Tuesday, February 24, 2009

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 February 24, 2009 11 3:23 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR DAVID J. VALESKY, Acting President 19 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and recite with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 invocation today will be delivered by Father 11 Peter G. Young, of Mother Theresa Community 12 here in Albany. 13 REVEREND YOUNG: Let us pray. 14 In these days of financial stress, 15 we pray for the members of this chamber that 16 You will bless them, O God. 17 By being a Senator, they have been 18 accepted into the leadership position so that 19 they now can more fully serve the people of 20 New York State. 21 In this spirit of community, our 22 prayer today will be to better achieve the 23 goal of dedicated representation in the power 24 that is entrusted to all of our legislative

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 leadership. May they attain Your satisfaction 2 in Your services and those to your 3 constituents. 4 Amen. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 6 you, Father. 7 The reading of the Journal. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 10 Monday, February 23, the Senate met pursuant 11 to adjournment. The Journal of Friday, 12 February 20, was read and approved. On 13 motion, Senate adjourned. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 16 as read. 17 Presentation of petitions. 18 Messages from the Assembly. 19 Messages from the Governor. 20 Reports of standing committees. 21 Reports of select committees. 22 Communications and reports from 23 state officers. 24 Motions and resolutions.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 3 may we at this time adopt the Resolution 4 Calendar in its entirety. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: All 6 those in favor of adopting the Senate 7 Resolution Calendar in its entirety please 8 signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Opposed, nay. 12 (No response.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 14 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 15 Senator Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 17 this time can we please go to the 18 noncontroversial reading of Senate Calendar 9. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Senator Klein, I believe we have some 21 substitutions to take care of first, if that 22 would be all right. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: If we can please 24 return to the order of motions and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 resolutions. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Motions and resolutions. 4 The Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: On page 6, 6 Senator Aubertine moves to discharge, from the 7 Committee on Agriculture, Assembly Bill Number 8 2301 and substitute it for the identical 9 Senate Bill Number 1676, Third Reading 10 Calendar 14. 11 And on page 7, Senator Sampson 12 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 13 Judiciary, Assembly Bill Number 4392 and 14 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 15 Number 1728, Third Reading Calendar 20. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Substitutions ordered. 18 On Senator Klein's motion, the 19 Secretary will proceed with the 20 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 15, by Senator Aubertine, Senate Print 1677, 23 an act to amend the Agriculture and Markets 24 Law, in --

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside, 2 please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 4 bill is laid aside. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 16, by Senator C. Kruger, Senate Print 169, an 7 act to amend the Domestic Relations Law, in 8 relation to grounds. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Can we lay that 10 bill aside for the day. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 12 bill is laid aside for the day. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 20, substituted earlier by Member of the 15 Assembly Weinstein, Assembly Print Number 16 4392, an act to amend Chapter 644 of the Laws 17 of 2008, amending the General Obligations Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 19 the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Klein, that completes the 5 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 7 this time can we please move to the 8 controversial reading of the calendar. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Secretary will ring the bells so that the 11 members can be called to the chamber so that 12 we can proceed with the controversial reading 13 of the calendar in a few moments. 14 The Secretary will now proceed with 15 the controversial reading of the calendar. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 15, by Senator Aubertine, Senate Print 1677, 18 an act to amend the Agriculture and Markets 19 Law. 20 SENATOR LITTLE: Explanation, 21 please. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Senator Aubertine, an explanation has been 24 requested.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 What this bill would do is it would 4 address the practice of bloc voting by co-ops 5 by authorizing Ag and Markets to send co-op 6 producers a ballot to vote on issues 7 concerning the milk market here in New York 8 State. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Senator Little. 11 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. Will 12 the sponsor yield for a question? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Senator Aubertine, do you yield? 15 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 17 sponsor yields. 18 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 19 Senator Aubertine. 20 I obviously am going to vote for 21 this bill. I think it's a very good bill. 22 And as a matter of fact, I submitted a very 23 similar bill in January of this year. Did you 24 happen to see my bill submitted?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR AUBERTINE: No, Senator, 2 I didn't. 3 SENATOR LITTLE: Well, I believe 4 my bill was submitted January 7th and your 5 bill was February 4th. And it is a good bill. 6 I would have a question to ask, 7 though. In the interest of bipartisanship, 8 why wouldn't we look at the bill that I 9 already had and support that bill? And we are 10 doing bipartisanship bills on the floor, I 11 believe. 12 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Well, 13 Senator, I really don't know. I offered this 14 bill up not only in this house but in the 15 Assembly as well. 16 And I believe that the bill that 17 you have before you today, certainly I would 18 hope for bipartisan support in this chamber to 19 support the dairy farmers of this state. 20 But I believe this bill addresses 21 the issue of bloc voting, an issue that I am 22 intimately familiar with on a personal level, 23 as a former dairy farmer. And I would 24 certainly appreciate your support on it.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 2 Will the sponsor yield to another 3 question? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Aubertine, do you continue to yield? 6 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Yes, 7 Mr. President. 8 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 9 Senator Aubertine, are you aware of 10 the differences between your bill and my bill? 11 SENATOR AUBERTINE: No, Senator, 12 I'm not. 13 SENATOR LITTLE: Well, the only 14 difference between the two bills is that -- in 15 the first place, I am not a former dairy 16 farmer and not quite as familiar, I'm sure, as 17 you are with dairy farming. But I met with 18 the Northern Agriculture dairy farmers just 19 last week. 20 And we are, for our milk industry 21 and our dairy industry, in a crisis right now, 22 as the dairy price per hundredweight of milk 23 is hovering around $14 and lower. And their 24 cost of producing the hundred pounds' weight

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 of milk is something like $18. So we are 2 seeing that our dairy farmers are hurting 3 greatly. 4 What this bill does is says that if 5 a co-op who does bloc voting has a change in 6 the agreement or in the milk order, that they 7 would have to notify the farmer, who many 8 times is not aware of any change in the milk 9 order. 10 My bill says that they need to 11 notify the farmer immediately upon the change 12 of that milk order and what's happening with 13 the price of that milk. And your bill says 14 30 days. 15 My question to you would be, why 16 30 days? Isn't that a longer period of time 17 when we're talking about dairy farmers who are 18 in a real crisis because of their costs? 19 They're not getting paid for their milk, 20 they're not getting paid as much as it costs 21 them to produce that milk. 22 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Well, I would 23 first like to -- for the record, the milk 24 futures for March of this year are going to be

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 closer to $9, not $14. 2 SENATOR LITTLE: Right. Well, 3 they said $14 and dropping. 4 SENATOR AUBERTINE: And USDA cost 5 of production is not $20 but closer to $30. 6 So the difference between the cost 7 of production and the cost being paid at the 8 mailbox is, at the very least to say, extreme. 9 But having said that, this issue 10 deals with more than just price. And I can 11 cite you several instances. Probably the one 12 instance would be component pricing, which in 13 and of itself does not set the price of milk. 14 But any issue dealing with the milk marketing 15 order here in New York State, as I'm sure 16 you're aware, has been in the past dealt with 17 by bloc voting. And bloc voting is the 18 culprit here. 19 We need to address bloc voting. 20 This bill does that. It allows Ag and Markets 21 30 days to notify, and I believe that's a 22 reasonable amount of time. I think to -- and 23 again, I have not read your entire bill, but I 24 think to require an instantaneous response may

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 be a little much. 2 And again, I do believe with the 3 30 days we can do what we need to do. We can 4 notify farmers. We can allow them to make 5 their own decision whether to be construed as 6 part of a bloc vote or to vote individually. 7 And this bill will accomplish just that. 8 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 9 However, may I ask another question 10 of the sponsor? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 12 Senator, do you continue to yield? 13 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 Senator yields. 16 SENATOR LITTLE: I still believe 17 that in a crisis such as this, that giving 18 30 days to the dairy co-op to notify the 19 farmer of a change in the milk order or any 20 amendments to the program is too long. 21 Would you consider amending your 22 bill so that it would be immediately? 23 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Well, 24 Senator, I would take that under advisement, I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 guess. 2 But again, just for clarification, 3 I'm not aware of any current amendments to the 4 milk marketing order here in New York State 5 currently that would address the shortcomings 6 in the milk pricing crisis that we're facing 7 today. 8 So as I said earlier, this bill, as 9 much as I would like it to, in all likelihood 10 is not going to address the crisis that's here 11 in front of us. This bill would allow 12 farmers, as I said, to vote on milk marketing 13 order issues. 14 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 15 Would the sponsor yield for another 16 question? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Senator Aubertine, do you continue to yield? 19 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Sure. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 Senator yields. 22 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 23 Senator Aubertine, do you have a 24 sponsor in the Assembly for this bill?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Not at this 2 point in time. 3 SENATOR LITTLE: So it's a 4 one-house bill. 5 SENATOR AUBERTINE: At this 6 point. 7 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 8 On the bill. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Senator Little, on the bill. 11 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 12 Right now I don't believe that any 13 business or any group is more important to 14 New York State than the farmers. We're all 15 interested in where our food comes from, the 16 quality of our food, the types of regulations 17 that our food processors are under. And I 18 would hope that we could do everything we can 19 to help our farmers out. 20 And in so doing, I would still like 21 to encourage the sponsor of this bill to have 22 the bill immediately. This is the same bill 23 as I had, and the only difference is 30 days 24 versus notifying them immediately of any

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 changes. So I still would ask him to do that. 2 And I will vote in the affirmative 3 on this bill. Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 5 you, Senator Little. 6 Do any other Senators wish to be 7 heard on the bill? 8 Senator DeFrancisco. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. Will 10 the sponsor yield for a couple of questions? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 12 Senator Aubertine, do you yield? 13 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 Senator yields. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Senator 17 Aubertine, there's been discussion before 18 during this session concerning the evils of 19 one-house bills and that we really should make 20 sure we have real bills to pass so they become 21 law. 22 My question is prior to putting 23 this bill in, or up to today, have you had any 24 discussions with any Assembly members

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 concerning putting in this particular bill so 2 that it actually becomes law? 3 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Well, 4 Senator, as a member of the Assembly I most 5 certainly have talked to the Assembly Ag 6 chair, Assemblyman Magee. I've talked with 7 nearly all my colleagues in the Assembly. I 8 believe there's a good deal of support in the 9 Assembly for this bill. 10 And certainly as we stand here 11 today, to my knowledge, you're right, it is a 12 one-house bill. But I believe that the 13 support that I and this bill have enjoyed in 14 the Assembly in the past, hopefully we can 15 reflect that with this bill in the future. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And just 17 another question, if I could, please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 19 Senator Aubertine, do you continue to yield? 20 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Yes. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 Senator yields. 23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: You 24 indicated that you have sponsored this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 identical bill in the past in the Assembly, is 2 that correct? 3 SENATOR AUBERTINE: A bill very 4 similar to this. 5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. And 6 my last question, if you would yield one more 7 time. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Senator, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Yes. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 12 Senator yields. 13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Can you 14 tell me whether or not anyone in the Assembly 15 has committed to put this bill in so that it 16 could become law this year? 17 SENATOR AUBERTINE: At this point 18 in time, Senator, I cannot make that 19 assertion. 20 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. 21 Thank you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 23 you, Senator DeFrancisco. 24 Senator Marcellino.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes. Would 2 the sponsor yield to a question, just one 3 question. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Aubertine, do you yield? 6 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 Senator yields. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Does your 10 bill make this a requirement for the 11 commissioner to notify the farmers? Or is it 12 a discretionary thing? 13 SENATOR AUBERTINE: This is a 14 discretionary thing. 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: So it is not 16 a requirement? 17 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Right. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 20 you, Senator Marcellino. 21 Do any other Senators wish to be 22 heard on the bill? 23 Seeing none, the debate is closed 24 and the Secretary will ring the bells.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will read the last 2 section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 4 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 6 the roll. 7 (The Secretary called the roll.) 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. Nays, 9 0. Senator Monserrate absent from voting. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 11 bill is passed. 12 Senator Klein, that completes the 13 controversial reading of the calendar. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 15 there any further business at the desk? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: No, 17 there is not. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: There being none, 19 I move that we adjourn until Wednesday, 20 February 25th, at 3:00 p.m. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: On a 22 motion by Senator Klein, there being no 23 further business to come before the Senate, 24 the Senate stands adjourned until Wednesday,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910 1 February 25th, at 3:00 p.m. 2 (Whereupon, at 3:43 p.m., the 3 Senate adjourned.) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc.

(518) 371-8910