Tuesday, March 10, 2009

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

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 3 The Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to rise and 5 recite with me the Pledge of Allegiance to our 6 Flag. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Senator Smith. 11 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you very 12 much, Mr. President. I just ask my colleagues 13 to indulge me for a moment. 14 We are honored to be joined today 15 by His Eminence Cardinal Egan. He is joined 16 by Father Gregory Mustaciuolo, Kyle McCauley 17 Belokopitsky, Rick Barnes, Jim Cultrara, 18 Bishop Hubbard -- I saw Bishop Hubbard over 19 there as well. 20 And as many of you know, Cardinal 21 Egan has served this state, this country, and 22 the world and has made all of us extremely 23 proud. He is going to be retiring in a month 24 or so. And I think it is not only historical

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(518) 371-8910 1 for us to have him in our chamber, a chamber 2 which has the ability to have many stars in 3 it, but none like the star that we have today 4 with Cardinal Egan. 5 He has come this morning to pray 6 over our chamber, to ask God to give us the 7 guidance and the direction that will move us 8 in very difficult times, as we all know we 9 are. And I think we could not have someone at 10 a greater time and greater need than to have 11 Cardinal Egan with us to offer our invocation 12 today. 13 And please, Cardinal, even though 14 you're retiring next month, know that this 15 chamber and our colleagues are always 16 delighted to have you in our presence. 17 Cardinal Egan. 18 CARDINAL EGAN: Thank you very 19 much, Senator. You're very, very kind, and 20 you've been a wonderful friend. 21 And I am truly honored to be here. 22 We've been here for two days, and I believe 23 it's been a very helpful, very fruitful two 24 days. And I want you to know that I've loved

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(518) 371-8910 1 coming here for nine years. And if next year 2 I sneak in and try to do it, tell me to stay 3 down there, eh? 4 And welcome the new Archbishop of 5 New York, who will be Archbishop Timothy 6 Dolan, from a place calmed Milwaukee. And I 7 know him very well, and I think you're going 8 to find him to be a wonderful leader for the 9 Catholic Church and the Archdiocese. 10 Could I ask you to join me for a 11 moment in just placing ourselves in the 12 presence of our God. 13 Almighty and Eternal Father, we 14 place ourselves in Your presence to ask Your 15 blessing. In a difficult time for our beloved 16 State of New York, we seek for all of our 17 fellow citizens firm trust in Your gracious 18 providence. Make us confident of Your loving 19 care. Never allow fear or anxiety to comprise 20 our courage and our strength of soul even in 21 the most difficult of circumstances. 22 Guide our leaders. Instill in them 23 an uncompromising commitment to justice and 24 above all to understanding and concern for

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(518) 371-8910 1 those who are most in need. 2 Bless our Governor, our Senators, 3 the members of our State Assembly, and all who 4 work with them in creating a statewide 5 community of fairness, compassion, and peace. 6 In a special way, help all of us to be willing 7 to sacrifice ourselves to assist those in our 8 midst who are bearing the sufferings of lost 9 employment, lost homes, lost pensions, lost 10 healthcare, lost educational opportunities -- 11 and, in way too many cases, even lost hope. 12 We are one people, Your people, 13 O Lord. Inspire in us a willingness to assist 14 our brothers and sisters generously, lovingly, 15 tirelessly. For we are Your children, 16 fashioned in Your image, destined for an 17 eternity in Your embrace. 18 All of this we ask with boundless 19 faith and total trust, now and forever. Amen. 20 Thank you very much. You honor me 21 greatly, and I am delighted to be here. And I 22 wish you all the very best and promise you 23 that I will be living in Manhattan, praying 24 for you and telling the Lord that this is the

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(518) 371-8910 1 greatest state in the world, the most 2 wonderful community in the world, a community 3 to which all the world looks. 4 And, Lord, take care of the women 5 and men who represent us in the Senate and the 6 Assembly and in all the corridors of power 7 here. 8 I can tell you that one magazine 9 recently said I was going to go and live in 10 Paris. They even said I had an apartment. 11 They forgot to tell me where it was located. 12 (Laughter.) 13 CARDINAL EGAN: So I'll be at 14 33rd Street and First Avenue and available to 15 do whatever I can. And all that Senator Smith 16 has to do -- and he knows this -- is pick up 17 the phone, and I'm right there for anything 18 that this old man can do for you. 19 God love you all. 20 (Standing ovation.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Thank you, Cardinal. Thanks to Cardinal Egan. 23 The reading of the Journal. 24 The Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 2 Monday, March 9, the Senate met pursuant to 3 adjournment. The Journal of Friday, March 6, 4 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 5 adjourned. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 8 as read. 9 Presentation of petitions. 10 Messages from the Assembly. 11 Messages from the Governor. 12 Reports of standing committees. 13 Senator Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 15 believe there's a report of the Judiciary 16 Committee at the desk. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 There is a report of the Judiciary Committee 19 at the desk. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 22 Sampson, the Committee on Judiciary reports 23 the following nomination: 24 As a judge of the Court of Claims,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Ann M. Donnelly, of Brooklyn. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 3 Senator Sampson. 4 SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 I rise to congratulate the Governor 7 on his nomination and hopefully go through the 8 confirmation of a new judge for the Court of 9 Claims, Ann M. Donnelly. 10 Presently, she's an ADA in the 11 New York City District Attorney's office in 12 the County of Manhattan, where you hail, 13 Mr. President. And we look forward to great 14 things from this individual. Her career has 15 always been in public service. She is truly 16 an ambassador to the public. 17 So I want to commend the Governor, 18 but most of all I want to commend you, 19 Ms. Donnelly, on your ascension to the bench. 20 And I know you will make all the citizens of 21 the State of New York very proud. 22 In attendance with her is her 23 husband, Michael Toth; her daughter Rebecca 24 Toth; her other daughter Margaret Toth; her

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(518) 371-8910 1 sister, Sara Hopkins; and her mother, Mary 2 Donnelly -- Ms. Donnelly, I want to commend 3 you on a job well done -- her brother-in-law, 4 Jeffrey Hopkins; her aunt, Patricia Healy; and 5 her uncle, Richard Healy. 6 At this point in time I would like 7 to move her nomination forth, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 Thank you, Senator Sampson. 10 Senator Maziarz. 11 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 12 much, Mr. President. 13 On behalf of this side of the 14 aisle, I too want to rise and second this 15 nomination by Governor Paterson of Ann 16 Donnelly, of Brooklyn, for the Court of 17 Claims. 18 Ann Donnelly met with both sides of 19 the aisle, and we found her qualifications to 20 be stellar. She's going to be a great judge, 21 a great Court of Claims judge. This is a good 22 appointment by the Governor. She has a wide 23 breadth of experience in the Manhattan 24 District Attorney's office. And we certainly

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(518) 371-8910 1 wish her and her family well, and a great 2 career. 3 Thank you, Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 Thank you. 6 Senator Adams. 7 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 I too rise to thank the Governor 10 for this very important appointment. As we 11 celebrate Women's History Month, every 12 opportunity we have to bring the level of 13 diversity and clarity to our court. 14 I'm proud to know that this great 15 judge resides in my district, so I applaud you 16 even more, because you have a great Senator to 17 go with a great judge. 18 And again, congratulations to you 19 and your family. And we all know that 20 whatever success we achieve, it has little to 21 do with who we are personally, but it's those 22 in our family that inspire us. They're there 23 to make sure that we can go on and make the 24 right decisions in our lives. And so I want

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(518) 371-8910 1 to commend your family. 2 From my family to your family, 3 congratulations. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 Senator Perkins. 6 SENATOR PERKINS: I rise to 7 commend the Governor for his nominee and his 8 wonderful choice, someone that I've had the 9 pleasure of meeting before this occasion and 10 who I know has served this city well for 11 25 years with the great District Attorney 12 Morgenthau. 13 And I'm confident that she's 14 familiar with some of the more challenging 15 criminal justice issues that are facing our 16 city, our state, and will handle them with 17 balanced, reasoned sensitivity towards justice 18 and will do us all proud, and her family 19 especially. As she has done already, in the 20 quarter of a century that she's served us with 21 the District Attorney's office -- half of his 22 career, as I said. 23 And I also want to commend Senator 24 Adams on his modesty, and to again thank our

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(518) 371-8910 1 chair for the wonderful leadership that he's 2 been providing in presenting her to us and 3 also to his counterpart on the Republican 4 side, Senator Maziarz, for the deliberations 5 that they joined in on this particular 6 occasion. 7 Thank you very much, and I second 8 the nomination. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Thank you. 11 The question is on the motion to 12 confirm the nomination of Ann M. Donnelly, of 13 New York City, as a judge of the Court of 14 Claims. All those in favor please signify by 15 saying aye. 16 (Response of "Aye.") 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 The motion carries. The nomination of Ann 22 Donnelly, of New York City, as a judge of the 23 Court of Claims, is hereby confirmed. 24 (Applause.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 2 Congratulations, Judge Donnelly, and to all 3 the members of the Donnelly, Toth, Hopkins and 4 Healy family. We are sure you will serve with 5 distinction. Thank you. 6 Senator Klein. 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 8 may we at this time adopt the Resolution 9 Calendar in its entirety, with the exception 10 of Legislative Resolutions 481, 733, 734, 735, 11 and 743. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 13 Before we go to the Resolution Calendar, I 14 believe there's a privileged resolution. Do 15 we want to take that up first? 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 17 can you please call on Senator Savino. She 18 does have a privileged resolution at the desk. 19 I ask that the resolution be read in its 20 entirety and move for its immediate adoption 21 and allow Senator Savino to speak on the said 22 privileged resolution. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 The Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 2 Savino, Legislative Resolution Number 736, 3 honoring Edward Cardinal Egan upon the 4 occasion of his retirement. 5 "WHEREAS, Instrumental to 6 deliverance are those men and women of 7 spiritual commitment who accept the 8 responsibility of moral leadership and render 9 the wisdom of human understanding; and 10 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is 11 justly proud to honor Edward Cardinal Egan 12 upon the occasion of his retirement, to be 13 celebrated on Monday, March 9, 2009, at the 14 36th Annual Dinner of the New York State 15 American Irish Legislators Society in Albany, 16 New York; and 17 "WHEREAS, Known for his commitment 18 to all New Yorkers, Cardinal Egan is being 19 recognized for his dynamic tenure, which 20 leaves a solid foundation on which to build 21 the future of the Archdiocese of New York; and 22 "WHEREAS, Cardinal Egan, in keeping 23 with the Code of Canon Law, offered his 24 resignation as Archbishop of New York to Pope

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(518) 371-8910 1 Benedict XVI on April 2, 2007, when he reached 2 75 years of age. His resignation became 3 official on February 23, 2009, when Pope 4 Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Timothy 5 Dolan as his successor; and 6 "WHEREAS, Cardinal Egan will remain 7 in New York as Apostolic Administrator until 8 April 15, 2009. He is the first Archbishop of 9 New York to retire; and 10 "WHEREAS, In 2007-2008, Cardinal 11 Egan led a year-long celebration of the 12 Archdiocese of New York's bicentennial, and 13 last year welcomed Pope Benedict on his 14 apostolic visit to the United States; and 15 "WHEREAS, Cardinal Egan has been a 16 strong advocate for Catholic education, 17 particularly in the inner city, and has spoken 18 forcefully on behalf of the poor, the 19 vulnerable, the infirm, and the imprisoned; 20 and 21 "WHEREAS, Cardinal Egan voted in 22 the Vatican conclave that elected Pope 23 Benedict following the death of Pope John Paul 24 II. He is also eligible to participate in any

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(518) 371-8910 1 future conclaves that begin prior to his 80th 2 birthday; and 3 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 4 Legislative Body that when a person of such 5 noble aims and accomplishments is brought to 6 our attention, it is appropriate to publicly 7 and jubilantly proclaim and commend that 8 individual for the edification of others; now, 9 therefore, be it 10 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 11 Body pause in its deliberations to honor 12 Edward Cardinal Egan upon the occasion of his 13 retirement; and be it further 14 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 15 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 16 to Edward Cardinal Egan." 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Senator Savino. 19 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 I rise to present this resolution 22 on behalf of Edward Cardinal Egan, the 23 spiritual father of 2.5 million Catholics in 24 New York City, Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten

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(518) 371-8910 1 Island, Orange, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam, 2 Sullivan and Ulster Counties -- but certainly 3 the spiritual leader for all Catholics in 4 New York, and a spiritual leader for all 5 faiths. 6 You know, he was born Edward 7 Michael Egan in Oak Park, Illinois. A 8 childhood survivor of polio, Cardinal Egan was 9 ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of 10 Chicago in December of 1957 in Rome. In 11 Chicago, he served as a parish priest and 12 assistant chancellor and secretary to Albert 13 Cardinal Meyer before returning to Rome for 14 his doctoral studies. 15 In 1972, he began a 23-year stint 16 in Rome, where he also entered into a love 17 affair with the country of Italy. And last 18 night at the Irish American Legislators he 19 said he actually felt that he was more Italian 20 than Irish. And as an Italian-Irish woman, 21 we'll accept you, Cardinal Egan. 22 On April 1, 1985, the pope named 23 him auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of 24 New York, where he served in the role of vicar

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(518) 371-8910 1 for education. In 1988, Bishop Egan was 2 appointed bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, 3 Connecticut. 4 Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop 5 Egan as Archbishop of New York in May of 2000. 6 He came to us shortly after the death of our 7 beloved Cardinal O'Connor. 8 He was accepted in New York. He 9 has filled Cardinal O'Connor's shoes. And he 10 has been a leader for all of us since then. 11 As I said, he represents all of the 12 counties that I mentioned, but he has a 13 particular fondness for Staten Island. And as 14 Senator Lanza will tell you, whenever he's 15 there, he remarks that he knows he is in the 16 center of the universe. And we will miss you. 17 And we will expect you to come and visit us as 18 often as you can. 19 When he took over the archdiocese, 20 he successfully eliminated a 21 multi-million-dollar archdiocesan budget 22 deficit, oversaw a reconfiguring of parishes, 23 and increased annual giving to archdiocesan 24 charities and schools, leaving his successor,

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(518) 371-8910 1 our incoming archbishop, with an archdiocese 2 on firm fiscal footing. 3 Perhaps you would like to take a 4 look at the budget now that you have a little 5 free time on your hands. We could certainly 6 use your help. 7 On September 11, 2001, Cardinal 8 Egan ministered to those wounded in the World 9 Trade Center attack at St. Vincent's Hospital 10 in Greenwich Village. Two days later, he led 11 a memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral 12 for the repose of the souls of those killed. 13 In the subsequent weeks, he celebrated 14 numerous funeral masses for victims, including 15 that of Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, the 16 Fire Department chaplain, who was killed in 17 that attack. 18 And in 2005, he took part in the 19 Vatican conclave to elect Pope Benedict. 20 He has been a strong advocate for 21 Catholic education, the rights of parents to 22 select the best schools for their children. 23 He has spoken out passionately for what he 24 believes in: the right to life from

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(518) 371-8910 1 conception until natural death, the dignity of 2 all people, in particular the poor, the 3 elderly, the sick and the imprisoned. 4 In 2007, he led a year-long 5 celebration of the bicentennial of the 6 Archdiocese of New York and celebrated the 7 50th anniversary of his priesthood. And in 8 2008, he led New York State in welcoming Pope 9 Benedict on his historic visit to our state. 10 It was a sad and bittersweet day on 11 February 23rd when Pope Benedict accepted 12 Cardinal Egan's retirement and appointed 13 Archbishop Timothy Dolan as the next 14 archbishop. While we welcome him with open 15 arms, we will miss Cardinal Egan. We wish him 16 well in his retirement, and we hope to call on 17 him for spiritual advice that we all know that 18 we need. 19 Thank you, Cardinal Egan. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 Senator Libous. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 Your Eminence, Leader Smith

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(518) 371-8910 1 certainly spoke on all of the members' behalf 2 in thanking you and honoring you. 3 I would never think of mixing 4 politics with religion, but from this side of 5 the aisle, we too will miss you. We have 6 spent the last nine years working very closely 7 with you on those issues of faith that have 8 been important to the citizens of this state 9 and certainly the Catholic Church. 10 And I will say that your leadership 11 is going to be difficult to replace. You have 12 been extremely outspoken for those groups who 13 cannot speak on behalf of themselves. And for 14 that, I say thank you. 15 And we from this side of the aisle, 16 and certainly all of the members of this 17 chamber, will miss you dearly. God bless you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 19 Are there any other Senators that wish to be 20 heard on the resolution? 21 Senator Adams. 22 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you. Thank 23 you. I too rise. 24 I remember as a police officer

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(518) 371-8910 1 being with Cardinal O'Connor, and he so often 2 allowed the uniformed officers to come in. 3 And when he made the transformation from the 4 physical to the spiritual, many of us were 5 lost on who would take his place. 6 And it was a difficult task when 7 you're in New York City, where many of the 8 many issues that took place, particularly 9 those of us who benefit from the Catholic 10 school system and who benefited from just 11 walking down Fifth Avenue throughout the 12 annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. As we would 13 don our blue uniforms, there was always a 14 figure there, and our cardinal and our friend 15 was there. 16 And in his short period of time, 17 many of us in law enforcement just embraced 18 all that Cardinal Egan has offered -- the 19 level of solitude, the level of leadership in 20 a very challenging city. It is not easy being 21 a cardinal in New York City, as you know. 22 (Laughter.) 23 SENATOR ADAMS: But we are happy 24 to know that there's no rocking chair on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 porch for him. We're happy to know that he 2 will not wither away in the winds of 3 yesterday. We're happy to know that in spite 4 of what his official title is, he's always the 5 Cardinal of New York. And on First Avenue and 6 30-something Street, we know where to find 7 him. 8 Men like him do not retire. They 9 go to a higher level in their state of 10 retirement. And I assure him that the city 11 needs him now more than ever. And we are 12 proud to know that he was our cardinal, and 13 will always be our cardinal, and we look 14 forward to having a greater period of time 15 with him during his retirement. 16 We wish you the best here in the 17 City of New York in the Senate chambers. 18 Thank you, Cardinal. 19 CARDINAL EGAN: Thank you. Thank 20 you very much. And thanks to everyone. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Does any other Senator wish to be heard on the 23 resolution? 24 The question is on the resolution

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(518) 371-8910 1 honoring Cardinal Egan. All those in favor 2 please signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 The resolution is adopted. 9 Congratulations, Cardinal Egan. 10 (Standing ovation.) 11 CARDINAL EGAN: I am deeply, 12 deeply grateful. Thank you very much. 13 And if ever I can do anything for 14 any one of you, you know I am now just a 15 parish priest. And that's what I wanted to be 16 in the beginning. 17 So God love you all, and be sure I 18 am with you at every step along the way. 19 (Applause.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 At the request of the sponsor, the resolution 22 is open for multisponsorship by the entire 23 house. 24 Senator Klein.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 2 may we at this time adopt the Resolution 3 Calendar in its entirety, with the exception 4 of Legislative Resolutions 481, 733, 734, 735, 5 and 743. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 Senator Klein, before we return to the 8 Resolution Calendar, we need to return to the 9 order of regular business. 10 Reports of select committees. 11 Communications and reports from 12 state officers. 13 Motions and resolutions. 14 Senator Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 16 are there any substitutions at the desk? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Yes, there are. 19 The Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: On page 10, 21 Senator Klein moves to discharge, from the 22 Committee on Codes, Assembly Bill Number 5823 23 and substitute it for the identical Senate 24 Bill Number 1901, Third Reading Calendar 86.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And on page 11, Senator Stavisky 2 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 3 Higher Education, Assembly Bill Number 2714 4 and substitute it for the identical Senate 5 Bill Number 2296, Third Reading Calendar 91. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 Substitutions ordered. 8 And now to the Resolution Calendar. 9 On the Resolution Calendar, we'd first like to 10 recognize Senator Larkin. 11 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 Ladies and gentlemen, Resolution 14 710 is very important to all of us, and it's 15 important to this nation. 16 In January 2000, my colleagues in 17 the Hudson Valley -- Senator John Bonacic, 18 Senator Leibell, Senator Morahan, Senator 19 Saland -- we met with the Military Order of 20 the Purple Heart, we met with veterans' groups 21 from across the country and established a 22 policy group to work on creating a Purple 23 Heart stamp. There had never been a Purple 24 Heart stamp.

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(518) 371-8910 1 It was our thought at that time 2 that there was no war, there was no rush to 3 make ourselves heroes, but it was one solid 4 opinion that we should create a Purple Heart 5 stamp in order to show respect, dignity, and 6 honor to the more than 1.7 million Americans 7 that had been wounded or killed in action. 8 It took us until 2003, May the 9 30th, till we got a stamp. You know, since 10 that time, it started out at 37 cents, now 11 it's 42, and come the first of May it's going 12 to be 44 cents. We shouldn't be putting our 13 veterans and the survivors of deceased waiting 14 every time someone turns around to change the 15 cost of a stamp. 16 There is an opportunity for a 17 Forever stamp. It's been taken away from the 18 Congress of the United States, and it rests 19 solely with the Stamp Advisory Board. The 20 Postmaster General at this point is a native 21 New Yorker, came from the Buffalo area. So 22 I'm expecting Mike and a few others to drop 23 him a note and say "Come home and help us." 24 But this is very important. Every

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(518) 371-8910 1 veterans' magazine is showing an article in 2 there asking us to do something to get this 3 stamp. What does it take? This is a 4 resolution asking them to do something that we 5 shouldn't even be asking them. They should be 6 thinking about the men and women of our armed 7 forces who have served with dignity so that we 8 could live a life of freedom. This is a great 9 country. But we've had Americans that have 10 lost limb and life in protecting the dignity 11 and freedom for this country. 12 Those of you who haven't signed 13 onto this, I wish you would, because I think 14 we ought to have 62 members going and telling 15 the Stamp Advisory Group. And then I would 16 also ask those of you who write to your 17 veterans' groups or your business councils to 18 ask them to spend it. 19 In the year 2000, when we did our 20 efforts on the stamp, there was over 21 1.5 million letters and cards sent to the 22 postal service, the most ever. Probably the 23 richest amount of money they ever earned in a 24 year.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So don't do it for Bill Larkin. 2 I'm going to be doing it. I've been writing 3 letters, encouraging everybody. But we have a 4 responsibility to not just the people in the 5 State of New York, but in this time we have a 6 responsibility to the people who went before 7 us and the people that are there now 8 protecting the freedom of America. 9 I thank you and ask you all to join 10 me. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 Thank you, Senator. 13 All those in favor of adopting the 14 Senate Resolution Calendar in its entirety, 15 with the exception of Legislative Resolutions 16 481, 733, 734, 735, and 743, please signify by 17 saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 Opposed, nay. 21 (No response.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 23 The Resolution Calendar is adopted. 24 Senator Klein.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 2 may we at this time take up Legislative 3 Resolution Number 481, by Senator Griffo. I 4 ask that its title be read and move for its 5 immediate adoption. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 9 Griffo, Legislative Resolution Number 481, 10 memorializing Governor David A. Paterson to 11 proclaim May 2009 as Lupus Awareness Month in 12 the State of New York. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 Senator Griffo. 15 SENATOR GRIFFO: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. Appreciate your attention. 17 The Lupus Society has always 18 designated May as Lupus Awareness Month. This 19 resolution will memorialize the Governor to do 20 likewise. 21 Lupus is a chronic autoimmune 22 disease which affects over 1.5 million 23 Americans and over 105,000 New Yorkers each 24 and every year. It is sometimes misdiagnosed,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and the great majority of people who are 2 affected with this disease are young people. 3 And also 90 percent of them are women. Lupus 4 is also very prevalent among Hispanics, 5 African-Americans, Native Americans, Asians. 6 And tragically, thousands of 7 Americans die from lupus each year because the 8 ability to find a cure remains elusive. 9 So this resolution will allow us to 10 call attention to this disease, allows us to 11 create an awareness to try to continue to 12 support efforts to fight this disease and also 13 to educate people about the importance of 14 taking care of their health and trying to 15 determine what needs to be done to prevent and 16 to combat this disease. 17 So I would invite all of my 18 colleagues to join in cosponsoring the 19 resolution. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Thank you, Senator Griffo. 23 Are there any other Senators that 24 wish to be heard on the resolution?

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(518) 371-8910 1 The question is on Resolution 481, 2 by Senator Griffo. All those in favor please 3 signify by saying aye. 4 (Response of "Aye.") 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 6 Opposed, nay. 7 (No response.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 The resolution is adopted. 10 At the request of the sponsor, the 11 resolution is open for multisponsorship by the 12 entire house. Any member wishing not to be a 13 multisponsor of the resolution should so 14 inform the desk. 15 Senator Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 17 may we at this time take up Legislative 18 Resolution Number 733, by Senator Stachowski. 19 Please read the title. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 The Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 23 Stachowski, Legislative Resolution Number 733, 24 memorializing Governor David A. Paterson to

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(518) 371-8910 1 proclaim March 10, 2009, as Occupational 2 Health Awareness and Outreach Day in the State 3 of New York. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 The question is on the resolution. All those 6 in favor please signify by saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye.") 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 Opposed, nay. 10 (No response.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 The resolution is adopted. 13 At the request of the sponsor, this 14 resolution is also open for multisponsorship 15 by the entire house. Any member wishing not 16 to be a sponsor should so inform the desk. 17 Senator Klein. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 19 may we at this time take up Legislative 20 Resolution Number 734, by Senator Foley. I 21 ask that it be read in its entirety and move 22 for its immediate adoption and to allow 23 Senator Foley the opportunity to speak on the 24 said resolution.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 2 The Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Foley, 4 Legislative Resolution Number 734, commending 5 Past President George C. Welker upon the 6 occasion of his retirement after 40 years of 7 distinguished service to CWA Local 1108. 8 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 9 Legislative Body to recognize and honor those 10 distinguished citizens of this great Empire 11 State who have devoted themselves to 12 faithfully serving the best interests of their 13 community and the needs of its residents; and 14 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 15 concern, and in full accord with its 16 longstanding traditions, this Legislative Body 17 is justly proud to commend Past President 18 George C. Welker upon the occasion of his 19 retirement after forty years of distinguished 20 service to Communications Workers of America 21 Local 1108. A dinner attended by many 22 friends, family members and colleagues was 23 held in his honor at Villa Lombardi's, 24 Holbrook, New York, on Thursday, February 19,

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(518) 371-8910 1 2009; and 2 "WHEREAS, In 1968 George C. Welker 3 began working for the New York Telephone 4 Company as an installer. The following year 5 he was elected steward at the St. James 6 Garage; and 7 "WHEREAS, George C. Welker was then 8 appointed chief steward of repair in the 9 mid-1970s and served in this capacity until 10 1984, when he was elected area representative 11 for the North Central Area; and 12 "WHEREAS, Three years later, George 13 C. Welker was elected business agent for North 14 Suffolk, a position he held until 1990, when 15 he was elected president of CWA Local 1108, 16 serving in this esteemed position for six 17 terms until 2008; and 18 "WHEREAS, George C. Welker has also 19 served on the regional bargaining committee 20 for the past four collective bargaining 21 agreements, as well as president of the 22 Downstate Coordinating Council, president of 23 the CWA Long Island Federal Credit Union, and 24 as a member of the National Finance Committee;

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(518) 371-8910 1 and 2 "WHEREAS, Currently, George C. 3 Welker serves on the Contracting Committee for 4 New York State, the Responsible Relationships 5 Committee [aka the Train-Wreck Committee], and 6 the Long Island Federation of Labor Executive 7 Board. In addition, he is the executive vice 8 president of the private sector for the Long 9 Island Federation of Labor; and 10 "WHEREAS, Throughout his career, 11 George C. Welker served CWA Local 1108 with 12 intelligence and caring dedication, 13 continuously striving to effectively fulfill 14 the duties of this position; and 15 "WHEREAS, Greatly respected by all 16 those with whom he worked, George C. Welker 17 will be remembered for his honesty, integrity, 18 keen sense of duty and ability to show a 19 unique grasp of human problems in his official 20 acts; and 21 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 22 Legislative Body that when individuals of such 23 noble aims and accomplishments are brought to 24 our attention, they should be celebrated and

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(518) 371-8910 1 recognized by all the citizens of this great 2 Empire State; now, therefore, be it 3 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 4 Body pause in its deliberations to honor 5 George C. Welker, and to wish him continued 6 success in all of his future endeavors; and be 7 it further 8 "RESOLVED, that a copy of this 9 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 10 to George C. Welker." 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 Senator Foley. 13 SENATOR FOLEY: On the 14 resolution. Thank you, Mr. President. 15 It gives me great pleasure today to 16 honor a man who has spent his career fighting 17 for the rights of working men and working 18 women across Long Island, across our great 19 state, and indeed across our country. 20 We heard earlier today from a 21 another great leader, our spiritual leader in 22 our city, in our state, in our nation, and in 23 fact in our world. We rendered now unto 24 Caesar what is Caesar's. And in the temporal

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(518) 371-8910 1 world, in the world of unionizing, in the 2 world of empowering middle-class men and women 3 to provide for their families, there is not a 4 better example of a leader than George Welker. 5 I have had the great good fortune 6 to know both the CWA and Mr. Welker for a 7 number of years now -- and we can go back well 8 over 20 years -- when the CWA worked on a 9 number of progressive issues locally, 10 statewide, and nationally. And he always 11 opened the doors of 1108 to any who wanted to 12 come in to work on a variety of issues that 13 would help the local communities. 14 He had the common touch. He had 15 the touch where one could go to him to speak 16 on a variety of issues that were important to 17 the region and important to the communities 18 that we live in. But at the same time, he was 19 also recognized as a national leader in the 20 labor movement. So he had those unique 21 qualities of being able to have the pastoral 22 touch, as we would say in the spiritual world, 23 but at the same time be recognized as a 24 national leader in the rights of working men

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(518) 371-8910 1 and working women as well. 2 So I thank my colleagues in the 3 Senate today for allowing me to say a few 4 words to recognize George Welker, and to join 5 with me in thanking him for his many years of 6 dedicated service. He has done great work to 7 help so many. And I thought it was very 8 fitting and appropriate that today we would 9 pause in our deliberations to say thank you to 10 him and to wish him the best of luck in the 11 years ahead. 12 George, would you please stand up 13 for us to recognize you. 14 (Applause.) 15 SENATOR FOLEY: Thank you, 16 Mr. Chairman. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Thank you, Senator Foley. 19 The question is on the resolution. 20 All those in favor please signify by saying 21 aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Opposed, nay.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (No response.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 3 The resolution is adopted. 4 Senator Craig Johnson, to explain 5 his vote on the resolution. 6 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank 7 you, Mr. President. 8 I just wanted to rise and first, of 9 course, commend my good friend Brian Foley for 10 bringing this resolution forward. 11 I want to add my name to the 12 resolution, just simply to say thank you to 13 you, George. Thank you for your leadership 14 and for your dedication to the men and women 15 that CWA represents, especially in these very 16 difficult times, to know that while you may be 17 taking a little bit of a break, that your 18 voice and your guidance will still be there. 19 So I commend you, I thank you, and 20 I appreciate you coming today and letting us 21 celebrate what you've accomplished. 22 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 The resolution is adopted.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Congratulations, Mr. Welker. 2 (Applause.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 Senator Klein. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 6 may we at this time take up Legislative 7 Resolution 743, by Senator Tom Duane. I ask 8 that the title be read and move for its 9 immediate adoption and that you give Senator 10 Duane the opportunity to speak on said 11 resolution. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 13 The Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Duane, 15 Legislative Resolution Number 743, honoring 16 New York City Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler for his 17 consummate courage and bravery while 18 confronting a mugger in midtown Manhattan. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 Senator Duane. 21 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 As many of you may have read in the 24 papers, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, in an incident

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(518) 371-8910 1 that occurred in my district -- actually, 2 bordering Senator L. Krueger's district as 3 well -- happened upon a crime being committed 4 and, in just a very quick-thinking and brave 5 act, came to the assistance of a woman who was 6 being attacked by muggers and actually 7 captured one and held the person down until 8 law enforcement arrived. 9 So it was quick thinking on his 10 part. It was very helpful to a woman who was 11 potentially going to be even more victimized. 12 And I think that Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, 13 acting as a private citizen, deserves a 14 commendation for his courageous act. 15 And I also would ask that my 16 colleagues, if they would like to sign on, 17 please by all means do. And I'm assuming if 18 they don't want to, they should let the desk 19 know. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Thank you, Senator Duane. 23 The question is on the resolution. 24 All those in favor please signify by saying

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(518) 371-8910 1 aye. 2 (Response of "Aye.") 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 Opposed, nay. 5 (No response.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 The resolution is adopted. 8 And at the request of the sponsor, 9 it's open for multisponsorship. Any member 10 wishing not to be a sponsor please inform the 11 desk. 12 Resolution Number 735, the 13 Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 15 Sampson, Legislative Resolution Number 735, 16 honoring Dr. Edison O. Jackson upon the 17 occasion of his retirement as president of 18 Medgar Evers College of the City University of 19 New York. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 The question is on the resolution. All those 22 in favor please signify by saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye.") 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (No response.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 The resolution is adopted. 5 At the request of the sponsor, the 6 resolution is open for multisponsorship by the 7 entire house. Any member wishing not to be a 8 sponsor should so inform the desk. 9 Returning to the regular order of 10 business. Motions and resolutions. 11 Senator Klein. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 13 behalf of Senator Thompson, Senate Bill 2515, 14 we recommend the striking of the enacting 15 clause. This is 2515. 16 Also, on page 9 I offer the 17 following amendments to Calendar 68, Bill 18 Number 2581, on behalf of Senator Sampson. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 So ordered. 21 Senator Klein. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 23 may we at this time move for a reading of the 24 calendar.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 2 The Secretary will read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 48, by Senator Stavisky, Senate Print 1538A, 5 an act to amend the Executive Law, in relation 6 to providing information. 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay it aside for 8 the day, please. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 The bill is laid aside for the day. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 74, by Senator Montgomery, Senate Print 2091, 13 an act to amend the Social Services Law, in 14 relation to eligibility. 15 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside, 16 please. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 The bill is laid aside. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 75, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 738, an 21 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to 22 records. 23 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 The bill is laid aside. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 79, by Senator Stewart-Cousins, Senate Print 4 1788, an act authorizing the Gate of Heaven 5 Cemetery to transfer land. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 Read the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 9 act shall take effect immediately. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 11 Call the roll. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 Announce the results. 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 The bill is passed. 18 Senator Klein, that completes the 19 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 21 this time could we please move to a reading of 22 the controversial calendar. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 If the Secretary would please ring the bells,

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(518) 371-8910 1 members are all asked to come to the chamber 2 for the controversial reading of the calendar. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 74, by Senator Montgomery, Senate Print 2091, 6 an act to amend the Social Services Law. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Explanation, 8 please. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Senator Montgomery, an explanation has been 11 requested. 12 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 13 Mr. President. 14 This bill is one that I have 15 introduced at the request of a number of 16 people. OCFS now requires a child support 17 order to be pursued or good cause shown for 18 not pursuing the order during an application 19 for subsidized childcare. 20 This bill would, while encouraging 21 parents seeking subsidized childcare to 22 certainly pursue a court order in order to 23 collect child support from a noncustodial 24 parent, that parent would not be refused an

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(518) 371-8910 1 opportunity to receive subsidized childcare 2 even if they were not at the moment able to 3 pursue a court order. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 Thank you, Senator Montgomery. 6 Senator Golden, why do you rise? 7 SENATOR GOLDEN: Will the sponsor 8 please yield? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for a 11 question from Senator Golden? 12 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, I will. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 The sponsor yields. 15 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 What is the current process that 18 warrants this? 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 20 President, through you, I need another 21 question. I mean, I need him to clarify his 22 question for me. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 The sponsor has requested that you clarify

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(518) 371-8910 1 your question. 2 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes, 3 Mr. President. What is the current process? 4 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The current 5 process is that you go in to apply for 6 childcare, for daycare services, and you are 7 required as part of the application to pursue 8 a court order for child support from the 9 noncustodial parent. 10 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 11 will the sponsor continue to yield? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 13 Senator Montgomery, will you continue to 14 yield? 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I will. I 16 do. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 The sponsor yields. 19 SENATOR GOLDEN: And what is the 20 change in that bill? 21 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The change 22 in this legislation would not penalize a 23 parent by refusing them a subsidy for 24 childcare simply because they are not able to

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(518) 371-8910 1 or are not pursuing a court order for child 2 support. 3 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 4 will the sponsor continue to yield? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 6 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 7 question? 8 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 9 SENATOR GOLDEN: Why are we doing 10 it? What is the purpose of doing this bill? 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 12 President, through you, to answer simply, this 13 bill, by us passing this and this becoming 14 law, we now remove a barrier for parents 15 seeking childcare based on their own 16 circumstances, as opposed to having a child 17 not be eligible to receive childcare simply 18 because one of their parents is not available 19 and not paying child support. The child does 20 not get punished for that. 21 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 22 does the sponsor still yield? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another

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(518) 371-8910 1 question from Senator Golden? 2 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 3 Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 The sponsor yields, Senator Golden. 6 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 Don't we have enough on the 9 claiming of good causes, don't we have enough 10 good causes listed in the bill that's 11 presently there, such as the when active 12 pursuit of child support is likely to cause 13 physical or emotional harm? Don't we exclude 14 that individual? If the child came from 15 pregnancy due to incest or rape, we excuse 16 that. Working with the court or an authorized 17 adoption agency to have your child adopted. 18 These are just some of the good causes that we 19 have in the bill. 20 Isn't there enough in that bill 21 already -- in law already not to have this 22 bill put forward, this law put forward? 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 24 President, to answer Senator Golden, I just

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(518) 371-8910 1 want to remind you that we are talking about 2 parents who are already stressed and often 3 under duress. They are looking for work; 4 that's a requirement if you want to have 5 subsidized childcare in this state. We may be 6 pushing parents into situations where they've 7 experienced domestic violence, family 8 violence, and to pursue a court-ordered child 9 support would further endanger that parent or 10 that family. There are many reasons why a 11 parent, a custodial parent may not be able to 12 pursue a court-ordered child support. 13 But I certainly would not want, and 14 I don't think that you would, Senator Golden, 15 want to see a child be penalized for the fact 16 that there is a noncustodial parent for 17 whatever reason out of the home. And 18 certainly that that parent is not willing to 19 be supportive, but we don't want to pull away 20 from supporting our support of that child and 21 that family. 22 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 23 does the sponsor continue to yield? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 2 question from Senator Golden? 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I will. 4 Under duress. 5 SENATOR GOLDEN: Senator, do you 6 believe that the noncustodial parent should 7 pay custodial? 8 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Absolutely I 9 do. Mr. President, I believe that all parents 10 should be responsible for supporting their 11 children. 12 SENATOR GOLDEN: And, Mr. 13 President, if she continues to yield, please. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 16 question from Senator Golden? 17 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 18 Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 Senator Golden, the sponsor yields. Please 21 direct your questions through the desk. 22 SENATOR GOLDEN: There are many 23 stresses upon families across the State of 24 New York, not only on those that are single

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(518) 371-8910 1 parents and those that are custodial parents 2 and trying to deal with their noncustodial 3 parents. But isn't there a requirement that 4 we go and that we pay taxes and that we pay 5 for these custodial fees to the parents? And 6 isn't that something that we should be looking 7 for responsibility within those families to go 8 and to do that, Mr. President? 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: We certainly 10 should. I agree with you, Senator Golden. 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: And, 12 Mr. President, will the sponsor continue to 13 yield? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Senator Montgomery, will you continue to yield 16 for Senator Golden? 17 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, I do. 18 SENATOR GOLDEN: If that is the 19 case, then, Senator, then why not the court 20 order and force the individuals to go for that 21 court order to in fact register with the court 22 and let them know that you want this 23 noncustodial parent to pay that tax? 24 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr.

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(518) 371-8910 1 President, I believe that Senator Golden is 2 confused about what my bill does. My bill 3 does not say that I don't want the parent to 4 pursue the court order for child support. My 5 bill simply says that that shall not be an 6 excuse for us not providing subsidized 7 childcare for the child in that family. 8 That's all my bill does. 9 I don't say that I don't want to 10 pursue court-ordered child support. That's 11 not what the bill does. The bill only says 12 that you cannot punish a child because a 13 parent cannot pursue a court order for child 14 support. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 16 Thank you, Senator Montgomery, for that 17 clarification. 18 Senator Golden. 19 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 20 why would the individual parent want to get a 21 court order if this bill is placed into law? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 23 Senator Golden, are you asking Senator 24 Montgomery to yield?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes, I am. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 3 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for one 4 other question? 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 6 Mr. President. 7 I think Senator Golden was asking 8 me why do I not want the parent to pursue a 9 court order. And the fact of the matter is 10 that I do. And so that's not what my bill 11 does at all. The bill only says that if the 12 parent does not pursue a court order for child 13 support, that that shall not be an excuse for 14 not having childcare. 15 Now, we know that the directors 16 that have been polled to ask what is the 17 impact of this requirement, 60 percent of the 18 people who would apply, parents who apply, 19 when they find out they have to go and pursue 20 this court order for child support, they stop 21 the application process. Why? Because they 22 know that this is just not something that is 23 going to be helpful to them. As a matter of 24 fact, it puts them in harm's way.

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(518) 371-8910 1 It is a very onerous -- to many 2 people, an onerous and difficult process. And 3 so if they don't do it, they don't -- they 4 can't receive childcare. 5 All I'm saying is I want them to 6 pursue it, yes. But do I want this to be an 7 obstacle to prevent children from being 8 eligible and having access to childcare? No, 9 I do not want that. That, to me, punishes the 10 wrong person for the wrong reason. 11 So, Senator Golden, I am adamantly 12 opposed to what you want to see happen, and 13 that is for children not to have access for 14 childcare only because the parent won't pursue 15 this court order. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 Senator Krueger, why do you rise? 18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Will 19 Senator Golden yield for a question, please. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 Senator Golden, will you yield for a question? 22 SENATOR GOLDEN: Certainly. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Senator Krueger.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 2 I've been listening to the debate, 3 and it's a healthy one. Again, my 4 understanding of Senator Montgomery's bill is 5 just simply correcting an overstatement, an 6 overzealous -- thank you, Senator -- agency 7 regulation to bring it into order with our 8 laws. 9 So through you, Mr. President, 10 would you yield for a question, Senator 11 Golden? 12 SENATOR GOLDEN: Certainly. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 Senator Golden yields. 15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 16 Again, the agency has the power to 17 pursue the noncustodial parent for child 18 support. No one is debating that. They would 19 have the ability to do it anyway. And we hope 20 they would. This specific situation, as I 21 understand Senator Montgomery's bill, when -- 22 and in general, in most cases, not to be 23 sexist, statistically it's the mother who's 24 the custodial parent, the father who is the

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(518) 371-8910 1 noncustodial parent. 2 This is very much a unique 3 situation for families where the mother fears 4 that participating in getting a child support 5 order in court may put her or her children at 6 risk, particularly in a domestic violence 7 situation. The state can pursue the child 8 support anyway. Why would we want to deprive 9 children of childcare simply because the 10 mother or the custodial parent fears that 11 participating in assistance with the state to 12 get that child support money would put herself 13 or her children at risk? 14 SENATOR GOLDEN: I believe, if I 15 could find the question in that, the answer is 16 it's already -- the exemption is already in 17 the bill. The regulation is already in that 18 you've just referred to, that if an individual 19 would cause physical or emotional harm to the 20 family or to the child, they wouldn't go after 21 it. It's not required. So it's already 22 there, the regulation. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr. 24 President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 2 Senator Krueger. 3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: A point of 4 order for myself. Am I allowed to answer a 5 question when I interrupted a flow between the 6 Senator and the Senator? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 Senator Golden has the floor. So unless 9 you're asking him to yield for a question at 10 this time, we have to return to Senator 11 Golden. 12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: So can he 13 ask me a question? Because I would like to 14 answer his question, but I don't know if I'm 15 allowed to. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 Senator -- 18 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 19 yes, I'd like the good Senator to answer the 20 question. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Senator Golden yields to you for the answer. 23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you. 24 In fact, Senator, we all agree what

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Montgomery's bill does is simply to 2 clarify in law what is gray area in the agency 3 regulation that in fact we want to make sure 4 that if there is a situation of risk, that a 5 child is not deprived of childcare because of 6 a situation between the adults and the state 7 and the court in child-support payments. 8 Which I think we all agree on. 9 SENATOR GOLDEN: If Senator 10 Krueger would please yield for a question. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 Senator Golden, Senator Krueger does not have 13 the floor, so I'm afraid at this time she 14 cannot be asked to yield for a question. 15 Senator Krueger, I think we have 16 to -- unless Senator Golden wishes to yield 17 the floor to you for you to ask another 18 question, we really have to return to Senator 19 Golden's questioning of Senator Montgomery on 20 her bill. 21 SENATOR GOLDEN: I would like to 22 continue my questioning of -- I have two more 23 questions, possibly three more questions for 24 Senator Montgomery.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 2 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for two or 3 possibly three more questions from Senator 4 Golden? 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: What did he 6 say, two or what? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 Two or possibly three. 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: All right. 10 Possibly three. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 Yes, the Senator yields. 13 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 I believe, the way I interpret 16 this, is you are lifting a requirement, and 17 that's a change in the law. 18 My question, though, is what is the 19 cost of this bill to the State of New York? 20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: What is the 21 cost of this? 22 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The cost of 24 this is only related to the fact that we are

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to have more children be able to access 2 childcare. And every year in our budget, we 3 put money in to fund childcare slots. The 4 state pays a portion of that, the federal 5 government pays a portion of that, and the 6 locality pays a portion of the cost. So all 7 three levels of government support these 8 childcare slots. 9 The major reason that we do fund 10 childcare across the state, Senator Golden, is 11 that we want parents to be able to work and/or 12 pursue a career, vocational career, and 13 otherwise in preparation for being able to 14 work. While they're doing that, we want their 15 children to be cared for in childcare programs 16 that offer the children a head start as well. 17 So it's to benefit in several different ways 18 on several different levels. 19 So when we create these barriers so 20 that parents can't have access to childcare, 21 children can't have access, we really defeat 22 our intent to work toward making people 23 independent so that they hopefully will not 24 need any of the public government subsidies

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(518) 371-8910 1 once they're up and out of the system. 2 So that's why I want to remove that 3 barrier, Senator Golden. 4 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 5 will the sponsor continue to yield? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for one or 8 possibly two questions from Senator Golden? 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 11 Senator Golden, the sponsor yields. 12 SENATOR GOLDEN: The way I 13 understand this, then, Senator, is that you 14 believe that it's incumbent upon the state, 15 federal government and local government to pay 16 the taxes and to pay dollars, their 17 hard-earned taxes coming into that county, 18 that state and that government, from the 19 taxpayers across our counties, our state and 20 our country, that we should have them pay more 21 taxes instead of trying to get the 22 noncustodial parent to pay his or her share. 23 Is that the way I read this bill? 24 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: No. Mr.

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(518) 371-8910 1 President, through you, no to Senator Golden's 2 question. 3 This is an investment that I think 4 the state makes. It's a very good one. It's 5 paid off many, many times over. And no, I 6 don't accept your premise at all, Senator 7 Golden. 8 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President, 9 the last question. 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you. 11 SENATOR GOLDEN: I'm sure the 12 Senator is quite happy, and so is the floor. 13 Who's paying for the investment, 14 Senator? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 16 Senator Montgomery, the last question. 17 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The last 18 question. 19 Mr. President, Senator Golden, we 20 are all paying for this investment. We're 21 making a very good investment for our state 22 and to our families. And so I am happy to 23 share this with you, Senator Golden. It's an 24 investment to me, it's an investment to you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 it's an investment to all of us in this room. 2 And that's the end of my 3 willingness to answer any more questions, 4 Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 6 Senator Golden. 7 SENATOR GOLDEN: On the bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 Senator Golden, on the bill. 10 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 It's obvious to everybody in this 13 chamber, anybody that's viewing this across 14 this great state, that the good Senator has 15 found another way to tax the people of this 16 great state. And letting the person that 17 should be paying for this, the people that 18 should be responsible for their children, 19 showing some responsibility for themselves and 20 for their families and not going after that 21 noncustodial parent so that he or she pays for 22 the needs of that child is just plain wrong. 23 And we can't keep doing this here 24 in the State of New York, gutting these

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(518) 371-8910 1 programs and having the taxpayer foot the 2 bill. That's the reason we have the problems 3 we have here today. That's why we have a 4 budget that we needed a stimulus for to help 5 us get through to balance our budget here. 6 Not just what the state issues and the federal 7 issues and the world issues, but we're adding 8 to those issues. It's not about taxes, it's 9 about spending. 10 And the Democratic conference here 11 seems to want to continue to spend. We cannot 12 continue to spend at the rate that we are 13 spending. We have to find a way of cutting 14 our spending. 15 And I would hope that in the future 16 we would find bills that would hold the people 17 of this great state accountable and hold those 18 that are accountable to their needs, and to 19 make sure that noncustodial parents pay their 20 fair share. 21 And I believe that if we continue 22 to go that route that our $121 billion budget 23 today will grow to $130 billion and 24 $140 billion. And eventually that

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(518) 371-8910 1 millionaire's tax, there will be no 2 millionaires to pay, and the only people that 3 are going to wind up paying for this are going 4 to be the poorer people in this great state. 5 And I think it's important that we 6 hold people accountable for their actions and 7 we continue to do that. And I vote no. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 Excuse me, Senator. 10 Senator Klein, why do you rise? 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, in 12 the future I hope Senator Golden will confine 13 himself to the bill at hand, and not give 14 speeches but talk about the specific substance 15 of the bill before us. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 Thank you, Senator Klein. 18 SENATOR GOLDEN: Mr. President -- 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 Senator Golden, continuing on the bill. 21 SENATOR GOLDEN: It amazes me 22 that somebody would get up here and say that I 23 am making a speech and going on. I am making 24 a speech. I am acting responsibly and asking

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(518) 371-8910 1 the sponsor of this bill not to put bills 2 forward that would cost the state more money. 3 And -- 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 Senator Golden, excuse me. Senator Golden -- 6 SENATOR GOLDEN: -- for their 7 actions across the state. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 Please direct your comments to the chair. 10 SENATOR GOLDEN: Yes, Mr. 11 President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 13 You have the floor. You have the floor. 14 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. And I vote no. 16 And I find it appalling that 17 anybody would get up and challenge spending. 18 If they don't get it, they'll never get it. 19 Senator Montgomery's bill here does 20 put a cost into the state for us to pay for 21 those noncustodial parents that get away with 22 it and all that parent has to do is go to 23 court and any problems that that parent has, 24 as has been described by other Senators on

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(518) 371-8910 1 that floor, they have good cause claims here 2 that we don't go after them in the State of 3 New York. If you're going to be physically 4 harmed or cause physical harm or the child is 5 from a pregnancy due to incest or rape or 6 working with the court for adoption. And the 7 bill goes on, the regulations go on to give 8 these exemptions. 9 So we should work within the 10 ramifications of the regulations and the law 11 and make people accountable for their actions 12 and reduce the tax burden to the people of 13 this great state. 14 I vote no, Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 16 Senator Stewart-Cousins. 17 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 18 you, Mr. President. 19 I was really wanting to commend 20 Senator Montgomery for her insight into a 21 problem. 22 And I think that it became even 23 more necessary to stand as I heard the budget 24 woes that are certainly global, national, and

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(518) 371-8910 1 woes that we are facing in this state somehow 2 laid at the feet of a daycare child. It is a 3 stretch, I think, for most of us. And 4 certainly we have seen our debt grow over the 5 years. And I think there's certainly enough 6 finger-pointing to go around. But somehow a 7 preschooler, a daycare child, is not that 8 person. 9 I wanted to rise, though, to talk 10 about my experience in Westchester County. In 11 Westchester County, when I chaired the 12 families committee, this was a big issue. 13 What happened is that there were rules that 14 made it necessary for parents, noncustodial 15 parents who were even paying child support, to 16 have to be taken to court in order to fulfill 17 this stipulation. So if we had a relationship 18 where you were actually paying for your child, 19 in order to satisfy the rule as it's been 20 promulgated, I would have to take you to court 21 as though you were not doing it. That was 22 wrong. 23 There were also situations where a 24 parent could have more than one child and one

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(518) 371-8910 1 child's parent, noncustodial parent, was 2 responsible and maybe the other child's parent 3 was not. In that case, neither child was able 4 to go to daycare until both noncustodial 5 parents were taken to court. So although 6 there might have been good reason -- and 7 clearly we all want noncustodial parents to be 8 responsible. And as Senator Montgomery said, 9 this is in no way absolving anyone from their 10 responsibility or encouraging anyone not to be 11 responsible. And we do have a mechanism by 12 which that responsibility can be fostered. 13 But in the interim, what was 14 happening, many people were just sent letters 15 telling them that they could not bring their 16 child to daycare while people went through a 17 process that in many cases was already 18 actually happening. 19 People who aren't doing the wrong 20 thing don't want to be dragged to court. A 21 father who is paying does not want to go to 22 court, take days off and say "I'm paying" to a 23 judge in order to have the child brought into 24 daycare.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So this regulation merely says yes, 2 we want noncustodials to pay; yes, we 3 understand responsibility; no, a daycare child 4 should not be in the middle of that. And if 5 you have a responsible parent, that parent 6 should be recognized as such and does not need 7 to be pulled through the court system in order 8 to satisfy a rule. 9 I think this makes sense. There 10 have been a number of waivers, as you said, 11 and those waivers would have been unnecessary 12 if people just did what they were supposed to 13 do and let the children go to the daycare 14 center and proceed to collect childcare 15 payments the way we normally do. 16 So I thank you for your rule. It 17 is a good one. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 19 Senator Saland. 20 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 Is Senator Montgomery declining to 23 yield for questions? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Montgomery, Senator Saland has 2 requested that you yield for some questions. 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, sure, 4 Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 6 The Senator yields. 7 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Montgomery. 9 Senator Montgomery, you are adding 10 a new section to the current Section 410(W) of 11 the Social Services Law. Would you care to 12 tell me what that section of law deals with? 13 Or, for that matter, the article in which that 14 section is located. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: This is a 16 section of law that deals with the eligibility 17 of families to receive childcare assistance. 18 SENATOR SALAND: And is that part 19 of the article that deals with the childcare 20 block grant? 21 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Well, it 22 deals with who is eligible to receive services 23 under this particular title, the Social 24 Services Law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 2 if Senator Montgomery would continue to yield. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 Senator Montgomery, Senator Saland has 5 requested that you continue to yield. 6 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 The sponsor yields. 9 SENATOR SALAND: Senator 10 Montgomery, I'm trying to determine the source 11 of the funds. And are these funds coming from 12 the childcare block grant? 13 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: As you know, 14 Senator Saland, we have essentially removed 15 the childcare that we fund from the block 16 grant. But initially it would have been 17 eligible under the block grant eligibility 18 requirements. 19 SENATOR SALAND: You're -- 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 Senator Saland, are you asking Senator 22 Montgomery to yield? 23 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, thank you, 24 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 2 Senator Montgomery, Senator Saland is asking 3 you to yield. 4 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I do. 5 SENATOR SALAND: Your bill 6 proposes, does it not, to take a current 7 requirement that a parent seeking subsidized 8 daycare no longer be required but that she -- 9 generally, it would be a she -- would be 10 encouraged to obtain a child-support order? 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: That's 12 correct. 13 SENATOR SALAND: So this is not a 14 mere clarification, but this is a significant 15 change, is it not? 16 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The only 17 change -- the change is that while the parent 18 is going to be encouraged to seek such a court 19 order, it is clear that the child shall not be 20 denied this service based on the fact that the 21 parent does not have a court order. 22 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 23 if the Senator will continue to yield. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Montgomery, would you continue to 2 yield to Senator Saland? 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 5 Senator Saland, the Senator yields for another 6 question. 7 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 Senator Montgomery, what is the 10 source of the funds that will be providing 11 this childcare subsidy? Where is the money 12 coming from? It has to come from somewhere. 13 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The money 14 comes from the TANF funds, as well as there's 15 a matching amount that the state puts in and 16 the localities also put funds up for the 17 childcare, purposes of childcare subsidies. 18 SENATOR SALAND: And if the 19 Senator would continue to yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 21 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 22 question? 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Saland. 2 SENATOR SALAND: If in fact there 3 is an order of support that is entered, who 4 recoups the money? 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: If it is a 6 parent who is receiving court-ordered child 7 support payments and that parent is receiving 8 public subsidy, the state recoups the funding. 9 SENATOR SALAND: The state 10 through the county. 11 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: And passes 12 on a certain portion of it to the parent. 13 SENATOR SALAND: So that -- if 14 the Senator will continue to yield. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 16 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 17 question? 18 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 The sponsor yields, Senator Saland. 21 SENATOR SALAND: So that at 22 least, certainly in a number of these 23 child-support cases, there is a direct 24 connection between the monies that would be

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(518) 371-8910 1 recouped by the county and, in turn, the state 2 and the noncustodial parent? 3 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: The money 4 that is not recouped does not -- the state 5 does not receive that funding. 6 SENATOR SALAND: I'm sorry, 7 perhaps I was unclear. If the Senator will 8 continue to yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 11 question from Senator Saland? 12 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 13 SENATOR SALAND: What I'm saying, 14 Senator Montgomery, is if the noncustodial 15 parent has an order of support, the money 16 that's received by reason of that order of 17 support is recouped by the county on behalf of 18 the county as well as the state. 19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Right. 20 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. 21 So if in fact -- if the Senator 22 will continue to yield. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another

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(518) 371-8910 1 question? 2 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, I will. 3 SENATOR SALAND: If in fact the 4 orders of support diminish or if in fact the 5 orders of support are not applied for because 6 they're no longer required, there will be a 7 diminution, a loss in money that would be 8 recouped by the county and the state. 9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 10 President, through you. Let me just say that 11 as you know, Senator Saland, we have a child 12 support enforcement unit, and the function and 13 responsibility of that unit is to pursue child 14 support. And they have been given authority 15 to do that very aggressively and with legal 16 authority. So there is nothing that prevents 17 that unit from being used to go after any 18 nonpaying noncustodial parent. 19 So since we have that unit that has 20 that particular function on behalf of the 21 state, there is no reason really for us to 22 make the parent go and do that -- and 23 furthermore, making the child be penalized if 24 the parent does not in fact go after that

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(518) 371-8910 1 noncustodial parent, rather than giving this 2 unit, the child support enforcement unit, 3 giving them the job to go after the parent. 4 So if we really want to see that 5 change, if we're really concerned about 6 that -- and I certainly support your interest 7 in making sure we collect on behalf of those 8 children -- let's go after the child support 9 enforcement unit, not the parent of the child, 10 the custodial parent. 11 SENATOR SALAND: If Senator 12 Montgomery will continue to yield. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 15 question from Senator Saland? 16 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I will. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Senator Saland, Senator Montgomery yields for 19 one more question. 20 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. 21 So if I may go back to my original 22 question, or my preceding question, the fact 23 that the noncustodial parent would no longer 24 be required to pay child support under this

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill would result in, absent some intervention 2 by some other entity, a loss of funding to the 3 county and the state? 4 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Through you, 5 Mr. President, I think that Senator Saland is 6 confusing the issues of where the money goes 7 and for what purpose. 8 The subsidy for childcare does not 9 depend on the child-support money. But we do 10 want to collect child support for children. 11 Whether or not it is a family who receives 12 public assistance or a family who does not 13 receive, we still want noncustodial parents to 14 pay child support. So that is not the subject 15 of this bill at all. 16 The subject of this particular 17 legislation is simple. It says that we 18 encourage parents to assist the state, to 19 provide assistance to the state in going after 20 the noncustodial parent for child support. 21 But we do not abdicate our responsibility as a 22 state to children whose parents need 23 childcare. 24 So this bill says a child is

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(518) 371-8910 1 eligible to receive public-assisted childcare 2 services whether or not the noncustodial 3 parent is paying child support or whether or 4 not the custodial parent is pursuing a 5 noncustodial parent. 6 And by the way, the noncustodial 7 parent could be missing. If you can't find 8 that noncustodial parent, what do you do? So 9 I think there are many reasons why we don't 10 want to punish the child because the custodial 11 parent cannot successfully seek the 12 court-ordered child support. 13 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 14 on the bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 16 Senator Saland, on the bill. 17 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 18 what we are observing here on the floor today 19 is an effort at a major change in policy, a 20 change in policy which varies -- I won't say 21 "varies," is diametrically opposed to the 22 provisions of the existing law. 23 The existing law says if you're 24 receiving a childcare subsidy, you in fact

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(518) 371-8910 1 have to attempt to get an order of support. 2 That's the law. This is not a clarification, 3 it is a diametrically 180-degree change in the 4 existing law. 5 The fact of the matter is that 6 there are any number of policy reasons for 7 having that requirement in the law. And let 8 me read from the New York Public Welfare 9 Association memo in opposition: "The 10 requirement to seek child support is a key 11 strategy for tackling child poverty and 12 promoting child welfare in our state and 13 should not be rescinded. Child support is the 14 conduit to providing economic stability, and 15 the establishment of paternity ensures a 16 child's right to inheritance and other 17 benefits." And among those benefits are 18 Social Security benefits. 19 So the fact of the matter is is 20 that there is a very laudable and valuable 21 policy goal here. The fact of the matter, 22 again, is if you have a subsidized funding of 23 daycare, whatever that subsidy may be, if 24 support is recovered, the county is saving

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(518) 371-8910 1 money, and ultimately the state -- the 2 difference between whatever the support 3 payment may be and whatever the county is 4 paying. 5 There was some reference earlier by 6 Senator Stewart-Cousins about her experience. 7 Well, let me share with you an experience a 8 number of years ago, some 30 or more years 9 ago. On behalf of my county, Dutchess County, 10 I was responsible to handle for the county 11 Social Service Department any number of issues 12 including paternity issues. The law has 13 since, thanks to the advent of far more 14 sophisticated testing, spared the necessity of 15 going through the tortuous discovery that you 16 had to go through in order to try and follow 17 the requirements of the federal law, which was 18 to establish paternity and recover support 19 payments. 20 And my experience was, in dealing 21 with a number of young mothers in trying to 22 establish paternity, that there was enormous 23 resistance on the whole to trying to establish 24 paternity, to identifying the person who was

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(518) 371-8910 1 or might be the father of the child. And some 2 of the stories that I was told -- in fact, 3 after the first story I was told, I insisted, 4 if they were underage, that they would come in 5 with a parent, their mother or father. 6 Because it made it virtually impossible -- by 7 attempting to show what I'll term access by 8 more than one potential father, it made it 9 virtually impossible to pursue the case. 10 And I suspect that there will be a 11 great reluctance on the part of people to 12 pursue these cases, to identify a father. The 13 child will not be benefitted. The child in 14 fact will only be hurt. And when the day is 15 said and done, the efforts to deal with child 16 poverty will not be advanced, they will only 17 in fact be enhanced. 18 If we put money in every year for 19 childcare slots, as was mentioned earlier by 20 Senator Montgomery, how many more slots will 21 we now need under this law? And is that 22 provided for in this budget? Are we talking 23 hundreds of slots, are we talking dozens of 24 slots? Where is the money? The bill is

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(518) 371-8910 1 effective immediately. Show me the money. 2 Where is the money for the childcare slots 3 that will now be lost by reason of the failure 4 to have the child support? 5 The fact of the matter is this 6 seemingly simple bill is a major change in 7 policy in this state. 8 And I note in the memo that the 9 bill supposedly passed the Assembly in 2008. 10 In fact, I don't believe the bill passed in 11 the Assembly in 2008; I believe it died on 12 third reading. 13 If in fact this bill is to be 14 passed, there's certainly a lot more homework 15 that has to go into this bill. Certainly the 16 fiscal questions have to be answered and the 17 policy question has to be addressed. 18 And I think we do an enormous 19 disservice to the children of the State of 20 New York who might otherwise have the benefit 21 of more stable families, might have the 22 benefit of a more stable source of support, 23 and really deny the ability of noncustodial 24 parents and children to have the opportunity

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(518) 371-8910 1 to be together. 2 As was pointed out, this regulation 3 sets forth at great length any number of 4 exceptions for a person who feels that either 5 they or their child is threatened in terms of 6 their security or their well-being should they 7 want to be excluded from the existing 8 language. 9 I would urge all my colleagues to 10 vote in opposition to this bill and that the 11 bill be defeated. Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 13 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 14 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 15 you, Mr. President. Just briefly on the bill. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 Senator Hassell-Thompson, on the bill. 18 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: As the 19 chair of the Majority Task Force on Domestic 20 Violence -- and I didn't need help, but thank 21 you, Senator. I'd like to change that, 22 because I'd really like to invite both sides 23 of the aisle to be members, and I want it to 24 be the State Task Force on Domestic Violence,

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(518) 371-8910 1 by the way. 2 But as its current chair, we have 3 received several letters about this particular 4 piece of legislation and the necessity for us 5 to look at that population of women who are 6 virtually in hiding and who feel that they are 7 in life-threatening situations which requires 8 that they not be penalized further by having 9 to appear in court or to pursue a court order 10 to bring the noncustodial parent to heel. 11 We strongly believe that with all 12 the devices available to the state, that the 13 ability to find these noncustodial parents is 14 greater on the part of the state than it is -- 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 16 Excuse me. 17 Senator DeFrancisco, why do you 18 rise? 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Will 20 Senator Hassell-Thompson yield to a question? 21 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: No. I 22 stood to briefly make a statement on behalf of 23 the domestic violence -- and I'm not the 24 sponsor of the bill, but I'm here to tell you

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(518) 371-8910 1 why I'm voting for the bill. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 3 The Senator declines to yield at this time. 4 Senator Hassell-Thompson, you have 5 the floor. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would you 7 put me on the list, please, to speak. 8 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 9 you, Mr. President. 10 The brief point that I'm trying to 11 make here is that what this bill does is 12 creates an exception and does not further 13 penalize the ability of a custodial parent to 14 have that child in daycare. And we do not 15 believe that this is a -- this is a dual 16 punishment for both the parent and for the 17 child. Therefore, we have asked that this 18 bill be seriously considered. 19 And certainly I want to 20 congratulate Senator Montgomery for pursuing 21 this as an issue and bringing this bill to the 22 floor. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator DeFrancisco. 2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I 3 think it's very clear from the speakers 4 prior -- 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 6 Senator DeFrancisco, are you on the bill? 7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: On the 8 bill. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 On the bill. 11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I think 12 it's very clear from the speakers before me -- 13 and it should have been clear, anyway -- that 14 women that are in hiding, domestic violence 15 victims, have an exemption under the 16 regulations. They don't have to pursue a 17 court order. 18 So there's no need for this bill 19 for the reasons that were just cited by 20 Senator Hassell-Thompson. That's number one. 21 Number two, there must be some 22 beneficial reason that Senator Montgomery 23 wanted to encourage people to bring child 24 support orders. But encouragement is not the

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(518) 371-8910 1 same as requirement. Encouragement means that 2 if you want to, you can; if you don't want to, 3 you don't have to. 4 And if we continue down the road 5 we're going, that everyone can rely on the 6 federal government, the state government, the 7 local governments -- and therefore the 8 taxpayers -- to take care of the 9 responsibilities of others without even trying 10 to get reimbursement, then we're going to get 11 deeper and deeper and deeper in a hole and 12 we're going to be looking for more and more 13 varied taxes in order to try to fill all of 14 these gaps that we're going to have. 15 So I guess my point of view is that 16 I don't see it's onerous at all for somebody 17 to be required to pursue a court order. They 18 don't even have to get a court order. They 19 just have to participate and assist in trying 20 to collect from the deadbeat noncustodial 21 parent, so that the taxpayers aren't stuck 22 with the bill. 23 So that's why this is a bad bill. 24 It opens up more and more entitlements without

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(518) 371-8910 1 ever trying to get the responsible party 2 responsible. 3 And we should not require the child 4 support collection unit of some government 5 agency that's probably underfunded to take on 6 the responsibility of bringing every court 7 order to try to get money back, when there's 8 somebody who happened to have a child with 9 somebody else, who's concerned about the 10 child, should at least be concerned enough so 11 that the person who is not paying pays rather 12 than the taxpayer. 13 So I'm going to vote no at the time 14 of the roll call. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 16 Senator Robach. 17 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, would 18 Senator Montgomery yield for a question? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 Senator Montgomery, Senator Robach has 21 requested through the chair that you yield for 22 a question. 23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. 24 SENATOR ROBACH: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Montgomery, I just want to make sure I 2 understand this, because I think your 3 intention is good. I understand some of the 4 dialogue. But from my time with DSS when I 5 worked there prior to elective office, I'm 6 just not sure if anything has changed, and I 7 want to make sure. 8 When you're able to get the 9 custodial parent or the parent required to 10 make the payment putting that money in, does a 11 portion of that recoupment go to the child's 12 daycare? Because I believe it did at one 13 time, and I think it still does. Is that 14 right? 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr. 16 President, through you, I'm not really sure. 17 I'm not going to say exactly if there's a 18 dollar-for-dollar exchange -- 19 SENATOR ROBACH: Not dollar for 20 dollar -- 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 22 Senator -- Senator, allow the Senator to 23 finish. 24 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I just want

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(518) 371-8910 1 to say this. For all of those of us who are 2 under the impression that we recoup millions 3 of dollars from noncustodial parents through 4 this child-support collection effort, you are 5 sorely wrong. That's why so many women are 6 forced to go to court even when their 7 noncustodial parent is a millionaire. They 8 still hide their money everywhere all over the 9 world not to pay. 10 So it's not about collecting the 11 money. If you keep wanting to know if there's 12 money, if we're losing all of this money based 13 on the noncollection, it's not the case. 14 That's not the purpose of this bill. 15 SENATOR ROBACH: I understand 16 that. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Senator Robach, please direct your comments 19 through the chair. 20 SENATOR ROBACH: Mr. President, 21 would Senator Montgomery yield? Or perhaps 22 ask that staff person. Because the answer to 23 this question sincerely is going to decide 24 whether I'm voting yes or no for this bill,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and I'm going to tell you why in a minute. 2 If that money goes into the pool of 3 money to cover more kids for daycare, then I'm 4 going to vote no. Because in Monroe County, 5 and I believe in New York City, we don't get 6 unlimited money anymore. We get a pool of 7 money. 8 So if you're collecting from 9 somebody who ought to be taking care of their 10 kid in the first place -- which we all agree 11 on. We voted for that legislation to make 12 noncustodial parents who don't want to be 13 involved in their child's life, for whatever 14 reason, have some financial responsibility if 15 we can't legislate the moral side of that. 16 By not collecting that money from 17 them we would then be, in the end result, 18 having less kids be in daycare for those 19 people who don't have the money, whose father 20 is deceased, for whatever reason isn't 21 collectable. And that really does make a 22 difference for me. 23 Now, unless something has changed 24 very much since my time at DSS, this bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 might be going exactly in the opposite 2 direction of what I believe you have your 3 intent to do. And so I really want to know if 4 nothing has changed, if by collecting that 5 money -- or not collecting that money, in this 6 case, as you want to make easer, indirectly -- 7 we're going to be having less kids in daycare. 8 And last year I think a lot of 9 people followed this -- I'm sorry all my 10 colleagues left on that side of the aisle who 11 spoke -- who care about domestic violence and 12 kids. Up in Monroe County, we had a 13 tremendous shortage when our budget got cut by 14 the state for daycare, and so even less kids 15 were covered. 16 So I really, really, sincerely want 17 to know if, by not collecting that money, if 18 less kids are going to be eligible for 19 coverage. If that's the case, this a bad, bad 20 bill. 21 How's that for a question? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 23 Senator Montgomery. 24 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr.

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(518) 371-8910 1 President, let me say no. In fact, you're not 2 going to have a reduction in your childcare 3 slots because of this bill. 4 However, if you continue with 5 underenrollment, your county will certainly 6 lose childcare funding, because they won't be 7 able to fill their slots. So not voting for 8 this will hurt your local county, because your 9 county has X number of slots based on the 10 numbers of children that need this childcare. 11 If the children are not in those slots, you 12 will lose that funding. 13 The money, on the other hand, 14 whatever you would collect from this 15 noncustodial child-support court order would 16 not go to pay for your childcare slots. So as 17 far as your childcare program in your 18 locality, in your local district is concerned, 19 they lose on both ends. 20 So you're not helping them by 21 voting no on this legislation. You're hurting 22 them. 23 SENATOR ROBACH: Through you, 24 Mr. President. I guess -- I think this is a

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(518) 371-8910 1 little bit different question, because I'm 2 still unclear. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 Are you asking Senator Montgomery to yield? 5 SENATOR ROBACH: If Senator 6 Montgomery would yield. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 Senator Montgomery, will you yield for another 9 question? 10 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, I will. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 The Senator yields. 13 SENATOR ROBACH: Thank you. 14 Thank you, President Schneiderman. 15 Let me just say hypothetically, so 16 I can understand this better, I'm not paying 17 child support and I am divorced. And my child 18 support payment is supposed to be $800 a 19 month, and I'm not paying it. 20 If I was paying that, would in fact 21 that money go to pay for my children's 22 daycare? I believe it would. I usually 23 believe that's part of the term when 24 government is collecting the money, is if that

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(518) 371-8910 1 mother is working, you have to pay as part of 2 your payment structure -- I see John Sampson 3 nodding his head -- that you have to pay part 4 of that money to go to that. 5 In the event that I didn't pay, my 6 wife would then be eligible to tap into not 7 the slot but the pool of money allotted for 8 Monroe County, where I live, to have those 9 kids covered if your bill went through. 10 Indirectly, unless you can provide 11 me with something different, I think you're 12 actually, by not collecting money as well as 13 you can from people who should be paying, you 14 are going to diminish the amount of kids 15 eligible for daycare. Unless you can tell me 16 something different, I'm pretty sure that's 17 true. 18 And so that's why I think, while 19 there's a good and a bad side, this is not 20 very good legislation. 21 Is that untrue? Is that 22 inaccurate, what I'm saying? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Senator Montgomery.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I 2 understand, I think I understand the question. 3 I want to remind you that the 4 premise of your argument or your question does 5 not speak to this legislation, because, 6 because the idea of how we pursue the 7 noncustodial nonpaying parent is not what this 8 bill does. Except it says you are not allowed 9 to use that process as reason to deny 10 childcare to a child. 11 That -- and we have other 12 mechanisms in place to track you down and to 13 find your $800 and to make decisions based on 14 that. It's not up to the parent, however, and 15 we do not punish the child while we do that. 16 We do have a mechanism to track 17 down nonpaying noncustodial parents, yes. And 18 I want that done. I voted over and over for 19 legislation to make that happen. But I am 20 not -- and we -- this bill simply overrides a 21 regulation, and it says we will not punish the 22 child while we track you down to collect your 23 $800 in child-support payments. 24 SENATOR ROBACH: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Montgomery. 2 Mr. President, on the bill. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 Senator Robach, on the bill. 5 SENATOR ROBACH: I understand 6 your intent. 7 I really think that I'm going to 8 have to vote no for this bill, and I hope 9 others will too. I think we could have a 10 better bill that will do it. Because what 11 you're doing by circumventing this argument 12 indirectly really is creating less slots for 13 kids and taking money out of the pool that 14 should be in there to create more daycare 15 slots. 16 I think we all care a great deal 17 about daycare. It is a huge issue in my 18 community. It's a huge issue everywhere. And 19 while I understand your comment that we don't 20 want to punish the child for the bad behavior 21 of any adult, indirectly I feel like -- 22 without putting faces on them -- we are 23 punishing some children by not allowing them 24 to be eligible for daycare by not expanding

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(518) 371-8910 1 that pool, now a limited pool. 2 When I worked at DSS, it was 3 unlimited. Whether a child was 10 or 19 or 4 20, we found a slot for them. That's not how 5 the funding goes anymore. There's not an 6 infinite resource per county for daycare, nor 7 in New York City. 8 So I think given that fact, and 9 that the custodial parent is the one that has 10 to start the procedure in order to collect 11 that money, they have to be part of the 12 process to get it. Government doesn't start 13 the action, they just collect it. There has 14 to be a better way for us, or maybe to expand 15 emergency situations to not punish the child. 16 But I think this goes too far. And 17 in the end, I think at least in my county, and 18 I believe others across the state, by not 19 putting the other money that should be in the 20 pool, I think we're going to limit some kids. 21 And we already have a number of people 22 desperately seeking daycare where I live that 23 can't get it now because we keep moving the 24 economic threshold up.

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(518) 371-8910 1 By all means the last thing we 2 should want to do is now take people off, some 3 of which may be fairly wealthy, from not 4 paying that money and circumventing that. 5 So despite the good intention, I'm 6 going to vote no. If it's possible, I'd ask 7 others to consider that too and maybe try to 8 come back with something a little bit better 9 that will be more inclusive, not just focusing 10 on that kid who might be hurt by it, but kids 11 in the aggregate who will lose slots if this 12 bill passes and becomes law. 13 Thank you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Thank you, Senator Robach. 16 Are there any other Senators 17 wishing to be heard on the bill before us? 18 Hearing none, debate is closed. 19 The Secretary will please ring the 20 bells. 21 Read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 Senator Montgomery, to explain her vote. 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank 6 you, Mr. President. 7 I want to thank my colleagues for a 8 very thorough airing of the issues around this 9 legislation. 10 I do, however, want to just say 11 that this is really very important. We want 12 to remove barriers to having parents be able 13 to go to work, to be able to pursue vocational 14 training, to be able to really better 15 themselves and in that way to be able to 16 better take care of their families. 17 And denying childcare for any 18 reason I think works in opposition to what our 19 intent is, and that is the purpose of 20 providing childcare is to assist families. 21 And this bill is intended to remove that 22 particular barrier as it relates to 23 eligibility for childcare. 24 So I'm happy to thank my colleagues

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(518) 371-8910 1 for their support of this and understanding 2 what this is intended to do. And, 3 Mr. President, I'm happy to vote yes on this 4 legislation. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 6 Senator Montgomery in the affirmative. 7 Senator Adams. 8 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 I too rise and I want to thank my 11 colleague for this bill. Domestic violence 12 childcare is complicated. And I say it over 13 and over again, you know, we sit here in this 14 sterilized environment and talk about what 15 parents should do and what they shouldn't do. 16 But not until you see some of the trauma 17 that's associated with domestic violence -- 18 and I've seen it firsthand for 22 years. I 19 realize that some of the things that parents 20 ought to do were filing for child support, and 21 they should file for child support. That's 22 easy to say outside of that arena. 23 Psychologists, sociologists and other people 24 in this profession, they don't understand what

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(518) 371-8910 1 happens when people are in situations of 2 domestic violence. 3 No, we don't want to take away 4 slots from those who have childcare. No, we 5 don't want to encourage people not to file for 6 child support. And those who are not paying 7 their child-support payments, from a person 8 who grew up in a household where domestic 9 violence was daily, I know what a child goes 10 through. 11 And I commend you for going beyond 12 the rhetoric, going beyond the politics and 13 going beyond all of that. Just as I was an 14 afraid little child seeing my mother being 15 beat by my father, I knew that we needed help, 16 and that help doesn't come. 17 So people can articulate it, they 18 can talk about it, they can make it fancy, 19 they can get cute. But the reality is little 20 Eric was afraid, and there are little Erics 21 all over this state and this country that are 22 afraid. All they want is childcare. They 23 don't understand the complexity of what other 24 people are saying. That sounds fine on paper.

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(518) 371-8910 1 But when the rubber meets the road inside 2 their homes, there are little Erics all over 3 this state that will never grow up to be state 4 senators until we have legislation that will 5 allow them to seek the necessary care. 6 I commend you for this bill, and I 7 commend you for your courage. And little 8 Erics all over this country commend you also. 9 Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 11 Thank you. Senator Adams, how do you vote? 12 SENATOR ADAMS: I vote in the 13 affirmative. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Little Eric in the affirmative. 16 Senator Golden. 17 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 I rise to vote no on this bill. 20 And the reason I vote no on this bill is 21 because it's obviously been stated by many of 22 my colleagues here. The New York Public 23 Welfare Association is against it, the City of 24 New York is against it, counties across the

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(518) 371-8910 1 state are against it. Why? Because it costs 2 more money. It's going to cost the taxpayers 3 of this state more money at the end of the 4 day. 5 We should go after the noncustodial 6 parent. The noncustodial parent should be 7 required to pay. And the court order does 8 that. This is not a little change, this is, 9 as my colleague said earlier, Senator Saland, 10 this is 180 degrees. This is taking a law and 11 changing it 180 degrees. We are no longer 12 requiring that individual to get a court 13 order. That is plain wrong. 14 Domestic violence, excluded. 15 Nobody pays attention to that. My other 16 partner here, another colleague, will speak to 17 that in a moment. 18 What we have here is another 19 interference into state legislation that winds 20 up costing the taxpayers of the cities and 21 counties, the taxpayers of this great state 22 and federal government, more money. That's 23 what this does, in a time that we should not 24 be spending more money.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I have a bill, Bill 2012 of 2009, 2 which does exactly what we should be doing, 3 and that's a study to find out where the 4 problems are and address the needs and then 5 come back to this conference and to this 6 Senate body and to vote out a bill that makes 7 sense. But we chose not to do that. That is 8 wrong. 9 So we're voting on the first 10 deadbeat dad bill of 2009. And I'm glad to 11 see that some of my colleagues represented 12 here on my side here understand that we should 13 not be rewarding deadbeat dads at the cost of 14 the taxpayers of the State of New York. And I 15 vote no. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 Senator Alesi. Senator Alesi. 18 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 I appreciate the passion that the 21 sponsor has in crafting this bill, and those 22 people that are going to support her. I 23 appreciate the comments of my colleagues here 24 that have pointed out the technical issues and

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(518) 371-8910 1 the legal standing of the current system. 2 There's only one thing that really 3 stands out in my mind, and it's not specified 4 in the bill because the bill is very succinct. 5 We're very clear on what the sponsor wants to 6 do with it. But in the sponsor's memo, the 7 justification, there is a line here that 8 caught my eye that concerns me gravely. 9 And that line says "Noncustodial 10 immigrant parents with outstanding immigration 11 status" -- which to me means they're here 12 illegally -- "may also have to face the threat 13 of deportation if they have to through a 14 Family Court process." 15 I think last year when we had the 16 issue over illegal immigrants getting driver's 17 licenses, there was a clear line of 18 demarcation on where people stood on that 19 issue. I stand on the issue of offering no 20 protection to an illegal immigrant, an illegal 21 alien of any kind. 22 And this bill -- and it can't be 23 unintentional, because the sponsor clearly 24 states in the sponsor's justification memo

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(518) 371-8910 1 that a noncustodial immigrant parent with 2 immigration issues may face the threat of 3 deportation. Well, I don't have a problem 4 with an illegal immigrant facing the threat of 5 deportation. 6 And if I had any other reason to 7 vote against this, whether it's the comments 8 made by Senator Saland, Senator DeFrancisco, 9 Senator Golden, or others on the other side of 10 the aisle, this offers protection to people 11 who are here illegally. 12 And on that basis alone I just 13 can't support it, and I vote no. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Senator Alesi in the negative. 16 Senator DeFrancisco. 17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. With 18 all due respect to Senator Adams, you can say 19 all you want about the fact that this protects 20 people that may be victims of domestic 21 violence if you want to ignore a current law. 22 Let me read it to you just for the heck of 23 it -- not that it's going to make an 24 impression on some people.

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(518) 371-8910 1 18 New York Code of Rules and 2 Regulations: You don't have to bring a court 3 order if good cause exists. You don't have to 4 participate in bringing a court order. "Good 5 cause exists if pursuing child support would 6 adversely affect the health, safety or welfare 7 of the children on whose behalf such payments 8 are to be made." 9 Now, that's pretty clear. So this 10 justification that's being bandied about that 11 it's to protect people who may be victims of 12 domestic violence is nonsense. Existing law 13 protects that. 14 Secondly, I didn't see the bill 15 memo. I'm glad Senator Alesi mentioned that. 16 If protection for illegal immigrants, as 17 opposed to protecting taxpayers to pay for 18 deadbeat parents -- I mean, this is absolutely 19 ridiculous. I hope the whole State of 20 New York is watching this debate to see who 21 votes for what and who's more important, the 22 taxpayers that are going to pay for deadbeat 23 dads, illegal immigrants. And it certainly 24 isn't anything against victims of domestic

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(518) 371-8910 1 violence, because the law protects them now. 2 So I vote no, again. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 4 Senator DeFrancisco votes no. 5 Senator Liz Krueger, to explain her 6 vote. 7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 You know, I'd like to support my 10 colleague. I will be voting yes for the bill. 11 But again, since we're all doing TV 12 commercials now, I would like to say this bill 13 has nothing to do with helping the deadbeat 14 parent, an illegal immigrant. This is about 15 kids. This is about making sure kids, poor 16 kids, can get childcare, which means their 17 custodial parent be able to go out and 18 hopefully get a job that pays a living wage, 19 which means those children are going to start 20 in our school system more prepared to do well 21 in school, which means they're going to grow 22 up to be active participants in the society 23 and become taxpayers. 24 This is not a cost, this is a

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(518) 371-8910 1 savings. When we make sure that poor children 2 have good childcare and good preschool 3 programs, they do better, their families do 4 better. This is not money to adults. This is 5 not condoning bad behavior by noncustodial 6 parents. This is making sure poor children 7 don't get harmed because we don't have the 8 systems in place that I think we might agree 9 should be there to make sure child support 10 orders can be received, to make sure that 11 women don't end up the victims of domestic 12 violence and have to flee their homes and have 13 to be afraid to go to court because their 14 abuser might find them there. 15 Because the reality is life is not 16 always simple and neat, and adults have 17 problems and they cause problems for each 18 other. But this is a bill for children. 19 That's all this bill does. It makes sure we 20 don't turn children away from childcare. 21 So it's nice that everybody thinks 22 somehow we're wasting the taxpayers' money. 23 We're saying we care about kids, and we want 24 to make sure kids get early childhood

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(518) 371-8910 1 development and childcare at a quality 2 location. And that's a win for every single 3 one of us in any community in the State of 4 New York. 5 I vote aye, Mr. President. Thank 6 you very much. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 Senator Krueger, in the affirmative. 9 Senator Oppenheimer. 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: To explain 11 my vote, please. 12 To view this only in hard cash 13 terms is really a pity. You may have read as 14 I read, about, oh, maybe a half a year ago, 15 maybe a year ago, that the Chiefs of Police of 16 New York State came out with a statement that 17 was very telling about invest now -- pay now 18 or pay later. 19 What they said is you want to 20 prevent crime, invest in kids, fund preschool. 21 That comes from the Chiefs Association. 22 I can tell you that in my county, 23 it's very, very important that we fill those 24 slots that you were talking about, Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Montgomery. We have seen that we have been 2 not able to fill all of our childcare slots. 3 And that is because parents have not been able 4 to pay the copays, or for a variety of 5 reasons. 6 It is important, it is desperately 7 important that we reach children when they're 8 young. If you wish to prevent crime, if you 9 want to get children to stay in through 10 twelfth grade, perhaps go on higher, your best 11 investment is getting these children young and 12 filling them with the kind of interest in 13 education, interest in reading that will carry 14 with them throughout their careers and 15 hopefully keep them in junior high school and 16 keep them in high school. 17 So if you want to make your best 18 investment, your best investment is putting 19 money in young children. And our chiefs of 20 police of this state know that. 21 Thank you. I'm voting aye. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 23 Senator Oppenheimer in the affirmative. 24 Senator Perkins, to explain his

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(518) 371-8910 1 vote. 2 SENATOR PERKINS: Mr. President, 3 I want to -- first, you know, children should 4 not suffer because of deadbeat dads. 5 And I want to commend your heroism 6 and your vision and your insight and courage 7 for, you know, tackling what clearly is a very 8 challenging issue in the context of folks who 9 believe that people are trying to game the 10 system. 11 Because there's a cynicism about 12 this that I think you've overcome, and I want 13 to commend you for that and seeing and being a 14 hero or heroine for these children and not 15 allowing these cynical complications to deny 16 the opportunities that children need that 17 daycare provides. 18 And that is actually a very 19 progressive vision that we in government have 20 when we try to craft programs that cultivate 21 and nourish children through daycare. We know 22 the value of daycare is immeasurable in terms 23 of the future of that child and in terms of 24 the contribution that that child can make.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And so having passed through that 2 cynical challenge and created something that 3 can guarantee this child an opportunity to 4 fulfill itself is something that I think we 5 should all be supporting. 6 And I look forward to seeing this 7 legislation passed. I encourage my colleagues 8 to pass it. It's very, very important for the 9 children. Not for the deadbeat dads, for the 10 children. This is what this is about. Thank 11 you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 13 Senator Perkins in the affirmative. 14 Senator Duane. 15 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 This is a good bill. This is a 18 very good bill. This bill breaks down 19 unnecessary and in many cases cruel barriers 20 to getting help for children. 21 I encourage my colleagues to go to 22 Family Court and see that we have a 23 responsibility because we have not allowed 24 more Family Court judges to be hired -- which

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(518) 371-8910 1 is a whole other part of this problem. But 2 the same people that want to create this 3 barrier are the same people that don't want 4 hungry people to get food stamps. 5 This is a good bill. Senator 6 Montgomery has held this position 7 appropriately for a very long time. She is 8 right. This is a good bill. This eliminates 9 an unnecessary barrier and makes it so that no 10 one will be able to throw this barrier up in 11 the future. 12 I commend you. I wholeheartedly 13 vote yes. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Senator Duane wholeheartedly in the 16 affirmative. 17 Senator Squadron, to explain his 18 vote. 19 SENATOR SQUADRON: I want to 20 again commend Senator Montgomery for a bill 21 that really does something that I'm surprised 22 we don't all support, which is work, giving 23 parents the ability to go out because they 24 have a childcare subsidy and get a job and

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(518) 371-8910 1 have their children well taken care of while 2 that's happening. 3 That seems to me like the sort of 4 value that doesn't divide along ideology but 5 is a purely American value, the idea that if a 6 parent needs a little help to have their child 7 taken care of while they're going to get a 8 job, we're going to do what we can to help 9 them with that. Because the idea of a parent 10 having the ability to both raise their family 11 and support their family is a great thing. 12 So I think the people of New York 13 are now going to be more able to do that 14 moving forward, thanks to Senator Montgomery 15 and this bill. So I commend you, and I'm 16 proud to vote yes. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Senator Squadron in the affirmative. 19 Any other Senators wishing to be 20 heard? 21 Announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar Number 74 are 24 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 2 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 3 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 4 Morahan, Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, 5 Robach, Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner 6 and Young. 7 Ayes, 32. Nays, 30. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 The bill is passed. 10 The Secretary will continue to 11 read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 75, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 738, an 14 act to amend the Executive Law. 15 SENATOR LIBOUS: Explanation, 16 please. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Senator Breslin, an explanation has been 19 requested. 20 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 This is a bill that I've sponsored 23 for a number of years that's passed the 24 Assembly continuously. And it's really a bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 that does what many states are now doing, is 2 collecting the records of the Governor and 3 making them public records. 4 It doesn't add any expense. They 5 will be collected to be reviewed, to be 6 historically analyzed. And I think, beyond 7 that, it's pretty simple. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 Thank you, Senator Breslin. 10 Senator DeFrancisco, why do you 11 rise? 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: On the bill 13 for a moment. I may have a question. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Senator DeFrancisco, on the bill. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: First of 17 all, this is an important bill, or a bill like 18 this is very important to pass by this Senate. 19 Because right now Section 35 of the Executive 20 Law requires the Governor to keep files and 21 official papers which he or she, the Governor, 22 deem to be of sufficient value. 23 So that gives almost unlimited 24 discretion to the Governor in order to

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(518) 371-8910 1 determine what should be kept and what 2 shouldn't be kept, which is not a good thing. 3 Especially when there are things that happen 4 during the Governor's term, at least have 5 happened recently during a recent Governor's 6 term, that are of great public importance and 7 that should be at some point viewed by the 8 public for posterity's sake. 9 I raised this issue at the 10 committee meeting, and that was there is in 11 existence a law dealing with agencies and 12 regulations dealing with agencies as to what 13 records should be kept by those agencies. And 14 I believe, quite frankly, that putting the 15 Governor in that same bill including what 16 records have to be kept by agencies, by the 17 Senate, by the Legislature as well, is the 18 more appropriate way to do it, rather than to 19 create a separate bill for the Governor. 20 And this is especially true, in my 21 mind, because the amount of records that have 22 to be kept under this bill are substantially 23 less than the records that have to be kept by 24 the Senate, the Assembly, agencies as well.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And the Governor should not be in any 2 particular category. 3 There's a regulation for state 4 government archives and records management 5 which lists substantially more records, and I 6 think it should be part of that bill. There 7 is a need for a bill like this, but I think it 8 should go into that section. 9 Lastly, the only question I have is 10 to Senator Breslin. And if he would yield for 11 a question, I'd appreciate it. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 13 Senator Breslin, will you yield for a 14 question? 15 SENATOR BRESLIN: Certainly, 16 Mr. President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Senator DeFrancisco, the sponsor yields. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: The bill 20 provides, in Section 3, the Governor's records 21 are owned by the State of New York and shall 22 be administered in accordance with the 23 provision of this section. Which I clearly 24 understand.

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(518) 371-8910 1 My question is, do the records that 2 the Governor is required to keep, are they 3 subject to the Freedom of Information Law? Or 4 does the fact that there's a new bill that 5 says they're subject to the provisions of this 6 section, does that take the Governor's records 7 out of the Freedom of Information Law? 8 SENATOR BRESLIN: Through you, 9 Mr. President, I would suggest that they would 10 still be subject to the Freedom of Information 11 Law, as they would be today. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 Thank you. 16 Senator Winner. 17 SENATOR WINNER: Yes, thank you. 18 Would Senator Breslin yield to a question? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 20 Senator Breslin. 21 SENATOR BRESLIN: I'd be 22 delighted to. 23 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 24 Senator.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Through you, Mr. President. 2 Senator, would you at least affirm for us 3 whether or not the records that you're 4 envisioning include what is now electronic 5 correspondence or emails? 6 As you know, we went through a 7 tortuous exercise in attempting to get former 8 Governor Spitzer to acknowledge whether or not 9 he had certain emails relating to some of his 10 rather sordid activities. And as a result, we 11 wanted to make sure whether those records 12 would be subject to archiving and whether or 13 not the email records of other high-level 14 staff members of the executive chamber would 15 also be subject to the provisions of your 16 legislation. 17 SENATOR BRESLIN: I would suggest 18 that had you passed this bill last year, as 19 you moved it into your committee and not onto 20 the floor, it would have been. 21 I think it envisions that all 22 records, governmental records of the Governor, 23 including any kinds of emails or more modern 24 devices of communication, would be included.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And the only thing excluded would 2 be those things that would be reasonably 3 accepted as being totally personal -- possibly 4 a dentist appointment or something like that. 5 SENATOR WINNER: Would the 6 Senator yield for another question? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 8 Senator Breslin, would you yield for another 9 question? 10 SENATOR BRESLIN: I'd be glad to. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 The Senator yields. 13 SENATOR WINNER: Senator, is 14 there any reason why you did not utilize the 15 phrase "email" or any other types of 16 electronic correspondence in this? 17 I had met late last year with the 18 State Archivist, and actually we had a long 19 discussion about whether or not this 20 legislation would in fact encompass emails. 21 And while I appreciate your affirmation that 22 in fact it is intended to do, and that is the 23 legislative intent, I do believe that rather 24 than leaving it up to the discretion of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 executive branch, which we know had very 2 little discretion within the Spitzer 3 administration, it would be better if in fact 4 we had it more spelled out that electronic 5 correspondence was in fact included. 6 And I would commend it to you for 7 your consideration as this bill progresses, as 8 I think any preservation of records bill would 9 be important in these days, particularly as it 10 relates to email communications, that you in 11 fact consider strengthening that section. 12 And also I would suggest that 13 perhaps it might be a good idea to look into 14 the issue about whether or not there is any 15 basis in law for the exercise of what we had 16 heard during that period of what constitutes, 17 quote, executive privilege, unquote, as to 18 whether or not any of those types of defenses 19 could be utilized to obstruct those that would 20 legitimately attempt to try to find and obtain 21 access to that information. 22 Thank you. 23 SENATOR BRESLIN: Through you, 24 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I think this is building up a 2 legislative intent by our discussions. I'd 3 also suggest that in the legislation itself is 4 it says "all correspondence." 5 But then, further, I'm always leery 6 of putting in specific methods of 7 communication, because -- the old "including 8 but not limited to." I'm afraid that by being 9 precise and naming each and every element, 10 that some new gadget or new device comes up 11 next year that it would be argued -- quite 12 wrongly, in my opinion -- should not be 13 included. 14 So it should be all correspondence, 15 all communications, everything of a 16 governmental nature that the Governor does 17 should be a public record. 18 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 19 Senator. 20 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 23 Any other Senator wish to be heard? 24 Hearing none, the debate is closed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will please ring the 2 bells. 3 Read the last section. 4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 5 act shall take effect immediately. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 Call the roll. 8 (The Secretary called the roll.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 10 Announce the results. 11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 12 Calendar Number 75: Ayes, 61. Nays, 0. 13 Senator McDonald absent from voting. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 15 The bill is passed. 16 Senator Klein, that completes the 17 controversial reading of the calendar. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, if 19 I could ask for unanimous consent of the 20 house, I would like for you to recognize 21 Senator Hassell-Thompson for a brief 22 statement. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Senator Hassell-Thompson.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 2 you, Mr. President. 3 The Governor of the State of 4 New York has declared March 10th as Harriet 5 Tubman Day. And I just wanted to make a few 6 comments before this body in recognition of a 7 woman -- 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 9 Excuse me, Senator. 10 Can we have some quiet here. 11 Please take the conversations outside. 12 I'm sorry, Senator 13 Hassell-Thompson. Please continue. 14 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 15 you, Mr. President. 16 My presentation tonight is in 17 recognition of Harriet Ross Tubman, who was a 18 woman born in the Eastern Shore of Maryland, 19 in Dorchester, and who escaped slavery in 1849 20 and settled in Pennsylvania, where she met 21 William Still, who was the leader of the 22 Underground Railroad. 23 And through his inspiration and 24 that of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society,

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(518) 371-8910 1 she became one of the major conductors of the 2 Underground Railroad. She returned to the 3 South 19 times and was successful in bringing 4 300 slaves out of the South to their freedom. 5 It is important, as a person who 6 has been recognized twice as a recipient of 7 the Harriet Tubman Award, that I continue to 8 lift her up and make sure that history does 9 not forget that which she did for the people 10 from which I am gleaned. 11 I am grateful to Harriet Tubman and 12 others like her, and to the A.M.E. Zion 13 Church, who was the custodian of her legacy 14 and her home and who opens it as a museum in 15 commemoration of this great woman. 16 And I thank our Governor and all of 17 you for indulging me and participating with me 18 in the recognition of someone who I think 19 belongs in the annals of history and should 20 never be forgotten. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 23 Thank you, Senator Hassell-Thompson. 24 Senator Nozzolio.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 I wish to thank Senator 4 Hassell-Thompson for bringing this important 5 heroine, a genuine American heroine before 6 this body. That Harriet Tubman was indeed a 7 stalwart, a model of humanity. And that what 8 Senator Hassell-Thompson did not mention was 9 that she as a New Yorker, who did her work 10 primarily through her home in Auburn, 11 New York, was something that future 12 generations of New Yorkers should be very 13 proud. 14 That it was this body that on a 15 number of occasions has pushed legislation 16 that I sponsored in the past to provide 17 additional recognition for Harriet Tubman. 18 That you cannot do enough to recognize the 19 courage, the fortitude, the foresight of this 20 great American. 21 That currently Harriet Tubman's 22 home in Auburn is a historical place, one that 23 we have tried to provide additional revenue to 24 and will continue to support.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And again, Senator 2 Hassell-Thompson, it is my honor and my 3 pleasure that you would bring forth the name 4 of Harriet Tubman again as the great American 5 heroine from Auburn, New York, that we are all 6 very, very proud of. 7 Thank you, Mr. President, for the 8 opportunity to share in this recognition of a 9 genuine American heroine. Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 11 Thank you. Thank you, Senators. 12 Senator Klein. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 14 can we now once again recognize Senator Ruth 15 Hassell-Thompson, this time for a brief 16 announcement. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 19 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 20 you again, Mr. President. 21 Just to announce that the Majority 22 Conference -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 I'm sorry, Senator Hassell-Thompson. If you

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(518) 371-8910 1 could bear with us and excuse us, we will be 2 right back to you. 3 Senator Montgomery, I apologize for 4 our negligence in not seeing you rise. 5 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 I just wanted to rise to also thank 8 Senator Hassell-Thompson for this recognition. 9 And as we know, Harriet Tubman is 10 so symbolic of what the history of our state 11 and of our nation is, especially as it relates 12 to the period when there were so many 13 African-American people who were living as 14 slaves in this country. And she represented 15 the struggle for freedom for so many people 16 and continues to be symbolically the symbol of 17 freedom for so many of us. 18 And let me say New York's history 19 is very, very rich in the kinds of activities 20 that Harriet Tubman was engaged in by both 21 black and white people in this state. Many 22 abolitionists were here. The path that she 23 traveled through the state and up and out of 24 this state, leading many people into Canada

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(518) 371-8910 1 for their ultimate freedom at that time, many 2 of them, many of the people who manned the 3 stations of the Underground Railroad were here 4 in New York and they were white people. 5 So we have a very significant 6 legacy as it relates to that, the movement to 7 freedom. And in fact I'm told that the estate 8 that is now the resting place and the home of 9 Harriet Tubman is across the street from a 10 former official from New York State; I believe 11 he was Secretary of State under Lincoln. And 12 also, he gave part of his property in order to 13 make it possible for Harriet Tubman to have a 14 home. So there's a very rich history, and she 15 is really symbolically the person that 16 reflects and represents that so well. 17 So I thank Senator Hassell-Thompson 18 again. And I hope that we can lift Harriet 19 Tubman up to an even higher place, as she 20 really deserves as it relates to the history 21 in New York State. Thank you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 23 Thank you, Senator Montgomery. 24 Does any other Senator need to be

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(518) 371-8910 1 heard? 2 Senator Klein. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Can we now go to 4 Senator Hassell-Thompson for her announcement. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 6 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 7 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 8 you, Mr. President. 9 I rise to request the presence of 10 the Majority Conference members in the 11 Majority Conference Room immediately following 12 the close of session today. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 14 Majority conference at the close of session. 15 Senator Libous to join? 16 (Laughter.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 18 All right, Senators. 19 Senator Klein, is there any further 20 business? 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 22 can we return to motions and resolutions. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 24 Motions and resolutions.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: I move to commit 2 Senate Print 1536A, Calendar Number 101 on the 3 order of first report of March 10, 2009, to 4 the Committee on Finance, on behalf of Senator 5 Kevin Parker. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 7 So ordered. 8 Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 10 there any further business at the desk? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 12 Senator Klein, the desk is clear. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: There being none, 14 I move we adjourn until Wednesday, March 11th, 15 at 3:00 p.m. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SCHNEIDERMAN: 17 There being no further business before the 18 Senate, the Senate stands adjourned until 19 Wednesday, March 11th, at 3:00 p.m. 20 (Whereupon, at 6:56 p.m., the 21 Senate adjourned.) 22 23 24

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(518) 371-8910