Thursday, March 12, 2009

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 March 12, 2009 11 11:30 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR NEIL D. BRESLIN, 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 BRESLIN: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 I ask all here to rise and recite 5 with me the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: In the 9 absence of clergy, may we bow our heads for a 10 moment of silence. 11 (Whereupon, the assemblage 12 respected a moment of silence.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 14 you. 15 The reading of the Journal. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 18 Wednesday, March 11, the Senate met pursuant 19 to adjournment. The Journal of Tuesday, 20 March 10, was read and approved. On motion, 21 Senate adjourned. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 23 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 24 as read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Presentation of petitions. 2 Messages from the Assembly. 3 Messages from the Governor. 4 Reports of standing committees. 5 Reports of select committees. 6 Communications and reports from 7 state officers. 8 Motions and resolutions. 9 This is an extremely important day, 10 as it happens to be the birthday of one of our 11 members. 12 Senator Lanza, we all wish you a 13 very happy birthday. 14 (Applause.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 16 Senator Klein. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 18 there will be an immediate meeting of the 19 Finance Committee in the Majority Conference 20 Room. Immediately following the Finance 21 Committee meeting, there will be a meeting of 22 the Rules Committee, also in the Majority 23 Conference Room. 24 Pending the report of the Rules

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(518) 371-8910 1 Committee, may we please stand at ease. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 3 Senate will stand at ease. 4 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 5 ease at 11:32 a.m.) 6 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 7 at 11:49 a.m.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 9 Senator Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 11 may we at this time return to the order of 12 reports of standing committees. 13 I believe there's a report of the 14 Rules Committee at the desk, and I move for 15 its acceptance. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 17 Returning to the order of reports of standing 18 committees, there is a report of the Rules 19 Committee at the desk. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith, 22 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 23 following bill direct to third reading: 24 Senate Print 182A, Senate Budget

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(518) 371-8910 1 Bill, an act to amend Chapter 53 of the Laws 2 of 2008, enacting the Education, Labor and 3 Family Assistance Budget. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 7 move we accept the report of the Rules 8 Committee. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: All 10 those in favor of accepting the Rules 11 Committee report please signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 17 report of the Rules Committee is accepted. 18 Senator Klein. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 20 may we take up at this time Supplemental 21 Calendar 19A. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 23 Senator Klein, first, the Secretary will read 24 the substitution.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith 2 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 3 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 161A and 4 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 5 Number 182A, Third Reading Calendar 109. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 7 Substitution ordered. 8 We will proceed to the supplemental 9 calendar. The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 109, Assembly Budget Bill, Assembly Print 12 Number 161A, substituted earlier, an act to 13 amend Chapter 53 of the Laws of 2008, enacting 14 the Education, Labor and Family Assistance 15 Budget. 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside, 17 please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 19 bill is laid aside. 20 Senator Klein. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 22 can we now take up Calendar Number 109. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: We 24 will proceed to the controversial reading of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Supplemental Calendar 19A. 2 The Secretary will ring the bells. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 109, Assembly Budget Bill, Assembly Print 6 Number 161A, an act to amend Chapter 53 of the 7 Laws of 2008, enacting the Education, Labor 8 and Family Assistance Budget. 9 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 11 Senator Libous, why do you rise? 12 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 I believe there's an amendment at 15 the desk by Senator Farley. Could we waive 16 its reading and call on Senator Robach, 17 please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 19 Senator Libous, your amendment is here at the 20 desk. Without objection, the reading is 21 waived, and you may speak on the amendment. 22 Senator Robach, you are recognized. 23 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, 24 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 This amendment would address the 2 additional funds recently found by the 3 Governor. And this amendment would take an 4 additional $9 million, fully restore the cut 5 that was put in place by libraries, at this 6 time critically important. 7 I know in my county, and I'm sure 8 across the state, library usage is up, not 9 only for information but even in job search 10 and other items like this. Just this week, I 11 met with people from libraries across the 12 state. We even talked about without some 13 restoration of funding, technological 14 information banks won't be put up. 15 This would put back the 16 $2.7 million in the recent reduction by the 17 Governor and fully use all the money from the 18 Medicaid offset. In addition, this amendment 19 would address the shortfall to nonpublic 20 schools for items mandated by the state that 21 they perform. 22 I know all of us in this chamber, 23 on both sides of the aisle, have certainly 24 supported libraries over the years. And I

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(518) 371-8910 1 hope, making this bill a little bit better, we 2 can all support this for libraries, for 3 education, and make sure we're using the 4 recently amended version of an additional 5 $9 million that wasn't out there by the 6 Governor previously. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 9 you, Senator Robach. 10 Senator Farley. 11 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 I also rise in support of this. 14 Because if there is an issue that this 15 Legislature, both houses, both sides of the 16 aisle have supported, it's libraries. It's an 17 area that the Legislature has led the role to 18 make sure that they were funded. Because 19 historically, libraries were the first to be 20 cut and the last to be funded. 21 Particularly as we move around the 22 state and in upstate New York in particular, 23 the libraries are starving. The cities that 24 supposedly started them and supported them are

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(518) 371-8910 1 having huge financial trouble, and the state 2 has got to stand up and take a larger role in 3 this area. And we have been doing that in 4 recent years. 5 To restore this cut is absolutely 6 essential for the health and welfare of the 7 libraries. 8 And let me just say something else. 9 When we're looking at this, particularly among 10 the elderly and those people that are 11 concerned about them, this is their access to 12 the information avenues, to the computers. 13 They don't have the computers and everything 14 else that, generally speaking, the younger 15 people do have. So for the poor and for the 16 elderly, this is their information stream. 17 And the libraries are moving into 18 this area and providing so many things. Just 19 in the area of the tax forms; we're not 20 sending out tax forms, they had to go to the 21 libraries to get them. 22 And this is an amendment that is 23 very reasonable and one that addresses not 24 only libraries but addresses the nonpublic

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(518) 371-8910 1 schools. And I urge its support. And it's 2 something that we can move forward in a 3 bipartisan way and really support somebody 4 that has always supported us. 5 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 7 you, Senator Farley. 8 Senator Marcellino. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 I rise in support of this amendment 12 as well. I second the comments of my 13 colleagues Senator Robach and Senator Farley. 14 I met with the libraries in my 15 district office, and they were up here the 16 other day. They have all increased their 17 hours because of increased demand on their 18 facilities. People, as was mentioned, are 19 there to get copies of tax forms that were not 20 mailed out this year, and the library was the 21 only logical place they could go find them and 22 have a quiet place to sit down and read them 23 and perhaps even get someone there who would 24 supply them with the help they needed to

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(518) 371-8910 1 understand these complicated forms. 2 Many people are using the libraries 3 to fill out resumes and doing job searches by 4 using the library computers that they might 5 not have access to in their own homes. 6 Libraries, as we all know, provide 7 a very necessary function and a very important 8 function in all of our communities. They are 9 the quality-of-life program, from the 10 preschool kids to the elementary school kids 11 who go there for reading programs to the high 12 school kids who go there for their research, 13 for projects and so forth. 14 In my district, two youngsters on 15 Long Island were winners on the Intel science 16 project. Their use of library facilities for 17 research capabilities was well-known and 18 well-noted in conversations that I've with 19 these young people. 20 These facilities are most important 21 to us. Restoring the cuts that were made, 22 unfortunately, in the Governor's budget I 23 think would be a good thing for all of us to 24 do.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Also, to put back the funds taken 2 from the nonpublic schools. Now, we don't 3 restore them all here, but about half the 4 restoration that is necessary. I'd like to 5 see all the money put back. Again, these 6 schools provide a necessary function, and they 7 are under stress right now. And some people 8 are having to think twice about sending their 9 youngsters there. 10 If they're closing -- and some of 11 them are already -- this puts an additional 12 burden on the public schools that the public 13 schools, frankly, are not prepared to take at 14 this point in time. 15 We need to maintain these nonpublic 16 schools in their current form and in their 17 position in our communities. Again, it's 18 quality-of-life issues that we're talking 19 about here. I don't see any partisanship in 20 this. I think this is a nonpartisan vote and 21 should be supported by every member of this 22 house. 23 I will proudly vote aye on this 24 amendment, Mr. President, and urge all my

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(518) 371-8910 1 colleagues to vote likewise. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 4 you, Senator Marcellino. 5 Senator Libous. 6 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 I want to rise and support Senator 9 Farley and certainly Senator Robach and those 10 who speak on this amendment. 11 I have a very special place in my 12 heart particularly for libraries. When I was 13 in the fifth grade, I was diagnosed with a 14 severe reading disability. And I had tutors 15 all of my life through school because I had 16 extreme difficulty reading. And part of my 17 learning to read better was involved with the 18 local library, because every Saturday I would 19 meet my tutor in the library and we would 20 spend time going through different sections 21 and doing different programs together, and 22 eventually I became a better reader. 23 Even today, I have difficulty 24 reading, and some might say it's a mild form

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(518) 371-8910 1 of dyslexia. But the library was a very 2 special place. 3 And I have spent my entire career 4 in the Senate supporting libraries in a 5 variety of ways, through reading programs for 6 the disabled, through reading programs for 7 those who are accelerated learners, and for 8 children. And as a matter of fact, I started 9 a program with the libraries called the Books 10 Program. And the program is designed to help 11 people read, those who were disabled and those 12 who had difficulties like myself, but those 13 who were also excellent readers. 14 And its content started with a 15 four-county library system, and that library 16 system was able to help promote this program 17 so that it would teach kids to read for 18 20 minutes a day. It would not force them to 19 read a number of books, but it was about 20 reading a little bit every day. And it was 21 because of the funding that we were able to 22 put forth through the state budget that 23 offered the affordability for families to help 24 their kids become better readers.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So this amendment is a very good 2 one. As Senator Marcellino said, along with 3 the libraries helping our children read, it is 4 a very busy place right now if you visit your 5 local library because many people who are 6 unemployed at this time are visiting 7 libraries, doing job searches, as Senator 8 Marcellino said, on the computers, writing 9 resumes, working with the librarians and 10 trying to change their career path in their 11 lives. 12 When you lose a job, it is a very 13 difficult time, particularly if you have a 14 family to support and feed, and the library 15 comes through as a place where an individual 16 can get a lift and try to find an opportunity 17 where they can again find full employment. 18 And it's a place of security. 19 So again, Mr. President, I applaud 20 my colleague Senator Farley, who has been a 21 champion throughout his career, in supporting 22 libraries with this amendment. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 24 you, Senator Libous.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Saland. 2 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 Mr. President, this house has had a 5 very long tradition of being supportive of 6 libraries and doing battle on behalf of 7 libraries even at times when other branches of 8 our government have not been willing to do so. 9 Certainly Senator Farley has long 10 been a leader in this effort. And during the 11 time that I had the opportunity to serve as 12 chair of Senate Education on the Library 13 Subcommittee with Senator Farley and Senator 14 Oppenheimer, the critical importance of 15 libraries was always at the forefront of our 16 agenda. 17 We take great pride in the fact 18 that the capital program that's currently in 19 the budget was something that we initiated 20 several years ago. It was an initiative of 21 this house. It was an initiative that we led 22 at the table during the budget conference 23 subcommittee negotiations. And yes, we too 24 led the way for the restorations of funds

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(518) 371-8910 1 during those times when those funds have been 2 cut. 3 This is merely part of a continuum, 4 a well-deserved continuum. It's part of a 5 continuum which, if you pick up virtually any 6 publication that has offered any information 7 with regard to the impact of this recession on 8 libraries, it will tell you -- I've seen it in 9 several newspaper accounts -- that libraries, 10 as we have been told by the people who work in 11 our libraries, people who volunteer in our 12 libraries, these very critically important 13 institutions become, in fact, far more 14 important during economic downturns. 15 Their volume increases 16 dramatically -- I won't repeat the reasons 17 why -- but it's simply a fact of library life 18 and a fact of public life and a fact within 19 each and every one of our communities. 20 This amendment really speaks for 21 itself. It commends itself for passage. And 22 I certainly would hope that we would have 23 unanimous support on behalf of the libraries 24 and the people in our communities who

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(518) 371-8910 1 desperately are seeking additional services 2 during these very trying times for our 3 libraries, and they need the funds to be able 4 to accomplish the delivery of those services. 5 Thank you, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 7 you, Senator Saland. 8 Senator Seward. 9 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 I too rise in support of this 12 amendment in support of our libraries and 13 other worthy goals, but particularly on the 14 issue of the libraries. Building on what some 15 of my colleagues have already mentioned, I 16 have been a member of the Library Subcommittee 17 of this house when it was a bipartisan 18 subcommittee. And I have been very proud over 19 my tenure in the Senate as, in a bipartisan 20 way, all members of this house, we've stood up 21 for libraries of our state. 22 Coming from a small town, a rural 23 part of our state, as a number of other of my 24 colleagues on both sides of the aisle, in

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(518) 371-8910 1 fact, coming from rural, small-town districts, 2 the libraries are truly the center of our 3 communities, particularly in a small town or a 4 small city. Because no matter how small the 5 town is -- and I live in a small village of 6 about 500 people. We have a small part-time 7 library. But I can go into that library and 8 receive any resource that I would like because 9 of the great library systems that have been 10 built up here in New York State. And that's 11 something very special, particularly in small 12 towns. 13 And so it seems to me that it's 14 important for us to support our libraries, 15 continue to support our libraries on the part 16 of the New York State Senate. Because as has 17 been pointed out by my colleagues, at the very 18 time when our libraries have been cut in terms 19 of state resources, it's the very time when 20 the demands on our local libraries have 21 increased. So resources have gone down; 22 demands on our libraries have gone up. 23 And here we are today, with a 24 budget deficiency bill before us which speaks

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(518) 371-8910 1 to the issue of unanticipated revenues, where 2 we can have an opportunity on a limited basis 3 to fill some holes, some cuts that have 4 occurred. Why not use $2.7 million, as an 5 example, of this unanticipated revenue to 6 support our libraries? I cannot imagine 7 anyone voting against our libraries and this 8 small amount, using unanticipated revenues to 9 support our libraries. 10 So, Mr. President, I'm fully 11 supportive of this amendment. I hope we can, 12 as we have in the past, in a bipartisan way, 13 come together to support the libraries of 14 New York State at the very time when they 15 desperately need support because of the 16 increased demands. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 18 you, Senator Seward. 19 Senator Leibell. 20 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. I also rise in support of this 22 amendment. 23 I'll tell you briefly just a short 24 story. One night last summer I was in a

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(518) 371-8910 1 library late at night just before they closed, 2 in my district, in Mahopac in Putnam County. 3 And there in the library was a young mother, 4 Hispanic, with her two little children. And 5 she quite clearly did not speak English. But 6 those two small children in this library in 7 Mahopac were teaching their mother how to use 8 a computer in the library. 9 I'm going to suggest to you that 10 for that family, that was a critically 11 important evening. I'm going to suggest to 12 you that for many of us and for many of our 13 ancestors, our libraries were critically 14 important. They represent, especially during 15 difficult economic times, hope and 16 opportunity. 17 We are talking here today about, in 18 the scheme of things, a very limited number of 19 public dollars. I'll suggest to you and to my 20 colleagues that to put these dollars into this 21 budget for libraries would be the best money 22 that we could possibly spend during these 23 challenging times. 24 Thank you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 2 you, Senator Leibell. 3 Senator Carl Kruger. 4 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. 6 I too rise to today in support of 7 the concept and in opposition to the 8 amendment. 9 I never leave home without my 10 library card. And as Senator Libous pointed 11 out, I too went to Public School 183 in 12 Brownsville, in Brooklyn, and I was held back 13 because of a reading deficiency. And some 14 people would even think I have that reading 15 deficiency to this very day. 16 But what I do know is I do know 17 that we do have to support our libraries. And 18 we have to support them to the best of our 19 ability. 20 However, this today, this 21 amendment, does not speak about concept, it 22 speaks about dollars. And if we want to talk 23 about dollars, we have a financial plan. And 24 that financial plan was adopted by this house.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And it was balanced, and it remains in 2 balance. And this deficiency budget would 3 keep it in balance. 4 It is the belief on the other side 5 of the aisle that we should take our 2008-2009 6 budget and bring it out of balance and move 7 money that we don't have. I guess, you know, 8 we open up a newspaper or we turn on a TV or 9 listen to a radio and hear all about people 10 that overuse their credit cards or bought a 11 house for more than they can afford. Well, 12 today we don't have the money to implement the 13 suggestions made. 14 But those suggestions ring well. 15 They send out a very, very clear and 16 compelling message. They say to us as a 17 house, in a very bipartisan way, in our 18 upcoming negotiations we do have to keep very, 19 very much in focus the need for education, the 20 need for libraries, and need to support a 21 generation that will be the leaders of our 22 state and our nation. 23 So today, in a very bifurcated way, 24 we say we support the concept, we applaud the

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(518) 371-8910 1 dialogue that has been brought to the floor. 2 Unfortunately, we don't have the money to 3 support it and the wherewithal to do it. 4 So as this process goes forward in 5 the weeks ahead, let's keep in mind that the 6 very concept of libraries and education 7 becomes an extremely cogent argument that we 8 all have to make in a very bipartisan way. 9 Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Why do 11 you rise, Senator Flanagan? 12 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 13 will Senator Kruger yield? 14 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Yes, I will. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 16 Senator Kruger will yield, Senator Flanagan. 17 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator 18 Kruger, I was trying to listen carefully to 19 what you were saying, not in relation to 20 libraries per se -- 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 22 Through the chair, please. 23 SENATOR FLANAGAN: If Senator 24 Kruger will yield to a question through the

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(518) 371-8910 1 chair, Mr. President. 2 Listening to your comments not as 3 it relates particularly to libraries, but 4 rather to the financial plan, you spoke about 5 the unavailability of funds and how that if we 6 don't do this that somehow our fiscal plan 7 will be out of balance. 8 It's my understanding that the 9 projections in the financial plan had 10 approximately $23 million of the $32 million 11 that are contained in this bill, and that as 12 recent as last Friday, those projections were 13 revised upward to the tune of approximately 14 $9 million. 15 So how -- this is new money that 16 has supposedly been generated by the New York 17 State Lottery, reflected in an amendment 18 that's been offered by you showing an actual 19 increase of $9 million. That seems to be 20 inconsistent with what you're advocating now. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 22 Senator Kruger. 23 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. Through you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 In answer to the question, we don't 2 know about it. And the numbers that we have 3 are different than the numbers that you're 4 alleging exist. 5 The numbers that we have are 6 certified by the Bureau of the Budget. They 7 keep our financial plan in balance. They 8 reflect revenues that have been allocated. 9 And that is the bill that we have before us 10 today. 11 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 12 would Senator Kruger yield, through you? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 14 Senator Kruger, will you continue to yield to 15 Senator Flanagan? 16 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Yes. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 18 Senator Flanagan. 19 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator 20 Kruger, I'm trying to listen very carefully. 21 If I follow what you're saying, you're making 22 a representation that you don't know about 23 this, and yet you're the one advancing the 24 bill that's being offered as an agreed-upon

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(518) 371-8910 1 piece of legislation that is supposedly 2 supposed to keep our fiscal plan in balance. 3 You're the chair of the Finance 4 Committee. You're making representations as 5 to the status of the financial plan of the 6 State of New York. And the information that 7 we're getting relative to the Division of the 8 Budget and amendments to the financial plan 9 show an increase in revenue. 10 So I'm a little disconcerted by the 11 fact that you as the chair of the Finance 12 Committee don't seem to know this. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 14 Senator Kruger. 15 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Yes, 16 Mr. President. 17 Well, I guess simply put, Senator 18 Flanagan, the Division of the Budget 19 respectfully disagrees with you. The money 20 that you have in your amendment is not 21 reflected in our bill that we have in front of 22 us today. 23 We have a balanced budget, a 24 balanced financial plan. We intend to close

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(518) 371-8910 1 out that fiscal year of 2008-2009 in balance. 2 Your representation, your amendment, the 3 numbers that you've given to us today would 4 put us out of balance and would ask us to 5 spend money that we do not have as provided 6 for by the Bureau of the Budget. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 9 through you, if Senator Kruger would continue 10 to yield. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 12 Senator Kruger, would you continue to yield to 13 Senator Flanagan? 14 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Yes, I do. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: You 16 may proceed, Senator Flanagan, through me. 17 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I'm speaking 18 now to the Lottery money that's contained in 19 this financial plan and this legislation. 20 Are you representing that there has 21 been no change whatsoever and that we are just 22 putting forth numbers that have been around 23 for months? Or has been there been a change 24 with an increase in revenue coming in?

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 2 Senator Kruger. 3 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Again, 4 Senator Flanagan -- through you, 5 Mr. President -- if you have numbers that are 6 different than the numbers that are reflected, 7 then we would glad to share those numbers with 8 you. 9 Right now I reiterate, the numbers 10 that we have brings the financial plan into 11 compliance. Those are the allocations that 12 are made. That's what closes out our year. 13 Whatever numbers you're coming up with is 14 money that we do not have, as per the Bureau 15 of the Budget. 16 Thank you, Mr. President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 18 Senator Flanagan. 19 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 20 would Senator Kruger continue to yield? 21 SENATOR C. KRUGER: For one more 22 question. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 24 Senator Flanagan, Senator Kruger will yield

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(518) 371-8910 1 for one more question. 2 SENATOR FLANAGAN: If I follow 3 the logic of what you're advocating, then 4 there would be no reason to be doing this 5 bill. Because you're laying out that the 6 financial plan already contained these 7 numbers, that there is no new revenue. So 8 why, then, are we doing any legislation like 9 this, and why is it brought before the body 10 now? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 12 Senator Kruger. 13 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 Senator Flanagan, no matter how 16 much you want to twist numbers, numbers don't 17 lie. You are making a representation today, 18 with this hostile amendment, to use money that 19 we do not have. The money does not exist. 20 You may believe it exists, you may 21 think it exists, but according to the Bureau 22 of the Budget that we use as the basis for 23 determining the soundness of our financial 24 plan, the budget that was adopted by this

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(518) 371-8910 1 house and the budget that went through the 2 process of a month and a half ago, 3 approximately, where we had to make up 4 deficiencies that brought us into balance, 5 that is the financial plan. Your money is 6 money outside of those four walls. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 9 you, Senator Kruger. 10 Senator Flanagan. 11 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 12 I will speak on the main bill itself since we 13 have moved away from the amendment. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: We're 15 not there yet. 16 Senator Saland. 17 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. 19 Will Senator Kruger yield? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Will 21 Senator Kruger yield to Senator Saland, 22 through the chair? 23 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Yes, I will. 24 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Kruger. Thank you, Mr. President. 2 Through you, Mr. President. 3 Senator Kruger, can you recall when the 4 Governor gave us his budget, what that date 5 might be? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 7 Senator Kruger. 8 SENATOR C. KRUGER: I believe -- 9 through you, Mr. President, I believe it was 10 December 16th. 11 SENATOR SALAND: And can you 12 recall when he gave us his financial plan? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 14 Through the chair. 15 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Obviously on 16 that day, with 30-day amendments. 17 SENATOR SALAND: And if you'll 18 continue to yield. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Will 20 you continue to yield, Senator Kruger, to 21 Senator Saland? 22 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Yes. 23 SENATOR SALAND: Can you tell me 24 what the amount of the Medicaid offset was

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(518) 371-8910 1 when he gave us his budget in January? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 3 Senator Kruger. 4 SENATOR C. KRUGER: I'm not 5 prepared with those numbers, Senator. 6 SENATOR SALAND: Well, let me 7 give you a number -- 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 9 Through the chair. 10 SENATOR SALAND: -- and perhaps 11 your aide can be of some assistance. 12 When the Governor gave us his 13 budget in January, and as part of his 14 financial plan, the Medicaid offset was 15 $23 million. If you want to verify that. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Is 17 that a question or a statement? 18 SENATOR C. KRUGER: What is the 19 question? 20 SENATOR SALAND: I'm seeking the 21 amount of the Medicaid offset. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: And 23 Senator Kruger has answered he does not have 24 that information available to him.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR C. KRUGER: I've 2 indicated I do not have that information. 3 SENATOR SALAND: Let me 4 correct -- thanks to my colleagues. I'm 5 looking for the increase in the Medicaid 6 offset. Which at that time, if you're not 7 aware, I will say that the documents I have 8 seen listed that amount at $23 million. 9 The Governor -- if I may continue. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: You 11 may continue. 12 SENATOR SALAND: If you know, 13 Senator Kruger, when the Governor gave us his 14 30-day amendments, did he in any way, shape or 15 form change that increase in the Medicaid 16 offset? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 18 Senator Kruger. 19 SENATOR C. KRUGER: Once again, 20 Senator Saland, I am not prepared to argue on 21 those issues. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 23 Senator Saland. 24 SENATOR SALAND: Then on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill, Mr. President. On the amendment, excuse 2 me. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 4 Senator Saland, on the amendment. 5 SENATOR SALAND: The simple fact 6 of the matter is is we received a budget in 7 January from Governor Paterson, at which time 8 he proposed a Medicaid offset that was 9 increased from last year by some $23 million. 10 That was part and parcel of his financial 11 plan. During his 30-day amendments, there was 12 no change to that proposed $23 million 13 increase. 14 We now find ourselves with a 15 $32 million increase, some $9 million more 16 than is in the Governor's financial plan. 17 These dollars simply were not in the 18 Governor's financial plan. These are 19 $9 million that would be available either to 20 roll into next year or to be used in this 21 year. 22 And we are proposing in this 23 amendment to put them to an absolutely superb 24 use, by everybody's admission. We all want to

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(518) 371-8910 1 help libraries. By everybody's admission, our 2 dealing with and attempting to assist 3 libraries, particularly in these pressing 4 times, is something that is bipartisan, 5 something that is, as far as I know, virtually 6 universal. 7 And there's no reason why these 8 funds -- which were not part of the financial 9 plan, these $9 million that weren't in the 10 January budget, that weren't in the January 11 financial plan, that were not in the 30-day 12 amendments but that are available to us now -- 13 should be rolled into next year, but they 14 should be used now for the libraries. And, as 15 has been indicated earlier, they can be used 16 also to offset some of the pain to our 17 parochial schools and yeshivas for the 18 mandated services. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 21 you, Senator Saland. 22 Senator Hannon. 23 SENATOR HANNON: Mr. President, 24 on the amendment.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I was not going to get into this 2 topic until the main bill, but as Senator 3 Kruger has opened up the questions of 4 financial plan, monies available -- all of 5 which I have found to be a little bit 6 perplexing. 7 I also want to note that I went to 8 look at the Division of Budget's website and 9 found no mention of an altered financial plan, 10 no mention of this bill, no reason for the 11 change, no recommendations. So the 12 information that flows is truly a puzzle. 13 But there's a bigger puzzle. 14 There's a bigger amount of money that is 15 available. Not that I would know it through 16 the Division of Budget, but I know it from 17 reading in the press and checking with the 18 sources the press mentions, and those sources 19 being the White House and the President of the 20 United States, and the source also being the 21 Governor of this state. 22 And I checked on both of their 23 websites as to what's happening to this state 24 in regard to the monies available through the

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(518) 371-8910 1 federal stimulus bill and the monies available 2 to this state, monies which the President of 3 the United States says is already here in the 4 coffers of this state. 5 Now, I'm reading from a press 6 release issued by the President of the United 7 States, February 23, 2009. He said: 8 "Beginning Wednesday, February 25th, the first 9 installment included in the Recovery and 10 Reinvestment Act will be available to the 11 states per the following chart." And it says 12 that the state was going to receive, on 13 February 25th, $2.7 billion. That money, 14 according to the President of the United 15 States, is here. 16 Now, a little while later, the 17 Governor talked about how much he projected we 18 would be receiving from that very act, and he 19 talked about $1.9 billion for the 2008-2009 20 budget. That's the fiscal year that we're 21 amending in this bill. He talked about 22 $5 billion in the 2009-2010 fiscal year and 23 $4.2 billion in 2010-2011. 24 I don't know what people are

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(518) 371-8910 1 expected to believe here, but I know 2 throughout this state, as libraries are 3 struggling, schools are struggling, healthcare 4 providers are struggling, social service 5 providers are struggling, and people are 6 suffering, people are really confused. Why a 7 bill like this today, with $9 million in new 8 Lottery money that we didn't know was here 9 last Friday, that we didn't know when we did a 10 deficit reduction act for the second time? 11 What type of budgeting, what type of planning, 12 what's going on for the people of this state? 13 I say this is a zigzag. If the 14 information isn't available to this Senate, I 15 think we have to look at what Budget is doing 16 to this Senate, where are we going and what 17 can we be saying as the services we should be 18 delivering throughout this state. 19 Thank you, Mr. President. I'm in 20 support of this amendment. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 22 you, Senator Hannon. 23 Senator Oppenheimer, on the 24 amendment.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes. Thank 2 you very much. 3 I have to believe that our chair of 4 Finance has the figures and has decided that 5 in order to stay in balance, this is what we 6 must be doing, and not adding things. 7 But I hope, moving forward -- and 8 it certainly is my hope that the other side of 9 the aisle would appreciate the need of 10 libraries when we move forward into the next 11 budget and we want to remediate the funding 12 that we have seen eliminated in the Executive 13 Budget. 14 I can only say that for myself, I 15 can't imagine -- I mean, I live in libraries. 16 I say it's my second home. And I subscribe to 17 John Dewey, who I'm probably going to terribly 18 misquote. But he said that education isn't an 19 end in itself, it is life itself. And 20 lifelong learning is what is offered to us by 21 libraries. And I don't think I would be a 22 very happy person if I didn't have libraries. 23 So I think we are going to do 24 everything, moving forward, to maintain

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(518) 371-8910 1 libraries and at least, at the very least, to 2 maintain them. Because we are all seeing the 3 cuts that are being made on the number of days 4 provided, the number of staff, and it is 5 painful to I think everybody in this room. 6 So we have to see that we remediate 7 going forward. And I will not be supporting 8 this amendment, because, moving backward, we 9 know what the figures are, we've got them in 10 balance, and we can't throw them out of 11 balance. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 14 you, Senator Oppenheimer. 15 Senator Klein, on the amendment. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. On the amendment. 18 I laud the other side of the aisle 19 on raising two important issues, I think, to 20 all of us, making sure that our libraries and 21 private schools are well-funded. The only 22 problem is, this is not the vehicle to do 23 that. 24 As a matter of fact, one of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 issues that I'm very familiar with is the 2 mandated services. I think everyone here 3 knows or should know that we mandate private 4 schools to do certain things but we're not 5 giving them the funding to do it. I have 6 legislation which I'm working on with the 7 chair of the Education Committee, Senator Suzi 8 Oppenheimer, to correct that inequity as far 9 as future budgets. 10 As a matter of fact, the 11 $6.3 million that was talked about today 12 represents current applications for 13 reimbursement that are sitting at the State 14 Department of Education awaiting a new state 15 budget to replenish the fund. That's what we 16 will do, hopefully, on April 1st. 17 The legislation that I'm working on 18 would go one step further. Because the 19 inequity so far this year, as far as the 20 applications that are sitting at the State 21 Department of Education, is $6.3 million. The 22 way to really correct this inequity is to fund 23 for the past two years, which comes close to 24 $43 million. That's how we can ensure that

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(518) 371-8910 1 our private schools receive the money when the 2 State Department of Education mandates that 3 they do something. So that's one of the plans 4 of the Democratic Majority as far as our 5 April 1st budget. 6 Again, until then, I think that the 7 proper vehicle would be in the April 1st 8 budget, which we have every intention of 9 doing. 10 I vote no on this amendment, 11 Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 13 you, Senator Klein. 14 Senator Larkin. 15 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 You know, we've heard this back and 18 forth here, but on the last go-around with 19 Senator Hannon, he produced some questions. 20 And I think everybody in this chamber has a 21 fine respect for Senator Hannon and his 22 knowledge. He does a tremendous job. But he 23 asked questions. We don't have the answers. 24 They weren't produced.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Now, Senator Klein came up and said 2 about what we were doing. Well, we got the 3 additional Lottery money, we got some 4 additional aid money. What are we doing with 5 that? When we got the budget back in 6 December, none of this money was ever 7 available. Now we're putting it in, but we're 8 also, according to your memos, are taking it 9 out and you're putting it someplace else. 10 Does anybody know what's really 11 happening to the money? That's my question. 12 Maybe somebody on Senate Finance on the other 13 side can tell us, because right now you 14 haven't. 15 You know, to stand up here and say 16 you know, I understand where you're going, but 17 I don't know. Then why are we voting on a 18 bill or anything when we don't know where the 19 money's at? 20 We have people here on both sides 21 of the aisle that are here for their first 22 year, and they're seeing a volume of books and 23 we're seeing in the paper we saved you money, 24 big, big deal. And then we come back and say:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Where is the money? And, well, we don't know 2 and we don't this. But big write-up in the 3 paper: Look what we did. 4 I think maybe we ought to go back 5 to grammar school and find out how do we 6 count. Because right now what you're saying 7 doesn't make a damn bit of sense. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 9 you, Senator Larkin. 10 The question is on the nonsponsor 11 motion to amend Calendar 109. Those Senators 12 voting in support of the nonsponsor amendment 13 please raise their hands. 14 Announce the results. 15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 28. Nays, 16 32. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 18 amendment fails. 19 Senator Klein. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 21 may we now move to the main bill. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: On the 23 main bill. 24 Are there any Senators wishing to

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(518) 371-8910 1 be heard on the bill? 2 Senator Flanagan, on the bill. 3 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 4 on the bill. 5 We obviously have had an 6 interesting dialogue already vis-a-vis the 7 amendment and I think with regard to the more 8 macro aspects of the budgetary process. And 9 we've had our own internal discussions. And 10 the more I listen, the more I worry. The more 11 I worry, the more frustrated I get, because it 12 continues a Paterson -- a pattern, frankly. 13 Paterson, maybe; no pun intended -- but a 14 pattern of a lack of transparency, a lack of 15 open dialogue, a lack of public meetings, and 16 no real public input into the process. 17 And I'll just highlight a few 18 things, and I do believe they are all related 19 although separate in some respects. 20 We did a deficit reduction plan, 21 and arguably we did that too soon. Because we 22 should have and probably could have waited to 23 see what the federal stimulus money was. So 24 we may have forestalled some of the actions

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(518) 371-8910 1 that were taken by this Majority, like taking 2 90 percent of the money that went for SUNY 3 tuition and using it to shore up the General 4 Fund. 5 Senator Hannon referenced the fact 6 that we've received over $2 billion in cash. 7 We may have been able to fix that problem 8 without having to do anything at that time. 9 Now we have a deficiency bill, and 10 the chair of the Finance Committee seems to 11 have trouble grasping the numbers and relies 12 on sort of generalizations that come from the 13 Division of the Budget. Frankly, ladies and 14 gentlemen, we don't need to do this bill 15 today. We have to get it done before the end 16 of the fiscal year, but we don't need to do it 17 today. 18 Now, we've had discussions again 19 about an infusion of cash. Somehow we're 20 changing the revenue patterns here. Not 21 reflected in the financial plan, not reflected 22 on DOB's website. And you know what? It gets 23 more confusing as we go all along. 24 Now, yesterday there was an

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(518) 371-8910 1 announcement by the legislative leaders -- 2 Senator Smith, Speaker Silver, Governor 3 Paterson. And it was very fun, it was really 4 nice, because the Governor was able to come 5 out and say, Remember all those pain-in-the- 6 neck nuisance taxes that I was advocating for? 7 Well, now we have new money coming in so we 8 don't need to do that. 9 Now, he didn't remove all of them, 10 but he did remove some of them. And guess how 11 that was done? In secret, behind closed 12 doors, no public discourse, no public leaders' 13 meetings, and no real input from the 14 Legislature. Because it came out as a 15 pronouncement. And here we are talking about 16 deliberations vis-a-vis the budget, and guess 17 what? There are no deliberations. 18 It's very easy for the leader to 19 come out and say we've now made this decision. 20 Well, frankly, ladies and gentlemen, it hasn't 21 been voted on. And if the Governor comes out 22 and makes that type of statement, along with 23 the imprimatur of the Senate Majority -- what 24 are you doing about environment? What are you

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(518) 371-8910 1 doing about healthcare? What are you doing 2 about education? What are you doing about 3 libraries? Why wasn't it in the pronouncement 4 that we're going to restore $20 million in 5 libraries? Why wasn't there a pronouncement 6 that we were going to get rid of the deficit 7 reduction assessment in the education portion 8 of the budget? 9 Yesterday, the Speaker made some 10 pronouncements -- again, comments, publicly -- 11 essentially saying we don't really need to go 12 through this public portion of this whole 13 process. Essentially telling everybody the 14 budget committees, the budget conference 15 committees, those things that we passed into 16 law a couple of years ago, they're just not 17 going to happen. Maybe he didn't say that 18 directly, but that's the translation. 19 So we don't have any input. In 20 many respects, you don't have any input. The 21 public certainly doesn't have any input. And 22 it just belies underlying problems with this 23 process. 24 And, you know, when we talk about

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(518) 371-8910 1 reform and we're talking about letting people 2 know what's going on here in Albany, it's 3 actually more secretive than it's ever been. 4 It's more isolated, it's more of three men in 5 a room than it's ever been. 6 I don't have any level of comfort, 7 and I don't think any one of us could go back 8 to our districts and say, I know exactly 9 what's going on in the budget. Oh, yeah, 10 we've got rid of a few of those taxes. But 11 you know what? Nobody said anything about 12 higher ed, nobody said anything about how 13 we're going to fix the problems at SUNY, 14 because nobody is talking about it. 15 I don't believe we should be doing 16 this bill today. It would be very easy to 17 vote for this bill. I'm going to vote against 18 it. Because we don't know what the whole 19 process is, we don't know what the 20 negotiations are, we don't even know if there 21 are any negotiations. And until we see some 22 light of day -- not in this chamber, but all 23 around in this Capitol -- I don't think any 24 one of us should be supporting what's being

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(518) 371-8910 1 advanced today. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 4 you, Senator Flanagan. 5 Senator Volker. 6 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, I 7 have to say I was a bit shocked yesterday when 8 I saw a comment by a very good friend of mine, 9 the Speaker of the Assembly. And he is a good 10 friend of mine; I've known him my entire 11 career. And he said that there was really no 12 reason for conference committees because 13 everybody involved was Democrats. 14 And I was thinking to myself, 15 imagine if when we started the conference 16 committees -- and by the way, the conference 17 committees were started by this house. I 18 don't know if anybody remembers that. But 19 under Joe Bruno, we began the conference 20 committees -- with some objections, by the 21 way, from the Division of Budget under George 22 Pataki. The Pataki people never really were 23 excited about the fact that legislators were 24 getting involved in all this business of

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(518) 371-8910 1 money. 2 And in fact, there were times when 3 I personally had several personal 4 confrontations with the Bureau of the Budget. 5 And I won't get into that, because we're not 6 going to take the time to do that. But 7 actually the Public Protection Conference 8 Committee was known as a rebel committee that 9 sometimes would go around the rules, get 10 directly to the Governor. And I'm not just 11 talking about the Senate Republican, I'm 12 talking all about the Assembly Democrat also. 13 But what I'm saying to you is, what 14 happened to the conference committees? It's 15 not so surprising, Carl, that you're really a 16 little confused about where the dollars are. 17 I don't believe the Bureau of the Budget is 18 telling us the whole story. 19 That's ridiculous. We're the 20 Legislature. After 2004, when we fixed the 21 budget problem relating to the 2001 problem -- 22 and by the way, this Legislature -- not the 23 Governor, this Legislature, and there were 24 Democrats and Republicans -- fixed this state

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(518) 371-8910 1 so well that we got out of a terrible problem 2 we were in because of 9/11. California is 3 still suffering from it. It's no secret 4 they're in a terrible mess. Yeah, they do 5 have some sort of a star that runs the state. 6 I'm not so sure who he is, but he gets great 7 press. 8 We got very bad press because we 9 got blamed by all kinds of people for taking 10 tough steps. But it was the Legislature -- 11 and it always has been the Legislature, not 12 governors, that have taken the steps to make 13 budgetary decisions. 14 What's happening here is, 15 unfortunately, we are not on our way toward 16 any conference committees. And if what we 17 hear is correct, the Speaker of the Assembly 18 says we don't need them, that to me is a 19 process for disaster. 20 I just think that what we need to 21 do is forget all the rhetoric, get ourselves 22 together, Republicans and Democrats, stop all 23 the rhetoric. We do have some money, we know 24 that. I mean, we must have some money.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Charlie Schumer said we have it. And if 2 Charlie Schumer says it, it's certainly got to 3 be true. 4 It's time, I think, that we stopped 5 doing what we've been doing here, playing a 6 cat-and-mouse game, and started seriously 7 dealing with this fiscal crisis, together, in 8 conference committees, in the open. 9 And Frank Padavan and I, after we 10 had the so-called Brennan Commission, the 11 famous group that wanted to help New York City 12 and so forth -- personally, I never thought 13 that they cared about any of us upstate. But 14 Frank and I got together, and we helped make 15 some changes. And people laughed at us. 16 Those changes, many of them, are still in 17 effect, by the way. And we want to make more 18 changes to make this Legislature more a 19 democratic operation. 20 We can't do it if we get bills like 21 this out of the clear blue without the 22 information behind it. What we need to do is 23 get back to the old system where everyone gets 24 together and makes decisions with conference

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(518) 371-8910 1 committees and in the open. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 3 you, Senator Volker. 4 Senator Winner, on the bill. 5 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. On the bill. 7 You know, frankly I'm a little 8 surprised why we're doing this bill. I really 9 haven't quite figured it out. I mean, we're 10 twisting ourselves in a pretzel here for the 11 purposes of trying to allocate $9 million. 12 And at the same time, as Senator Hannon so 13 aptly pointed out, we just put in the bank 14 $2.07 billion that we got from the federal 15 government, which is revenue that we received 16 during this fiscal year. 17 So here we are, trying to allocate 18 $9 million surplus from the Lottery in this 19 legislative proposal when we're sitting on 20 $2.07 billion in the bank. Which is a clear 21 surplus for this fiscal year. 22 So at the end of March, we're going 23 to have a pronouncement from the Division of 24 the Budget that we have a $2.07 billion

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(518) 371-8910 1 surplus. And yet at the same time we have 2 that surplus, we're all -- you're all in a 3 snit over trying to give $9 million to 4 libraries and mandated private school 5 purposes. I mean, why is that? 6 We have a deficit reduction plan 7 that taxed students in this state by diverting 8 their tuition to the General Fund rather than 9 utilizing it for purposes at SUNY, and we have 10 a $2.07 billion surplus at the end of March. 11 Now, I know you want to pocket that 12 money so you can spend it for next year for 13 whatever purposes you want. But you're going 14 to have to go home and justify and defend why 15 it's okay, with a $2.07 billion surplus, to 16 tax students, deprive libraries of money and 17 nonpublic schools of funds for their mandated 18 services. I think that's going to be a tough 19 sell for some of you. 20 And as it relates to the overall 21 budget negotiations, as Senator Flanagan so 22 aptly pointed out, I mean, here we are 23 violating the whole spirit of budget reform 24 where we all got out here earlier on, a few

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(518) 371-8910 1 years ago, and said that we're going to clean 2 up our act, we're no longer going to have any 3 kind of late budgets like we had for 20 years, 4 we're going to have conference committees, and 5 we're going to have openness and transparency. 6 And now we have three New York City 7 Democrats in a room deciding what is going to 8 happen for this entire state without any 9 input, coming out and announcing yesterday 10 that the reason why we have to do this behind 11 closed doors is because we don't want to 12 offend anybody when we don't help them. 13 Now, I don't know what the 14 rationale is that the Governor and the 15 legislative leaders have for suggesting that, 16 you know -- as we have also indicated -- that 17 we should get rid of some of the fun taxes 18 that were advocated erroneously by the 19 Governor in the first instance. But I think 20 they need some explanation as to why you got 21 rid of those and why you still have a hospital 22 assessment tax, a home care assessment tax, 23 why you want to tax retroactively all of the 24 Empire Zone businesses in Senator Aubertine's

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(518) 371-8910 1 and Senator Valesky's and my district, why you 2 want to get that money back from those 3 businesses that in good faith made investments 4 and produced jobs and are trying to grow in 5 this state. 6 I don't know why we want to still 7 increase the beer and wine tax. I don't know 8 why we want to have gas taxes still in this 9 budget. But as of the announcement of 10 yesterday, it appears that, well, we got rid 11 of some bowling taxes and some taxes on 12 haircuts and cable television. Those seem to 13 be the favored areas that the Majority wants 14 to eliminate a special burden on. But all 15 these other folks are still in the tank, as 16 far as I can see. 17 And I think you've got some real 18 'splaining to do to these folks as to why you 19 got rid of those and didn't get rid of these. 20 Particularly when you're sitting on 21 $2.07 billion for a surplus for the end of 22 March. 23 I think this bill is unwise to be 24 doing at this time, and it's clearly

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(518) 371-8910 1 unnecessary. It's clearly not needed. And 2 for us to sit here and say that our financial 3 plan is going to be out of whack by diverting 4 $9 million when we got $2 billion in the bank 5 is so ridiculous that -- you know, I just 6 think that we're trying to fool the people 7 here that we're doing some real meaningful 8 work on this budget, when anybody who really 9 knows what this process is about knows 10 different. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 12 you, Senator Winner. 13 Senator Libous, on the bill. 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. On the bill. 16 I, like my colleagues on this side 17 of the aisle, are somewhat frustrated with 18 this process. And it's funny, because I heard 19 that for years from people who sat on this 20 side of the aisle. 21 I find it amazing that yesterday 22 the two leaders and the Governor came out from 23 a press conference and proclaimed that we're 24 going to reduce taxes by $1.2 or $1.3 billion.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And you really have to stop and think about 2 the ridiculous taxes they talked about, that 3 someone would even impose those or think of 4 imposing them in the first place. On movie 5 tickets, on haircuts. This has to do with, 6 you know, everyday lives of everyday people. 7 And they came out and proclaimed that the 8 process -- they would reduce taxes. 9 And then they said right after that 10 that they would put a budget together, as my 11 colleagues mentioned, behind closed doors. 12 Senator Kruger, the chairman of the 13 Finance Committee, who I have great respect 14 for, got up and referenced many times today 15 the Division of the Budget. And, ladies and 16 gentlemen, the people of this state have no 17 clue to what's going on here with the Division 18 of the Budget or what's in this deficiency 19 bill or what's going on with the budget 20 process or, as Senator Hannon said, and 21 others, the billions of dollars that the 22 federal government has given us, given this 23 state, to stimulate the economy. It's a 24 stimulus bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And they have no clue. There have 2 been no plans. You know, I guess maybe behind 3 closed doors -- I can't see behind those 4 closed doors -- they're discussing this. 5 But it's disgraceful. It's a 6 disservice to the taxpayers. This is not 7 about us; this is about the people we 8 represent. And the leaders and the Governor 9 are ignoring them. They're basically 10 saying -- I mean, for the Speaker to say that, 11 well, we're all Democrats, we can get along -- 12 well, guess what, Mr. Speaker? There are 13 Republicans that live in this state and 14 conservatives and independents and blanks and 15 people who aren't registered as Democrats. 16 And they have great ideas too. Maybe even 17 better ideas. And you'd better start sharing 18 your ideas with them. 19 You know, we're dealing with 20 people's lives. We're dealing with -- the 21 issue on the floor is about libraries and 22 education, and we're dealing with mental 23 health services, and we're going do that all 24 behind closed doors.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Now let me tell you what is really 2 amazing to me. The other side of the aisle 3 for years would sit over here, and Senator 4 Krueger, if you are in the -- she is in the 5 chambers. Mr. President, Senator Krueger is 6 here -- would for years get up and share with 7 us how she never had enough time to read the 8 bills. She would share with us how you're 9 doing things behind closed doors. 10 And they said that they were going 11 to reform the house when they took over. 12 Well, they've taken over, and it's gotten 13 worse. It's gotten worse. We went from 14 conference committees last year to behind 15 closed doors. We went from conference 16 committees, where issues were discussed in the 17 open by legislators in the Assembly and the 18 Senate, from both political parties, from both 19 sides of the aisle, that were elected by the 20 people, discussing the issues that affect the 21 people. And now we've got three men from one 22 region of the state, New York City. 23 And I like New York City. I visit 24 there. I know it's part of the state. But

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(518) 371-8910 1 we've got three men from New York City. 2 Mr. Silver, the Governor, and -- in all due 3 respect -- the leader of this house don't know 4 about where I live in upstate New York. They 5 visit, yes, but they don't know about what's 6 important to the people there. 7 We need open representation. We 8 need a conference committee process that was 9 voted on by -- in law. It was voted on in 10 2007, unanimously, by everybody in this house, 11 because we wanted every member to have a say, 12 because every one of us represents people in 13 this state. And every one of us voted 14 unanimously for that because we felt that the 15 process had to be open and one where we would 16 share ideas, because that's what we're here to 17 do. 18 And, Mr. President, there's no 19 sharing of ideas. I have no idea what they're 20 doing, nor do my constituents have any idea as 21 to what they're doing. Every once in a while 22 they come out of this room and they have a 23 press conference, like they did yesterday, and 24 tell us that they eliminated taxes that they

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(518) 371-8910 1 imposed upon us in the first place. 2 So, Mr. President, this bill and 3 the amendment that we tried to put forth in 4 this bill was very important to the lives of 5 people in my district and in your district and 6 in everyone's district in the state. And 7 particularly I speak for upstate New York, as 8 many do in this room. Right now, in the 9 budget process, upstate New York has no voice. 10 And that's terrible. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 12 you, Senator Libous. 13 I would remind the house to keep 14 their ideas directed on this particular bill 15 and not beyond it. We are debating this bill. 16 Senator Hannon. 17 SENATOR HANNON: I'd like to 18 speak on the bill. And I'd like to speak on 19 the same topics as Senator Libous did, because 20 those topics are exactly germane to this bill, 21 to the budget process of this state, and to 22 the welfare of the residents of this state as 23 to what they can expect to get. 24 Now, Senator Libous spoke about the

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(518) 371-8910 1 conference committees. I read in the paper 2 this morning that the leaders said they wanted 3 to bypass the individual practice we have had 4 of passing a bill or resolution in each house 5 and skip the conference committees because 6 they want to act speedily. 7 I think that is a total disservice 8 to what we have as a mission, as a sworn duty, 9 to make our best judgment for the people of 10 New York State. 11 Conference committees are not easy. 12 Making a one-house budget is not easy. Making 13 a one-house resolution is not easy. But 14 neither is the job of being a Senator or 15 Assemblyman or Assemblywoman. It's our 16 obligation to make these allocations of monies 17 and make the policy choices that come about. 18 And we've had the fact that today 19 we're doing a minor change in the budgeting 20 while we really should be having the Majority 21 pass a bill or a resolution as to what they 22 think the budget ought to be. You've failed 23 in your duty. 24 If we then also skip conference

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(518) 371-8910 1 committees, you've also failed in your duty. 2 They're not easy. I've had a chance to be the 3 cochair, with the Assembly Health chair, when 4 I was Health chair last year and for the prior 5 15 years. I would be there, and the 6 conference committee would be made up of a 7 majority of majority members in each house and 8 the minority members from each house. 9 And so there would be the 10 cross-debate as to what each individual -- 11 people weren't voting as a bloc, they weren't 12 voting as a party, they weren't voting as a 13 house. They were talking about their duty, 14 what they saw for the topic of that conference 15 committee. 16 It's not easy. And people would 17 directly tell me they thought I was wrong, I 18 could explain back, we would have changes in 19 policy, things would evolve that we didn't 20 think of when we went through all of the 21 hearings that the budget committees have 22 during the month of February. It's an 23 invaluable process. And the people who 24 benefit? The people of New York. And to skip

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(518) 371-8910 1 that is a travesty. 2 And then, I have yet to get an 3 answer. Where is the money from the stimulus 4 bill? I talked about the $2.07 billion, 5 because that's cash that the President of the 6 United States says is here. But we also know 7 there's a lot more coming. 8 The Governor, February 14th, says 9 that the stimulus bill will include at least 10 $24.6 billion in funding for New York. Where 11 is it? Where is the resolution? Why do we 12 have to have reductions in services? 13 Somebody said to me a little while 14 ago they were surprised there were closings of 15 hospitals in Queens. Well, there will be a 16 lot more. Because there are things in this 17 proposed budget by the Governor for the next 18 fiscal year that will lead to more closings. 19 Not intentionally, not that you'd want to do 20 it. You'll be caught. But that can be 21 avoided if you have the discussions in public. 22 I can go into the merits of that, 23 but probably, you know, that would be 24 something if you actually had a budget bill or

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(518) 371-8910 1 a budget resolution on the floor. 2 But this is a budget bill. This 3 deals with the whole budget. It's germane. 4 The fact that we have a process in statute and 5 we're not following it, that's germane. 6 And I think we ought to have these 7 debates. We haven't had it. We have a budget 8 office -- and I just checked, got the laptop, 9 just checked. None of this is mentioned on 10 the website of the Division of Budget. How 11 would you know what the fiscal plan is today? 12 What do they do, send out a fax at the end of 13 the day and change it? 14 People in this state deserve to 15 have education, healthcare, transportation, 16 police protection. And they can only do it if 17 people can make budgets. By the middle of 18 May, school districts are supposed to put 19 their budgets up for a vote. How do they know 20 how much money they're supposed to receive? 21 We're supposed to be in a process of getting 22 this done. We're way behind. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 24 you, Senator Hannon.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Bonacic. 2 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 You know, when I look at this 5 legislation, in and of itself it's not 6 harmful. It does accomplish something, and it 7 moves government forward. But there is a 8 bigger issue that's out here that we're trying 9 to address today. And that is the process and 10 what is to come, how we're going to face this 11 big $15 billion deficit. And if this is a 12 microcosm of what we're going to do, this 13 state is in trouble. And I will tell you why. 14 We have had four public hearings of 15 the so-called bipartisan rules reforms. I 16 praised the Majority Leader every time for 17 doing this. These four public hearings, there 18 was one universal message from about 50 people 19 and groups that testified, and all the 20 good-government groups. Openness, 21 transparency, that's what we need in Albany. 22 Now, I judge people by their 23 actions, not their rhetoric. Newspapers are 24 writing that the Majority Leader is not ready

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(518) 371-8910 1 for prime time. They're writing that the new 2 Senate Majority is not ready for prime time. 3 Because there is a learning curve. There's 4 always a learning curve when you have the 5 responsibility of running government. That's 6 not a criticism, that is a fact of life. 7 This is the danger. We have a 8 Governor who inherited the position whose 9 staff has left him. So he is in trouble on a 10 learning curve in developing a budget that 11 meets this crisis. 12 So who is left? Sheldon Silver is 13 left. If we're going to do three men in a 14 room from New York City, I will tell you what 15 will happen, because I have watched Sheldon 16 Silver for many, many years. And if you're 17 going to abdicate your responsibility as a 18 Senate Majority and let Sheldon Silver do this 19 budget, as well as the Governor -- because he 20 needs an on-time budget to elevate himself to 21 the people -- this is what you will get. 22 As the architect of the budget that 23 is coming, you will have no debate. And he 24 said in the newspaper we have a crisis, we

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(518) 371-8910 1 have to move quickly, we're all Democrats, 2 we'll get it done. That's what he said in a 3 newspaper yesterday. What he's really saying 4 is: I am now, for the first time, with the 5 Governor's office, with the Senate Majority 6 and the Assembly Majority, I'm going to call 7 the shots -- because I have the institutional 8 knowledge, I have the staff, I have the 9 expertise. 10 And that is dangerous. Because you 11 will not have a discussion of priorities. 12 Whether you agree with the priorities that the 13 other elected officials have to offer or not, 14 there will be no discussion. There will be 15 darkness. There will be tax-and-spend 16 policies that will favor the metropolitan 17 area -- will not only hurt upstate, will hurt 18 the Island, will hurt the mid-Hudson, will 19 hurt the Senators and their representatives 20 from all the other areas outside New York 21 City, if you abdicate your weighing in on the 22 budget process. 23 Now, the conference committee, when 24 the Republicans were in control, sometimes it

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(518) 371-8910 1 happened, sometimes it didn't. But you had 2 five people weighing in that you could watch 3 on television and have an exchange of ideas. 4 We are going in a very dark area 5 the way we are proceeding. Not the way we're 6 proceeding on this side of the aisle, but the 7 way the Senate Majority is proceeding. And I 8 am concerned. I have hope for the Majority 9 Leader. I have hope for the new Democratic 10 Senators that are in control, that are 11 talented, that are intelligent. 12 And when you abdicate your voice to 13 this process and let Sheldon Silver be the 14 shadow governor, we are all in trouble, 15 everybody outside New York City. And you will 16 do a disservice to this institution, become 17 more dysfunctional, and make a mockery of this 18 whole Rules Reform Committee because your 19 actions belie your credibility. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 22 you, Senator Bonacic. 23 Senator Marcellino, on the bill. 24 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. On the bill. 2 We have a budget reform law, which 3 has been stated. I'll go back to it again, 4 but we seem to be ignoring that particular 5 process. I don't know if we're allowed to 6 ignore it because we make the laws, but I 7 guess that's going to happen. And I don't 8 think it's a good thing. I agree with my 9 colleagues, I think it's a bad idea. 10 I want to steal a line from my 11 colleague Joe Griffo, and I'm going to refer 12 to the three men in a room as the unholy 13 trinity. This is the Lenten season, so we're 14 going to refer to them as the unholy trinity 15 in a room. 16 This is wrong. They're doing 17 things behind closed doors. And to go back 18 again, and to quote an old movie, Cool Hand 19 Luke, what we have here is a failure to 20 communicate. Nobody is talking to anybody. 21 Nobody is talking to anybody here. Our 22 chairman of Finance doesn't know the numbers. 23 We can't get an answer as to what's happening 24 with $2 billion in stimulus money that's

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(518) 371-8910 1 already supposed to be here. According to the 2 President of the United States, it's here. 3 There's $9 million in this bill 4 that we're talking about now that wasn't there 5 when we did the deficit reduction bill. What 6 happened to that? Where is that going? 7 That's extra money. We can't get an 8 accounting for that. This bill is allocating 9 this money to what, where, and who? I don't 10 know. 11 Senator Klein said the amendment 12 wasn't the appropriate vehicle to do it. He 13 said, We're going to take care of that. He 14 says, Trust me, we're going to take care of 15 that. Well, that sounds like, gee, I'll 16 respect you in the morning. Or, you know, the 17 check is the mail. 18 (Laughter.) 19 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Ladies and 20 gentlemen, I contend what we are doing to this 21 budget process is what Client 9 did to that 22 young lady in that hotel in Washington. 23 (Catcalls.) 24 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. Chairman.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 2 Senator Parker, why do you rise? 3 SENATOR PARKER: Point of 4 personal privilege. 5 When I came to this chamber, I was 6 always told that we're Senators and as 7 Senators we act in a particular way. And that 8 in a debate, while we may disagree, both on a 9 partisan basis as well as ideology, that we in 10 fact engage ourselves as Senators. 11 And that means that we, even in the 12 context of that debate, speak to each other in 13 a kind of way that gives respect. In the same 14 way that we disagree and have an adversarial 15 relationship vis-a-vis the process and our 16 positions on the particular issues. 17 I think it is out of order for 18 someone to in fact, to in fact create a 19 dialogue that in fact implies that people here 20 are involved in some kind of prostitution or 21 some kind of immoral act. It is absolutely 22 out of order. 23 I am personally offended by it. I 24 demand an apology. I think that is not the

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(518) 371-8910 1 way that Senators in this state should be 2 treating each other in our conversations. 3 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 5 you -- 6 SENATOR LIBOUS: What is his 7 point of personal privilege? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 9 Senator Libous. Senator Libous -- 10 SENATOR PARKER: Point of order. 11 Sorry, point of order. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 13 you, Senator Parker, for your comments. 14 And I would remind everyone here 15 that we can be disagreeable without being 16 personal, and that we have respect -- we can 17 disagree without being disagreeable. 18 So, Senator Libous, why do you 19 rise? 20 SENATOR LIBOUS: I was asking 21 what the Senator's point of personal privilege 22 was. I was a little confused with his 23 statement. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: I

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(518) 371-8910 1 think we can move on from here, Senator 2 Libous, thank you. 3 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 5 Senator LaValle. 6 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. I will try and stay in the 8 confines of your admonition. 9 I think this debate has really been 10 very, very good, very constructive. Because 11 we're trying to block out a process, and we're 12 trying to look at the law as it exists and 13 trying to give some advice. Whether people 14 take that advice is up to them. 15 One of the things that has been 16 upsetting for me -- I tend to think that I'm 17 an institutional person -- is the fact that 18 the Division of the Budget, in my estimation, 19 has exceeded its authority. The Division of 20 the Budget has for many, many months now been 21 driving the bus without any, without any 22 concern about policy. 23 Now, some people say, Ah, why are 24 you concerned about policy? Well, because

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(518) 371-8910 1 it's the policy piece that affects people. 2 The policy that we make deals with our 3 constituents and how we use the resources to 4 affect their lives. 5 So that is one concern, that we as 6 a Legislature have allowed something to take 7 place, an agency to exceed its authority, and 8 everyone kind of has folded their hands and 9 not really have spoken out on that. 10 My second concern is that -- and 11 this conference and many other people beyond 12 has really said the Governor needed to 13 resubmit his budget so that we know with 14 specificity how the stimulus money affects 15 other things in the budget. 16 Case in point, great confusion on 17 state aid, elementary and secondary schools. 18 How does the DRA, deficit reduction assessment 19 in the formula -- are we using that money to 20 eliminate deficit reduction? Are we doing 21 anything? Are we putting money back into the 22 foundation formula? 23 In higher education, are we going 24 to ensure that the State University -- they

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(518) 371-8910 1 assessed their own students, with the support 2 of the students -- will be able to function 3 properly after being, from the last budget, 4 last budget, being cut $210 million? And we 5 should know that. 6 Community colleges right now are 7 making up their budgets. They have no idea 8 what we're doing with the base aid. Are we 9 going back to the 2008-2009 base aid formula? 10 So these are critically important items. 11 Why are we doing this deficiency 12 budget now? It could wait and make sure that 13 we have some symmetry here to deal with the 14 main budget, the integration of the stimulus 15 money, and do it in some sort of way that 16 makes sense. 17 We hear today that the libraries 18 are going to get their money, that they are 19 indeed an important institution in our 20 communities. Well, sometimes, the way we've 21 done business here, people say: Show me the 22 money. Let me see it. Let me see it in the 23 budget. 24 And so I think -- and my last

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(518) 371-8910 1 remark is this, to Senator Hannon. The 2 committees, the conference committees, are in 3 state law. They're in the Budget Reform Act 4 that we did. Go ahead, pass a budget without 5 the conference committee, and we've committed 6 an illegal act that is attackable by a 7 lawsuit. 8 You can't just deny the law. If 9 it's in the law, you've got to do conference 10 committees. You can't turn your backs. And 11 shame on us as lawmakers to even suggest by a 12 slip of the tongue that we're not going to do 13 conference committees. When we make the laws, 14 we've got to abide by the laws. 15 Thank you, Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 17 you, Senator LaValle. 18 Ring the bell, please. Instruct 19 all members to come to the chamber. 20 Read the last section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect immediately. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Call 24 the roll.

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(518) 371-8910 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 3 Senator Robach, to explain his vote. 4 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, 5 Mr. President. 6 I am going to vote yes for this 7 bill because I think it does some good things 8 for people in New York State and moves it in 9 the right direction. But I want to explain my 10 vote because I don't want it to be 11 misconstrued. 12 People made some great comments 13 over here. And you know what, the process is 14 not only germane, it's critically important to 15 where we got to today. 16 And I think if we were in 17 conference committees, if there was a 18 different process, if it wasn't three men in a 19 room making these decisions, we would have 20 used the full amount of money that's 21 available, that I think everybody knows is 22 available, that's been said by the Governor, 23 been said by others at other meetings -- 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 can we have some order in the house? I'm 2 having difficulty hearing my colleague. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Keep 4 the noise down. Anyone wishing to talk with 5 someone else please leave the chambers. 6 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 8 you. 9 SENATOR ROBACH: -- to restore 10 that money, especially for libraries and maybe 11 other things that are critically important to 12 us in our constituency. That is the process. 13 Another one of my colleagues talked 14 about being offended. I'm offended that the 15 people in my district and the people in this 16 state don't have an opportunity to know what's 17 going on. 18 Times are changing. People are 19 paying more attention. They want openness, 20 transparency, better government, and want to 21 know what goes on. Here we are at one of the 22 most challenging times, and we're moving in 23 the opposite direction, even after an election 24 in a time when people talked time and time

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(518) 371-8910 1 again how we have to open up government. 2 While I'm going to vote yes for the 3 bill, we really can collectively do much 4 better. And we owe it -- whether you're from 5 upstate or downstate, people need to know why 6 we're making these tough decisions, how we're 7 getting to where we're at, and we're doing it 8 and it's right. 9 It is outrageous for the Speaker of 10 the Assembly or for anyone, anyone in elected 11 office to say we don't need a process, people 12 don't need to know how we get to the decision. 13 It's outrageous. And everybody in this 14 chamber should be as excited and disappointed 15 as I am. 16 And again, it is germane. We've 17 got to do this. I'm going to vote yes. But 18 let's not let, as we go to the final version 19 of the budget, this cancer spread and effect 20 bad outcomes in the final version of the 21 budget. If we do, we will be sorry, and 22 people will take notice and not let it go. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote 24 in the affirmative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 2 you, Senator Robach. 3 Senator Klein. 4 SENATOR KLEIN: To explain my 5 vote, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: You 7 may proceed, Senator Klein. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: You know, I think 9 it's important that we set the record straight 10 on what we're doing here today. Today we're 11 doing a deficiency bill. 12 In my four years in the Senate, 13 even when the other side of the aisle was in 14 the majority, we did deficiency bills. We 15 also did deficiency bills when I served in the 16 Assembly. So there's nothing that we're doing 17 here today that is unusual. 18 Certainly the proper forum to talk 19 about the budget, especially reform, I believe 20 should take place all the time. But to say 21 that the Majority Leader of the Senate is 22 opposed to conference committees and 23 transparency is just inaccurate. To say what 24 the Speaker of the Assembly -- where I served

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(518) 371-8910 1 for 10 years, and some members served at the 2 same time, it's a completely different 3 legislative body. 4 We are here in the State Senate. 5 And the Majority Leader of the State Senate 6 has made himself very clear that he intends to 7 go to conference committees and have 8 transparency in our budget process. As part 9 of some of the reforms that were outlined, I 10 agree. I think we need even more reforms as 11 part of not only our budget process but our 12 entire process in the Legislature. 13 One of the things that I think we 14 need to do to really, truly show the residents 15 of the State of New York how we craft a budget 16 is to have regional budget hearings in areas 17 of the state. Let's show our constituents, 18 the people that elect us, how we craft a 19 budget in New York State. 20 And also I think it's the best way 21 to determine regional needs. Have our 22 not-for-profits, have our volunteer 23 firefighters, have our school districts come 24 and talk about and advocate for themselves how

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(518) 371-8910 1 we can best craft a budget in New York. 2 So again, I think what we did here 3 today is certainly nothing out of the 4 ordinary. Anything that we do as the budget 5 process proceeds will be open and transparent. 6 And I just want to make one 7 additional point. As I raised earlier on, an 8 issue that's important to me is making sure 9 that private schools get equitable funding. 10 That is something that will be done by the 11 Majority Conference. 12 And by the way, the reason why 13 there is a deficiency is because of the budget 14 that was passed by the other side of the aisle 15 last year. 16 So again, I look forward to an open 17 debate, not only on budget issues but all 18 other issues too, in the months and years 19 ahead. And, Mr. President, I vote yes on this 20 deficiency bill. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 22 you, Senator Klein. 23 Senator Libous. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 in all due respect to Senator Klein, I have to 2 stand up because there seems to be, as one of 3 my colleagues said, a communication issue 4 here. 5 And on the bill, Mr. President, as 6 was mentioned by Senator Klein about the 7 intent of the conference, I can only read from 8 a press account, that "instead of going 9 through the regular process of each chamber 10 issuing a one-house resolution, sort of a 11 blueprint of what each chamber would like to 12 see, Speaker Silver, Senate Majority Leader 13 Malcolm Smith, and David Paterson have agreed 14 to try to bypass the one-house resolution and 15 go straight to a three-way negotiation." 16 And then it goes on to say that 17 "we're all Democrats." And it goes on to 18 say -- and reference the Majority Leader by 19 saying "Smith denied this move to a three-way 20 deal is because his conference can't agree." 21 Now, Mr. President, there seems to 22 be a miscommunication. And, Senator Klein, I 23 have great respect for you. You have always 24 been a gentleman and upfront. And if indeed

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(518) 371-8910 1 we are going to conference committees, I would 2 applaud Senator Smith and I would publicly say 3 good for him. 4 But there seems to be great 5 confusion. And the confusion, at least from 6 reading press accounts, is that we are not 7 going to -- 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Stop reading 9 press accounts. 10 SENATOR LIBOUS: Well, I -- 11 that's the only way we can get our 12 information, or the people of this state can 13 get its information, because right now 14 everything is being done in secret. 15 I vote aye. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 17 you, Senator Libous. 18 Announce the results. 19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 21 Senator Padavan, to explain his vote. 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President, 23 let me supplement what you heard from Senator 24 Libous.

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(518) 371-8910 1 April 1st is a matter of two and a 2 half weeks away. If there are going to be 3 conference committees, they should have been 4 appointed, structured, and well on their way 5 to doing their work. With all due respect to 6 your comment, Senator Klein, I don't see any 7 of that happening. 8 So to suggest here that the 9 Majority Leader is in favor of conference 10 committees belies the fact. There's nothing 11 happening in that regard. 12 The other part of your comment, 13 this is a deficiency budget. And every year 14 we have a deficiency budget, and that's 15 normal. There are years we had a supplemental 16 budget. Why? Because things are fluid. You 17 make predictions during the year as to what 18 revenues will be. Estimates are provided by 19 various agencies, particularly the Bureau of 20 the Budget. And so you need those vehicles to 21 respond. 22 But what's unique this year is 23 something that I have never seen, nor has 24 anybody in this chamber ever seen, a massive

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(518) 371-8910 1 infusion of money from the federal government 2 under a stimulus plan. And I won't repeat all 3 the things you've already heard. That is a 4 significant difference and should guide us in 5 what we were doing today and what we are doing 6 today. 7 So I suggest to you that yes, this 8 is something we've always done. But it's 9 being done today in an environment where needs 10 have been identified and where monies are 11 being provided in amounts never before heard 12 of. 13 I vote aye. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 15 you, Senator Padavan. 16 Senator Maziarz, to explain his 17 vote. 18 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 19 much, Mr. President. 20 I was going to make the point that 21 Senator Padavan made, that it's March the 22 12th. If we're going to have conference 23 committees, we'd better hurry up. 24 And then Senator Klein said we're

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to have regional budget hearings. Well, 2 it is March the 12th. I think we should hurry 3 up. 4 But I want him to know that I think 5 that's a great idea, Senator Klein. I agree 6 with you. We're not going to have them? 7 Regional budget hearings are very important. 8 And I would offer to host one in Western 9 New York, in Niagara County, where we could 10 talk about the impact that the New York State 11 Power Authority has on the New York State 12 budget. 13 Thank you. I vote in the 14 affirmative. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 16 you, Senator Maziarz. 17 Announce the results. 18 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 19 Calendar Number 109, voting in the negative: 20 Senator Flanagan. 21 Those Senators absent from voting: 22 Senator DeFrancisco. 23 Excused, Senator Alesi. 24 Ayes, 59. Nays, 1.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 2 bill is passed. 3 Senator Klein. 4 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 5 move that we lay the calendar aside for the 6 day. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 8 Calendar 19 is laid aside for the day. 9 Senator Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 11 there any further business at the desk? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: No, 13 Senator Klein, the desk is clear. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: There being none, 15 I move we adjourn until Monday, March 16th, at 16 3:00 p.m., intervening days to be legislative 17 days. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: There 19 being no further business to come before the 20 Senate, on motion, the Senate stands adjourned 21 until Monday, March 16th, at 3:00 p.m., 22 intervening days being legislative days. 23 (Whereupon, at 1:24 p.m., the 24 Senate adjourned.)

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(518) 371-8910