Wednesday, August 20, 2008

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 August 20, 2008 11 10:16 a.m. 12 13 14 EXTRAORDINARY SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR GEORGE D. MAZIARZ, 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 MAZIARZ: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and repeat the Pledge of Allegiance to 6 our Flag. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: In the 10 absence of clergy, I'll ask that we please bow 11 our heads for a moment of silence. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 15 reading of the Journal. 16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 17 Tuesday, August 19, the Senate met in 18 Extraordinary Session pursuant to adjournment. 19 On motion, Senate adjourned. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 22 as read. 23 Presentation of petitions. 24 Messages from the Assembly. 25 Messages from the Governor.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Reports of standing committees. 2 Reports of select committees. 3 Communications and reports from 4 state officers. 5 Motions and resolutions. 6 Senator Libous. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 8 there will be a Finance Committee meeting 9 immediately in Room 332. 10 Then we're going to immediately 11 come back and call a Rules Committee meeting 12 in Room 332. And then we'll come back and 13 address the bill on the floor. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There 15 will be a meeting of the Senate Finance 16 Committee in Room 332. 17 The Senate will stand at ease. 18 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 19 ease at 10:17 a.m.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Libous. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 23 there will be an immediate meeting of the 24 Rules Committee in Room 332. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There

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(518) 371-8910 1 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules 2 Committee in Room 332. 3 The Senate continues to stand at 4 ease. 5 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 6 at 10:28 a.m.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 8 Senator Libous. 9 SENATOR LIBOUS: Could we have 10 the members in the chamber, please. 11 And could we return to reports of 12 standing committees for a report from the 13 Finance Committee. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Reports of standing committees. 16 The Secretary will read the Finance 17 Committee report. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator O. 19 Johnson, from the Committee on Finance, 20 reports the following bill direct to third 21 reading: 22 Extraordinary Session Senate Print 23 Number 2, Senate Budget Bill, an act to amend 24 Chapter 50 of the Laws of 2008 enacting the 25 Public Protection and General Government

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(518) 371-8910 1 Budget and others, in relation to the support 2 of state government. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 4 Without objection, the bill is reported direct 5 to third reading. 6 Senator Libous. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 8 can we now take up the third reading of the 9 Finance report, please. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 11 Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 13 Calendar Number 1, Senator O. Johnson moves to 14 discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 15 Extraordinary Session Assembly Print Number 2 16 and substitute it for the identical 17 Extraordinary Session Senate Bill Number 2, 18 Third Reading Calendar 1. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 20 Substitution ordered. 21 The Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 1, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 24 Extraordinary Session Print Number 2, an act 25 to amend Chapter 50 of the Laws of 2008

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(518) 371-8910 1 enacting the Public Protection and General 2 Government Budget and others, in relation to 3 the support of state government. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 10 Senator Libous. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Is there a 12 message of necessity at the desk? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There 14 is a message of necessity at the desk, 15 Senator. 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 17 we're just pausing for a second so members can 18 come into the chamber. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Would 20 all the members please report to the chamber. 21 Senator Libous. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I 23 now move to accept the message of necessity. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: All in 25 favor of accepting the message of necessity

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(518) 371-8910 1 please signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 4 Opposed, nay. 5 (No response.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The 7 message is accepted. 8 Read the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 15 Senator Connor, to explain his vote. 16 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 First I want to congratulate and 19 applaud Governor Paterson for focusing the 20 attention of the state on the fiscal crisis 21 that we're facing and the economic downturn 22 and the impact it has on the state's fiscal 23 condition. 24 And my colleagues certainly are to 25 be applauded for their efforts in both houses

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(518) 371-8910 1 to try and meet this. 2 That said, as I've said before many 3 times, a budget and the state's fiscal 4 integrity have two sides of the ledger. 5 There's the revenue side, there's the 6 expenditure side. And on that expenditure 7 side are what I call tax expenditures, tax 8 breaks we give to people, taxes we don't 9 collect, ostensibly for good public purposes 10 like job generation. 11 Unfortunately, we've often been 12 misled and given tax credits to people who 13 don't produce the jobs for the areas of the 14 state that desperately need them, who don't 15 meet their obligations. 16 This effort to close the gap is but 17 a minuscule piece of what needs to be done. 18 We need to evaluate and recoup tax dollars we 19 give away to people who don't meet their 20 commitments. We need a tax system that's 21 truly progressive. Why is it that our highest 22 earners pay middle-class rates on their state 23 income tax -- or worse -- or worse, nothing? 24 I have addressed before on this 25 floor the question of investment bankers whose

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(518) 371-8910 1 income, the money they make on a deal they 2 spend their time on is treated as capital 3 gains rather than income. In theory, it's a 4 fiction: Oh, it's a return on their 5 investment. What investment? Their time? 6 I'm not talking about people who 7 put their money at risk, entrepreneurs, people 8 who take risks. That's different. 9 But because we track the federal 10 tax law, we let investment bankers, some of 11 the highest earners in this state, some of the 12 wealthiest people in this state, escape paying 13 the normal income tax rate of all of our other 14 taxpayers that make it to a middle-class 15 bracket -- and we don't have a whole lot of 16 brackets here in this state; that's why it's 17 not a progressive system -- but they pay 18 capital gains. 19 Real entrepreneurs, the people in 20 my district who invest and own and operate a 21 little luncheonette or a bodega, they don't 22 get that kind of treatment when they put in 23 60-, 70-hour weeks working there. They end up 24 paying income tax. Why aren't we addressing 25 that?

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(518) 371-8910 1 Why aren't we addressing revenue 2 needs? Why are we afraid to say the T word, 3 taxes? Everybody in this state should pay 4 their fair share. I'm not talking about more 5 taxes, more taxes. I'm talking about a system 6 that's fair, that all New Yorkers think 7 they're paying their fair share, that property 8 taxpayers don't get killed because the house 9 they live in for years appreciates in value 10 yet they have very modest incomes. 11 Why don't we address that? That's 12 part of this package if you want to close this 13 gap. But we've gone willy-nilly from year to 14 year giving away tax breaks, lowering this tax 15 but raising that tax, taxing certain 16 businesses unfairly, letting others off the 17 hook. It's all part of the same fiscal 18 package, and we have to address it. 19 And, Mr. President, let's talk 20 about cuts. Where are the cuts in those 21 upstate prisons that we don't need anymore? 22 Why are we leaving them open? Why are we 23 cutting nickels and dimes from women and 24 children, in some of these things that we're 25 doing today, and leaving those prisons up

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(518) 371-8910 1 there? Why are we doing that? Why aren't we 2 attacking that? 3 Mr. President, until we have a 4 comprehensive approach to New York State's 5 fiscal condition that's evolved over the past 6 decade or two, and until we address the issue 7 of fairness in our tax system, the concept of 8 every New Yorker paying their fair share but 9 no more than is needed to support government, 10 and until we eliminate real waste despite the 11 political obstacles or local political 12 considerations -- such as those prisons -- 13 until we do all that, we're never going to 14 straighten out the fiscal condition of the 15 state, we're never going to convince the 16 public we're doing the right thing in regard 17 to the way we budget. 18 And until we do that, 19 Mr. President, I'm voting no on this bill. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: 21 Senator Connor will be recorded in the 22 negative. 23 Senator Liz Krueger. 24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I want to 25 thank my colleague Senator Connor for actually

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(518) 371-8910 1 going first and raising some of the exact same 2 issues I was going to raise. 3 This is a very hard vote for many 4 of us. We all hate cutting budgets. We know 5 we have an economic crisis. I think we know 6 we're going to be back here, perhaps even 7 before the next budget session, to do some 8 more harm. 9 And yet while my concerns are 10 almost identical to my colleague Senator 11 Connor, I will vote yes, because I recognize 12 that we do have to cut our budget. 13 And I wish we were making other 14 cuts. Senator Connor just pointed out what 15 are we doing keeping empty prisons open where 16 we all know we could save hundreds of millions 17 of dollars without doing harm to the endless 18 number of small groups listed in this budget 19 document who are going to take cuts that may 20 in some situations -- even though it might 21 just be a 6 percent cut, but it's a 6 percent 22 cut on the last half of a year, which is a 23 12 percent cut minimum -- some of these 24 programs might close their doors because of 25 the decisions we're making today.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so when I know that I'm passing 2 a budget bill that's cutting out 3 emergency-food money at a time where food 4 prices are skyrocketing and the economy is 5 bad, that causes me enormous pain. And when I 6 know that we're cutting HIV prevention 7 programs, and when I know we're cutting SUNY 8 and CUNY programs when we all know that the 9 future of this state is dependent on making 10 sure that our generation of young people are 11 competitively positioned through their 12 intellectual capital to move us through the 13 21st century and into the kinds of jobs that 14 are there. 15 And so I am frustrated that the 16 best we could do today, even in cutting 17 budgets, was this list. But like my 18 colleague, I recognize that because of the 19 borrow-and-spend philosophy of Governor 20 Pataki's 12 years in office and this chamber, 21 led by the Senate Republicans, that we find 22 ourselves with only these choices in front of 23 us today. 24 Four hundred million in savings 25 from closing down prisons we don't need

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(518) 371-8910 1 instead of the cuts we're putting on the table 2 today? I have no question where I would put 3 our priorities if I had been the one at the 4 negotiating table. 5 Senator Connor talked about our tax 6 policies. I have spent endless amounts of 7 time on the floor of the Senate trying to 8 convince my colleagues what we need to do in 9 New York State is a full evaluation of our tax 10 policies to have a progressive instead of a 11 regressive system. And that doesn't 12 necessarily mean a tax increase, that means a 13 fair and equitable distribution of taxes. 14 And, like my colleague, I have 15 spent endless hours on this floor and in 16 written documents talking about the fact that 17 we never evaluate, and we didn't today either, 18 the tax expenditure budget. 19 We have not done Empire Zone 20 reform. There are hundreds of millions of 21 dollars that are going out the door to people 22 who should not be getting these tax exemptions 23 and who have not met the standard even of the 24 limited rules we have put into place about 25 Empire Zones.

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(518) 371-8910 1 There are tax expenditures on our 2 books that there is no way you can justify 3 from an incentive perspective in a 4 21st-century economy. And yet billions, 5 billions of dollars are being left uncollected 6 from people who end up not paying their fair 7 share of taxes. 8 And so because we don't have a good 9 tax policy system and we aren't an honest 10 legislature when it comes to determining who 11 gets to pay their taxes and who doesn't, 12 instead we will cut hundreds of millions of 13 dollars out of groups who do the work that is 14 so critically important in communities and who 15 are more needed in bad economic times than in 16 good economic times. And that's where we find 17 ourselves. 18 And I would even hazard to say that 19 if I had been the governor in the last few 20 days, one of the decisions I might have made 21 is if you're actually big enough to afford a 22 lobbyist up here, maybe you could take a 23 bigger cut than all the small folks who barely 24 got their voices heard at all and who are, in 25 this document, losing hundreds of millions of

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(518) 371-8910 1 dollars. 2 So I will vote yes, but with a 3 heavy heart. And I will say we could have 4 done much better, and I wish we had. 5 Thank you, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 7 Senator DeFrancisco. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 I rise also to compliment Governor 11 Paterson for initiating this special session. 12 Right around the corner, we'll be 13 dealing with a very difficult budget year 14 coming -- actually, his budget will come out 15 in about five months. That's not too long 16 from now. And by being here earlier to start 17 addressing the issue, I think we're going to 18 be in a position to face less of a problem 19 come January, but, more importantly, address 20 the overspending that has obviously been 21 happening over the last few years. 22 You know, there's cuts in this 23 budget bill that I don't like. And I'm sure, 24 if you go around the room, you could find 25 everybody with some issue they don't like

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(518) 371-8910 1 that's cut in this particular budget. 2 The fact of the matter is is that 3 Governor Paterson gave a framework, we 4 followed that framework. We restored much of 5 the cuts, made sure nothing happened to 6 education, minimized completely, I believe, or 7 to a very large degree any pass-ons to local 8 government. And we've got a substantial 9 savings here. 10 Many of the ideas that have been 11 expressed by earlier speakers, we've got 12 plenty of time in five months to do that. 13 This was an extraordinary session 14 for an extraordinary purpose. And we followed 15 the Governor's lead today in making 16 substantial cuts. And I'm going to vote aye 17 on this bill. 18 Secondly, we followed the 19 Governor's lead on the tax cap about 11 days 20 ago. And what we're trying to show is that 21 what you're Republican or Democrat, a 22 Democratic governor or a Republican majority, 23 you can work together a common goal. 24 And we continue to partner with the 25 Governor and hope that the Assembly will come

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(518) 371-8910 1 along on the other tax issue. 2 So with that said,I vote aye today. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 4 Maziarz. 5 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 6 much, Mr. President. 7 I rise to also support this budget 8 resolution. I agree with my colleague Senator 9 DeFrancisco. I think that the Governor's 10 approach to share the pain, if you will, to 11 cut a little bit across the board from 12 hundreds of different areas, is the right 13 approach. 14 We all know that with the impending 15 bad financial news, with the ups and downs of 16 Wall Street, with what everyone forecasts as a 17 potential banking crisis coming next year, I 18 think this is a good first start for us here. 19 And again, I congratulate the Governor. 20 I think the absolutely wrong 21 direction to go in would be to increasing 22 taxes, increasing revenues and increasing 23 fees. For too long that's been the easiest 24 answer. And the Governor, and I congratulate 25 him again, rejects that approach.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The real story out of this 2 extraordinary session of the Legislature is 3 the Assembly's refusal to adopt the property 4 tax cap that the Governor proposed -- and I 5 want to emphasize that the Governor proposed 6 and the Senate adopted two weeks ago. That's 7 really the only disappointing part about this. 8 Mr. President, I vote in favor of 9 this budget bill. I think it's the right 10 direction to be taking our state at this very 11 critical time. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 14 you, Senator Maziarz. 15 Senator Gonzalez. 16 SENATOR GONZALEZ: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 I think that Senator Connor 19 articulated what in terms of I agree with. 20 Also, the first ones to get the 21 cuts, the first ones are the poor, the 22 disabled and the vulnerable. And others are 23 not -- they share the pain immediately. And 24 others do not share the same pain. 25 And for that reason, I vote no.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 2 you, Senator Gonzalez. 3 Senator Golden. 4 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 These are truly hard cuts. But 7 these cuts are what the majority of this great 8 state expect of us. Six cents on every dollar 9 sounds like a lot of money. But we will get 10 through it. 11 Families across this great state 12 are cutting much more than that. They're 13 making decisions on the education of their 14 children, the future of their families. They 15 expect more out of this Legislature. 16 And I'm listening to some of my 17 colleagues today. We have to give the people 18 of this great state that double insurance 19 policy that really guarantees them a future 20 for their family, and that is that bipartisan 21 cap that we talk about on property that the 22 Governor has put forward. And the other 23 insurance policy is that 4 percent spending 24 cap. 25 And if we had a spending cap here

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(518) 371-8910 1 in the State of New York, as I said yesterday, 2 we would have had $2.4 billion savings last 3 year, $2.4 billion savings this year, and 4 $2.8 billion savings next year. Think about 5 that. 6 The people of the State of New York 7 deserve those cuts. The cuts that they are 8 making for their families this year are truly 9 a burden to each and every one of those 10 families. And we as a body can make a 11 difference for each and every one of those 12 families by doing the right thing. 13 And the right thing is doing these 14 cuts, and the right thing is doing that 15 property cap tax for the people of the State 16 of New York. And doing the right thing is 17 passing that spending cap and saving 18 $2.8 billion for the taxpayers of the State of 19 New York. 20 Even with these cuts today, and the 21 ones going into the next year with the 22 Governor, we save $1.7 billion. That's a lot 23 of money. But we're still facing a 24 $5 billion-plus deficit next year. 25 We need to get serious here, we

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(518) 371-8910 1 need to get serious in the Assembly, and we to 2 do the right thing, and that's to pass these 3 savings down to the families across the State 4 of New York. 5 I vote aye, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 7 you, Senator Golden. 8 Senator Diaz. 9 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 You know, when I came to this body, 12 Senator Paterson used to be our leader. And I 13 remember all the teaching he gave me, how he 14 taught me to fight against the cuts that the 15 Republicans used to make in our communities. 16 And Governor Paterson -- I mean Senator 17 Paterson was great. He was a leader. He was 18 on top of protecting every cut that would 19 affect our communities. 20 Now Senator Paterson is no longer 21 Senator Paterson, now he's Governor Paterson. 22 And, ladies and gentlemen, the Republican side 23 is always praising Governor Paterson. The 24 Republican side is praising Governor Paterson 25 for the last two weeks. The editorial boards

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(518) 371-8910 1 of every newspaper is praising Governor 2 Paterson, how he's cutting, how he's 3 protecting the budget. 4 He wasn't like that when he was 5 with us. He was a completely different 6 person. What's happened? What's going on 7 here? 8 You know, I've always said that I'm 9 a conservative. Yes, and I am a conservative 10 Democrat when it comes to family values and 11 moral values. But when it comes to protecting 12 the services to our community, to our needy, I 13 am a very liberal guy. 14 As a matter of fact, today I'm 15 going to prove that I am a better Democrat 16 than some of my colleagues. I'm going to 17 prove that I'm a better Democrat. Because we 18 Democrats are supposed to protect the needy. 19 We Democrats are supposed to protect the 20 services for the poor, the black, the 21 Hispanic. That's what we're supposed to do. 22 And Liz Krueger, Senator 23 Liz Krueger just said something here. When 24 she was up, she said some of those programs 25 might close -- that's what she said -- might

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(518) 371-8910 1 close due to the decisions that we are taking 2 here today. Senator Krueger said that. But 3 she said "I'm voting yes." 4 And I'm saying, hey, ain't we 5 Democrats? Ain't we supposed to protect the 6 needy? Now we're cutting HIV services, 7 hospital services in my district, bilingual 8 education, HEOP. We're cutting HEOP. I mean, 9 the program that helps our youth, our minority 10 students to go to college, we're cutting that? 11 And we are calling ourselves Democrats? 12 Ladies and gentlemen, I am a 13 conservative Democrat, I am a conservative 14 Democratic when it comes to family values, to 15 moral values, and to traditional values. When 16 it comes to services to my community, I am as 17 best as you could find. I am very, very 18 liberal when it comes to protecting the 19 services for my community. 20 And I am ashamed, today I'm here to 21 say that we are here saying because the 22 Governor sent in this, we have to help the 23 Governor? And the Governor's being praised by 24 the Republican side? And we are here to cut 25 services to our people, to our communities, to

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(518) 371-8910 1 our children? 2 On breakfast, breakfast and lunch, 3 school breakfast and lunch, we are cutting 4 that. School breakfast and lunches. 5 And we're supposed to be -- I'm 6 supposed to be -- I am -- ladies and 7 gentlemen, I am supposed to be the 8 conservative Democrat here. I'm supposed 9 to -- you are calling me Republican. You're 10 asking me, When are you going to that side, 11 when are you going to that side? 12 I am telling you now, today, when 13 are all of you going to go to that side? When 14 are all of you who are voting for this package 15 going to go to that side? 16 I am voting no because I'm voting 17 with my conscience to protect what we're 18 supposed to protect -- the needy, the poor, 19 the people that sent us here to fight for 20 them. And don't allow programs to close 21 because of a decision that we are taking here 22 today. 23 Ladies and gentlemen, I'm voting -- 24 Mr. President, look at me. Please. Look at 25 me, Mr. President, and hear me, please. Hear

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(518) 371-8910 1 me. I am voting no. I am a Democrat. I am a 2 conservative Democratic when it comes to 3 family values and to moral values. When it 4 comes to services to our community, I am as 5 liberal as they could come. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So 7 noted, Senator Diaz. Thank you. 8 Senator Winner. 9 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 I rise in support of this measure 12 as a measure of necessity given the current 13 economic climates that we have in the State of 14 New York. 15 We have a special extraordinary 16 session of the Legislature here, called by the 17 Governor. As such, he has called upon us to 18 enact a rather long series of reductions in 19 expenditures that we have compromised with and 20 negotiated and that has resulted in a package 21 that is eminently reasonable and fair across 22 the board given what we were presented at the 23 time. 24 I commend the Governor for his 25 initiative here in recognizing that the state

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(518) 371-8910 1 clearly has a spending problem, not a tax 2 problem, and we need to make certain 3 reductions in spending in order, very frankly, 4 to meet our constitutional responsibilities to 5 balance the budget. 6 We ignore the fact that the 7 Governor has indicated that at the end of this 8 fiscal year, without enacting any particular 9 spending reductions, that we would have at 10 least a $630 million deficit at the end of 11 March of this coming fiscal year. 12 Without him taking the actions that 13 he has taken, his $630 million is obviously 14 providing what he considers to be executive 15 actions that will meet closure of that gap for 16 the end of the fiscal year. 17 And additionally, he asks us to 18 produce some savings to ensure that in the 19 event that the economic condition of this 20 state worsened, that he would have the ability 21 to close this budget at the end of this fiscal 22 year without the necessity of having a 23 deficit. 24 I don't know what you think is 25 going to happen. The money is not going to

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(518) 371-8910 1 come out of the sky. Your only answer to this 2 problem is to raise taxes some more. And I 3 don't think this state can afford to raise any 4 more taxes. And certainly those economists 5 indicate that if you're in a recession or 6 problem with an economic downturn in the State 7 of New York, as we are, that the worst that we 8 can do would be to raise taxes and further 9 exacerbate our economic problems. 10 So, ladies and gentlemen, we're 11 faced with a laundry list of choices that 12 clearly say, hey, you've got to come up with 13 some money to close this budget gap. The 14 Governor is asking for a cushion to meet the 15 end of this fiscal year. We're providing it 16 in the form of $427 million of additional 17 cushion. He's going to cut $630 million, to 18 his credit, through administrative actions. 19 And, together, we're going to be 20 able to go forward to try to tell New Yorkers 21 that we're serious about making sure our 22 fiscal house is in order as we go and face a 23 potential budget deficit that is going to grow 24 significantly next year in the 2009-2010 25 fiscal year.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Governor has indicated that he 2 believes that will be $6.4 billion. We can 3 quibble over whether or not we believe the 4 assumptions underlying that number are exactly 5 accurate. But one thing that we do know is 6 we're going to face a budget deficit for 7 2009-2010. 8 So we ought to be responsible and 9 take actions going forward, prospectively, in 10 order to make sure that that burden is less 11 onerous on the taxpayers next year. 12 This measure does provide some 13 cushion, and it does so without raising the 14 already horrendously onerous burden of taxes 15 on New Yorkers. I vote aye. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 17 you, Senator Winner. 18 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 19 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Yes, 20 thank you, Mr. President. Just to explain my 21 vote. 22 I will in fact be voting on this 23 budget, but with deep reluctance. I listened 24 to each of my colleagues. And as somebody 25 whose field of endeavor has been to work with

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(518) 371-8910 1 the HIV and AIDS community, I am heartsick 2 about any of these cuts that are going to 3 affect their ability to not only teach the 4 modes of transmittal but also to make sure 5 that new treatment modalities reach people -- 6 that the outreach benefits will just not be 7 there. 8 I am very concerned about the cuts 9 to the aging. But more than that, I am very 10 concerned about just our general health cuts. 11 When we look at mental health and all of our 12 areas and the nursing homes, I am deeply 13 concerned. Because even though it says 14 6 percent, it continues to represent jobs, 15 opportunities within our communities, and it 16 represents a failure to serve. 17 We cannot talk about good health 18 practices, we can't talk about how do we 19 address the issues of obesity if in fact we're 20 going to be cutting research and services. We 21 can't talk about how do we get in front of the 22 issues of women's health, breast cancer, other 23 kinds of things if we're cutting services to 24 our communities. 25 Having said that, you say how do I

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(518) 371-8910 1 vote. Yes. How do I vote yes? Because I do 2 understand that aside from a couple of areas 3 that have already been mentioned, particularly 4 prisons, which I spoke very strongly when we 5 first did our budget, that those things are 6 not in here. There are a lot of "nots" in 7 this budget. But for the most part, we all 8 understood when we came back here, that we 9 were going to make cuts. 10 And how deeply we cut is reflected 11 in how some hospitals are going to be cut 12 deeper than others. When I look at perhaps 13 White Plains Hospital and then look at Bronx 14 Lebanon and see what the impact of one 15 hospital over another -- yes, I understand 16 that Bronx Lebanon has more Medicaid, so the 17 bigger the Medicaid dollars, the bigger the 18 cuts reflected. But that also means 19 reflective of the cuts of services to people 20 in our communities. 21 We can't talk about good health 22 policies when we don't talk about how the 23 budget reflects that. And so that I would 24 like to hope that, having looked at the 25 spending spree that this state has been on

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(518) 371-8910 1 that has brought us to this dilemma, that we 2 have learned something from that experience 3 and that these cuts and what they're going to 4 mean and how we're going to have to explain 5 them in our communities when we go home will 6 help us to come back here next year with a 7 very different mindset about who is going to 8 get what in this state. 9 We have got to start with a policy 10 base. And from that policy we can determine 11 how money is going to be spent. We do not 12 have a policy about -- we've just begun to get 13 a policy about education, but we haven't 14 established a policy about health. And we 15 still look at the disparity between how health 16 is provided in some communities versus others. 17 And until we begin to talk about 18 what is going to be the public policy of this 19 State Senate, we will continue to experience 20 lopsided cuts as we are experiencing in this 21 budget. 22 So I will be voting yes, with 23 tremendous reluctance, Mr. President. But I 24 hope that everyone has learned something about 25 the spending spree, the failure to tax those

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(518) 371-8910 1 who can afford, that have brought us to this 2 state of affairs today. 3 Thank you, Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 5 Little. 6 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 I rise in support of this bill. I 9 understand that there are some difficult 10 reductions in spending in this bill, but these 11 are difficult times. 12 And the people in this state, the 13 people in my district, are tightening their 14 belts because of their difficulties in costs 15 and income and all that they're dealing with. 16 So I think it's appropriate that we in 17 New York State tighten our belts. 18 I commend the Governor for calling 19 us back. I commend him for working with the 20 Legislature to spread the reductions over 21 many, many areas of the state so that the 22 impact is not totally painful on one segment 23 of this state. 24 I thank him for doing what he's 25 doing, and I believe that the people of

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(518) 371-8910 1 New York State will thank all of us. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 4 Stachowski. 5 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 Obviously this is a package that 8 has some cuts that everybody has some problems 9 with. There are cuts in here that, as Senator 10 DeFrancisco said, if you go around the room 11 everybody will have a problem with something 12 in here. 13 There are serious cuts, but I think 14 that in a lot of places they're cuts of 15 6 percent. And if the program is still funded 16 at 94 percent, I think they can get through 17 this year. And hopefully the cuts next year 18 won't be worse. If the economy changes, maybe 19 they'll be getting the money back that they're 20 losing this year. We don't know that yet; 21 we'll have to see. 22 But we have to work on the premise 23 that we needed to make these cuts so that we 24 can get a handle on the budget that will be 25 facing us next year, based on the economic

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(518) 371-8910 1 data that we have in front of us today. 2 These aren't pleasant things. But 3 everybody thinks that the State of New York 4 spends so much, and in many cases too much. 5 And so with that as the backdrop, I don't see 6 how we have a choice except to vote for a 7 cutting package of spending. 8 I think that the cuts could have 9 been different. That's okay. Everybody put 10 up their own cuts; this is what came out. 11 It's like you go to a restaurant, 12 you might want a certain dish but it's not on 13 the menu, so you've got to order from whatever 14 the menu is. And we didn't make the menu up, 15 but this is the menu in front of us and we've 16 got to make a selection. 17 And I think, in the betterment of 18 the state, to put us in better fiscal order, 19 the option is to vote for the cuts, get 20 through this year, hope that all those 21 programs that get minor cuts can handle them, 22 hope that anything that gets a bigger cut -- 23 because the things that the Governor cut, but 24 I'm sure his people thought about them before 25 they took them out -- they can get through the

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(518) 371-8910 1 year. 2 So I think that the right thing to 3 do -- and I heard Senator Diaz talk about 4 being a conservative Democrat. Well, I'm a 5 fiscally conservative Democrat. So I look at 6 the spending part. And I think that we have 7 no option but to try to get the cutting on the 8 spending now and, in the future, maybe even 9 cut on some spending in other areas when other 10 people get the options to name what will be on 11 the menu. 12 So I vote yes. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Farley. 15 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 I see Senator Diaz is leaving. I 18 was going to speak to him. 19 But anyway, I've been here 32 20 years, and I think that this is one of the one 21 time -- perhaps the greatest moment that this 22 Legislature has acted. You know, they call us 23 dysfunctional. I think that the Governor has 24 been magnificent in putting forth this program 25 to solve one of the greatest crises that's

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(518) 371-8910 1 ever faced the State of New York. 2 And it's an example of the 3 Governor, the Senate, and the Assembly working 4 together to try to solve a problem that is 5 absolutely devastating to our citizens in this 6 state. 7 We have addressed this problem with 8 an agreement. It's not perfect. But boy, it 9 addresses almost all of the areas. 10 You know, a number of people are 11 concerned about some of the areas that were 12 cut. Let me just speak to some of them that 13 were excluded, that were not cut. Aid to 14 municipalities, county mandates. TAP, Tuition 15 Assistance Program. The community colleges 16 were not cut. Appropriations below $500,000. 17 School aid, one of the biggest things in our 18 budget, was not touched. Child welfare 19 services. Youth detention. Special education 20 and welfare were not cut. 21 We addressed a problem that's going 22 to solve $2.8 billion over a couple of years. 23 And, you know, the Legislature stepped up 24 here, worked together, and really put together 25 a program that addresses something that the

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(518) 371-8910 1 people of the State of New York are talking 2 about. You've got to get your fiscal house in 3 order, and we're doing it. 4 I applaud the Governor and this 5 house, all of my colleagues and so forth, and 6 the Assembly for working together to get this 7 done within the parameters of this 8 extraordinary session. I think that we're all 9 ready to go back to our districts and say we 10 got it done, we did our job. 11 Now, are there are some things left 12 undone that I'm not satisfied with? Yes. But 13 on balance, it's a very good program. 14 And, Mr. President, look at me. 15 (Laughter.) 16 SENATOR FARLEY: Are you looking 17 at me? 18 I vote aye. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank 20 you, Senator Farley. 21 Senator Stavisky. 22 SENATOR STAVISKY: That's all 23 right, you don't have to look at me. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: But I 25 look like looking at you, Senator.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you, 2 Senator -- Mr. President. 3 I've heard people say today that 4 there were no cuts to education. And I beg to 5 differ, because as far as I'm concerned, 6 education is really from prekindergarten to 7 the Ph.D., to the postgraduate degrees. It's 8 a continuum. 9 And yes, there have been cuts to 10 education that I find very troubling. For one 11 thing, we're cutting over $50 million from the 12 CUNY budget. I find that very troubling. 13 What's to me worse are the cuts to the 14 opportunity programs -- to HEOP, C-STEP, the 15 Liberty Partnership Program, the STEP program. 16 There's more than $2 million in cuts to these 17 opportunity programs. 18 And yet these special programs save 19 the state a lot of money in the long run, 20 because these students do well in college, 21 become income-producing, tax-paying citizens. 22 Hopefully many of them -- most of them, I 23 think, stay in New York State. And I find 24 those cuts to be very, very troubling. 25 I'm also concerned about cuts in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the outyears. I think that is an area that we 2 really haven't dealt with. 3 There's an obvious need for fiscal 4 responsibility and prudence. And the question 5 is whether the need for this sense of getting 6 our government in order, our budget in order, 7 outweighs the budget cuts that we're asked to 8 vote upon today. 9 We have two dreadful choices. We 10 have to pick the one that is less dreadful. 11 And in the interests of fiscal stability, 12 Mr. President, I vote aye. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank 14 you, Senator. 15 Senator Saland. 16 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 Certainly there's nobody who can be 19 pleased with the totality of the package that 20 has been presented to us today. There are 21 cuts that have been proposed and included in 22 this budget bill that are painful for each and 23 every member of this Senate. 24 Human nature is such that we always 25 would prefer spending to cutting. The fact of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the matter is that governance is always a 2 challenge. And it certainly is that much more 3 of challenge in difficult fiscal times. 4 I'm reminded of the quote 5 attributable to Winston Churchill which went 6 something to effect that attempting to tax 7 your way out of a bad economy was something 8 like a man standing in a bucket and trying to 9 lift himself by the handle. 10 The resolution of our problem 11 unfortunately requires us to take the action 12 that we're taking today. And I would like to 13 join the chorus that has sung the praise of 14 Governor Paterson. He certainly has set the 15 tone. He has acted admirably under the burden 16 of governing in very difficult times. He 17 acted administratively. He called upon us to 18 meet the challenge of finding some additional 19 $600 million in cuts. 20 And the end product that we have 21 is, as I said, not something that each and 22 every one of us can take enormous comfort in. 23 We can point, I'm sure, to any number of cuts 24 that would displease us, that we might do 25 differently. But the fact of the matter is

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(518) 371-8910 1 that we have to balance our budget. 2 The $600-plus-million that we have 3 to take care of by the conclusion of this 4 fiscal year is addressed in this bill. The 5 combination of Governor Paterson's 6 administrative cuts and these cuts mean over 7 the next two years in excess of $1.75 billion 8 in cuts. 9 That, ladies and gentlemen, is what 10 is expected of us, that is what is required of 11 us, that is what we are accomplishing here 12 today. 13 Mr. President, I vote aye on this 14 measure and certainly hope that this measure 15 passes overwhelmingly and says, to the people 16 of the State of New York: We understand that 17 you are going through challenging times, the 18 state is going through challenging times, and 19 we will make every effort to try and reduce 20 our budgets as you in your respective homes 21 are attempting to reduce yours. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank 23 you, Senator Saland. Senator Saland in the 24 affirmative. 25 Senator Valesky.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 You and my colleagues know that we 4 are here today because the Constitution of 5 this state gives the governor the power and 6 authority to call a legislature into 7 extraordinary session when he determines 8 issues are of a magnitude that require 9 legislative action outside of the regular 10 session. 11 What is extraordinary, in my 12 opinion, is the leadership that this Governor 13 continues to show since he first took office 14 in late March. My understanding is this is 15 the first time that a legislature here in 16 Albany has done mid-fiscal-year budget cuts 17 since 1990. Eighteen years have gone by since 18 we have done a midyear course correction. 19 But as we look at what the Governor 20 has accomplished in his short time in office, 21 we have come to expect the extraordinary on a 22 regular occurrence with him. Three weeks 23 before a budget deadline, he steers a process 24 and guides a budget process that brings a 25 final budget in at a lower spending level --

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(518) 371-8910 1 for the first time in 10 years -- than what 2 was originally proposed by the former 3 governor. 4 As soon as that process was 5 finished, he went back to his state agencies 6 and said we haven't done enough, you need to 7 cut another 3.35 percent. This summer, with 8 the economy continuing to worsen, he went back 9 to the state agencies and asked for another 10 7 percent in administrative cuts on top of 11 that but said to the Legislature, I can't do 12 it alone, you have to come back. 13 And that's why we are here. We 14 have done $427 million in midyear cuts, a 15 two-year benefit of over $1 billion. It takes 16 extraordinary leadership in difficult times. 17 Many of us expect times to get even more 18 difficult before they get better. 19 And I think we are fortunate in 20 this state to have a governor, in David 21 Paterson, who knows how to lead, who knows how 22 to make difficult decisions. And I for one 23 look forward to continuing to work with him in 24 getting the spending situation under control 25 in this state and getting our fiscal house in

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(518) 371-8910 1 order. 2 I vote in the affirmative. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: 4 Senator Valesky in the affirmative. 5 Senator Perkins. 6 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 And I want to begin by echoing the 9 introduction of the remarks by my colleague 10 Senator Valesky in complimenting our Governor 11 on his courage and the extraordinary 12 leadership that he's attempting to provide 13 during these very difficult times. 14 Having said that, though, I'm now 15 going to say that I disagree with his 16 conclusion. 17 Yes, this is an extraordinary 18 moment, and what's most extraordinary about it 19 is that we're here supposedly to share the 20 pain. But in fact it doesn't look like it's 21 being shared. 22 You know, in this package we have a 23 whole bunch of cuts typical of which is, for 24 instance, what we're doing with childhood lead 25 paint poisoning prevention, cutting childhood

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(518) 371-8910 1 lead paint poisoning prevention. It was a 2 pittance of a budget to begin with, but 3 nevertheless we're cutting it. 4 Ten thousand children a year are 5 being poisoned in this state, permanently 6 disabled, and we're cutting that. At the same 7 time, we're leaving prisons open. That's not 8 called sharing the pain. Empty prisons being 9 open, yet childhood lead paint poisoning 10 prevention being cut. To me, that's 11 extraordinary. That's unacceptable. 12 You know, we have a situation in 13 which the children and families who will 14 participate in the CUNY system, they're being 15 cut. Yet we're told that those who are rich 16 are sacred cows. They cannot be touched. 17 And so it seems to me that's 18 extraordinary. And that's typical of a lot of 19 what's in this budget and makes it very 20 difficult for me to be able to support it. 21 I find that we have a great 22 opportunity to begin to move this state in the 23 direction that is most responsive to the 24 people, and that this is an effort towards 25 that end. And I guess there's credit to be

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(518) 371-8910 1 given in that regard. 2 But I don't think we hit the mark, 3 and so I will be voting no. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: Thank 5 you, Senator Perkins. 6 Senator Perkins to be recorded in 7 the negative. 8 Senator Oppenheimer. 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, I 10 will be voting yes, though I must say -- and I 11 think everybody feels as I do, that these are 12 very painful choices that we're making here. 13 And nobody can be happy with this. But I 14 guess we see ourselves in an economic crisis 15 where we have to react in a fiscally 16 responsible way even though it may be painful. 17 And I will agree with Senator 18 Valesky that our Governor has been showing 19 great leadership. And he has taken the brunt 20 of the reductions onto himself, with 21 50 percent reductions. 22 And there are certain things that 23 are very painful for me to see, and I can't 24 imagine they aren't painful for everyone. To 25 be reducing school lunches and breakfasts, to

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(518) 371-8910 1 be reducing 50 percent our summer food 2 program, our workforce education, our adult 3 literacy education. What could be more 4 important than literacy and getting people to 5 a position where they can work in our economy? 6 These are very, very painful. 7 But I think I have to say, on the 8 other hand, that there were many things that 9 were saved that I appreciate. And I agree 10 with Senator Farley. The fact is that our 11 foundation school aid has not been touched and 12 all of our education basic funding has not 13 been touched. 14 And I recall 18 years ago when we 15 did have a midyear upheaval and we had to 16 reduce our expenses, you may remember what it 17 ask did to our school districts. Our school 18 districts got cut in the middle of the year, 19 and it really was a catastrophe for our school 20 districts. So I am very pleased that that 21 hasn't happened this year. 22 And I also want to point to another 23 thing which is very important, I think not 24 just in my Senate district, I think throughout 25 much of upstate as well, and that is that we

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(518) 371-8910 1 have been able to preserve the aid to 2 municipalities. 3 Because shifting these expense to 4 the local property taxpayer is not going to 5 solve our fiscal crisis, because the property 6 tax, at least in my county, is the highest in 7 the United States. And we certainly can't, 8 you know, put an additional burden on them and 9 think that we're going to be helping ourselves 10 fiscally. 11 Already I know local governments 12 are receiving less assistance from our state 13 agency programs due to the directive, the 14 Governor's directive that did reduce the state 15 operating expense. 16 So this is a way to provide a 17 steady stream of money that our local 18 governments can rely on. It is beyond the 19 property tax problem now; they are now relying 20 on things like sales tax, which is not a 21 steady, reliable stream. 22 So I'm very appreciative that at 23 least schools and local aid to municipalities 24 has not been touched. And I think we all 25 recognize that we have a responsibility, as

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(518) 371-8910 1 painful as it is. And that is why I'm 2 supporting this, and I'm sure that's why a lot 3 of my peers are. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: 5 Senator Oppenheimer will be recorded in the 6 affirmative. 7 Thank you, Senator. 8 Senator Stewart-Cousins. 9 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 10 you, Mr. President. 11 I rise to certainly echo many of 12 the sentiments of my colleagues and to just 13 say that when we were heading up here, our 14 local news station decided to do a poll and 15 the poll was about whether or not we would do 16 anything. 17 They asked the people whether they 18 really felt that this extraordinary session 19 would be extraordinary at all. They asked 20 whether the Legislature and the Governor could 21 come to an agreement that would really do the 22 kinds of things that New Yorkers expected us 23 to do. 24 So as I stand here, I'm happy to 25 say that there was a lot at stake. Very much

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(518) 371-8910 1 of that was whether or not we could do the 2 hard things, whether or not we could indeed do 3 our jobs. So I stand here commending my 4 colleagues. I stand here certainly commending 5 the Governor, a Governor who in extraordinary 6 times has been extraordinary. 7 But it's not a happy day for me. 8 It's not a happy day because, as my colleagues 9 have spoken, there are things on the table 10 that I would have preferred, if my priorities 11 were at the forefront, to have not cut. 12 I saw the Governor yesterday, and, 13 you know, he said to me: "How are you feeling 14 about this?" And I said, "I'm a little 15 worried." 16 I'm a little worried because I have 17 a mayor at home who says that if the aid to 18 municipalities is cut, that we will lose 19 police officers, we will lose firefighters, we 20 will lose EMS workers. And he went down a 21 list of what would be cut if the cut to 22 municipalities happened. 23 I have a district that had to have 24 a spin-up of $20 million to get through this 25 year. I am happy that we were able to leave

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(518) 371-8910 1 the municipalities' aid alone, because I know 2 that if we were to take that money away it 3 would be a thousand more cuts, fires that 4 would not be put out, police services that 5 would not be there. 6 I am happy that we were able to 7 keep our healthcare system intact. I'm happy 8 that education has not been jeopardized so 9 that we would not steal from the next 10 generation their opportunity. 11 So there are things in this budget 12 that I am sorry about. But quite frankly, I 13 know that I was sent here to do a job. And 14 we're doing the job that New Yorkers need to 15 do in an extraordinary session in an 16 extraordinary time. I will be voting for the 17 budget. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BONACIC: 19 Senator Stewart-Cousins will be recorded in 20 the affirmative. 21 Thank you, Senator. 22 Senator Padavan. 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you very 24 much, Mr. President. 25 I don't know who it was, but it was

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(518) 371-8910 1 said a long time ago: "There's no fun being 2 in politics when you don't have money to 3 spend." 4 And it's even less fun when you're 5 taking away money you've already spent, 6 meaning the budget we adopted and now we're 7 amending. 8 Many of you have raised issues on 9 different areas, and I share many of them. 10 For instance, I raised the issue of City 11 University, a $51 million cut. I learned that 12 $25 million will be dealt with by virtue of 13 what they already have in a surplus account. 14 And I've asked, Well, what is the impact of 15 the $26 million that remains? And we'll 16 certainly deal with that as best we can. 17 The good side of it, however, is 18 that there are no cuts to the community 19 colleges. At all. And obviously that is a 20 plus. 21 I go back to the days when we were 22 here in the mid-'70s dealing with the fiscal 23 crisis of the City of New York. There are 24 only a handful of us left. We were here all 25 summer, extraordinary session after session,

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(518) 371-8910 1 into the fall. And we were doing some 2 terrible things, like raising tuition where 3 there was none at City University, and 4 reforming a system that was totally in 5 shambles, a city that was ready to go 6 bankrupt. And we made all the tough choices 7 that had to be made, and we succeeded. 8 And then you could go forward in 9 the '80s, when great Governor Carey made his 10 speech, "the days of wine and roses are over," 11 when the state was in a fiscal jam and we had 12 to do some tough things to get us out of that 13 situation. And we did it. 14 When you reflect back on those 15 particular momentous occasions -- and even 16 after 2001 -- this is not as bad as we have 17 had to deal with in the past. And so we will 18 deal with it appropriately. 19 The last thing we want to do is 20 raise taxes. We don't want to scare any more 21 people out of New York State, taking their 22 businesses with them. And that's what some 23 people would like to do, kill the goose that's 24 laying the golden egg. 25 When you look at roughly a third of

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(518) 371-8910 1 our revenue is coming from the top brackets, 2 the millionaires in this state, the ones who 3 are most mobile -- and this is what the 4 Governor has said, and I agree with him. It 5 is also what Mayor Bloomberg has said. Don't 6 force those people away, because they can move 7 and go elsewhere and take all their resources 8 with them. 9 But let me tell where there are 10 people paying absolutely nothing. You know 11 where Canal Street is, don't you, Senator? 12 Well, there are Canal Streets all over the 13 City of New York and all over the State of 14 New York. They're selling merchandise, 15 ripoffs, everything from pocketbooks to CDs to 16 watches. 17 And you know what? They don't pay 18 any sales tax. They don't pay any income tax, 19 the entrepreneurs who are making millions, are 20 not paying any corporate tax. 21 Now, where did this information 22 come from? The comptroller of the City of 23 New York, Bill Thompson. He did a study last 24 year. $2.4 billion lost, between the city and 25 the state, in revenue on this activity.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Now, every once in a while you pick 2 up the paper and you read about a raid on a 3 warehouse and they're emptying out all that 4 stuff. But they're only scratching the 5 surface. 6 And then we have our Indian 7 tribes -- and of course Senator Nozzolio and 8 others have talked about this ad nauseam -- 9 not paying any income taxes on cigarettes and 10 other things. The minimum is $400 million, 11 some say it's a billion. I don't know what it 12 is, but it's a lot of money. 13 So if we want to grab the people 14 who are not paying taxes, they're right there 15 in front of us. And the law is there to 16 enforce; we're just not doing it. 17 But in any event, Mr. President, I 18 applaud everything that's been said here in a 19 positive vein. We will move forward, we will 20 get over this, we will do what we have to do, 21 and there will be a better day ahead. 22 I vote aye. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 24 Senator Padavan will be recorded in the 25 affirmative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Serrano, to explain his 2 vote. 3 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 And I do also want to echo the 6 sentiments of many of my colleagues in 7 applauding the Governor on having the 8 intestinal fortitude to recognize and tackle 9 an issue that is obviously very daunting. 10 And while I will vote yes on this 11 bill, I do have a certain level -- or many 12 reservations. 13 I grew up in the 1970s in the South 14 Bronx. A lot of people in this chamber can't 15 say that they did that. And I saw what a 16 fiscal downturn and what mismanagement from a 17 financial standpoint can do to communities. 18 And what was happening in the South Bronx was 19 happening all throughout the state. 20 And what I learned from that, and 21 now what I believe as an elected official, is 22 that if you really want to lose population, if 23 you really want to lose the core base that you 24 want to keep in any state or any city, is you 25 cut services to the point that people feel

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(518) 371-8910 1 unsafe and they don't feel that they are 2 protected. 3 So I believe that the way that we 4 go forward with this -- and while I agree that 5 this is just one step, I am not happy with the 6 cuts that we are enacting here today. But 7 going forward, as we continue to tackle this 8 problem, we cannot ignore the fact that, as 9 Senator Perkins said, we must share the pain 10 and spread the pain in a much more equitable 11 fashion to avoid the mistakes that were made 12 in the 1970s. 13 And if we do not create that fair 14 and equitable tax system, which many people 15 are afraid to talk about, we will continue to 16 have this disparity that exists now. 17 So when I hear people say, well, if 18 we tax too much, then the rich will leave -- 19 well, where are they going to go? Boise, 20 Idaho? No offense to Boise, Idaho. 21 But I think that they are in 22 New York because they want to be in New York 23 because New York is the greatest state in the 24 country. 25 So I think it's important that we

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(518) 371-8910 1 really not be mystified by that process and 2 remember that people are here because of the 3 services that we provide. The minute we start 4 cutting those services to a point that they 5 are no longer effective is when we will lose 6 the very population and tax base that we want 7 to keep. 8 So I ask my colleagues, as we move 9 forward in this process, to not only look for 10 ways to cut -- and I think we've cut as far as 11 we can go, and we need to start looking for 12 ways to turn around these cuts -- but we have 13 to look to create a fair tax system where the 14 very wealthy in this state, who are protected 15 enormously by tax loopholes and by shelters, 16 that they do their fair share, as all of us 17 are doing more than our share. 18 I will vote yes. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 20 Serrano to be recorded in the affirmative. 21 Senator Adams, to explain his vote. 22 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 Senator Serrano, I think he hit on 25 a point that's so important. I'm not merely

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(518) 371-8910 1 concerned about everything that was brought to 2 the table, I'm concerned about what was left 3 in the kitchen. 4 And so many of those who are 5 avoiding paying taxes is hidden away in the 6 cupboards of our state government. We don't 7 want to really acknowledge the fact. Yes, we 8 should go after those who are selling illegal 9 handbags and Coach bags, but we should also go 10 after those who can afford to purchase legal 11 Coach bags. 12 It is wrong to continue to bring 13 out the surgical, governmental scalpel and cut 14 at the heart and soul of those programs that 15 ensure that many New Yorkers who are basically 16 eking by are not having the opportunity to 17 have a level of productivity in this state. 18 We are the last step towards squeezing hope 19 not only in the hands of people who have given 20 up on government, but many of them have given 21 up on themselves. 22 Some of them are afflicted with 23 AIDS. Some of them have diabetes issues. 24 Some of them go to or attend school lunch 25 programs not merely because they have a

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(518) 371-8910 1 luxury, but because that's the only meal they 2 receive. And this is the reality. 3 So when you talk about "those 4 people" -- and 1199, they're not "those 5 people." They are the individuals who sent me 6 to Albany, and they make up a large portion of 7 my district. They are the healthcare 8 employees. They are part of the five 9 hospitals that border the 20th Senatorial 10 District that do not leave when they punch the 11 clock at the end of a 8.5-hour day, they in 12 fact stay there, to infuse money in that 13 economy and in that community. 14 Those are the individuals that I'm 15 afraid, if we continue to tighten their belt, 16 that we will lose them. I'm not concerned 17 about those who are at the top echelon of our 18 economy stratas, will they flee the great 19 State of New York. Because they won't. We've 20 heard that before. 21 They must pay their fair share of 22 taxes, just like every other New Yorker, the 23 average, everyday nine-to-five guy. Let's 24 stop the madness in believing that all of a 25 sudden they will have tax flight because we

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(518) 371-8910 1 ask them to pay what John the plumber is 2 paying. That's wrong. 3 I'm going to vote aye on this bill. 4 I think that is only the beginning. I'm 5 hoping that this is a step towards showing 6 that we're willing to tighten our belt. Now 7 some of the overbloated individuals who are 8 economically strong need to tighten their belt 9 as well. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 11 Adams to be recorded in the affirmative. 12 Is there any other Senator wishing 13 to be heard? 14 I then call upon Senator Libous to 15 close and explain his vote. 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 Like all of my colleagues, I stand 19 and applaud the Governor for bringing us back 20 to this session and making the very difficult 21 decisions. And I certainly have great respect 22 for even those colleagues who are not 23 supporting this; I understand why. 24 But, you know, we are in 25 extraordinary session, and these are certainly

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(518) 371-8910 1 extraordinary times. And if you look at some 2 of the tough decisions that we've made in this 3 budget bill, it equates back to people. 4 You know, I've spent some time 5 traveling throughout the State of New York and 6 certainly with my constituents in the Southern 7 Tier. And as I talk to them, they talk about 8 how they've had to tighten the belt at home -- 9 gas prices too high; if you go to the grocery 10 store, prices continually increasing; home 11 heating fuel contracts being sent out and now 12 these companies are requesting a premium or a 13 lockdown charge of anywhere from $250 to $500 14 because you can even get home heating fuel. 15 It puts a tremendous burden on a 16 family trying to raise children. Even buying 17 school clothes this year, they're telling me 18 that the prices continue to go up. If you're 19 a single mother trying to raise children and 20 holding down two jobs, that single mother has 21 had to make some very difficult choices and 22 decisions. 23 And that's what we're doing today. 24 We have to behave very similar to the way our 25 constituents are behaving at home. They're

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(518) 371-8910 1 tightening their belts. Their salaries aren't 2 going up at the rate that some of the costs to 3 raise a family are going up. 4 The Governor has recognized this. 5 He's called both houses back. And as Senator 6 Stewart-Cousins said, I think many of our 7 constituents did not believe that we would 8 take a positive action today. I think many of 9 our constituents thought that there would be 10 gridlock here in Albany. 11 But I am very pleased to stand on 12 this floor, with my colleagues from both sides 13 of the aisle, and coming together and doing 14 what the Governor has asked us to do. While 15 we may not have made the same decisions that 16 Governor Paterson has, at least together, in a 17 cooperative effort, Republicans and Democrats, 18 we have addressed the problem. We have 19 addressed it quickly, and we have addressed it 20 in an orderly fashion. 21 Now, having addressed the problem 22 means that there's going to be hardship. And 23 many of my colleagues have mentioned the 24 hardship; I'm not going to repeat. Because, 25 as Senator Padavan said, whenever you fund a

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(518) 371-8910 1 program or give money and then you take it 2 away, it would be like you coming to work and 3 then at the end of the week your employer 4 saying I need 20 percent of your paycheck 5 back, and that money was already spent 6 providing for your family. That's what's 7 happening here today. 8 But these are good decisions. 9 They're tough decisions. And I think that in 10 the long run the State of New York and the 11 people that we serve -- the people who were 12 making those tough decisions before we came 13 back, on a personal level -- I think will be 14 happy with it. 15 So, Mr. President, I vote aye. And 16 I congratulate my colleagues and the Governor 17 for taking this action today. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 19 Libous to be recorded in the affirmative. 20 Announce the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 1 are Senators 23 Connor, Diaz, Gonzalez, Huntley, Parker and 24 Perkins. 25 Ayes, 51. Nays, 6.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 bill is passed. 3 Senator Libous. 4 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 5 could we now return to reports of standing 6 committees for a report from the Rules 7 Committee. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Reports 9 of standing committees. 10 The Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Senator Skelos, 12 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 13 following bill direct to third reading: 14 Extraordinary Session Senate Print 15 Number 3, Senate Budget Bill, an act to repeal 16 Section 2 of Part P of Chapter 57 of the Laws 17 of 2007 relating to providing funding for 18 certain community projects. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 20 Libous. 21 SENATOR LIBOUS: Move to accept 22 the report of the Rules Committee, 23 Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 25 favor of accepting the report of the Rules

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(518) 371-8910 1 Committee signify by saying aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 4 Opposed, nay. 5 (No response.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 7 report is accepted. 8 Senator Libous. 9 SENATOR LIBOUS: Can we now take 10 up the third reading of the Rules report. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 14 Calendar Number 2, Senator Skelos moves to 15 discharge, from the Committee on Rules, 16 Extraordinary Session Assembly Print Number 3 17 and substitute it for the identical Senate 18 bill, Extraordinary Session Senate Print 19 Number 3, Third Reading Calendar 2. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 21 Substitution ordered. 22 The Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 2, Extraordinary Session Print Number 3, by 25 the Assembly Committee on Rules, an act to

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(518) 371-8910 1 repeal Section 2 of Part P of Chapter 57 of 2 the Laws of 2007 relating to providing funding 3 for certain community projects. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 5 Libous. 6 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 7 is there a message of necessity at the desk? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 9 is. 10 SENATOR LIBOUS: I now move that 11 we accept the message of necessity. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 13 favor of accepting the message of necessity by 14 the Governor signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 message is accepted. 21 Read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 25 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 3 Announce the results. 4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 5 the negative on Calendar Number 2 are Senators 6 Connor, Diaz, Gonzalez, Huntley, Parker and 7 Perkins. 8 Ayes, 51. Nays, 6. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 bill is passed. 11 Senator Libous. 12 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 13 may we please return to motions and 14 resolutions. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Motions 16 and resolutions. 17 Senator Libous. 18 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I 19 now hand up the following concurrent 20 resolution, ask that the title be read, and 21 move for its immediate adoption. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 Secretary will read. 24 THE SECRETARY: The Assembly sent 25 for concurrence Extraordinary Session Assembly

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(518) 371-8910 1 Concurrent Resolution Number 2. Senator 2 Skelos moved to substitute Extraordinary 3 Session Senate Concurrent Resolution Number 2 4 for Extraordinary Session Assembly Concurrent 5 Resolution Number 2. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 7 Substitution so ordered. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Extraordinary 10 Session Concurrent Resolution Number 2, 11 relative to the adjournment of the 12 Extraordinary Session of the Legislature 13 sine die: 14 "RESOLVED, That the Legislature 15 adjourn the Extraordinary Session sine die on 16 August 20, 2008, at the close of business." 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 18 favor of the resolution signify by saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye.") 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 21 Opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 24 resolution is adopted. 25 Senator Libous.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 2 that closes the extraordinary session. 3 I ask that all my colleagues have a 4 safe trip home. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 extraordinary session is hereby closed. 7 (Whereupon, at 11:44 a.m., the 8 Senate adjourned.) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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(518) 371-8910