Wednesday, April 1, 2009

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 April 1, 2009 11 10:39 a.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR DAVID J. VALESKY, Acting President 19 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24

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(518) 371-8910 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and recite with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: In the 10 absence of clergy, may we bow our heads in a 11 moment of silence. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 reading of the Journal. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 18 Tuesday, March 31, the Senate met pursuant to 19 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, March 30, 20 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 21 adjourned. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 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 Senator Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 11 after consulting the Minority, we agreed to 12 take up Senate Calendar 30 as the 13 controversial calendar and go directly to 14 Calendar Number 132. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 Secretary will read Calendar 132, 17 controversial. 18 We are on the controversial 19 calendar. The Secretary will ring the bells. 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 132, substituted March 31, Assembly Budget 23 Bill, Assembly Print Number 153C, an act 24 making appropriations for the support of

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(518) 371-8910 1 government: Education, Labor and Family 2 Assistance Budget. 3 SENATOR LIBOUS: Explanation, 4 please. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 6 Senator Kruger, an explanation has been 7 requested. 8 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes. For 9 the purposes of explanation of this, we'll 10 begin with the chairperson of our Education 11 Committee, Senator Oppenheimer. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Senator Libous. 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 I believe there's an amendment at 17 the desk by Senator Flanagan and Senator 18 Saland. I would ask that you waive its 19 reading, and would you please call on Senator 20 Flanagan first. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Senator Flanagan, there is an amendment at the 23 desk. The reading of the amendment is waived, 24 and you may be heard on the amendment.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. On the amendment. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Yes, 4 Senator Flanagan on the amendment. 5 SENATOR FLANAGAN: In the 6 Governor's Executive Budget proposal there 7 were two components in relation to education 8 that certainly everyone has talked about and 9 spoken to here and outside the chamber. One 10 is having to do with the libraries. During 11 the deficit reduction plan, we had offered an 12 amendment on that. 13 The Governor cut the funding to 14 libraries to the tune of about $18 million. 15 This budget restores $10.6 million of that. 16 We think that's insufficient. We think 17 libraries are a valuable resource for all 18 communities across the State of New York. And 19 particularly given what's going on in our 20 economy, they are like job centers and career 21 centers and much more than simply going there 22 to read books. So our amendment, the first 23 part of it, restores the funding in totality 24 of $18 million.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The second component is in relation 2 to nonpublic schools. And the Governor 3 proposed a cut in that area of $44 million. 4 This budget restores $30 million of that. Our 5 amendment would make full restoration, putting 6 in an additional $14 million. 7 And I have to admit I am perplexed 8 in the main bill as to why we would go part of 9 the way but not the whole way when we did make 10 full restorations on the deficit reduction 11 assessment. These are costs that are really 12 mandated by the State of New York on our 13 nonpublic schools. It's something that we 14 should be doing without really even discussing 15 it. This should be like BOCES, it should be 16 like transportation and expense-driven aids. 17 The fact that we're not making 18 these entities whole is going to create a 19 problem for them. And I guarantee this is the 20 type of thing that if this amendment does not 21 pass, we will hear from these folks directly 22 and consistently. 23 So the two parts are libraries, 24 full restoration; nonpublic schools, full

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(518) 371-8910 1 restoration as well. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 3 you, Senator Flanagan. 4 Are there any other Senators who 5 wish to be heard on the amendment? 6 Senator Saland. 7 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 Mr. President, not too long ago -- 10 I believe in the context perhaps of the DRP -- 11 I mentioned that this chamber particularly 12 took great pride in the manner in which it 13 supports and has continued to support 14 libraries. We in fact have always been at the 15 forefront. 16 Senator Farley, who has served here 17 for now three-plus decades, certainly as the 18 chair of the Library Subcommittee, which was a 19 bipartisan committee including members of both 20 sides of the aisle, certainly has always been 21 in the forefront of library issues and library 22 initiatives. 23 There's no reason, absolutely no 24 reason not to provide the relatively modest

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(518) 371-8910 1 amount of $7.4 million to make libraries 2 whole. We all, I believe, each and every one 3 of us talk to our local library people, tell 4 them how important they are, express our 5 appreciation for their ever-increased and 6 significantly more important role in today's 7 downtrod economy. We know full well, by every 8 barometer, by every media account, that they 9 are busier than they have ever been. 10 They desperately need the aid. 11 There's no reason why we cannot, in broad 12 bipartisan fashion, continue to lead in terms 13 of supporting our local libraries. 14 The other part of the amendment, as 15 was pointed out by Senator Flanagan, is merely 16 providing money for mandated services. This 17 is what we're supposed to do. We mandate 18 certain services on public schools. 19 Regrettably, we don't provide the funding. We 20 mandate certain services on private schools. 21 And traditionally we have tried to provide 22 that funding. 23 This basically tries to provide the 24 funding that flows from a mandate from the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Commissioner of Education that private schools 2 take attendance after each period. They were 3 required to do that. They were told they 4 would get the money to do that. $30 million 5 doesn't do the trick. You're shortchanging 6 parochial schools, yeshivas, private schools 7 throughout the state from one end to another. 8 They will receive not their due under this 9 budget. They will be shortchanged and 10 significantly shortchanged. 11 It's a relatively easy thing to do 12 to fix it. There should be unanimous support 13 for this amendment. 14 Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Saland. 17 Senator Farley, on the amendment. 18 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. I rise in support of this. I 20 just want to speak to the library section of 21 it. 22 Senator Oppenheimer, who's the new 23 chair of the Library Subcommittee, and myself 24 spoke to I think the largest group of

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(518) 371-8910 1 librarians that has ever approached this 2 state. And Senator Oppenheimer, to my 3 pleasure, in speaking mentioned that your 4 conference had voted unanimously to restore 5 that full funding to the libraries to 6 thundrous applause. And I was very pleased to 7 see that and also mention that my conference 8 unanimously supports the full support of 9 libraries. 10 And I think it makes a lot of sense 11 that we rise up in and support this to where 12 we have constantly said that we do support 13 libraries, we want full funding there. And 14 it's my judgment, I'm quite confident that 15 this entire side is going to vote to do that. 16 And I would urge that at least one or two of 17 you might support it also. 18 Libraries, particularly in New York 19 State, are the finest in the United States. 20 And this is something that is desperately 21 needed. They're historically, particularly in 22 the larger -- in all of our metropolitan 23 areas, they're the first to be cut and the 24 last to be funded because of the strict

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(518) 371-8910 1 financial situation that most of our cities 2 are under. 3 I would urge you to support this 4 amendment. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 6 you, Senator Farley. 7 Senator Marcellino, on the 8 amendment. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. I appreciate being recognized 11 to speak on this very important amendment. 12 This amendment would restore funds 13 to the libraries which were cut. The 14 libraries are needed more now than ever 15 before. People who are looking for resumes, 16 who need computers and don't have them 17 themselves, are going to the libraries. All 18 you have to do is talk to the librarians in 19 their community. They will tell you that they 20 are being used and the demand on their 21 services and for their services is increasing 22 tenfold. 23 These people provide an absolute 24 necessity for children of very young ages,

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(518) 371-8910 1 children of all ages, senior citizens, young 2 parents -- it doesn't matter who they are, 3 they use the libraries. 4 All of us go down on Library Day, 5 we have our pictures taken, we take those nice 6 posters that they give us that say "Read," and 7 they take a picture of you with a book in your 8 hand, and it's posted in your local libraries 9 and you're all very proud of that. It's time 10 now we pay them back. 11 It's time now that we put the money 12 back in the budget for those libraries and 13 that they be restored to full funding. They 14 need the money. They provide a good quality 15 of life for our communities, and they're 16 absolutely necessary for our communities. 17 The other part of this very 18 important amendment -- and I thank my 19 colleague Senator Flanagan for bringing it 20 forward -- is to restore aid for mandated 21 services for nonpublic schools. These schools 22 are under stress. Many of them are being 23 forced to close their doors. This is not a 24 good thing.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Those students who are going to the 2 nonpublic schools of all denominations and all 3 types, doesn't matter, who are going to those 4 schools are going to end up in the public 5 schools. That's not a bad thing, but the 6 point is it will increase the demand on the 7 public schools, and they'll be forced to pass 8 that on to the property taxpayers. This is 9 not a good thing. 10 So those people who choose to keep 11 their children in nonpublic schools should be 12 given every assistance to do that. We mandate 13 the functions that they perform in many cases. 14 We, as Senator Saland said, should help pay 15 them pay the bill for the services that we 16 mandate upon them and that we put upon them. 17 This is an important amendment, and 18 I urge everyone to vote aye on this and do the 19 right thing for libraries and nonpublic 20 schools and the taxpayers of our state. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 22 you, Senator Marcellino. 23 On the amendment, Senator 24 DeFrancisco.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: There was a 2 very historic election that just took place on 3 the national level where we have a new 4 president who indicated, during the course of 5 the campaign and on many other instances, that 6 when he was looking for a job he went to the 7 libraries to go online to try to find 8 information about getting employed. 9 We are now in the worst recession 10 since the Great Depression. The amount of 11 money we're talking about is modest at best, 12 especially in view of the increased use of the 13 libraries. And we really -- there's no 14 partisan issue here. It's a miniscule amount 15 of money in the overall budget. And it would 16 be a shame if this money was not restored. 17 And there must be somebody, one or 18 two people on the other side of the aisle that 19 could be inspired by the story of our 20 president to do the right thing and restore 21 this money to the libraries. And hopefully 22 that will happen. 23 As far as the nonpublic schools, if 24 we ever had the burden of having to educate

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(518) 371-8910 1 all of the students that are educated by 2 nonpublic schools, the cost would be 3 astronomical. This is very, very foolish not 4 to make sure that they are at least 5 compensated for the services that we require 6 them to provide. 7 So this amendment is a no-brainer 8 and it really should be supported by everyone 9 in this chamber. Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 11 you, Senator DeFrancisco. 12 The question is on the nonsponsor 13 motion by Senator Flanagan to amend Calendar 14 Number 132. Those Senators voting in support 15 of -- Senator Libous. 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Could I please 17 request a fast roll call. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: You 19 certainly may. 20 Those Senators voting in support of 21 the nonsponsor amendment should raise their 22 hands. 23 The Secretary will announce the 24 results.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 28. Nays, 2 30. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 4 motion fails. 5 Senator LaValle. 6 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. You have an amendment at the 8 desk? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 10 is an amendment at the desk. 11 SENATOR LaVALLE: Okay. That 12 amendment would restore $134 million for the 13 State University -- 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator LaValle, just one second. Let me 16 please note for the record that without 17 objection, the reading of your amendment is 18 waived. You may now speak on the amendment. 19 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you very 20 much. I move the amendment, Mr. President. 21 This amendment would restore 22 $134 million to the State University and 23 $88 million to the City University from the 24 increases in tuition that both SUNY and CUNY

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(518) 371-8910 1 have imposed upon themselves. 2 You heard, when we did the DRP, my 3 pleas to ensure that the State University, 4 City University be able to retain every dollar 5 from their tuition increases. Well, the ghost 6 of Jesse James came into our chamber and took 7 away $68.5 million from the State University. 8 I have a feeling, unless there's one vote from 9 the other side, that the ghost of Jesse James 10 will return and take money away from our 11 students, middle-income taxpayers who I think 12 everyone knows are hard-pressed. 13 Everyone in this chamber 14 understands that the economy is very, very 15 bad. But here the State University and the 16 City University stepped forward and said, You 17 know, we suffered huge cuts. To the State 18 University, it was $210 million. We need, in 19 order to be competitive with our peer 20 institutions, we need to have a tuition 21 increase. 22 Now, under our system the trustees 23 move forward and make that recommendation. 24 The Governor's chairman, Carl Hayden, led his

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(518) 371-8910 1 trustees to put forth a resolution back in 2 December increasing tuition $310 for the 3 spring semester of 2009 and the fall semester 4 of 2009. 5 They also put into place a request 6 for a rational tuition policy. I talked about 7 that the last time we spoke with the DRP. It 8 is so critical, so essential that students be 9 able to know how much their tuition is going 10 to go up in small increments -- not $300, 11 $400, $600, but maybe $50 or $100, based on 12 the CPI. 13 The Commission on Higher Education 14 made that recommendation for both City 15 University and State University, a rational 16 tuition policy. We need that. We have never 17 in my tenure here, to the best of my 18 recollection, increased tuition in an election 19 year. So if we didn't do a rational tuition 20 policy in an odd-number year, in '09, chances 21 are remote that we're going to do that in 22 2010. 23 I view this, with 80 percent of the 24 tuition money going into the General Fund, as

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(518) 371-8910 1 a tax. So we are taxing our students. 2 You know, when the tuition was 3 increased, a lot of people said to me, You 4 know, I'm having trouble making ends meet. 5 It's another $310. It doesn't sound like a 6 lot of money, but it is when people are 7 holding on by their fingernails. 8 Lastly, our university system is 9 competing with other peer institutions. Now, 10 they're not having any trouble getting 11 students. Because of the economy, students 12 are coming in droves, because it's a good 13 deal. But the quality of education they're 14 getting, the classes they need to graduate, 15 the support system will not be there because 16 we've taken away the dollars. 17 Now, I know that many of you have 18 talked about not having this happen. But the 19 fact of the matter is when we cut to the 20 quick, unless we have one vote from the other 21 side, it's not going to happen. And, you 22 know, I don't want to hear, anywhere out in 23 the highways and byways of SUNY: Well, you 24 know, I really wanted to support you. Because

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(518) 371-8910 1 in the end, you didn't support the State 2 University. 3 You're not supporting the City 4 University to do the good things that they 5 have done. CUNY, I believe, is in a little 6 better shape because they've had a steady hand 7 at the helm in Chancellor Matt Goldstein, 8 who's done an incredible job there. 9 The State University has not had a 10 chancellor in 24 months. It has drifted. 11 Yes, we do have a chancellor now, but it will 12 take the new chancellor time to get up to 13 speed to start moving that ship ahead. 14 Economically, our State University 15 is the center of our economic system on Long 16 Island. Again, I give you the statistics. 17 State University at Stony Brook alone, alone, 18 has an impact of $4.65 billion in the economy, 19 59,000 jobs on Long Island. And that's not 20 including Nassau and Suffolk Community 21 Colleges, Farmingdale, and Old Westbury. 22 UB, a billion and a half dollars, 23 center of Western New York economy. The 24 center. There's legislation to move -- I

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(518) 371-8910 1 think that Senator Stachowski is the sponsor 2 of -- for UB to move them forward to a goal of 3 being a preeminent institution by 2020, and 4 similar legislation I will be sponsoring for 5 State University at Stony Brook. And then I'm 6 sure Senator Breslin will put in a bill for 7 State University at Albany and Senator Libous 8 for Binghamton. 9 Those four university centers we 10 should be proud of. We should be proud 11 because they not only educate our students, 12 but they are the economic engines in our 13 community, not to say in Brockport and 14 Oneonta, Geneseo and on and on. These are the 15 institutions that are providing jobs, 16 stimulating the economy in our region. 17 And so, my colleagues, I ask for 18 one vote, one vote on the other side to ensure 19 that we will be able, in a bipartisan way, to 20 say we support State University, City 21 University. And I ask for your support here 22 today. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 24 you, Senator LaValle.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Fuschillo, on the 2 amendment. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 4 very much, Mr. President. 5 And let me compliment my colleague, 6 the former chair of Higher Education for many 7 years in this body, for his leadership. 8 When I first took office 11 years 9 ago and visited the SUNY school that's in my 10 district, SUNY Farmingdale, I remember walking 11 through the campus and thinking they were on a 12 break, but in fact they weren't. And I 13 remember SUNY officials visiting me with 14 Senator LaValle, asking my thoughts, should 15 SUNY Farmingdale be closed and merged. And he 16 said no, and I said no. 17 And in a period of time of 11 18 years, that school has prospered. It's had 19 more new enrollees than any other SUNY school 20 during that period of time. We're on the cusp 21 of building a new business center there, a 22 business school, a new university center. 23 The athletics department, Division 24 III, is thriving. In fact, the basketball

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(518) 371-8910 1 team had the winningest record in school 2 history and made it to the Elite 8 in the 3 NCAA's Division III. But for them, it was a 4 tremendous accomplishment. Academically, it's 5 rising every single day. 6 And for this body to continue on 7 with Governor Paterson's mission of raiding 8 the SUNY system is wrong. 9 Senator LaValle, I'm going to ask 10 for two votes on the other side, not just one, 11 two votes on the other side for this 12 amendment. Because your amendment says we're 13 going to continue the investment in SUNY 14 schools -- he's fought for years for a 15 rational tuition policy -- but the investment 16 to go back into the schools. 17 Now, our SUNY system is rated the 18 best in the country. And I always read, every 19 year, Kiplinger's 100 Best Public Schools. 20 Geneseo is number one, Stony Brook is in 21 there, Binghamton, Brockport is in there, 22 New Paltz is in there. And everybody's 23 throwing out their SUNY schools that they 24 represent.

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(518) 371-8910 1 They're always in the top 100. And 2 I believe it's because of the investment that 3 that body has made over the years; that if 4 tuition went up, it went back into the school 5 system. It didn't go into the General Fund. 6 It wasn't raided into the General Fund. 7 Because our schools need a lot. 8 They need more teachers, they need more 9 capital, they need more infrastructure 10 improvements to keep up with modern technology 11 and the modern times, to provide our students 12 that want to stay here in New York State and 13 go to a college or a university or a state 14 university here in New York State with the 15 best academic tools that are possible to 16 enable them to compete in this global world 17 that is so competitive. 18 Now, Stony Brook, I'll take that as 19 an example, because of Senator LaValle's 20 leadership is one of the premier medical 21 schools in the country. Not only in this 22 country, but in the entire world. And, you 23 know, it's happening throughout our schools. 24 You know, years ago when I was a

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(518) 371-8910 1 kid -- it was a long time ago -- the SUNY 2 schools were always looked at as safe schools 3 for kids to apply for college. You know what? 4 The competitiveness and the bar for SAT scores 5 and academic excellence has risen over the 6 years that they're tough to get in, because 7 we've demanded excellence. 8 And, Senator LaValle, that's 9 because of your leadership as the chair of the 10 Higher Ed for so many decades in this body. 11 Senator Stavisky, I'm confident you'll follow 12 in his leadership because of your interest and 13 your husband's interest for so many years. 14 But we need your support. I know 15 it's tough, but we need your support. You 16 could be one of two to come over here and say, 17 you know what, Governor, you're wrong. You're 18 wrong. You want to raise tuition? If it fits 19 in a rational tuition policy, then we'll 20 accept that. But we won't accept you taking 21 the money, as you did in the deficit reduction 22 plan where you raised tuition, and you only 23 allowed 10 percent to go to the schools and 24 you took $68 million out and you put it in the

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(518) 371-8910 1 General Fund. Ninety/ten split. 2 Now maybe you feel like you're 3 giving us a bargain here to consider; it's an 4 80/20 split. But it's still tens of millions 5 of dollars that hardworking families, parents, 6 are struggling to pay their tuition on an 7 annual basis. And you're taking 80 percent of 8 the increase of tuition, the tens of millions 9 of dollars, once again, and you're putting it 10 in the General Fund. 11 Senator, I'll support your 12 amendment, but I won't support the budget that 13 takes away tens of millions of dollars again 14 and puts it in the General Fund and takes it 15 out of the SUNY system. 16 So thank you very much, Senator 17 LaValle, for this amendment. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 19 you, Senator Fuschillo. 20 The question is on the nonsponsor 21 motion by Senator LaValle to amend Calendar 22 Number 132. Those Senators voting in support 23 of the nonsponsor amendment please raise your 24 hands.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Announce the results. 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 30. Nays, 3 31. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 motion fails. 6 At this time we are going to lay 7 continued debate of Calendar Number 132 aside 8 temporarily. We will be returning to motions 9 and resolutions in just a moment. 10 But at this point in time I would 11 ask all Senators and visitors to rise as I 12 call on Lieutenant Colonel Matthew 13 Pawlikowski, who is the Catholic Community 14 Chaplain at Most Holy Trinity Chapel at 15 West Point, to offer an invocation. 16 CHAPLAIN PAWLIKOWSKI: Let us 17 pray. 18 God of power, might, wisdom and 19 justice, You wish to see authority rightly 20 administered, human laws enacted in accord 21 with Your divine law, and just judgment 22 decreed. We ask today Your spirit of counsel 23 and fortitude upon the deliberations of this 24 Senate.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We recognize in our prayer in a 2 special way Senator Larkin, who has been 3 instrumental for so many years in West Point 4 Day. We ask Your blessings upon Senator 5 Malcolm Smith, Majority Leader, and all the 6 members of this Senate. 7 We ask You to shine forth in all 8 their proceedings. May they seek to preserve 9 peace, promote happiness, and continue to 10 bring us the blessings of liberty and 11 equality. 12 Amen. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: You 14 may be seated. 15 I'm going to recognize at this time 16 Senator Little, to speak on a resolution that 17 was previously passed by the Senate. 18 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 It's an honor for me to join 21 Senator Roy McDonald and all of my colleagues 22 here today in honoring a very special group of 23 students. This is an event that has taken 24 place in the South Glens Falls Central School

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(518) 371-8910 1 District. But it is not just an event of 2 students, it's an event that involves the 3 entire school system -- the faculty, the 4 administration, the board of directors, and 5 the entire community -- to put on this dance 6 marathon. 7 The dance marathon began in 1978, 8 with about a dozen students who raised $1,500 9 for one recipient. This year, the 32nd year 10 of the dance marathon, we had over 700 11 students involved, over 200 volunteers, and 12 the students raised $260,200 for 23 13 recipients. They broke all records this year, 14 bringing their total in the 32 years that they 15 have had this marathon, to $1.8 million. 16 We are joined today in the chamber 17 by the school superintendent, Superintendent 18 Jim McCarthy; by Gus Carayiannis, who's 19 president of the school board; by Jean 20 Tedesco, assistant superintendent; Jody 21 Sheldon, advisor, along with Tom Myott, who's 22 also an advisor and teacher at the school; Dan 23 Albert, the alumni coordinator, because the 24 alumni returns and either volunteers or dances

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(518) 371-8910 1 at this event; and, more importantly, four 2 students. 3 We have four students joining us 4 here today who were chairmen of this event: 5 Taylor Bulman, Kelly McFarlane, Nicole 6 Valastro, and Brycen Waters. These students 7 truly put their heart and soul into an event 8 to raise this much money. 9 But I'd like to tell you two quick 10 stories that are very special to this event. 11 One of the co-chairmen, senior Taylor Bulman, 12 raised over $8,000 herself and raised the most 13 money by a student this year. But she had a 14 special reason for doing it. Her brother 15 James, who had cardiac surgery several years 16 ago, was once a recipient of the dance 17 marathon. And Taylor wanted to raise as much 18 money in her four years as a student at South 19 Glens Falls as her brother received, and she 20 did so this year. 21 A second story is about Mike Nolan, 22 who is a South Glens Falls teacher and coach 23 who is battling cancer. He's being treated at 24 the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and

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(518) 371-8910 1 they have been the recipient of these 2 students' efforts in the past marathons as 3 well as this year. So much so is this 4 appreciated that Dr. Edward Kim, from the 5 MD Anderson Center, flew from Houston to join 6 these students this year at the dance 7 marathon. 8 This event is something that is 9 special to our whole area, and I really 10 appreciate having the opportunity to recognize 11 them with a legislative resolution, which I 12 believe all are involved in, and just thank 13 them for their efforts. Dancing with your 14 feet is one thing; dancing with your heart is 15 another thing. And these students truly 16 danced with their heart to help other people. 17 Senator McDonald also would like to 18 recognize them. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 21 you, Senator Little. 22 Senator McDonald. 23 SENATOR McDONALD: Thank you, 24 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Senator Little. She 2 said it all. These are wonderful young men 3 and women who put their actions forth and 4 raised a substantial amount of money to help 5 people in need. 6 They showed a lot of character, a 7 lot of love for their community, much like the 8 young men and women we have here from West 9 Point that represent our great country and our 10 great state. And maybe some of those young 11 men and women from South Glens Falls High 12 School will be considering our military 13 academies, because they seem to have a lot in 14 common. 15 It's quite an honor to represent 16 these folks, along with Senator Little, and I 17 thank the Senate for this resolution. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 19 you, Senator McDonald. 20 On behalf of Senator Little, 21 Senator McDonald, and all of the Senators, 22 congratulations to the administration, the 23 faculty, and most importantly the young men 24 and women who have made the 32nd Annual South

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(518) 371-8910 1 Glens Falls Dance Marathon such a success. 2 Thank you for being here. 3 (Applause.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Smith. 6 SENATOR SMITH: Yes, 7 Mr. President. Senator Larkin and I have a 8 resolution at the desk. I ask that the 9 resolution be read in its entirety and move 10 for immediate adoption. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 12 Secretary will read. 13 THE SECRETARY: By Senators 14 Larkin and Smith, Legislative Resolution 15 Number 1157, memorializing Governor David A. 16 Paterson to proclaim April 1, 2009, as West 17 Point Day in New York State. 18 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is 19 justly proud to celebrate the establishment of 20 the United States Military Academy at 21 West Point, and to call upon Governor David A. 22 Paterson to proclaim April 1, 2009, as 23 West Point Day in the State of New York; and 24 "WHEREAS, By an act of Congress on

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(518) 371-8910 1 March 16, 1802, the United States Military 2 Academy was established within the borders of 3 New York State, on the banks of the Hudson 4 River; and 5 "WHEREAS, The Academy and its 6 graduates are an integral part of the proud 7 history of this state and nation; and 8 "WHEREAS, The leadership and 9 sacrifices of the members of the Long Gray 10 Line have helped this country withstand 11 countless threats to our cherished democratic 12 way of life; and 13 "WHEREAS, The alumni have excelled 14 not only on the battlefield but in many fields 15 of endeavor; and 16 "WHEREAS, The Academy continues to 17 provide our country with able and dedicated 18 future leaders; and 19 "WHEREAS, Its scenic campus is a 20 mecca each year for thousands of visitors from 21 across our state, continent, and other 22 countries; and 23 "WHEREAS, The United States 24 Military Academy is in the forefront of our

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(518) 371-8910 1 state's outstanding institutions of higher 2 learning; and 3 "WHEREAS, 57 years ago, the late 4 James T. McNamara, then a member of the 5 New York State Assembly and a member of the 6 Academy's Class of 1939, was the author of the 7 Legislature's first 'West Point Day' 8 resolution; and 9 "WHEREAS, For decades, our nation 10 has enjoyed the legacy of freedom and the 11 United States Military Academy at West Point 12 has played a vitally significant role in the 13 maintenance of peace and freedom; and 14 "WHEREAS, The members of this 15 Legislative Body are proud to commemorate this 16 event, marking April 1, 2009, as West Point 17 Day in New York State; now, therefore, be it 18 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 19 Body pause in its deliberations to celebrate 20 the establishment of the United States 21 Military Academy at West Point and to 22 memorialize Governor David A. Paterson to 23 proclaim April 1, 2009, as West Point Day in 24 New York State; and be it further

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(518) 371-8910 1 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 2 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 3 to the Honorable David A. Paterson, Governor 4 of the State of New York." 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 6 Senator Smith, on the resolution. 7 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you very 8 much, Mr. President. 9 Let me first thank Colonel 10 Pawlikowski for the invocation that he did 11 earlier. 12 And I want to thank my good friend 13 Senator Larkin, who I know how important this 14 particular day is to him. It's one that we 15 have all celebrated for years, since even I 16 was elected to the Senate in 2000. 17 I also want to give a warm welcome 18 to all the distinguished cadets. You look so 19 good today. So good to see so many of you, 20 young men, young women, all of which we are 21 very proud of. 22 Also today, First Cadet Benjamin 23 Amsler, of Titusville, Pennsylvania; he is 24 also one of the distinguished cadets who are

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(518) 371-8910 1 here. 2 And, colleagues, today is 3 West Point Day. This is one of the finest 4 traditions in the State Legislature. West 5 Point is one of our most revered and respected 6 institutions. We have been blessed by eight 7 cadets who were born and raised in New York. 8 We have some from Buffalo, Syracuse, the 9 Bronx, and even from Queens, Senator Shirley 10 Huntley. 11 It is great to be here with so many 12 of them. I think we have cadet Brandon 13 Dotson, who is a physics and chemistry double 14 major from Senator Volker's district. Senator 15 Volker, you produce intelligent people out of 16 your district. 17 SENATOR VOLKER: We do. 18 SENATOR SMITH: That's a 19 beautiful thing. 20 We also have Cadet Marin, who is 21 from Senator Huntley's district in Queens, who 22 is concentrating in foreign affairs. Good to 23 see you; good to have you here. 24 We are tremendously inspired by

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(518) 371-8910 1 each and every one of you. I will tell you, 2 as a young man growing up in Queens, I often 3 said to myself I would have loved to go to 4 West Point, but I am a scaredy cat. 5 (Laughter.) 6 SENATOR SMITH: So I decided to 7 go on to Christ the King and Fordham 8 University. I didn't want to deal with any of 9 that military pressure, Senator Larkin. 10 Although I will tell you my family is riddled 11 with individuals who have served in the 12 military and armed forces, from the Air Force 13 to the Marines. 14 But, colleagues, this is a 15 tremendous day. And I will tell you there is 16 not many things that we pause to do our 17 deliberation for on this floor. The fact that 18 we are in the midst of a budget, a budget that 19 is being dealt with in a crisis that we have 20 not seen since the Depression. But yet and 21 still, because of how much you inspire us, how 22 much we respect the institutions, how much we 23 respect the leadership of West Point, we felt 24 it was fitting that we pause our budget

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(518) 371-8910 1 deliberations in order to honor each and every 2 one of you. 3 This is a wonderful day for the 4 State of New York. West Point is an 5 institution that has brought so many 6 individuals into our armed forces that have 7 led us to be the free country that we are 8 today. And it's because of you that we are 9 able to walk the streets of this state, of 10 this country. We practice liberty and freedom 11 and justice because individuals like you 12 believe in this country and you serve us well 13 to allow us and our children to have all that 14 freedom. 15 I know that your parents are very 16 honored and excited about what you are doing. 17 But I will tell you, as a parent myself, I am 18 tremendously excited about each and every one 19 of you. We are extremely pleased that you 20 chose to go to West Point. You could have 21 decided on any place. You could have decided 22 to be a chemist, and you could have went on to 23 a different institution. 24 But you chose to go to West Point,

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(518) 371-8910 1 which means, for me, not only are you growing 2 intellectually, but you are growing in a way 3 that will serve this country and protect this 4 country, and that is something that should 5 never be forgotten or misunderstood. 6 We are very proud of each and every 7 one of you. I know Senator Larkin is one who 8 is extremely proud of you. And we are also 9 proud of Senator Larkin. 10 So, colleagues, it is with distinct 11 pleasure that I stand here on this floor today 12 on behalf of this resolution, on behalf of the 13 fine cadets from West Point and its 14 leadership. And we look forward to you doing 15 greater and better things for this state and 16 this country. 17 Mr. President, now I'd like to send 18 it back to you, and perhaps Senator Larkin, 19 who I am honored and proud to serve in this 20 body with, but also very proud to have him as 21 one of our colleagues on the floor, and all 22 that you have done for this body. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 24 you, Senator Smith.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Larkin, on the resolution. 2 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 Welcome, West Point, to the capital 5 of the State of New York. We are proud of 6 you, one and all. 7 You know, I want to welcome the 8 faculty, the staff that are here. You have 9 one gentleman hanging in the back. Where did 10 you go, Mike? County exec, Class of '61. 11 I've been calling him Class of '62 for years. 12 I just made him a year older this morning. 13 So, Breslin, don't tell me your brother is 14 younger than you. 15 You know, this is an annual event. 16 You heard it started by a gentleman from the 17 Class of '39, and it's still going forward. 18 And what it really is is an opportunity for us 19 to let you come up here and see us. Now you 20 see us when you hear all this squabbling back 21 and forth. It's not been this quiet. Thank 22 you for coming. 23 (Laughter.) 24 SENATOR LARKIN: But, you know,

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(518) 371-8910 1 West Point is something special. You know, 2 those of us who are called Mustangs -- and we 3 don't that have that ring knock -- we're 4 blessed today. 5 Steve Saland came to me and said, 6 "I see that the rabbi isn't coming, and I see 7 you've got a Catholic priest and a Protestant 8 minister. So I'll give you my blessing first, 9 so now everybody will be covered" -- Catholic, 10 Protestant and the Jewish faith from Steve 11 Saland. 12 You know, a couple of things you 13 should know about the Academy. The 14 distinguished leader of the pack here today 15 with us is Colonel John Cook. Colonel Cook is 16 from the Class of '79. Class of '79 was the 17 breaking point, right, General Swezey? 18 General Swezey is Class of '80 -- '81? Oh, he 19 came in in the big class. 20 But Colonel Cook went from being a 21 combat arms officer, turned it around and 22 decided to go to the seminary to become a 23 minister, and he did. 24 Our invocator this morning, Colonel

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(518) 371-8910 1 Pawlikowski, is also a West Point grad. And 2 he decided. 3 So I think we're really blessed and 4 covered today. I hope your blessings come all 5 day long. Yours too, Steve. 6 But, you know, just think about 7 West Point. We've had two presidents. Class 8 of '50 produced Bowman from the astronauts, 9 some others. We've had ambassadors, we've had 10 leaders. We've had individuals that went from 11 the Academy to great, great military careers 12 and then became something. General Omar 13 Bradley set up the VA. Dwight Eisenhower 14 became a great educator after being the SHAEF 15 commander, and then became president for two 16 terms. 17 You know, when you look at the 18 Corps, we have 4400 cadets today. There's 19 something I want you to think about for a 20 minute. In this group, 98 of these cadets 21 have already served in combat and decided that 22 they wanted to go to West Point and carry on 23 the mission that they started. 24 We are so indebted to each and

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(518) 371-8910 1 every one of you. Those in this class that 2 have it, there's quite a few of the Class of 3 '09 who will graduate on May the 23rd and then 4 go from there, they'll go to a branch 5 school -- infantry, artillery, armored, 6 wherever it may be. And this time next year, 7 95 percent of them will be in harm's way. 8 So, you know, we have a lot to be 9 thankful for. You know, when I think of my 10 own district, 4400 cadets, they pump a lot of 11 money into the economy. My good friend John 12 Bonacic said, "But we need to build a bigger 13 tennis court." John, we're working on it. 14 We have over 4,000 employees at 15 West Point. West Point has contractors 16 totaling about 3,000. So West Point is a part 17 of the economic engine for not only the 18 mid-Hudson but the entire State of New York. 19 You know, today we're also here to 20 welcome each one of you individually. First, 21 Colonel Chaplain Cook, please. What a great 22 leader he is, well-respected by the Corps of 23 Cadets, everybody. I've had the privilege of 24 attending a lot of meetings with Colonel Cook,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and I always looked at him and I got an 2 impression: I'm here to serve you as you 3 serve us. Thank you, and God bless you. 4 The Cadet First Captain. You know, 5 Pennsylvania is only down the street. But, 6 you know, here's a man that becomes the 7 First Captain. Somebody asked me this 8 morning, "How does he do that? Do they vote 9 on him?" I said: "No, they have a better 10 procedure. It's called performance." 11 This First Captain did everything. 12 At Beast Barracks this summer, he ran the 13 Command Sergeant Major, and he put all of 14 these younger cadets coming in as plebes 15 through the roughest grind they said they've 16 ever had. And at the end of it, his 17 colleagues, the staff and faculty said: You 18 are the First Captain. 19 He is the first captain of 4400 20 cadets. He tells them when to get up, what to 21 wear, when the next meeting is, and when his 22 subordinates will report to him. A young 23 man -- a great leader. Thank you very much. 24 Now, for some of the others. Most

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(518) 371-8910 1 of you in this room call them -- Vince Leibell 2 doesn't; he calls them the same as we do. You 3 call them seniors, but at the Academy we call 4 them firsties. That's when they get the 5 privileges; right, Mike? The car up on the 6 hill? Yeah, your brother told me about you. 7 You didn't bring him his car. 8 Daniel Gluzko, from Rochester; 9 Senator Jim Alesi's. 10 Leonidas Marin, from Kew Gardens; 11 Senator Shirley Huntley. 12 Ashley Rowland, from Baldwinsville; 13 John DeFrancisco. 14 Michael Schifferli, from 15 Williamsville; Senator Mike Ranzenhofer. 16 Christopher Gaulin, from 17 Hastings-on-Hudson; Andrea Stewart-Cousins. 18 Terence McElroy, from the Bronx; 19 Jeffrey Klein. 20 Brandon Dotson, from Honeoye, 21 New York; Dale Volker. 22 Mathew Walter, from Alden, 23 New York; Dale Volker. He gave me no benefits 24 by getting him two.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I'd like to get a round of applause 2 for these cadets. 3 (Standing ovation.) 4 SENATOR LARKIN: We have two 5 other individuals that are very important. 6 They're very important to the Academy, they're 7 important to the community. Our 8 communications director, Colonel Hilferty. 9 Thank you for coming, Bryan. 10 And we have a special guest here 11 today. We have the Command Sergeant Major, 12 Martin Wells, along with his wonderful wife, 13 Gertrude. Will you please stand? Thank you 14 very much, Sergeant Major. 15 (Applause.) 16 SENATOR LARKIN: You know, we 17 have a long day ahead of us. But I would be 18 remiss if I didn't say that my heart beats 19 heavy when I think of the young cadets. 20 I had the distinct privilege of 21 serving our country for 23 years, 23 years. I 22 had some that I thought were the toughest -- 23 Chaplain, I won't say it, but they were tough. 24 And I had some that I thought were the

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(518) 371-8910 1 greatest leaders in the world. I served with 2 them as their peer, as their subordinate, and 3 as their leader. 4 And in 23 years, followed on by 5 today, I have never met someone come out of 6 the Academy that I wasn't proud to stand by 7 and say "I will follow you to hell." Because 8 you are the epitome of what a leader is. 9 You're trained, you're educated, you have the 10 spirit. 11 People don't realize what you do in 12 our communities. You go out there. You don't 13 look for glory. You don't have a photographer 14 with you. You know, it's not like the Marine 15 Corps, you know, three riflemen and nine 16 photographers. We have to work it ourself. 17 (Laughter.) 18 SENATOR LARKIN: Johnson didn't 19 like that. 20 But, you know, when I think that in 21 seven weeks the Class of '09 will hit the 22 highways and the byways, on to schools and 23 into combat, we really pray for you. Because 24 we realize that you're our first line of

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(518) 371-8910 1 defense, whether it's in a combat situation or 2 whatnot. Some of you will stay in the corps 3 for years. Some of you will get out after 4 five years. Of course, then you got that 5 little Reserve time that General Swezey talked 6 to you about before. And, you know, he's 7 trying to steal you to the Guard. Not yet, 8 sir. 9 But you are something that young 10 people look up to. What an honor it is to 11 have the privilege of you visiting with us 12 today, a day when we're fighting -- we're not 13 fighting as you think about it, we're fighting 14 for what are our beliefs, the same things when 15 you went to decide to go to West Point. 16 And you know, I hear people say 17 they worry about young people going into 18 combat and that. But just let me tell you 19 something. The class that's coming in in July 20 is one of the highest-attendance submissions, 21 admission rosters we've had in five years. So 22 yes, there is some harm's way out there. But 23 aren't we a lucky nation to have young men and 24 women say yes, there's a challenge out there,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and I want to be the solution. 2 Ladies and gentlemen of the corps, 3 on behalf of my colleagues, I salute you. And 4 God bless you. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 6 you, Senator Larkin. 7 Senator Skelos, on the resolution. 8 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you very 9 much, Mr. President, and Leader Smith. 10 And Colonel Larkin, this is a day 11 we look forward to every year. And I want to 12 thank you for keeping this tradition going, in 13 our chamber, certainly in the State Capitol. 14 And, you know, there's been a lot 15 of talk about heroes. Let me tell you, in 16 this chamber you're our hero, Colonel Larkin. 17 And we appreciate everything that you did for 18 our country and that you continue to do in 19 service to the people of State of New York as 20 a State Senator. 21 You know, this is an opportunity 22 for all of us to recognize the fact that you 23 are our next generation of heroes. That you 24 have made a decision to go through the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Academy, but also a decision, as Senator 2 Larkin said, that perhaps in the next couple 3 of years you will be in harm's way. 4 What you're seeing today in terms 5 of the discussion we're having concerning our 6 state budget -- and at times there will be 7 vigorous debate. But our Constitution and the 8 Constitution that we're sworn to defend and 9 protect and that you will be sworn to and will 10 defend in a different way -- although 11 sometimes I think we're in more harm's way 12 than perhaps you will be. 13 (Laughter.) 14 SENATOR SKELOS: But you will be 15 serving our country in so many distant lands. 16 And when people see the vigorous debate that 17 occurs within this chamber and other chambers 18 throughout the entire country, that's what our 19 democracy is about. 20 There is supposed to be a vigorous 21 exchange and debate of ideas. It's supposed 22 to happen. It's supposed to be in the light 23 of day. It's supposed to be transparent. 24 It's supposed to be open. That's what our

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(518) 371-8910 1 democracy is about. 2 I have a young man that served with 3 me as an intern, David Rockland, lives in 4 Oceanside, Long Island, next to my community. 5 And David graduated from West Point. He has 6 served two tours in Iraq. And presently he 7 continues to serve in Santa Barbara. He 8 stopped by to see me a couple of weeks ago, 9 and he assured me that Santa Barbara is a 10 nicer place to be than Iraq. But he's ready 11 to go back again if our country needs him to 12 go back to Iraq or Afghanistan. And that's 13 the character that he developed, needless to 14 say, from his family first and then at 15 West Point. 16 So as I started off saying is we 17 thank you. We thank you for the sacrifice 18 you're making right now, and we thank you for 19 the sacrifice that you will be making on 20 behalf of our nation. And our prayers are 21 that each and every one of you will be able to 22 look back at your career in the military with 23 a self-satisfaction that you will have earned 24 and that you deserve.

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(518) 371-8910 1 We pray that God protects you. We 2 pray that God gives you a long life. God 3 bless you, and God bless our great country. 4 Thank you. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 7 you, Senator Skelos. 8 Senator Adams, on the resolution. 9 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 I believe that a part of -- we have 12 two men here in the Senate chamber. I believe 13 Senator McDonald as well as Senator Larkin 14 both served in our military service. And I 15 want to thank Senator Larkin for each year 16 of -- and Senator Diaz, I believe. 17 I want to thank Senator Larkin for 18 each year of inviting the young men and women 19 from West Point, because it's important not 20 only for them to see us, but it's important 21 for us to see them, to constantly remind us 22 that in here in this chamber we use terms and 23 not threats, we use budgets and not bullets. 24 There's an important reality when

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(518) 371-8910 1 you see these young men and women from West 2 Point. Because it's a reminder that, as I say 3 often, we stand in the cool shade of the tree 4 of freedom because young men like this water 5 that tree with their blood. 6 And as they go on with their 7 academic achievement, it reminds me of some 8 years ago I was in Denver, Colorado, at a 9 place called Pike's Peak. And when I exited 10 my vehicle, the snowflakes fell down one at a 11 time. And as soon as it touched your hand, it 12 melted. But when you looked at the entire 13 mountain, you were able to see that the 14 snowflakes were able to cover the whole 15 mountain, and because those flakes were no 16 longer were loving as one flakes at a time. 17 They combined together. And because they 18 combined together, they were able to become a 19 solid object. 20 And that's what West Point is 21 about. You go into the institution as a young 22 person. As you go through the evolutions of 23 being a boy or girl, a teen, puberty, you 24 leave West Point not only as a graduate, but

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(518) 371-8910 1 as soldier, as a man, as a woman. And that's 2 a solid entity. 3 And so some people may romanticize 4 the academic achievement of a person who has 5 stripes on their arm or stars on their neck as 6 that's some mere insignificant period that you 7 acquired. But it's more than that, as we 8 talked about earlier inside the room. 9 Patriotism is not standing in this 10 chamber merely reciting the Pledge of 11 Allegiance. Patriotism is being able to give 12 your all to this country. And that's what you 13 do. I'm sure that based on your academic 14 achievement, all of you can go to some of the 15 prestigious institutions in our nation. But 16 you stated: Instead of being a graduate of 17 Harvard or Yale or some other place, I want to 18 be a graduate of what's great about America. 19 And we really appreciate that a 20 great deal as we stand here in the sterilized 21 environments of these chambers. Many of are 22 you are going to go on to difficult fields. 23 You won't only walk the streets of Bed-Sty or 24 Brownsville, but Baghdad and Afghanistan.

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(518) 371-8910 1 That's the reality. And I admire you for 2 that. That is something not too many people 3 are willing to do, not only in home America, 4 but the entire globe. And you become the 5 ambassadors of what we represent and what we 6 believe in. 7 And I never wore the gray uniform, 8 but I wore the blue uniform. And I know that 9 it takes something special. When others run 10 from danger, you run to soothe danger. You 11 run to bring peace to our country. And that 12 means a lot. And you're representative of 13 countless other men and women who went through 14 West Point and went through other areas of 15 great level of importance. 16 So we must say thank you. We must 17 say not only are you going to do great things 18 in your military service, but we believe that 19 you're going to go into the other parts of 20 America and corporate America and ensure that 21 the threads of patriotism continue to bind us 22 together and realize that those terms in the 23 Pledge of Allegiance are real. We pledge to 24 the flag of the United States of America and

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(518) 371-8910 1 to the republic for which it stands, because 2 we do believe in one nation, under God, 3 indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 4 You carry that out every day. And 5 we thank you. And we pause in a moment from 6 our decisions on what to do with the dollars 7 in this country to realize that you should be 8 worthy of praise. For what you do in the 9 safety of this country, we will continue to 10 sit in the soothing shades of freedom because 11 you're there to make sure that tree is planted 12 with your compassion, your commitment, and 13 your blood. 14 And I thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Adams. 17 Senator Huntley, on the resolution. 18 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Yes, thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 It's certainly a pleasure to follow 21 Senator Adams after he speaks. It is, 22 definitely. Senator Adams, I must say you 23 were excellent. 24 Let me just say first I want to

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(518) 371-8910 1 thank Senator Larkin, who he and I have often 2 talked about West Point, talked about the 3 cadets, talked about serving your country. 4 And this is one of the good things that comes 5 to this chamber. 6 And I think this was a great day 7 for it to come, because not only does it lift 8 your spirits, but it really makes you think. 9 And when you look at the young people who 10 sacrifice their being, their lives -- because 11 that's what they do. With all that West Point 12 is, they go there for a purpose. And that 13 purpose is they're giving of their lives to 14 this country. That's what they're doing. And 15 I think sometimes we kind of forget that. 16 And we can hardly compare it to 17 what we do in this chamber. We can hardly 18 compare it to that. Because I think that they 19 are some of the most outstanding young men, 20 the bravest young men. And when you look at 21 them, you see the courage and you know they're 22 there because they want to be there. 23 And maybe I have this feeling also 24 because I do come from a military family. And

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(518) 371-8910 1 I just think it's so important and special 2 when people serve their country. There is 3 nothing like America when you see the cadets. 4 That is America. 5 So I would like to congratulate my 6 cadet from Kew Gardens, Cadet Marin, who is my 7 constituent. And just stand up. A handsome 8 young man. 9 And I'm sure his parents are so 10 very proud. Because this is my first time 11 meeting him, but when I met him and spoke to 12 him, I too felt very, very proud that this 13 young man is willing to sacrifice for our 14 country. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 17 you, Senator Huntley. 18 Senator Breslin, on the resolution. 19 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 As a follow-up to comments made by 22 Senator Skelos, Senator Smith, Senator Larkin, 23 Senator Huntley, Senator Adams, I really have 24 a twofold purpose.

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(518) 371-8910 1 It's first to commend the cadets. 2 And when we think about that period after the 3 Vietnam War for some 30 years without being in 4 a war -- but these cadets have chosen to go to 5 West Point when they knew that we were not in 6 one war but two wars. 7 And they don't face -- many of them 8 don't face graduate school when they graduate, 9 or a job within the United States, they face 10 the dangers of war and the results of war and 11 the sacrifices of war. And we all owe them a 12 debt of gratitude. And I commend each and 13 every one of you. 14 My second purpose is one quite 15 selfish. It's the one day of the year that I 16 put away sibling rivalry. It's the one day of 17 the year I really look up to my brother. 18 And I was a freshman in high school 19 when my brother went off to West Point on a 20 football appointment. And it was a wonderful 21 experience then. I don't think I've ever told 22 him that until now. And he went through West 23 Point and then went to Jump School, Rangers 24 School, Jump Masters School, Air

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(518) 371-8910 1 Transportation School, Jump Masters School, 2 and became a company commander with the 3 82nd Airborne and went to Vietnam and became a 4 major in the Airborne Infantry at 27. And 5 came back from Vietnam with, among other 6 things, the Bronze Star. 7 And then went down, after learning 8 Spanish, to teach South American officers 9 counterinsurgency at the College of the 10 Americas. Which was wonderful training to 11 become county executive. 12 (Laughter.) 13 SENATOR BRESLIN: And might have 14 been wonderful training for each and every one 15 of us to be here. 16 But I really get the opportunity on 17 this day of the year, and no other, to tell my 18 brother Michael, my older brother Michael, how 19 much I respect him and how much I love him and 20 how much what he did you cadets are doing now. 21 So you are sacrificing your lives for our 22 country. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Breslin. 2 COUNTY EXECUTIVE BRESLIN: Thank 3 you. 4 (Applause.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 6 Welcome, County Executive Breslin. 7 Before we continue, let me just 8 inform the members that we have nine Senators 9 who wish to speak. The cadets are on a rather 10 tight schedule, and we also are anxious to 11 here from Colonel John Cook. So I would ask, 12 as I call upon you, if you could try your best 13 to restrain your remarks to about a minute in 14 length. That would be much appreciated. 15 Senator Bonacic, on the resolution. 16 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 I think all of the speakers who 19 spoke before me spoke eloquently and expressed 20 the feelings of every member in this 21 Legislature. 22 Senator Morahan, Senator Larkin, 23 and I represent Orange County. We spend a lot 24 of time at the Point. And your institution is

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(518) 371-8910 1 majestic and beautiful. But what we're most 2 proud of is the men and women that are at that 3 Academy. 4 We thank you for protecting our 5 families, our way of life, and our democracy. 6 You are the best of the best of the American 7 people, and we thank you for your service. 8 Thank you, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 10 you, Senator Bonacic. 11 Senator DeFrancisco, on the 12 resolution. 13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: As an 14 Air Force veteran, it's a pleasure to rise and 15 recognize these wonderful cadets, and 16 especially Ashley Rowland, who is a next-door 17 neighbor of my former chief of staff in 18 Syracuse. And she was able to survive that, 19 so she could definitely survive the Academy. 20 And we welcome you here and all of the cadets 21 here. 22 What I want to say is maybe 23 somewhat a little bit different. You know, we 24 listen to the news, we see what's going on in

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(518) 371-8910 1 our country day in and day out, whether it's 2 fraud from major people involved in stock 3 transactions, irresponsible behavior by bank 4 officials, whether it's bad conduct by 5 individuals in the streets. Every spectrum of 6 American life, you see this day in and day 7 out. And you wonder, is there any hope? Is 8 there any hope anymore for this country, in 9 view of all of these people doing the wrong 10 thing consistently, it seems. 11 And that's why this is one of, in 12 my mind, the most important days that we have 13 in the Senate. It's a reminder to all of us 14 that we do have hope. We have good, sound, 15 solid people coming after us that are going to 16 make sure that the mistakes that our 17 generation made hopefully will not be made in 18 the future. 19 So all I can say is simply thank 20 you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 22 you, Senator DeFrancisco. 23 Senator Oppenheimer, on the 24 resolution.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, I'll 2 be very brief. 3 As the daughter of an Army colonel, 4 I wish you all the same elevation. And I wish 5 you all good health and continued successes. 6 You already are such successes to be where you 7 are. 8 And we thank you for what you're 9 doing. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 11 you, Senator Oppenheimer. 12 Senator Little, on the resolution. 13 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 I would like to join my colleagues 16 certainly in expressing my admiration for the 17 cadets who are joining us today, and for all 18 the young men and women who attend military 19 academies. 20 As everyone here knows, I am the 21 very proud mother of a commander in the United 22 States Navy who is serving in Japan, but a 23 1991 graduate of the military academy or -- 24 what am I trying to say? The Naval Academy.

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(518) 371-8910 1 He would kill me for that, wouldn't he? But 2 we do say "Go Navy" all the time. 3 (Laughter.) 4 SENATOR LITTLE: The Naval 5 Academy at Annapolis. And through him, I 6 certainly understand a great deal of what 7 you've gone through. 8 It's very difficult to get into a 9 military academy. Your commitment is there, 10 the self-discipline you have to have is so 11 much more difficult than to attend a college. 12 And you may relate to some of the 13 things that happened with David. People would 14 ask him, "Well, do you like it there?" And he 15 would pause for a moment and say, "Well, I 16 don't exactly like it there, but I will love 17 being from there." And he truly has. 18 And I thank you for all that you 19 have done, for your willingness to serve our 20 country. And may God bless you as you go 21 forward. 22 Thank you. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 24 you, Senator Little.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Volker, on the resolution. 2 SENATOR VOLKER: Yeah, very 3 quickly. I'm proud that I am the only -- I 4 guess I'm the only one that has two people 5 from his district, and I want to especially 6 honor those two. 7 Mathew Conrad Walter, who I happen 8 to know his parents, by the way, is from 9 Alden, New York. And I'm especially proud 10 because he happens to be a 2006 graduate of my 11 high school, St. Mary's High School in 12 Lancaster. His Assemblywoman, Jane Corwin, 13 and I congratulate him very much and wish you 14 the best of luck in the future. 15 Secondly, Brandon Nicholas Dotson, 16 I congratulate you. He is a graduate of a 17 great high school, Honeoye High School in 18 Ontario County. I am amazed at what you've 19 accomplished. I'm always humbled because I 20 have two college professors in my family, and 21 I always say that they take after my wife. 22 But whoever you take after, it's great. 23 Congratulations. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Volker. 2 Senator Klein, on the resolution. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I want to thank our Majority 6 Leader, Senator Smith, and of course Senator 7 Larkin for bringing up this resolution today. 8 Many years ago, when I was a young 9 Congressional staffperson, one of my duties 10 was to oversee our military academy 11 appointment committee. And even though I was 12 young and the students we were interviewing 13 were even younger, I was always taken by the 14 intelligence and just all-around greatness of 15 these young people. 16 They could have gone to any 17 college, any Ivy League school, but they chose 18 to serve their country in the military and get 19 a great education at the same time. I'm glad 20 there are still young people who believe in 21 duty, honor and country. 22 And I know today I'm very 23 privileged to have one of my constituents, 24 Terence James McElroy, who hails from the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Bronx, the Riverdale section of the Bronx. I 2 would just like to say, James, that not only 3 are all of us in the Bronx proud, but the 4 state and our country as well. Good luck. 5 And thank you, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 7 you, Senator Klein. 8 Senator Leibell, on the resolution. 9 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 As the senior naval officer in this 12 body, I'd like to welcome you to Albany. 13 I have the opportunity frequently 14 to go over to West Point. My district is just 15 opposite Senator Larkin's, on the other side 16 of the river. And, you know, if you read your 17 history of West Point, many of our most famous 18 generals used to swim the Hudson to get over 19 to my district. 20 (Laughter.) 21 SENATOR LEIBELL: Everything you 22 see here today, everything when you go over to 23 the other house, the discussions, the 24 deliberations -- which you will not see in

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(518) 371-8910 1 many parts of the world where you will 2 serve -- all those discussions and debates we 3 have are made possible because we have an 4 armed forces that is willing to go out and 5 defend this country and what it stands for. 6 We are truly blessed to have the 7 Long Gray Line in this country and in 8 particular in the State of New York. So we 9 all salute you, and we wish you Godspeed. 10 Thank you. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 12 you, Senator Leibell. 13 Senator McDonald, on the 14 resolution. 15 SENATOR McDONALD: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 I'm speaking on behalf of a 18 different group of people from a different 19 perspective. I want to thank these men and 20 women, these young men and women and their 21 officers and noncoms, I want to thank them on 22 behalf of their future soldiers. 23 Years ago I was a young man in 24 Vietnam, on my first patrol with a bunch of

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(518) 371-8910 1 other young men, scared, thousands of miles 2 away from home, in the middle of the jungle. 3 Our commanding officer was a captain, a 4 West Point graduate. We went into the jungle, 5 we went into combat, and he brought us back. 6 It was the most frightening period of time in 7 my life. The other men with me from all over 8 the country, all different colors, races, 9 religions and backgrounds, we were one that 10 day. 11 That captain not only showed 12 courage, he showed some other things that were 13 amazing. He showed compassion and love for 14 the men. 15 You folks are going to be in a very 16 responsible position in the very near future. 17 You're going to have a lot of people like me, 18 young grunts, in your platoons. You're going 19 to have them in the palm of your life. And I 20 know that you will be like my captain, Captain 21 Beale, West Point. You'll have the affection, 22 the love, the discipline, the character to 23 lead them through the worst times of their 24 life.

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(518) 371-8910 1 So on behalf of the grunts of the 2 world, the people who are actually with you in 3 those battles, God bless you. And think of 4 those men and women, and think of all of us, 5 and look at them. 6 I love watching television at night 7 and seeing those Marine units and Army units 8 in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's what America 9 is. We're all on the same team. And as was 10 mentioned by my colleagues, it's not about one 11 color, one race, one religion, no ethnic 12 groups, it's nothing like that. It's about us 13 as Americans. We stand for a way of life, all 14 of us, and everyone in this room thanks you 15 because that's what you're doing for us. 16 And don't forget those grunts. God 17 bless you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 19 you, Senator McDonald. 20 Senator Diaz, on the resolution. 21 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 I just was trying to recognize that 24 the great county of the Bronx was represented

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(518) 371-8910 1 here by Cadet McElroy, but already Senator 2 Klein recognized him. He's from the great 3 City of Riverdale in Bronx County. 4 And I just want to acknowledge that 5 all of you, ladies and gentlemen, when you're 6 finished, you will become lieutenants, 7 captains, you will be officers. And we are 8 calling you heroes, and you are. But you will 9 become officers. You will be in charge of 10 leading people like me from the Bronx, from 11 Harlem, black and white, black and Hispanic, 12 people that don't have the grade that you 13 have, officers. People that love your country 14 just as much as you do. 15 And you are in charge, you're going 16 to be in charge of them. People that will 17 volunteer to give their life for their 18 country, you will be their bosses. You will 19 be the one in charge of making them men and 20 women. Because from the bottom of their 21 heart, they're going to be trying to do what 22 they know is best for their country. But you 23 are in charge, because you will be their 24 officer.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Don't ever forget that you will be 2 an officer. But the way that the 3 responsibility that is put upon you guys to 4 lead, the black and the Hispanic and the poor 5 and others that will not be officers like you, 6 they will be dependent on you. 7 So you, Mr. McElroy from the Bronx, 8 always remember the South Bronx. 9 And let me tell you about this 10 place here. See, let me tell you about two 11 armies, the red army and the blue army. The 12 red army has its general, and the blue army 13 has their general. This is a colony here, a 14 colony run by the red army for 43 years, and 15 that was taken away from them by the blue army 16 for the last three months. 17 You will hear the fighting here and 18 the red army shooting, trying to recapture the 19 colony, and the blue army and its general, 20 holding tight. 21 Yesterday, yesterday the red army 22 didn't want to come out of barracks. They 23 holed in the barracks. And then when they 24 came out, they came out shooting,

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(518) 371-8910 1 chi-chi-chi-chi-cho: "No transparency, no 2 transparency, no transparency." But they 3 never said that for 43 years they ran the 4 colony with no transparency. 5 So this is the army here, this is 6 the fight that we're fighting, our own war for 7 the people of the State of New York. 8 Congratulations, ladies and 9 gentlemen. Go out there, protect our country, 10 and teach our young men and women from our 11 boroughs. Teach them. Teach them. Don't 12 just yell at them, teach them. Love them and 13 be sure that they become also men and women. 14 And that they also, when they come out, they 15 don't come out like me, hating that time that 16 went in. That they come out like you will 17 come out, loving the Army, loving the country. 18 I was an Army man, 1960. I was an 19 Army man, 35th Quartermaster Battalion. And I 20 salute you. (Saluting.) 21 Thank you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 23 you, Senator Diaz. 24 Before I call the question on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 amendment, I am going to suggest, Senator 2 Smith and Senator Libous, that without 3 objection we waive the rules of the house so 4 that I may call forward at this time Colonel 5 John Cook, as the representative of Lieutenant 6 General Buster Hagenbeck, the Superintendent 7 of the United States Military Academy, to 8 offer each of us and the 19 million Americans 9 that we represent a message today. 10 Colonel. 11 COLONEL COOK: Senator Smith, 12 thank you for your very warm welcome. 13 Senator Larkin, thank you for your 14 phenomenal support of West Point over the 15 years. 16 Members of this distinguished 17 Senate, on behalf of our Superintendent, 18 Lieutenant General Buster Hagenbeck, I bring 19 you warm greetings from West Point. 20 We are delighted to be here with 21 you today and appreciate the recognition that 22 you give to West Point here in Albany every 23 year since 1951 but, more importantly, the 24 support you and your constituents give to the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Academy throughout the year. 2 Any time I travel with cadets, I 3 wonder what the folks who see them might be 4 thinking then when they show up in their 5 uniforms. I've gotten a taste of that here 6 listening to your remarks this morning. 7 I suppose it makes a difference 8 what exposure they might have had with cadets 9 before, or what they might know about West 10 Point. These nine cadets, eight from New York 11 State, accompanied by the Cadet First Captain 12 Ben Amsler from Titusville, Pennsylvania, 13 represent what is good about America and about 14 the State of New York. 15 When we think about all the 16 challenges that we face as a nation and as a 17 state, we have reason to have hope. Our 18 future is very bright. 19 West Point currently has over 4400 20 cadets from all 50 states, and a total of 57 21 international cadets from 36 different 22 countries. They are without question some of 23 the brightest, most talented, physically fit, 24 wholesome young people our nation has to

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(518) 371-8910 1 offer. They bring all of their raw and 2 unlimited potential to arguably the best 3 leadership development institution in the 4 world, located only two hours from here, along 5 the west bank of the Hudson River -- the same 6 river Henry Hudson first explored 400 years 7 ago this year. And we look forward to 8 participating in New York State's 9 quadricentennial celebration. 10 For over 207 years now, West Point 11 has been a faithful steward of the sons and 12 daughters our country has sent to us. Cadets 13 from New York represents a large percentage of 14 the Corps of Cadets. Three hundred six 15 New York cadets in a population of 4456, or 16 7 percent of the Corps, are from this great 17 state. 18 One of those cadets is a cadet 19 named Jackie Uhorchak, a second-generation 20 West Pointer and a senior who currently serves 21 as one of the four regimental commanders in 22 the Corps of Cadets, in charge of over 1100 23 cadets. I've known Jackie since she was in 24 middle school, a competitive sprinter then

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(518) 371-8910 1 with lightning speed. I don't think I ever 2 saw her lose a race in middle school. 3 I have watched her experience the 4 transformation all cadets experience during 5 their four years at West Point, as she has 6 blossomed into the exceptional leader of 7 character that she is today. 8 Her dad graduated from West Point 9 in 1975 and is now retired. Her older brother 10 Nick graduated last year, and 10 months after 11 his graduation is already deployed in Iraq 12 with the First Cavalry Division. Her younger 13 brother Andy is two years ago behind her and 14 will graduate with the Class of 2011. One New 15 York family producing four leaders of 16 character to serve our nation in uniform. 17 All of our cadets are equally 18 significant. Every one of them is committed 19 to values of duty and honor and country. They 20 are all preparing themselves for one of the 21 greatest privileges our country could ever 22 afford any citizen of this nation, leading our 23 great soldiers, many from the State of 24 New York -- in fact, I looked up the

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(518) 371-8910 1 statistics; from last year alone, 9,375 2 New York young people enlisted in the regular 3 Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and the Army National 4 Guard -- who continue to answer the call to 5 serve their nation when we need them the most. 6 I graduated from West Point 7 30 years ago this June, and I will retire from 8 active duty in the next few months. My four 9 years at West Point were literally 10 life-changing. I would not be the man that I 11 am today had I not gone there. And I will be 12 forever grateful to Congressman Goodling from 13 the 19th Congressional district in 14 Pennsylvania, who gave me my appointment. 15 Your contributions to our nation's 16 future and to the individual lives of every 17 young man or woman who enters West Point from 18 your districts is no less significant. The 19 West Point experience is life-changing. And 20 the end result is an Army that is well-led by 21 leaders of character, many of whom are 22 citizens of this great state. 23 The Academy could not accomplish 24 its mission without the continued support of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the New York Legislature and the surrounding 2 communities of New York that are outside our 3 gates. If you've never visited West Point, I 4 hope you will do so in the near future. 5 If you're ever attempted to be 6 discouraged about the future, come and spend 7 time with our cadets. You will be inspired 8 and encouraged by their values, their 9 commitment, their potential. We are extremely 10 proud of these young men and women, all of 11 whom have signed up to serve while our country 12 is at war. The future of this state and our 13 nation is in great hands. 14 Thank you for your support of West 15 Point. Thank you once again for having us 16 here and affirming the importance of the 17 critical relationship between West Point and 18 New York. May God bless each of you as you 19 continue your public service to this state and 20 to our nation. 21 God bless you. 22 (Standing ovation.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 question, then, before the Senate is on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 resolution. All in favor signify by saying 2 aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 resolution is adopted. 9 To the cadets of the United States 10 Military Academy, you have our sincere and 11 heartfelt thanks for your commitment to duty, 12 honor, and country. Thank you for being with 13 us. 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Senator Libous. 17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Could I ask that 18 all members be on that resolution unless 19 someone objects to it. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 resolution is open for cosponsorship by all 22 members of the Senate. Any member wishing not 23 to cosponsor the resolution should so inform 24 the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 4 Senate will stand at ease momentarily. 5 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 6 ease at 12:11 p.m.) 7 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 8 at 12:16 p.m.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Senator Klein. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 12 Senator DeFrancisco has a resolution at the 13 desk. I ask that the title of the resolution 14 be read and move for its immediate adoption 15 and allow Senator DeFrancisco to speak on his 16 resolution. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 20 DeFrancisco, Legislative Resolution Number 21 1156, saluting the Vera House White Ribbon 22 Campaign March 27 through April 5, 2009. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 24 Senator DeFrancisco, on the resolution.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I 2 would like to present this resolution to all 3 for cosponsorship unless you choose not to be 4 on the resolution. 5 For the last 15 years the Vera 6 House -- 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Excuse 8 me, Senator DeFrancisco. 9 Could we please keep the noise down 10 so we can hear the Senator speak on his 11 resolution. Thank you. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: For the 13 last 15 years Vera House, an organization to 14 help victims of domestic violence, has been 15 having a white ribbon campaign. And I've got 16 my white ribbon on today. I think just about 17 all those years I've brought a resolution to 18 raise awareness to this very serious problem 19 of domestic violence. 20 And the goals of this campaign are 21 very simple, to get men involved in working to 22 end men's violence against women, to raise 23 awareness of the problem in the community, and 24 to support organizations that deal with the

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(518) 371-8910 1 consequences men's violence against women. 2 And it's an important goal for all 3 of us, and it's an important resolution, and 4 it's a wonderful organization. And I urge 5 everyone to support it and everyone to 6 cosponsor this resolution. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 9 you, Senator DeFrancisco. 10 All in favor of the resolution 11 signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 17 resolution is adopted. 18 Senator DeFrancisco has requested 19 that it be open for cosponsorship. Anyone 20 wishing not to cosponsor the resolution should 21 notify the desk. 22 Senator Klein. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 24 can we ask the members of the Senate to return

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(518) 371-8910 1 to the chamber, because we're going to start 2 our order of business and start debating the 3 budget bill where we left off. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: We'll 5 ask the Secretary to ring the bells. 6 I ask all Senators to return to the 7 chamber. We will resume on the controversial 8 calendar, with Calendar Number 132. 9 We will now return to the debate of 10 Calendar Number 132, Senate Print 53C, the 11 Education, Labor and Family Assistance 12 appropriation budget bill. 13 Senator Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, if 15 we could return to the normal order of 16 business, I move that we return to the 17 controversial calendar and continue debate on 18 Calendar Number 132. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: I 20 remind all members to return to the chamber so 21 that we can continue debate on Calendar 132. 22 Senator Oppenheimer, on the bill. 23 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you, 24 Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I would like to make just a couple 2 of personal observations. Since I have the 3 floor, I'd like to make some observations on 4 yesterday, and then I will get to the bill. 5 Yesterday it was suggested on the 6 other side of the aisle here that this side 7 was under the control of New York City. And I 8 wanted to point out that actually the last 9 chair of the Education Committee, Senator 10 Saland, he and I share many common concerns, 11 as residents of the Hudson Valley area -- such 12 things as a concern about the Board of 13 Cooperative Education, about our escalating 14 property taxes, about reduced paperwork, about 15 relief from unfunded mandate mandates. 16 And I've followed some of the 17 practices of Senator Saland, in that I concur 18 there should be no unfunded mandates brought 19 before the Education Committee. And indeed, I 20 followed his kind advice and I hired his 21 committee clerk. And I have been very, very 22 happy with her wise counsel and her very 23 pleasant demeanor. 24 After less than three months as

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(518) 371-8910 1 chair, I can't expect to be as knowledgeable 2 as he is after many years in that position. 3 So I may ask and have asked Senator Saland to 4 help me out sometimes. Indeed, I begged him 5 to be my ranker. But I can understand why he 6 made other choices. 7 But I don't think that the new 8 Senate Education Committee will look that very 9 different from the old Senate Education 10 Committee, as many of Senator Saland's 11 concerns are also my concerns. 12 On another issue, yesterday Senator 13 Flanagan thought that it was rude to have sent 14 him the letter that I did send. And I want 15 you to know, Senator Flanagan, that was not my 16 intention. I don't think I have ever been 17 intentionally rude to anyone. And therefore, 18 I would like to apologize if you viewed it 19 that way. I just wanted to get that said 20 before I started to talk about the bill. 21 Okay, in this bill, the aid to 22 local schools, in this budget debate where 23 many sentences have begun with "cuts and 24 increased costs," education has been protected

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(518) 371-8910 1 while the pressure to raise property or school 2 taxes has been reduced. Faced with the 3 greatest economic crisis and the toughest 4 budget I think in the history of the state, 5 this Legislature used the federal State Fiscal 6 Stabilization Fund to Education -- that's a 7 big mouthful -- to restore all education cuts 8 that were proposed by the Governor and to 9 increase by $1.22 billion school aid over the 10 levels that were in last year's budget. 11 In a year when nearly all other 12 programs in the budget were cut, the numbers 13 and amounts allocated for education proved 14 that our number-one priority was and is 15 educating children and reducing the pressure 16 on the rising property and school taxes. 17 Simply put, the promise that the Majority made 18 to put children and property taxpayers first 19 is no longer just a promise, but it is a legal 20 reality. 21 This fully restores the cuts 22 imposed by the Governor's deficit reduction 23 assessment, as requested by school districts 24 across the state and by Democrats and

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(518) 371-8910 1 Republican members of this Legislature. 2 Senator Flanagan, the ranker on the 3 Senate Education Committee, made it clear when 4 we had Commissioner Mills come in to speak to 5 our committee, made it clear that he wanted 6 the DRA cuts to be restored before any added 7 funds went to the third year of the CFE 8 commitment. And actually we accepted this 9 wise counsel, and we did restore the aid. 10 Also Senator Robach had a hearing 11 where his constituents heard that their 12 highest priority was regulatory DRA and 13 rejecting the cost shift of pre-K special ed 14 services from the state to the school 15 districts. And this also was wise advice, and 16 we have followed that. 17 The Senate also found an additional 18 $15 million in additional aid for other 19 purposes. And these include -- and these are 20 just a few -- 1.3 million for state Special 21 Act school districts which serve high-needs 22 special ed students. And we will be having a 23 freestanding bill coming in the next couple of 24 months concerning this, helping our state

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(518) 371-8910 1 Special Act school districts further. 2 There's also a half million dollars 3 for the Center for Autism and Disabilities at 4 SUNY. I also have one just outside of my 5 Senate district. They do a very valuable job, 6 the regional centers on autism. 7 There's also $175,000 for the 8 Center for Rural Schools at Cornell 9 University, $400,000 for in-school suspension 10 pilot program, which will be I believe in 11 Mount Vernon. 12 This budget demonstrates our 13 commitment to phase in more increases in 14 foundation aid by the 2013-2014 school year. 15 Unfortunately, the moral promise of CFE will 16 be met a little later than we would have 17 liked, and it will take a little longer than 18 we anticipated prior to the national and state 19 fiscal and economic crisis -- indeed, the 20 global crisis. It is not just an American 21 crisis. But we will fulfill the moral promise 22 of CFE, even though it will take us a few 23 years longer. 24 The Legislature, under Special Act

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(518) 371-8910 1 funding, protected local school districts and 2 local taxpayers from the Governor's plan to 3 require them to pay $136 million in pre-school 4 special ed funding. As pre-school special ed 5 is growing faster than other educational 6 costs, this would have been a particularly 7 taxing -- sorry about the pun -- cost shift. 8 Had this proposal been allowed to stand, it 9 would have created greater local budget 10 problems by driving up costs for property 11 taxpayers in school districts all across our 12 state. 13 The Legislature also kept the 14 current payment structure for the special ed 15 teachers intact, ensuring that the valuable 16 services that these instructors provide will 17 remain available to our kids. 18 On STAR rebate, although the budget 19 eliminates the STAR rebate check, we will 20 continue the STAR program, which provides 21 $3.3 billion in benefits to seniors, who get a 22 larger rebate, and those who face high 23 property taxes. 24 In addition, we have actually

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(518) 371-8910 1 resisted the Governor's efforts to raise and 2 thereby narrow the STAR eligibility limits by 3 raising the floor from 11 percent to 4 18 percent. And thereby, we have preserved 5 the current standards of eligibility for the 6 original STAR. 7 In library aid, the budget includes 8 additional support for public libraries by 9 restoring $10 billion across the system. And 10 we understand that the libraries are being 11 utilized more and more, almost 30 percent more 12 utilization, by not only our young and our 13 elderly but now by our unemployed. 14 This increased aid is especially 15 needed in our rural and upstate areas, some of 16 which have been chronically underserved in 17 library services. We understand that it was 18 $102 million last year. And this year, the 19 Governor had put in $81 million and we, the 20 Legislature, brought it up to $91 million. 21 Would we have liked to increase the 22 total amount to libraries? Unquestionably. 23 As you have heard me say many times on the 24 floor of the Senate, I think I live in

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(518) 371-8910 1 libraries. But we have to face the fiscal 2 realities. You know, the economy is just 3 falling faster than we can keep up with. 4 Under private schools, we have 5 restored the funding for mandated expenses. 6 And I have done a stand-alone bill, but I 7 think in the long run all we can say is that 8 we will have discussions. Because we do plan 9 to fully pay for their expenses. That has not 10 been the question. The question is what are 11 those expenses. And we have said that we will 12 sit down and discuss this. So we will see 13 that they get their full formula funding. It 14 may be next year, but they will get it. 15 Teacher centers. We restored 16 $40 million in cuts for the New York State 17 Teacher Centers. These centers are critical 18 to ensure students are taught by well-trained 19 teachers with up-to-date information in their 20 fields. And this is exceedingly important to 21 the teachers. 22 On public broadcasting, one of the 23 increased stresses on our society is the lack 24 of educational media for children and

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(518) 371-8910 1 families. For those that because of the 2 economic crisis are cutting back on cable 3 television, high-quality programming by the 4 broadcast networks, especially for children, 5 is becoming harder and harder to find. The 6 Legislature has restored 50 percent of the 7 Governor's proposed cuts for public 8 television, adding around $5.5 million. And 9 as a fan of PBS, I'm happy to report that. 10 Well, we haven't passed this yet, 11 but the Senate fought for and did not achieve 12 passage of many of the Governor's mandate 13 relief provisions, prohibiting unfunded 14 mandates from taking effect mid-school year, 15 eliminating unnecessary regulations, which I 16 personally think achieve nothing, eliminating 17 outdated and counterproductive reporting and 18 tracking requirements, some of which are 19 overlapping each other. 20 But the Senate has obtained 21 commitments from the Assembly to pursue 22 mandate relief after this budget has been 23 passed. And we do anticipate that we will 24 have a strong mandate relief bill before this

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(518) 371-8910 1 house within the next two to three months. 2 And as I mentioned, I will also 3 have a bill on the Special Act school 4 districts. I will also have a bill on -- 5 well, I mentioned duplicative reporting, 6 mandate relief, and several other things which 7 I know are of special interest to many of us, 8 like healthy schools, community schools, and 9 the like. 10 Okay. Now, just in summation, the 11 frozen formulas are as follows: Foundation 12 aid, high tax aid, universal pre-K. Those are 13 all frozen at last year's levels. The 14 expense-based aids are going to move ahead. 15 They are being reimbursed, we owe it to them, 16 and we are continuing our commitment to 17 reimburse where money has been spent. 18 I think I'll end there, and I'll 19 answer any questions. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 22 you, Senator Oppenheimer. 23 Senator Flanagan. 24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. Would Senator Oppenheimer 2 yield? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Oppenheimer, do you yield? 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 7 Senator yields. 8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: First, Senator 9 Oppenheimer, you are never intentionally rude 10 to anybody. You don't need to apologize to 11 me. I appreciate what you said. 12 But I do have a series of questions 13 that I would hope you could answer relative to 14 the education portion of the budget. And I 15 realize that we have two separate bills. 16 We're going to have the language bill, and 17 some of that will relate to mandates. But 18 inasmuch as you brought up some of it now, 19 maybe it's a good point to engage in some of 20 that discussion. But I want to start by 21 inquiring about the federal stimulus money. 22 How much federal stimulus money is 23 in this overall budget for education, and what 24 are the sources of those funds?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, 2 everybody calls it the stimulus money. But as 3 far as education, you and I know it is the 4 State Fiscal Stabilization Fund to Education. 5 That's the piece that was dedicated to 6 education. 7 And it's got funding for two years, 8 and that comes to $2.72 billion, of which this 9 year we will spend $1.19 billion. 10 SENATOR FLANAGAN: On the 11 2.72 billion -- Mr. President, if Senator 12 Oppenheimer would continue to yield. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Do you 14 continue to yield? 15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, I do. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 17 Senator yields. 18 SENATOR FLANAGAN: On the 19 $2.72 billion, is there more than one source 20 of funds for that money? 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: No, that 22 all is coming through the stabilization 23 monies. 24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Does it come

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(518) 371-8910 1 from one pot in the stabilization money? 2 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: There's 3 also money that is available that we have 4 not -- 200 to 300 -- 240 million, I'm getting 5 the exact number, 240 million -- right, is 6 that the exact number? -- of this extra fund. 7 That actually could be used for other 8 governmental services, but it has been 9 utilized to fill in the cuts in the education 10 budget. 11 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 12 if Senator Oppenheimer would continue to 13 yield. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 16 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, sure. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 Senator yields. 19 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I certainly 20 don't mean to belabor these points, but I 21 think that the point in asking these questions 22 is to get the details. Because it is going to 23 be exceedingly important to our local school 24 districts and our property taxpayers to know

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(518) 371-8910 1 where the money is coming from now, because 2 it's going to have a real effect two and three 3 years from now. 4 So it is my understanding -- and I 5 have the federal legislation right in front of 6 me, and it is referred to as the State Fiscal 7 Stabilization Fund. And there are two 8 components therein. One is the educational 9 funding that you had referenced, and then 10 there is a catch-all that is loosely described 11 as general purpose aid that does not have to 12 be exclusively used for education, and it 13 specifically references that it can be used 14 for things like public safety. 15 So you mentioned that there was 16 $2.72 billion. How much of that is the 17 general purpose, and how much of that is the 18 education pot itself? 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: The amount 20 that I believe is from the general -- in other 21 words, it didn't have to be, as you said, 22 specifically for education. But I believe we 23 are using $240 million of that for education. 24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 general-purpose money? 2 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: It is what 3 I said. $240 million is being used from that 4 general fund, which can be used for education 5 or something else. But we're taking 6 $240 million, as I said earlier, for 7 education. 8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Okay. 240 out 9 of what available funds? 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: It is as I 11 just said. I'll repeat it again. 12 The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund 13 is, as I said, $1.19 billion will be used this 14 year. It is larger than that, but it's a 15 two-year approp that we're getting the federal 16 funds, the stabilization funds. 17 Then there is $240 million which we 18 will be using this year also for education. 19 It doesn't have to be for education, but we 20 are going to use $240 million of that money 21 for education. 22 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 23 if Senator Oppenheimer would continue to 24 yield, through you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 3 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, I do. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 Senator yields. 6 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Let me 7 differentiate. It is my understanding, based 8 on information that we've been provided, that 9 the money that is specifically allocated for 10 education in the Fiscal Stabilization Fund is 11 approximately $2.35 billion over two years. 12 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Two years, 13 correct. 14 SENATOR FLANAGAN: And then a 15 general-purpose allotment of about 16 $550 million. 17 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Right. 18 SENATOR FLANAGAN: So we're 19 talking slightly over $3 billion over two 20 years. 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Okay, yes. 22 Correct. 23 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Do you agree 24 with that?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Correct. 2 I'm with you. 3 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Okay. So then 4 I want to go back to something you said 5 before, that there is $2.72 billion. Somehow 6 we're about $300 million apart. 7 So you referenced the total of 8 $2.72 billion. There's over 3 billion. So 9 what is your understanding of what the number 10 is? 11 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: When I said 12 2.72 -- well, we have to figure out. There's, 13 according to me, a $200 million -- what I 14 think has happened here is we've combined the 15 two for the first year. And for the second 16 year, take away 1.19 from the figure I gave 17 you earlier, and that's what we'll have 18 available for next year. 19 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Right. But I 20 don't know what we'll have available next year 21 until we can agree what's available in total. 22 So what I'm trying to gather is 23 since you have negotiated this, and this is 24 now coming before us, and we are now going to

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(518) 371-8910 1 go back to our school districts and say this 2 is where the money came from, what is the 3 total amount available? Is it the over 4 $3 billion, or is it the $2.7 billion that 5 you're referencing? Because $300 million is a 6 substantial discrepancy. 7 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Okay, I was 8 adding the two together. 9 So put down for this year from 10 stabilization, from the federal government, 11 but not all utilized within this one year, put 12 down $2.5 billion. The general fund, that can 13 be utilized for a variety of purposes, put 14 down at $550 million. So you add them both 15 together -- but you see, you can't do that. 16 Through you, Mr. President. The 17 reason you can't do that is because you don't 18 know how it will be utilized next year. This 19 year, yes, we utilize part of that general 20 money for education. I'm not certain it will 21 be there for education next year. 22 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Well, thank 23 you very much. Because let me follow up on 24 that point. Mr. President, through you.

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(518) 371-8910 1 You mentioned $1.19 billion for 2 this year that is in this budget. 3 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Right. 4 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Where does 5 that money come from? 6 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: It comes 7 from the stabilization fund. 8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Okay. Which 9 part? The educational part, or the 10 general-purpose part? Because you said 11 there's $240 million used from the general 12 purpose. So if I'm following your logic, that 13 means we're spending less, certainly 14 considerable less than a billion of the 15 educational money that's been specifically 16 allocated. 17 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: The 18 stabilization fund, the $1.19 billion that 19 we're using this year, was specific to replace 20 cuts that had been made in the education 21 budget of the state. It was to maintain 22 teacher jobs. It was to maintain classroom 23 size. It had specific pieces of our budget 24 that we were told to fill in.

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(518) 371-8910 1 That is what the stabilization 2 money -- it's called stabilization, 3 stabilization so that we would be able to fill 4 the holes that we had created in our budget. 5 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 6 if Senator Oppenheimer would continue to 7 yield. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, I do. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 12 Senator yields. 13 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator 14 Oppenheimer, this is extremely important for 15 our school districts, so I am going back to 16 this. I understand what you're saying about 17 the $1.19 billion. What I'm trying to figure 18 out, because this is going to be a problem now 19 and next year, is how are we getting the 20 money. And I'll ask you a separate but 21 related question right at this point. 22 I have the federal legislation 23 right in front of me and have read it time and 24 time again. Has the State of New York applied

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(518) 371-8910 1 for that federal money? 2 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: We have not 3 applied yet. The answer is no, we have not 4 yet applied. 5 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Okay. And can 6 you explain why the Governor, on behalf of 7 New York State, has not applied for that 8 funding? 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, 10 actually, we needed to have -- through you, 11 Mr. President, we had to have a budget passed 12 in order to go to the federal government and 13 say, This is what we have passed and this is 14 going to be our request to you. We hope we 15 can do that sometime today. 16 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 17 if Senator Oppenheimer would continue to 18 yield. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Do you 20 continue to yield, Senator Oppenheimer? 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 23 Senator yields. 24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Oppenheimer, I have the federal legislation 2 right in front of me. It doesn't say anything 3 about passing a budget. It says that the 4 Governor has to make an application on behalf 5 of the State of New York. 6 So the contingency of whether or 7 not we pass this budget -- and I agree with 8 you, we should pass it. I want to pass it -- 9 is irrelevant to the application process. 10 So what I'm trying to know is when 11 the Governor is supposed to make that 12 application to the federal government, what 13 exactly is he going to be asking for? And 14 that's why those numbers are so important. Is 15 the Governor going in asking for all the 16 general-purpose money or some of it? Because 17 now we're setting up the issue for this year 18 as well as next year. 19 So your understanding, I'm 20 assuming, is that the Governor will ultimately 21 make an application based on the numbers that 22 are represented here. 23 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 24 you, Mr. President. Okay, I'll lay it out as

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(518) 371-8910 1 clearly and as simply as I can. 2 The $1.19 billion that we are 3 spending was totally to remove the DRA, the 4 deficit reduction assessment, that was put on 5 all the schools. Once we pass this budget, 6 then there is knowledge of what we are going 7 to need, what we are going to request, number 8 one. 9 Number two, the other piece, which 10 is this general fund for which we're taking 11 $240 million this year for education, those 12 monies are much more specific. We can go 13 through them. It's monies to restore teacher 14 centers, pre-school, special ed cost shift, 15 public libraries, all these other things that 16 we needed the additional funds to restore. So 17 we're going to tell specifically what we need 18 it for, and then we are going to make the 19 application. 20 And as I said, the Governor is 21 going to ask for what we have appropriated, 22 and that I think we will be doing today. And 23 hopefully we can get the state plan up to him, 24 up to our federal government as soon as we

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(518) 371-8910 1 finish our budget, and then we can go and 2 apply. 3 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Okay. 4 Mr. President, if Senator Oppenheimer would 5 continue to yield. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Senator Oppenheimer, do you yield? 8 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Sure. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Senator continues to yield. 11 SENATOR FLANAGAN: That was more 12 clarity. We're spending all the education 13 money and $240 million on top of that. So 14 over a two-year program, approximately half of 15 it is being spent right now. 16 Moving ahead to next year, your 17 representation is that you can't tell us 18 whether or not the balance of that 19 general-purpose money will be available for 20 education. 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 22 you, that would be $310 million, if my math is 23 correct, that is to be put into next year's 24 budget. And no, I cannot tell you if it is

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(518) 371-8910 1 going to be put in education or into other 2 areas that are in dire need. 3 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Okay. On your 4 comments relative to the budget. You 5 referenced a $1.22 billion increase in this 6 year's budget. Can you break that out in 7 terms of where those increases come from? 8 Roughly. 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Would you 10 repeat? I'm not certain I heard. 11 SENATOR FLANAGAN: When you were 12 explaining the education portion of the 13 budget, you said there's a $1.22 billion 14 increase. Certainly some of that is allocated 15 towards expense-driven aids. How is it broken 16 out? 17 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 18 you, Mr. President, I think Senator Flanagan 19 is going to need a pen for this. 20 Okay, here goes some numbers. The 21 $166,851,638, this money is going to what I 22 discussed, the formula-based aids that I 23 mentioned earlier. You know, the foundation 24 aid, the high-tax aid. Then we have

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(518) 371-8910 1 $204,400,795, and that's going to building 2 aid, building reorganization. So now we're 3 close to 300. 4 Then we have the two that, you 5 know, are simply passed through, IDEA and 6 Title 1. We pass them through to the 7 districts immediately. So we have to add that 8 in. So IDEA is $393,964,044. And then we 9 have Title 1-A, and that will be $423,364,927. 10 And if you add that all together, 11 you get to the federal aid estimate of 12 $1,221,119,253. 13 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. If Senator Oppenheimer would 15 just continue to yield for a couple questions. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 18 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Sure thing, 19 yes. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 Senator yields. 22 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator 23 Oppenheimer, in looking at this budget I think 24 one of the things that the public is

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(518) 371-8910 1 completely unaware of and will become aware of 2 after the fact, and I think is going to be 3 very problematic for our school districts, is 4 that this is in essence a two-year plan. 5 And you and the Assembly Democrats 6 and the Governor have come up with a plan that 7 is already telling school districts for next 8 year that all your base aids are frozen, there 9 will be no increases of any kind. And that 10 anything relative to foundation aid or 11 high-tax aid or anything like that, the 12 earliest we're going to deal with it is two 13 years from now. 14 When we're looking at the problems 15 that we're facing, I find it extremely hard to 16 understand, frankly difficult to fathom, why 17 you would advocate for a two-year plan that 18 freezes -- when we don't know what's going to 19 happen six months from now or nine months from 20 now, why are we locking ourselves into a plan 21 that is telling school districts you should 22 expect no more money this year and next year? 23 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 24 you, Mr. President, I was just handed some

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(518) 371-8910 1 newspaper articles that say that the schools 2 cheered the restoration of state aid. I think 3 they're very thankful that in this very dire 4 economic straits that we're in now that we 5 have come forth with some help for them. 6 Here is "The restoration of state 7 aid will enable the district to lessen some of 8 the 51 staff reductions the Poughkeepsie 9 school board was contemplating." I mean, we 10 have a lot of very positive statements from 11 across the whole state. Here's one -- 12 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Well, Senator 13 Oppenheimer, let me offer to you, if you are 14 so inclined to offer media clips for our 15 consideration, I would be more than happy to 16 regale you with the probably 100 to 200 17 articles that think this budget is an 18 unmitigated disaster and does nothing to 19 protect the taxpayers. 20 What I'm asking you is a direct 21 question, inasmuch as you are chair of the 22 Education Committee and negotiated on behalf 23 of the Senate, why this plan that freezes base 24 aid for two years? Why not do it one year, as

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(518) 371-8910 1 we generally do, and set ourselves up for next 2 year? You're already sending a message that 3 forget next year. Who made that decision, and 4 why was that reached? 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: We will 6 have money for next year. As you know, we are 7 only spending a little less than half of our 8 stabilization funds, the federal stabilization 9 funds. And who knows, maybe that general pot 10 of $550 million, of which we've only spent 11 $240 million, maybe that will be available to 12 us also. 13 The only things that were frozen 14 were the operating aids, the three that I 15 mentioned to you earlier. 16 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Right, which 17 comprises the overwhelming majority of the 18 budget. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Senator Flanagan, are you continuing to ask 21 Senator Oppenheimer to yield? 22 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Yes, I am. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 24 Senator Oppenheimer, do you yield?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 Senator continues to yield. 4 SENATOR FLANAGAN: My question, 5 again, is why was that conclusion reached. 6 Who negotiated that? Did you negotiate that? 7 Did Senator Kruger negotiate it? Because when 8 we go back, we're going to be asked the same 9 questions. The school business officials, the 10 superintendents, yes, are they happy about 11 certain components? But they haven't even, I 12 think, been truly made aware of what's been 13 set up for next year already. 14 So my question is, again, why was 15 that negotiation reached in that fashion? 16 Because we're going to be asked the question, 17 and I want to be able to give an appropriate 18 answer. 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 20 you, Mr. President, I can only tell you what 21 my superintendents of schools said to me. 22 They said: "If you can get rid of that 23 horrible DRA, we can live with the rest." 24 What we did is we froze, we did not

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(518) 371-8910 1 cut. The thing that had my superintendents so 2 upset was the DRA, not the freeze. They just 3 didn't want to see the cuts. And I think they 4 are relatively relieved that they didn't see 5 cuts. 6 And I don't know how your districts 7 fared, but none of mine -- well, my personal 8 one in Mamaroneck got cut, but it was the only 9 one in my whole Senate district that got cut. 10 You know, we're all aware that we 11 have no clear definitive line of when this 12 economy is going to start to pick up again. 13 We get little glimmers and that. Last week 14 Wall Street seemed to be a little happier. 15 But that doesn't change the whole economy. 16 And I think if we want our school 17 districts to plan, and that is what they have 18 asked us time and again: Give us some figures 19 so we have some concept of what's going to be 20 ahead for us. And if you have more money, I 21 am sure that we can fill in some holes locally 22 in our school districts. 23 The idea is we want them to be able 24 to have some parameters. And by leaving this

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(518) 371-8910 1 flat and telling them we're not going to cut, 2 this is going to be frozen at this level -- if 3 we had more money, we'd be delighted to share 4 it with you. All of us in this room, every 5 one of us wants to be able to give more money 6 to school districts, wants to be able to make 7 libraries whole, wants to make PBS whole. You 8 know, but we need money. And we're in a 9 drastic spot right now. 10 And we're not alone. I mean, we 11 know almost every other state in the union is 12 in the same position we're in. You think 13 we're bad, you should look at Connecticut. 14 So, I mean, we have to face the 15 reality. Budget-making is a real reality 16 task. And that's what we're trying to do. 17 We're trying to help the school districts for 18 next year to budget around what we're calling 19 a frozen level of foundation aid. 20 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. Senator Oppenheimer, I 22 appreciate your graciousness and courtesy. 23 Mr. President, on the bill. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Flanagan, on the bill. 2 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I certainly 3 don't mean to belabor some of these points. 4 But I think it's important because when we all 5 go back to our local school districts, whether 6 it's in upstate or the City of New York or out 7 on Long Island, we're going to be asked a lot 8 of questions. 9 And yes, the deficit reduction 10 assessment, we were very clear on that, that's 11 a positive step forward. But I think one of 12 the things that really needs to be underscored 13 is the fact that we are very fortunate that 14 the federal government came in with roughly 15 $3 billion over the next two years. 16 My concern is prospective, present 17 and prospective. Prospective in the sense 18 that we were able to fill a hole this year. 19 We will probably be able to fill a hole next 20 year, but we have plateaued now. We have 21 plateaued this year; it seems already that the 22 groundwork has been laid so that we will 23 plateau next year. 24 And then if you follow what we are

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(518) 371-8910 1 supposed to do, according to the blueprint 2 that you have given us, foundation aid will 3 come back in in that third year to the tune of 4 $1.2 billion. Arguably, that's a good thing. 5 But before we get to put in that $1.2 billion, 6 we're going to have to continue to make up 7 that $1.1 billion. And the problem we're 8 going to have is that there's no federal money 9 to fill that hole. So I think in many 10 respects, at best, we're doing a Band-Aid 11 here. 12 Now, Senator Oppenheimer also 13 referenced that there are full restorations. 14 I would respectfully disagree. The deficit 15 reduction assessment, yes. Nonpublic schools, 16 no. Libraries, no. And in the overall scheme 17 of the money we're spending, it seems 18 inconsistent that we could find $1.19 billion 19 to fill the deficit reduction assessment but, 20 as Senator DeFrancisco said, we couldn't come 21 up with approximately $7 million more to make 22 the libraries whole. 23 Now, one of the challenges that 24 we're having, frankly, is that this is the

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(518) 371-8910 1 first real opportunity that we've had to 2 engage and will engage relative to the 3 educational policy and budgetary 4 considerations in this state. Again, I would 5 reiterate, we didn't have any conference 6 committees. We had no public discussions. We 7 had no debate about mandate relief. We had no 8 debate about foundation aid. We had no debate 9 about charter schools. We had no debate about 10 anything. 11 So what we're being presented -- 12 and I'm sure it is frustrating for my 13 colleagues on the other side to have to endure 14 this. But the reality is that this is the 15 first time that we're going to have this type 16 of exchange. So when we inquire and we ask 17 and we offer comments and suggestions, I truly 18 believe that it's in good faith. 19 And you referenced protecting the 20 property taxpayers. I'll speak for the 21 communities that I represent. People really 22 like that STAR rebate check. People 23 understand that that's a check to them from 24 the government that will help them out.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Personally, I completely disagree with the 2 fact that that has been removed from this 3 budget, and I think that's something we're 4 probably going to hear about more than 5 anything else in relation to the education 6 portion of the budget. 7 And we will have further discussion 8 on mandate relief, but I just want to focus in 9 on what Senator Oppenheimer said. You know, 10 in a time when we do have to deal with fiscal 11 realities, one of the things we should be able 12 to try and do is find ways to alleviate 13 burdens, to reduce regulations, to mitigate 14 some of the concerns that are out there -- not 15 only in the small business community, but in 16 our public entities. Local governments. 17 School districts in particular. 18 I am frustrated because mandate 19 relief has been around forever. The Governor 20 had a couple of very basic mandate relief 21 provisions in his budget: Paperwork Reduction 22 Act, no mandates during the school year. And 23 an additional thing which I've discussed at 24 length with Senator Fuschillo was a

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(518) 371-8910 1 recommendation based on an audit done by the 2 State Comptroller of our state saying that 3 school districts should be able to use excess 4 funds in certain reserves that they have, 5 which could help mitigate the property tax 6 burden in every community in the State of 7 New York. 8 That's like a softball coming right 9 over the plate. Who could be against getting 10 rid of paperwork that's unnecessary, that 11 doesn't do anything to educate kids? Who 12 could be against saying that we don't want to 13 have mandates instituted in the middle of a 14 school year? It's common sense. 15 So you're going to have to explain 16 this -- and I'm not asking you to yield, 17 Senator Oppenheimer. But as we leave here and 18 we go back, all of us, but those particularly 19 in the Majority, are going to have to explain 20 why there is such a glaring failure on mandate 21 relief. It's a way to help school districts 22 out, and we can focus in in a laserlike way 23 and say as long as it doesn't do anything to 24 educate kids, why do we have it?

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(518) 371-8910 1 We have in here, and we will 2 discuss it again, but no unfunded mandates. 3 And just for the life of me, it's hard to be 4 able to explain that and go back and say the 5 Governor had it in. And if the Senate 6 Democrats supported it, what I'm now going to 7 do, based on what you're saying, I'm just 8 going to go back and say the Assembly 9 Democrats are completely the ones responsible 10 for relieving the mandate. And I guarantee 11 you, when I go to a public meeting, they are 12 going to turn around and say it was you, the 13 Senate Democrats. 14 So when it's the Governor and the 15 Senate Democrats advocating for mandate 16 relief, it should have happened. 17 Thank you, Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 19 you, Senator Flanagan. 20 I'm going to return -- Senator 21 Libous began this debate by asking for an 22 explanation of the bill. Senator Stavisky 23 would like an opportunity to explain the 24 higher education portion of this budget.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Stavisky. 2 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you. I 3 will do so very briefly. 4 The higher education portion of the 5 budget just continues the investment in higher 6 education. We have restored almost all of the 7 programs involving the cuts to the tuition 8 programs, to TAP. We have restored 9 university-wide cuts that had been initiated 10 such as the restoration of the $270 cut in 11 full-time equivalents for the community 12 colleges. 13 We are continuing many of the 14 programs back to the -- unfortunately, but 15 back to the 2008 level. We have restored the 16 funding to the SUNY University hospitals; 17 there are three of them. And there are many 18 other programs where higher education 19 continues the theme that it's got to be 20 available and affordable and of high quality. 21 And this budget attempts to do that in 22 difficult economic times. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Stavisky. 2 To continue to explain the bill, 3 Senator Squadron. 4 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you very 5 much for bearing with me as I come back to my 6 seat, Mr. President. 7 I'm rising on the part of this bill 8 that deals with some of the human services, 9 especially those that deal with adults who 10 need government's help the most. As we 11 address this part of the budget, it was very, 12 very important that we protected the poorest 13 and the most vulnerable in the community. 14 Even in a terrible economy -- in fact, 15 particularly in a terrible economy -- you want 16 to make sure that your safety net is real and 17 is effective. 18 We also want to make sure, though, 19 that while we do that we invest in the future. 20 And with this budget, we really will do that. 21 Obviously, with this bill overall there's a 22 lot of pain and a lot of hardship. With this 23 piece of it, we were sure to invest not just 24 in protecting people now but in helping people

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(518) 371-8910 1 be more self-sufficient and more successful 2 over time. 3 And of course it's critical, 4 whenever you spend this money, that you do it 5 in an accountable way. And we did that very 6 seriously. 7 This bill has money to prevent 8 homelessness. This is an issue that came up 9 yesterday. There are some in this chamber who 10 wonder why preventing homelessness is 11 important, wonder why those programs are 12 significant. The fact is across this state, 13 in New York City but elsewhere too, in an 14 economy like this, families too often become 15 vulnerable to losing their homes. And we have 16 services here that will help keep them in 17 their homes. 18 We were able, the Article VII 19 portion of this in the other bill, to preserve 20 the SSI grant for people with disabilities who 21 are on public assistance. 22 And I'm most proud that we actually 23 have some new programs here that are funded 24 over 90 percent with federal TANF dollars that

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(518) 371-8910 1 aren't General Fund dollars that are coming to 2 us largely through the stimulus bill and 3 through the great work of some of the social 4 services agencies in this state, which have 5 increased the number of eligible folks who get 6 food stamps, the TANF contingency fund and 7 then the stimulus bill's TANF emergency 8 contingency fund. 9 I think it's worth for a moment to 10 list what these programs are. The 11 Transitional Jobs Program. Green Jobs Corps 12 subsidies. Healthcare job subsidies. And a 13 number of transportation programs that will 14 help people get to work. The point here is to 15 train people for jobs that will sustain them 16 over time and help get them into those jobs 17 now. 18 There's also another program here 19 that's never been a state program before in 20 New York State but has been proven in study 21 after study to change people's lives. It's 22 called the Nurse/Family Partnership. Five 23 million dollars, all federal TANF money, every 24 single dollar of it.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And what it does is it partners 2 high-risk mothers from pregnancy through the 3 time their first child is two years old. And 4 it has been found over five years and 10 years 5 that you have more stable homes, safer homes, 6 and children who actually do better on their 7 math and reading tests. 8 So these are good programs and in 9 fact necessary programs in a time like this. 10 As I said at the beginning, this is a tough 11 budget in a terrible, terrible year. And with 12 this piece of it, the State Senate is proud, 13 the New York State Senate is proud to be 14 investing in our future, investing in making 15 sure that as we come out of this terrible 16 economy we do it with a workforce and with 17 folks who have been protected through the 18 tough times and are more able to succeed and 19 live out their dreams in good times. 20 So thank you very much for the 21 opportunity. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 23 you, Senator Squadron. 24 Senator LaValle.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 I'd like to first say that on this 4 budgeting in higher education -- 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 6 Senator LaValle, are you speaking on the bill? 7 SENATOR LaVALLE: On the bill. 8 Yes, I'm sorry. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Senator LaValle, on the bill. 11 SENATOR LaVALLE: I just wanted 12 to say that the input and partnership that 13 Senator Stavisky and I have had has continued. 14 And I think as two colleagues and two 15 individuals, we do the best we can within the 16 system. 17 But the system, when I was 18 chairman, I was a conduit to input from my 19 members. And I'm sure Senator Stavisky does 20 that. And just to give you one example in the 21 budget -- and I wrote something down when 22 Senator Oppenheimer spoke about, you know, the 23 collegiality and input and so forth. 24 But I was going through the budget

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(518) 371-8910 1 last night, and I saw a provision that for my 2 colleague Senator Young, our colleague Senator 3 Young, an amount was taken out that had been 4 put in in prior years for the School of 5 Ceramics. So that's not a good thing for -- 6 you know, I'm the ranking member and I look at 7 this, and I say how could this happen. 8 Then I look at the budget and I 9 see -- and I know for a number of years there 10 was a provision put in for Medgar Evers within 11 the CUNY system that would allow them to 12 receive 100 percent state support for their 13 capital programs. And that's not a bad thing. 14 But what that will do is -- and all of us know 15 when you have a number of people, children, at 16 your table and you now have added another 17 child, the eight senior colleges now have 18 another child at the table for their capital 19 programs. And what that will do is it will 20 increase the intensity for capital between 21 City University and the State University. 22 And so there are things that have 23 to do with the dynamics of representation and 24 where the majority is and where the minority

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(518) 371-8910 1 is. And that will never change. And that 2 goes beyond individuals. It goes beyond me, 3 goes beyond my colleague Senator Stavisky. 4 Because we are, as I said, conduits for the 5 members that we represent. 6 I was kind of jubilant when I saw 7 that we were getting, our state was getting a 8 good amount of stimulus dollars. And I felt 9 that while the dollars for education -- the 10 primary thrust was going to be K to 12. And 11 we did receive some money in higher education. 12 But just to not belabor a point 13 that I made when I talked about the amendment, 14 is that I thought that we would be able, 15 within the greater scheme of things, beyond 16 the dollars for education, that we would find 17 dollars to support and be able to build, 18 continue to build a vibrant public university 19 system. 20 And again, I think Chancellor 21 Goldstein has done a wonderful job in moving 22 that forward. But the State University, 23 again, has been without leadership for 24 24 months. And we have a lot of needs. And

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(518) 371-8910 1 simply put, State University is hurting. It 2 is hurting. And so I felt more stimulus 3 dollars should have gone, should have been 4 invested in the State University, invested in 5 our students. And it wasn't. 6 Senator Stavisky talked about one 7 of the good things was the Tuition Assistance 8 Program, maintaining those dollars. But one 9 of the things -- and you've heard me talk 10 about this for a long time. New York State 11 has been a leader in student financial aid. 12 But what has been happening, as "middle class" 13 has moved up and earned more money, bracket 14 creep has literally pushed away many 15 middle-income taxpayers. 16 So we don't have the money to 17 accept our students who want to turn to the 18 State University or City University because of 19 affordability, because we don't have the 20 dollars to be able to meet those needs. 21 Letters are going out, and students are 22 receiving them. And one of the things that 23 State University letters are saying is "Due to 24 an increased number of applicants, we are

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(518) 371-8910 1 sorry that we have to reject you." 2 Many of these students in any other 3 time would have been accepted, because there 4 would have been money and spots for them to 5 attend. And so this budget really hurts 6 individuals in spite of the things that we've 7 done. 8 Another positive thing -- and I 9 know that everyone worked very hard, the chair 10 worked hard, other members, to protect our 11 community colleges. That is critical. But 12 even they have numbers that I am told from the 13 presidents that they don't know how they're 14 going to meet the demand. And at Suffolk 15 Community College, they have classes early in 16 the morning till very, very late at night. So 17 I don't know how they accept more students. 18 Lastly, I hope -- and we saw there 19 are a list of capital projects. But if the 20 Division of the Budget has their thumb on the 21 capital projects, they will never go out the 22 door. Can you think of a better stimulus 23 program than building across the state more 24 than one project? That's what the Division of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Budget said: Campus Geneseo, you have one 2 project. One project. 3 We need to ensure that we allow 4 money to go out the door across the state for 5 both CUNY and SUNY to have the greatest 6 stimulus program -- you talk about jobs? 7 There would be loads of jobs for people if we 8 allow even three per campus. Three per 9 campus. Not one little project. 10 Lastly, I want to talk about 11 something, and I don't want to steal the 12 thunder of my colleague when we get in and 13 talk about health. This is so important that 14 I want to take this time, because it involves 15 specifically Stony Brook Medical Center and 16 the impact that this budget has on one of our 17 higher education institutions. 18 And I read: The total negative 19 impact from this budget will be $4.8 million 20 in the fiscal year 2009-2010. There is also a 21 permanent $28 million reduction in base state 22 support. The proposed budget eliminates 23 $13.2 million in Graduate Medical Education, 24 GME payments to Stony Brook University

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(518) 371-8910 1 Hospital -- and that's a permanent loss. 2 Permanently cuts $10.5 million in state 3 support, reneging on a 2001 agreement where 4 the state would cover the cost of 5 state-negotiated Stony Brook University 6 Hospital employee benefits versus the market 7 rate and, in parentheses, 18 percent higher. 8 Since 2001, Stony Brook University Hospital 9 has had to absorb more than $54 million of 10 these costs. 11 It continues: Negative Medicaid 12 changes through the DRP that will cost Stony 13 Brook University Hospital $2.7 million. 14 Despite the vigorous cost-reduction efforts, 15 Stony Brook University Hospital will be unable 16 to afford above-market salary increases, 17 including a retroactive unbudgeted pay 18 increase, without adequate state support, as 19 agreed in the year 2001. 20 The infusion of federal and 21 Medicaid health information technology 22 investment this year, and the acceleration of 23 the disproportionate share of the hospital DSH 24 payment this year, are projected to barely

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(518) 371-8910 1 keep Stony Brook University Hospital in the 2 black in the year 2009-2010. 3 However, in fiscal year 2010-2011, 4 Stony Brook University Hospital is forecast to 5 slip into the red, forcing the hospital to 6 consider further staff reductions and 7 potential closure -- closure -- of programs 8 and services to balance its budget. 9 One of those services and one of 10 those programs happens to be something near 11 and dear to my heart, and that's the Burn 12 Center, a regional burn center that was 13 founded basically by the volunteer fire 14 service. That could be on the chopping block, 15 and no one on Long Island would have a burn 16 center to treat the most severe burns. 17 So I wanted to mention that, and I 18 know my colleague will amplify because of his 19 expertise. 20 Lastly, on the education piece. 21 Senator Oppenheimer, this is a train wreck for 22 the school districts. Senator Flanagan 23 pointed it out. There is no way, there is no 24 way that these school districts will be able

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(518) 371-8910 1 to recoup a hole in our budget that's $1.2 2 when that happens. And we haven't even talked 3 about next year. 4 The formula for the suburban 5 districts, because we basically went to an 6 enrollment-based formula, is a disaster. And 7 when I look at the share that Long Island 8 should be receiving, going from 13 percent 9 share to 5 percent, it's horrific. It's 10 horrific. And who's going to make up that 11 difference? The taxpayer, when they get their 12 property tax bill, in spite of everything that 13 the school districts are doing. 14 So we repaired the DRA in the 15 formula, deficit reduction assessment. But 16 beyond that, we're giving them money, we're 17 reimbursing them money that they should be 18 entitled to, with building aid, BOCES aid and 19 transportation aid. 20 So I know my colleague Senator 21 Flanagan hit the nail right on the head in his 22 comments. I just wanted to reinforce them and 23 say you did a good job, Senator, in 24 articulating that position.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I thank you, Madam Chairman. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Thank you, Senator. 4 To complete the explanation of the 5 bill, Senator Montgomery. 6 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 7 Madam President. I rise to speak on the part 8 of the budget for children and family 9 services. 10 I am pleased to note and announce 11 that we have been able to exact savings and to 12 prevent drastic cuts in services to families, 13 children and youth in this budget. And we 14 were able to do that to a large extent because 15 of the fact that, one, we have agreed that 16 some of the facilities that we have funded, to 17 the tune of between $140,000 and $200,000 per 18 young person per year, will be closed or, in 19 other cases, consolidated. And some of the 20 programs that are tremendously underutilized 21 will be consolidated in some of the parts of 22 the state where in fact judges are not 23 actually placing children any longer. 24 And part of that savings will be

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(518) 371-8910 1 plowed back into localities for the purpose of 2 preventive services. We are very, very 3 pleased about that. 4 We're also pleased to note that the 5 Governor's proposal to combine funding for 6 detention, which is a mandated service, with 7 those programs that are preventive and not 8 mandated, into a youth block grant. And it 9 threatened to essentially wipe out many of the 10 youth bureaus around the state. And certainly 11 for New York City, we don't have a youth 12 bureau, but we were looking at the possibility 13 of losing preventive services for young 14 people. 15 We denied that. That is not going 16 to happen. And in fact we were able to save 17 the funding for those programs, minus a 18 10 percent cut, which we consider a victory, 19 actually. 20 We were able to add funding to some 21 of the programs that are specifically designed 22 to prevent children from going into foster 23 care, one of those in particular being the 24 COPS program, which is used around the state

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(518) 371-8910 1 in many different ways, but primarily as a 2 funding stream to support young people, to 3 support families. And in fact, one of the 4 premier programs that is funded out of that is 5 the Visiting Nurse Program for young mothers. 6 In addition, we were able to add a 7 little bit of funding for a program, Kinship 8 Care. And we know that it's much more 9 cost-effective and it's much more culturally 10 correct and it's appropriate and provides a 11 much better option when young people can be 12 cared for by members of their own family. And 13 so we have added some funding there, and of 14 course we will be looking to work closely with 15 the Executive in terms of what we need to be 16 doing to strengthen our kinship program. And 17 that will be another way of reducing the cost 18 of foster care in our state. 19 I just want to note, I'm sure that 20 some people will be concerned that the 21 facilities that are being closed. We did 22 eliminate, for this particular budget, the 23 12-month notification requirement. I know 24 that was of some concern. However, this is

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(518) 371-8910 1 only a one-time exception, so it does not 2 apply to decisions going forward. And we 3 wanted to do that because of the nature of our 4 fiscal situation. We have such dire needs, 5 immediate needs, and we would like to be able 6 to capture the savings as quickly as possible. 7 But moreover, Madam President, we 8 have been talking about the need to close some 9 facilities that are in fact empty. Some of 10 them have no children, some of them have maybe 11 two or three children. And so this is a 12 tremendous burden on the state's fiscal 13 situation. 14 So those were the main aspects of 15 the children and families budget. And we feel 16 very, very pleased that we were able to in 17 fact -- along with I want to thank my 18 colleague Senator Squadron in particular. 19 He's worked on the social services side, and 20 I've worked on the children and families side. 21 Senator McDonald is the champion on the 22 Republican side. And we've all spoken quite a 23 bit about the issue that we've had to deal 24 with in terms of the budget. And I'm happy

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(518) 371-8910 1 and pleased to say that we have a consensus at 2 it relates to what we've done for young people 3 and families in our state. 4 So thank you, Madam President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Thank you, Senator. 7 Senator Saland. 8 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Madam 9 President. Madam President, would Senator 10 Oppenheimer yield, please? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Senator Oppenheimer, will you yield? 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course. 14 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 15 Senator Oppenheimer. 16 Senator Oppenheimer, I'd like to 17 revisit, if I might, some of the things that I 18 heard you discuss in your exchange with 19 Senator Flanagan. And please correct me if I 20 didn't hear you correctly, because quite 21 candidly I was having a difficult time 22 hearing. 23 Did you say that of the two federal 24 pots, what I'll call the stimulus pot and what

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(518) 371-8910 1 you also termed the general-purpose pot, that 2 we were using $1.19 billion from the stimulus 3 pot and $240 million from the general-purpose 4 pot? 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I believe 6 that's true. I have seen -- instead of 1.19, 7 I have seen 1.21. So we're talking . . . 8 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. 9 Thank you. If I may continue, Madam 10 President. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, I do. 14 SENATOR SALAND: You were kind 15 enough to express some of our shared visions 16 and concerns for the Education Committee. And 17 in your comments you said something to the 18 effect of the Senate having obtained 19 commitments from the Assembly to do mandate 20 relief in two or three months. 21 Permit me to counsel you that that 22 will be something like capturing fog. Or you 23 might want to wait to see if hell freezes 24 over. Because that is a very familiar refrain

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(518) 371-8910 1 from the Assembly. They never saw a mandate 2 relief bill that they couldn't kill, delay, 3 obfuscate, or not want to do. 4 So the bottom line here is that in 5 a severe recession with little that we can 6 offer by way of benefit to our school 7 districts, the least that we could have 8 offered was the mandate relief offered in the 9 Governor's budget, some if not much of which 10 were pieces that this house had done in prior 11 years. 12 So let me wish you well in your 13 quest and tell you not to get your hopes too 14 high in expecting any kind of cooperation from 15 the Assembly majority. 16 Senator, I'm looking at the last 17 page of the school runs. Do you happen to 18 have those handy? 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, I'm 20 ready. 21 SENATOR SALAND: Now, there's a 22 new line, and perhaps rightfully so, at the 23 bottom: Changes with federal aids. And we 24 show, statewide, $1.221 billion in additional

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(518) 371-8910 1 monies. And I believe in your earlier 2 comments you had said something to the effect 3 of having managed to benefit our local school 4 districts. 5 When we look at that, can you tell 6 me, of those dollars, which dollars are 7 federal dollars as distinguished from state 8 dollars? 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 10 you, Madam President. You know, it isn't 11 broken out, so I cannot tell you which part is 12 federal of that amount and which part is 13 state. 14 SENATOR SALAND: Well, let me 15 suggest to you that if you go up several 16 lines -- 17 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: To the 18 state, right. 19 SENATOR SALAND: -- you'll see 20 2009-2010 IDEA, 2009-2010 Title 1. The IDEA 21 is nearly $394 million, and the Title 1 is a 22 little over $423 million. So the combination 23 of the two is approximately $817 million. 24 Would we agree on that?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 2 you, Madam President, that's building IDEA, 3 Title 1, EXCEL, and building reorganization. 4 SENATOR SALAND: If the Senator 5 will continue to yield. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator, do you continue to yield? 8 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes. 9 SENATOR SALAND: I'm looking at 10 the far right column. And, oh, six lines up, 11 you will see 2009-2010 IDEA. And immediately 12 below that, you will see 2009-2010, Title 1 13 aid -- I'm looking at the amounts -- 14 $393,964,000, in the case of IDEA; 15 $423,463,000 in the case of Title 1. 16 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I'm with 17 you. 18 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. And 19 as we both know, those are federally driven 20 funds over which we have absolutely zero 21 discretion or authority. Those funds go by 22 federal formula, and we are at best a conduit 23 through which they pass on their way to our 24 local school districts.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Now I'd like to -- if I could ask 2 you to look at pages 84, 85, and 86 of the 3 budget bill currently before us. And under 4 State Fiscal Stabilization Fund on page 84, 5 line 46, we see $1.235 billion. And if we 6 continue on pages 85 and 86, we see several 7 more amounts, which I believe are the amounts 8 that you are referring to as part of the 9 general-purpose fund. And there we see 10 $132.8 million, $40 million, and several other 11 smaller amounts comprising less than 12 $10 million. 13 Now, if my math is correct, that's 14 probably somewhere in the area of about 15 $2.25 billion in federal funds that are 16 contained in this budget. And the 17 stabilization money, as we know, requires us 18 to fund at the '08-'09 level, which is the 19 higher of the two choices. 20 So when we say that we have done so 21 much for schools, it's really the federal 22 money that is driving our ability to do 23 whatever it is that we're claiming to do for 24 schools, is it not?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: (Nodding.) 2 SENATOR SALAND: I'd ask you one 3 more question, if the Senator would continue 4 to yield. 5 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Indeed. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 The Senator continues to yield. 8 SENATOR SALAND: The amounts that 9 are listed on pages 85 and 86 in what we've 10 termed general-purpose funds, those amounts 11 total approximately $170 million. Is there 12 another $70 million that you've identified 13 that have been used for education purposes? 14 And if so, could you tell me what those 15 purposes are? 16 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: We have 17 different requirements. Like some of them, 18 for instance, the school lunch program, we 19 have to -- the food program, we need to have 20 support for. Some are dry appropriations. 21 Just a variety of different costs that we 22 have. 23 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 24 Senator Oppenheimer. On the bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 2 Senator Saland, on the bill. 3 SENATOR SALAND: Madam President, 4 certainly there are a number of school 5 districts, as was referred to by Senator 6 Oppenheimer, that are relieved that they were 7 not in fact cut as deeply as they had 8 anticipated. But this by no means is an 9 answer to their prayers. 10 I will hold up, for example, an 11 article, since we're all referring to articles 12 today, or some of us are: "47 jobs cut in 13 $185.8 million White Plains school budget." 14 Jobs will be lost. People, whether they be 15 teachers, whether they be administrators, 16 whether they be maintenance people, they are 17 going to be losing their jobs when our day is 18 done. 19 I think it's disingenuous at best 20 to somehow or other claim that we've rescued 21 schools. Some of you may recall last night 22 the exchanges between myself and Senator 23 Kruger, Senator Flanagan and Senator Kruger. 24 At that time it certainly should have been

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(518) 371-8910 1 clear to all that there was some $6 billion in 2 new General Fund spending, according to 3 Senator Kruger, that was provided after 4 eliminating a similar amount from the 5 Governor's budget. 6 Well, if you take that $6 billion 7 and you add $11 billion in additional 8 All Funds spending -- which, as we discussed 9 yesterday, is the difference between the 10 Governor's 121 and your approximate 132 -- if 11 you take out somewhere in the area that we 12 believe to be in excess of $7 billion in 13 stimulus funds, there's close to $10 billion 14 in non-stimulus-fund spending in this budget. 15 That is a staggeringly large amount of 16 spending at any time, in any economy, but 17 particularly in a deep recession. 18 And yet with all of that spending, 19 with all of that spending -- $17 billion in 20 new spending and somewhere in the area of 21 $10 billion in General Fund spending -- we 22 were not able to find, as was pointed out 23 earlier by Senator Flanagan, less than 24 $40 million to restore mandated services to

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(518) 371-8910 1 our private schools or to fulfill our promise 2 to libraries to the tune of some additional 3 $7.2 million. I mean, $7.2 million in the 4 scheme of $132 billion probably doesn't 5 qualify as petty cash. 6 Where are we going, what are we 7 doing, where are we placing our priorities? 8 Certainly we could have done better for 9 education if we were spreading this money 10 around hither and yon. Taxpayers are going to 11 pay the price. There will not be a budget in 12 my district that will not be jeopardized, and 13 that will be after dozens and dozens if not 14 hundreds of people will have lost jobs. 15 Madam President, there's much more 16 that I will have the opportunity to say and 17 questions that I will raise in the context of 18 the language bill which we will see later. 19 Thank you. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator Fuschillo. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 23 very much, Madam President. I'd like to ask 24 Senator Oppenheimer a question -- but, before

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(518) 371-8910 1 that, Senator Stavisky a question on higher 2 education. Would the Senator yield? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Stavisky, will you yield for a 5 question? 6 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes, sir, I 7 will yield. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 9 Senator. Just a few questions. 10 The tuition for SUNY and CUNY is 11 being increased in this budget? 12 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Will the 14 Senator continue to yield. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Do you continue to yield, Senator? 17 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: What is the 19 total amount that the increase will generate? 20 SENATOR STAVISKY: The tuition 21 for SUNY is being increased by $620 per year, 22 and the tuition for CUNY is being increased by 23 $600 a year. 24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Would the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator continue to yield? 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Do you continue to yield, Senator? 4 SENATOR STAVISKY: The total is 5 $164 million for SUNY and $110 million for 6 CUNY. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Do you continue to yield, Senator? 9 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 10 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you for 11 that. 12 And what amount is being taken out 13 of that revenue and being put back into the 14 SUNY system and being put into the General 15 Fund out of that $164 million? 16 SENATOR STAVISKY: I'm glad you 17 asked that question. Because if we could take 18 a couple of steps back, we increased tuition 19 in 1998 and again in 2003. And at that time, 20 the entire increase in tuition went into the 21 General Fund. And that has been the tradition 22 in terms of increasing tuition at both the 23 City University and the State University. 24 In the 2008 deficit reduction plan,

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(518) 371-8910 1 90 percent went to the -- instead of 100 2 percent, the General Fund received 90 percent. 3 In other words, it was agreed to have SUNY and 4 CUNY both receive an additional 10 percent 5 that they had never received before. 6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Would the 7 Senator continue to yield. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 9 Senator, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator, the 12 deficit reduction plan, it is my understanding 13 that you voted to increase SUNY tuition only, 14 not CUNY, and that 90 percent of that revenue 15 went to the General Fund. Is that correct? 16 SENATOR STAVISKY: No, not 17 completely. The trustees of SUNY decided back 18 in December to increase tuition at the SUNY 19 schools by $310 for that semester, starting 20 with the January semester. CUNY decided to 21 wait. So that is not totally accurate. The 22 CUNY trustees decided to wait and not raise 23 tuition in midyear. 24 But I did vote for the increase in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the DRP, yes. 2 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Will the 3 Senator continue to yield? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 5 Senator, do you continue to yield? 6 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 7 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: So in the 8 deficit reduction plan CUNY tuition did not 9 increase, it was the SUNY tuition that 10 increased, and 90 percent of that went to the 11 General Fund. Correct? 12 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes, that's 13 correct. 14 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Okay. Would 15 the Senator continue to yield? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 17 Senator, do you continue to yield? 18 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Now, in the 20 bill before us, you are once again increasing 21 SUNY tuition for the fall semester, and now 22 you're increasing CUNY tuition for the year. 23 And what percentage of that is going back to 24 the schools?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR STAVISKY: Twenty percent 2 this year. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Okay. Would 4 the Senator continue to yield? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator, do you continue to yield? 7 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: So what is 9 the total amount of revenue generated from the 10 additional increase in this budget for SUNY 11 and CUNY? 12 SENATOR STAVISKY: CUNY is 13 $110 million, and SUNY is $88 million. 14 But let me also add, in response to 15 that question, that the budget for SUNY this 16 year is $2.5 billion, approximately, with 17 $118 million of new money. And the CUNY 18 budget is $1.9 billion, with $144 million of 19 new money. In other words, an increase. 20 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Okay, thank 21 you. 22 Madam President, will the Senator 23 continue to yield? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Do you continue to yield, Senator? 2 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: So, Senator, 4 based on your figures, the parents will be 5 paying, total in the state, $198 million more 6 in tuition. Of that $198 million for CUNY and 7 SUNY, what dollar amount is going back to SUNY 8 and CUNY? 9 SENATOR STAVISKY: For SUNY, it's 10 $32 million, and for CUNY $22 million. 11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 12 very much, Senator. 13 Madam President, would Senator 14 Oppenheimer yield for a question? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Senator Oppenheimer, do you yield for a 17 question? 18 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, 19 indeed. 20 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator, can 21 you hear me? Thank you. 22 Senator, back in October of this 23 year, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli issued a 24 report, and it was an audit of --

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Madam 2 President, I can barely hear the Senator. 3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Well, there 4 must be something wrong with my microphone, 5 then. You have me on? You're not turning me 6 off, are you? Okay. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 We can hear you. 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: It isn't my 10 hearing. 11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator, back 12 in October -- in fact, on October 21st of 13 2008 -- Comptroller Tom DiNapoli issued a 14 report of an audit he had done in school 15 districts throughout the state, and his audit 16 stated that $407 million in taxpayer money is 17 stranded in school reserve funds statewide. 18 And he cited this as an opportunity for 19 property tax relief. 20 He also issued recommendations for 21 the Legislature. Number one, that we should 22 consider enacting state legislation that would 23 require school districts to remove excess 24 funds from the accounts and allow them to be

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(518) 371-8910 1 used to provide a clear benefit to taxpayers 2 by mitigating the impact of potentially 3 lowering state aid payments providing property 4 tax relief. 5 Now, the Governor had recommended 6 that, Senator. Is that in this budget? Are 7 the Comptroller's recommendations or the 8 Governor's recommendations in language in the 9 budget? 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: As I 11 believe -- as I understand it, the Comptroller 12 was doing a spot check. And we felt that it 13 was not sufficient, that we needed more 14 information. 15 So by 2012, in three years, he is 16 supposed to have done all the school districts 17 in the state. Then we will be remediating 18 what needs to be remediated. We should all be 19 well. 20 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Would the 21 Senator continue to yield? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 23 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: So the 2 Governor's recommendations or the 3 Comptroller's recommendations to allow the 4 school districts to utilize this money other 5 than for purposes intended for -- because he's 6 saying there's more than $400 million in 7 excess in those accounts -- that language is 8 not in the budget? 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Again, as I 10 understand it, the Comptroller said that he 11 was unable or could not go along with the 12 Governor's request because -- for the reason I 13 said earlier, the limited amount of research 14 that had been done was too limited, and he 15 felt he had to be more secure by looking at 16 all of the districts and not just spot-check 17 these few. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Would the 19 Senator continue to yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course. 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Let me just 24 preface my question by reading a little bit of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the report, because I don't think you're 2 correct in your statement, what your counsel 3 is telling you. 4 This is from the Comptroller's 5 report: School districts must file with the 6 State Education Department and the State 7 Comptroller. For the end of the year June 30, 8 2007, 421 school districts statewide reported 9 a balance in this account, Employee Benefit 10 Accrued Liability Reserve Account, EBALR, a 11 balance totaling $837 million. 12 Four hundred twenty-one school 13 districts. Do you think that's not sufficient 14 enough to make a decision based on the 15 Comptroller's recommendations? Let me finish 16 the question before somebody tells you the 17 answer. Do you think that's not sufficient, 18 and based on that -- and I'll go through the 19 whole report; I mean, I think we've still got 20 a couple of hours here -- that that's not a 21 fair sampling? 22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Senator 23 Fuschillo, that's even more than your salary. 24 So I think it's a substantial amount of money.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And, you know, what you're getting at is 2 exactly what I would be getting at and what I 3 hope to be able to move on. 4 But it is felt by the Comptroller's 5 office that he does need more. And I'm 6 willing to wait. Maybe we can urge him to do 7 it in less than two years. 8 I couldn't agree more with you that 9 I think this is something that is a reserve of 10 money that we could be utilizing to hold down 11 our school property taxes. I know you and I 12 have grave concerns about the escalating 13 school property tax. And I'm on the same page 14 with you. So I think perhaps we can get this 15 moved along a little more quickly and we can 16 work together on that. 17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Good. 18 Senator, let me just ask you one 19 final question and then I'll talk on the bill. 20 You keep talking about the 21 Comptroller wanting more information -- I'm 22 sorry, would the Senator continue to yield, 23 Madam President? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 2 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course I 3 will. Would you please speak louder? 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: We have to 5 get my microphone fixed. I'll be happy to 6 speak louder. 7 In the Comptroller's report which 8 he issued, he makes recommendations. And the 9 first recommendation is "Recommendation to 10 State Policymakers" -- that's this body here, 11 to you. "State policymakers should consider 12 enacting state legislation that would require 13 districts to remove excess funds from the 14 EBALR funds, transfer them, and they should be 15 used to provide a clear benefit to taxpayers 16 by mitigating the impact of potentially lower 17 state aid payments by providing property tax 18 relief." 19 This is a -- it doesn't say at the 20 end of this recommendation that I should wait 21 to 2012. It doesn't -- I'll wait until 22 somebody's not whispering in your ear, so you 23 can hear me. It doesn't say there's not 24 enough information in this extensive report

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(518) 371-8910 1 that is 31 pages -- cites the regional 2 offices, cites the school districts, cites 3 over 400 school districts, the dollar amounts. 4 It cites the comments back from the school 5 districts as far as the report. I mean, it 6 goes from Bay Shore, Brentwood, Horseheads, 7 North Collins, Queensbury, Whitesville -- it's 8 all over the state. It talks about the 9 increases versus tax levy. It's pretty 10 extensive. And I think he's pretty concrete 11 in his recommendations. 12 So, I mean, do you have another 13 piece of paper that says we should wait that I 14 haven't seen, as an addendum to this 15 Comptroller's report, that says we shouldn't 16 do it now? 17 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 18 you, Madam Chair. Actually, that's lumped 19 information from 400 and some different school 20 districts. We don't know -- I don't 21 believe -- we can certainly go and approach 22 the Comptroller on this, but I don't believe 23 that we have the specifics for each district. 24 And I think that is what is necessary before

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(518) 371-8910 1 we can act on it. 2 That money was put into this 3 account because they had no other place to 4 park the money that was to go to GASB. So 5 that's why it's in the account. But in order 6 to deliver it to individual districts, we have 7 to know the specifics. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you 9 very much, Senator. 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: You're 11 welcome, Senator Fuschillo. 12 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 13 President, on the bill. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Senator Fuschillo, on the bill. 16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: First of all, 17 my comments on higher education. 18 Senator Stavisky, when she talked 19 about higher education, started off by "it 20 continues our investment in higher education." 21 I don't know how asking residents to pay 22 $110 million more or $198 million more in SUNY 23 and CUNY tuition, and only allocating 24 $54 million out of the $198 million to the

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(518) 371-8910 1 SUNY and CUNY schools, is an investment in 2 higher education. 3 And with respect to our education 4 portion of the budget, Comptroller Tom 5 DiNapoli, a former member of the Legislature, 6 makes his recommendations clear in this report 7 that his office had done over an extensive 8 period of time. And it says that school 9 districts have in excess of $400 million in a 10 liability reserve account. 11 And he stated very clearly in this 12 report to the Legislature, for the world to 13 see, all the school districts, that we should 14 be giving them the opportunity to put this 15 money back and use it to mitigate high 16 property taxes. It's that simple. He didn't 17 say wait three years. I mean, we're probably 18 going to have a billion dollars in those 19 accounts, because he shows in a very short 20 period of time how those accounts have grown 21 over a hundred million dollars. 22 I have school districts that have 23 asked for this to be in there. They were 24 applauding the Comptroller when he issued this

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(518) 371-8910 1 report that allowed them to utilize these 2 funds to mitigate high property taxes. They 3 were applauding Governor Paterson -- probably 4 the only time in this budget that they would 5 applaud him -- that he had the language in 6 there. And the Senate Democrats and the 7 Assembly Democrats rejected that language. To 8 wait three years is wrong. 9 With respect to education, it 10 concerns me greatly with the education funding 11 that the traditional regional balances have 12 been taken away. In my region on Long Island, 13 we're being shortchanged, definitely being 14 shortchanged. The agreement leaves foundation 15 aid at a frozen amount, meaning our schools on 16 Long Island will not receive a statutory 17 $129 million increase in unrestricted aid for 18 2009 and 2010. 19 This will translate into obviously 20 a significant increase in property taxes. In 21 addition to taking away the STAR rebate 22 checks, Long Island will lose another 23 $370 million, totaling nearly $500 million 24 that we will be losing by freezing that

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(518) 371-8910 1 account and by taking away the STAR rebate 2 checks. 3 It simply isn't fair, Governor. 4 You're not fair to Long Island. I mean, a 5 simple message: Move out, drop dead, Long 6 Island; we don't care. 7 You came to Long Island, the 8 Governor came to the Long Island, to the LIA 9 Association, the largest business association, 10 and told a group of business leaders that Long 11 Island gets too much school aid. He was in 12 upstate New York a few weeks ago, touting an 13 economic project, and said "People from Long 14 Island need jobs? Move to upstate." 15 Come on, Governor. Over 2 million 16 people live on Long Island. We're dependent 17 on this aid. You and the Democrats in the 18 Senate and the Assembly are shortchanging us. 19 And when they raise property taxes, it's 20 because of this state budget. 21 Thank you very much, Madam 22 President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 24 Senator Parker.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, Madam 2 President. On the bill. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Parker, on the bill. 5 SENATOR PARKER: First let me 6 begin by thanking all my colleagues on both 7 sides of the aisle for their work on this 8 budget and for a very vigorous debate. 9 I particularly also want to thank 10 the Governor for being kind of out in front of 11 this crisis that we find ourselves in, and the 12 cooperation that we found on the other side of 13 the building with our Assembly colleagues. 14 This is quite a feat that we've 15 gotten accomplished this year, quite a feat. 16 It is only about 84 days that the Democratic 17 Majority has been in place. And I want to 18 applaud you all for the hard work and your 19 expertise that you've brought to this process. 20 This is not a great budget. But 21 these are hard times, and hard times demand 22 hard choices. And you've made those hard 23 choices. But yet this is a budget we still 24 can be proud of because there's still much in

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(518) 371-8910 1 this budget that we have done that is 2 important for the people of the State of 3 New York and for the individual districts 4 which we all represent. 5 In education, we've kept it flat. 6 And we've had to do that, and we've maintained 7 our commitment to making sure that there is in 8 fact enough money in the budget, but also 9 understand that in recessionary times your 10 cost of living is not going up, your cost of 11 living is going down. And so maintaining our 12 commitment to education is critical. 13 We have provided for job training. 14 You know, again in a recession when people are 15 losing jobs and jobs are transforming and the 16 economic opportunities are morphing 17 themselves, it's important to be able to have 18 reinforces to train people for what the next 19 job is, not for what their last job was. And 20 so we've done that in this budget. 21 We've secured the safety net. 22 We've made sure that people who need 23 unemployment insurance, people who need access 24 to food, and people who need all kinds of

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(518) 371-8910 1 relief -- mothers with children, daycare -- 2 have all been increased in this budget. We 3 should be proud of that, because we've made 4 sure that those who are going to be hurt the 5 worst in these hard economic times are being 6 secured. 7 As relates to CUNY and SUNY, which 8 is very, very dear to my heart because 9 Brooklyn College -- I represent Flatbush and 10 East Flatbush, Millwood, Ditmas Park, 11 Kensington, Borough Park. The biggest 12 institution in my district -- point blank, 13 period -- the largest employer is Brooklyn 14 College. And so there is no one here, 15 frankly, who probably has an institution where 16 that is as important. Except for Senator 17 Libous and Senator LaValle and Senator -- in 18 other words, we all have the same issue. We 19 all think that CUNY and SUNY is important. 20 And certainly no one on this side 21 of the aisle would have certainly voted for a 22 budget that we thought shortchanged CUNY or 23 SUNY. But we also thought it was important to 24 provide some parity. We thought it was

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(518) 371-8910 1 important to make sure that TAP and the 2 Opportunity Programs were restored and 3 increased to in fact address the needs with 4 rising tuition. So as a student who comes 5 into a situation where they're receiving full 6 TAP even after the increase, based on this 7 budget, they will continue to receive the full 8 amount of TAP and be able to cover all their 9 expenses. We're doing that today in this 10 budget, right here and right now. 11 And, you know, despite all the 12 rhetoric today, we're adding money to support 13 libraries. So, you know, I don't know even 14 what budget people are reading. I know it's 15 pretty thick; you might want to turn to the 16 appropriate pages and make sure you count all 17 the numbers right. But we're actually 18 increasing funding for libraries. And again, 19 that's important for both education and to 20 make sure that our young people are getting 21 access to the resources they need in this new 22 information age that we all live. 23 Look, let's get the record straight 24 around here. We just came off a change

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(518) 371-8910 1 election. And what was that change about? 2 That change was eight years of a Republican 3 administration in the federal government, over 4 43 years of Senate domination of the 5 Republicans in this house right here, and 6 after 12 years of Governor Pataki's despotic 7 rule over the budget that has left us in over 8 40 percent more debt than we were the day he 9 came into office. 10 Let's get the record straight. If 11 problems exist upstate and problems exist on 12 Long Island, you had 43 years to deal with 13 those issues -- 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Senator DeFrancisco. Senator -- 16 SENATOR PARKER: -- and now is 17 not the time to start critiquing a budget 18 based on us trying to deal with a contracting 19 economy. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator DeFrancisco, why do you rise? 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would 23 Senator Parker yield to a question? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Parker, do you yield? 2 SENATOR PARKER: I will be 3 pleased to yield after I finish my comments. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you. 5 SENATOR PARKER: So as we're 6 getting the record straight today, let's be 7 clear that we're in the greatest contraction 8 of our economy in 70 years. And let's be 9 clear, we've been here 84 days. So it 10 certainly wasn't us who got us in there. 11 We're all just trying to clean up some other 12 people's mess. 13 Let's be clear. Let's get the 14 record straight. This is the worst economy 15 we've dealt with since the Great Depression, 16 and you know how bad it was in the Great 17 Depression. My father used to say, Eric, it 18 was so bad in 1932 that rats was kicking over 19 garbage cans, eating onions, and crying like 20 babies. And that's what we're dealing with 21 right now. 22 There are people hurting. We can't 23 afford to spend the money that we used to 24 spend. We can't afford to just ignore, you

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(518) 371-8910 1 know, what the budget realities are in this 2 state and say, Well, yeah, Governor, I know 3 you told us we were going to have a 4 $13 billion budget deficit that grew to a 5 $14 billion budget deficit that as of 6 yesterday was $17.5 billion. But yeah, forget 7 all of that. Let's, you know, securitize 8 whatever we think we're going to get and 9 let's, you know, bond out the rest of it and 10 let's just spend money, you know, like there's 11 no tomorrow. 12 As Senator Kruger indicated to us 13 yesterday, you know, the days of wine and 14 roses are over. And now we have a party that 15 is committed to fiscal discipline that in fact 16 has decided that we are not going to continue 17 to spend all the money that we spent, you 18 know, willy-nilly. 19 Let's get the record straight on 20 some other things. Yesterday somebody used 21 this budget and called it chutzpah. Well, I 22 represent, you know, the largest orthodox 23 community in New York City, and one or 24 probably the largest in the state. So I know

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(518) 371-8910 1 a little bit about chutzpah. And it is the 2 height of chutzpah to have control of this 3 body for 43 years -- really, 70 years -- and 4 then to complain about how bad your 5 communities are. Well, if you couldn't fix 6 them in 43 years, give us a couple of years to 7 show you how it's done. 8 And then with this first budget, we 9 are in fact taking those first steps of fiscal 10 discipline and not continuing to just spend, 11 spend, spend on things that make no sense. 12 There were a lot of conversations 13 about Empire Zones, and we certainly need to 14 have a whole conversation on Empire Zones, 15 Madam President, and the kind of corruption 16 and graft that they have been noted for. And 17 let's make sure that we also, you know, as we 18 have those conversations, talk about the jobs 19 that were promised and not delivered. If in 20 fact the Empire Zone program was so wonderful, 21 we would not be in this contraction of our 22 economy in the state as we stand here. 23 Let's get the record straight. And 24 you talk about transparency? For real? Are

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(518) 371-8910 1 you serious? I mean, you know, we came 2 into -- when I came into this body in 2003, 3 there had been 22 straight years -- I'm sorry, 4 actually at that point 21 straight years of 5 late budgets where, you know, people were 6 talking about the three men in a room being a 7 constitutional directive. 8 A budget that was done this year 9 with frankly as many hearings as we had, 10 access to the Internet, hotlines, 11 conversations -- I know my ranker and myself, 12 Senator Nozzolio, met more than once to talk 13 about the issues related to energy and 14 telecommunications in this budget. And I know 15 many of you were contacted by the chairs of 16 your respective committees to talk about the 17 problems in this budget. So let's not act 18 like there was no opportunity to discuss the 19 budget or the issues in the budget that you 20 were concerned with. 21 Let's get this record straight 22 about education. And particularly as we start 23 talking about Medgar Evers College, the only 24 historically black college founded in the CUNY

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(518) 371-8910 1 system. And we turned that college around in 2 very short order. And it was really the 3 Republican majority in this house that stopped 4 us from making it a four-year institution and 5 making sure that it got the economic parity it 6 needs and deserves. 7 And I think that every single CUNY 8 and SUNY college deserves economic parity. 9 And I don't think that because students at a 10 particular school are primarily black and 11 Latino that they deserve less funding. And so 12 we are now today righting a wrong that should 13 have been righted several years ago. 14 Let's get the record straight about 15 what's going on here as relates to education 16 funding and the Campaign for Fiscal Equity 17 lawsuit. I mean, we suffered under the boot 18 of tyranny in the Republican majority in this 19 house for years, where people laughed at us 20 about getting the Campaign for Fiscal Equity 21 lawsuit. I had to get arrested out in front 22 of the building blocking the doors in protest 23 to get anybody to even pay attention to the 24 issue. In 2006, I took 10 no votes on this

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(518) 371-8910 1 exact -- on a budget that didn't in fact deal 2 with CFE even after we got two Supreme Court 3 rulings from the state. Where people said 4 essentially, in this chamber: You got a 5 judgment, now try to get the money. 6 And so to come here today and to 7 talk about the problems in this budget and 8 talk about chutzpah and talk about 9 transparency and talk about the process is 10 frankly amazing to me. 11 And, you know, I'm hoping that my 12 colleagues will continue to work alongside one 13 another in a collegial manner and work through 14 our differences. This budget is far from 15 perfect, far from perfect. But if we were 16 able to get a perfect budget in a contracting 17 economy, with the kind of layoffs that we're 18 looking at not just in the public sector but 19 also in the private sector, I would love to 20 see the wizardry that somebody was doing with 21 the numbers. 22 The reality is we had very little 23 choice. And if you really want to get the 24 record straight, what we all ought to be doing

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(518) 371-8910 1 is writing thank-you letters to President 2 Barack Obama. Because if wasn't for his 3 stimulus package, we in fact would be looking 4 at a budget that was far, far, far worse than 5 the one we're about to vote on right now. 6 And so I ask people for their 7 indulgence in a process that has not been 8 perfect, in a budget that is far from perfect 9 but is certainly a good budget, and one that 10 takes the people of the State of New York into 11 next year with hope and opportunity that 12 brighter days are coming for this state. 13 Thank you, Madam President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Thank you, Senator. 16 Senator DeFrancisco, do you still 17 request Senator Parker to yield? 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: No. But 19 I'd like to address the bill in 30 seconds or 20 less, as opposed to asking a question. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Well, might we add your name to a list? I 23 believe Senator Padavan is -- 24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Then I will

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(518) 371-8910 1 ask him a question. 2 (Laughter.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Parker, do you yield? 5 SENATOR PARKER: Absolutely. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Senator 7 Parker, since you're interested in keeping the 8 record straight and lauding your ability to 9 have such fiscal discipline, I just want to 10 ask you whether or not you agree with this 11 statement of the Democrat Comptroller of the 12 State of New York. 13 "New York faced an extraordinary 14 challenge" -- dated today, by the way -- "to 15 adopt a 2009-2010 state budget in the context 16 of daunting recession. My preliminary view of 17 the budget indicates it does not adequately 18 respond to today's economic realities. The 19 budget is not a long-term solution to 20 New York's prosperity to spend more than the 21 state can afford. While the budget proposes 22 to close an unprecedented gap, it does so by 23 overreliance on nonrecurring federal stimulus 24 funds and new tax revenues projected to

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(518) 371-8910 1 materialize at a time of declining tax 2 receipts. This is essentially a buy-time 3 budget based on hope that the economy recovers 4 quickly. It's a very fragile basket to place 5 all of the taxpayers' eggs in." Pretty strong 6 language. 7 "Instead of using the federal 8 stimulus money to restructure the financial 9 plan and match projected revenues to long-term 10 growth and spending, the budget uses stimulus 11 funds as a short-term fix. The danger is 12 New York could end up right back where we 13 started with huge budget gaps and an 14 unsustainable level of spending. I will 15 provide a more detailed review of the enacted 16 budget shortly." 17 Do you disagree with the Democrat 18 Comptroller of the State of New York as to 19 what the record is from his disinterested post 20 as a separately elected body to keep an eye on 21 what's going on in the budget? 22 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 23 through you. I have a great deal of respect 24 for Comptroller DiNapoli, who actually is a

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(518) 371-8910 1 former Assembly member and actually for many 2 years voted on these same budgets alongside of 3 us. 4 In this particular case I think 5 that his view is an interesting one. I don't 6 necessarily agree with all of it. I think 7 that he has maybe some points that we ought to 8 be discussing, and that's frankly why we're 9 here. 10 The reality is this. We are in 11 fact hoping that things will turn around. No 12 one knows whether this stimulus money is in 13 fact going to work. They've said that even on 14 the federal level. Some people are saying 15 that we need triple the amount of money that 16 we've allocated. But the reality is we don't 17 have that. We've gotten about $25 billion for 18 the next two years. That's what we have. 19 We have decided to take some 20 portion of that this year and spend it to in 21 fact make sure that schools from Brookhaven to 22 Brooklyn to Buffalo are in fact adequately 23 funded. We have taken that money to make sure 24 that hospitals, again, from, you know,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Riverhead to Rochester have enough staffing 2 and enough beds in them. We have made sure 3 that housing all over the state is being taken 4 care of, from Staten Island to Syracuse. And 5 so that's what we've done with our stimulus 6 money. 7 Other parts of that stimulus money 8 is going to be actually used to stimulate the 9 economy. We took pieces of it to work on the 10 budget this time and make sure that we didn't 11 have to have layoffs, make sure that we, as 12 Governor Paterson put, kept our commitment to 13 the core philosophies and principles of our 14 departments and to make sure that housing and 15 education and transportation and public 16 protection are in fact being served in their 17 core respective areas. 18 But we will also take some of that 19 money and say, all right, business community, 20 all right, public utilities -- in the case of 21 my committee -- let's find projects that in 22 fact produce jobs, that are shovel-ready, that 23 are in fact going to increase economic 24 opportunities across this state. And that's

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(518) 371-8910 1 what we've done with it. 2 And so I look forward to seeing 3 Comptroller DiNapoli's full report. I think 4 that we should look at what he's said today. 5 But we have to go forward with the budget now. 6 The people can't wait. If we don't pass this 7 budget today, you are talking about your 8 taxpayers and my taxpayers paying upwards of 9 $130 million per day in debt service when this 10 budget is late. That's not a burden I want to 11 put on my taxpayers. Surely, Senator 12 DeFrancisco, that's not something that you 13 want to put on yours. 14 We are going to have opportunities 15 to come back, as we always have, and make 16 corrections. But today we must pass this 17 budget because it's our next best opportunity 18 to create a safety net and economic 19 opportunities for the people of this state. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator Flanagan, why do you rise? 22 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Would Senator 23 Parker yield. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Parker, will you yield? 2 SENATOR PARKER: Absolutely. 3 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator 4 Parker, two questions, I could. 5 Relative to the transparency of 6 this process, do you agree with the statement 7 that was made by Speaker Silver that we didn't 8 have any need for public conference committees 9 because, after all, we're all Democrats and we 10 don't have to worry about things like that? 11 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 12 through you. I don't serve under the Speaker. 13 So what the Speaker says is up to the Speaker. 14 Let me just say this, that we have, 15 in this conference and in this body, always 16 maintained that there needs to be transparency 17 and there needs to be a process that's open. 18 We in fact tried to do that under very hard 19 circumstances, both with taking over a new 20 majority and in the context of having to 21 negotiate with both the Assembly and the 22 Governor. 23 We did that several ways. There 24 were joint -- and Senator Kruger talked about

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(518) 371-8910 1 this yesterday. There were several joint 2 hearings. There was for the first time a 3 hotline set up where people could call in and 4 give us input in that request. There were 5 lots of ways that we gave opportunities and to 6 talk about what's happening with the budget 7 process. And for the first time in at least 8 43 years, the Senate majority reached out to 9 the Senate minority and actually spoke to them 10 about their concerns on the budget. 11 And so as we start talking about 12 transparency, I'm all for transparency. In 13 fact, I serve alongside of Senator Bonacic and 14 Senator David Valesky, who are the co-chairs 15 of the Temporary Committee on Rules and 16 Administrative Reform that's going to in fact 17 make this body even more transparent and more 18 open and accountable to the public than it's 19 ever been before. And so I have a commitment 20 to that, and I think we all do. 21 And I think that again, you know, 22 what the Speaker does is the Speaker's 23 prerogative. But we're here serving in this 24 body. And in this body we believe in

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(518) 371-8910 1 transparency and are going to continue to 2 fight for that. 3 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Well, I'm glad 4 to hear that. And let me follow up with the 5 next question in relation to what you just 6 said. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Do you continue to yield? 9 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I apologize, 10 Madam President. Does Senator Parker continue 11 to yield? 12 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, I continue 13 to yield. 14 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 15 Madam President. 16 We didn't have conference 17 committees. And the Senate Democrats are in 18 charge and certainly are entitled to do things 19 the way you want. But we actually have a law, 20 the Budget Reform Act of 2007, and prior to 21 that we actually did have conference 22 committees where there was participation by 23 the Senate Democrats and the Senate 24 Republicans. So to suggest that for 43 years

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Senate minority was not invited is just a 2 complete misstatement of the truth and of the 3 facts, because we did have public conference 4 committees. 5 There were actual public leaders' 6 meetings where Lieutenant Governor or now 7 Governor David Paterson, as the Senate 8 minority leader, was there. So the Senate 9 minority participated in a public, meaningful, 10 open way. And in fact, the Senate minority 11 and the Assembly minority were involved in 12 five-way negotiations. And that's a fact. So 13 to suggest for 43 years that somehow we didn't 14 do that is, again, just a complete 15 misstatement of fact. 16 But my question to you is Senator 17 DeFrancisco and Senator Kruger had a 18 discussion last night about the level of 19 spending and the increase in spending. Last 20 year's All Funds number was $119.6 billion. 21 This year's All Funds number is 22 $131.8 billion, an increase of $12.2 billion, 23 or a 10.2 increase in spending. 24 I listened to your comments about

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(518) 371-8910 1 fiscal discipline. Do you believe that a 2 10.2 percent increase in spending represents 3 fiscal discipline? 4 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 5 through you. I think your characterization of 6 the $10.2 billion is, frankly, a 7 mischaracterization. I think as you start 8 talking about the numbers, again, you have to 9 understand the numbers in the context. 10 Part of the numbers you're counting 11 is in fact the stimulus money. And that 12 stimulus money doesn't necessarily come out of 13 our pot. And so when you add it as increased 14 spending, it's actually supposed to be 15 increased spending, because that's how the 16 federal government set it up, that's how 17 President Barack Obama set it up. It's 18 supposed to be additional money to stimulate 19 the economy, and that's why it's called 20 "stimulus." 21 Now, that being said -- and when 22 you take that away and you start doing the 23 math, the percentage of increase that it is is 24 not significant at all, actually less than

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(518) 371-8910 1 1 percent. And so I think that when you start 2 talking about fiscal discipline, we've done a 3 lot better this year than we've done in 4 several, several other Republican budgets. 5 But that also being said is that 6 I'm going to disagree with you about your 7 characterization about conference committees. 8 Conference committees are a fairly new thing 9 around here. And I know we did them for about 10 three or four years, mostly under Democratic 11 governors, who in fact insisted that the 12 minority were brought to the table, and most 13 of the time kicking and screaming. 14 And so, you know, let's not act 15 like for 43 years there were conference 16 committees. For 43 years there weren't 17 conference committees, which is part of we why 18 have been dubbed the most dysfunctional 19 legislature in the country, because in part we 20 had for a long time a very closed process. 21 Was the process perfect this year? 22 No. Will it be better next year? Yes. But 23 it's certainly better this year than it had 24 been any other time, you know, in the last

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(518) 371-8910 1 40 years at minimum. 2 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator 3 Parker, I just -- would Senator Parker 4 continue to yield? 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield? 7 SENATOR PARKER: Absolutely. 8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I'll make 9 something crystal-clear. I never said that 10 there were conference committees for 43 years. 11 What I was responding to was your 12 characterization that there had been no 13 outreach by the Senate majority to the Senate 14 minority. I can recall instances serving in 15 this body and in the Assembly where the Senate 16 actually showed up, Senator Bruno, and the 17 Assembly refused to appear at public meetings 18 for public discourse. 19 So did we do it perfectly? 20 Absolutely not. But if we're going to be 21 talking about factual characterizations, we 22 should at least get the facts straight. 23 And I would respectfully offer to 24 you that a 10.2 percent increase in spending,

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(518) 371-8910 1 ultimately all that money -- federal, state, 2 local, county, village, wherever it comes 3 from -- it comes from the taxpayers. And 4 they're going to believe the 10.2 percent 5 increase in spending is anything but fiscal 6 discipline. 7 Thank you, Madam President. 8 SENATOR PARKER: May I respond? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Senator Parker. 11 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 12 just so we can again get the record clear, I 13 refuse to take responsibility for something I 14 had no authority over. The Assembly members 15 or the Speaker not appearing for a meeting has 16 no relevance or bearing on this Senate 17 majority or the former Senate minority and our 18 ability to control the Speaker and what they 19 do in that part of the house. 20 And we will see what the voters 21 think about the spending plan, particularly 22 after a we secure the safety net under them 23 and give them more opportunities for job 24 training and opportunities to seek higher

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(518) 371-8910 1 education during this fiscal recession. 2 Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Saland, why do you rise? 5 Senator Lanza, why do you rise? 6 SENATOR SALAND: Would Senator 7 Parker yield? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 9 Senator Saland first, then Senator Lanza. 10 Senator Parker, will you yield? 11 SENATOR PARKER: Absolutely. 12 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 13 Senator Parker. 14 Senator Parker, I refrained from 15 rising on a point of personal privilege with 16 your characterization of my use of the term 17 "chutzpah." You may recall at the time 18 Senator Kruger was speaking in the most 19 platitudinous of terms about the historic 20 moment that this budget represented. To which 21 I said, and I think rightfully so, that it 22 took enormous chutzpah for one to make that 23 claim. 24 Would you disagree with the

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(518) 371-8910 1 definition of "chutzpah"? Would you agree 2 that it takes enormous nerve to term this 3 historic, something that we should be beating 4 our chest about with great pride, after you 5 yourself said that this budget in effect 6 leaves a lot to be desired but it's the best 7 we can do under the circumstances? 8 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 9 through you. As someone who's spent a great 10 deal of my time as a college professor, and 11 somewhat, you know, of a historian myself, I 12 think that the use of the word "history" and 13 "historical" is nonpejorative. That is, it 14 does not in fact innately or inherently have 15 any value to it. That is, "historical" does 16 not mean historically good or historically 17 bad, but in fact something to note. 18 When you look at a budget that has 19 in fact been based on numbers going down, and 20 saying that we're in, again, the greatest 21 contraction in our nation's history, that's 22 historical. Just like, you know, during the 23 Democratic reign of Bill Clinton as president 24 we had the greatest explosion in our economy

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(518) 371-8910 1 and the most jobs created in our economy, that 2 was historic. 3 So historic within the context of 4 the word itself and using the lexicon, doesn't 5 in fact have a pejorative meaning. And so I 6 thought that Senator Kruger's use of the word 7 "historic" was in fact appropriate and 8 necessary. 9 SENATOR SALAND: I'm not going to 10 engage in a semantic exercise with you. But 11 if you'll continue to yield. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 13 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield? 14 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, ma'am. 15 SENATOR SALAND: In your comments 16 you said you were hoping to turn this economy 17 around. 18 Do you subscribe to the theory that 19 we could tax our way out of a recession? 20 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 21 through you. I subscribe to the theory that 22 we have to provide economic opportunity for 23 people. And I think that we've gotten that 24 opportunity vis-a-vis President Barack Obama

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(518) 371-8910 1 and the stimulus package that he's provided 2 us, $25 billion to this state. And that's 3 just the money we've gotten directly. That 4 doesn't even count the other dollars that we 5 can compete for. 6 So for instance, as chair of the 7 Energy and Telecommunications Committee, I 8 know there's about $14.5 billion available for 9 smart-grid technology that organizations like 10 the MTA could apply for, National Grid could 11 apply for, and get that. So, you know, we 12 could go really, technically, 30, maybe even 13 $40 billion worth of dollars vis-a-vis this 14 stimulus package. 15 So I certainly believe that through 16 that stimulus package and some of the measures 17 we're taking in this budget that we in fact 18 can provide opportunity vis-a-vis two things. 19 One, creating a safety net. 20 Because there's going to be lots of people in 21 all of our districts across the state who are 22 going to have problems over the next few 23 months between losing their jobs, daycare, you 24 know, not having enough to eat, you know,

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(518) 371-8910 1 being foreclosed on, renters who are going to 2 be losing their homes. And I think that this 3 budget, and particularly this part of the 4 budget that we're voting on now, provides a 5 securitization of that safety net. 6 The second piece is economic 7 development, where you're in fact doing job 8 creation. And again, this part of the budget 9 provides for job training and particularly 10 green-collar jobs, which we know is going to 11 be our next best opportunity to provide jobs 12 in this economy. 13 SENATOR SALAND: Well, I would 14 beg to differ with your reference to this 15 budget creating jobs. But could you tell me 16 how much of the -- 17 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 18 Senator Saland, are you asking Senator Parker 19 to continue to yield? 20 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, if he would 21 continue to yield. 22 -- how much federal stimulus 23 money -- 24 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, ma'am, I'll

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(518) 371-8910 1 yield. 2 SENATOR SALAND: Would you be 3 able to tell me how much federal stimulus 4 money is included in this nearly $132 billion 5 budget? 6 SENATOR PARKER: My understanding 7 is that there's approximately $7.2 billion in 8 stimulus money provided. 9 SENATOR SALAND: That certainly 10 is consistent with page 2 of the Senate 11 Finance Committee. 12 SENATOR PARKER: I try. 13 SENATOR SALAND: Will you 14 continue to yield, please? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Do you continue to yield, Senator Parker? 17 SENATOR PARKER: Absolutely. 18 SENATOR SALAND: Do you recall -- 19 or if you don't recall the debate that ensued 20 last night over last year's budget, the amount 21 of money in the 2008-2009 financial plan as it 22 was closed out was $119.74 billion. Would you 23 accept that as a given, or would you care to 24 challenge that number?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 2 through you, it depends on what numbers you're 3 using. But I won't debate the fact that that 4 may in fact be the number. 5 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. 6 Would Senator Parker continue to 7 yield? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 9 Do you continue to yield, Senator Parker? 10 SENATOR PARKER: Yes. 11 SENATOR SALAND: My source is the 12 Division of the Budget, by the way. 13 And if you will recall the exchange 14 again between Senator Kruger and Senator 15 Flanagan that occurred last night, Senator 16 Kruger, the chairman of the Finance Committee, 17 acknowledged that there was some $6 billion in 18 cuts from the General Fund from that base 19 amount. Do you recall that exchange? 20 SENATOR PARKER: I don't 21 recall -- Madam President, through you, I 22 don't necessarily recall that. But again, I'm 23 not going to argue if you in fact -- you know, 24 I trust you. At least on that.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SALAND: I'm sorry? 2 SENATOR PARKER: I'll trust your 3 numbers on this. 4 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. I 5 appreciate that. It is a matter of record. 6 If you then take that 119-plus 7 billion, it approaches 120, and you subtract 8 6 billion, which is the amount that was cut, 9 you now have $114 billion left -- 113.75 would 10 be a more accurate amount. We have gone from 11 $113.75 billion in spending to $131.8 billion 12 in spending, which is a difference of 13 approximately 18 billion -- I used the number 14 $17 billion last night -- of which, according 15 to your comments and this Senate Finance 16 budget fact sheet, includes $7.2 billion in 17 stimulus money. 18 Now, if I take $7.2 billion from 19 nearly $18 billion, it leaves somewhere in the 20 area of $11 billion, give or take a few modest 21 hundred million or so. That's more than a 22 10 percent increase, that's more like a 23 13 percent increase. 24 And it brings me back to the

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(518) 371-8910 1 question that I had asked earlier. Do you 2 believe, in a severe recession, where we're 3 now taking $11 billion of nonfederal money, 4 according to your own Senate document -- and I 5 believe you're a member of the Finance 6 Committee, are you not? 7 SENATOR PARKER: I am. Is that a 8 separate question? 9 SENATOR SALAND: Do you believe 10 that it's wise public policy to try and tax 11 your way out of a recession by increasing your 12 spending by close to 13 percent or close to 13 $18 billion? 14 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 15 through you. Senator Saland, first of all, 16 thank you for your close observation of the 17 numbers. And I think that you in fact make 18 some points that are valid given the set of 19 assumptions that you're working off of. 20 The set of numbers that the Senate 21 work of in our negotiations with the Assembly 22 and the Governor actually were based on the 23 Governor's Executive Budget. So quickly -- I 24 know some of you are familiar with this, maybe

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(518) 371-8910 1 some of you are not -- how the budget process 2 works in the State of New York is the 3 following. The Governor comes out with an 4 Executive Budget. We in fact -- 5 SENATOR SALAND: Would you suffer 6 an interruption, Senator? If you want to use 7 that number, I'll use -- if you'll suffer an 8 interruption -- 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Senator -- Senator Adams, why do you rise? 11 SENATOR ADAMS: I think the chair 12 should be respected. A question was asked, 13 the Senator was answering it. If there's 14 other questions that should be asked, they 15 should come through you. This is not in the 16 street, where we're just arguing with each 17 other. There's a point of decorum that's 18 expected. 19 SENATOR SALAND: I merely asked 20 the Senator if he would suffer an interruption 21 so I could concede, for purposes of this 22 argument, the Governor's number, which is 23 121.3. So that is a difference of less than a 24 billion and a half. So let us say we're not

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(518) 371-8910 1 talking about an $18 billion increase, we're 2 talking about a mere 16.5 billion increase. 3 Take out the $7.2 billion, and it 4 leaves us with a modest $9.5 billion increase 5 in state General Funds. I'll use your number. 6 It's not an accurate year of year number, but 7 I'll save the argument. I will use your 8 number, 121.3. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Excuse me. Senator Parker, do you yield to 11 Senator Saland's question? 12 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, ma'am, I'll 13 yield for a question. 14 SENATOR SALAND: I merely said 15 that -- 16 SENATOR PARKER: Senator Saland, 17 I do. 18 But there's other assumptions that 19 you're making that I don't necessarily agree 20 with, in the way that you calculate the 21 deficit. So the way that you calculate the 22 deficit, you know, part of what we do when you 23 fill a deficit, and that was part of what we 24 did, is you take the number back up. And so

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(518) 371-8910 1 when you're starting at that number, right, 2 once you've filled the deficit and then take 3 yourself from 121 and add the rest of the 4 money, that's really where you should start. 5 So really the 121 is the beginning 6 of the conversation about where we're going, 7 not the 6 billion that we're cutting off. 8 Because our numbers, again, are based on the 9 Governor's numbers, and the Governor assumes 10 121. And what he attempts to do is actually 11 get us to that level of spending because he 12 feels like that level of spending is what we 13 need to do to maintain core services. 14 But to answer your question 15 directly, as relates to taxing your way out of 16 a deficit, I agree with you, we shouldn't tax 17 our way out of a deficit. And you need to 18 remember that in this budget that we're going 19 to pass today, 96 percent of New Yorkers do 20 not pay higher taxes. So 96 percent of the 21 people in the State of New York, and most of 22 them are middle-class and lower-income 23 New Yorkers, don't pay higher taxes. They 24 don't pay higher taxes.

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(518) 371-8910 1 And as I do know that we have in 2 fact done some Fair Share, I think that 3 schoolteachers who teach at P.S. 193, where I 4 went to elementary school, and CC Sabathia, 5 who is the new pitcher for the Yankees, should 6 not be paying in the same tax bracket. And I 7 think that we took some steps in this budget 8 this year to in fact correct that injustice 9 and did that at the same time as protecting 10 lower-income and middle-class New Yorkers. 11 SENATOR SALAND: If the Senator 12 will continue to yield. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 14 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield? 15 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, ma'am. 16 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Parker, 17 I can return to my district and tell people 18 that their utility bills will not go up, that 19 they will not pay for more for wine or beer; I 20 can tell them that their health premiums will 21 not go up -- you're going to assure me that I 22 can tell them that; I can also tell them their 23 property taxes won't go up, because there are 24 no increases that impact anybody but that

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(518) 371-8910 1 small percentage that you cited. 2 So I can tell them with confidence 3 that Senator Parker has assured me that 4 whatever may be on your utility bill, whatever 5 may be on your tax bill, whatever you may pay 6 more at the store, it's illusory, don't 7 believe it, it didn't go up. 8 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 9 through you. I think that you're fine to tell 10 your constituents whatever you'd like to tell 11 them. 12 I think, again, if we're going to 13 get the record straight, utility bills are not 14 taxes. I'm not responsible necessarily 15 directly for what utility bills go out by 16 National Grid or whoever people's power 17 providers are. 18 The reality is this. If you're 19 going to talk about what we're passing today, 20 what we're going up or down on is this budget 21 bill here. This budget bill -- sorry, these 22 sets of budget bills, when we pass them, will 23 not raise the taxes of 96 percent of 24 New Yorkers. If you're talking about people's

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(518) 371-8910 1 fees and rates that may in fact fluctuate 2 based on a number of dynamics in the economy, 3 that's a different conversation. And we can 4 have that conversation, but those are not in 5 fact taxes. 6 SENATOR SALAND: If Senator 7 Parker will continue to yield. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 9 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, ma'am. 11 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Parker, 12 I believe you chair the Energy Committee. 13 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, sir, I do. 14 SENATOR SALAND: Is there no 15 energy tax increase associated with this 16 budget? I'm not involved with that. I've 17 never served on the committee. I thought, 18 perhaps I'm wrong, there is a $600 million 19 increase on utility companies. 20 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 21 through you. There are no direct taxes to 22 ratepayers in this budget as relates to 23 energy. 24 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Parker. 2 Just on the bill, if I may. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Saland, on the bill. 5 SENATOR SALAND: Regardless of 6 how you massage the numbers, this is, I'm 7 sure, the largest spending increase that 8 New York has ever witnessed. Budgets are very 9 difficult in good times. We all know that. 10 They're far more difficult in bad times. And 11 this is the baddest of bad times. Certainly 12 within my lifetime, and I'm older than most of 13 the people in this chamber, this is as bad as 14 I have seen, and there's no close second. 15 And to increase taxes, whether they 16 be personal income taxes -- and we can get to 17 that I'm sure at another time. But to say 18 that utility companies are not going to pass 19 through a $600 million increase is beyond the 20 pale of anything remotely realistic. 21 And there's just a list of fees. 22 People in my district are going to pay 23 thousands of dollars more. I got phone calls 24 yesterday based upon some New York City radio

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(518) 371-8910 1 station that people are listening to, it was a 2 call-in show. My phone rang off the hook in 3 my district office and in Albany. I got calls 4 from people including a teacher, who said: "I 5 didn't know this. How do they expect us to 6 pay for all this?" 7 I got a call from a 70-year-old 8 woman who told my office she hadn't even taken 9 her coat off yet, she just put her groceries 10 on the table, who said: "What's going on? 11 Who are these three people in a room? Why am 12 I going to wind up paying more? And how did 13 this all happen?" 14 So it's real, people know about it, 15 there's no escaping it. This budget is an 16 absolute fiasco. And if I may draw on Winston 17 Churchill -- and I don't remember the exact 18 quote, but words to the effect of "Trying to 19 tax your way out of a recession is like a man 20 standing in a bucket and trying to lift 21 himself." 22 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 23 Senator Lanza, you rose previously? 24 SENATOR LANZA: Yes, thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Madam President. Would Senator Parker yield 2 for a series of questions? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Parker, will you yield? 5 SENATOR PARKER: I will. 6 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you, Madam 7 President. Thank you, Senator Parker. 8 I'm going to make a run at trying 9 to put something to bed here and get a 10 clarification. I listened to Senator Kruger 11 last night discuss this in response to 12 questions from Senator Saland and Senator 13 DeFrancisco and Senator Fuschillo. And now in 14 listening to you in your discussion with 15 Senator Flanagan, when Senator Flanagan -- and 16 what I mean is I'm trying to see whether or 17 not you can finally help us understand why 18 spending $132 billion is in actuality spending 19 less than $120 billion, and we're just trying 20 to reconcile that. 21 Senator Flanagan said that there 22 was a 10 percent increase in spending this 23 year, and you said that that was a 24 miscalculation. So I'm asking you whether or

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(518) 371-8910 1 not in this budget we in the State of New York 2 are spending more this year, spending more 3 this year than was spent last year. 4 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 5 through you. Thank you, Senator Lanza, for 6 your question. And I understand how some of 7 these numbers are tricky, and some of this 8 philosophy, because some of it is 9 understanding the nature of government. 10 Our job in government is to protect 11 those people who cannot protect themselves, is 12 to take care of the least of those in our 13 communities. In the economic downturn that we 14 have now, we have more people who are losing 15 their jobs, losing their health benefits. 16 They are losing their homes, they're losing 17 their apartments. 18 When you take away the $7.2 billion 19 of stimulus money, Madam President, you get a 20 modest increase in what we're doing. And when 21 you even add in the places where we've in fact 22 done Fair Share, in fact 96 percent of the 23 people in the state, mostly low-income 24 New Yorkers and middle-class folks, are not

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(518) 371-8910 1 paying any more, 96 percent are not paying any 2 more in taxes. 3 But the reality is as a state we 4 are having to pick up the burden of more 5 unemployment, of having to pick up the burden 6 for more for education, particularly because 7 many people in my district and your district 8 who are going to private school can no longer 9 afford to go to private school because they 10 lost their jobs working on Wall Street. 11 Right? And because we now have to also pick 12 up more of the health costs, because people, 13 when they lost their jobs, also lost their 14 health benefits. 15 So again, as government, our job is 16 in fact to do that. We're spending the 17 $7.2 billion in stimulus because that is 18 what's necessary to in fact undergird this 19 safety net that we have here in the state. 20 And the stimulus, that's what we're supposed 21 to be doing, we're supposed to be protecting 22 the people in our communities. 23 Barack Obama gave us money, 24 $1.1 billion for education, and we're spending

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(518) 371-8910 1 that money in education to make sure that 2 we're not cutting our education. He gave us 3 money in lots of different areas so we in fact 4 can undergird our economy and our safety net 5 and make sure that we don't drop through the 6 floor. 7 And so if you look at the modest 8 increase in our spending, that modest increase 9 has come from two things: One, the stimulus 10 package, primarily, and then the rest from 11 some other costs that we have to bear because 12 we are in an economic climate. And just 13 saying the economy has gone down, the reality 14 is people have lost their jobs, they've lost 15 their health benefits, they can no longer 16 afford to send their children to a private 17 school, that means the public schools are 18 overburdened. And we as government have the 19 responsibility of bearing those costs across 20 the state. 21 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, 22 would Senator Parker continue to yield? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 24 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PARKER: Absolutely. 2 SENATOR LANZA: You said this was 3 all tricky. I think what's tricky about it is 4 trying to convince people back home that when 5 you spend $132 billion, you're actually 6 spending less than $120 billion. But the 7 question, quite simply put -- and I did not 8 hear an answer -- is whether or not we're 9 spending more this year in the State of 10 New York in this budget than we spent last 11 year. 12 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 13 through you. We're spending more vis-a-vis 14 stimulus and some more, other costs that we 15 have in fact picked up because people have 16 lost their jobs, they've lost their 17 healthcare. They can't send their kids to 18 private school, so they're sending them to 19 public school. You know, so we're paying for 20 hospitals, we're paying for unemployment 21 insurance, we're paying, you know, for 22 education. And, you know, then the President 23 comes out a week later and says everybody 24 should get higher education, so more people

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(518) 371-8910 1 are registering for schools, so we put more 2 into public education. 3 But it's not like we got, you know, 4 a mandate without funding. We got 5 $25 billion. We're spending $7.2 billion 6 right now just to do this. We'll be spending 7 more, in fact, to in fact produce jobs in your 8 district, Senator Lanza, and in my district as 9 we do shovel-ready projects. 10 We're going to be doing things that 11 produce jobs across this state, in the hopes 12 that next year when we come across this budget 13 we'll have a budget that will be in balance 14 because we will have people back to work, our 15 tax revenues will be up, and we'll have an 16 ability to in fact get people moving in the 17 direction they need to. 18 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, 19 would Senator Parker continue to yield? 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, ma'am. 23 SENATOR LANZA: Senator Parker, I 24 think a partial explanation that has been put

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(518) 371-8910 1 forward by your side of the aisle, that I've 2 read in the newspapers and I've heard here on 3 the floor today and last evening, was that the 4 $7 billion that has come from the federal 5 government, since it has come from the 6 taxpayers by way of the federal tax levy as 7 opposed to the state tax levy, that somehow 8 this is not real spending and that this does 9 not count toward the spending that is included 10 in this budget. 11 Is that what you're proposing, 12 Senator Parker? 13 SENATOR PARKER: Senator Lanza -- 14 through you, Madam President. Senator Lanza, 15 I suggest that if in fact you want to tell the 16 family that lost their primary wage-earner 17 that we should not in fact put money into more 18 unemployment insurance, that's fine. If you 19 want to tell people who have lost their 20 healthcare that we in fact as a state should 21 not provide any healthcare for them, that's 22 fine, you can tell them that. 23 If you want to go back and tell 24 those folks who are sending their children to

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(518) 371-8910 1 a diocesan school that has now closed, and now 2 they have to go to public schools, that 3 there's no room in the public schools for them 4 because we didn't want to put more money into 5 public schools, if you want to tell them that, 6 that's fine. 7 The reality is we're in a situation 8 where we got money, it's called stimulus 9 money, that frankly was already decided at the 10 federal level. So what I'm hearing yourself 11 and members across the aisle say to me is that 12 we were given $25 billion to help us solve our 13 problems and we shouldn't spend the money to 14 in fact restore the cuts that we would have 15 needed to make. 16 The reality is this. The Governor 17 presented us with a $121.3 billion budget. He 18 in fact said to us when he gave us the budget 19 that the deficit was going to be about 20 $15 billion. He made $9 billion in cuts, and 21 we added stimulus money plus another 22 $3 billion to in fact restore those cuts. And 23 to in fact take a number of nuisance taxes off 24 the table so that our consumers and our

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(518) 371-8910 1 constituents would not have taxes on things 2 like soda and things like, you know, bowling 3 alleys and gym memberships and cable -- I 4 mean, there was all kinds of things. 5 Haircuts. I mean, there was all kinds of 6 nuisance taxes in there. 7 We took those out. But in order 8 for us to do that, we had to buy those things 9 back. And we bought most of those things back 10 with stimulus money that we were given. And 11 had we not spent the money, we would have lost 12 it. So it was important for us to spend the 13 stimulus money, because that's what the 14 stimulus is for. 15 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, 16 would Senator Parker continue to yield? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 18 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield? 19 SENATOR PARKER: Absolutely. 20 SENATOR LANZA: Well, I thank you 21 for that response. I think for the first time 22 we've heard in this chamber that that stimulus 23 money has actually been spent in this budget. 24 And we shouldn't ignore the fact that it is

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(518) 371-8910 1 part of a $132 billion budget which does 2 reflect a 10 percent increase in spending over 3 last year. 4 And no, Senator Parker, I don't 5 want to tell anyone in this state that I don't 6 want to provide the sort of vital services 7 that they deserve and that they have come to 8 expect from this Legislature. But I also 9 don't want to sell them a bill of goods. And 10 it's important for them to understand that at 11 a time when they're being asked to tighten 12 their belts, it seems that this Legislature is 13 going off on a spending orgy. 14 You said, Senator Parker, that that 15 $7.2 billion federal stimulus money is not 16 coming out of our pockets. From whose pockets 17 is that money coming from? 18 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 19 through you. I never indicated that money 20 wasn't coming out of our pockets. I just 21 indicated that the decision to spend that 22 money was made at the federal level and we 23 were in fact allocated that money the way 24 every other state was allocated that money.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Now, if you want to be like 2 Louisiana and vote to send the money back and 3 not accept the money, then maybe you should 4 run for Governor and make that decision. 5 Our Governor I think made the 6 prudent choice and accepted the stimulus 7 money, and we're in fact using that stimulus 8 money in the way we in fact should be using 9 it, which is to stimulate the economy to in 10 fact restore money for education, for 11 healthcare, for unemployment insurance, for 12 housing, for transportation. 13 And I think that we're going to be 14 a better state down the road exactly because 15 we're using this money in the way that it was 16 intended to be used. And because we're using 17 it in the way it was intended to be used, 18 people will not be unemployed hopefully as 19 long as they would without it, people will 20 have access to healthcare, people will have 21 access to education, so that when the economy 22 in fact makes its natural corrections and 23 starts to go on an upswing, that people will 24 be available for the jobs that will be created

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(518) 371-8910 1 in this state. 2 So I'm very, once again, Madam 3 President, proud of this budget, because I 4 think that it does some things in a very tough 5 situation that need to be done for the future 6 of this state. 7 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, 8 would Senator Parker continue to yield? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Senator Parker, do you continue to yield? 11 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, ma'am. In 12 the interests of time, I'll yield for one more 13 question. 14 SENATOR LANZA: I'd better make 15 it a good one. 16 Senator Parker, you claimed today 17 that 96 percent of New Yorkers will not pay 18 additional taxes in this budget. I'm sure you 19 agree with me that whether it's a fee that a 20 New Yorker has to pay or a tax that they have 21 to pay, it's all the same. Because unlike the 22 rhetoric here, the people back home don't get 23 to make believe that some money comes from 24 someone else's pocket and it's not really

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(518) 371-8910 1 spending when it is spending. They've got one 2 family budget, and they've got to deal with 3 it. 4 So I guess my question to you -- 5 and I was going to go down the list much in 6 the same way as Senator Saland did. But are 7 you saying that 96 percent of New Yorkers 8 don't pay property tax? Because of course 9 this budget has a property tax increase. Are 10 you saying that 96 percent of New Yorkers 11 aren't going to buy bottles of water? Because 12 of course they're paying more for that. Are 13 you saying that 96 percent of New Yorkers 14 aren't going to turn on the television or try 15 to run their refrigerator and therefore not 16 have to pay the tax and assessment on 17 electricity? 18 Are you saying 96 percent of 19 New Yorkers are not going to have to get in 20 the car and therefore avoid paying the 21 increased assessment on the driver's license 22 and the license plate? Are you saying that 23 96 percent of New Yorkers are not going to 24 have to pay auto insurance and therefore avoid

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(518) 371-8910 1 your tax on auto insurance? 2 Are you saying that 96 percent of 3 New Yorkers are not going to have to go to a 4 doctor or are not going to make a visit to a 5 hospital or are not going to pay for a 6 healthcare premium and therefore avoid your 7 tax on all those services? 8 Are you saying that 96 percent of 9 New Yorkers are not going to send their kids 10 to college and therefore avoid your tuition 11 increases? Are you saying that 96 percent of 12 New Yorkers are not going to go to a grocery 13 store or a liquor store and buy wine or beer 14 and therefore avoid your taxes? And I can go 15 on and on. 16 But is that what you are saying, 17 Senator Parker? 18 SENATOR PARKER: Madam President, 19 through you. I'm sorry, I didn't get that. 20 Can you repeat the question? 21 (Laughter.) 22 SENATOR LANZA: I would. I 23 would. 24 SENATOR PARKER: I'm joking.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Lanza, I think that there 2 is a significant difference between what 3 people have to pay and what we're voting on 4 here. 5 First, this budget does not have a 6 property tax increase, because the state does 7 not have any property tax increases in it. We 8 don't do that. And there's nothing located in 9 this budget that in fact increases property 10 taxes. 11 To go on, as it relates to 12 issues -- 13 (Cellphone interference.) 14 SENATOR LANZA: Sorry. 15 SENATOR PARKER: That was the 16 Governor calling you. 17 Madam President, continuing through 18 you, not only is there not any property tax 19 increase in this budget, but in fact we can 20 only be responsible for what we in fact do 21 here. And I'm saying when you look at and 22 calculate the things that we've done, 23 96 percent of the people in this state are 24 being held harmless as it relates to taxes.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Many things that you're talking 2 about are fees and other things that people do 3 because they are users of certain services. 4 And again, when the prices of things have gone 5 up and we have less money to pay for them, we 6 need a ways to do it. 7 What I would love to see from the 8 Senate Minority is something that we did when 9 we were in the minority, which is put forward 10 a plan. It's okay to stand across the room 11 and throw bombs. It's another thing to 12 provide a plan that takes us into the future, 13 that makes the tough choices that had to be 14 made in this budget, and that uses the money 15 that was given to us from the federal stimulus 16 in a way that stimulates the economy in the 17 State of New York. 18 I hope that, you know, as we go 19 forward through this process, that we'll have 20 less bomb throwing and more sharing of ideas 21 of how you in fact spend money that's really 22 there as opposed to just talking about 23 restoring money in places without any ideas or 24 suggestions about where money should be spent

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(518) 371-8910 1 from outside of invisible slush funds. 2 Thank you. 3 SENATOR SALAND: Madam President, 4 would Senator Parker yield for one more 5 question? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Parker, do you yield? 8 SENATOR PARKER: Honestly, in the 9 interests of time, if we can move on, that 10 would be helpful. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Senator Parker does not yield, Senator. 13 Senator Padavan. 14 SENATOR PADAVAN: Did we lose 15 Senator Oppenheimer? I wanted to ask her a 16 few questions. Is she still with us? Oh, 17 there you are. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Oppenheimer, do you yield to a 20 question from Senator Padavan? 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course. 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: To preface my 23 question, Senator, I assume you are fully 24 familiar with the Campaign for Fiscal Equity

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(518) 371-8910 1 settlement that was arrived at, what it meant 2 in the City of New York, which of course was 3 the genesis of the case going back 11 years or 4 more. Can you tell me what the settlement 5 provided for for the City of New York in terms 6 of increased foundation aid? 7 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Well, 8 through you, Madam President, that is and that 9 isn't relevant, because the amount that was 10 actually a party to the CFE case that was 11 resolved said that only $1.97 billion had to 12 be spent. And that has already been exceeded. 13 The bill that we did as a 14 Legislature concerned the whole state and was 15 a much higher number. 16 SENATOR PADAVAN: Well, let's 17 stay with the city, if you will, because 18 that's what I'm most familiar with. At one 19 point -- 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator Padavan, are you asking Senator -- 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: Will you yield? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 24 Senator Oppenheimer, will you continue to

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(518) 371-8910 1 yield? 2 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes, thank 3 you, Madam President. 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: The $1.9 5 billion, I think you said $1.97 billion -- 6 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I believe. 7 SENATOR PADAVAN: Over what 8 period of time was that to be provided to the 9 City of New York? 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 11 you, Madam President, I think it was done -- 12 that amount was already spent in the first two 13 years, so I think there was a four-year 14 window. But it's been spent in two years. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: So the full 16 amount that we had agreed to in the settlement 17 you say -- excuse me. Will the Senator yield? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 20 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Indeed, 21 yes. 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: If I understood 23 you correctly, you're saying that the full 24 amount that the settlement had provided for

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(518) 371-8910 1 was already allocated over the past two fiscal 2 years. 3 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: That's 4 correct. 5 SENATOR PADAVAN: Will you yield 6 again? 7 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes. 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: What was our 9 commitment beyond that for the full four 10 years? 11 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: For four 12 years, for entire state, was -- oh. Well. 13 I'm having a disagreement with policy. I 14 thought the agreement for the State of 15 New York was $5.54 billion. That was the 16 whole state. But for New York City -- 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: I'm sorry, I 18 didn't hear you. 19 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Through 20 you, Madam President. I have that down to the 21 decimal in my desk -- 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: Well, round 23 numbers will do. 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: But what I

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(518) 371-8910 1 can say is that what we agreed to here -- not 2 part of the court case, because what I 3 mentioned to you is the court case. And the 4 case has been fully funded, according to the 5 court's decision. 6 But according to what we did here, 7 we said close to, I think, $4 billion over 8 four years. 9 SENATOR PADAVAN: Will the 10 Senator yield? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course. 14 SENATOR PADAVAN: So therefore if 15 that's the case, accepting your response -- 16 and believe me, I don't ask a question where I 17 know the answer. I don't know. That's why 18 I'm asking you -- $2 billion would be left, 19 1.9 from 4-point-something, a little over 20 $2 billion would be left. And therefore this 21 year, if you wanted to divide it equally, we'd 22 be talking about a billion-dollar increase as 23 part of that agreement. 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: (Nodding.)

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you. 2 Will you yield again, Senator? 3 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course. 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: How much -- 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Padavan, I'm sorry, please direct your 7 question through the chair. 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, I said 9 would she yield again. 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Of course I 11 do, Madam President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 13 Thank you. 14 SENATOR PADAVAN: How much is in 15 the budget before us today that would relate 16 to that billion dollars plus? 17 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: So let's 18 see. The foundation aid is frozen at -- don't 19 go away. I got it. Foundation aid -- well, 20 this is all the foundation aid -- is frozen at 21 $14.9 billion. That's statewide, that's not 22 New York City. 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: If the Senator 24 would yield, that's not my question.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 2 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 3 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: (Nodding.) 4 SENATOR PADAVAN: How much in 5 this budget that we have before us reflects 6 what you outlined to me in your answer, which 7 was 1 billion plus would be provided under CFE 8 agreement by virtue of what we did, how much 9 of that is in this budget? 10 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: You know, I 11 don't have the city -- 12 SENATOR PADAVAN: Well, let me 13 ask it this way then, Senator. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Senator Padavan, do you want to restate your 16 question? 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: What is the 18 increase for the City of New York in this 19 budget for this coming fiscal year as opposed 20 to last? 21 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: That is 22 where I am having some difficulty breaking out 23 New York City. 24 What I can tell you is that what

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(518) 371-8910 1 was structured by the courts for the State of 2 New York was supposed to have occurred 3 within -- that settlement was over a four-year 4 period. We are now extending it out for three 5 years after the freeze. 6 We are going to be frozen at 7 37.5 percent for this year and for next year. 8 Then the following year, it will be at 9 50 percent, then 70 percent, and in the fifth 10 year it will be at 100 percent. So we are 11 going to reach the full amount only in 12 2013-2014. 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: Will the 14 Senator yield? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Senator Oppenheimer, do you continue to yield? 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: I regret that 18 you're not able to give me the answer. And 19 I'm not being critical, I'm just regretting 20 it. 21 How much of the stimulus money is 22 going to the City of New York in terms of 23 education funding? 24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I don't

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(518) 371-8910 1 have a breakout of New York City. 2 $625.9 million. 3 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you very 4 much, Senator. I appreciate your answer. 5 On the bill. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Padavan, on the bill. 8 SENATOR PADAVAN: First, let me 9 say parenthetically to Senator Parker, who I 10 don't see over there -- there he is -- that 11 this Minority did present a very comprehensive 12 budget plan weeks and weeks ago. Thank you, 13 Senator. It's called "A Better Plan for 14 New York: A Responsible Economic Stimulus 15 Budget Plan for New York State." And I'm not 16 going to go into all of what's in it, but I'd 17 be glad to get you a copy of it. 18 So whether you agreed with it or 19 not, the fact remains is we did submit a plan 20 that we felt was the right way to go. 21 But that having been said, let's 22 get back to my reason for standing in the 23 first place. It's clear, based on the numbers 24 that I've heard Senator Oppenheimer give me,

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(518) 371-8910 1 and others that I've seen, that what we have 2 done with regard to the CFE agreement has not 3 kept faith with it. That as the Senator 4 pointed out, $2 billion over two years, 5 $1 billion a year to the City of New York for 6 CFE reasons, is just not forthcoming from the 7 state commitment in terms of its budget. 8 However, as the Senator pointed 9 out, 600-and-some-odd million was provided 10 through the stimulus. Now, that, of course, 11 leaves a gap of roughly somewhere between 12 $300 million and $400 million. 13 Therefore I would say, Madam 14 President, that the commitment we made in this 15 Legislature, both houses, and the Governor 16 last year to the City of New York in terms of 17 its budget has been denied. We have not kept 18 faith with our commitment. And that is 19 unfortunate. 20 Now, I realize things change. But 21 at least let's be honest about it. Let's 22 publicly say we're not doing what we said 23 we're going to do, we're not giving you 24 everything that you were hoping to get. We

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(518) 371-8910 1 are going to make up for part of it by 2 stimulus money. But again, that only goes for 3 the next two years, and what happens after 4 that, who knows. 5 I think it's important that we all 6 know what sheet of music we're reading from. 7 And in terms of education, there are points of 8 view being expressed here that just simply are 9 not accurate. And no one had brought up the 10 issue of CFE, and I thought I should if no one 11 else was going to, so that we're all clear as 12 to exactly what we're doing or, more 13 precisely, what we are not doing. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Marcellino, on the bill. 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. And I will speak on the bill. 18 First let me preface my comments by 19 saying that I respect all members in this 20 chamber, and my words are not going to be 21 critical of any member in this chamber. But I 22 am going to be critical of a process, a 23 process that has led to us this point where 24 people are going to beginning to say, you

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(518) 371-8910 1 know, how long are we going to be here? When 2 is this budget going to come to an end? When 3 are you going to vote on this thing? 4 And we on this side are asking 5 questions because we frankly have been 6 excluded from the process. We haven't been at 7 the table. 8 And with all due respect to my 9 colleagues, from what I'm hearing to the 10 answers to certain questions, I don't think 11 you were at the table either. I don't think 12 you had a part in these negotiations. I think 13 the negotiations were done behind closed doors 14 by three New York City Democrats in a room. I 15 refer to them as the "Unholy Trinity." 16 This group has created a budget 17 that has been characterized by the Albany 18 Times Union -- not a bastion of 19 Republicanism -- "State Budget Still Too 20 High." The New York Daily News, not exactly a 21 bastion of Republicanism: "Democrats Will Pay 22 for This." The New York Post: "Setting 23 New York Back 30 Years." Newsday: "Albany 24 Gives Long Island A Slap." The Syracuse

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(518) 371-8910 1 Post-Standard: "New York leaders brag about 2 cutting spending when budget is actually 3 10 percent larger." So much for debate. 4 Again, the Syracuse Post-Standard: "Stimulus 5 Cash Drives Albany's Fuzzy Math." The 6 Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: "Taxes, 7 Fees Add Up to New York Budget." Rochester 8 Democrat and Chronicle: "Upstate New York 9 Business Leaders to Lobby Against This 10 Budget." "State Spending, Massive Tax Hikes 11 Draw Waves of Protest," the Buffalo News. 12 "Rising utility taxes" -- Senator Parker -- 13 "is not the solution," the Buffalo News. The 14 Watertown Daily Times: "Budget Secrecy." 15 Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin editorial: 16 "Never enough. New York math increased 17 spending 9 percent despite $17 billion gap." 18 I could go on and on. They're all 19 over the place. Go into the blogs, go into 20 anything you want. The process that has led 21 us to this point has been closed, secretive, 22 and negative. It was not open. People are 23 not privy to the numbers, people are not privy 24 to the information. You're trying to defend

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(518) 371-8910 1 something that frankly is indefensible. 2 This budget spends too much, it 3 taxes too much, it makes no hard decisions, it 4 does all the wrong things for all the wrong 5 reasons. It should not be passed. It should 6 be voted down. It should have been changed. 7 I gave the Governor a lot of 8 credit. He introduced a budget in December, 9 trying to get a head start. I had great 10 confidence in him at that time. He was making 11 the right comments. He was talking about 12 cutting spending and making serious changes in 13 the way we do business up here. And then 14 something happened. The stimulus happened. 15 And this is a process that has led 16 us to absolute chaos in this house and chaos 17 in this budget process. I don't believe you 18 were at this table. We certainly weren't at 19 the table, which is why we're asking all these 20 questions, trying to get answers so we can go 21 back to our constituents and give them answers 22 in response to what they're reading. 23 Your phones and our phones are 24 ringing off the hook. People want to know:

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(518) 371-8910 1 How could you possibly support a budget that 2 has all these taxes and only three people 3 negotiated it? The answer is you can't. 4 Madam President -- Mr. President. 5 Gosh, you guys change quick. Mr. President, 6 frankly I would prefer Andrea up there, David, 7 but no hard feelings. And no disrespect. 8 Ladies and gentlemen, this process 9 has got to change. This is bad news. Our 10 constituents deserve better. The taxpayers 11 deserve better. And quite frankly, we all 12 collectively deserve better than this which 13 led us to this day. 14 Thank you very much. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Marcellino. 17 Senator Hannon, on the bill. 18 SENATOR HANNON: I rise because 19 there were several comments by Senator Parker 20 that I thought really should be clarified in 21 terms of their accuracy. 22 The first one, the comments were 23 about conference committees; the second one 24 was about responsibility; the third was what a

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(518) 371-8910 1 tax is; and the fourth has already been 2 covered by Senator Padavan, and I won't repeat 3 myself. 4 But in regard to conference 5 committees, Senator Parker said they're only a 6 couple of years old. He's wrong. They 7 started in the year 2000. And they had an 8 enormous salutary effect on bettering the 9 process. 10 Now, I was cochair because a member 11 of the Assembly and a member of the Senate 12 were cochairs. I was cochair, but it wasn't 13 just majority, from Senators, it was a 14 minority member of the Senate. Then it would 15 have been the same pairing on the other side, 16 a minority member of the Assembly. 17 The discussions, the presentations 18 were done in public. Two hundred, 400 people 19 were there. It was a large conference room in 20 the Legislative Office Building. It was not 21 all of the discussions, it was not all of the 22 negotiations, but there were substantial 23 parts. And as they were held, there was an 24 accountability, there was an openness, and

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(518) 371-8910 1 there was a discussion. 2 People who were interested in the 3 healthcare aspects that were being discussed 4 had a chance to know what was being discussed, 5 to mark the negotiations, to know where they 6 had to concentrate their efforts. They were 7 broadcast throughout this Capitol, and they 8 were broadcast throughout the state. All of 9 that is missing from this process this year. 10 Senator Parker, those went on not 11 just when Eliot Spitzer got into office, not 12 just when Governor Paterson took over, they 13 were done under Pataki. They were a part of 14 the reforms that the former majority leader, 15 Joe Bruno, advocated. They were not easy. 16 They were a lot of hard work. 17 As the Senate cochair, I know that 18 I had members in the Assembly, majority and 19 minority over there, taking issue with what I 20 said. And I had to defend myself -- not just 21 here on the floor, I had to defend myself in 22 front of everybody, explain. Were my 23 arguments good? Did I have to change my mind? 24 Yes. All of that went on. And the same thing

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(518) 371-8910 1 would happen when someone would start arguing 2 with Assemblyman Gottfried or Assemblyman 3 Grannis or Assemblywoman Barbara Clark, and it 4 went on and on. Kevin Cahill. 5 So there was a lot of give and 6 take. That's all been lost. And the people 7 who are the biggest losers are not just us, 8 it's the people of this state. 9 So let me correct that record. You 10 just weren't correct. And I want you to 11 know -- and I don't get up because I'm arguing 12 with you, I get up because I want, as we go 13 forward, you to know that if I'm here on this 14 floor next year arguing with you, it's because 15 we've gone through a conference committee 16 process and the budget would be that much 17 better. 18 Now, let me go to my second point 19 that I want to clarify. You said you're not 20 responsible for things in this budget that you 21 didn't put in there, that maybe somebody in 22 the Assembly put in there or somebody in the 23 executive branch put in there. 24 Well, let me tell something. It's

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(518) 371-8910 1 your bill, and you're responsible for 2 everything that's in each one of these bills. 3 We were when it was our bills. If something 4 went in there, we knew it. We had somebody 5 sign off on every page of every bill before it 6 went to print. You're responsible. 7 And then you started to say, well, 8 you know, we're only responsible for our 9 actions. And you were weaving that in with 10 the question of whether a raise in utility 11 rates would be something we're responsible 12 for. 13 Well, there's something we are very 14 responsible for. If we raise the fees on the 15 utility companies to, quote, administer the 16 PSC, or we raise the covered lives assessment 17 or we raise the patient services assessment or 18 we raise the taxes on HMOs -- which we have 19 done and are doing by almost a billion 20 dollars -- and that's passed on to the 21 families in New York, we're responsible. 22 Now, I'm not voting for that, 23 because I don't think that's appropriate. But 24 if you vote for it, you're responsible.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Because that's what a budget is. This is 2 where the buck stops. 3 So I just want you to know you 4 can't duck it because you call it something 5 else. It's a tax, it hurts people, they have 6 to pay, and it's the wrong thing to do in the 7 middle of a recession or a depression. 8 Thank you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 10 you, Senator Hannon. 11 Senator Klein. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 13 can we stand at ease till the call of the 14 Majority Leader. 15 And I want to recognize Senator 16 Libous for an announcement. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Senator Libous. 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 20 there will be an immediate Republican 21 conference in Room 315, please. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Immediate Republican conference in Room 315. 24 SENATOR KLEIN: And on behalf of

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(518) 371-8910 1 the Democratic Conference, there will be an 2 immediate Democratic conference in the 3 Majority Conference Room. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Immediate Democratic conference in the 6 Majority Conference Room, Room 332. 7 The Senate will stand at ease. 8 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 9 ease at 3:23 p.m.) 10 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 11 at 5:50 p.m.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Senator Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 15 can we lay the current bill aside for the day. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Calendar 132 is laid aside for the day. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 19 do have a motion. I wish to call up Calendar 20 Number 86, Assembly Print Number 5823. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 86, by Member of the Assembly Latimer,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly Print Number 5823, an act to amend 2 the Environmental Conservation Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Klein. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 6 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 7 Assembly bill was substituted for my bill, 8 Senate Print Number 1901, on March 10th. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Secretary will call the roll on the 11 reconsideration. 12 (The Secretary called the roll.) 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 17 now move that Assembly Bill Number 5823 be 18 recommitted to the Committee on Codes and that 19 my Senate bill be restored to the order of 20 third reading. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 22 ordered. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 24 now offer the following amendments.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Amendments received. 3 Senator Klein. 4 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 5 are there any substitutions at the desk? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 7 are substitutions. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: On page 12, 10 Senator Kruger moves to discharge, from the 11 Committee on Finance, Assembly Bill Number 12 150C and substitute it for the identical 13 Senate Bill Number 50C, Third Reading Calendar 14 130. 15 On page 13, Senator Kruger moves to 16 discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 17 Assembly Bill Number 157B and substitute it 18 for the identical Senate Bill Number 57B, 19 Third Reading Calendar 136. 20 On page 13, Senator Kruger moves to 21 discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 22 Assembly Bill 159B and substitute it for the 23 identical Senate Bill Number 59B, Third 24 Reading Calendar 138.

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(518) 371-8910 1 On page 13, Senator Kruger moves to 2 discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 3 Assembly Bill 156B and substitute it for the 4 identical Senate Bill Number 56B, Third 5 Reading Calendar 135. 6 And on page 12, Senator Kruger 7 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 8 Finance, Assembly Bill Number 151A and 9 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 10 Number 51A, Third Reading Calendar 131. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 12 Substitutions ordered. 13 Senator Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 15 this time I move to lay the entire calendar 16 aside for the day. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Calendar Number 30 is laid aside for the day. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: And I move that 20 we adjourn until tomorrow, Thursday, 21 April 2nd, at 9:00 a.m. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 23 being no further business to come before the 24 Senate, on Senator Klein's motion, the Senate

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(518) 371-8910 1 will stand adjourned until Thursday, 2 April 2nd, at 9:00 a.m. 3 (Whereupon, at 5:52 p.m., the 4 Senate adjourned.) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

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(518) 371-8910