 14 nomination. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 16 Nozzolio. 17 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. On the nomination. 19 Mr. President, Ms. Thompson came 20 before the Crime Victims, Crime and 21 Corrections Committee and was fully supported 22 for this important position as a member of the 23 New York State Board of Parole. 24 Ms. Thompson's qualifications were, 25 simply put, tremendous for this particular

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(518) 371-8910 1 position. That if there's anything that the 2 horrific actions of September 11th taught us, 3 it was that the real heroes in America are 4 those who put their lives on the line each and 5 every day to protect us -- those members of 6 the fire department, those members of the 7 police department, those who are putting 8 themselves in harm's way to protect us. 9 That Ms. Thomas dedicated her life 10 of service as a New York City police officer. 11 And although she did not have the privilege of 12 working directly with former Captain Adams, 13 that she in effect had a stellar career 14 nonetheless. 15 That she understands what it's like 16 to put together a case, to prosecute a 17 perpetrator of crime, always focused on the 18 victim, as she had developed her case in every 19 gamut of criminality from the most minor 20 offenses to the most serious of violent 21 felonies. 22 This is a tremendous background and 23 experience for one to serve on the New York 24 State Board of Parole. That she impressed the 25 committee a great deal; they supported her

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(518) 371-8910 1 unanimously both in the Crime Victims 2 Committee and also the Senate Finance 3 Committee. 4 And that this is a tremendous 5 appointment. I look forward to her service on 6 the New York State Board of Parole. I fully 7 support the nomination. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 10 you, Senator Nozzolio. 11 The question is on the confirmation 12 of Sally A. Thompson as a member of the State 13 Board of Parole. All in favor signify by 14 saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 nominee is confirmed. 21 Sally Thompson today is with us, 22 and she is joined by her husband, Kenneth 23 Thompson; her son, Kenneth Jr.; and her 24 daughter, Kianna. 25 Let us recognize the family,

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(518) 371-8910 1 congratulate Sally, and wish you the best of 2 luck and success. 3 (Applause.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 5 nominations of both Ms. Tina Marie Stanford 6 and Ms. Sally A. Thompson are hereby 7 confirmed. 8 The Secretary will continue to 9 read. 10 THE SECRETARY: As members of the 11 State Banking Board, Hans Joachim Doepp, of 12 Purchase; E. Peter Forrestel II, of Akron; and 13 Thomas Siciliano, of Commack. 14 As public member of the State 15 Banking Board, Sarah Kovner, of New York City. 16 As members of the Minority Health 17 Council, Ruben P. Cowart, DDS, of Syracuse, 18 and Nilda I. Soto, of the Bronx. 19 As a member of the Board of 20 Visitors of the Bronx Children's Psychiatric 21 Center, Harriet Parness, of the Bronx. 22 As a member of the Board of 23 Visitors of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, 24 Jeanne Allison, of Jamestown. 25 As members of the Board of Visitors

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(518) 371-8910 1 of the Capital District Psychiatric Center, 2 Lewis F. Krupka, of Schenectady, and Angela 3 Muccigrosso, of Niskayuna. 4 As a member of the Board of 5 Visitors of the Elmira Psychiatric Center, 6 Richard Arthur Hamling, of Shortsville. 7 As members of the Board of Visitors 8 of the Finger Lakes Developmental Disabilities 9 Services Office, Barbara Hope Borrelli, of 10 Elmira, and Christine Harkness, of Elmira. 11 As a member of the Board of 12 Visitors of the Hudson River Psychiatric 13 Center, Marion M. Ostrander, of Kingston. 14 As a member of the Board of 15 Visitors of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, 16 Robert Mayo, DDS, of Brooklyn. 17 As a member of the Board of 18 Visitors of the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, 19 Marie Lunn, of New York City. 20 As members of the Board of Visitors 21 of the Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center, Paul 22 A. Dunn, of Clinton, and Anne M. Jackson, of 23 Boonville. 24 As a member of the Board of 25 Visitors of the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Davis Pollack, DDS, of Bay Shore. 2 As a member of the Board of 3 Visitors of the Rochester Psychiatric Center, 4 Barbara Bates, of Bergen. 5 As a member of the Board of 6 Visitors of the Rockland Children's 7 Psychiatric Center, Eugene P. McMahon, of 8 Pearl River. 9 As a member of the Board of 10 Visitors of the Sagamore Children's 11 Psychiatric Center, Ninfa S. States, of Great 12 Neck. 13 As a member of the Board of 14 Visitors of the Staten Island Developmental 15 Disabilities Services Office, John T. 16 Servodidio, of Staten Island. 17 And as a member of the Board of 18 Visitors of the Western New York Children's 19 Psychiatric Center, Anthony V. D'Amore, of 20 Lancaster. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 question is on the nominations as read by the 23 Secretary. All in favor signify by saying 24 aye. 25 (Response of "Aye.")

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 2 Opposed, nay. 3 (No response.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All of 5 the nominees are confirmed as read. 6 We'll return to reports of select 7 committees. 8 Communications and reports from 9 state officers. 10 Motions and resolutions. 11 Senator Fuschillo. 12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 13 very much, Mr. President. 14 On behalf of Senator Larkin, I wish 15 to call up Senate Print Number 2895, recalled 16 from the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 446, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 2895, an 21 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering 22 and Breeding Law. 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 24 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 25 passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 2 the roll on reconsideration. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 6 the following amendments. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 amendments are received. 9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 10 Senator Seward, I wish to call up Senate Print 11 Number 3944, recalled from the Assembly, which 12 is now at the desk. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1626, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 3944, an 17 act to amend the Tax Law. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 19 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 20 passed. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 22 the roll on reconsideration. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer

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(518) 371-8910 1 the following amendments. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 amendments are received. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 5 Senator Seward, I wish to call up Senate Print 6 Number 3687, recalled from the Assembly, which 7 is now at the desk. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 9 Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 671, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 3687, an 12 act to allow a filing. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 14 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 15 passed. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 17 the roll on reconsideration. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 20 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 21 the following amendments. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 amendments are received. 24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 25 Senator Seward, I wish to call up Senate Print

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(518) 371-8910 1 Number 804, recalled from the Assembly, which 2 is now at the desk. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 306, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 804, an 7 act to amend Chapter 650 of the Laws of 1998. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 9 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 10 passed. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 12 the roll on reconsideration. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51. 15 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 16 the following amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 amendments are received. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 20 President, on behalf of Senator Maziarz, I 21 wish to call up Senate Print Number 948B, 22 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 23 the desk. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 121, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 948B, an 3 act to amend the Labor Law. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 5 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 6 passed. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 8 the roll on reconsideration. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 12 the following amendments. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 14 amendments are received. 15 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 16 Senator Young, I wish to call up Senate Print 17 4454, recalled from the Assembly, which is now 18 at the desk. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 718, by Senator Young, Senate Print 4454, an 23 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 25 reconsider the vote by which the bill was

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(518) 371-8910 1 passed. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 3 the roll on reconsideration. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. 6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 7 the following amendments. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 9 amendments are received. 10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 11 Senator Maziarz, I wish to call up Senate 12 Print Number 516, recalled from the Assembly, 13 which is now at the desk. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1114, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 516, an 18 act to amend the Real Property Law. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 20 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 21 passed. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 23 the roll on reconsideration. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 2 the following amendments. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 amendments are received. 5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 6 President, amendments are offered to the 7 following Third Reading Calendar bills: 8 Sponsored by Senator Lanza, page 9 number 8, Calendar Number 288, Senate Print 10 Number 2693A; 11 Sponsored by Senator Young, page 12 number 19, Calendar Number 716, Senate Print 13 Number 3714; 14 By Senator DeFrancisco, page number 15 23, Calendar Number 844, Senate Print Number 16 5089; 17 By Senator Maltese, page number 40, 18 Calendar Number 1296, Senate Print Number 19 5816; 20 By Senator Fuschillo, page number 21 46, Calendar Number 1434, Senate Print Number 22 1549; 23 By Senator Seward, page number 47, 24 Calendar Number 1498, Senate Print Number 25 2180A;

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(518) 371-8910 1 By Senator Little, page number 41, 2 Calendar Number 1307, Senate Print Number 3 5364; 4 By Senator LaValle, page number 48, 5 Calendar Number 1616, Senate Print Number 6 898A; 7 By Senator DeFrancisco, page 8 number 18, Calendar Number 661, Senate Print 9 Number 39B; 10 By Senator DeFrancisco, page 11 number 23, Calendar Number 842, Senate Print 12 Number 4878A. 13 I now move that these bills retain 14 their place on the order of third reading. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 16 amendments have been received and adopted. 17 The bills will retain their place on the Third 18 Reading Calendar. 19 Senator Marcellino. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 Mr. President, on behalf of Senator 23 Morahan, I wish to call up Calendar Number 24 917, Assembly Print Number 3568. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 917, by Member of the Assembly Lifton, 4 Assembly Print Number 3568, an act to 5 establish. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I now move 7 to reconsider the vote by which this Assembly 8 bill was substituted for Senator Morahan's 9 bill, Senate Print Number 5398, on June 5, 10 2007. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 Secretary will call the roll on 13 reconsideration. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 17 President, I now move that Assembly Bill 18 Number 3568 be recommitted to the Committee on 19 Rules and that Senator Morahan's Senate bill 20 be restored to the order of the Third Reading 21 Calendar, Number 917. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So 23 ordered. 24 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 25 President, I now offer the following

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendments. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 amendments are received. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you. 5 Mr. President, on behalf of Senator 6 Hannon, I wish to call up his bill, Print 7 Number 4992, recalled from the Assembly, which 8 is now at the desk. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 968, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 4992, an 13 act to amend the Public Health Law. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 15 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 16 by which this bill was passed. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 18 the roll on reconsideration. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 22 President, I now offer the following 23 amendments. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 amendments are received.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 On behalf of Senator Rath, I wish 4 to call up her bill, Print Number 4009A, 5 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at 6 the desk. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 505, by Senator Rath, Senate Print 4009A, an 11 act to amend the Social Services Law. 12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 13 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 14 by which the bill was passed. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 16 the roll on reconsideration. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 19 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 20 President, I now offer the following 21 amendments. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 amendments are received. 24 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you. 25 Mr. President, on behalf of Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Larkin, I wish to call up his bill, Print 2 Number 4293, recalled from the Assembly, which 3 is now at the desk. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 5 Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 1151, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 4293, an 8 act to amend the Highway Law. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 10 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 11 by which this bill was passed. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 13 the roll on reconsideration. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 17 President, I now offer the following 18 amendments. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 amendments are received. 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 On behalf of myself, I'd like to 24 call up Print Number 634A, recalled from the 25 Assembly, which is now at the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1419, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 5 634A, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic 6 Law. 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 8 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 9 by which the bill was passed. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 11 the roll on reconsideration. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 15 President, I now offer the following 16 amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 amendments are received. 19 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 20 sir. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 22 Stachowski. 23 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 24 President, I wish to call up my bill, Print 25 Number 5746A, recalled from the Assembly,

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(518) 371-8910 1 which is now at the desk. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1673, by Senator Stachowski, Senate Print 6 5746A, an act to authorize. 7 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 8 President, I now move to reconsider the vote 9 by which this bill was passed. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 11 the roll on reconsideration. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 14 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr. 15 President, I now offer the following 16 amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 amendments are received. 19 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: May we 21 have some order, please. 22 Senator Little. 23 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 I wish to call up my bill, Print

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(518) 371-8910 1 Number 5704A, recalled from the Assembly, 2 which is now at the desk. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1135, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5704A, 7 an act to amend the General Municipal Law. 8 SENATOR LITTLE: Mr. President, I 9 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 10 bill was passed. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 12 the roll on reconsideration. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 15 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 16 Mr. President, I now offer the following 17 amendments. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 amendments are received. 20 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 22 Bruno. 23 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 24 can we adopt the Resolution Calendar in its 25 entirety.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 question is on the Resolution Calendar to be 3 adopted in its entirety. All those in favor 4 signify by saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 11 Senator Bruno. 12 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 13 can we do the noncontroversial reading of the 14 calendar at this time. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 16 Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 433, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 2399A, an 19 act to amend the Public Health Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 21 section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 478, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2129A, 7 an act to amend the Highway Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 619, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 20 911B, an act to amend the Executive Law. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 22 section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 5 bill is passed. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 631, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 3854A, 8 an act to amend the General Business Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 10 section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 693, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 4580A, 21 an act to amend the Transportation Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 23 section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 25 act shall take effect on the 90th day.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 2 the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 820, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 2866, an 9 act to amend the Banking Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 856, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 3756A, 22 an act to authorize the Commissioner of 23 General Services. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 889, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3585A, 11 an act to authorize Hands Across Long Island, 12 Inc. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 14 section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 18 the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 21 2. Senators Bonacic and Larkin recorded in 22 the negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 911, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 4073A, 2 an act relating to the use of certain 3 language. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 5 section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 940, by Senator Stachowski, Senate Print 2808, 16 an act to amend the Labor Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1089, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 1602A, 4 an act to amend the Correction Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 6 section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 1120, by Senator Griffo, Senate Print 5482A, 17 an act to amend the Social Services Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 19 section. 20 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside for 21 the day, please. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay the 23 bill aside for the day. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1131, by Senator Little, Senate Print 5302B,

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(518) 371-8910 1 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 3 section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect January 1, 2009. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 7 the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1304, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4631, an 14 act to amend the Court of Claims Act. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 16 section. 17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 18 act shall take effect immediately. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 20 the roll. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 24 bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 1305, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4704C, 2 an act authorizing an experimental program. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1346, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 333B, 15 an act to amend the Correction Law and the 16 Mental Hygiene Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This 20 act shall take effect 18 months after it shall 21 have become law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside for

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(518) 371-8910 1 the day, please. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 bill is laid aside for the day. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1397, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5752, an 6 act to amend the Retirement and Social -- 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside for 8 the day, please. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 bill is laid aside for the day. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1428, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 3294B, 13 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law 14 and the Education Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 16 is a local fiscal impact statement at the 17 desk. 18 The Secretary will read the last 19 section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 chair recognizes Senator Saland, to explain 2 his vote on the bill. 3 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 4 Mr. Chairman -- Mr. President, I'm sorry. I 5 was thinking in terms of Mr. Chairman. 6 I would like to commend Senator 7 Morahan as chairman of the Mental Health 8 Committee for once again taking the lead on a 9 very important issue and praise him for 10 bringing this bill before us today. 11 In the text of his bill memo, he 12 points out that the unfortunate reality today 13 is that the school bus driving staff was under 14 no legal requirement and is under no legal 15 requirement to report incidents of the kind of 16 abuse that formed the catalyst for this 17 legislation. 18 And I would merely want to once 19 again point out the importance of the 20 legislation that we passed yesterday, 21 legislation which in fact would require that 22 school bus drivers and bus monitors be 23 subjected to the very same requirements with 24 respect to fingerprints as are other school 25 employees, and their obligation is report is

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(518) 371-8910 1 made very clear. And without that obligation 2 to report, incidents like this regrettably 3 have the potential to continue to occur. 4 So Senator Morahan is to be 5 commended for adding this training component 6 to the existing requirements for training for 7 bus drivers. But we could go that step 8 further also and ensure the reporting of abuse 9 when those very traumatic incidents are 10 imposed upon children. 11 Thank you, Mr. President, and I 12 cast my vote in the affirmative. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Saland to be recorded in the affirmative. 15 The Secretary will announce the 16 results. 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays, 18 0. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1435, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 1923A, 23 an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 25 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 2 act shall take effect July 1, 2008. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 1623, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 3119A, 11 an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 20 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 bill is passed. 23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 24 Calendar Number 1623, ayes, 56. Nays, 2. 25 Senators -- excuse me.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: I would 2 ask all those voting in the negative to please 3 raise your hands on Calendar Number 1623. So 4 to be recorded accurately, again, please raise 5 your hands. 6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 7 the negative on Calendar Number 1623 are 8 Senators Duane, L. Krueger and Montgomery. 9 Ayes, 55. Nays, 3. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 bill is passed. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 1631, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 4692, an 14 act to amend the Town Law. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 16 is a home-rule message at the desk. 17 Read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 1637, by the Senate Committee on Rules -- 3 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside, 4 please. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay the 6 bill aside. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1654, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5425A, 9 an act to amend the Tax Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 11 section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 13 act shall take effect immediately. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 bill is passed. 20 That completes the reading of the 21 noncontroversial calendar. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 24 Libous. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: There will be an

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(518) 371-8910 1 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 2 the Majority Conference Room. 3 And the Senate will stand at ease 4 temporarily. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 6 is an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee 7 in the Majority Conference Room, and the 8 Senate will stand at ease. 9 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 10 ease at 11:53 a.m.) 11 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 12 at 12:09 p.m.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 14 Senate will come to order. I ask for quiet in 15 the chamber. 16 Senator Bruno. 17 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 18 can we at this time return to motions and 19 resolutions. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Motions 21 and resolutions. 22 Senator Little. 23 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 On behalf of Senator DeFrancisco, I

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(518) 371-8910 1 wish to call up Print Number 1265, recalled 2 from the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 1334, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 7 1265, an act to amend the Public Health Law. 8 SENATOR LITTLE: Mr. President, I 9 now move to reconsider the vote by which the 10 bill was passed. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 12 the roll on reconsideration. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. 15 SENATOR LITTLE: Mr. President, I 16 now offer the following amendments. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 amendments are received. 19 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 21 Bruno. 22 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 23 can we return to reports of standing 24 committees. 25 I believe there's a report from the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Rules Committee. I would ask that it be read 2 now. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Reports 4 of standing committees. 5 The Secretary will read the report 6 of the Rules Committee. 7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 8 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 9 following bills: 10 Senate Print 756B, by Senator 11 Hannon, an act to amend the Surrogate's Court 12 Procedure Act; 13 847, by Senator Farley, an act 14 relating to the implementation; 15 1665, by Senator Padavan, an act to 16 amend the Family Court Act; 17 1861, by Senator Smith, an act 18 authorizing the City of New York; 19 3432, by Senator LaValle, an act to 20 amend the Penal Law and the Correction Law; 21 3940, by Senator LaValle, an act to 22 amend the Town Law; 23 3983, by Senator Wright, an act to 24 amend the Public Service Law; 25 4721, by Senator Fuschillo, an act

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(518) 371-8910 1 to amend the Penal Law and the Criminal 2 Procedure Law; 3 4744B, by Senator Alesi, an act in 4 relation to redistributing; 5 5012, by Senator Nozzolio, an act 6 to amend the Penal Law; 7 5803, by Senator Lanza, an act to 8 amend the Administrative Code of the City of 9 New York; 10 5920, by Senator Padavan, an act to 11 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law; 12 6072, by Senator Padavan, an act to 13 amend Chapter 156 of the Laws of 2006; 14 6099, by Senator Golden, an act to 15 amend the Retirement and Social Security Law 16 and the Administrative Code of the City of 17 New York; 18 6107, by Senator Golden, an act to 19 amend the Workers' Compensation Law; 20 6108, by Senator Larkin, an act to 21 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 22 6135, by Senator Volker, an act to 23 amend Chapter 367 of the Laws of 1999; 24 And Senate Print 6147, by Senator 25 Bruno, an act to amend the Real Property Tax

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(518) 371-8910 1 Law. 2 All bills ordered direct to third 3 reading. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 5 Bruno. 6 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, I 7 would move to accept the report of the Rules 8 Committee. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 10 favor of accepting the report of the Rules 11 Committee signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 report is accepted. 18 Senator Bruno. 19 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 20 can we at this time recognize one of our most 21 distinguished Senators, Senator 22 Hassell-Thompson. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 24 Hassell-Thompson. 25 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator. 2 (Applause from the gallery.) 3 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 4 you, Mr. President. 5 It gives me great pleasure to stand 6 here and to recognize one of my elementary 7 schools from the City of Mount Vernon, Grimes 8 Elementary School, and its principal, 9 Ms. Frances Lightsy, and its teachers and 10 parents. 11 This fifth-grade group represents a 12 group of students who have just received a 13 blue-ribbon designation in their reading and 14 math. And more than that, they have received 15 an exciting global grant for cultural 16 enrichment to learn Mandarin Chinese and over 17 $700,000 in the cultural exchange program will 18 come out of the school. 19 This is a group of youngsters who 20 have struggled very hard to reach many of the 21 goals. And each goal that we have set for 22 them they have not only reached but exceeded. 23 This is a testament to a high-needs school 24 that is being represented by some 25 extraordinary teachers and an extraordinary

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(518) 371-8910 1 principal. 2 So they have come to the chambers 3 today to watch us in government, and I am very 4 proud to have this body recognize them for the 5 work and the achievement that they have 6 accomplished. 7 Thank you, Grimes. 8 (Applause.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 10 you, Senator Hassell-Thompson. 11 We welcome the students from Mount 12 Vernon and wish you the best of luck and an 13 enjoyable summer. I'm sure you're getting 14 ready and anxious for the summer vacation. 15 Senator Bruno. 16 SENATOR BRUNO: And, 17 Mr. President, by exception here, Senator 18 Flanagan has a very distinguished and 19 celebrated friend here in the chamber. 20 I would ask Senator Flanagan if he 21 would care to acknowledge his friend. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 23 Flanagan. 24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 25 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Bruno.

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(518) 371-8910 1 In the back of the chamber we're 2 joined today by a name that I think most of 3 you probably know. He goes by Jon Bauman, but 4 was really referred to as "Bowzer" from 5 Sha Na Na and hails from Brooklyn. He's a 6 graduate of Columbia University. 7 He lives out in that coastal state 8 in the West there, California, but he is a 9 true New Yorker. His kids are back here. And 10 he is still working and touring all over the 11 country. 12 And frankly, he's working on 13 legislation to protect the interests of people 14 who have had distinguished careers in the 15 music and entertainment industry. 16 And we just want to welcome you 17 here today. Sha Na Na, Bowzer, nice to see 18 you here. 19 Thank you. 20 (Applause.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Bowzer 22 is in the house. A warm welcome to you. 23 Senator Bruno. 24 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 25 can we at this time take up Calendar Number

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(518) 371-8910 1 1689. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1689, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 847, an 6 act relating to the implementation of the 7 recommendations of the Commission on 8 Healthcare Facilities. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 10 Bruno. 11 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, 12 Mr. President and colleagues. 13 The bill that we have before us is 14 before us by exception. This bill will take 15 Bellevue Woman's Hospital in Senator Farley's 16 district out of the recommendation for closure 17 of the Berger Commission. 18 I understand that there are 19 hospitals in various parts of this state that 20 are under pressure from recommendations of the 21 Berger Commission. When we accepted up or 22 down the Berger Commission, one way or the 23 other, I and many of you made the statement 24 that we are elected to govern and that we will 25 govern and we will deal with the specific

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(518) 371-8910 1 ramifications in the communities of the Berger 2 Commission. 3 I personally agree with Senator 4 Farley, the Berger Commission was just plain 5 wrong in ordering the closure of Bellevue. 6 They are 75 years in existence, they provide 7 unique women's services, medically, in the 8 Capital Region, and people come from all over 9 the Northeast. 10 And if they were to close, those 11 unique services would be absorbed by Ellis 12 Hospital and St. Clare's over these next four 13 or five years at a cost of something like 14 $100 million. That is a stretch and a reach. 15 So I am asking my colleagues, with 16 the recognition that many of you have specific 17 recommendations to make about a hospital in 18 Buffalo, in Syracuse, out in Senator Young's 19 out, on the Island, in Brooklyn, in 20 Syracuse -- I understand that very clearly. 21 And we will review and approach all of the 22 facilities in time to see that fairness 23 dictates. 24 We're also mindful that there's a 25 billion and a half dollars that is one of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 reasons why Berger was accepted. That's 2 $300 million over the next five years. And if 3 we do things that are disruptive, that impact 4 that, that jeopardizes that money and that 5 cash flow. 6 We're mindful of that. We are 7 aware of that. And we are comfortable that 8 Bellevue is unique enough. The information 9 that dictated what the Berger Commission 10 recommended we feel was not accurate or 11 reflective. 12 Senator Farley, I applaud you for 13 your leadership. And on behalf of your 14 constituency and all the people in the 15 Northeast that Bellevue makes better, we thank 16 you. 17 Senator Farley. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 19 you, Senator Bruno. 20 I want to remind the Senators that 21 we are on the controversial calendar, the bell 22 has been rung, and this bill was laid aside by 23 Senator Duane. 24 I now recognize Senator Farley. 25 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Bruno. 2 Let me just say a few words about 3 this. Incidentally, I just returned from the 4 steps of the Capitol with hundreds of women. 5 Now, the women's caucus -- which they made me 6 an honorary member, which is the biggest thing 7 that's happened to me this session. 8 But let me just say a word about 9 Bellevue Hospital. The Governor and so many 10 said were willing to tinker with and so forth 11 with the Berger Commission report, this is a 12 very modest change. The commission overstated 13 Bellevue's deficit by 92 percent. 14 Of the handful -- and there are 15 really maybe on two hands -- of hospitals 16 affected in this state, three of them were in 17 Schenectady. The merger between Ellis and 18 St. Clare's is going forward at a good pace. 19 Actually, what is going to happen are under 20 the Berger Commission they'll have to spend 21 $40 million, $50 million for a women's 22 facility at Ellis, which can already and done 23 and is being done at Bellevue. 24 This is a unique hospital. It is 25 the only woman's hospital, I'm told, in

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(518) 371-8910 1 New York State, and one of two in the nation. 2 The people from all over the country have come 3 in support of this hospital. 4 The commission here, the Berger 5 Commission, was to save money. I don't know 6 if it's going to save money, but I certainly 7 do know that in the Capital District area what 8 they've focused in on is going to cost a lot 9 more money, particularly if Bellevue is 10 closed. 11 There have been polls that have 12 been taken: 85 percent of the public want 13 Bellevue to remain open. This bill is being 14 carried in the Assembly by Assemblyman Tonko, 15 Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, Assemblyman 16 Tedisco, Jack McEneny and many, many others. 17 I have been so grateful to the 18 women's caucus for now and all the women of 19 this state and in my district to get behind 20 the saving of Bellevue Hospital. We're 21 fortunate to have with us the president of 22 Bellevue Hospital in the gallery, in the 23 lovely yellow suit, Anne Saile. And she has 24 been relentless on behalf of saving this 25 hospital.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And I think correcting this mistake 2 or sending this message will have a 3 significant impact not only on the Berger 4 Commission but also on behalf of healthcare in 5 the Capital District. 6 Let me just say this. The Governor 7 has spoken very, very sympathetically towards 8 Bellevue. It is a truly unique situation. 9 And I would urge all of my colleagues to 10 support this legislation. And I realize that 11 the Berger commission has done a lot of damage 12 around the state, but this is a unique 13 situation. It affects women, and I urge its 14 passage. 15 Thank you, Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 17 you, Senator Farley. 18 The chair recognizes Senator 19 LaValle. 20 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 I rise to support my colleague and 23 classmate Senator Farley on this because I 24 understand, up-front and personal, the 25 frustration that he feels and his constituency

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(518) 371-8910 1 feels in dealing with the recommendations of 2 the Berger Commission. 3 In my case, I have St. Charles 4 Hospital that is, as a matter of fact, 7/10ths 5 of a mile from my house in Port Jefferson. 6 St. Charles was saved from closure in the 7 recommendations, the Berger recommendations, 8 but was given a business plan that literally, 9 if implemented, would bring closure. That you 10 could not implement the business plan given to 11 them. 12 So I hope that -- and I'm sure that 13 there are other hospitals in the state whereby 14 the Health Department must get engaged. The 15 Health Department must listen to what the 16 professionals are saying in each and every 17 region of the state. They cannot close 18 emergency rooms and also say that you would 19 have OB-GYN services in that hospital. And I 20 could go on and on. 21 So, Senator Farley, I understand 22 what is happening in your district. I 23 understand the frustration of your 24 constituents and that women were kind of 25 singled out in this instance. But I think you

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(518) 371-8910 1 are kind of paving the way that we need to 2 really look at some of these ridiculous 3 recommendations that have been made and 4 fine-tune them so that they are workable for 5 each of the hospitals in our region. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 8 you, Senator LaValle. 9 The chair recognizes Senator Young. 10 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 And I too want to commend Senator 13 Hugh Farley for his leadership in this topic. 14 The Berger Commission affected many 15 areas in this state, and it certainly has an 16 impact on my region because I have three 17 hospitals that are downsized to the point 18 where they literally are going to bleed to 19 death because of lack of revenues. 20 And we knew that we had to do 21 something to change things. We've been 22 working very diligently to help Westfield 23 Hospital, Lake Shore Hospital and Tricounty 24 Hospital in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus 25 counties. And we've made progress. Because

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(518) 371-8910 1 what we're doing in our case is still 2 downsizing these facilities but doing it in a 3 smart manner. 4 The plan that the Berger Commission 5 came up with in my region did not make sense, 6 and we're trying to make sense of it. And I 7 believe that by working together we can come 8 up with a plan, we have come up with a plan 9 that will still maintain services. In rural 10 areas like mine, distance, geography can make 11 the distance between life and death. And I 12 have special populations, like the Seneca 13 Nation of Indians, the Amish population. 14 Without healthcare in their communities, 15 people will die. 16 So we're working it out in my 17 region, but we need to make sure that we're 18 maintaining and saving access to quality 19 healthcare here in New York State. We're 20 going to continue to work with the Department 21 of Health to do that. But I commend Senator 22 Farley for his leadership in correcting some 23 of the elements of the Berger Commission that 24 are extremely flawed. 25 Thank you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 2 Volker. 3 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, I 4 want to commend Senator Farley also for this 5 bill. And of course, obviously, Senator 6 Bruno, whose leadership is allowing us to deal 7 with a very complex issue. 8 I have a bill, as I've said, 9 relating to St. Joseph's Hospital just outside 10 of Buffalo. It actually is in Senator 11 Stachowski's district. And the two of us have 12 been working very hard to try to make sure 13 that we deal with the issue of the closure of 14 a hospital that would create, in my opinion, 15 havoc in the Buffalo area and would cause not 16 only -- it's not just the loss of jobs, it 17 would cause a lot of money to be spent not 18 just in the closing but in what would occur 19 afterwards. 20 There's two hospitals on each side, 21 in the south end of Erie County and the north 22 end. The two emergency rooms are the two of 23 the busiest emergency rooms, if not the 24 busiest, in upstate New York. St. Joseph's 25 emergency room is also extremely busy and is

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(518) 371-8910 1 right behind those other two. 2 The other hospitals have said to 3 me: "What are we going to do if St. Joseph's 4 Hospital closes? We'll be totally 5 overwhelmed." And they're already planning, 6 if this should ever happen, to set up, in 7 effect, CONs -- I think that's what they call 8 them -- to expand their emergency room. Well, 9 when you think of it, that doesn't make a lot 10 of sense. 11 At any rate, I just want to say, as 12 I've said to people when the Berger Commission 13 first occurred, this is still a democracy. 14 And this Legislature has always stood up when 15 issues need to be dealt with, no matter how 16 hard they are. 17 Senator Farley has stood up, a 18 number of us from the area -- and I know 19 Syracuse has a problem. And of course Senator 20 Young has a problem, which involves, by the 21 way, the south end of my district as well as 22 her district. 23 So I commend Senator Farley and 24 Senator Bruno for moving on this. And I must 25 say this, that we are having conversations

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(518) 371-8910 1 with the Health Department. And Senator 2 Hannon has been immensely helpful. There's 3 probably never been a chairperson of Health 4 who has been as communicative with the members 5 and has handled this difficult an issue in 6 such a way. 7 So I commend Senator Farley, 8 Senator Bruno, and Senator Hannon for their 9 help. And this is the first -- sort of the 10 first shot in a series of things that we're 11 going to do to make sure that the Berger 12 Commission is done right. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Stewart-Cousins. 15 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Yes, 16 Mr. President. I believe there's an amendment 17 at the desk. I ask that the reading of the 18 amendment be waived, and I ask to be heard on 19 the amendment. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 reading is waived, and you may be heard on the 22 amendment. 23 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 24 you, Mr. President. 25 I am certainly happy to be here on

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(518) 371-8910 1 a day where there is such positive movement in 2 terms of addressing the Berger Commission and 3 its findings. I too commend -- 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 5 Hannon, why do you rise? 6 SENATOR HANNON: Could we get a 7 copy of the amendment? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 9 amendment is at the desk and has been filed 10 according to the rules of the Senate. 11 Senator Stewart-Cousins. 12 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 13 you, Mr. President. 14 Again, I'm very pleased to be here 15 on a day where the findings of the Berger 16 Commission are being questioned and 17 challenged. Certainly I was not here in 2006 18 and did not have an opportunity to vote the 19 commission up or down. Had I had that 20 opportunity, I would, as members of the Senate 21 stand and speak now, to say it was just plain 22 wrong. 23 And certainly Senator Farley's 24 amendment on behalf of the women's hospital, 25 Bellevue Woman's Hospital, and the

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(518) 371-8910 1 conversation with the other Senators clearly 2 indicates that we need to do more. 3 In my particular instance in 4 Westchester County, the Community Hospital of 5 Dobbs Ferry is in jeopardy. And the Community 6 Hospital of Dobbs Ferry has been cited by the 7 Regional Advisory Commission as a hospital not 8 to close. Yet it is on the Berger 9 Commission's recommendations for closure. 10 Why should it not close? It 11 shouldn't close because the projected profit 12 of the Community Hospital of Dobbs Ferry was 13 $625,000 in 2006. It shouldn't close because 14 it's the fastest-growing health facility in 15 the region. It shouldn't close because it 16 would create a major crisis not just for the 17 residents in the river towns but for the 18 entire network of hospitals and community 19 health centers that are part of what serves 20 the health needs of the district and the 21 public. 22 The Community Hospital of Dobbs 23 Ferry is just part of a hospital base that 24 allows for poor, indigent residents of 25 southwest Yonkers to be cared for, that allows

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(518) 371-8910 1 for drug and alcohol treatment programs to be 2 sustained and allows for the larger population 3 of Yonkers to receive care at St. John's 4 Riverside Hospital. 5 It is indeed a mistake to close the 6 Community Hospital of Dobbs Ferry. And as I 7 support what is happening in terms of our 8 momentum-building to question the Berger 9 Commission's findings, I would hope that my 10 colleagues would accept the amendment and keep 11 the Community Hospital of Dobbs Ferry open. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Hassell-Thompson, do you wish to be recognized 15 on this amendment? 16 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Yes, 17 Mr. President. Thank you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 19 Hassell-Thompson. 20 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: I have 21 had the opportunity to talk with the women 22 from Bellevue Hospital. And it is very 23 interesting, as we look at the concerns that 24 have been raised, which are very legitimate in 25 terms of care for women, it also strikes me

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(518) 371-8910 1 that the closure of Dobbs Ferry Hospital will 2 parallel many of the same concerns. 3 I point specifically to the fact 4 that Archway program, which serves the city of 5 Mount Vernon but has a contract through Dobbs 6 Ferry for drug treatment, will affect 19,000 7 patients that go to Dobbs Ferry for treatment. 8 That is a major concern personally to me. 9 Also the fact that it will -- it is 10 one of -- closure of this hospital is one in 11 our region which provides care to women with 12 breath cancer utilizing a bilateral 13 prophylactic mastectomy one-step procedure. 14 Also of concern to me is that 15 regional emergency rooms that already have 16 three-to-five-hour wait limits will now be 17 further burdened by the closure of Dobbs Ferry 18 Hospital. 19 But more importantly, as someone 20 who has been encouraging nurses and women to 21 go enter the nursing profession -- men as 22 well -- the Cochran School of Nursing, which 23 is the largest hospital-based nursing school 24 in New York, will be forced to reduce their 25 enrollment anywhere from 50 to 65 percent with

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(518) 371-8910 1 this closure. 2 These are things that, as someone 3 who has practiced nursing for most of my adult 4 life, raise the flag of real concern to me as 5 it relates particularly to women but to 6 patients across the board. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 9 Oppenheimer, do you wish to be heard on this 10 amendment? 11 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, 12 please. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Oppenheimer. 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you. 16 Well, some of the things I was 17 going to say have already been said. 18 But I think in both cases of 19 Bellevue and Dobbs Ferry, somehow the figures 20 on the revenues and the expenses, 21 profit-and-loss statements, they seem to have 22 gotten confused. 23 In the case of Dobbs Ferry, they're 24 actually turning a profit. And I had thought 25 one of the missions behind the Berger

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(518) 371-8910 1 Commission was that they were going to 2 eliminate a debt and cost. And in this case, 3 it's a profitable hospital. 4 And in the case of Bellevue, they 5 had overestimated the loss by like 90 percent. 6 So I think there has to be a more 7 serious review, certainly, of the revenue and 8 expense statements of these hospitals. To say 9 nothing of the fact that they have a mission 10 that we have spoken of as being extremely 11 valuable. In the case of Bellevue, to I think 12 women all over this country. And in the case 13 of Dobbs Ferry, to people in the central 14 southern part of Westchester. 15 So I think there needs to be a 16 review, and I would hope that we would make 17 it. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 question is on the amendment. Senators in 20 agreement please signify by raising your 21 hands. 22 Would you please continue to raise 23 your hands, those in agreement. 24 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 25 agreement are Senators Adams, Breslin, Connor,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 2 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, C. Johnson, Klein, 3 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 4 Parker, Perkins, Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman, 5 Serrano, Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, 6 Stewart-cousins, Thompson and Valesky. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 amendment is not agreed to. 9 Senator Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 I believe there is an amendment at 13 the desk, and I ask that the reading of the 14 amendment be waived and that I have the 15 opportunity to speak on the said amendment. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 reading is waived, and you may be heard on the 18 amendment. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 My amendment is rather simple. It 22 would give the Commissioner of Health, at his 23 or her discretion, the ability to implement 24 the recommendations of the commission. 25 Presently my reading of all the

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(518) 371-8910 1 cases and everything to do with Berger is 2 right now the Commissioner of Health only has 3 discretion as it applies to a merger of a 4 hospital or the actual closing. 5 I know, myself, I've been rather 6 frustrated in meeting after meeting trying to 7 keep a hospital open in my district, 8 Westchester Square. But I will say the 9 Commissioner of Health, the Department of 10 Health has been very, very forthright, trying 11 everything in their power to try to keep this 12 hospital open. But I really believe that 13 their hands are tied. 14 We can stay here and pass all of 15 these bills for all of our individual 16 hospitals -- and many of them are very worthy 17 and really provide, I think, very important 18 medical attention to our communities. You 19 know, I understand how hard Senator Farley has 20 been fighting to keep Bellevue open. Dobbs 21 Ferry is a very important healthcare 22 institution in Andrea Stewart-Cousin's 23 district. 24 But I really at this point do not 25 think that that's the way to go. You know, if

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(518) 371-8910 1 we look at all the hospitals around our state, 2 they're all providing a very important medical 3 service to these respective communities. 4 In Senator Fuschillo's district we 5 have Brunswick Hospital, skilled nursing, 6 slated to be closed. In Senator Huntley's 7 district we have Parkway Hospital, slated to 8 close. In Senator Golden's district we have 9 Victory Memorial Hospital slated to close. In 10 Senator Duane's district we have Cabrini 11 Hospital and St. Vincent's Midtown Hospital 12 slated to close. 13 Of course Andrea Stewart-Cousins, 14 we heard about Dobbs Ferry Hospital. Senator 15 Leibell, we have Skyview Rehabilitation slated 16 to close. And of course Bellevue, Senator 17 Farley's hospital. In Senator Wright's 18 district we have Albert Lindley Lee Hospital 19 slated to close or convert. Lakeside Hospital 20 in Senator Winner's district slated to 21 close -- nursing home, I should say. 22 You know, the list goes on and 23 on -- Senator Stachowski, Senator Thompson. 24 We all have hospitals. And we all understand 25 how important it is to keep these institutions

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(518) 371-8910 1 open. 2 I know I've read a lot of the -- 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 4 Winner, why do you rise? 5 SENATOR WINNER: Would Senator 6 Klein yield for a question? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 8 Klein, do you yield for a question? 9 SENATOR KLEIN: I'd be more than 10 happy to yield for a question. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 12 Winner. 13 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 14 Senator Klein. 15 Senator Klein, earlier in this 16 year, after the Berger report came out, a 17 number of us, including myself, communicated 18 with the Commissioner of Health with regard to 19 a number of concerns that were out there as to 20 erroneous data, erroneous information and in 21 fact just plain false information that went 22 into making some of the determinations that 23 came out of the Berger Commission. 24 To date, I haven't heard a thing 25 from the Commissioner of Health with regard to

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(518) 371-8910 1 what he plans to do with respect to factoring 2 in that information as to final decisions on 3 the closure of certain facilities, like you 4 referenced Lakeside in my Senate district. 5 Can you tell me why the 6 Commissioner of Health hasn't done a thing or 7 the Health Department hasn't done anything 8 about responding to legitimate concerns like 9 that? 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Well, I'm glad 11 you brought that up. When I was actually 12 going to finish explaining my amendment, one 13 of the things I wanted to bring up is the 14 problem that I've seen with the regional 15 hearings. 16 I think everyone here knows that we 17 had these regional commissions that met all 18 over the state. I know I testified at the 19 time in favor of keeping Westchester Square 20 Hospital open, as well as Northeast Bronx, 21 which luckily wasn't on the list. We only 22 heard rumors. There was no definitive 23 information. 24 And my hospital specifically is 25 recommended, as far as the regional commission

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(518) 371-8910 1 is concerned, to be open. And if I can just 2 read the end of it, it basically says that 3 there's a strong bond between the patients and 4 the physicians who practice in this area, and 5 closure could signify disruption of access. 6 So clearly the hearings and the 7 community input certainly stated very, very 8 clearly that this hospital should be open. 9 Again, Mr. Winner, I get back to 10 what I said earlier. It's my belief and my 11 reading of all of these lawsuits that the 12 Commissioner of Health does not have 13 discretion to keep a hospital open. It is his 14 mandate to either follow through on Berger as 15 far as merger and closure. 16 I have in front of me one of the 17 lawsuits, and there's many, many of these 18 lawsuits -- 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 20 Winner, why do you rise? 21 SENATOR KLEIN: I'm answering 22 your question, Mr. Winner. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Would 24 the members please exchange through the chair. 25 Senator Winner.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: I'll finish my 2 answer to the first question, and I'd be happy 3 to yield for another question. 4 SENATOR WINNER: So you want to 5 complete the answer? 6 SENATOR KLEIN: I'd like to 7 complete that. 8 SENATOR WINNER: Please do so. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: The lawsuit that 10 I have in front of me was one brought by 11 Cabrini Hospital. And all of the lawyers that 12 I've spoke to in my reading of these decisions 13 is really there's a lot of frustration. 14 Because clearly when they're trying to 15 challenge the Berger Commission's results 16 under public meeting laws and lack of due 17 process, all of these lawsuits are failing. 18 So it leads me to believe, 19 Mr. Winner, that the only way to go here is 20 really to untie the hands of the Department of 21 Health and give them more discretion in 22 looking at that information that you talked 23 about, which may be erroneous from hospital to 24 hospital, and let them decide definitively who 25 should remain open, who should be closed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 2 Winner. 3 SENATOR WINNER: Would Senator 4 Klein yield for a question. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 6 Klein, do you yield? 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 8 continue to yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 10 Winner. 11 SENATOR WINNER: Again, Senator, 12 the issue of the discretion is not really -- 13 that has not been communicated to anybody with 14 regard to the Department of Health. 15 Why hasn't the Department of 16 Health, again, done anything with regard to 17 the review of this data or communicated to the 18 members? 19 And why hasn't the Governor done 20 anything with regard to advancing the idea 21 that you are suggesting right now? Instead of 22 saying that blanketly, the Governor has 23 apparently made it perfectly clear that he 24 intends to support the closure of every single 25 hospital in that report.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Why hasn't the Governor done 2 anything with regard to reversing that which 3 has already been demonstrated to be clearly 4 erroneous, inaccurate and prejudicial, if not 5 harmful recommendations of the Berger 6 Commission in many instances? Why hasn't the 7 Governor done anything? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 9 Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Why? I can't 11 speak on behalf of the Governor, Mr. Winner. 12 But I can speak as a legislator 13 that has worked numerous hours meeting with 14 the Department of Health, both the 15 commissioner and the secretary -- 16 SENATOR WINNER: I bet he'd meet 17 with you. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: -- in trying to 19 keep my hospital open. 20 And again, according to their 21 lawyers, according to my reading of the law 22 and all the cases that are involved, we need 23 to give the Commissioner of Health a lot more 24 discretion if we hope to keep any of these 25 hospitals open.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 2 you, Senator Klein. 3 On the amendment, Senators in 4 agreement please signify by raising your 5 hands. Please keep your hands up. 6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 7 agreement are Senators Adams, Breslin, Connor, 8 Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, 9 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, C. Johnson, Klein, 10 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, 11 Parker, Perkins, Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman, 12 Serrano, Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, 13 Stewart-Cousins, Thompson, and Valesky. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 15 amendment is not agreed to. 16 Senator Seward, on the bill. 17 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 I would agree with much of what has 20 been said from a number of members in terms of 21 many of the problems associated with the 22 Berger Commission report. 23 When it comes to the bill before 24 us, however, there's no question that we are 25 absolutely, today, needing to move forward

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(518) 371-8910 1 with this legislation to correct a gross 2 error, as I would say, in the Berger 3 Commission report. And moving forward, I hope 4 we can get to some of the other errors and 5 omissions that are included in the Berger 6 Commission, to further correct that report. 7 But speaking specifically when it 8 comes to Bellevue in the legislation before 9 us, there's no question that the Berger 10 Commission's closure directive was based on 11 some very incorrect financial and even 12 clinical information, by overstating the 13 deficit, widely overstating the deficit of 14 Bellevue, implying that there are no surgical 15 procedures performed at Bellevue when in fact 16 it's about 3,000 per year surgeries at 17 Bellevue. 18 And finally, and to the point I 19 would like to make, is they characterize 20 Bellevue as being a Schenectady hospital. In 21 all due respect to my colleague Senator 22 Farley, I know full well that Bellevue is not 23 strictly a Schenectady hospital. 24 I know from the eastern end of my 25 Senate district, particularly Schoharie

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(518) 371-8910 1 County, many, many people as I have walked the 2 streets of the Schoharie County since the 3 Berger Commission report came out, many, many 4 people came up to me and said "I was born at 5 Bellevue" or "My children were born at 6 Bellevue. Please don't let Bellevue close." 7 In fact, people come from even 8 greater distances to Bellevue to receive 9 outstanding service. 10 When we talk about quality of care 11 at Bellevue, it's not just rhetoric. Because 12 Bellevue has a very high quality of care and 13 has been so cited by international medical 14 groups. 15 So, Mr. President, it's very 16 important that we move forward with this 17 legislation today to correct this problem with 18 the Berger Commission. And I hope we'll get 19 to others. 20 I want to stand on behalf of all of 21 those people who have either been born or had 22 their children born and had other treatments 23 and services rendered at Bellevue. I want to 24 stand in support of this legislation and to 25 compliment and commend Senator Farley for his

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(518) 371-8910 1 leadership, and certainly Senator Bruno for 2 all he has done on behalf of Bellevue and the 3 outstanding medical service that hopefully 4 will continue to be rendered at this fine 5 facility. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 7 Diaz. 8 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: For a 11 brief question or explanation. 12 SENATOR DIAZ: No, would the 13 sponsor yield for a question or two. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Will 15 the sponsor yield for a question? 16 SENATOR FARLEY: Si. 17 (Laughter.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 19 Farley yields. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: Mucho gracias. 21 Senator Farley, when you were 22 explaining the bill, if I heard you right, you 23 said that the Berger Commission underestimated 24 Bellevue's deficit by 92 percent or something. 25 SENATOR FARLEY: That is correct.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DIAZ: That is correct? 2 SENATOR FARLEY: They overstated, 3 Senator, Bellevue's deficit by 92 percent. 4 SENATOR DIAZ: The Berger 5 Commission -- Mr. President, through you, 6 if -- 7 SENATOR FARLEY: That was one of 8 their many inaccuracies. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 10 Farley, will you continue to yield? 11 SENATOR FARLEY: I do. He's my 12 amigo. 13 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes, sir. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 15 Diaz. 16 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Farley, 17 would you say that the Berger Commission, 18 making a mistake like this, has no validity or 19 has no right to judge or to close hospitals? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 21 Farley. 22 SENATOR FARLEY: Well, to give a 23 blanket condemnation of the Berger Commission 24 might be easy. The intent of any commission 25 was to save money.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'll tell you what, Senator. I 2 don't think they're saving any money by 3 closing Bellevue. They're going to have to 4 build a $40-some-million complex with Ellis 5 just to take care of the women's needs that 6 Bellevue already provides. I don't know how 7 that's saving money. 8 So by and large I think that the 9 Berger Commission, as we've heard around, has 10 been inaccurate and has caused a lot of havoc 11 around the state, and I don't necessarily 12 support it. 13 And I think that this is the first 14 step of tinkering with the Berger Commission 15 report to show that it needs correction. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 17 Diaz, do you have a further question? 18 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 19 through you, will the sponsor still yield? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 21 Farley, will you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, I will. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 24 Diaz. 25 SENATOR DIAZ: So if you know

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(518) 371-8910 1 about this inaccuracy of 92 percent 2 underestimated the budget on Bellevue, would 3 you say that the Governor and the Secretary of 4 Health know about this? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 6 Farley. 7 SENATOR FARLEY: I'm confident 8 they do. The president of Bellevue, who's 9 with us in the gallery, has made these points 10 to the Governor's office, to the Health 11 Department, and to almost everybody that I 12 know in this Capital District. 13 These figures have been displayed 14 publicly, and there's a number of 15 inaccuracies. That's just one of them. 16 Bellevue has an incredible record 17 for quality of care to women. I've never seen 18 such an outpouring, Senator Diaz, of women 19 that are in support of this. Today we had 20 hundreds of women on the steps of this Capitol 21 supporting Bellevue's existence. And by and 22 large, I join them in doing this. 23 The Capital District, this whole 24 area around here is -- I won't say 25 unanimously, but practically unanimously in

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(518) 371-8910 1 support of Bellevue. 2 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President, 3 through you, would the Senator still yield. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Will 5 you continue to yield, Senator Farley? 6 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, I will. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 8 Diaz. 9 SENATOR DIAZ: If you found this 10 inaccuracy and you say the Governor should -- 11 might know that too, and also the Secretary of 12 Health, would you think -- would you agree 13 with me that there would be a slight 14 possibility that they have committed the same 15 mistake in other hospitals? 16 SENATOR FARLEY: Oh, I think 17 that's a very likely possibility, yes. 18 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Senator 19 Farley. 20 On the bill. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 22 Diaz, on the bill. 23 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm glad that 24 Senator Farley enlightened us with his finding 25 on this report. And I'm also -- it puzzles me

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(518) 371-8910 1 to know that the Governor and the Secretary of 2 Health might know of these inaccuracies. 3 I don't have a hospital in my 4 district. But the people in my district 5 attend the Westchester Square Hospital, which 6 is two blocks away from my district. And even 7 though Westchester Square Hospital is in 8 Senator Klein's district, I believe that the 9 people from my district use the hospital more 10 than Senator Klein's constituents. 11 So by finding out that the Berger 12 Commission committed many, many, many errors 13 and that the Governor and the Secretary of 14 Health knows about this, it puzzles me again 15 to know why is it that the report, the whole 16 report of the Berger Commission has not been 17 thrown into the garbage and something -- and 18 stop all this nonsense of closing hospitals 19 that hurt people. 20 I am here to support Senator Farley 21 and to congratulate him in this measure. And 22 also to say that knowing this now, we should 23 have approved Senator Klein's amendment to 24 open this up and to give the Secretary of 25 Health more power to study this.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And someone, someone should talk to 2 the Governor and should talk to the Secretary 3 of Health, somebody that's got the access. I 4 don't have the access. But somebody that's 5 got the access to the Governor and to the 6 Secretary of Health should talk to them and 7 tell them, Hey, this report is garbage, the 8 report of the Berger Commission. Throw it in 9 the garbage where it belongs and stop the 10 closing of the hospitals. 11 Thank you, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 13 you, Senator Diaz. 14 Senator Nozzolio, on the bill. 15 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 It's a great debate, and I 18 certainly congratulate and thank the sponsor, 19 Senator Farley, for bringing this measure to 20 the attention of the floor today. 21 That what is evident through this 22 debate, that the Berger Commission itself was 23 a flawed process in the sense that issues that 24 were reviewed at the time may have not been 25 complete, the analysis may not have been as

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(518) 371-8910 1 extensive as necessary, the facts not brought 2 to bear as they should have been brought, that 3 possibly not -- facts may have been incomplete 4 and not brought to bear as completely as they 5 should have been. 6 That's why this process has no end 7 in the sense that we should be just simply 8 saying it's over. That Senator Farley 9 recognizes that through this legislation. 10 I'm encouraging the health care 11 facilities within the Finger Lakes region to 12 also pursue additional avenues, particularly 13 Auburn Memorial Hospital, which was told that 14 its maternity unit needed to be closed. That 15 was not a fact that would have led to the 16 health of the facility. On the contrary, 17 because of the unique circumstances within the 18 city of Auburn and the clientele, the patients 19 who utilize the Auburn Memorial Hospital for 20 maternity use, that in effect the state and 21 hospital will lose Medicaid and Medicare 22 reimbursements because this maternity ward has 23 been designated by the Berger Commission to 24 close. 25 That information is now being

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(518) 371-8910 1 brought to light in a fully aired way with the 2 Health Department. And as Senator Farley is 3 bringing this issue before us today, it's 4 indicative of all healthcare-related issues 5 and how they should be dealt with and 6 reviewed. 7 A snapshot does not have a living, 8 breathing component to it. It's just simply a 9 moment in time, a picture was taken. And 10 that's what the Berger Commission did, just 11 take a snapshot of particular circumstances in 12 our healthcare during a particular time. It 13 did not paint a complete picture whatsoever. 14 That's now thrust upon our 15 shoulders to do so. Senator Farley, through 16 this legislation, is taking those needed 17 steps. And we all are pursuing the Health 18 Department to ensure that they really see the 19 whole picture. 20 And that's why, Mr. President, this 21 legislation should be supported. And that's 22 why we should be encouraging our healthcare 23 facilities across the state that are directly 24 impacted by decisions of the Berger Commission 25 to complete the picture and paint a full one,

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(518) 371-8910 1 so that the Health Department can take that 2 information and we hope do the right thing. 3 We certainly will be watching with them and 4 working with them to make sure the right thing 5 is done for our communities. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 8 you, Senator Nozzolio. 9 Senator Montgomery. 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank 11 you, Mr. President. I rise to speak on the 12 bill. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On the 14 bill. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you. 16 I certainly agree and voted for 17 both amendments of my colleagues in an attempt 18 to address this issue as a broad policy 19 approach to what we've boxed ourselves into in 20 terms of the Berger Commission and its 21 results. 22 But I want to just comment on this 23 particular situation. And I want to thank 24 Senator Farley, because I consider this an 25 appropriate emergency response to a very

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(518) 371-8910 1 important and serious situation. Women's 2 health is very, very important. 3 And, Mr. President, I know that 4 usually -- and very often, in some instances, 5 I have had male doctors. But I must tell you, 6 I try to avoid them at all costs. I prefer 7 female doctors. I prefer clinics where 8 females are treated, where the focus is on 9 women and women's health. And I even prefer 10 to have a nurse practitioner to a male doctor. 11 Now, I know that that's a little 12 sexist. However, when it comes to my health, 13 I'm very particular about it and I feel that I 14 have a right to be selective. 15 And this hospital is a women's 16 hospital. It's one of two in the whole 17 country. And it really is what I consider to 18 be the most culturally competent health 19 facility for women. This is what we need more 20 of. I wish we had a women's health facility 21 in my district. 22 As a matter of fact, the community 23 health clinics in my district that I've met 24 with tell me of the particular and unique 25 needs that they must consider when they are

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(518) 371-8910 1 dealing with women's health. Some women don't 2 want to have a -- you can't have a male in the 3 facility, because their culture does not allow 4 it. And there are many other unique aspects. 5 And this hospital gives us a model 6 for how you do women's health correctly. So 7 I'm supporting this. This is a very unique 8 and specific and special situation. And I 9 have met the president and CEO of the 10 hospital. That is also a woman. I'm very 11 proud of that. 12 So there's every reason, I think, 13 for us to support this particular legislation. 14 And I certainly hope that some of the other 15 broader issues that have been raised here 16 regarding the Berger report are addressed as 17 well. But I rise to support this legislation. 18 And, Senator Farley, I'm very, very 19 happy that you were able to do this. And as a 20 matter of fact, I want you to know that the 21 chair of the Women's Legislative Caucus is 22 also very supportive. This is a women's 23 legislative issue as well, even though, 24 unfortunately, the men have introduced the 25 bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (Laughter.) 2 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: But that's 3 okay. We accept that. And we are very 4 appreciative that you're moving ahead with 5 this legislation. 6 Thank you, Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 8 you, Senator Montgomery. 9 You want to welcome Senator Farley 10 to the caucus, too. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 13 Klein, on the bill. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 15 would Senator Farley yield for a question? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 17 Farley, will you yield to a question? 18 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, I will. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 20 Klein. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Through you, 22 Mr. President. Senator Farley, I just have 23 one question. I know I spoke about it 24 earlier, the regional commission 25 recommendations. And what we've seen,

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(518) 371-8910 1 unfortunately, is a pattern of what the 2 reasonable recommendations were and what the 3 ultimate Berger recommendations were. 4 What were the recommendations of 5 the regional commission as it applies to 6 Bellevue? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 8 Farley. 9 SENATOR FARLEY: You're speaking 10 of the commission's report of Bellevue? That 11 it be closed. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Correct. Not the 13 ultimate Berger Commission report, but the 14 regional commission that led up to the report. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: I know. I 16 understand. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: And do you know 18 what the recommendations were? 19 SENATOR FARLEY: They were to be 20 closed. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you. 22 On the bill. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 24 Klein, on the bill. 25 SENATOR KLEIN: You know, I think

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(518) 371-8910 1 what this illustrates is that there really 2 wasn't a lot of input, as I think we'd hoped, 3 from individual community groups, from local 4 hospitals to keep their hospital open. It's 5 very interesting, I know with the wide support 6 that Bellevue has, they still were on the 7 Berger Commission to be closed. 8 I know my hospital in the Bronx, 9 Westchester Square Hospital, again had a 10 glowing report from the regional commission. 11 It went as far as to say that the hospital has 12 a strong bond between the patients and the 13 community, they serve over 25,000 people a 14 year in the emergency room, a very, very 15 important mission. 16 Yet lo and behold, after this 17 regional recommendation took place, 18 Westchester Square Hospital was indeed on the 19 Berger Commission's list for closing. 20 I go back to what I said earlier. 21 I support community input and all the support 22 we have for all of these hospitals here that 23 provide such a vital service. But I really 24 believe that the way to go is really giving 25 the commissioner a lot more say and a lot more

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(518) 371-8910 1 discretion on whether a hospital can remain 2 open. 3 I just want to read Section 9, 4 Chapter 63, which is the implementation of 5 recommendations. It does not say "may," it 6 says "shall." And I quote, "The Commissioner 7 of Health shall take all actions necessary to 8 implement, in a reasonable, cost-efficient 9 manner, the recommendations of the 10 Commission." 11 That's not discretionary. That's 12 not "may," that's "shall." And I think that's 13 the type of legislation we need to do before 14 the end of session. This is something that, 15 with a week to, go we have to take up 16 immediately. 17 Unfortunately, we don't want to be 18 in a position where all of our individual 19 hospitals are left waiting until July of 2008 20 to know whether or not they're going to be 21 closed. It's going to be very difficult for 22 them to keep doctors, it's going to be very 23 difficult for them to keep nurses and medical 24 staff. 25 So I'm hopeful that before we leave

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(518) 371-8910 1 session we will have some changes on the 2 Berger language which will enable all of us -- 3 Bellevue, Dobbs Ferry, Westchester Square -- 4 to make our case in a reasonable fashion 5 before the Commissioner of Health to keep our 6 hospitals open. 7 I vote yes on Mr. Farley's bill, 8 Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 10 you, Senator Klein. 11 Any Senator wishing to be heard? 12 Debate is closed. 13 The Secretary will ring the bell. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 18 Wright, to explain his vote. 19 SENATOR WRIGHT: Thank you, 20 Mr. President, to explain my vote. 21 I too have a hospital in my 22 district, A. L. Lee Hospital, that is closing, 23 as was mentioned, and I have all of the same 24 objections and concerns that Senator Bruno and 25 Senator Farley and my other colleagues have

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(518) 371-8910 1 articulated. 2 And I'm voting for this bill 3 because what it's doing is sending a clear 4 message that it's not just about Bellevue, 5 it's about all of the other hospitals that 6 have been adversely affected, all of the other 7 nursing homes that have adversely been 8 affected. And we've selected Bellevue as the 9 poster child to promote our concern and 10 frustration and try to drive that message home 11 to the Health Department so that they 12 understand our concerns. 13 I am hoping, I have been working 14 and I believe that the solution is not in 15 passing one bill per hospital but in fact 16 passing a bill that provides direction, a plan 17 to the Commissioner of Health, that provides 18 an appeal process, that facilitates and 19 assists these facilities in moving ahead 20 rather than dictating one course of action to 21 them. 22 I found in my discussions that the 23 leadership of my facility is willing to seek 24 alternatives, willing to explore alternatives, 25 but are being told that those options are not

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(518) 371-8910 1 available to them under this current statute, 2 and the Health Commissioner will not pursue 3 those alternatives. 4 So I for one strongly look forward 5 to being able to support legislation that will 6 give him the authority to do, that will send 7 the strong message that alternatives should be 8 considered. And I'm willing and pleased to 9 support Senator Farley's bill to send that 10 message. I vote aye. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 12 Wright to be recorded in the affirmative. 13 Senator Sabini, to explain his 14 vote. 15 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, 16 I'm going to be voting aye on this bill. 17 But I want to remind the members of 18 this house that we wouldn't be in this 19 position if there wasn't such partisanship 20 within the chamber. 21 In February of 2006 the Minority 22 Leader of this house, Senator Paterson, 23 introduced a bill, S6591A, which would require 24 that the Berger Commission be implemented with 25 the consent of the majority of the members of

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(518) 371-8910 1 both houses. There were 25 cosponsors to that 2 bill. But of course because of the nature of 3 what we do here in Albany and what we do in 4 this chamber, this bill didn't get the hearing 5 it deserved. 6 So we wouldn't be in this position 7 if we had actually listened at that time. And 8 perhaps, and I suspect in the future, when the 9 tables are turned, perhaps we're going to be 10 hearing about more bipartisan cooperation from 11 folks who maybe don't have the Governor or 12 perhaps aren't in a position to control 13 things. But maybe we should have looked at 14 this legislation then and we wouldn't be in 15 this position. 16 I sympathize with Senator Farley 17 and his constituency and those in the Capital 18 District who want this hospital to remain 19 open. I'd like to see it remain open too. 20 But the fact of the matter remains 21 that we shouldn't be doing this bill by bill, 22 we should have had the guts to say we either 23 want the commission we established to have its 24 recommendations implemented or have the guts 25 to say no. We didn't do that.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'll vote aye. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 3 Sabini to be recorded in the affirmative. 4 Senator Stavisky, to explain her 5 vote. 6 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 Very briefly, it seems to me that 9 if we had adopted Senator Klein's amendment, 10 we wouldn't be in this position of having to 11 deal with the situation piecemeal. 12 Secondly, if we had passed Senator 13 Klein's amendment, then Parkway Hospital could 14 have been included in the review procedure and 15 the review process by the Commissioner of 16 Health. 17 And lastly, let me mention one 18 other group that I think is probably the most 19 egregious example of the insensitivity of the 20 Berger Commission, and that's the SUNY 21 hospitals -- in Syracuse, Upstate, the Medical 22 Center at Syracuse; downstate at SUNY in 23 Brooklyn; and out on Long Island at Stony 24 Brook. Because those are institutions of high 25 quality that really must be maintained. And

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(518) 371-8910 1 to present them as being at risk I think is a 2 travesty. 3 I will vote for the bill to send a 4 message. And I thank you, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 6 Stavisky to be recorded in the affirmative. 7 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his 8 vote. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I think 10 we've heard basically the same mantra 11 throughout the debate here. Everybody has 12 their own problem. And Senator Stavisky just 13 mentioned Upstate, and that's true, there's a 14 requirement to merge with Crouse Hospital. 15 And there's a concern whether or not that 16 merger that's required has to be the end of 17 the SUNY hospital into a private hospital, and 18 that's a big concern to many people in our 19 area. 20 Fortunately, the two hospitals are 21 working together to come up with some 22 recommendations as an alternative. And I will 23 be here with a piece of legislation, if they 24 come up with those recommendations, that is a 25 reasonable alternative. And I hope it will be

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(518) 371-8910 1 treated as favorably as this bill that should 2 be treated favorably today. 3 So there are many problems 4 throughout the state. And hopefully we can 5 deal with them in a positive manner, depending 6 upon what solutions each area has to try to 7 cut costs, because that's the whole purpose 8 behind the Berger Commission. 9 I vote aye. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 11 DeFrancisco recorded in the affirmative. 12 Senator Maltese, to explain his 13 vote. 14 SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President, 15 I have listened to the debate and certainly am 16 impressed with Senator Farley's defense of the 17 keeping open of Bellevue Hospital. 18 This is more than a local issue, as 19 is evident from the listening to the comments 20 of the other Senators. I most wholeheartedly 21 agree with Senator Winner and the other 22 Senators that have stepped forward. In my own 23 county of Queens, the Parkway Hospital is 24 located within Senator Huntley's district. At 25 the same time, it adversely affects Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Stavisky, myself, and Senator Smith, among 2 others. 3 Certainly we have to take another 4 look. Certainly we cannot, at least at this 5 point in time, proceed one hospital at a time. 6 We have to take a look at the overall picture, 7 factor in circumstances that obviously were 8 not taken into consideration by the Berger 9 Commission and should be taken into 10 consideration. 11 They are dead wrong on the closing 12 of Parkway Hospital. Certainly Parkway 13 Hospital has attributes that no other hospital 14 shares. The geographic location in such a 15 packed, compact urban area merits special 16 consideration. The mix of ages, the senior 17 citizens that Parkway Hospital serves should 18 be taken into consideration. 19 I wholeheartedly support Senator 20 Farley's bill, but I also think we have to 21 take a new look at the entire picture and 22 consider this over the entire picture. At the 23 same time I vote aye, because this is a 24 meritorious bill and certainly Bellevue 25 Hospital should be kept open.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 2 Maltese to be recorded in the affirmative. 3 I would ask for order in the 4 chamber, please. 5 And I will now recognize Senator 6 Hassell-Thompson, for a brief explanation. 7 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 8 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 9 you, Mr. President. I notice you used 10 "brief." 11 When I was approached and asked to 12 support this against the hospital closing, in 13 talking to the women who approached me, I was 14 very enthusiastic but I had some trepidation. 15 And I continue to do so only because how does 16 it look that I'm supporting a hospital upstate 17 when I have closures, I have nursing homes, I 18 have facilities within my own district that 19 are scheduled to be closed. 20 But what I can't do is not support 21 this legislation, primarily because the merits 22 of the services to women that Bellevue 23 provides outweighs those concerns. 24 And so that I do have greater 25 concern about the validity of some of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 information that the Berger report contains. 2 And what I would hope is that this is an 3 example of a reason, a reasonable doubt, that 4 the Berger report should in fact be reviewed 5 and that there are some questions that we 6 should have asked that we did not ask. 7 Because the fallacies in the 8 information that presumably have been founded 9 against Bellevue may exist in other 10 institutions throughout the state. And what I 11 would hope in our zeal to save money is that 12 we do not cause disasters to the healthcare of 13 the people of the State of New York, primarily 14 because all of our efforts are to bring people 15 to a healthier conclusion by having services 16 available to them. 17 And so thank you, Mr. President. I 18 will be supporting Senator Farley and the 19 women of Bellevue Hospital. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 21 Hassell-Thompson to be recorded in the 22 affirmative. 23 Senator Farley, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR FARLEY: Just very

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(518) 371-8910 1 briefly. 2 I want to thank my colleagues for 3 their support of this legislation. It's not 4 an easy piece of legislation, but it is one 5 that is absolutely critical and important. 6 I think it addresses so much of the 7 fallacies and mistakes that are in the Berger 8 Commission report. It also speaks to a very 9 important part of our society, women's health. 10 I think I've never seen any issue 11 that has resonated more strongly, not only in 12 this Capital District, but throughout the 13 state on behalf of women and on behalf of 14 women's health. This is a very, very 15 important piece of legislation. Its future is 16 uncertain, but I suspect that it is gaining 17 tremendous momentum. It's sending a message. 18 And I'm very grateful for the support of my 19 colleagues on both sides of the aisle. 20 Thank you very much. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 22 Farley to be recorded in the affirmative. 23 Senator Onorato, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 I also rise to support this legislation. 2 But after hearing all of the 3 conversations here, it seemed almost unanimous 4 that everybody agreed that the Berger 5 Commission was extremely flawed. None of us 6 agree with the findings that were brought 7 forth. 8 And I don't see why we should not 9 introduce legislation to put a moratorium on 10 any closure until a further examination is 11 done by a committee appointed by the 12 Legislature, not by the Berger Commission or 13 any other one. Let the reports come back to 14 the Legislature and let us make that decision. 15 Because each one of these hospitals 16 are in our districts, with our constituents, 17 and we should be held responsible. But under 18 the current system we're going to be held 19 responsible for something that we had nothing 20 to do with. 21 So I urge you to -- Senator Bruno, 22 I urge you to appoint this commission to put a 23 moratorium on any further closures on any 24 hospital throughout the state. 25 Thank you. I vote aye for the

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(518) 371-8910 1 legislation. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 3 Onorato to be recorded in the affirmative. 4 The Secretary will announce the 5 results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. Nays, 7 0. 8 Absent from voting: Senator 9 Sampson. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 bill is passed. 12 (Applause.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Bruno. 15 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 16 can we return to the noncontroversial calendar 17 at this time. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 21 Calendar Number 1688, Senator Hannon moves to 22 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 23 Assembly Bill Number 3583B and substitute it 24 for the identical Senate Bill Number 756B, 25 Third Reading Calendar 1688.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 2 Substitution ordered. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1688, by Member of the Assembly Weisenberg, 6 Assembly Print Number 3583B, an act to amend 7 the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 9 section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 bill is passed. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 1690, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 1665, 20 an act to amend the Family Court Act. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 22 section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 24 act shall take effect immediately. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There

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(518) 371-8910 1 is a local fiscal impact note at the desk. 2 Call the roll. 3 (The Secretary called the roll.) 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 1691, by Senator Smith, Senate Print 1861, an 9 act authorizing the City of New York. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 11 is a home-rule message at the desk. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 1692, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3432, 23 an act to amend the Penal Law and the 24 Correction Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last

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(518) 371-8910 1 section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 3 act shall take effect on the first of 4 November. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1693, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3940, 13 an act to amend the Town Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 bill is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 25 Calendar Number 1694, Senator Wright moves to

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(518) 371-8910 1 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 2 Assembly Bill Number 8518 and substitute it 3 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3983, 4 Third Reading Calendar 1694. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 substitution is ordered. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 1694, by Member of the Assembly Reilly, 10 Assembly Print Number 8518, an act to amend 11 the Public Service Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1695, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 4721, 24 an act to amend the Penal Law and the Criminal 25 Procedure Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 14. This 4 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 1697, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 5012, 13 an act to amend the Penal Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 bill is passed. 24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 25 1698, by Senator Lanza, Senate Print 5803, an

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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Administrative Code of the 2 City of New York. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 4 section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 8 the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 1699, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5920, 15 an act to amend the Agriculture and Markets 16 Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 18 section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is passed. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 1701, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 6099, an 4 act to amend the Retirement and Social 5 Security Law. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 7 section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 29. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 11 the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 15 bill is passed. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 1702, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 6107, an 18 act to amend the Workers' Compensation Law. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 20 the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 24 the roll. 25 (The Secretary called the roll.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 bill is passed. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 1705, by Senator Bruno, Senate Print 6147, an 6 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 8 section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 10 act shall take effect on the same date as such 11 chapter of the Laws of 2007. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 13 the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 bill is passed. 18 That completes the noncontroversial 19 reading of Supplemental Calendar 61A. 20 Senator Bruno. 21 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, 22 can we at this time take up Calendar Number 23 1410. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 2 Calendar Number 1410, Senator Stewart-Cousins 3 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 4 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 6965 and 5 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 6 Number 4138, Third Reading Calendar 1410. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 substitution is ordered. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 1410, by Member of the Assembly Pretlow, 12 Assembly Print Number 6965, an act to amend 13 the Tax Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Last 15 section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 bill is passed. 24 Senator Bruno. 25 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 can we ask for an immediate conference of the 2 Majority in the Majority Conference Room for 3 about 15 minutes. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 5 will be an immediate meeting of the Majority 6 conference in the Majority Conference Room. 7 The Senate will stand at ease. 8 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 11 ease at 1:30 p.m.) 12 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 13 at 2:32 p.m.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 15 Senate will come to order. 16 Senator Skelos. 17 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 18 would you please lay aside, for the day, 19 Calendar 1637. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 21 Calendar 1637 is laid aside for the day. 22 Senator Skelos. 23 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could 24 return to motions and resolutions, please. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Motions

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(518) 371-8910 1 and resolutions. 2 Senator Nozzolio. 3 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Mr. President, 4 amendments are offered to the following Third 5 Reading Calendar bills: 6 Senator Flanagan, on page 20, 7 Calendar Number 740, Senate Print Number 830A; 8 Senator Volker, page 34, Calendar 9 Number 1143, Senate Print Number 5233A; 10 On behalf of Senator Volker, 11 page 36, Calendar Number 1234, Senate Print 12 Number 3166C; 13 Senator Skelos, page 48, Calendar 14 Number 1595, Senate Print Number 6014; 15 And Senator Griffo, page number 33, 16 Calendar Number 1120, Senate Print Number 17 5482A. 18 Mr. President, I now move that 19 these bills retain their place on Third 20 Reading Calendar. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 amendments are received and adopted, and the 23 bills will retain their place on the Third 24 Reading Calendar. 25 Senator Fuschillo.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 2 President, I wish to call up my bill, Senate 3 Print Number 2969A, recalled from the 4 Assembly, which is now at the desk. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 338, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 2969A, 9 an act to amend the General Business Law. 10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 11 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 12 passed. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 14 Secretary will call the roll on 15 reconsideration. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 19 the following amendments. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 amendments are received. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr. 23 President, I wish to call up my bill, Senate 24 Print Number 5541, recalled from the Assembly, 25 which is now at the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 1100, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 5541, 5 an act to amend the Executive Law and others. 6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 7 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 8 passed. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 10 the roll on reconsideration. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 14 the following amendments. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 16 amendments are received. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 18 Senator Morahan, I wish to call up Senate 19 Print Number 5473, recalled from the Assembly, 20 which is now at the desk. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 1163, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 5473, 25 an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 2 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 3 passed. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 5 the roll on reconsideration. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 9 the following amendments. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 amendments are received. 12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 13 Senator Morahan, I wish to call up Senate 14 Print Number 249, recalled from the Assembly, 15 which is now at the desk. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 103, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 249, an 20 act to amend the General Business Law. 21 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 22 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 23 passed. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 25 the roll on reconsideration.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 4 the following amendments. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 amendments are received. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 8 Senator Farley, I wish to call up Senate Print 9 Number 899, recalled from the Assembly, which 10 is now at the desk. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 972, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 899, an 15 act to amend the Education Law. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 17 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 18 passed. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 20 the roll on reconsideration. 21 (The Secretary called the roll.) 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 24 the following amendments. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendments are received. 2 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 3 Senator Flanagan, I wish up Senate Print 4 Number 4175, recalled from the Assembly, which 5 is now at the desk. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 7 Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 817, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 4175, 10 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 12 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 13 passed. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 15 the roll on reconsideration. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 19 the following amendments. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 amendments are received. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of 23 Senator Flanagan, I wish to call up Senate 24 Print Number 3688, recalled from the Assembly, 25 which is now at the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 427, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 3688, 5 an act to amend Chapter 364 of the Laws of 6 2006. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to 8 reconsider the vote by which the bill was 9 passed. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 11 the roll on reconsideration. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 14 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer 15 the following amendments. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 amendments are received. 18 Senator Skelos. 19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 20 there will be an immediate meeting of the 21 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference 22 Room. 23 We will then report the Rules 24 Committee to the floor but not take it up at 25 this time.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 2 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules 3 Committee in the Majority Conference Room. 4 The Senate stands at ease. 5 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 6 ease at 2:37 p.m.) 7 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 8 at 2:46 p.m.) 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 Senate will come to order. 12 Senator Skelos. 13 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 14 if we could return to reports of standing 15 committees, there's a report of the Rules 16 Committee at the desk. I ask that it be read 17 at this time. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Reports 19 of standing committees. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno, 22 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 23 following bills: 24 Senate Print 2004, by Senator 25 Robach, an act to amend the Executive Law;

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(518) 371-8910 1 2068, by Senator LaValle, 2 Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and 3 Assembly; 4 2598, by Senator Alesi, an act to 5 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 6 2724, by Senator Griffo, Concurrent 7 Resolution of the Senate and Assembly; 8 3220, by Senator LaValle, an act to 9 amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 10 3670, by Senator Winner, an act to 11 amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; 12 3822, by Senator LaValle, an act to 13 amend the Criminal Procedure Law; 14 3826, by Senator Padavan, an act to 15 amend the Private Housing Finance Law; 16 4220A, by Senator Rath, an act 17 relating to adjusted; 18 4382A, by Senator Marcellino, an 19 act to amend the Executive Law; 20 4401, by Senator Skelos, an act to 21 amend the Education Law; 22 4498, by Senator Golden, an act to 23 amend the Education Law; 24 4922, by Senator Lanza, an act to 25 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law;

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(518) 371-8910 1 5224, by Senator Padavan, an act to 2 amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; 3 5286, by Senator Rath, an act to 4 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 5 5339, by Senator Hannon, an act to 6 amend the County Law; 7 5599A, by Senator Leibell, an act 8 to amend the State Technology Law; 9 5670B, by Senator Saland, an act to 10 amend the Executive Law; 11 5672, by Senator Saland, an act to 12 amend the Executive Law; 13 5775, by Senator Seward, an act to 14 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 15 5973A, by Senator Lanza, an act to 16 amend the Education Law; 17 5981, by Senator Bruno, an act to 18 amend Chapter 757 of the Laws of 2005; 19 6012A, by Senator Larkin, an act to 20 amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; 21 6123, by the Senate Committee on 22 Rules, an act to amend the Tax Law; 23 6166, by Senator Seward, an act to 24 amend the General Business Law; 25 6167, by Senator Skelos, an act to

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(518) 371-8910 1 amend the Executive Law; 2 6184, by Senator Rath, an act to 3 amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law; 4 And Senate Print 6188, by Senator 5 Maltese, an act to allow members. 6 All bills ordered direct to third 7 reading. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 9 Skelos. 10 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 11 move to accept the report of the Rules 12 Committee. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 14 favor signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 report is accepted. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any 23 further business at the desk? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 25 is none.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SKELOS: There being 2 none, I move we stand adjourned until Monday, 3 June 18th, at 3:00 p.m. intervening days being 4 legislative days. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On 6 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 7 Monday, June 18th, at 3:00 p.m., with 8 intervening days being legislative days. 9 Senate adjourned. 10 (Whereupon, at 2:49 p.m., the 11 Senate adjourned.) 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910