Tuesday, May 19, 2009

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 19, 2009 11 3:31 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR DAVID J. VALESKY, Acting President 19 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24

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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: The 10 invocation today will be delivered by Rabbi 11 Abe Friedman, of the Congregation of Satmar in 12 Brooklyn, New York. 13 Rabbi. 14 RABBI FRIEDMAN: Let us pray. 15 God, we gather here today in the 16 New York State Senate chamber on this special 17 day of remembrance in honor of the New York 18 State Police, whose members have provided 19 their courageous services to the residents of 20 the State of New York. These officers have 21 risked and, tragically, sometimes sacrificed 22 their lives in the line of duty to make this 23 great state a better place to live. 24 In the most profound appreciation

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(518) 371-8910 1 and exceptional devotion, I ask You, God, to 2 bless the men and women of the New York State 3 Police on this special day. I ask You, God, 4 to recognize their heroism, give them 5 strength, safeguard them and their families. 6 Everyone in this Senate chamber 7 acclaims this group of officers, individuals 8 who have shown in exemplary fashion the valor, 9 the dedication to duty, the unique positions 10 and extraordinary responsibilities. May God 11 protect and preserve them and always grant 12 them safe harbor. 13 God bless our leaders, the 14 Honorable Governor of the State of New York, 15 David Paterson; the Majority Leader, Malcolm 16 Smith; the Minority Leader, Dean Skelos; and 17 all members here today in the New York State 18 Senate. 19 God bless the Superintendent, the 20 Honorable Harry Corbett of the New York State 21 Police, and all men and women of the New York 22 State Police today. May You defend and secure 23 them as they defend and secure us. 24 Amen.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 2 reading of the Journal. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 5 Monday, May 18, the Senate met pursuant to 6 adjournment. Senator Valesky in the chair, 7 upon designation of the Temporary President. 8 Prayer by the Reverend Peter G. Young, Mother 9 Teresa Community, Albany, New York. The 10 Journal of Friday, May 15, 2009, was read and 11 approved. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 14 as read. 15 Presentation of petitions. 16 Messages from the Assembly. 17 Messages from the Governor. 18 Reports of standing committees. 19 Senator Klein. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 21 are there any substitutions at the desk? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 23 are, Senator Klein. 24 The Secretary will read.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: On page number 9, 2 Senator Little moves to discharge, from the 3 Committee on Health, Assembly Bill Number 4 2029A and substitute it for the identical 5 Senate Bill Number 739A, Third Reading 6 Calendar Number 57. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 8 Substitution ordered. 9 THE SECRETARY: On page number 10 12, Senator Thompson moves to discharge, from 11 the Committee on Environmental Conservation, 12 Assembly Bill Number 5765 and substitute it 13 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3777, 14 Third Reading Calendar Number 173. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Substitution ordered. 17 THE SECRETARY: On page number 18 19, Senator Hannon moves to discharge, from 19 the Committee on Health, Assembly Bill Number 20 1719A and substitute it for the identical 21 Senate Bill Number 2947A, Third Reading 22 Calendar 270. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 24 Substitution ordered.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: On page number 2 19, Senator C. Johnson moves to discharge, 3 from the Committee on Environmental 4 Conservation, Assembly Bill Number 7665 and 5 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 6 Number 4236, Third Reading Calendar 279. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 8 Substitution ordered. 9 THE SECRETARY: On page number 10 21, Senator Diaz moves to discharge, from the 11 Committee on Finance, Assembly Bill Number 12 1800 and substitute it for the identical 13 Senate Bill Number 2210, Third Reading 14 Calendar 294. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Substitution ordered. 17 THE SECRETARY: On page number 18 21, Senator Griffo moves to discharge, from 19 the Committee on Cities, Assembly Bill Number 20 1204 and substitute it for the identical 21 Senate Bill Number 1732, Third Reading 22 Calendar 299. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 24 Substitution ordered.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: On page number 2 22, Senator C. Kruger moves to discharge, from 3 the Committee on Codes, Assembly Bill Number 4 3468 and substitute it for the identical 5 Senate Bill Number 4334, Third Reading 6 Calendar 309. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 8 Substitution ordered. 9 THE SECRETARY: On page number 10 23, Senator C. Johnson moves to discharge, 11 from the Committee on Investigations and 12 Government Operations, Assembly Bill Number 13 7822 and substitute it for the identical 14 Senate Bill Number 4578, Third Reading 15 Calendar 319. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Substitution ordered. 18 THE SECRETARY: On page number 19 24, Senator Savino moves to discharge, from 20 the Committee on Investigations and Government 21 Operations, Assembly Bill Number 4106A and 22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 23 Number 5098, Third Reading Calendar 322. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Substitution ordered. 2 THE SECRETARY: On page number 3 24, Senator Parker moves to discharge, from 4 the Committee on Environmental Conservation, 5 Assembly Bill Number 306 and substitute it for 6 the identical Senate Bill Number 1937, Third 7 Reading Calendar 325. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Substitution ordered. 10 THE SECRETARY: On page number 11 24, Senator Lanza moves to discharge, from the 12 Committee on Environmental Conservation, 13 Assembly Bill Number 6914 and substitute it 14 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3269A, 15 Third Reading Calendar 326. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Substitution ordered. 18 THE SECRETARY: On page number 19 24, Senator DeFrancisco moves to discharge, 20 from the Committee on Veterans, Homeland 21 Security and Military Affairs, Assembly Bill 22 Number 296 and substitute it for the identical 23 Senate Bill Number 2037, Third Reading 24 Calendar Number 327.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Substitution ordered. 3 THE SECRETARY: On page number 4 24, Senator Foley moves to discharge, from the 5 Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and 6 Military Affairs, Assembly Bill Number 5025 7 and substitute it for the identical Senate 8 Bill Number 4324, Third Reading Calendar 9 Number 330. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Substitution ordered. 12 THE SECRETARY: On page number 13 25, Senator Parker moves to discharge, from 14 the Committee on Energy and 15 Telecommunications, Assembly Bill Number 4904 16 and substitute it for the identical Senate 17 Bill Number 3329, Third Reading Calendar 335. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 19 Substitution ordered. 20 Senator Klein, that completes the 21 substitutions that are at the desk. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 23 have two motions. 24 First, on behalf of Senator

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(518) 371-8910 1 Stavisky, on page 21 I offer the following 2 amendments to Calendar Number 300, Senate Bill 3 1735, and ask that said bill retain its place 4 on Third Reading Calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: One 6 moment, Senator Klein. 7 Let me just return to the regular 8 order of business and call for reports of 9 select committees, of which we have none; 10 communications and reports from state 11 officers, of which we have none; motions and 12 resolutions. 13 The one that you previously read, 14 so ordered. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you. 16 The second, Mr. President, is a 17 motion to amend a bill recalled from the 18 Assembly. On behalf of Senator Craig Johnson, 19 I wish to call up Print Number 3821, recalled 20 from the Assembly, which is now at the desk. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 265, by Senator Craig Johnson, Senate Bill

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(518) 371-8910 1 3821, an act to amend Chapter 704 of the Laws 2 of 1991 amending the Arts and Cultural Affairs 3 Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 7 now move to reconsider the vote by which this 8 bill was passed. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 10 the roll on reconsideration. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 14 bill is before the house and restored to its 15 place on the Third Reading Calendar. 16 Senator Klein. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 18 now offer the following amendments. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 20 amendments are received. 21 Senator Klein. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 23 believe there is a report of the Finance 24 Committee at the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Returning to the order of reports of standing 3 committees, Senator Klein, there is a report 4 of the Finance Committee at the desk. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Report from the 7 Committee on Finance. The Committee on 8 Finance reports the following nominations. 9 Member and chairman of the Public 10 Service Commission, Garry Brown, of Averill 11 Park. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Senator Kruger. 14 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Move the 15 nomination, please. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Are 17 there any Senators who wish to be heard on the 18 motion to confirm the nomination? 19 The question, then, is on the 20 motion to confirm the nomination of Garry 21 Brown as member and chairman of the Public 22 Service Commission. All those in favor please 23 signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.")

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Opposed, nay. 3 (No response.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 6 Chairman Brown is with us this 7 afternoon. Congratulations. 8 (Applause.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Secretary will continue to read. 11 THE SECRETARY: As a member of 12 the Public Service Commission, Patricia L. 13 Acampora, of Mattituck. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Kruger. 16 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Move the 17 nomination please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Are 19 there any Senators who wish to be heard on the 20 nomination? 21 Senator LaValle. 22 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President, 23 I rise to move the nomination of Pat Acampora, 24 who was my partner for so many years in the

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(518) 371-8910 1 Assembly and then went to the Public Service 2 Commission. 3 And the Governor has done a very 4 wise thing by reappointing Pat Acampora, 5 because she has always, in her career, worked 6 in a very fair way to balance the equities 7 between the consumers and the utilities. And 8 she is a very fierce person, quite honestly, 9 in protecting the interests of the consumer. 10 So this really is a great 11 reappointment on the part of the Governor. He 12 should be congratulated. 13 And Pat, congratulations. And she 14 is joined by her husband Alan Croce. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator LaValle. 17 Senator Onorato, on the nomination. 18 SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. President, 19 I too would like to congratulate the Governor 20 for reappointing Pat. I've known Pat for 21 many, many years, and her husband, Alan. 22 We've dined together. We've had many 23 memorable occasions together. 24 And she has such an expertise in

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(518) 371-8910 1 the matter. She was the former chairman of 2 the board. And when she was, she came to my 3 district and she listened very, very intently 4 to the problems that we expressed to her, and 5 she acted upon them. 6 So it is my very, very proud moment 7 again today to be able to vote again for your 8 reaffirmation to the board. Congratulations. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 10 you, Senator Onorato. 11 Senator Flanagan, on the 12 nomination. 13 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 I want to concur with the remarks 16 made by Senator LaValle in particular and just 17 speak for a moment about Patty Acampora. 18 I think she, in my humble opinion, 19 epitomizes what it means to be a true public 20 servant. When she came to the Public Service 21 Commission, she had certainly a legislative 22 background, very well known and very well 23 liked. But in reality, did she have a 24 telecommunications background, or energy? No.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The reason she's so good at what 2 she does, she immerses herself completely in 3 the work that she does and really does try and 4 look out for the best interests of the public. 5 We are fortunate to have her there. 6 And Alan is almost as good a public servant as 7 his wife. And I congratulate the Governor as 8 well. 9 Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 11 you, Senator Flanagan. 12 Are there any other Senators who 13 wish to be heard? 14 Seeing none, the question is on the 15 motion to confirm the nomination of Patricia 16 L. Acampora as a member of the Public Service 17 Commission. All in favor signify by saying 18 aye. 19 (Response of "Aye.") 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 21 Opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 motion carries. The nomination is hereby

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(518) 371-8910 1 confirmed. 2 Commissioner Acampora is with her 3 husband, Alan Croce. Congratulations, 4 Commissioner. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 7 Secretary will continue to read. 8 THE SECRETARY: For member of the 9 Board of Trustees of the State University of 10 New York College of Environmental Science and 11 Forestry, Leslie Talbot, of New York City. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 13 Senator Kruger. 14 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Please move 15 the nomination. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Are 17 there any Senators who wish to be heard on the 18 nomination? 19 Seeing none, the question is on the 20 motion to confirm the nomination of Leslie 21 Talbot as a member of the Board of Trustees of 22 the SUNY College of Environmental Science and 23 Forestry. All in favor signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.")

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Opposed, nay. 3 (No response.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 motion carries, and the nominee is hereby 6 confirmed. 7 Senator Klein. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 9 may we at this time adopt the Resolution 10 Calendar in its entirety, with the exception 11 of Senate Resolution Numbers 2013, 2026, 2037, 12 and 2083. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Returning to the order of motions and 15 resolutions, all those in favor of adopting 16 the Senate Resolution Calendar in its 17 entirety, with the exceptions as listed by 18 Senator Klein, please signify by saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye.") 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 21 Opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 Senate Resolution Calendar is adopted.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 3 may we at this time take up Senate Resolution 4 2026. I ask that the resolution be read in 5 its entirety and move for its immediate 6 adoption and allow Senator Adams to speak on 7 his resolution. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 Secretary will read Resolution Number 2026 in 10 its entirety. 11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Adams, 12 Legislative Resolution Number 2026, honoring 13 several courageous and dedicated New York 14 State police officers for their heroic action 15 on January 10, 2009. 16 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 17 Legislative Body to recognize and honor those 18 distinguished citizens who devote their life's 19 work and purpose to public service, 20 contributing to the care and welfare of the 21 citizens of their communities and this great 22 Empire State; and 23 "WHEREAS, The quality of life of 24 these communities is largely reflective of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 commitment and dedication demonstrated by 2 members of the agencies which serve to 3 protect, preserve and maintain public order. 4 This Legislative Body is moved to laud 5 particularly those individuals who risk their 6 lives and personal safety providing that 7 protection; and 8 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is 9 proud to pay tribute to several Capital 10 District area Division of State Police and 11 East Greenbush Police Department police 12 officers in recognition and appreciation of 13 their heroic action on January 10, 2009; and 14 "WHEREAS, On that Saturday, just 15 before noon, Trooper Ian E. Henry was 16 patrolling Interstate 90 when he stopped a 17 taxi in the Town of East Greenbush that had 18 been traveling at a high rate of speed. As he 19 approached the taxi, he noted the taxi was 20 from Connecticut and that there was a 21 passenger in the rear seat. As it is unusual 22 for a Connecticut taxi to be in the Albany 23 area with an apparent fare, the driver was 24 asked key questions to ascertain if this was a

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(518) 371-8910 1 legitimate fare or if criminal activity might 2 be afoot; and 3 "WHEREAS, Not satisfied with the 4 answers provided by the driver, Trooper Henry 5 engaged the rear-seat passenger in 6 conversation. While asking pertinent 7 questions, Trooper Henry scanned the interior 8 of the taxi and saw the passenger was fumbling 9 with his belongings. The passenger 10 inadvertently revealed what looked like the 11 stock of a gun protruding from the duffel bag. 12 When he realized Trooper Henry had seen the 13 weapon, the passenger fully removed the 14 assault rifle from its hiding place; and 15 "WHEREAS, Not knowing the 16 passenger's intention, Trooper Henry acted 17 swiftly, attempting to reach in and grab the 18 weapon. The passenger broke free, however, 19 and pointed the assault rifle at Trooper 20 Henry, who then drew his sidearm and began to 21 move to a position of cover behind his 22 vehicle. Trooper Henry knew he was outgunned 23 but attempted to maintain control of the 24 situation by keeping his weapon trained on the

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(518) 371-8910 1 taxi while issuing commands to its occupants. 2 The panicked taxi driver exited the cab and 3 ran at Trooper Henry; and 4 "WHEREAS, Not knowing if the driver 5 was also armed or an innocent party, Trooper 6 Henry took control of the driver and assisted 7 him to a position of safety. With the 8 assistance of a passing motorist, retired 9 State Police Staff Sergeant Donald Egan, 10 Trooper Henry restrained the driver and then 11 stopped westbound traffic in order to ensure 12 that unsuspecting motorists remained at a safe 13 distance should the subject begin to fire the 14 assault rifle; and 15 "WHEREAS, In yet another twist of 16 fate, off-duty Investigator Rodney Livolsi was 17 also traveling on I-90 in his Jeep and 18 observed the situation as it was unfolding. 19 Although unarmed, he demonstrated great 20 bravery when he stopped on the shoulder to 21 render assistance. Investigator Livolsi's 22 vehicle was used to transport the taxi driver 23 out of the range of the armed subject. As the 24 subject began to fire the assault rifle in

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(518) 371-8910 1 their direction, Investigator Livolsi backed 2 down the shoulder to a safer position; and 3 "WHEREAS, Once the taxi driver was 4 secure, Trooper Henry realized many motorists 5 were stranded in their vehicles, still well 6 within harm's way. Without regard to his 7 personal safety, Trooper Henry moved to the 8 occupied stopped vehicles and began to 9 evacuate motorists, directing them safely down 10 the highway on foot; and 11 "WHEREAS, As other troopers and 12 local police officers were being dispatched to 13 the scene, Trooper Henry used the abandoned 14 vehicles for cover to advance closer to the 15 taxi to relay critical information to the 16 dispatcher; and 17 "WHEREAS, As the highway became 18 more congested with vehicles traveling from 19 the east, the subject continued to fire his 20 assault rifle toward innocent motorists, and 21 State Police and local police personnel began 22 to arrive and take decisive actions to stop 23 the threat to life safely; and 24 "WHEREAS, State Police Lieutenant

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(518) 371-8910 1 John E. Agresta and Trooper Jeffrey M. Devine 2 were among the earliest to arrive from the 3 west. They immediately recognized the risks 4 of allowing this subject to flee the area 5 either on foot or in one of many abandoned 6 vehicles. They knew the subject had an 7 assault rifle, and they knew he had already 8 used deadly physical force. They also knew it 9 was likely the shooter might be outside the 10 range of their weapons but that they would be 11 within the range of his; and 12 "WHEREAS, Nonetheless, these brave 13 officers positioned themselves in a direct 14 line of fire across the highway from the 15 shooter. They anticipated this would draw the 16 shooter's attention and aggression toward them 17 and, more importantly, away from the 18 increasing number of innocent people on foot 19 and in vehicles only a few hundred feet away 20 in the westbound lanes; and 21 "WHEREAS, Investigator Timothy A. 22 Northrup and Troopers Fred D. Scarano and 23 Michael J. Keefe arrived and moved from the 24 staging area east of the scene toward the

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(518) 371-8910 1 taxicab. Between bursts of gunfire from the 2 shooter, these officers cleared the remaining 3 motorists from their vehicles. After ensuring 4 that all innocent persons had been moved to 5 safety, these officers continued to move 6 toward the shooter and took positions in the 7 westbound lanes using only vehicles as cover. 8 They were fired upon but maintained their 9 composure as they relayed information to 10 command officers while also returning fire; 11 and 12 "WHEREAS, Numerous police requests 13 were made of the shooter to drop his weapon 14 and surrender. These were answered by 15 continued gunfire from his assault weapon, 16 making it clear that additional tactical 17 assistance was needed; and 18 "WHEREAS, State Police Rifleman 19 Trooper Steven J. Borbee was deployed for 20 increased range and firepower. An 'immediate 21 rapid deployment team' from the East Greenbush 22 Police Department was also deployed and moved 23 through a wooded area behind the shooter and 24 operated from a position of concealment to

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(518) 371-8910 1 fire upon the shooter; and 2 "WHEREAS, The ordeal ended 3 approximately 40 minutes after it began, with 4 the assailant being disabled by the combined 5 return fire of members of the New York State 6 Police and the East Greenbush Police 7 Department, an ordeal and threat which 8 thankfully ended with no injuries to police or 9 innocent persons; and 10 "WHEREAS, The officers involved in 11 bringing this situation to its conclusion 12 demonstrated great courage and devotion to 13 duty in the face of grave personal danger and 14 are to be commented for their bravery; and 15 "WHEREAS, The dedicated efforts of 16 these officers, who unselfishly devote their 17 lives to the preservation of order and the 18 protection of others, are worthy of the full 19 praise of this Legislative Body and the people 20 of the State of New York; now, therefore, be 21 it 22 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 23 Body pause in its deliberations to honor and 24 pay tribute to each of the courageous officers

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(518) 371-8910 1 who played a role in bringing this dangerous 2 life-threatening incident on January 10, 2009, 3 to a conclusion; and be it further 4 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 5 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 6 to each of these outstanding police officers 7 with the appreciation of this Legislative Body 8 and the people of the State of New York." 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 10 Senator Adams, on the resolution. 11 SENATOR ADAMS: You know, we 12 often are used to nowadays that we see so many 13 action flicks that we have the tendency to 14 believe that even those things that play out 15 on the real live stage, that they're just 16 another extension of a drama on the big 17 screen. 18 And we have the luxury sometimes if 19 we miss a particular action in an exciting 20 movie that we can just hit rewind. But you 21 know what? These guys don't have rewind. 22 They don't have the luxury of playing it 23 again, they don't have the luxury of going in 24 reverse, they don't have the luxury of

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(518) 371-8910 1 fast-forwarding. They have none of those 2 luxuries. 3 And when you look at just this 4 incident, when it was relayed to me after I 5 read it in the newspaper and then sat down 6 with the trooper and heard firsthand of what 7 happened, you have to pause for a moment and 8 state that we sleep well at night because 9 they're on the highways and the byways and the 10 roadways during the day, during the evening, 11 and during the overnight shift. 12 I just want to commend 13 Superintendent Corbett and the officers who 14 are behind me and what they represent to the 15 State of New York. And just hearing the 16 resolution read, you don't get the full feel. 17 For 40 minutes, for 40 minutes they 18 were in a situation where there was 19 uncertainty if they were going home to their 20 family members. For 40 minutes they were shot 21 upon. Instead of doing the normal humanistic 22 reaction of flight, they went into the face of 23 danger. For 40 minutes, they showed a level 24 of patience for the drivers.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Just go back in your mind and see 2 what it's like to come to a cab and stop a cab 3 and see a gun inside the cab, getting ready to 4 take police action -- then, all of a sudden, 5 the driver of the cab runs out towards the 6 trooper, not knowing if he was part of the 7 person who was committing the crime. 8 The officer showed restraint. 9 Could have easily used his firearm to 10 terminate the threat of the driver coming 11 towards him. 12 But it didn't stop there. He also 13 had to look on the highway and notice that 14 there were cars driving down the highway 15 towards the person who was armed with a 16 firearm. 17 It didn't stop there. A retired 18 officer -- could have gone home, could have 19 stated, I'm no longer wearing the gray 20 uniform, I could just go home to my family -- 21 he decided to stop and give assistance. 22 But it didn't stop there. An 23 off-duty officer -- could have stated, I'm 24 off-duty, I'm off the clock, I don't have any

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(518) 371-8910 1 responsibility -- decided to stop and assist 2 then. The continuation of the officers' 3 understanding, they had in their psyche only 4 one thing: We have to protect the public. 5 For 40 minutes. 6 Here's the horrific part of this 7 whole incident. They had to wait for a long 8 gun to come to the scene. Do you know we have 9 our men on the road today carrying water 10 pistols, it seemed, in comparison to the 11 artillery that the bad guys have? 12 If we leave this session without 13 arming all of our officers with long guns, 14 then we're hypocrites. We cannot state we 15 appreciate them, we cannot state that we 16 respect what they do but we're putting them in 17 the line of fire without the right resources 18 to be properly implemented to protect the 19 public. 20 That's all they're asking. They're 21 asking to be properly equipped. And that's 22 why I wanted to take a moment out today, as we 23 go outside and we touch the marble wall with a 24 countless number of men and women who have

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(518) 371-8910 1 donned police uniforms and died in the line of 2 duty, and we say eloquent speeches of how much 3 we appreciate them. 4 Now it's time to show them that 5 we're willing to give them the resources that 6 they need to do their job. There's no greater 7 statement we can make to those who want to 8 harm the public than we will make sure our 9 officers are equipped. 10 For 40 minutes they heard bullets 11 going past their heads. For 40 minutes they 12 moved civilian people to places of safety. 13 For 40 minutes they had to hold down the scene 14 to prevent a person who already made up his 15 mind that he was going to harm anyone and 16 everyone that came within his reach. For 17 40 minutes. Imagine that. 18 For 40 minutes, they didn't flee. 19 They didn't run. They didn't turn away. They 20 couldn't hit rewind. They couldn't say "Do 21 over." They couldn't pull out the CD and say 22 maybe there was a mistake. They couldn't say 23 "Oops." They couldn't say "Well, can we do 24 this another day?" They couldn't say "Hold

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(518) 371-8910 1 on." Forty minutes. All they knew: We've 2 got to protect the public. 3 And all it takes is one thing on 4 our part to say we're going to give them the 5 resources to do it. 6 So I'm asking you, the members of 7 the State Senate, to just take a moment of one 8 minute of rising to your feet and applauding 9 the finest men of the State Police. 10 Thank you. 11 (Standing ovation.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 13 you, Senator Adams. 14 Senator Savino, on the resolution. 15 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 I also want to thank Senator Adams 18 for that particularly inspiring speech about 19 the contributions of our State Police and all 20 officers in general. And I think it's 21 particularly moving coming from him as a 22 former member of the NYPD. 23 And I know it's reflected probably 24 in the feelings of some of the members of this

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(518) 371-8910 1 body that are former police officers, like 2 Senator Golden and Senator Monserrate and 3 Senator Volker. And if I'm missing any, I 4 apologize. 5 This is an annual event that we do 6 honoring the contributions of State Police, 7 particularly in recognition of an incident 8 like the incident that happened on 9 January 10th. And it's remarkable in its 10 description of the level of professionalism 11 and the restraint and the dedication of those 12 officers, both on the job, retired, off-duty, 13 and everyone who assisted. 14 But what it doesn't take into 15 consideration is that level of professionalism 16 exists every day they're on the job, from the 17 first day they enter the academy until the 18 very end. They are always police officers, 19 always protecting the interests of the public. 20 And the moments that we take to 21 recognize that are important, but I think this 22 body has a greater obligation. Senator Adams 23 mentioned one, about providing them the 24 resources that they need, and we absolutely

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(518) 371-8910 1 need to do that. 2 But I think it's important to note 3 that this body especially has always 4 recognized that our obligation to our public 5 protection and our police officers and law 6 enforcement all over the state is also 7 protecting their income security. 8 You know, this was a very difficult 9 budget year for everyone. And I think it was 10 rather disconcerting for those of us who had 11 to make tough decisions to hear from 12 outsiders, people who write editorials, 13 describing the glowing work that your members 14 do, whether they be State Police, city police, 15 county police. But those very same people who 16 will write a glowing editorial about what 17 happened on January 10th and laud you for your 18 bravery are the very same people who say that 19 you are responsible for the budget crisis that 20 New York State faces, we can no longer afford 21 to provide wage security and we can no longer 22 afford to provide income security. 23 And let me just say -- and I know I 24 speak for everyone in this chamber -- that

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(518) 371-8910 1 this body does not ascribe to that notion. We 2 can afford to provide wage compensation at a 3 decent rate and benefits to those who protect 4 us everyday. 5 And more importantly, we can, we 6 will, and we have an obligation to protect 7 income security for our retired members of law 8 enforcement. Because as we saw from the 9 actions on January 10th, retirees respond to 10 the call of duty whether or not they're 11 collecting a paycheck, and they will always do 12 so, because it's who you guys are, men and 13 women. Put on the uniform, and you never take 14 it off. 15 So I want to thank all of you for 16 your contributions and at least recognize that 17 this body recognizes your contributions and we 18 know we have a higher obligation to protect 19 those who protect us every day. 20 Thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 22 you, Senator Savino. 23 Senator Volker, on the resolution. 24 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 first of all, I want to thank you, Senator 2 Adams, for sponsoring this resolution. It was 3 long due. 4 In fact, I had introduced a 5 resolution some time ago, or set the 6 resolution up not too long after the 7 January 10th, but we were waiting for an 8 appropriate time to actually do it. 9 And when you think of it, what more 10 appropriate time, I guess, than the day of the 11 memorial service for deceased law enforcement 12 officers. 13 As a former police officer, no one 14 has to tell me of the dangers and the need, 15 though, for common sense and clarity in what 16 you need to do. I certainly congratulate the 17 people who were involved in it. 18 In fact, I spoke with a number of 19 people who were there -- that is, people who 20 were part of the incident, they were in cars 21 along the road -- and they told me how 22 wonderful the troopers acted and how they 23 protected the people that were there. 24 And one of the reasons they were

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(518) 371-8910 1 not able to get to the man was because they 2 made sure, a hundred percent, that the people 3 that were in any way in harm's way were taken 4 care of first. And, in fact, to the detriment 5 of themselves. 6 But I want to compliment 7 particularly the Superintendent, because these 8 are his men. And one of the problems I think 9 that happens is -- and we love to criticize 10 people who are in charge when something 11 happens: Something wasn't done or whatever. 12 These people are a tribute to Superintendent 13 Corbett, who I think has done a super job in 14 getting the State Police in a situation where 15 they are again to be ranked as probably the 16 top semimilitary organization -- I say 17 "semimilitary" because that's what law 18 enforcement people are in this country, 19 particularly State Police all over the 20 country. 21 But I want to say that we're happy, 22 so happy, as you are, that your names, none of 23 you, are to be put on the wall today -- which 24 it could have happened. But we also realize

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(518) 371-8910 1 that it could easily have happened. 2 Thank you for your courage. Thank 3 you for your ingenuity. And thank you for the 4 fact that you serve us in the finest way 5 possible. I'm proud, and this Senate is proud 6 also. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 8 you, Senator Volker. 9 Are there any other Senators who 10 wish to be heard on the resolution? 11 Seeing none, the question is on the 12 resolution. All in favor signify by saying 13 aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (No response.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 resolution is adopted. 20 And at the request of Senator 21 Adams, it is open for cosponsorship by all 22 members. Anyone wishing not to be a cosponsor 23 of this resolution should please notify the 24 desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you to all of the members of 2 the New York State police who are here, for 3 all that you do to ensure the health and 4 safety of all New Yorkers. 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 7 may we at this time take up Senate Resolution 8 2013. I ask that the resolution be read in 9 its entirety and move for its immediate 10 adoption and allow Senator Perkins to speak on 11 his resolution. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 Secretary will proceed with reading Resolution 14 Number 2013 in its entirety. 15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 16 Legislative Resolution 2013, introduced by 17 Senator Perkins, legislative resolution 18 celebrating the 84th birthday of Malcolm X, a 19 human rights activist and one of the most 20 influential African-American leaders in 21 history. 22 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 23 Legislative Body to recognize and commend 24 individuals and events which celebrate our

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(518) 371-8910 1 nation's great struggle to fulfill the promise 2 of equality and opportunity for all; and 3 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 4 concern, and in full accord with its 5 long-standing traditions, this Legislative 6 Body is justly proud to celebrate the 7 84th birthday of Malcolm X, a powerful figure 8 in American history; and 9 "WHEREAS, Malcolm X was born 10 Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 19, 11 1925; and 12 "WHEREAS, On January 14, 1958, 13 Malcolm X married Betty Sanders. They had six 14 children: Attallah, Qubilah, Ilyasah, 15 Gamilah, Malaak, and Malikah; and 16 "WHEREAS, Once a member of the 17 Nation of Islam, Malcolm X was a Muslim 18 minister, public speaker, and human rights 19 activist. He was a courageous advocate for 20 the rights of African-Americans in the face of 21 institutionalized racism; and 22 "WHEREAS, After his departure from 23 the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X founded Muslim 24 Mosque, Inc., and the Organization of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Afro-American Unity. He then became a Sunni 2 Muslim, and after his holy pilgrimage to Mecca 3 he became El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz; and 4 "WHEREAS, Malcolm X's pilgrimage to 5 Mecca, Saudi Arabia, proved life-altering, and 6 for the first time, he shared his thoughts and 7 beliefs with different cultures and found the 8 response to be overwhelmingly positive; and 9 "WHEREAS, When he returned to the 10 United States, Malcolm X mentioned that while 11 he was abroad he had met men of all races that 12 he could call his brothers. He also returned 13 to the United States with a new outlook on the 14 African-American struggle for equality, a new 15 message for all mankind, and a new hope for 16 the future; and 17 "WHEREAS, On February 21, 1965, 18 Malcolm X was assassinated while giving a 19 lecture in the Audubon Ballroom, in New York 20 City, which was subsequently designated as a 21 landmark and currently houses the Malcolm X 22 and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational 23 Center; and 24 "WHEREAS, In 1987, in honor of the

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(518) 371-8910 1 slain civil rights leader, Lenox Avenue in 2 Harlem, New York City, was named after 3 Malcolm X; now, therefore, be it 4 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 5 Body pause in its deliberations to celebrate 6 the 84th birthday of Malcolm X, a human rights 7 activist, dynamic orator, and one of the most 8 influential African-American leaders in 9 history." 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Senator Perkins, on the resolution. 12 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you very 13 much, Mr. President. 14 I'm going to be brief. I think the 15 resolution speaks eloquently for itself. And 16 I just want to take a moment to just 17 acknowledge how important a presence that 18 Malcolm X was, not just for me and my 19 contemporaries, but I think for most of us in 20 this chamber and in this country, whether we 21 recognize it or not, by virtue of the 22 advancements that were made as a result of his 23 advocacy for the human rights of 24 African-American people.

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(518) 371-8910 1 You know, he had a few sayings that 2 I'd just like to share with you that I think 3 are very appropriate for what we do and help 4 to guide us, and one of which is: "If you 5 don't stand for something, you will fall for 6 anything." 7 And, you know, this is an idea that 8 should inform us that we are here to stand for 9 something. Otherwise, we will be captive by 10 that which we ourselves might ordinarily 11 oppose. And so this is one of the models I'd 12 like to share that hopefully we will use as we 13 go forward in our work on behalf of the people 14 of this state. 15 The other one that I'd like to read 16 out is: "Power in defense of freedom is 17 greater than power in behalf of tyranny and 18 oppression, because power, real power, comes 19 from our conviction which produces action, 20 uncompromising action." 21 And again, I think that's part of 22 what taints those of us who have the privilege 23 of being elected officials, is the notion that 24 we will compromise for anything. And I think

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(518) 371-8910 1 that what we really want, especially from the 2 perspective of our constituents and really 3 from the perspective of the wonderful 4 opportunity we have to represent the best of 5 our constituents, is to try not to be so 6 compromising of our principles and of the 7 needs of the people. 8 And I think that one of the lessons 9 that Malcolm X has taught us is that we can be 10 uncompromising and still be on the right side 11 of justice for everybody -- not segregating or 12 not separating, but really trying to do what's 13 best for all. 14 Thank you so much. And I hope that 15 my colleagues will join me in recognizing the 16 great contribution that he has made. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 18 you, Senator Perkins. 19 Are there any other Senators who 20 wish to be heard? 21 Seeing none, the question is on the 22 resolution. All in favor signify by saying 23 aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.")

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Opposed, nay. 3 (No response.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 resolution is adopted. 6 Senator Perkins has asked that it 7 be open for multisponsorship. Anyone wishing 8 not to cosponsor this resolution should notify 9 the desk. 10 Senator Klein. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Going out of 12 order, Mr. President, can we take up Senate 13 Resolution Number 2083. I ask that the title 14 of the resolution be read and move for its 15 immediate adoption and allow Senator Parker to 16 speak on his resolution. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 Secretary will read the title of Senate 19 Resolution 2083. 20 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 21 Legislative Resolution 2083, by Senator 22 Parker, legislative resolution commemorating 23 the 55th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of 24 Education.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Senator Parker, on the resolution. 3 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, 4 on the resolution. 5 On Sunday we actually celebrated 6 the 55th anniversary of the Supreme Court 7 decision known popularly as Brown vs. Board of 8 Education, which essentially got rid of 9 de jure segregation in our schools. 10 This is a critical Supreme Court 11 decision that frankly allowed me to be here in 12 this place and this time, that allowed our 13 President, Barack Obama, to become president, 14 that allowed our Governor, David Paterson, to 15 become Governor, and our illustrious leader, 16 Malcolm A. Smith, to become leader of this 17 great chamber. 18 It is frankly without the decision 19 of Brown vs. Board of Education that many of 20 us who have attained anything that even 21 remotely looks like achievement, especially 22 those of us in the academic field, were able 23 to achieve because of this decision, which 24 essentially struck down the idea that

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(518) 371-8910 1 "separate but equal" is equal. 2 That in fact we must continue every 3 day to rededicate ourselves to make sure that 4 we have a life that includes all of the fine 5 traditions that we find here in the United 6 States, and particularly in our great state. 7 But it is important that we take 8 some time -- and I wanted to thank the members 9 of this chamber to allow us to pause in our 10 deliberations to discuss this and commemorate 11 the importance of the Supreme Court decision, 12 because it had not just meant so much for 13 myself and all the others that I have 14 mentioned, but it means so much as we stand 15 here right now for all of the young people who 16 are in classes right now, black children and 17 white children and Asian children and Latino 18 children sitting next to each other and 19 learning from the same teachers, from the same 20 textbooks, in the same classroom in the same 21 public schools. 22 Now, our problem is is that many 23 times the schools are crumbling and the 24 textbooks are not where they should be. And

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(518) 371-8910 1 we need to do better as it relates to 2 education, particularly in the funding of our 3 education. I know that we're going to be 4 working hard on that as we look towards 5 mayoral control in New York City. 6 But the fact that we have gone past 7 this idea of "separate but equal" is extremely 8 important for our society, important for the 9 children of this state. And I wanted to thank 10 all my colleagues for taking time, again, to 11 commemorate this important Supreme Court 12 decision. I'm hoping that you will all join 13 me as cosponsors on this resolution. 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Parker. 17 Are there any other Senators who 18 wish to be heard? 19 Senator Montgomery, on the 20 resolution. 21 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank 22 you, Mr. President. 23 I rise to thank my colleague 24 Senator Parker for introducing this

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(518) 371-8910 1 resolution, and I'm very happy to cosponsor 2 it. 3 And it is one of the seminal 4 moments in the history of America, for which 5 we are all very grateful because it has 6 changed the course of life for so many 7 Americans, especially Americans of color. 8 It is also -- this resolution, I 9 believe, is also commending Thurgood Marshall, 10 who was another great American, who was the 11 attorney who tried the case. But also he was 12 the person who established the law school at 13 Howard University in Washington, D.C., that 14 has been the source of people who have come 15 out and attempted to walk in his shoes and do 16 some of the things. 17 And it is also a tribute, I 18 believe, to Martin Luther King, Dr. Martin 19 Luther King, Jr., who was also a great 20 American and was very instrumental in changing 21 the course of life for so many people in this 22 nation. 23 So in addition to Brown v. Board, I 24 think that this is a tribute to those people

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(518) 371-8910 1 and so many, many others. And I am thankful 2 that Senator Parker has caused us to take a 3 moment and pause to remember and to reflect 4 and to memorialize this great moment in the 5 history of America. 6 Mr. President, I am happy to be a 7 cosponsor of this resolution. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 9 you, Senator Montgomery. 10 Are there any other Senators who 11 wish to be heard? 12 Seeing none, the question -- 13 Senator Perkins. 14 SENATOR PERKINS: The invisible 15 man. 16 Anyway, thank you very much, 17 Mr. President. I just want to be brief. 18 First, I thank my colleague Senator 19 Parker for this resolution and the opportunity 20 for it to be brought before the body. 21 And, you know, when I look at this 22 chamber I see two sides: one side, generally 23 speaking, Republican; the other side, 24 generally speaking, Democrat. But before

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(518) 371-8910 1 Brown vs. Board of Education, these two sides 2 might have been divided differently. Instead 3 of being divided by party, they would have 4 been divided possibly by race. At least that 5 was the case especially with our public 6 schools throughout the country at that time, 7 but for Thurgood Marshall and the Brown vs. 8 Board of Education. 9 So now we have these differences, 10 but at least they're not differences that are 11 crippling by virtue of our complexions or by 12 virtue of our heritage. They're different by 13 virtue of other reasons that are more socially 14 acceptable. 15 But nevertheless, you know, I have 16 to be frank about the conditions that some of 17 us are experiencing that, kind of on that 18 slippery slope of Plessy v. Ferguson, that 19 pre-1954 Board of Education decision -- 20 particularly when it comes to in my district, 21 for instance, where below 96th Street you have 22 public schools that are good enough for the 23 children in those neighborhoods to attend, and 24 then above 96th Street you have public schools

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(518) 371-8910 1 that are not good enough for the children to 2 attend. Instead, what they're giving them is 3 something called charter schools. 4 Now, you know, as a person who 5 founded a charter school, you know, I have no 6 inherent opposition to that. But it just 7 seems to me that we're now developing, in 8 New York City in particular, two separate 9 systems, one for children who are above the 10 96th Street, children of color, and another 11 for children who are basically white. 12 And the thing that really 13 underscores the difficulty of this is the fact 14 that our Mayor Bloomberg has been quoted in 15 the local newspapers as saying "Charter 16 schools are the private schools for children 17 of color." So if that doesn't remind us of 18 the problems that preceded Brown vs. Board of 19 Education, it should. 20 And I'm glad that you bring this 21 up, this resolution before us, because it 22 helps us to look around and see are we still 23 on that slippery slope that divides us, or are 24 we moving forward in a positive and

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(518) 371-8910 1 progressive way that recognizes that we're all 2 equal and that all of our children deserve the 3 same quality of education, no matter what side 4 of 96th Street, metaphorically speaking, they 5 may live. 6 Thank you so much. And I vote aye. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 8 you, Senator Perkins. 9 Senator Schneiderman, on the 10 resolution. 11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 I appreciate the opportunity to 14 speak on this resolution. And I would urge 15 all of my colleagues to consider that we all 16 operate here as lawmakers in the shadow of the 17 court's decision in Brown v. Board of 18 Education. 19 We are still seeking to carry out 20 the mandate of that decision. And I know that 21 there are colleagues in this room who disagree 22 sometimes when some of us press forward urging 23 that the march towards equality that is the 24 work of this republic, that is the work of

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(518) 371-8910 1 those of us who attempt to implement the 2 ideals of this nation, the march towards 3 equality is ongoing. We have a long way to 4 go. 5 And as you consider the legacy of 6 Brown v. Board -- I mean, I have been involved 7 in the last ten, twenty years in many civil 8 rights cases where we have established, it's 9 been clearly established that we still have a 10 society that is in many respects separate but 11 not equal, including cases involving the 12 school system in the State of New York, 13 including cases involving the transit system 14 in the City of New York, where an injunction 15 was issued in 1994, not so long ago, based on 16 the fact that it was in fact a segregated 17 system and there were different financings 18 available for different lines depending on the 19 neighborhood. 20 So this is something that is a part 21 of our work every day. And I hope that 22 everyone here will recognize that this is, you 23 know, not just a decision in history, this is 24 a living decision that we have to operate

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(518) 371-8910 1 with. 2 What Senator Perkins said about the 3 schools in New York City and around our state 4 is absolutely true, as we saw in the Campaign 5 for Fiscal Equity case. This is still our 6 work. 7 And I'm pleased that we are pausing 8 for a moment to reflect on this decision 9 today. One of the most quoted parts of the 10 decision is that we have to proceed to correct 11 these wrongs "with all deliberate speed" was 12 the great line. And I don't know that every 13 day here in this body we are proceeding with 14 all deliberate speed, ladies and gentlemen. 15 Let's think about Brown v. Board of Education, 16 and maybe we can step up the pace a little bit 17 as we go forward. 18 Thank you, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 20 you, Senator Schneiderman. 21 Senator Stewart-Cousins, on the 22 resolution. 23 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 24 you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I too rise to support the 2 resolution and to thank Senator Parker for 3 reminding us not to take for granted what this 4 great decision has done. 5 Yesterday we were able in this 6 chamber to honor young people who talk to 7 their peers and the entire state about dating 8 violence. And when we talk about Brown vs. 9 Board of Education and how "separate but 10 equal" was the law of the land so many years 11 ago, and you see the types of issues that our 12 children are dealing with today -- issues that 13 transcend gender, issues that transcend race 14 or color, issues that indeed affect and impact 15 everyone -- and that has always been the case. 16 Education and the need for 17 education is universal. And those things that 18 we must learn in order to be a civilized 19 society are universal. There is no need for 20 separation. Because indeed, by understanding 21 that we are one and we do need to transcend 22 what we consider to be differences, we are all 23 better. 24 Brown vs. Board of Education helped

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(518) 371-8910 1 us to at least deal with that reality legally. 2 And every day, as each of my colleagues have 3 said, we are impelled and compelled to make 4 sure the promise of what education can bring 5 to all of our children, for all of our 6 benefit, is indeed realized. 7 So certainly I support the 8 resolution. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 10 you, Senator Stewart-Cousins. 11 Are there any other Senators who 12 wish to be heard? 13 Seeing none, the question is on the 14 resolution. All in favor signify by saying 15 aye. 16 (Response of "Aye.") 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Opposed, nay. 19 (No response.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 resolution is adopted. 22 It is also open for 23 multisponsorship. Anyone wishing not to 24 multisponsor the resolution should notify the

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(518) 371-8910 1 desk. 2 Senator Klein. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 4 this time can we take up Senate Resolution 5 2037. I ask that the title of the resolution 6 be read and move for its immediate adoption 7 and give Senator Adams the opportunity to 8 speak on his resolution. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 Secretary will proceed with Senate Resolution 11 Number 2037. 12 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 13 Legislative Resolution 2037, by Senator Adams, 14 commemorating Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 15 2009, in the State of New York. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Senator Adams, on the resolution. 18 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 This too is one of the important 21 resolutions -- and I know we've had several 22 resolutions today -- because it's important 23 that we are fortunate enough in the Senate to 24 pause in our busy calendar, in our daily

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(518) 371-8910 1 tasks, just to recognize important days in our 2 history or important moments. 3 This resolution deals primarily 4 with Memorial Day. On Memorial Day we take an 5 opportunity to pause and think about the 6 countless number of soldiers who have lost 7 their lives while defending what is important 8 to us here in America. 9 Many people are not aware that 10 New York State was one of the first states to 11 formally recognize Memorial Day. And it's our 12 way of saying that we appreciate our soldiers, 13 the men and women who have fought countless 14 number of wars. Over 576,000 men and women 15 have lost their lives while engaged in some of 16 the 10 major wars that our country has been 17 involved in. 18 We are fortunate today, this 19 afternoon, to have here in the chamber with us 20 Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Curley, who has 21 joined us today, one of the courageous men who 22 have fought in Baghdad and overseas and has 23 continued to be a representative of what's 24 great about this country and what's great

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(518) 371-8910 1 about our military service. 2 I say it over and over again, that 3 we enjoy this quality form of life because our 4 men and women who wear green fatigues or Navy 5 uniforms or Air Force uniforms, because 6 they've made the ultimate decision to leave 7 their families and loved ones to protect those 8 things that are important to us as Americans. 9 I take my hat off to Senator Diaz 10 and to Senator Leibell and Senator Larkin and 11 some of the other men and women who have not 12 abandoned the desire to give public service. 13 After serving our country on foreign fields, 14 they've returned back to the State of New York 15 to serve here on our home-grown land called 16 New York State. 17 I think Memorial Day is an 18 important day that we pause for a moment and 19 recognize that a countless number of our 20 soldiers have given their lives. Some may not 21 have returned here in a body bag, but they've 22 returned handicapped, they've returned injured 23 from some of the fallout of war. We have an 24 obligation and a responsibility to make sure,

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(518) 371-8910 1 when they return home, that they are rewarded 2 with jobs, they're rewarded with educational 3 opportunities, that they are rewarded with 4 that which goes to any man or woman that 5 protects the basic principles of our country. 6 We must make sure that all of our 7 veterans, those who are disabled, those who 8 fought in active duty and those who served 9 during peacetime receive the proper 10 recognition and the proper support that they 11 can continue to prosper in this great country. 12 And I want to thank you, Colonel, 13 for your years of service and how you and 14 other men in our military have provided a safe 15 environment for our communities and our 16 families in this great country of ours. 17 Thank you very much. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 19 you, Senator Adams. 20 Are there any other Senators who 21 wish to be heard? 22 Senator Nozzolio, on the 23 resolution. 24 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you very

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(518) 371-8910 1 much, Mr. President. 2 I wish to speak on the resolution 3 and thank Senator Adams for bringing this very 4 important issue before us, because recognition 5 of those who have given so much to keep our 6 nation free is the least we can do each and 7 every day, to thank them for allowing us to 8 debate in a free and open democracy. 9 I especially rise, on the issue of 10 Memorial Day, that the nationally recognized 11 birthplace of Memorial Day is in Waterloo, 12 New York. That we in New York should be very 13 proud of the fact that our state is the state 14 that the entire country recognizes as the 15 first state that cradled and mourned the 16 sacrifices of those who gave their lives to 17 keep our nation free. 18 That was recognized as taking place 19 in the birthplace of Memorial Day, Waterloo, 20 New York, which celebrates and commemorates 21 the Memorial Day on the traditional date, the 22 30th of May. I will be participating in the 23 services there and the ceremonies there again 24 this year, and thank all the residents of

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(518) 371-8910 1 Waterloo for continuing to keep the real 2 spirit of Memorial Day alive in the way it 3 conducts its appropriate recognition of those 4 who have served our nation. 5 I thank Senator Adams, thank my 6 colleagues for the support of this resolution. 7 And I ask all of you to take pride in the fact 8 that we have, in New York, the truly 9 recognized birthplace of this wonderful and 10 important occasion of Memorial Day. 11 Thank you, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 13 you, Senator Nozzolio. 14 Senator Larkin, on the resolution. 15 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. I'd like to thank 17 Senator Adams for the resolution. 18 You know, Memorial Day, as Mike 19 Nozzolio said, everyone that I know that goes 20 around and does any speaking on that day 21 remembers that Waterloo and the general, the 22 graves when they took the flags -- and they 23 took flowers in those days. 24 But, you know, we as a body don't

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(518) 371-8910 1 do enough to encourage our young people in 2 schools what Memorial Day is all about. 3 Memorial Day today in our country is, gee, 4 what time do the stores open early? Leibell, 5 what time are the spices going to be good? 6 Not talking about what this day is all about. 7 I had the privilege today of being 8 at West Point where six distinguished 9 graduates were there. The oldest graduate was 10 the Class of 1934. His question to me: "Was 11 what will you doing on Memorial Day?" And he 12 said, "Before you answer, Memorial Day is the 13 30th. It's not the 22nd, the 23rd, next year 14 the 25th or, what, last Monday." So I guess 15 that 95-year-old general is pretty well up and 16 tuned. 17 But we as legislators have a 18 problem with this. We don't get our schools 19 involved. You know, we say we want to honor 20 the veterans. You know, I spent 23 years on 21 active duty: World War II, Korea and Vietnam. 22 I'm proud of it. 23 And every time I see a youngster 24 today coming out of Iraq or coming home from a

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(518) 371-8910 1 meeting, I go up there and I salute him and I 2 say, "Thank you for your service." 3 But for us to just say it's a great 4 day, we think it's nice and all of this -- 5 let's start to do something to encourage our 6 young people to recognize what Memorial Day 7 means, what it represents. It's not a 8 vacation day. It's not a day off. It's not a 9 sales day at a supermarket or a store. It's 10 something to remind us that we had men and 11 women, since way back when, answering the call 12 to defend this country. 13 Senator Winner just last week had a 14 young 21-year-old, 11 months into combat, 15 killed. Does anybody worry about him? A 16 company commander in that infantry outfit will 17 write a letter and tell that family "Your son 18 was killed today." But does somebody else 19 understand what service means? 20 Memorial Day means honoring someone 21 who'd done some service. It doesn't mean all 22 these trivial things. And until we really get 23 down to it and say we want to honor those men 24 and women who gave something for us to be free

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(518) 371-8910 1 Americans, we have failed. 2 Thank you, Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 4 you, Senator Larkin. 5 Senator Leibell, on the resolution. 6 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. 8 Senator Adams and I started our day 9 early today out at the state campus, at a 10 program for disabled veterans, helping them, 11 trying to help them get into the business 12 Community. It seemed appropriate that it 13 would be at this time of the year that we 14 would have a chance to meet with these 15 veterans and those who would be seeking to 16 help them and also to pause for a moment, as 17 we will in the next few days, to think about 18 those who made the ultimate sacrifice. 19 I think one of the saddest things I 20 do as a legislator, and I'm sure many of my 21 colleagues would agree with this, is during 22 this period of time go to some of the events 23 that we have for our fallen veterans and to 24 meet with some of the parents and siblings

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(518) 371-8910 1 that have been left behind, to see some of the 2 Gold Star Mothers -- many of them are my own 3 mother's age -- and to think of the children 4 that they lost and that they never had the 5 chance to see grow into maturity and to have 6 their own families. 7 These sacrifices are too 8 incomprehensible to even think about, but we 9 do have to think about them. And sadly, right 10 now, as Senator Larkin noted, every day there 11 are new veterans and new people who are being 12 added to that list of honor for those who have 13 sacrificed so much. 14 So I thank my colleague Senator 15 Adams for this very important resolution 16 today, and hopefully that all of us will 17 commemorate -- not just over the next few days 18 but throughout the year -- all those who have 19 sacrificed so much for this great country of 20 ours. 21 Thank you, Mr. President. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 23 you, Senator Leibell. 24 Senator Morahan, on the resolution.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 Thank you, Senator Adams, for this 4 very important pause in our deliberations to 5 memorialize Memorial Day. 6 We speak a lot about veterans who 7 truly we honor in the fall of the year. This 8 time of the year, Memorial Day, we celebrate, 9 remember those who made the sacrifice of their 10 lives to make sure that our country stayed 11 united and stayed strong, safe and free. 12 When General Logan declared 13 Decoration Day, which now is Memorial Day, it 14 was at the end of the Civil War. The Civil 15 War, more Americans died and were killed in 16 that war than all the other wars that we have 17 endured as a nation together, that one war to 18 preserve this nation free and undivided. 19 And going back to the revolutionary 20 days, it's those who died that gave us the 21 Constitution. It's those who died who gave us 22 the Declaration of Independence. 23 And it's really a fitting tribute, 24 if you will, to those who didn't come back,

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(518) 371-8910 1 but also to remember the families of those men 2 and women who were killed in the line of 3 duty -- in action, in a swamp, face in the 4 water, in a jungle, maggots, disease, in a hot 5 desert storm with no water. 6 So I think it's important, and 7 that's why I really want to commend Senator 8 Adams for leading off with this resolution. 9 It's critical that this country never forget 10 those who made days like today possible, where 11 people can walk and talk, say what they want, 12 protest what they want. It's the fellow and 13 gal who didn't come home. 14 And to remember the families and 15 the children who grew up as orphans. And I 16 know we have many programs here that look out 17 for the survivors. But it ought not to be one 18 day. Every day that you do something, every 19 day that you make a speech as a politician, 20 every day that you send your children to 21 school safe, remember: There were people who 22 died so that we could live free. 23 Thank you, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank

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(518) 371-8910 1 you, Senator Morahan. 2 Are there any other Senators who 3 wish to be heard on the resolution? 4 Before we call the question on the 5 resolution, I would ask all Senators, staff, 6 visitors who are with us to please stand at 7 this time and offer a moment of silence for 8 those men and women who have made the ultimate 9 sacrifice in defense of this great nation. 10 (Whereupon, the assemblage 11 respected a moment of silence.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 question is on the resolution. All in favor 14 signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 20 resolution is adopted. 21 At Senator Adams' request, the 22 resolution is open for cosponsorship. Any 23 member wishing not to be a cosponsor of the 24 resolution please notify the desk.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 3 can we at this time move to a reading of 4 Calendar Number 48. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 6 Secretary will proceed with a reading of 7 Senate Calendar Number 48. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 158, by Senator C. Kruger, Senate Bill 552, an 10 act to amend the Election Law, in relation to 11 providing Russian-language voting materials. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 13 the last section. 14 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Mr. 15 President, I'd like to address a question to 16 Senator Kruger. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Do you 18 wish to lay the bill aside, Senator Johnson? 19 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I wish to 20 address a question to Senator Kruger. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Well, 22 to do that we would have to take the bill up 23 on the controversial calendar. So if you are 24 asking to --

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I can't 2 ask a question now? 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Not on 4 the noncontroversial calendar. 5 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Well, lay 6 it aside, then. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 bill is laid aside. 9 The Secretary will continue to 10 read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 192, by Senator Seward, Senate Bill 1825, an 13 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to 14 extending the authorization for imposition of 15 additional sales tax in the County of Otsego. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 17 is a home-rule message at the desk. 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 2 bill is passed. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 194, by Member of the Assembly Crouch, 5 Assembly Print Number 4397, an act to amend 6 the Tax Law, in relation to extending the 7 authorization of the County of Chenango to 8 impose an additional 1 percent of sales and 9 compensating use taxes. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 11 is a home-rule message at the desk. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 16 the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 20 bill is passed. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 205, by Member of the Assembly Gottfried, 23 Assembly Print Number 723, an act to amend the 24 Public Health Law and the Insurance Law, in

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(518) 371-8910 1 relation to the definition of clinical peer 2 reviewer. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay that bill 4 aside for the day. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 6 bill is laid aside for the day. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 247, by Senator Stachowski, Senate Bill 1944, 9 an act to amend the Real Property Actions and 10 Proceedings Law, in relation to designating a 11 party to accept service in the event a 12 property becomes vacant during the foreclosure 13 process. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Could we lay the 15 bill aside for the day also. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 17 bill is laid aside for the day. 18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 19 250, by Senator L. Krueger, Senate Bill 4259, 20 an act to amend the Real Property Law, in 21 relation to fees landlords may charge tenants. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay this bill 23 aside for the day also. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 bill is laid aside for the day. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 258, by Member of the Assembly Gianaris, 4 Assembly Print Number 7458, an act to amend 5 the State Administrative Procedure Act, in 6 relation to notice of proposed rule-making. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect immediately. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Saland, to explain his vote. 16 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 Mr. President, certainly this bill 19 has a very appropriate purpose, extending the 20 opportunity for public comment with regard to 21 proposed rules made by an agency. 22 The only thing I would ask the 23 sponsor to consider would be that there should 24 be some type of date certain attached to this.

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(518) 371-8910 1 If you want to double the permissible period 2 of time, so that it's not open ended. And 3 that I think would probably help, I think, to 4 somewhat make sure that there were boundaries 5 to this. 6 And I think there also should be 7 something said in this legislation with regard 8 to a situation in which someone alleges or 9 claims that they didn't have enough time and 10 wanted more time, is there a remedy for that 11 or can you not go any further, is your remedy 12 to go to court, is it Article 78, or do you 13 want to say you get one additional bite of the 14 apple and it's not appealable? 15 Thank you, Mr. President. I will 16 support the bill. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Senator Saland to be recorded in the 19 affirmative. 20 The Secretary will announce the 21 results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 263, by Senator Adams, Senate Bill 3762, an 3 act to amend the General Business Law, in 4 relation to requiring greater disclosure by 5 stores of their refund policies. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 7 the last section. 8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 9 act shall take effect on the 120th day after 10 it shall have become law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 276, by Senator Klein -- 19 SENATOR VOLKER: Lay that bill 20 aside. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 bill is laid aside. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 278, by Senator Valesky, Senate Print 2622, an

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(518) 371-8910 1 act to amend the Environmental Conservation 2 Law, in relation to the placement of 3 additional information on traps. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 62. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 297, by Senator Onorato, Senate Print 4110A, 16 an act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 17 unemployment insurance benefits and part-time 18 work, voluntary separations from employment, 19 and on/off indicators for extended 20 unemployment insurance benefits; and in 21 relation to extended benefits. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 23 the last section. 24 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This

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(518) 371-8910 1 act shall take effect -- 2 SENATOR SALAND: Lay it aside. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 4 bill is laid aside. 5 Senator Klein, that completes the 6 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 8 can we now move to a reading of the 9 controversial calendar. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 11 Secretary will ring the bells. 12 I ask Senators to proceed for a 13 reading of the controversial calendar, 14 beginning with Calendar Number 158, Senate 15 Bill 552, by Senator Kruger. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 158, by Senator C. Kruger, Senate Print 552, 19 an act to amend the Election Law, in relation 20 to providing Russian-language voting 21 materials. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Senator Johnson. 24 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Would

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Kruger answer a question for me? 2 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I 3 would. 4 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Thank you. 5 Senator, I'm asking a simple 6 question. Why is this bill here? What's the 7 reason for this bill? 8 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Why is the 9 bill here? Well, as more and more Russians 10 join our communities and find themselves in a 11 position where they want to vote but they also 12 have a cultural and a language barrier that 13 would entitle them to properly fill out a 14 registration form, to fill out an absentee 15 ballot, to understand the process, what we're 16 doing now is opening up the dialogue and the 17 explanation so -- the same way as we're doing 18 now in Chinese, in Korean, and in Spanish -- 19 we will offer that same translation in 20 Russian. 21 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: To become 22 a citizen, I believe that you must have some 23 qualifications: Be able to understand, read, 24 write and speak basic English, possess a basic

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(518) 371-8910 1 understanding of United States government and 2 history. 3 Can these people not communicate in 4 English? Are they citizens? 5 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Well, 6 again, although they've fulfilled the 7 requirements of being a citizen, their ability 8 to fluently communicate, to be able to 9 graphically understand and to have the full 10 import of what the meaning of the voting 11 process is sometimes presents challenges to 12 them. The ability to read it in Russian gives 13 them that greater opportunity for access. 14 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: It's kind 15 of interesting, Senator, that -- will you 16 stand for another question? Statement, 17 question, whatever it is. 18 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Absolutely. 19 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: That they 20 must be a resident for more than five years, 21 in most cases, before they can even become a 22 citizen. And they haven't learned to read a 23 paper or anything during that time? 24 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Well, you

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(518) 371-8910 1 know, again -- again, I'm not disputing the 2 fact that they can read and write English the 3 same way as the Chinese community, that is 4 also eligible to vote, or the Korean community 5 or the Hispanic community. We find ourselves 6 that they are much more adept and feel much 7 more comfortable by having the 8 Russian-language translation in front of them. 9 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Thank you. 10 Another question. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 12 Senator Kruger, do you continue to yield? 13 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do, 14 Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 sponsor yields. 17 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: There are 18 now four languages who have these voting 19 instructions in their language. And now we're 20 going to have five. Should we have another 21 one in the future? 22 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Well, 23 firstly, this is not on the ballot, this is 24 purely for instruction, both on the Internet

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(518) 371-8910 1 or by a booklet, a hand booklet, if it would 2 be made available to them. 3 In many instances when we're 4 talking about the other translations, those 5 translations are required under the Voting 6 Rights Act. This is -- the Russian speaking 7 language, the Russian community is not a 8 protected class under the Voting Rights Act. 9 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Well, 10 maybe they needn't be. 11 But all I'm saying is the advantage 12 to people to vote, to make it easy to vote 13 without really being acculturated or familiar 14 with our language leaves them also a lost soul 15 in the greater American community. And they'd 16 learn a lot more, if they learned English, 17 they could participate without this. As the 18 Italians and the Germans and the French and 19 everybody else did. 20 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: A lot could 21 be said about that, Senator. But at the same 22 time, to encourage people to vote, to become 23 part of the process, as those populations 24 continue to grow not only in my district but

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(518) 371-8910 1 in districts throughout this state, I think 2 that we're affording them a flexible 3 opportunity to be able to cast their ballot. 4 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Thank you, 5 Senator. 6 I have another question, statement, 7 whatever it is. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Senator, do you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 12 sponsor yields. 13 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: I found 14 out that this past October, October '08, the 15 laws were changed, and regulations, and they 16 require a lot more English-language 17 proficiency to become a citizen and also more 18 American history to help acculturate these 19 people as citizens. 20 Well, let's say this bill -- I'm 21 not going to try and stop the bill. I think 22 it's a very valuable addition. But I don't 23 think we should encourage this. And the new 24 laws that are in place now will help new

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(518) 371-8910 1 citizens be more familiar and this kind of 2 crutch would not be required for them again, 3 they could fully participate in society. 4 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Well, as my 5 grandparents and their parents went to night 6 school in order to read and write English, 7 then I think that what we're doing is we're 8 encouraging people to do that and at the same 9 time encouraging them to vote as well. 10 SENATOR JOHNSON: And everybody 11 who's a Native American stand up. Okay, 12 everybody else's grandparents and parents came 13 here and did the same thing. Congratulations. 14 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Johnson. 17 Are there any other Senators who 18 wish to be heard? 19 Senator Stavisky. 20 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes, let me 21 thank Senator Kruger for sponsoring this 22 extremely important bill, especially to my 23 community in Queens County. 24 We have many new Americans, and

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(518) 371-8910 1 that's what they are. They may be new, but 2 they are Americans. We are a nation of 3 immigrants, people who have come to the United 4 States from terrible, terrible conditions in 5 some cases, looking for not only a better life 6 but the opportunity to participate in the 7 democratic process. 8 And it seems to me that anything we 9 do to make it easier for new Americans to 10 participate, to become part of government -- 11 and the first step is making it easier for 12 them to vote. 13 So I commend Senator Kruger, and I 14 will be supporting this bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Senator DeFrancisco. 17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Will 18 Senator Stavisky yield to a question? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Senator Stavisky, do you yield? 21 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes. 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Do you have 23 any new Italian-American voters in your area 24 that speak Italian?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR STAVISKY: I'm sure there 2 are. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Do you 4 have -- another question. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Do you 6 continue to yield, Senator? 7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Do you have 8 any German-American people in your district 9 that want to vote and they speak German? 10 SENATOR STAVISKY: Perhaps. 11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Last 12 question. Where do you draw the line? 13 SENATOR STAVISKY: I draw the 14 line -- the numbers of Russian immigrants is 15 large. I cannot give you a quantitative 16 number, but there are far more people who 17 speak Russian who are new Americans than who 18 speak Italian or German. And if necessary, we 19 perhaps can have information for them. 20 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would she 21 yield to one more question? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Senator Stavisky? 24 SENATOR STAVISKY: Yes.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So you're 2 saying that the people who are going to get 3 the materials that will help them vote, you 4 draw the line based upon the number in that 5 particular category? Is that what you're 6 saying? 7 SENATOR STAVISKY: Well, there 8 are some voting rights issues here as well. I 9 represent a great many Chinese-Americans, a 10 great many Korean-Americans as well. And they 11 are covered under this legislation, previous 12 legislation, prior legislation. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Senator Leibell. 15 SENATOR LEIBELL: Briefly, if the 16 sponsor would yield. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Senator Kruger, do you yield? 19 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 sponsor yields. 22 SENATOR LEIBELL: Working, 23 Senator, on the theory that in order to vote 24 you have to be a citizen, what are the

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(518) 371-8910 1 citizenship requirements with respect to the 2 English language? 3 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: A degree of 4 proficiency. 5 SENATOR LEIBELL: So if you've 6 become a citizen and you had to have a degree 7 of proficiency in order to become a citizen, 8 why wouldn't that same level of proficiency 9 help you to vote? 10 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Well, I 11 guess we could use the same standard that the 12 federal government uses under the Voting 13 Rights Act. There's a difference between a 14 degree of proficiency in order to be able to 15 become a citizen and to be comfortable in 16 filling out the appropriate forms in order to 17 be able to vote. 18 I think there's a sense of 19 trepidation also that the new American-Russian 20 new voter faces. And what we're doing is 21 we're easing the process. We're opening up 22 the door. And we're giving them a comfort 23 level that they otherwise would not have if 24 this legislation did not become law.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you. 2 Thank you. On the bill, if I may, briefly. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 4 Senator Leibell, on the bill. 5 SENATOR LEIBELL: One of the 6 concerns I have is that we are in fact 7 discouraging people from becoming more 8 proficient in the English language. And that 9 is a concern I have. 10 And as was commented by some of my 11 colleagues here, where do you draw the line? 12 Is it because a particular group has a certain 13 number of people here, other groups do not? 14 I would point out, Senator Kruger, 15 in my own family, my wife's family, they're 16 Russian, and they had to become citizens and 17 they had to learn to speak English. And I 18 think that's a natural way to progress as you 19 become an American. 20 I certainly would want to do 21 everything possible to encourage people to 22 vote. As these informational materials are 23 put out, I hope you will also make sure that 24 they do mention that there's a Republican

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(518) 371-8910 1 Party also. 2 (Laughter.) 3 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 4 Senator. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 6 you, Senator Leibell. 7 Are there any other Senators who 8 wish to be heard? 9 Seeing none, the debate is closed. 10 The Secretary will ring the bells. 11 I ask all Senators to proceed to the chamber. 12 The Secretary will read the last 13 section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect on the first of January 16 next succeeding the date on which it shall 17 have become law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 19 the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'm 24 going to vote no on this bill. And I think

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(518) 371-8910 1 there's -- there are new Americans in every 2 single nationality are voting, maybe not too 3 familiar with the English language, whether 4 it's Polish-Americans, Italian-Americans, 5 Irish-Americans, whatever Americans you want 6 to come up with. 7 And to have a special category for 8 one group to me just doesn't make sense, 9 especially in view of the fact that to become 10 a citizen, there should be some basic -- and 11 there's required to be some basic literacy 12 capabilities. 13 And as a result, I just think this 14 bill should not pass and I'm going to vote no. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Senator DeFrancisco to be recorded in the 17 negative. 18 Everyone intending to vote in the 19 negative on this bill please raise your hands. 20 Senator Nozzolio, to explain his 21 vote. 22 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. 24 Mr. President, I'm voting no on

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(518) 371-8910 1 this matter. My grandfather on -- 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Excuse 3 me, Senator Nozzolio. 4 May we have some quiet, please. 5 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you. 6 My mother's father, my grandfather, 7 spoke fluent Russian. He was an immigrant to 8 this country from Ukraine. But he also 9 understood to make it in America, to be part 10 of the American dream, you needed to speak 11 other languages, and English was that 12 language. 13 He was fluent in seven languages. 14 But the fact of the matter is he knew he was 15 coming to a nation that spoke English, and he 16 entrusted that into his children and his 17 children's children. 18 We are a melting pot. We are a 19 nation that respects other cultures. But this 20 is a cost, a burden, it's unnecessary, and 21 it's something that I believe past generations 22 of Americans would also see as a waste of 23 precious taxpayers' resources. That's why I 24 vote in the negative.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Thank you, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Nozzolio to be recorded in the 4 negative. 5 Senator Montgomery, to explain her 6 vote. 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 8 Mr. President. I want to explain my vote. 9 I think America is the only 10 industrialized nation in the world where 11 there's only one language that most people 12 speak, even the highest-educated ones. Every 13 other country, people speak a variety of 14 languages. 15 But that being the case, with us 16 having basically one language that we all 17 speak, we need to be able to communicate 18 nonetheless with other people who have come to 19 our shores who don't speak English as their 20 main mother language. 21 So I'm very thankful that we have 22 now before us a bill which says that in voting 23 in this country, since we want everyone to be 24 able to participate in that process, we want

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(518) 371-8910 1 all of our material also in those languages 2 that other people in our country do speak. 3 So I thank our sponsor for 4 introducing this legislation. I represent a 5 large number of people who speak other 6 languages other than English, and so this will 7 benefit a large number of people certainly in 8 my district, all over the city, and all over 9 the state. 10 So I vote aye. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 12 Senator Montgomery to be recorded in the 13 affirmative. 14 The Secretary will announce the 15 results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 17 the negative are Senators Alesi, DeFrancisco, 18 Flanagan, Griffo, O. Johnson, Larkin, Leibell, 19 Little, Maziarz, Nozzolio, Ranzenhofer, 20 Saland, and Seward. 21 Absent: Senator Winner. 22 So ayes, 48. Nays, 13. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 bill is passed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The Secretary will continue to 2 read. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 276, by Senator Klein, Senate Bill 1362C, an 5 act to amend the Correction Law, in relation 6 to subdirectory of Level 2 and 3 sex 7 offenders. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Senator Volker. 10 SENATOR VOLKER: There is an 11 amendment at the desk. Would you please waive 12 the reading and call on Senator Robach, 13 please. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Volker, Senator Robach does have an 16 amendment at the desk. I have reviewed the 17 amendment with counsel and have ruled it out 18 of order as not germane to the bill. 19 It does relate to a different 20 subject matter than the main bill by Senator 21 Klein under consideration. It also 22 significantly expands the scope of the 23 original intent of the legislation. 24 SENATOR ROBACH: Mr. President,

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(518) 371-8910 1 if I could have a moment to disagree with the 2 decision. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: You 4 wish to appeal the decision of the chair, 5 Senator Robach? 6 SENATOR ROBACH: I would 7 vehemently appeal it, yes. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: And 9 I'd imagine you wish to be heard on that 10 appeal. 11 SENATOR ROBACH: If I could. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Go 13 ahead. 14 SENATOR ROBACH: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 What this would do would be to add 17 to Senator Klein's bill and I believe make it 18 stronger by making the same section of the law 19 almost exactly -- Correction Law -- would make 20 a sex offender's failure to register a Class D 21 felony. Adding that to Senator Klein's bill, 22 which would also modify the penalty regarding 23 email notification and changes of update of 24 the Sex Offender Registry.

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(518) 371-8910 1 These are actually right next to 2 each other in the section of law -- 168Q, 3 168T, all working toward trying to make people 4 safer from sex offenders and pedophiles. 5 Clearly related. Everyone in this chamber 6 agrees we should do all we can to clamp down 7 on this. 8 This bill, when a separate bill 9 before, was passed unanimously by this 10 Legislature. 11 And I don't think it could be any 12 more germane, any more connected. Clearly 13 Senator Klein's bill is to clamp down on sex 14 offenders. This bill simply adds to that, 15 makes it stronger, literally connecting the 16 sections of the law that are already there, Q 17 and T. 18 And I would ask all my colleagues 19 who feel this is important who have any 20 modicum of logic, who can see that this is 21 clearly germane, would vote for this. 22 And again, everything we do here is 23 important. But this is about protecting kids, 24 making the bill a little bit stronger and a

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(518) 371-8910 1 little bit better. And I would implore that, 2 with all due respect to you, Mr. President, we 3 overrule that and do a something a little 4 extra for the kids of this state to protect 5 them. 6 And I'll end with this, too. Think 7 of the only reason why someone who would not 8 want to report in who's a sex offender is 9 because they want to be anonymous, not to do 10 something good but to do something bad to a 11 child or someone else. 12 So I appeal that ruling, Mr. 13 President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 15 you, Senator Robach. 16 Senator DeFrancisco, on the appeal. 17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'm a 18 little confused. And I guess for instruction 19 on this particular bill and future bills, is 20 it the ruling of the chair that an amendment 21 that's from the same section of law but just 22 in a different subparagraph, the ruling you're 23 saying is that that's not germane? 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 ruling in this particular case is that Senator 2 Robach -- among others, is that Senator 3 Robach's amendment contains penalties that 4 Senator Klein's original bill does not. In 5 which case Senator Robach's amendment would 6 need to be considered by the Codes Committee, 7 as all bills that have a penal impact are. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And you're 9 saying there's no penal impact of Senator 10 Klein's bill? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 12 Correct. That's correct. 13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And one 14 last question, just to be clear. 15 Are you saying so if there was no 16 penal impact, this would be a germane bill, 17 the amendment would be germane to the bill? 18 The reason I ask is because I can't 19 think of how more germane an amendment has to 20 be if it's from the same section of the law 21 and just a different subparagraph. And, you 22 know, in this reform-minded new leadership, I 23 just want to clarify what the situation is. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Well,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator DeFrancisco, as it relates to this 2 particular bill and this particular amendment 3 by Senator Robach, the question of the lack of 4 penalties in Senator Klein's bill, the 5 imposition of penalties in Senator Robach's 6 amendment has led to a ruling of the amendment 7 being out of order on purposes of germaneness. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. 9 And you are aware, Senator, that each of these 10 bills, Senator Klein's bill and the amendment, 11 when the amendment was actually passed 12 unanimously last year, came out of the same 13 committee, Crime Victims, Crime and 14 Corrections? And that doesn't make it 15 germane? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Senator Klein's bill came out of the Crime 18 Victims Committee and was moved directly to 19 the floor. 20 Senator Robach's amendment, because 21 it imposes penalties, which Senator Klein's 22 bill currently does not, would mean that the 23 Senate Committee on Codes would need to 24 consider the bill prior to its consideration

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(518) 371-8910 1 on the floor. 2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. 3 And you're aware that Senator Robach's 4 amendment was a bill that passed unanimously 5 last year and came out of the Crime Victims, 6 Crime and Corrections Committee? 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: I am 8 aware of that. 9 However, in the rules that were 10 adopted that govern the Senate for this year, 11 we have a dual referencing system now. So 12 that if Senator Robach's bill were introduced 13 and reported out of the Crime Victims 14 Committee, it would be flagged by the Senate 15 Committee on Codes under the new rules of the 16 house. 17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So the last 18 question -- I promise this is the last 19 question -- so what you're saying is that 20 under the new rules, the new and improved, 21 open government of the new leadership, this is 22 the ruling, but under the old rules the ruling 23 would have been that it was germane? 24 Because there was no dual

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(518) 371-8910 1 referencing system under the old rules, the 2 bad rules, the unimproved and undemocratic 3 rules that we operated on prior to this year. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator, we need to call the question on the 6 germaneness of whether Senator Robach's 7 amendment is in order. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: I 10 can't speak to how any previous presiding 11 officer would have ruled in previous 12 legislative sessions. 13 Senator Hannon, I believe, was 14 first to rise. Senator Hannon. 15 SENATOR HANNON: Mr. President, 16 may I make a comment on your ruling? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: You 18 may. 19 SENATOR HANNON: I find that you 20 have gone beyond the tradition of this 21 chamber. And I find that what you're doing 22 may be an unwanted precedent for your 23 majority. Because when a bill is on the floor 24 and to be amended, it requires a motion. We

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(518) 371-8910 1 don't necessarily enunciate that motion, but 2 if you look at the record of this house, there 3 is a motion made. 4 And what you're doing may well be 5 constraining your ability for your own bills, 6 because you have now taken what we have as a 7 precedent and narrowed that in an 8 extraordinary fashion. 9 I would suggest that common sense 10 make you go back and look at what you're 11 trying to do. Because if you want to run this 12 house, what you have done today is narrow a 13 precedent, and you're not going to be able to 14 do it. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Hannon. 17 Senator Lanza. 18 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 Mr. President, if I'm understanding 21 this properly, the justification for this 22 ruling is that because penalties are involved 23 here, and because they have not come through 24 the Codes Committee, that this is somehow not

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(518) 371-8910 1 germane. 2 I would remind you, Mr. President 3 and my colleagues, that the laws involving the 4 reduction of penalties concerning the 5 so-called Rockefeller drug laws came to this 6 floor without having gone through the Codes 7 Committee. 8 And so given that precedent, it 9 would seem that the justification being given 10 here for ruling this not germane is not 11 consistent and therefore does not seem to make 12 a lot of sense. 13 And again, to repeat what's being 14 said here, the amendment deals with precisely 15 the same section, Section 168 of the 16 Correction Law. If this is not germane, then 17 of course no amendment would ever be ruled 18 germane. And perhaps that is the true 19 motivation here. And I would suggest and 20 agree with Senator Hannon that if that is why 21 this is being ruled not germane, then it 22 establishes a very poor precedent for this 23 body. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY:

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Klein, why do you rise? 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 3 point of order. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Klein, state your point of order. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Clearly the 7 amendment is not germane to the original 8 object or purpose of the underlying bill. It 9 is a different section. 10 My legislation deals with creating 11 a subdirectory, which is presently in place. 12 It in no way contains a penalty. So if we 13 adopted the amendment, it would change the 14 scope of my legislation. 15 Also, the amendment in question 16 would also change the original title of my 17 bill. So by expanding the scope and changing 18 the title, that's the reason why the amendment 19 was not germane under Senate Rule 9, 20 Section 3-D. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 22 you, Senator Klein. 23 Senator Saland, on the appeal of 24 the ruling of the chair.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 In light of Senator Klein's 4 comments, I would ask if you would please 5 share with us, then, whether the basis for 6 this ruling is the fact that it expands the 7 scope of Senator Klein's bill, as he has 8 maintained, or whether it is because the bill 9 contains a penalty provision. Which, as was 10 so aptly pointed out by Senator Lanza, would 11 fly in the face of a prior precedent that you 12 in fact were part of when you voted for those 13 Rockefeller drug laws. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 points that Senator Klein has raised in regard 16 to the germaneness of the amendment that is 17 before the house at this time are the basis of 18 the ruling for the amendment to be not 19 germane. 20 SENATOR SALAND: So then Senator 21 Klein's comments are controlling, and this is 22 not being denied based on the fact that there 23 is a penalty provision that would otherwise 24 have had to have gone to the Codes Committee.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Which again, in the example Senator 2 Lanza gave, certainly would have required the 3 Rockefeller drug laws buried in the budget to 4 have similarly gone to the Codes Committee. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 6 Actually, I believe that Senator Klein 7 indicated the penalty provision or lack of 8 penalty provisions in his original bill, as I 9 indicated in my original ruling. 10 SENATOR SALAND: I respectfully 11 would say that I'm confused. And I'm looking 12 for a determination from you, as the President 13 and presiding officer, as to whether we stop 14 with Senator Klein's comments and that is the 15 end of the discussion on relevancy -- i.e., it 16 expands the scope of Senator Klein's bill -- 17 or are we talking about a second reason which 18 you maintained in your initial comments, which 19 was that the amendment, because it contained a 20 penalty, should have gone to the Codes 21 Committee? 22 Are we dropping the second and 23 going with the first, or are you giving us 24 both?

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Senator Klein in effect reiterated my 3 original -- one of my reasons for ruling the 4 amendment not germane, specifically in regard 5 to the penalty provision. Senator Klein 6 indicated that at the beginning of his 7 remarks, before moving to his comments in 8 regard to the scope of the bill. 9 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 10 and again with the utmost respect that I can 11 possibly summon, is the basis -- had Senator 12 Klein not spoken, would we still be in a 13 situation which you would maintain that, as 14 the presiding officer, this amendment would 15 have had to have gone to Codes because it 16 contained a provision for a penalty and Codes 17 had not had the opportunity to hear it? 18 Then, Mr. President -- I can count, 19 and I realize there are 32 Democrats and 20 30 Republicans. I also realize that the 21 32 Democrats spoke about reform and 22 expansiveness. What you've effectively done 23 is establish a precedent here that flies in 24 the face of your own practice. So there are

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(518) 371-8910 1 rules for the Majority, and there are rules 2 for the Minority. 3 To deny the fact that under your 4 own construct the Rockefeller drug laws should 5 have been on this floor buried in a bill but 6 should have gone to Codes first really is, I 7 would respectfully submit, rather 8 hypocritical. 9 And I would also add that any bill 10 that was discussed -- or any amendment that 11 was discussed during the course of the 12 adoption of the budget certainly was something 13 that had fiscal implications, the measure had 14 fiscal implications, and yet there was no 15 proposal to deny the germaneness of those 16 based upon the fact that they hadn't gone to 17 the Finance Committee first. 18 So we are crafting a web here or 19 spinning a web that certainly is arbitrary, 20 certainly sets a rather dangerous precedent. 21 And it seems to me, for those who have 22 maintained that this is about a more open, 23 collegial, reform-minded, transparent Senate, 24 what we have seen today is anything but.

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(518) 371-8910 1 Again, there are rules for them 2 that has and there are rules for them that 3 don't. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Saland, the record will certainly 6 reflect your concern. 7 I would just reiterate for the 8 members and for the record that the amendment 9 relates to a different subject matter than 10 that which was under consideration; namely, 11 the subdirectory of Level 2 and 3 sex 12 offenders maintained by the Division of 13 Criminal Justice Services, that it does 14 significantly expand the purpose, scope and 15 object of the original bill, which was to 16 allow notification by email of changes to the 17 Sex Offender Registry, and that the amendment 18 would also require a change in title of the 19 bill. 20 Senator Robach. 21 SENATOR ROBACH: If I could, just 22 for a minute, on this appeal. To my 23 colleagues, some of my colleagues over here 24 have made some good points on the broader

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(518) 371-8910 1 picture, fairness. 2 But getting back to this bill, 3 which I think one thing we've all been unified 4 on, whether we're Democrats and Republicans, 5 the importance of protecting kids. 6 And I appreciate Senator Klein's 7 efforts, but I couldn't disagree more with 8 what you said, Senator Klein. This amendment 9 takes your idea of making it better to track 10 these people and update the registry one way 11 in a section of law that does have penalties 12 in the larger section of Corrections, and says 13 in addition to the way you want to do it and 14 use email, we also want to use and think it's 15 wise to use a penalty, a bigger penalty for 16 people who don't report as another 17 incentive -- a stick or a carrot, if you 18 will -- to make these sex offenders report in. 19 With the hope, again, they won't be out there 20 anonymously doing more. 21 I can't understand how anybody 22 would think that's not related in the same 23 section of law or minimally couldn't see how 24 this bill that we passed before, stand-alone,

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(518) 371-8910 1 would be related. 2 So I would ask my colleagues to 3 focus on what this will do. I guess we're 4 going to go on the germaneness. But clearly 5 it is a stretch to say this isn't related in 6 the same section of law affecting the same 7 thing and trying to get even a greater result 8 for the mutual people we want to protect. 9 And I guess I would agree with some 10 other things that were said. If this isn't 11 germane, I don't think you're ever going to 12 rule anything germane. And I would hate to 13 think that, because then this whole process of 14 being able to make the motion is really for 15 naught. And I don't think that would be good. 16 So I interject that and I hope 17 you'll listen to it, because I think it's 18 important in the outcome, in the protection of 19 our kids. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 21 you, Senator Robach. 22 Senator Flanagan, on the appeal. 23 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 24 I'm not sure, frankly, if this question should

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(518) 371-8910 1 be directed to you or to Senator Klein. And 2 I'm trying to listen carefully. But one of 3 the points that was raised was changing the 4 title of the bill. So I really have two 5 questions, either through you or to you. 6 I'm not sure where the change in 7 the title is, so I'd like someone to be able 8 to point that out. Because I have a copy of 9 the bill, and I have a copy of the amendment. 10 And if there is some distinction, number one, 11 I'd like to know that. And number two, I 12 can't understand or fathom why that has any 13 relevance whatsoever to the substance of the 14 bill. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 16 Senator Flanagan, the title of the bill: "An 17 act to amend the Correction Law, in relation 18 to subdirectory of Level 2 and 3 sex 19 offenders." 20 Senator Robach's amendment goes 21 well beyond addressing issues regarding the 22 subdirectory of Level 2 and 3 sex offenders. 23 In fact, the title of Senator Robach's 24 amendment: "An act to amend the Correction

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(518) 371-8910 1 Law, in relation to the failure to register or 2 verify under the Sex Offender Registration Act 3 or violation of the prohibition of sex 4 offenders working on motor vehicles engaged in 5 retail sales of frozen desserts." 6 So clearly the two titles are 7 significantly different. Hence the need to 8 change the title of the bill if the amendment 9 was in fact germane. 10 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I'm sorry, 11 could you repeat that last title? I got the 12 first part, about the subdirectory. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Senator Flanagan, Senator Robach's amendment 15 as I have it in front of me -- I'd be happy to 16 share it with you -- "An act to amend the 17 Correction Law, in relation to the failure to 18 register or verify under the Sex Offender 19 Registration Act or violation of the 20 prohibition of sex offenders working on motor 21 vehicles engaged in retail sales of frozen 22 desserts." 23 Is that what you have in front of 24 you?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR FLANAGAN: No, I have a 2 different copy. But I appreciate your sharing 3 that with me. The part I have doesn't have 4 any reference to that. But it does certainly 5 speak to the establishment of a Class D 6 felony. 7 Mr. President, let me just -- I'll 8 be brief and speak to the appeal. 9 I want to join in the comments of 10 my colleagues. And I think, you know, while 11 protocol and procedure and process, I am a 12 strong proponent of that, I think this is 13 illustrative for the public to be able to see 14 the type of discussion we're having on an 15 issue that what the public really wants to 16 hear is: What are you doing to protect kids? 17 How are you making their lives better? 18 I agree wholeheartedly with Senator 19 Robach that what starts out as a good bill 20 offered by Senator Klein is actually made 21 better by providing penalties for aberrant and 22 unacceptable social and criminal behavior. 23 And this is the type of thing where 24 I think the public would look at this and say:

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(518) 371-8910 1 What the heck is going on in Albany? Why are 2 these folks doing business this way? Why 3 can't you make a simple amendment that will 4 actually enhance penalties? 5 We want to make something a felony. 6 We want to take something bad and make a 7 policy in societal and legislative judgment 8 that the bill is fine, but there's a way to 9 make it better. 10 I wouldn't want to have to go back 11 to explain to people that because of something 12 relating to a title that we're going to lose 13 the opportunity to take the next step forward 14 and frankly protect young boys and young girls 15 more than anyone else in the State of 16 New York. 17 I appeal the ruling with my 18 colleagues. Thank you. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 20 you, Senator Flanagan. 21 The question, then, before the 22 house is whether the ruling of the chair shall 23 stand. All in favor of overruling the 24 decision of the chair shall indicate by

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(518) 371-8910 1 raising their hand. 2 The Secretary will announce the 3 results. 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 29. Nays, 5 32. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Having 7 failed to obtain the necessary votes, the 8 ruling of the chair is sustained and the 9 appeal is denied. 10 Senator LaValle, why do you rise? 11 SENATOR LaVALLE: Will Senator 12 Klein yield for a question. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 14 Senator LaValle, before you ask your question, 15 would you ask Senator Klein for an explanation 16 of the bill so he then can technically yield 17 to a question? 18 SENATOR LaVALLE: Sure. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Senator Klein, to explain the bill. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: On the bill. 22 I want to thank my colleagues and 23 Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson for her 24 leadership in reporting this bill out of her

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(518) 371-8910 1 committee. 2 This is a piece of legislation I 3 worked on for several years. And by the way, 4 I wasn't able to pass it under the former 5 majority, even though time and time again I 6 showed on numerous occasions how there's 7 11,428 Level 2 and 3 sexual predators living 8 around the State of New York, sometimes near 9 schools, daycare centers, and parks. 10 If you look at just the numbers in 11 New York City, Nassau County, Suffolk County 12 and Westchester, on average there's 15 Level 2 13 or Level 3 sexual predators living in each zip 14 code, on average. 15 This legislation I think is a 16 common-sense approach, a simple approach. 17 It's using high technology and the Internet to 18 do something that's very, very simple. If 19 someone wants to know about a specific zip 20 code -- like where they live, where their kids 21 go to school, where they work -- and they 22 register online, they will be notified when a 23 Level 2 or 3 sexual predator moves into their 24 community or reregisters. A very simple

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(518) 371-8910 1 approach. 2 One of the problems with the 3 present Megan's Law is, I believe, the 4 notification requirements. Right now local 5 law enforcement may notify the community. And 6 in big cities like New York City and Buffalo, 7 "may" is a very, very important word, because 8 in many cases they're very busy, local law 9 enforcement. I've had numerous occasions 10 where PTA presidents and principals will call 11 my office when they found out, unbeknownst to 12 them, when a dangerous sexual predator moves 13 into their community, why didn't anyone let us 14 know. They're not notifying schools, they're 15 not notifying principals, they're not 16 notifying local police precinct councils. 17 So I think this allows a concerned 18 parent, a concerned adult to be able to 19 protect their family by knowing who lives in 20 their community. 21 So I think this is a very, very 22 important approach. Because if we're using 23 email notification for such things as weather 24 reports, up-to-the-minute stock quotations,

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(518) 371-8910 1 when our favorite author writes a new book, we 2 should be using it to protect our families by 3 knowing who actually lives in our community. 4 One of the other things that we're 5 able to do now which I think makes this very 6 cost-effective, I think most of my colleagues 7 know that we have a system in place under the 8 auspices of the Division of Homeland Security 9 called New York Alert. New York Alert 10 notifies people about weather conditions, 11 emergency situations in and around the state. 12 The hope is that we're going to 13 merge the sexual predator subdirectory, the 14 Megan's Law directory that's presently up 15 online for 2 and 3 level sexual predators with 16 New York Alert, allowing people to receive 17 instant email notification when a dangerous 18 sexual predator moves into their community. 19 I'd now be happy to yield to a 20 question, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Senator LaValle, you may proceed with a 23 question. 24 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Senator Klein. Through you, Mr. President. 2 Just speaking for myself, I feel that your 3 bill does exactly what it says, and it's a 4 good approach. 5 Last year Senator Robach's 6 amendment passed unanimously, which means you 7 voted for it and supported it. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Well, as a 9 stand-alone bill, I take it. 10 SENATOR LaVALLE: Yeah. 11 My question is, would you lay your 12 bill aside and amend it to include Senator 13 Robach's amendment or to allow us to put up 14 the same amendment, meeting the prescription 15 of the President, so that we can strengthen 16 the bill? Because I think we all agree that 17 what you have set in motion is good. 18 And we're trying to strengthen it 19 because we don't know if we're going to have 20 another bite at the apple to entertain 21 something that people voted unanimously for 22 last year. 23 So my question is would you just 24 for a day set it aside and make the amendment

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(518) 371-8910 1 yourself? 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Through you, 3 Mr. President, no. And the reason is rather 4 simple. 5 As I said earlier, this is 6 something that I fought long and hard for. 7 Then-Democratic Leader Paterson appointed me 8 to the Megan's Law Task Force when we were 9 looking for changes to make Megan's Law 10 stronger. I sat on that panel. I advocated 11 for the piece of legislation that we're going 12 to pass here today. And it never took place. 13 It was never picked up by the Republican 14 majority at the time nor the majority in the 15 Assembly. 16 I think it's something that I will 17 consider as far as enhancing penalties 18 separately. 19 But I will say that presently the 20 penalty system that we have in place, 21 according to State Division of Criminal 22 Justice Services, seems to be working. Again, 23 according to information that they gave me a 24 couple of weeks ago, they have about a

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(518) 371-8910 1 96 percent compliance rate as far as Level 2 2 and Level 3 sexual predators registering and 3 reregistering as they're required to do every 4 90 days. 5 So I don't think that the problem 6 at hand is dangerous sexual predators not 7 registering as they were supposed to do under 8 the law. But the problem is that our 9 communities aren't adequately notified when 10 one of them moves into a community. 11 So I think this legislation will 12 solve that problem by having a very, I think, 13 clean, comprehensive approach to making sure 14 that parents who are interested in knowing 15 about who's living in their community can be 16 notified immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 18 Senator Morahan. 19 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. Will the sponsor yield to a 21 few questions? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Senator Klein, will you yield? 24 SENATOR KLEIN: I'll be happy to

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(518) 371-8910 1 yield, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 sponsor yields. 4 SENATOR MORAHAN: Senator Klein, 5 I believe -- as most of us do -- this is a 6 very good bill. 7 You mentioned the Division of 8 Criminal Justice. It came across my mind, 9 when you said it's cost-effective, in using 10 the email have they given you any -- because I 11 notice there's no appropriation in the bill. 12 Is there any concern by the Division of 13 Criminal Justice that they can tool up for 14 this without an appropriation? 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Through you, 16 Mr. President. Again, after, you know, long 17 discussions with the State Division of 18 Criminal Justice Services and New York Alert, 19 there's presently, as I think as we all know, 20 a subdirectory that's presently administered 21 by the New York State Division of Criminal 22 Justice Services. Now someone can access that 23 information. It's rather, you know, difficult 24 sometimes. It's not as user-friendly as my

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(518) 371-8910 1 approach. 2 And the only thing they have to do 3 now, from getting the information which 4 presently is on the Division of Criminal 5 Justice website and now have it part of 6 New York Alert, is just a transfer of data. 7 So the cost is minimal. It's just a matter of 8 just transferring data. And they already have 9 an up and going website, as I said, called New 10 York Alert, so it's just new information 11 they'll be able to do. 12 And as I said, to be able to 13 register -- one of the things we did do 14 initially is when someone does register with 15 the division, they'll only be able to include 16 three zip codes or three county jurisdictions. 17 So in other words, they won't be able to get 18 10 or 15. 19 And I think that's sufficient 20 because it could be, you know, where you live, 21 where you work, where your kids go to school, 22 as I said earlier. 23 SENATOR MORAHAN: So the 24 provision that takes effect in 180 days,

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(518) 371-8910 1 there's sufficient time there for the Division 2 of Criminal Justice? 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Absolutely. It's 4 a transfer of information. 5 SENATOR MORAHAN: Why do we make 6 it 180 days? 7 SENATOR KLEIN: The Division of 8 Criminal Justice Services, through you, 9 Mr. President, requested that period of time 10 where they were very confident they could do 11 it within that time period. 12 SENATOR MORAHAN: Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 14 you, Senator Morahan. 15 Are there any other Senators who 16 wish to be heard? 17 Seeing none, the debate is closed. 18 The Secretary will ring the bells. 19 The Secretary will read the last 20 section. 21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 22 act shall take effect on the 120th day after 23 it shall have become law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call

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(518) 371-8910 1 the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. 4 Absent from voting: Senators Duane 5 and Winner. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 7 bill is passed. 8 The Secretary will continue to 9 read. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 297, by Senator Onorato, Senate Bill 4110A, an 12 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to 13 unemployment insurance benefits and part-time 14 work, voluntary separations from employment, 15 and on/off indicators for extended 16 unemployment insurance benefits; and in 17 relation to extended benefits. 18 SENATOR VOLKER: Explanation. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Senator Onorato, an explanation has been 21 requested by Senator Volker. 22 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes, 23 Mr. President. This is the unemployment 24 stimulus extended benefits bill.

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(518) 371-8910 1 The bill will allow New York to 2 receive $645 million under the American 3 Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; 4 basically, the Stimulus Act. It will provide 5 $370 million for 13 weeks of extended 6 unemployment benefits to 120,000 unemployed 7 New Yorkers and $275 million for the 8 Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which is 9 insolvent. 10 Congress previously approved 11 33 weeks of extended benefits beyond the 12 26 weeks of regular benefits allowed under 13 state law, but these extended benefits will 14 start to run out next week. Unless this 15 legislation is adopted, 56,000 New Yorkers 16 will lose their unemployment benefits at that 17 time and an additional 5,000 to 8,000 will 18 exhaust their benefits each week thereafter. 19 The bill will provide fully funded 20 federal money for pay for the extended 21 benefits. To qualify, state law must have a 22 new alternative trigger to determine the state 23 unemployment rate. 24 The new trigger, under the bill,

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(518) 371-8910 1 would be based on the state's total 2 unemployment rate. The current trigger is 3 based on the average weekly number of 4 individuals filing claims and is too low for 5 the state to qualify for the federal 6 reimbursement. 7 The bill would also provide several 8 hundred millions of dollars for the 9 Unemployment Trust Fund. The fund pays 10 unemployment benefits for thousands of our 11 constituents who are presently unemployed. 12 To qualify, the language of the 13 state unemployment law must conform to the 14 federal language. These changes concern 15 eligibility for benefits when individuals 16 voluntarily separate from employment for 17 compelling family reasons, including domestic 18 violence, the illness or disability of an 19 immediate family member, and the need to 20 accompany the individual spouse to a new 21 location of employment. 22 Each of these compelling reasons 23 has long been recognized under case law for 24 more than 50 years and would not create new

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(518) 371-8910 1 grounds for benefit eligibility in New York. 2 And the Business Council has extended a memo 3 in support of this legislation. 4 Without this bill, the ripple 5 effect on local communities will be 6 significant. According to many economists, 7 for every $1 extended in benefits paid, $1.64 8 comes back to local economies in high-velocity 9 direct spending on food, rent, and other basic 10 needs. This will help local businesses as 11 well as our local governments by avoiding the 12 need to provide assistance to New Yorkers 13 without unemployment income. 14 This bill will ease the burden on 15 our people and our local communities by using 16 the stimulus money Congress has approved to 17 help get us through this difficult economic 18 period in our state. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 20 you, Senator Onorato. 21 Senator Saland. 22 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. Mr. President, would Senator 24 Onorato yield, please?

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 2 Senator Onorato, do you yield? 3 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes, I do. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 sponsor yields. 6 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Onorato, 7 you said that the Business Council had put out 8 a memo in support of this particular measure. 9 Are you aware of the fact that the NFIB, 10 National Federation of Independent Businesses, 11 and the Retail Council had put out memos in 12 opposition to this? 13 SENATOR ONORATO: No. As I spoke 14 to you earlier, I never heard of these 15 organizations that you told me about. But I 16 never received one personally. 17 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Onorato, 18 certainly we all can appreciate the critical 19 importance of your legislation. There are 20 hundreds of millions of dollars that would be 21 at risk were we not to adopt this legislation. 22 But in your comments you made 23 reference to certain federal requirements. 24 And also among those requirements you said

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(518) 371-8910 1 that the feds are requiring that we provide 2 for voluntary separation based on a compelling 3 family reason and went on to say that that 4 basically tracks case law in New York. 5 Senator Onorato, has there been a 6 Court of Appeals decision -- the Court of 7 Appeals being the highest court in this 8 state -- which basically recognizes what you 9 say is case law in the State of New York? 10 SENATOR ONORATO: For the past 11 50 years the department has allowed 12 unemployment claims by workers who quit and 13 move out of state because the well-being of 14 their child required their presence. Appeal 15 Board Case Number 78-484, 1961. 16 SENATOR SALAND: I'm sorry, I'm 17 having a difficult time hearing you. 18 SENATOR ONORATO: They were 19 allowed to quit and move out of state because 20 the well-being of their child required their 21 presence. The appeal board case number is 22 78-484 in 1961. 23 In a later case, a worker qualified 24 for unemployment benefits after he quit to

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(518) 371-8910 1 relocate to a warmer climate for the health of 2 his wife, who suffered from asthma, diabetes 3 and arthritis. And that was under the Appeals 4 Board Number 382-5774A, 1989. 5 And according to the Adjudication 6 Services Office of the Department of Labor, 7 which decides to keep track of these cases, 8 these decisions are still good law and are 9 representative of the current case law. 10 SENATOR SALAND: So are those -- 11 and again I couldn't hear your citations. Are 12 those Department of Labor determinations or 13 are those Court of Appeal cases or decisions 14 by some other court in New York State? 15 SENATOR ONORATO: These are by 16 the Department of Labor. But the decisions 17 represent the current law. 18 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Onorato, 19 could you speak into your microphone? I'm 20 sorry, I can't hear you. 21 SENATOR ONORATO: The decision is 22 from the Department of Labor, and it's also 23 based on case law. 24 SENATOR SALAND: You said based

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(518) 371-8910 1 on case law? 2 SENATOR ONORATO: It's also based 3 on case law. 4 SENATOR SALAND: And really, I 5 couldn't hear you. Did you cite cases when 6 you read off whatever it was that you read by 7 way of decision? 8 SENATOR ONORATO: The Appeals 9 Board case number was 78-484, in 1961. In a 10 latter case, a worker qualified for 11 unemployment benefits after he quit to 12 relocate to a warmer climate. And that case 13 law is based on Case Number 382-5774A in 1989. 14 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Onorato, 15 looking further at the bill, there's 16 provisions -- and I'm looking at paragraph 17 five on page 2 -- that states a claimant 18 should not be denied unemployment insurance 19 solely because the claimant is only seeking 20 part-time work. 21 Is that a departure from current 22 New York law, or is that consistent with 23 current New York law? 24 SENATOR ONORATO: That is current

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(518) 371-8910 1 law. 2 SENATOR SALAND: And is that in 3 statute or is that in case law or is that 4 department regulation? 5 SENATOR ONORATO: The law is the 6 same. It doesn't change anything at all. 7 It's just the language to comply with the 8 federal government. 9 SENATOR SALAND: So what we are 10 being asked to do here is to, in effect, add 11 to the current unemployment benefit 12 eligibility. Because according to what you're 13 telling us, that is one of the requisites that 14 the feds have imposed upon us as part of 15 receiving these several hundreds of millions 16 of dollars. 17 SENATOR ONORATO: It does not 18 change any eligibility regulations in this 19 bill. It's all the same. 20 SENATOR SALAND: Senator, I would 21 respectfully suggest that if you're relying on 22 department regulations or lower court cases 23 and not relying on statute or Court of Appeals 24 cases, then in fact it would be very difficult

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(518) 371-8910 1 to maintain that this in fact is the law of 2 the State of New York. 3 On the other hand, if you're 4 telling me that the federal government is 5 saying you must do this to be eligible to 6 receive those $600 million that you referred 7 to or the $275 million for the trust fund, 8 that certainly is a lot of money to turn your 9 back on. And I don't know how we'd do that, 10 particularly in the kind of crisis that we're 11 attempting to work our way through here in 12 New York and obviously as is occurring 13 elsewhere. 14 So I'm not quite sure that it -- 15 when I look at this definition as provided on 16 page 2, are we talking about a definition 17 section that the federal government has 18 said -- and I'm talking starting at line 14, 19 running down through line 28. Are we talking 20 about language that the feds have required us 21 to have in this bill in order to receive the 22 money? Or are we drawing on some other 23 resource or expertise to come up with these 24 definitions?

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR ONORATO: This is law 2 that we're putting in -- this is federal law 3 that we're putting into the state law to 4 comply to receive this funding. 5 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 6 Senator Onorato. 7 Mr. President, on the bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Senator Saland, on the bill. 10 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President, 11 we find ourselves in a position here where we 12 can ill-afford to exhaust our trust fund and 13 we can ill-afford to turn down the 14 supplemental benefits that are being offered 15 by our friends in Washington. 16 We do, however, find ourselves in a 17 situation in which in the course of doing 18 this, we are sort of going to be piling on, 19 piling onto businesses. They have endured 20 what for many businesses was one of the most 21 ugly of budget results, some $8 billion worth 22 of tax increases. 23 Those of us who have the misfortune 24 of being in the MTA region, which applies to

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(518) 371-8910 1 some 12 counties, found ourselves being 2 subjected to a host of -- or several fees, but 3 particularly the payroll tax, which quite 4 honestly has caused an anger that in my 5 29-plus years in the State Legislature I have 6 never witnessed before. It is still burning 7 with white heat in my district. There are few 8 if any businesspeople who have not expressed 9 in some way, shape or form, whether it be 10 through their chambers, their business 11 associations, or personally to my office how 12 angry they are about the imposition of that 13 payroll tax. 14 And now what we're doing is saying 15 that at some point in time when this federal 16 money is unavailable, our businesses are going 17 to be required to pay for additional benefits 18 that by law in New York they previously 19 haven't been required to pay. And that was 20 really part of what was contained in the two 21 memos I referred to from the organization that 22 represents small businesses -- and we all 23 agree that small businesses are the engine 24 that really drives our economy -- and

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(518) 371-8910 1 certainly the Retail Council, that have taken 2 significant hits between the economy and, in 3 the southern part of the state, the payroll 4 tax. 5 So I'm not suggesting to anybody 6 that they vote against this bill. I'm just 7 basically saying that we find ourselves in a 8 situation where the feds have imposed upon us 9 a requirement that's going to do continued 10 harm to our business community, that's going 11 to force them to endure yet greater pain by 12 expanding the definition of what we will be 13 providing unemployment benefits here in the 14 State of New York. 15 That should have been a decision 16 more appropriately for this Legislature and 17 the Governor and not have been imposed upon us 18 by Washington. And as we probably know, there 19 are some states that declined to accept this 20 money simply based upon that reason, that they 21 didn't want the federal government imposing 22 their views on what the state's unemployment 23 system should consist of. 24 Thank you, Mr. President.

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(518) 371-8910 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 2 you, Senator Saland. 3 Senator Larkin. 4 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. Would Senator Onorato yield, 6 through you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 8 Senator Onorato, do you yield? 9 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes, I will. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 11 sponsor yields. 12 SENATOR LARKIN: Senator, about 13 two or three years ago we made a major borrow 14 from the federal government to boost our 15 unemployment insurance funding. We had to pay 16 it back. 17 SENATOR ONORATO: That's correct. 18 SENATOR LARKIN: Are you saying 19 that this is a freebie and we don't have to 20 pay any of this back? 21 SENATOR ONORATO: Whatever the 22 federal government is going to be providing 23 for us -- 24 SENATOR LARKIN: My hearing aid

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(518) 371-8910 1 isn't as good as yours. You're going to have 2 to speak a little louder. 3 SENATOR ONORATO: Whatever the 4 federal government is going to lend us to make 5 the -- 6 SENATOR LARKIN: Lend it to us. 7 SENATOR ONORATO: Yeah, they're 8 going to lend it to us. 9 SENATOR LARKIN: So in other 10 words, we're going to have to pay this back. 11 SENATOR ONORATO: Part of it. 12 Not all of it. Not all of it. 13 SENATOR LARKIN: How much? 14 SENATOR ONORATO: The extended 15 benefits are a hundred percent federally 16 funded. The extended benefits are 100 percent 17 federally funded. 18 SENATOR LARKIN: But how much are 19 we going to have to repay? 20 SENATOR ONORATO: They're even 21 waiving the interest on any monies that would 22 have to be paid back until 2010. 23 SENATOR LARKIN: How much are we 24 going to have to pay back? I can't hear. I'm

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(518) 371-8910 1 sorry, George. 2 SENATOR ONORATO: $275 million. 3 SENATOR LARKIN: So in other 4 words, we're talking here as if this is the 5 greatest thing since canned beer -- 6 SENATOR ONORATO: I can't hear -- 7 SENATOR LARKIN: -- and all of a 8 sudden we're saying to somebody, O.J., we're 9 going to give you money, unemployment 10 insurance for your company. By the way, 11 Richardson over here, he's going to have to 12 find the money, because we're going to tax him 13 to pay for it. 14 I mean, we're not being fair. 15 We're telling the people this is the greatest 16 thing. I've had four phone calls that said 17 vote for it. I've had six calls that said "Am 18 I going to have to make it up?" I said, "Yes, 19 there's taxes." But nobody's saying that. 20 Everybody's saying that this is good. Now I 21 understand the Business Council are on board 22 because you made peace with them. I don't 23 know what peace you made with them, but they 24 didn't make peace with me. They didn't make

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(518) 371-8910 1 peace with my chambers of commerce. 2 And, you know, we're sitting around 3 here and we're talking about a trillion 4 dollars and a trillion here, and, you know, 5 pretty soon you've got some real money. But 6 we have still $275 million. If we had that 7 $275 million, we could have helped the 8 chairman of Finance and the Deputy Majority 9 Leader in their efforts to do the bailout or 10 to do the rebate checks. 11 Because we have to -- think about 12 it. This bill is going to cost the State of 13 New York $275 million more. Yes or no? 14 SENATOR ONORATO: I was just 15 informed that we're going to pay either way, 16 because if we don't do it, they're going to -- 17 SENATOR LARKIN: George, can you 18 go into your speaker? It's not coming out. 19 SENATOR ONORATO: Senator, I've 20 just been informed that we're going to pay 21 either way. The employers are going to pay 22 either way. Because when the funds run out, 23 they're going to have to be taxed to meet the 24 obligations. No matter which way you look at

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(518) 371-8910 1 it. 2 But this particular bill is only 3 dealing with, you know, availing the current 4 money to the unemployed that we have right 5 now. 6 SENATOR LARKIN: You know, 7 George, I understand what you're trying to do, 8 and I believe you. And I understand it. The 9 only question is is I don't think we've been 10 fully honest with the public that we're going 11 to get money -- there's no free money. You 12 know, if there is, we'd have all won the 13 lottery and left here years ago. 14 But what I'm saying is that I think 15 somehow we have to go out and tell the public: 16 Yes, we're going to get this money, but we 17 have to pay it back. And the taxpayers of the 18 State of New York will be held responsible for 19 this 275 or 800, whatever this is. 20 Thank you very much. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 22 you, Senator Larkin. 23 Senator Marcellino. 24 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,

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(518) 371-8910 1 Mr. President. Senator Onorato, would you 2 please yield for a question? Through you, 3 Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Onorato? 6 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 8 sponsor yields. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator. 11 Senator Onorato, will the 12 unemployment rolls be increased by this bill, 13 by paying the money into this bill? 14 SENATOR ONORATO: No, this will 15 not increase the number that goes on -- it has 16 nothing to do with the increasing number. It 17 will just help to pay for this. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: So by 19 including part-timers -- excuse me. Through 20 you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Senator Onorato, do you continue to yield? 23 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes, I do. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

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(518) 371-8910 1 sponsor yields. 2 SENATOR MARCELLINO: So by 3 including part-timers in the program, which 4 they apparently are not now, are we or are we 5 not increasing the number of beneficiaries to 6 this program? 7 SENATOR ONORATO: The unemployed 8 part-timers are already covered under the bill 9 without this. They are already entitled to 10 collect unemployment benefits. 11 SENATOR MARCELLINO: By 12 department rule? Excuse me. Through you, 13 Mr. President. 14 SENATOR ONORATO: By current law. 15 I remember when I was in the construction 16 industry, and if I only worked two days out of 17 the week and I didn't make enough, I was 18 eligible to receive a partial unemployment 19 benefit. So this doesn't change that. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: At the end 21 of the stimulus money, which I understand has 22 got another year after this one, how do we pay 23 for this program? 24 SENATOR ONORATO: I guess through

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(518) 371-8910 1 the normal way that we did before. But there 2 will be no stimulus money available at that 3 time. And we'll go back to our regular 4 routine, with the unemployment benefits the 5 employee pays into fund and we collect when 6 we're unemployed. 7 But again, don't forget, the 8 current Unemployment Insurance Fund has ran 9 out of money and we had to borrow money from 10 the feds to provide it. But this particular 11 portion of it does not have to be repaid. 12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I thought -- 13 through you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Onorato? 16 SENATOR ONORATO: I will continue 17 to yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 sponsor continues to yield. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I thought I 21 just heard before that $275 million would have 22 to be repaid. 23 SENATOR ONORATO: Yes. That is 24 another part of it, yes. We said that that

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(518) 371-8910 1 would be -- 2 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Through you, 3 Mr. President -- 4 SENATOR ONORATO: The extended 5 benefits do not have to be repaid. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Okay. If 7 the economy doesn't improve -- which we all 8 hope it does -- but should it stay the way it 9 is today, would there be enough money without 10 the stimulus package to cover the cost of this 11 bill or this program? 12 SENATOR ONORATO: Counsel is 13 telling me that we would always have the 14 federal government to borrow the money from. 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: So I take it 16 that there would not be. That's a no, I would 17 take it as, George. 18 SENATOR ONORATO: I can't 19 predict -- I wish I could predict the future 20 economy. I'd make a lot of money out of it. 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I would join 22 you, and we would have all had a bet on the 23 Preakness and we could have worked something 24 out there.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR ONORATO: I'll throw a 2 nice party with it. 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 4 Senator. 5 On the bill, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Senator Marcellino, on the bill. 8 SENATOR MARCELLINO: The point 9 that I'm trying to get at is once the stimulus 10 money goes away, unless the economy improves 11 significantly, we go back to borrowing, which 12 costs money. We go back -- because that has 13 to be paid back. Ultimately, we're going to 14 give this money back. Ultimately, it's going 15 to cost the taxpayers money. 16 Ultimately, I disagree with my good 17 friend Senator Onorato, there will be an 18 expansion of the unemployment rolls, because 19 we do not currently now take all of the 20 part-timers and include them in the 21 unemployment rolls. That's why many different 22 states have not accepted this money. They 23 don't want to be stuck with a program that's 24 three times the size or bigger than it was

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(518) 371-8910 1 before and then they don't have federal money 2 and then they're stuck paying the bill for a 3 program that's much bigger. 4 That's the problem that we're 5 looking at here today. I understand what 6 Senator Onorato is trying to do. I will be 7 supporting the bill. I just want to make 8 everybody clear, as my colleagues have before 9 me: There's no free lunch in this program. 10 There's no free lunch here. We're going to 11 pay for this bill. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 14 you, Senator Marcellino. 15 Are there any other Senators who 16 wish to be heard? 17 Seeing none, the debate is closed. 18 The Secretary will ring the bell. 19 I ask all Senators to proceed to 20 the chamber so that we may move forward with 21 the roll call. 22 Senator Klein, there is a 23 substitution of this bill at the desk. 24 The Secretary will read the

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(518) 371-8910 1 substitution. 2 THE SECRETARY: In respect to 3 Calendar 297, Senator Onorato moves to 4 discharge, from the Committee on Labor, 5 Assembly Bill Number 8273 and substitute it 6 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4110A, 7 Third Reading Calendar 297. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Point of 9 order. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Substitution ordered. 12 Senator DeFrancisco. 13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Is the 14 substitution germane? 15 (Laughter.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Yes. 17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you. 18 SENATOR MAZIARZ: I challenge the 19 ruling. 20 (Laughter.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Substitution ordered. 23 The Secretary will read the last 24 section.

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(518) 371-8910 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Senator Little, to explain her vote. 8 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. Just to explain my vote. 10 This bill is certainly something 11 that I'm going to vote in the positive for, 12 because I have a tremendous amount of 13 unemployment in my district and we certainly 14 need to extend the unemployment and to get the 15 federal money. 16 But I think the result of this vote 17 and this piece of legislation is a vicious 18 cycle. Because while we pay out the 19 unemployment, we charge the employer more 20 money, which is going to harm their business 21 and could very easily create more 22 unemployment. So it is a quandary. 23 And I do understand the impact on 24 small business, particularly in my district.

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(518) 371-8910 1 I wish we could do more to help them. But I 2 understand the need to expand the 3 unemployment. And I do hope, as was pointed 4 out, that when the stimulus money is gone we 5 find some way of paying for this and not 6 putting an increasing burden on the employer. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 9 Senator Little to be recorded in the 10 affirmative. 11 Announce the results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 13 Absent from voting: Senator 14 Winner. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 bill is passed. 17 Senator Klein, that completes the 18 controversial reading of the calendar. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 20 can we just briefly return to motions and 21 motions. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Returning to the order of motions and 24 resolutions. Proceed.

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(518) 371-8910 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 2 have two motions. 3 First, on behalf of Senator 4 Onorato, I move that the following bill be 5 discharged from its respective committee and 6 be recommitted with instructions to strike the 7 enacting clause: Senate Bill 4614. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 9 ordered. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: The second, on 11 behalf of Senator Foley, on page 24, I offer 12 the following amendments to Calendar Number 13 329, Senate Print Number 4025A, and ask that 14 said bill retain its place on Third Reading 15 Calendar. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: So 17 ordered. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 19 could you also call on Senator Volker for a 20 brief announcement. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Senator Volker. 23 SENATOR VOLKER: Thank you. It 24 now appears that we will be done before

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(518) 371-8910 1 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, so I just -- 2 8 o'clock tomorrow morning is the memorial 3 service for deceased legislators at St. Mary's 4 Church. We would appreciate anyone that could 5 get down there. We put a lot of time and 6 effort into it. 7 So it will be tomorrow morning at 8 8 o'clock at St. Mary's Church downtown. 9 Thank you. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 11 Memorial service for deceased members of the 12 Legislature tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. at 13 St. Mary's Church. 14 Senator Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 16 there any further business at the desk? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 18 is none. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: There being none, 20 I move we adjourn until Wednesday, May 20th, 21 at 11:00 a.m. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: On a 23 motion by Senator Klein, the Senate stands 24 adjourned until Wednesday, May 20th, at

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(518) 371-8910 1 11:00 a.m. 2 (Whereupon, at 6:26 p.m., the 3 Senate adjourned.) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

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(518) 371-8910