Tuesday, May 4, 2010

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 4, 2010 11 3:57 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR DIANE SAVINO, Acting President 19 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 3 Senate will please rise and come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to recite 5 with me the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Today's 9 invocation will be provided by the Reverend 10 Peter G. Young, of the Mother Teresa Community 11 in Albany. 12 REVEREND YOUNG: Thank you, 13 Senator. Let us pray. 14 As New York State legislators, we 15 are very concerned about our youth. And we 16 look to the splendid example of our Senate 17 guests today of Siena College's basketball 18 team to inspire academic and athletic 19 excellence for our future leadership in 20 New York State. 21 We call upon You, O God, to bless 22 them and our Senate as we gather here in this 23 chamber as members representing our 24 constituents to provide leadership for our 25 New York State citizens.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Let Your spirit enlighten our minds 2 and guide our actions, that we may be united 3 in love and bring fulfillment in the work of 4 government for the greater honor and glory of 5 God. 6 Amen. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 8 reading of the Journal. 9 The Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 11 Monday, May 3, the Senate met pursuant to 12 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, May 2, 13 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 14 adjourned. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Without 16 objection, the Journal stands approved as 17 read. 18 Presentation of petitions. 19 Messages from the Assembly. 20 Messages from the Governor. 21 Reports of standing committees. 22 Senator Klein. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 24 I believe there's a report of the Judiciary 25 Committee at the desk. I ask that it be read

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 at this time. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: There 3 is a report of the Judiciary Committee at the 4 desk. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Senator Sampson 7 reports, from the Committee on Judiciary, 8 appointments for confirmation. 9 As judge of the Schenectady County 10 Surrogate Court, the Honorable Vincent W. 11 Versaci, of Schenectady. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 13 Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 15 can we move the nomination. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 17 there any Senators wishing to be heard on the 18 nomination? 19 Senator Farley. 20 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 21 President. 22 I rise to second and move the 23 nomination of Vincent W. Versaci, who 24 currently is serving as a City Court judge in 25 the City of Schenectady, one of the largest,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 busiest calendars I think in the State of 2 New York. 3 And let me just say that I've been 4 very, very pleased to watch his demeanor on 5 the bench. He's an outstanding judge. 6 One of the most significant things 7 about Judge Versaci is the family that he 8 comes from. His father, Romolo, who is with 9 us in the gallery, is a graduate of Harvard 10 and one of the most distinguished attorneys in 11 the history of Schenectady. 12 But his son Vincent is a graduate 13 of the University of Rochester and Albany Law 14 School, and I believe in 2004 was elected as 15 one of the outstanding young attorneys of the 16 year in January 2004 by the Schenectady County 17 Bar Association. He also, in my judgment, has 18 served the city very, very well. 19 Now, Schenectady, as I mentioned, 20 got a second City Court judge because it had 21 one of the busiest calendars in the state, and 22 he's moving on to the Surrogate Court. And 23 we're very, very pleased with the Governor's 24 nomination, and I rise to second his 25 nomination.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 2 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 3 on the nomination? 4 Seeing none, the question is on the 5 nomination to confirm Vincent W. Versaci, of 6 Schenectady, as judge of the Schenectady 7 County Surrogate's Court. All those in favor 8 please signify by saying aye. 9 (Response of "Aye.") 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 11 Opposed, nay. 12 (No response.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 14 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 15 Judge Versaci is joined in the 16 gallery today by his wife, Tina; his 17 daughters, Caroline and Rosemarie; his son, 18 Michael; his parents, Eileen and Romolo; and 19 his in-laws, Roger and Phyllis Chericoni. 20 Congratulations. 21 (Applause.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 23 Secretary will continue to read. 24 THE SECRETARY: As judge of the 25 Suffolk County Court, Mr. Richard Ambro, of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Wading River, New York. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 3 Klein. 4 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 5 please move the nomination. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 7 there any Senators wishing to be heard on the 8 nomination? 9 Senator LaValle. 10 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, 11 Madam President. 12 I've had an opportunity to get to 13 know Richard Ambro. We've talked several 14 times. It was a pleasure to move his 15 nomination this morning in the Judiciary 16 Committee. 17 And one of the things -- and I'll 18 say it again here for everyone -- he has been 19 the chief law clerk to Judge Hinrichs, Suffolk 20 County. And Richard's demeanor, expertise, 21 professionalism is well known within the court 22 system in Suffolk County. 23 He has for I think eight years been 24 with Judge Hinrichs, and in essence he has 25 been a judge in training. And there is no

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 doubt he will work very hard and demonstrate 2 to everyone that he has the proper 3 temperament, and he talked about that in the 4 Judiciary Committee. 5 So it is really a great pleasure to 6 second Richard Ambro's nomination. And he is 7 here today with his wife, Susan, and his sons, 8 Matthew and Terrence. 9 So I am sure that we will confirm 10 him, and it will be a great honor to see him 11 stand before us for the first time as 12 Judge Ambro. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 14 Foley. 15 SENATOR FOLEY: Thank you, Madam 16 President. I also rise to second the 17 nomination of Richard Ambro to the county 18 court system. 19 As Senator LaValle had mentioned, 20 he has spent a number of years preparing for 21 this particular position. He's highly thought 22 of within the county court system. 23 And I'd also add to the comments 24 made by Senator LaValle that similar to our 25 other nominees, he comes from a family that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 has served -- generations of Ambros have 2 served Suffolk County very well through a 3 variety of public positions. Be it his 4 father, be it other members of his family, 5 they have really been one of the stellar 6 families of Suffolk County in giving of their 7 time, talent and energy to the public. And 8 today I think is a very fitting example of how 9 the family continues to serve Suffolk County 10 in this particular way as a county court 11 judge. 12 So, Madam President, I strongly 13 support this and wish him the best of luck in 14 the years ahead. We know that he will be a 15 very fine county judge. And it's a privilege 16 for us to place him on that bench here today. 17 Thank you, Madam President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 19 Flanagan. 20 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 21 Madam President. I just want to join my 22 colleagues' comments. 23 The Ambro family and the Flanagan 24 family go back a long way. His father served 25 in Huntington as the town supervisor, as a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 congressman, and the family has a long-steeped 2 tradition of public service. 3 And it's a pleasure to see him here 4 with his family today. I had a chance to sit 5 and chat with him and particularly with his 6 sons, both of whom are avid lacrosse players, 7 so they're good athletes. And good for all of 8 us, not only his father is becoming a judge, 9 but his older son is going to be a freshman at 10 Oneonta playing lacrosse this coming fall. 11 So to the Ambro family, 12 congratulations and welcome to Albany for a 13 very special day. 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 16 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 17 on the nomination? 18 Seeing none, the question is on the 19 motion to confirm the nomination of Richard 20 Ambro, of Wading River, as a judge of the 21 Suffolk County Court. All those in favor 22 please signify by saying aye. 23 (Response of "Aye.") 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 25 Opposed, nay.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (No response.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 3 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 4 Judge Ambro is joined in the 5 gallery today by his wife, Susan, and his 6 sons, Matthew and Terrence. 7 Congratulations. 8 (Applause.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 10 Secretary will continue to read. 11 THE SECRETARY: As judge of the 12 Westchester County Court, the Honorable Barry 13 E. Warhit, of Scarsdale, New York. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 15 Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 17 please move the nomination. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Does 19 any other Senator wish to be heard on the 20 nomination? 21 Senator Oppenheimer. 22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you, 23 Madam President. 24 Well, Barry is a constituent of 25 mine, and I know him more as a very

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 personable, outgoing, competent, friendly guy. 2 But I can tell you that he has a distinguished 3 record and that his intelligence and his 4 thoughtfulness on the bench is well regarded 5 by everyone in Westchester County. 6 He has been serving as an acting 7 city, village and town justice in so many 8 communities in Westchester that he is well 9 known, well liked, and well revered for the 10 quality of the work and the impartiality of 11 the decisions that he has rendered. 12 So I want to join with my 13 colleagues in supporting this nomination and 14 thanking the Governor for it and welcoming 15 Barry and his very wonderful family to Albany. 16 There you are. I couldn't find 17 you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 19 Stewart-Cousins. 20 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Yes, 21 thank you, Madam President. I also wanted to 22 commend the Governor on this very, very fine 23 appointment. 24 And as Senator Oppenheimer was 25 saying, Barry Warhit is so visible and so much

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 a part of so many communities that you have 2 served so well and so brilliantly. 3 So we are very, very happy for this 4 appointment, wish you tremendous success and 5 of course want to congratulate your wife Ellen 6 as well. 7 And thank you for the service. I 8 know you're my constituent at Sleepy Hollow, 9 but you've served in other of my districts -- 10 Ardsley and Tarrytown. So thank you again, 11 and congratulations. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 13 Hassell-Thompson. 14 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 15 you, Madam President. Just to add my 16 congratulations to the Governor for this 17 appointment and to the candidate. 18 One of the things that makes this 19 job wonderful is when you have partners in the 20 judiciary that work with you and understand 21 the law but have compassion within the limits 22 of that law. 23 And so I am very pleased, along 24 with my colleagues, to congratulate Barry 25 Warhit on this appointment today and to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 congratulate him and his wife Ellen and thank 2 them not only for the term on the bench in the 3 City of Mount Vernon but for all of the things 4 that they do for the community at large, for 5 which we're very grateful. 6 Thank you, Madam President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 8 there any other Senators who wish to be heard 9 on the nomination? 10 Seeing none, the question is on the 11 motion to confirm the nomination of Barry E. 12 Warhit, of Scarsdale, as a judge of the 13 Westchester County Court. All those in favor 14 please signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 20 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 21 Judge Warhit is joined in the 22 gallery today by his wife, Ellen. 23 Congratulations. 24 (Applause.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Secretary will continue to read. 2 THE SECRETARY: As judge of the 3 Monroe County Court, Ms. Kelly C. Wolford, of 4 Webster, New York. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 6 Klein. 7 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 8 please move the nomination. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 10 there any Senators wishing to be heard? 11 Senator Nozzolio. 12 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you, 13 Madam President. 14 Madam President and my colleagues, 15 I rise with a great deal of pleasure to place 16 in nomination the candidacy of Kelly Wolford 17 to serve as a judge of the Monroe County 18 Court. 19 As the ranking Republican on the 20 Judiciary Committee, it was a pleasure to see 21 the judges who came before the committee today 22 from across the state, all of them very 23 qualified in a variety of ways. But I was 24 extremely impressed by the qualifications of 25 Kelly Wolford, a career prosecutor, who has

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 extensive trial court experience and extensive 2 appellate court experience. 3 She was raised in the Webster 4 community, where she now lives with her 5 husband, Jim, and their small children. She 6 was a scholastic All-American swimmer, and she 7 is ready to dive into this job with a great 8 amount of experience and expertise. 9 It's a pleasure, Madam President, 10 to second the nomination of Kelly Wolford to 11 be judge of the Monroe County Court. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 13 there any other Senators wishing to be heard? 14 The question is on the motion to 15 confirm the nomination of Kelly C. Wolford, of 16 Webster, as a judge of the Monroe County 17 Court. All those in favor please signify by 18 saying aye. 19 (Response of "Aye.") 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 21 Opposed, nay. 22 (No response.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 24 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 25 Judge Wolford is joined in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 gallery today by her husband, Jim; daughter, 2 Christine; son, Thomas; mother, Christine; 3 stepfather, John; father, Brian; stepmother, 4 Karen; sister Michelle and her family; and 5 sister Laura and her family. 6 Congratulations, Judge Wolford. 7 (Applause.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 9 Secretary will continue to read. 10 THE SECRETARY: As judge of the 11 Oswego County Court, the Honorable David J. 12 Roman, of Oswego, New York. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 14 Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 16 move the nomination. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 18 there any Senators wishing to be heard? 19 Senator Aubertine. 20 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Thank you, 21 Madam President. I rise today to thank the 22 Governor for nominating Judge David Roman. 23 Judge Roman has had a long and 24 distinguished career as the Oswego Family 25 Court judge; in fact, he has been recognized

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 as one of the top Family Court judges in 2 New York State. 3 And I am certain that the people of 4 Oswego County will be well served by Judge 5 Roman as the Oswego County Court judge. And I 6 am proud to second the nomination of Judge 7 Roman. 8 Thank you, Madam President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 10 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 11 on the nomination? 12 Seeing none, the question is on the 13 motion to confirm the nomination of David J. 14 Roman, of Oswego, as a judge of the Oswego 15 County Court. All those in favor please 16 signify by saying aye. 17 (Response of "Aye.") 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 19 Opposed, nay. 20 (No response.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 22 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 23 Judge Roman is joined in the 24 gallery today by his friend and former law 25 parter, John Sullivan, Jr.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Congratulations. 2 (Applause.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 4 Secretary will continue to read. 5 THE SECRETARY: As a justice of 6 the Supreme Court of the Tenth Judicial 7 District, the Honorable Bernard J. Fried, of 8 New York City, New York. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 10 Klein. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 12 please move the nomination. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 14 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 15 on the nomination? 16 Seeing none, the question is on the 17 nomination -- oh, excuse me. Senator 18 DeFrancisco. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. You 20 know, I didn't intend to speak, but it would 21 be wrong if someone didn't rise to second the 22 nomination of this outstanding jurist and an 23 individual who certainly is well qualified for 24 this position. 25 And I want to say generally, to all

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the nominees today, this was a very fine group 2 of people with substantial experience. And 3 having tried a few cases over the years 4 myself, it's important for the bar to have 5 judges that not only understand the law, the 6 rules of evidence, but have also been in the 7 trenches themselves. 8 So I want to stand and second the 9 nomination of Judge Fried and really praise 10 each of the nominees for their qualifications 11 and thank the Governor for nominating each and 12 every one of them. 13 Thank you. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 15 there any other Senators wishing to be heard? 16 Seeing none, the question is on the 17 motion to confirm the nomination of Bernard J. 18 Fried, of New York City, as an interim justice 19 of the Supreme Court, Tenth Judicial District. 20 All those in favor please signify by saying 21 aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 24 Opposed, nay. 25 (No response.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 2 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 3 Judge Fried is joined today in the 4 gallery by his wife, Judge Nina Gershon, who 5 is a judge of the United States District Court 6 for the Eastern District of New York. 7 Congratulations. 8 (Applause.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 10 Secretary will continue to read. 11 THE SECRETARY: As a justice of 12 the Supreme Court of the Ninth Judicial 13 District, the Honorable Lawrence H. Ecker, of 14 Irvington, New York. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 16 Klein. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 18 can we please move the nomination. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 20 Leibell. 21 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you very 22 much, Madam President. 23 I had the chace during Judiciary 24 Committee to renew an old acquaintanceship and 25 a friendship. Judge Ecker is from Westchester

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 County, and he's someone I knew many years ago 2 as a young assistant district attorney. 3 And throughout the years, Judge 4 Ecker has had an outstanding reputation as a 5 jurist and as a member of the practicing bar 6 of Westchester County. He is respected by 7 prosecutors, defense counsels, everybody 8 involved with our justice system in 9 Westchester County. 10 So I'm very pleased to stand here 11 today and to second this nomination. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 13 there any other Senators wishing to be heard? 14 Senator Stewart-Cousins. 15 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 16 you, Madam President. I also rise to second 17 this outstanding nomination. 18 I heard my colleagues talking about 19 people who have been in the trenches. 20 Certainly that can aptly describe our newest 21 Supreme Court justice. The Ecker name, the 22 Ecker family, the involvement and the respect 23 that Lawrence Ecker has garnered over the 24 years serves all of us well and will continue 25 to serve him well on the Supreme Court bench.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 There is very little that I can add 2 other than the accolades that I hear from 3 everyone, which is that Larry Ecker is a very 4 wise, honest man with integrity and the 5 temperament that, again, will benefit 6 everyone. I am so pleased that Westchester 7 County is well represented today and my 8 district is very well represented today. 9 Congratulations. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 11 Hassell-Thompson. 12 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 13 you, Madam President. 14 Again, I rise to second the 15 nomination of Judge Ecker and also to add my 16 voice to those who congratulate the Governor 17 on such a phenomenal appointment. 18 He too has a long history of 19 community service to the County of Westchester 20 and beyond. And therefore I am very happy to 21 be one of those who places his name in 22 nomination for today's Judicial Supreme Court. 23 Congratulations to you, Judge. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 25 Oppenheimer.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: It's a very 2 good day for Westchester, isn't it? 3 And I also am very honored to be 4 able to second this nomination. We are so 5 blessed with some of our judges that are now 6 moving up through the various courts. And 7 this is a person of esteem and intellect and 8 someone that is really revered in Westchester. 9 So it's a very good day for us in 10 Westchester and for the State of New York to 11 have people like Larry Ecker come forward and 12 run. And we appreciate this nomination by the 13 Governor. 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 16 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 17 on this nomination? 18 Seeing none, the question is on the 19 motion to confirm the nomination of Lawrence 20 H. Ecker, of Irvington, as an interim justice 21 of the Supreme Court, Ninth Judicial District. 22 All those in favor please signify by saying 23 aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (No response.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 4 motion carries. The nomination is confirmed. 5 Judge Ecker is in the gallery 6 today, joined by his wife, Lynn; son, Andrew; 7 daughter, Karen; and grandson, Joshua. 8 Congratulations. 9 (Applause.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 11 Klein. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 13 I believe there's a report of the Finance 14 Committee at the desk. I ask that it be read 15 at this time. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: There 17 is a report of the Finance Committee at the 18 desk. 19 The Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Senator C. 21 Kruger, from the Committee on Finance, reports 22 the following nominations. 23 As a member of the New York State 24 Energy Research and Development Authority, 25 Mark A. Willis, of New York City.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 As a member of the Administrative 2 Review Board for Professional Medical Conduct, 3 John A. D'Anna, of Staten Island. 4 As a member of the Correction 5 Medical Review Board, Robert S. Kurtz, of 6 Brooklyn. 7 As directors of the New York State 8 Urban Development Corporation, Paul F. 9 Ciminelli, of Amherst, and Joyce L. Miller, of 10 New York City. 11 As a member of the Advisory Council 12 on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, 13 Monroe Wesley Parrott, of Albany. 14 As a member of the Advisory Council 15 to the Commission on Quality of Care and 16 Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities, Milo 17 Tomanovich, of Rochester. 18 As chair of the Minority Health 19 Council and member of the Public Health 20 Council, Carla Boutin-Foster, M.D., of 21 Brooklyn. 22 As a member of the Minority Health 23 Council, Lori Quigley, of Salamanca. 24 As a member of the State Camp 25 Safety Advisory Council, Gordon W. Felt, of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Remsen. 2 As members of the Board of Visitors 3 of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, Carolyn A. 4 Siegel, of West Falls, and Lisa Michaelsen, of 5 Lockport. 6 As a member of the Board of 7 Visitors of the Finger Lakes Developmental 8 Disabilities Services Office, Anne Marie 9 Ormiston, of Fairport. 10 As a member of the Board of 11 Visitors of the Long Island Developmental 12 Disabilities Services Office, Marisol 13 Getchius, of Deer Park. 14 As a member of the Board of 15 Visitors for the New York State Home for 16 Veterans and Their Dependents at Montrose, 17 Elva L. Girton, of Wappingers Falls. 18 As members of the Board of Visitors 19 of the Rochester Psychiatric Center, Judith D. 20 Watt, of Sodus Point, and Dorothy A. Wentland, 21 of LeRoy. 22 And as a member of the Board of 23 Visitors of the St. Lawrence Psychiatric 24 Center, Barbara Briggs Ward, of Ogdensburg. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Kruger. 2 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Thank you, 3 Madam President. Will you please move those 4 nominations. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 6 there any Senators wishing to be heard on this 7 motion to confirm the nominations? 8 Seeing none, the question is on the 9 motion to confirm the nominations. All those 10 in favor please signify by saying aye. 11 (Response of "Aye.") 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 13 Opposed, nay. 14 (No response.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 16 motion carries. The nominations are 17 confirmed. 18 Returning to the order of business, 19 reports of select committees. 20 Communications and reports from 21 state officers. 22 Motions and resolutions. 23 Senator Klein. 24 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 25 on behalf of Senator Stachowski, I move that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the following bill be discharged from its 2 respective committee and be recommitted with 3 instructions to strike the enacting clause: 4 Senate Number 7626. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: So 6 ordered. 7 Senator Klein. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 9 I believe there are substitutions at the desk. 10 I ask that we make the substitutions at this 11 time. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 13 Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: On page 16, 15 Senator Fuschillo moves to discharge, from the 16 Committee on Local Government, Assembly Bill 17 Number 9010 and substitute it for the 18 identical Senate Bill Number 5863B, Third 19 Reading Calendar 311. 20 On page 24, Senator Huntley moves 21 to discharge, from the Committee on Cities, 22 Assembly Bill Number 10172B and substitute it 23 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7344, 24 Third Reading Calendar 428. 25 On page 24, Senator Sampson moves

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to discharge, from the Committee on Judiciary, 2 Assembly Bill Number 2876 and substitute it 3 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4090, 4 Third Reading Calendar 431. 5 On page 24, Senator L. Krueger 6 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 7 Judiciary, Assembly Bill Number 6011 and 8 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 9 Number 4781, Third Reading Calendar 432. 10 On page 24, Senator Montgomery 11 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 12 Codes, Assembly Bill Number 8524 and 13 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 14 Number 3868A, Third Reading Calendar 433. 15 On page 25, Senator Schneiderman 16 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 17 Codes, Assembly Bill Number 2874 and 18 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 19 Number 7035, Third Reading Calendar 435. 20 On page 25, Senator Stavisky moves 21 to discharge, from the Committee on Codes, 22 Assembly Bill Number 10750 and substitute it 23 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7541, 24 Third Reading Calendar 436. 25 On page 25, Senator Duane moves to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 discharge, from the Committee on Health, 2 Assembly Bill Number 8498A and substitute it 3 for the identical Senate Bill Number 3255A, 4 Third Reading Calendar 437. 5 On page 25, Senator Duane moves to 6 discharge, from the Committee on Health, 7 Assembly Bill Number 10664 and substitute it 8 for the identical Senate Bill Number 4999A, 9 Third Reading Calendar 438. 10 On page 26, Senator Valesky moves 11 to discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 12 Assembly Bill Number 6020 and substitute it 13 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6903, 14 Third Reading Calendar 447. 15 On page 26, Senator Huntley moves 16 to discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 17 Assembly Bill Number 10260 and substitute it 18 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7140, 19 Third Reading Calendar 449. 20 On page 26, Senator Adams moves to 21 discharge, from the Committee on 22 Investigations and Government Operations, 23 Assembly Bill Number 8531A and substitute it 24 for the identical Senate Bill Number 6058, 25 Third Reading Calendar 451.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 On page 27, Senator Valesky moves 2 to discharge, from the Committee on Energy and 3 Telecommunications, Assembly Bill Number 7987B 4 and substitute it for the identical Senate 5 Bill Number 4303B, Third Reading Calendar 457. 6 And on page 27, Senator Parker 7 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 8 Children and Families, Assembly Bill Number 9 6812 and substitute it for the identical 10 Senate Bill Number 2082, Third Reading 11 Calendar 463. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 13 Substitutions ordered. 14 Senator Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 16 at this time I move we adopt the Resolution 17 Calendar in its entirety, with the exception 18 of Resolutions 5009 and 4977. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: All 20 those in favor of adopting the Resolution 21 Calendar in its entirety, with the exception 22 of Senate Resolutions 5009 and 4977, please 23 signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (No response.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 4 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 7 at this time I move to take up Senate 8 Resolution Number 5009, by Senator Breslin. I 9 ask that the resolution be read in its 10 entirety and move for its immediate adoption 11 and give Senator Breslin the opportunity to 12 speak on his resolution. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 16 Breslin, Senate Resolution 5009, 17 congratulating the Siena College Men's 18 Basketball Team and Coach Fran McCaffery upon 19 the occasion of capturing the 2010 Metro 20 Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. 21 "WHEREAS, Excellence and success in 22 competitive sports can be achieved only 23 through strenuous practice, team play, and 24 team spirit, nurtured by dedicated coaching 25 and strategic planning; and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 2 Legislative Body to recognize and commend 3 those athletes of the State of New York who 4 combine in a team effort to achieve a common 5 goal, thereby representing the great Empire 6 State with exceptional dignity, determination, 7 and honor; and 8 "WHEREAS, The Siena Saints immense 9 basketball team are the 2010 Metro Atlantic 10 Athletic Conference (MAAC) champions; and 11 "WHEREAS, On Monday, March 8, 2010, 12 Siena entered the MAAC Tournament as the 13 number-one seed and played at the Times Union 14 Center Arena in Albany, New York, where it 15 owns a 38-game winning streak. The Saints 16 rallied from a 15-point deficit to win their 17 third straight MAAC title by defeating 18 Fairfield University 72-65 in overtime, 19 advancing into the NCAA Tournament for the 20 third consecutive season under Coach Fran 21 McCaffery; and 22 "WHEREAS, Coach Fran McCaffery has 23 been selected by the National Association of 24 Basketball Coaches (NABC) as an All-District 25 Coach representing District 1. Under his

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 leadership, Siena has become the only school 2 in the nation to win its conference regular 3 season and tournament championship each of the 4 past three years; and 5 "WHEREAS, The Siena Men's 6 Basketball Team is 112-51 in Coach Fran 7 McCaffery's five years with the program, and 8 his 67-21 (.761) MAAC mark ranks third 9 all-time among winning percentage for league 10 coaches; and 11 "WHEREAS, The athletic talent 12 displayed by this team is due in great part to 13 the efforts of Coach Fran McCaffery and his 14 dedicated assistants, skilled and 15 inspirational tutors, respected for their 16 ability to develop potential into excellence; 17 and 18 "WHEREAS, The team's overall record 19 of 27-7 is outstanding, and the team members 20 were loyally and enthusiastically supported by 21 family, fans, friends and the community at 22 large; and 23 "WHEREAS, The hallmarks of the 24 Siena College Men's Basketball Team, from the 25 opening practice of the season to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 participation in the NCAA Tournament, were a 2 brotherhood of athletic ability, of good 3 sportsmanship, of honor and of scholarship, 4 demonstrating that these team players are 5 second to none; and 6 "WHEREAS, Athletically and 7 academically, the team members have proven 8 themselves to be an unbeatable combination of 9 talents, reflecting favorably on their school; 10 and 11 "WHEREAS, Coach Fran McCaffery and 12 his staff have done a superb job in guiding, 13 molding and inspiring the team members toward 14 their goals; and 15 "WHEREAS, Sports competition 16 instills the values of teamwork, pride and 17 accomplishment, and Coach Fran McCaffery and 18 his outstanding athletes have clearly made a 19 contribution to the spirit of excellence which 20 is a tradition at Siena College; now, 21 therefore, be it 22 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 23 Body pause in its deliberations to 24 congratulate the Siena College Men's 25 Basketball Team, its members -- O.D. Anosike,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Jonathan Breeden, Kyle Downey, Conner Fenlon, 2 Alex Franklin, Kyle Griffin, Clarence Jackson, 3 Davis Martens, Ronald Moore, Steven Priestley, 4 Ryan Rossiter, Just-in'love Smith, Edwin 5 Ubiles, Brandon Walters, and Owen Wignot -- 6 Assistant Coaches Mitch Buonaguro, Andrew 7 Francis and Adam Chaskin, and Head Coach Fran 8 McCaffery on their outstanding season and 9 overall team record; and be it further 10 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 11 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 12 to the Siena College Men's Basketball Team and 13 to Coach Fran McCaffery." 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 15 Breslin. 16 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, 17 Madam President. 18 I stand -- it's getting to be a 19 habit. Siena, small school, less than 4,000 20 students, located in Loudonville, New York. 21 But that small school has produced three 22 straight NCAA appearances in Division 1 23 basketball, three straight. This year they 24 were 27 and 7. They are the only team in the 25 country to have won not only their league

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 championship but their tournament at the end 2 of the year three consecutive years. 3 And we have all of them up here. 4 Two seniors are in the crowd, Alex Franklin 5 and Ronald Moore, both All-Division players, 6 All-League players, the two graduating 7 seniors. There's ten upstairs who will be 8 back next year. They've made it a habit. 9 And Fran McCaffery, their coach for 10 the past five years, who's established the 11 third highest winning percentage in the 12 league, has moved on. But the transition has 13 been seamless. Mitch Buonaguro, who's now the 14 head coach -- for those members from Brooklyn, 15 he's a Bishop Loughlin graduate. For those 16 members who are Jesuit-educated, he's a Boston 17 College graduate -- he will lead them on as 18 they've been led before. 19 And he's joined upstairs by Adam 20 Chaskin, the assistant coach; Dave Matturro, 21 the director of operations; and the assistant 22 athletic director, Jason Rich. 23 I am so pleased and privileged to 24 have you come here. I expect this to be a 25 yearly occurrence for at least the coming

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 10 years. You're all to be complimented 2 because you go to such a fine institution that 3 upholds an academic standard while at the same 4 time provides basketball excellence to the 5 Greater Capital District. 6 Thank you, and I commend you. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 8 Farley. 9 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you very 10 much, Madam President. 11 Let me rise to pay tribute to the 12 pride of the Capital District, that Siena 13 team, which has been a champion year after 14 year after year. And it's has been in our 15 chamber being saluted, and we're so proud of 16 them. 17 They are the absolute toast of the 18 nation. One of the smallest schools in the 19 entire tournament, I think a little over 3,000 20 students. But I'll tell you, they were the 21 toast of the country. And really they're 22 going to be better next year, with all of the 23 members, many of the members returning. 24 They've got a great new coach who is -- Fran 25 McCaffery, who was their coach, has moved

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 on -- is confident that they're not only going 2 to achieve even greater heights. 3 But I wish them well. We're very 4 proud of them. As a professor at Albany, we 5 always used to watch those Albany-Siena games, 6 much to the chagrin of the Albany students and 7 faculty. But Siena is a great school. We're 8 very, very proud of them. I know that Senator 9 Leibell's children have graduated from there. 10 And it's not only a great 11 basketball school, it is an academic school of 12 excellence. And I salute them and wish them 13 well, particularly in the years ahead. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 15 McDonald. 16 SENATOR McDONALD: Thank you, 17 Madam President. I'd like to echo the 18 comments of Senators Breslin and Farley. 19 Not only is it a great athletic 20 school, it's the quality of the education and 21 the quality of the men and women they produce 22 there. They are not only leaders 23 academically, athletically, but just in pure 24 decency. It's a wonderful institution. I'm 25 proud to be a part of the season ticket

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 holders. I've been there for almost 20 years. 2 And I'm even prouder that they're part of the 3 Greater Capital Region. They represent us 4 well. They're great folks. 5 Thank you. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 7 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 8 on the resolution? 9 The question is on the resolution. 10 All those in favor please signify by saying 11 aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 17 resolution is adopted. 18 Senator Breslin has indicated that 19 he would like to open up this resolution for 20 cosponsorship by the entire house. Any 21 Senator wishing to not be on the resolution 22 please notify the desk. 23 Congratulations. 24 (Standing ovation.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 3 at this time I move to take up Senate 4 Resolution Number 4977, by Senator Huntley. I 5 ask that the resolution be read in its 6 entirety and move for its immediate adoption 7 and give Senator Huntley the opportunity to 8 speak on her resolution. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 12 Huntley, Senate Resolution Number 4977, urging 13 the New York State Congressional delegation to 14 direct the Veterans Administration to build a 15 full-service veterans hospital on the grounds 16 of the St. Albans Veterans Facility, 17 St. Albans, New York. 18 "WHEREAS, St. Albans Veterans 19 Facility opened in 1943 as the St. Albans 20 Naval Hospital; and 21 "WHEREAS, It was turned over to the 22 United States Veterans Administration in 1974; 23 currently, the VA is looking to modernize the 24 St. Albans facility; and 25 "WHEREAS, St. Albans is not a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 full-service hospital, and veterans from 2 Queens and Nassau County who need the services 3 of a full-service hospital must travel to the 4 VA hospital in Brooklyn, New York; and 5 "WHEREAS, According to the 2000 6 Census, there are over 200,000 veterans in 7 Queens and Nassau County that would benefit 8 from having a full service hospital in close 9 proximity; and 10 "WHEREAS, Veterans organizations in 11 Queens, Nassau County, and the surrounding 12 areas are united in the view that only 13 veterans services should be conducted on the 14 grounds of the Veterans Facility and that a 15 full-service hospital, serving both male and 16 female veterans, is necessary for this 17 location; and 18 "WHEREAS, Local civic and community 19 organizations adjacent to the VA facility 20 fully support the veterans in their quest for 21 a full-service hospital and agree that 22 residential or commercial development on the 23 site is not appropriate nor supportable by the 24 local infrastructure; and 25 "WHEREAS, Veterans and residents

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 agree that the hospital should be built by the 2 veterans administration and not be built under 3 a contract with a private developer; now, 4 therefore, be it 5 "RESOLVED, That the New York State 6 Congressional delegation be and hereby is 7 respectfully memorialized by this Legislative 8 Body to direct the Veterans Administration to 9 build a full-service hospital on the grounds 10 of the St. Albans Veterans Facility, 11 St. Albans, New York, and it be further 12 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 13 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 14 to each member of the Congressional delegation 15 from the State of New York." 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 17 Huntley. 18 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Yes, Madam 19 President. This resolution is something 20 that's very important to the community that I 21 represent and to the veterans that I 22 represent. 23 And as you see, there are 200,000 24 veterans who must travel to Brooklyn for full 25 service. We need that in St. Albans. I'm

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 asking the Congressional delegation to please 2 support us in this. The community, the civic 3 associations, they're all in favor of this. 4 We don't need any type of buildings other than 5 a hospital. 6 This country has many, many 7 veterans who are underserved as we speak. And 8 I don't think it's too much for a community to 9 ask for a full-service hospital so that our 10 veterans will get the kind of care that they 11 should have been receiving for many years. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 14 Padavan. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you. 16 First, Senator Huntley, let me 17 thank you very, very much for advancing this 18 resolution. 19 And as you properly pointed out, 20 Queens County, a borough of about 2 million 21 people, has more veterans per capita than any 22 county in the state. And also as you pointed 23 out, when they are in need of medical care, 24 they have to either go to Hamilton, in 25 Brooklyn, or out to Long Island, to Stony

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Brook. And that's unreasonable. Particularly 2 when you view the facts that on the grounds is 3 a nursing home. 4 And I was there when the ground was 5 broken for that state-operated facility, and I 6 was there in 1974, the date you mentioned in 7 your resolution. 8 So I know full well the views of 9 the American Legion, the VFW, the Catholic War 10 Veterans, the Jewish War Veterans, all of whom 11 have been speaking out for a long time about 12 the need to establish a full-fledged facility 13 on those grounds. The land is there, the 14 property is there, the clients are there. The 15 community wants it, the veterans need it, and 16 there's no reason in the world why it should 17 not be done. 18 So again, I thank you for advancing 19 this resolution. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 21 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 22 on the resolution? 23 Seeing none, the question is on the 24 resolution. All those in favor please signify 25 by saying aye.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 3 Opposed, nay. 4 (No response.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 6 resolution is adopted. 7 Senator Huntley has indicated that 8 she would like to open up the resolution for 9 cosponsorship by the entire house. Any 10 Senator not wishing to be on the resolution 11 please notify the desk. 12 Senator Klein. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 14 I believe there's a resolution at the desk by 15 Senator Serrano. I ask that the resolution be 16 read in its entirety and move for its 17 immediate adoption and give Senator Serrano 18 the opportunity to speak on his resolution. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 20 Klein, has this resolution been deemed 21 privileged and submitted by the office of the 22 Temporary President? 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 24 Madam President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 3 Serrano, legislative resolution denouncing any 4 policy of profiling in New York State and 5 urging the federal government to denounce any 6 similar state-sanctioned immigration policy, 7 such as the law that recently passed in the 8 State of Arizona. 9 "WHEREAS, America, a nation of 10 immigrants, is the greatest nation of the 11 world; and 12 "WHEREAS, New York is home to 13 approximately 4.2 million immigrants, 14 accounting for one in five residents in 15 New York; and 16 "WHEREAS, Immigrants are essential 17 to New York's economy by contributing 18 approximately $229 billion in annual economic 19 output; and 20 "WHEREAS, For more than a decade, 21 our nation has pursued an enforcement-only 22 approach to immigration -- an exercise in 23 futility and cruelty which has squandered 24 resources and created a climate of fear in 25 immigrant communities, but has not brought us

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 any closer to a solution for the immigration 2 problems facing our nation; and 3 "WHEREAS, The State of New York and 4 the nation as a whole need and deserve 5 comprehensive immigration reform which will 6 stop current practices that result in divided 7 families; and 8 "WHEREAS, The Legislature of 9 Arizona and the Governor of Arizona recently 10 signed into law Arizona's Senate Bill 1070, 11 which requires law enforcement to question 12 people about their immigration status and 13 arrest individuals if they have a 'reasonable 14 suspicion' that they are in the country 15 illegally; and 16 "WHEREAS, Such a law, if passed in 17 the State of New York, would institute a 18 policy of profiling that would infringe upon 19 the civil rights of individuals and families 20 across the state, and would threaten basic 21 notions of decency, justice, and fairness 22 which are essential elements of the American 23 way of life; and 24 "WHEREAS, President Obama has 25 expressed concern over Arizona's law by

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 characterizing it as 'misguided'; and 2 "WHEREAS, The policy encouraged by 3 Arizona's law is indicative of the need for 4 comprehensive immigration reform, which can 5 only be achieved by a partnership between 6 state and federal governments; and 7 "WHEREAS, Studies have shown that 8 comprehensive immigration reform with a clear 9 path to citizenship can play a vital role in 10 revitalizing both New York State's and the 11 United States' struggling economy; and 12 "WHEREAS, Immigration reform 13 transcends party lines and requires input from 14 all elected officials without regard to 15 political affiliation; now, therefore, be it 16 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 17 Body denounces any policy, such as the 18 above-mentioned law recently passed in the 19 State of Arizona, that can be described as 20 anti-immigrant; and be it further 21 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 22 Body welcomes and encourages cooperation on 23 all levels of government to work together to 24 enact immigration policies and laws which are 25 directly germane to the affairs, business,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 rights, benefits and obligations of New York 2 State and New Yorkers so as to strengthen the 3 family immigration system, provide a clear 4 path to citizenship, and revise current 5 enforcement so that human and civil rights are 6 safeguarded; and be it further 7 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 8 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 9 to President Barack Obama and all members of 10 the New York State Congressional delegation." 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 12 Serrano. 13 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you, 14 Madam President. 15 I'd like to thank all of my 16 colleagues for allowing me to bring this very 17 important resolution here to the floor of the 18 Senate. And I would also like to thank my 19 cosponsor, Senator Jose Peralta, for his 20 leadership on this resolution. 21 This resolution speaks to a very 22 complex and disturbing issue that we have, 23 unfortunately, here in the United States. We 24 have a very broken immigration system, very 25 much in need of immigration reform, one that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 respects the fact that this nation was founded 2 on the backs of immigrants, people who came 3 here to love this country and to die for this 4 country. 5 But in Arizona, we've seen in 6 recent weeks a bill put forth that actually is 7 a slap in the face to that immigration 8 heritage and legacy that we have in this 9 nation. It is a bill that encourages racial 10 profiling, with terms such as "reasonable 11 suspension," meaning that based on the color 12 of a person's skin, possibly an accent, ways 13 that they look, that they are subject and fair 14 game to harassment by police and by 15 questioning to produce papers, papers that 16 would have to prove that they are here in this 17 country legally. 18 This is the wrong approach, many 19 believe -- and I agree -- to solving the 20 broken immigration system that we have in our 21 nation. This actually would have a chilling 22 effect on relations between our immigrants, 23 whether here legally or not, and law 24 enforcement. 25 So often we hear about immigrants

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 who are the victims of fraud or crime, 2 domestic violence, and they won't come 3 forward. They won't come forward to law 4 enforcement because their fear of maybe their 5 own immigration status, or of a friend or a 6 loved one, and they just don't want to open 7 the door to that scrutiny. So a lot of crimes 8 go unheard, and they go without any kind of 9 justice. 10 We have 10 million undocumented 11 immigrants in this nation, which shows that 12 the immigration policies that we have now are 13 not working. But this Arizona law actually 14 serves to just polarize our nation even 15 further on the issue of immigration. It will 16 actually keep our immigrants further in the 17 shadows and would feel less inclined to move 18 forward on a path to immigration. 19 In East Harlem, where I represent, 20 East Harlem and the South Bronx, we have a 21 very strong and growing immigrant community. 22 And in 2009 I formed a coalition called East 23 Harlem Against Deportation, along with other 24 elected officials in East Harlem, as well 25 immigrant advocacy groups. And we looked at

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the negative effect that unjust deportation 2 and mistreatment of immigrants has had on this 3 nation. 4 And our report cited information 5 from a group called Jailed Without Justice, 6 which cited a 2009 report by Amnesty 7 International which said that more than 30,000 8 immigrants are detained each day in the United 9 States. "They include asylum seekers, torture 10 survivors, victims of human trafficking, 11 long-time lawful permanent residents and 12 parents of U.S. citizens." 13 This is the wrong approach. I 14 believe that we should respect the immigrants 15 who are coming here, who are seeking to build 16 this nation, to keep this nation as the 17 greatest nation on earth. And the way that we 18 respect them is by giving them an immigration 19 system that gives them a path to citizenship, 20 that gives them a path to being here legally. 21 There are people dying every day to 22 come to this nation. They are dying every day 23 because they know that this nation is the 24 greatest nation on earth and that it provides 25 unique opportunities that they will not find

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 anywhere else in the world. We owe it to 2 them, we owe it to the legacy of our parents 3 and our grandparents and all the immigrants 4 who started our families here in this great 5 nation that we call home. 6 I ask my colleagues to support this 7 resolution, but actually that we also continue 8 to move forward in pressing our members of 9 Congress and the U.S. Senate and our President 10 and the federal government to institute real 11 immigration changes, real immigration policy 12 reform, policies that will deal with the fact 13 that we have so many undocumented immigrants 14 here who deserve the opportunity to have their 15 path to citizenship. 16 With that, I will conclude. I will 17 thank Senator Peralta once again -- we'll be 18 hearing from him in a minute. And I thank 19 you, Madam President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 21 Peralta. 22 SENATOR PERALTA: Thank you, 23 Madam President. 24 I also want to take this 25 opportunity to thank Senator Serrano and all

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the colleagues, all my colleagues that have 2 signed onto this resolution. 3 This resolution not only denounces 4 Arizona Law 1070, which legalizes racial 5 profiling and usurps federal immigration laws, 6 but it also sends a very strong message. It 7 sends that a message that we need a strong 8 path towards citizenship, we need 9 comprehensive immigration reform. 10 This law in Arizona is weak and 11 ineffective, in a sense because of its legal 12 standing and its moral standing. Legally, 13 this law defies reasonable suspicion, ignores 14 the role of the federal government in 15 immigration enforcement, and creates a set of 16 circumstances that will surely result in civil 17 liberties claims against police departments 18 throughout the state. 19 This resolution not only does that, 20 or will do that; this resolution will call for 21 real reform, reform that the President has 22 acknowledged, reform that Congress has 23 acknowledged. Morally, the effect that 24 legalization of racial profiling will have in 25 America will be devastating.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 How can we as a nation denounce 2 human rights violations around the world, send 3 men and women to war in the name of spreading 4 democracy, and pride ourselves on electing the 5 first African-American president -- and then 6 turn around and support a law that victimizes 7 our fellow citizens? 8 If Americans were similarly stopped 9 and detained for being American or just simply 10 looking American anywhere else in the world, 11 we would denounce it immediately and 12 forcefully. And yet in our country elected 13 officials have decided to criminalize the 14 color of someone's skin, the features on a 15 person's face, or the accents that they carry 16 from their culture. 17 Less than 50 years ago, the great 18 Martin Luther King, Jr., dreamed of a country 19 where his children would not be judged by the 20 color of their skin but by the content of 21 their character. This Arizona law is a slap 22 in the face of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 23 dream. It is a slap in the face to the United 24 States Constitution. It is a slap in the face 25 to every American that believes that we are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 all created equal. 2 This law is most likely to be 3 legally challenged based on the standard of 4 reasonable suspicion that it uses and based on 5 the fact that only the federal government has 6 the authority to regulate immigration reform. 7 This law will not only have a 8 negative economic impact on Arizona, but it 9 also force local law enforcement agents -- as 10 my colleague has pointed out, it would also 11 force local law enforcement agents to perform 12 duties that not only do they have little 13 training on, but it will also create a larger 14 gap between police officers and the people 15 they are sworn to protect. Because no one 16 will end up trusting police officers after 17 this law is implemented. 18 That's what this resolution is all 19 about. This is not about protecting those 20 that are here unlawfully, this is about 21 denouncing racial profiling and protecting 22 civil rights and civil liberties. That's what 23 this country was based on. That's what this 24 country became so great on, the fact that we 25 have a Constitution, the fact that we have

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 liberties and rights that we have defended for 2 so many centuries. 3 And let me just say this. As a 4 Latino legislator, if I travel to Arizona and 5 if I happen to walk down the streets and a 6 police officer stops me and asks me for my 7 identification, if I happen for that 8 particular day not to carry my identification 9 on me, well, guess what? I most likely will 10 be arrested. 11 That is unacceptable. That is 12 something that we are denouncing today. 13 That's why we're introducing this resolution. 14 And I ask all my colleagues to come 15 on board and join us in denouncing the 16 legitimizing of this racial profiling that 17 this law has created in Arizona. There have 18 been many, many cases across the land where 19 federal judges have struck down ordinances and 20 state laws simply because they did not meet 21 the requirements that were necessary, because 22 there were issues with the supremacy clause of 23 the Constitution, because the federal 24 government is the only government that has the 25 right to regulate immigration reform.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So once we have a state trying to 2 dictate to the federal government what type of 3 immigration reform laws they should pass, 4 we're heading down a slippery slope. 5 Now, yes, it is true that we need 6 the federal government to step up to the 7 plate, that we need President Obama to step up 8 to the plate. But we also need to ensure that 9 it's the federal government that takes this 10 up, that it's the federal government that 11 takes the lead here. 12 Because with all the issues that 13 Arizona is facing currently -- they're 14 currently facing a $3 billion deficit -- this 15 will hurt them economically as well. This, 16 because of the boycotts and because of what 17 will happen in terms of the cost of detaining 18 all the potential unlawful individuals in 19 Arizona, it will break the treasuries. 20 Many police officers and agencies 21 in Arizona and outside are saying the same 22 thing: Why would they implement this state 23 law? It makes no sense. Let the federal 24 government deal with it. That's what we're 25 asking. We're asking for you to denounce and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to join us in denouncing this law and join us 2 in pushing, in urging for a comprehensive 3 immigration reform on a national level. 4 Thank you. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 6 Schneiderman. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 8 Madam President. 9 I rise in support of this 10 resolution. I truly hope that everyone here 11 will support it and join, I think, the 12 overwhelming majority of reasonable Americans, 13 including most of those involved in law 14 enforcement, in rejecting this approach to 15 immigration law and really rejecting this as 16 an anti-American piece of legislation that 17 Arizona has come up with. 18 This, from a strictly law 19 enforcement point of view, is a catastrophe. 20 You've got a state where more than 40 percent 21 of the population is African-American, Latino 22 or Native American. Anyone is subject to a 23 stop at any time. And the notion that this is 24 not going to have an effect, when witnesses to 25 crimes will be fleeing from the police or

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 avoiding the police or victims of crimes will 2 refuse to report them -- this is just a law 3 enforcement catastrophe waiting to happen. 4 And that's the reason the Arizona Association 5 of Chiefs of Police has come out in opposition 6 to this bill. 7 So let's not support and let's not 8 tolerate legislation that essentially 9 criminalizes the way you look. 10 This is also a bill that 11 criminalizes the solicitation of work, even 12 though that's been held to be protected under 13 the First Amendment. And listen to what is 14 prohibited here, what a cop can pick you up 15 for in Arizona under this bill: Any verbal or 16 nonverbal communication by a gesture or nod 17 that would indicate to a reasonable person 18 that someone is willing to be employed. 19 Well, if we're going to start 20 criminalizing that, I think we're headed in 21 the wrong direction. 22 This is fundamentally, to me, 23 anti-American. I commend Senators Serrano and 24 Peralta for bringing this resolution forward. 25 I think that we should join with all of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 other groups across the country that have 2 taken a stand in opposition to this bill. 3 I'm pleased with the fact that in 4 New York State we're moving in the right 5 direction, that the Governor has announced the 6 establishment of a panel to deal with 7 commutation of sentences for folks who are 8 facing deportation based on very old or very 9 minor crimes. 10 The solution to America's 11 immigration problem is a comprehensive federal 12 solution. Let's work on that. Let's urge our 13 leaders in Washington to work on that. But 14 let's reject the Arizona policy right now and 15 make it clear that here in New York State we 16 stand for the basic American principles of 17 equal justice under law. 18 Thank you, Madam President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 20 Hassell-Thompson. 21 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 22 you, Madam President. 23 I rise to lend my support to that 24 of my two colleagues, Senators Serrano and 25 Peralta, on this resolution on the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 denouncement of the Arizona immigration 2 enforcement law. 3 Just very briefly, if we study 4 history, we will understand that the rise in 5 apartheid began in just this manner, that by 6 limiting the freedom and the movement of a 7 people, you are violating your own internal 8 constitution. 9 We continue to say to the world at 10 large, lend us your tired, your poor. And yet 11 we do everything that we can to obstruct their 12 ability to become a part of this tremendous 13 country that we call the United States of 14 America. 15 I think that we must support this 16 resolution, because I've already seen here in 17 our own city of New York where there's 18 unreasonable searches and seizures that happen 19 every day to African-Americans and Latinos. 20 This is not an accident. It is a deliberate 21 act. And therefore, I am part of any group 22 that will denounce the inability of people to 23 move freely throughout the United States. 24 When I've gone to other countries, 25 I make sure that I always keep my passport

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 present because I know that that's their 2 policy. Anyone who feels that in the United 3 States that you have to do that, there's 4 something very wrong with that situation. 5 So, Madam President, I rise and 6 hope to encourage all of my colleagues in this 7 house to support this resolution in its 8 fullest intent. 9 Thank you, ma'am. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 11 L. Krueger. 12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you, 13 Madam President. 14 I too rise simply to state as a 15 legislator in the State of New York, as 16 someone who respects our rights as people here 17 in our state to live free, to travel free, to 18 not be frightened to be stopped by the police 19 without justification, that it is so critical 20 that everyone in this country speak out 21 against what Arizona has done. 22 As my colleague Senator 23 Hassell-Thompson just said, this is a 24 frightening precedent. Perhaps it wouldn't go 25 down the road the wrong way. But there are so

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 many precedents in so many countries, and 2 throughout history, of laws being passed under 3 one explanation that led to very, very 4 dangerous activities by law enforcement. 5 Time and time again we've seen this 6 in history and in the international playing 7 field. Even today, we see this going on 8 around the world. And in the United States of 9 America, we have to all stand up and say no, 10 not here, not in this country. I'm very 11 pleased to be cosponsoring this resolution. 12 Thank you, Madam President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 14 Montgomery. 15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam 16 President. I rise to compliment my colleagues 17 for introducing this resolution. 18 And I just want to just reflect for 19 a minute on how the country actually came into 20 being. And of course we are all 21 representative of different parts of the world 22 that have come together here in America -- 23 slaves from Africa, and how the Africans were 24 so much a part of the building of this nation, 25 and the immigrants from Europe who were so

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 much a part of the building of the nation and 2 the creating of our Constitution and our 3 government, and the people from South America 4 and Mexico and how really this has always been 5 or at least in the past, before we became 6 race-neutral, we had a very vibrant mosaic of 7 peoples from around the world. All of us 8 represent part of that. And I am very happy 9 and proud to be part of that. 10 So it is a sad day when we have one 11 of our states declare essentially their own 12 internal war on a part of our nation, a group 13 of immigrants. And in particular, as it 14 relates to Arizona, it would most likely be 15 for, the most part, Mexican immigrants. 16 But all of the people in Arizona 17 will be subject to this law, and anyone 18 visiting Arizona would be subject to it. So 19 that if I visited Arizona and I had my son 20 with me, and God forbid I would not have 21 appropriate identification, I may end up in an 22 Arizona jail. 23 So this really is the wrong 24 message, I think, for us to be sending to our 25 fellow citizens. Especially it's the wrong

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 image, recognizing that we all represent 2 another part of the world. And if we deny 3 that, we are going to deny ourselves access to 4 the tremendous amount of resourcefulness that 5 people bring with them when they come here 6 from other parts of the world. 7 So I hope that our federal 8 government, our Congress, our President can 9 figure out what to do about creating an 10 immigration policy. But at the same time I 11 hope that we don't turn on our most important 12 heritage, or at least one of our most 13 important heritages, and that is the fact that 14 we represent every part of the world. And 15 that's what we want to enjoy, appreciate, and 16 above all celebrate. 17 So I am happy that we're doing this 18 resolution, and we should keep the pressure on 19 Congress to make sure they join us in doing 20 something about immigration, but this is not 21 what we want done. 22 Thank you, Madam President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 24 Perkins. 25 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you very

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 much, Madam President. 2 I just want to be brief, first, in 3 identifying myself with the resolution and how 4 important it is for us to be standing up in 5 opposition to what is taking place in Arizona. 6 It is a blight, if you will, on the 7 wonderfulness of this democracy that such a 8 statement has been made. And I think it's the 9 wrong message, not only to send to fellow 10 citizens of this nation but also to the world, 11 that -- you know, that Statue of Liberty 12 that's down near your neighborhood, Senator 13 Savino, that is a very, very important -- 14 that's the message that should be brought down 15 to Arkansas. And that is -- I mean, I'm 16 sorry, Arizona. Did I say Arkansas? Both 17 places, it wouldn't hurt. 18 (Laughter.) 19 SENATOR PERKINS: In any case, 20 but that's the message. And, you know, what 21 we're doing here today I think is important. 22 And I think that, you know, what is going on 23 down there is inflammatory. It may create 24 many more problems than was intended. And so 25 I think the more voices that are heard in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 opposition to it, the better this country and 2 even the world, for that matter, is. 3 So thank you so much for the 4 sponsors. And hopefully this message will 5 translate to the leadership of this country 6 and make a difference. 7 Thank you. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 9 Smith. 10 SENATOR SMITH: Yes, thank you 11 very much, Madam President. 12 Let me thank Senator Serrano and 13 Senator Peralta for their commitment and 14 leadership to an issue that, when you think 15 about it in terms of your heart, it is just 16 the right thing to do. 17 It's actually unconscionable. If 18 you saw the President's statements of late, he 19 felt that this is one of the most 20 ill-conceived pieces of legislation that one 21 governor could sign. 22 And it takes not only leadership, 23 as Senator Peralta and Senator Serrano have 24 demonstrated, but conviction. It would be 25 very easy for either one of them to simply

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 write a letter or to simply make a phone call 2 and lodge their complaint or concern to the 3 Governor or to the President. But they have 4 taken it a step further. They have not only 5 put this resolution on the floor, they have 6 put themselves in front of cameras and media 7 alike, which means that they demonstrating 8 their courage because there are others who 9 feel the opposite. 10 There are some people who will say, 11 Why are they doing this? So they are actually 12 putting their lives and their personal family 13 at risk. And that takes a lot. It's one 14 thing to be a politician, to stand up and 15 argue for a cause; it's another thing to put 16 your personal selfishness aside and say, I'm 17 doing this because it's the right thing to do. 18 So I stand on this floor today to 19 thank both of them for demonstrating the 20 leadership that many of us should try to 21 emulate. 22 And again, I stand here supporting 23 this resolution and encouraging the President 24 to move forward on a national immigration 25 policy that needs to happen.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Thank you. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 3 Parker. 4 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, Madam 5 President. On the resolution. 6 I first want to also add my voice 7 to whose who are thanking Senator Serrano and 8 Senator Peralta on advancing this important 9 resolution. 10 As the chair of the Democratic Task 11 Force on New Americans, I in my tenure the 12 last eight years have been dealing with issues 13 of new Americans and of immigration here in 14 the state. 15 And this is really -- what they've 16 done in Arizona is really both appalling and 17 shocking. This is a country of immigrants. 18 This country owes much of its success to 19 immigrants. 20 I represent a district in Flatbush, 21 East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, 22 Kensington and Boro Park that has a very 23 diverse population. It's 57 percent black, 24 most of which are Caribbean immigrants. I 25 represent the largest concentration of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Haitians outside of Haiti in the world. It 2 has many Caribbean nations, including 3 Panama -- I represent the place where more 4 Panamanians live than, again, anyplace else in 5 the world. It's 23 percent white, most of 6 which are Orthodox Jews, many of which, again, 7 are immigrants from Eastern Europe. It's 8 10 percent Latino, 5 percent Asian, including 9 the largest Pakistani community outside of 10 Pakistan. 11 And I want to say that I love my 12 district because it looks like Brooklyn, it 13 looks like New York, it looks like America. 14 And that kind of diversity is not just what 15 makes Brooklyn or New York State or New York 16 City great, but it's what really makes America 17 great. 18 And where would we be as a nation 19 if it weren't for, you know, Chinese 20 immigrants who helped build the railroads? 21 Where would we be if it wasn't for the 22 Pilgrims, who were immigrants themselves, who 23 came here and began the founding of this 24 nation? Where would we be without so many 25 groups that have come here?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 You know, we talked earlier today 2 about the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. You know, 3 Verrazano was an immigrant. And so where 4 would we be from Italian immigrants? And 5 Brooklyn has one of the largest populations of 6 Irish immigrants in the entire world. And so 7 where would we be without all these groups? 8 I think to develop policies in 9 which we are racially profiling people -- and 10 I get that we're in hard times, and scarcity 11 and economic scarcity is really important for 12 people right now, and where terrorism is a 13 real critical part. I get all of those 14 things. But I really think that this is the 15 wrong message that we should be sending. 16 I want to commend the President for 17 his comments but also want to encourage him in 18 action and encourage him and the members of 19 Congress to put forward a comprehensive 20 immigration reform package now. Now is the 21 time. And clearly, with the things that we're 22 seeing in Arizona and throughout the country, 23 that it's really past time that we start 24 seriously dealing with immigration. 25 This is, I think, an ill-conceived

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 policy. Even the law enforcement people are 2 against it. I think that this is going to 3 be -- you know, it's going to spread our 4 resources in a way where we're not going to 5 get the things that I think that that state 6 expects to get out of it. And certainly it 7 provides a poor model for how we should go 8 forward. 9 And so I'm in favor of this 10 resolution and really want to commit myself to 11 continuing the fight to make sure that we 12 actually make America and New York State a 13 more immigrant-friendly community. 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 16 Bonacic. 17 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 18 Madam President. 19 You know, I read this resolution, 20 and I happened to have read the Senate bill in 21 Arizona. I read both. And I thought a lot of 22 the rhetoric in discussing this resolution was 23 mischaracterized, was not factually true, and 24 was a chorus of political pandering at its 25 worst.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And this is what I do know. Number 2 one, in the State of Arizona there are 460,000 3 illegals that crossed that border. It costs 4 the taxpayers in Arizona $2 billion a year to 5 fund education for the illegal aliens. When I 6 read the legislation of Arizona, it talks of 7 illegal aliens. That's the only thing it 8 talks about. 9 It welcomes legal aliens. It 10 welcomes immigrants who come to Arizona and 11 come to America and contribute and make this 12 country a better country because of their 13 presence. 14 What is a little disturbing to me 15 is remarks like "a slap in the face to 16 America," "anti-immigration." It's not 17 anti-immigration. It's anti-illegal 18 immigration. That's our law. That's the law 19 here in New York. 20 And I agree with all of you who 21 have gotten up and said we need the federal 22 government to step up and put forward a 23 national immigration policy. And it's a 24 travesty of justice that we have waited so 25 long for the federal government to do this.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So I ask you, how do the residents 2 of Arizona or any other state near the borders 3 protect themselves? When you have gangs 4 oncoming over, terrorizing residents that live 5 there, what are -- and raising the expenses on 6 the state budget for illegal activity, what 7 does that have to do with the validity of 8 immigration? And all of the rhetoric was more 9 to it's an attack on immigration. So I 10 honestly think it's misguided. 11 And I join you in asking the 12 federal government to do more. But what are 13 the people of that state supposed to do? 14 They're asking that the federal government 15 come in and enforce the federal law, which is 16 not being done. 17 So 70 percent of the population 18 stands up and says, We've got to do -- this is 19 a defense mechanism, we've got to protect 20 ourselves. I don't think they are people that 21 are intent on racial profiling. If they were, 22 that would be wrong. Of course it would be 23 wrong. 24 But we have these laws in New York, 25 if there's reasonable suspicion and probable

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 cause, that a police officer can stop someone 2 and ask questions, whether you're here legally 3 or not. And they do. 4 So what I particularly find 5 offensive is by calling this anti-immigration. 6 It is certainly not. And when you read the 7 statute, when it talks about businesses in 8 Arizona that hire illegal immigrants, they 9 want to send them back. Which is the federal 10 law. 11 And just as a point of information, 12 those Hispanics that are in Arizona that are 13 there legally, they don't like illegal 14 Hispanics coming to Arizona. They're not 15 anti-Hispanic, but they believe that they went 16 through a system, a process, to conform to 17 what the law is. And why should illegals come 18 in and take work away when they're there to 19 work? 20 So there's more to this than meets 21 the eye with all of the rhetoric. 22 And I also question why do we stick 23 our nose in other states and their problems 24 when they could be passing these resolutions 25 condemning us for not having a timely budget?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Or the amount of criminal convictions we have 2 of elected officials in the last five years, 3 and they can stick their nose in our business. 4 We shouldn't be in their business, 5 because we've got a lot of business to take 6 care of here. And we're not doing it. And 7 our time could be spent more effectively 8 addressing the problems that we have in the 9 State of New York. 10 And all of those that have spoken, 11 I wish they would have read the statute in 12 Arizona before they spoke. And there's not 13 one mention, not one mention in this 14 resolution of that statute. But there is 15 mention of anti-immigration. I wasn't going 16 to speak, but -- and I could have agreed with 17 this whole resolution except that 18 anti-immigration remark. And then when I 19 heard the chorus of political pandering that 20 just simply was not true, I just thought there 21 should be a balance. 22 So for that reason, I'm not going 23 to support this resolution. 24 And the second reason is I again 25 want to say it, for the last time, I agree

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 with all of my colleagues on the other side of 2 the aisle that the federal government should 3 step up, sooner rather than later, and do a 4 federal immigration policy. Because we 5 wouldn't be having these problems like this in 6 Arizona or any other state near that border. 7 We need help from the federal government, and 8 they're all tiptoeing. They don't want to get 9 into it now, they're waiting for the November 10 elections. But every day they delay creates 11 these collateral-damage problems. 12 Thank you, Madam President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 14 Diaz. 15 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 16 President. I'm a Puerto Rican with broken 17 English, kinky hair, black skin. And, you 18 know, honestly, honestly, I don't like what's 19 happening in Arizona. And I join my 20 colleagues supporting the resolution. 21 But -- there's always a "but" in my 22 life -- but there should be a resolution 23 introduced in this chamber not condemning 24 Arizona, condemning the federal government, 25 the Congress and the President. That's what

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the resolution should be. Because they ran a 2 campaign promising that they would solve this 3 problem if they get elected. They got 4 elected, and the problem is getting worse and 5 worse. 6 And now, how nice it is to focus on 7 Arizona and put all the attention on Arizona 8 and let the federal government off the hook. 9 Let Congress, all the Congressman, the 10 Senators, the President, let them off the 11 hook. Let's blame Arizona. Let's go after 12 Arizona. 13 I'm not saying that it's right what 14 they did. It's wrong. So don't confuse me 15 now. It is wrong what Arizona did, and I join 16 in the resolution. But let the resolution be 17 on the Congress, on the President. You 18 promised, they promised, they said, Vote for 19 me, and we will take care of this. And they 20 have not done anything. 21 They're forcing Arizona -- in a 22 way, in a way -- let me see if I can say this 23 right -- in a way, I'm glad this is happening. 24 Why? It is wrong what they're doing. But in 25 a way, I'm glad it's happening. Because it's

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 going to force the President and the federal 2 government and the Congress to do what they 3 promised. You know what's going to happen in 4 other states? Other states are going to do 5 the same thing, the same thing. 6 And the buck stops not in Arizona. 7 You promise something, go ahead and do it. 8 They said, Elect us, because Bush and the 9 Republicans are the bad guys. But Bush did 10 more for immigrants than all what we're doing. 11 Bush did more than what we have done for the 12 immigration reform. 13 Where is the beef? 14 (Laughter.) 15 SENATOR DIAZ: Where is the beef? 16 I'm angry, yes, I'm angry. Because I -- I -- 17 I -- when Bush was in power and Bush was the 18 bad guy, I coordinated a demonstration across 19 the Brooklyn Bridge, about 40,000 people 20 crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, and I 21 coordinated a demonstration in favor of the 22 immigration reform because Bush was the bad 23 guy, so we did it. 24 And when we got, when the 25 Democrats -- we, my party, my party, got

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 elected, I say, oh, but no more demonstration. 2 No more, nothing else. It's over, finito. 3 Guess what? Arizona is here. And now we are 4 saying Arizona, Arizona, Arizona. 5 But I'm not saying Arizona, I'm -- 6 what they did is wrong. I condemn what they 7 did, what they're doing. It's wrong, it's 8 bad. But that's not the point here. The 9 point is that they've been forced to do what 10 they have done because the promise that was 11 given to us has not been fulfilled. 12 And by the way, do you know how 13 many times in a day I got stopped and had to 14 show my identification? Even here in this 15 building. When I don't have my -- show me -- 16 asking for identification, this is an everyday 17 thing. Everywhere. 18 So I'm supporting the resolution. 19 But I would love to see a resolution 20 condemning not only Arizona, the Congress, the 21 United States Congress of America, and the 22 President of America that promised. So don't 23 play these games, and don't play with emotion 24 trying to switch the attention to Arizona. We 25 don't have to go to Arizona, to lock ourselves

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in chains in Arizona. We should go to the 2 Congress, to Washington, and lock ourselves 3 there in Washington. That's what we should 4 do. 5 Thank you, Madam President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 7 Duane. 8 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam 9 President. 10 I would first like to thank 11 Senators Peralta and Serrano for introducing 12 this resolution. And I would further like to 13 associate myself with their remarks. 14 I feel very strongly that the 15 action that was taken in Arizona is 16 un-American. And if you look at the most 17 recent history of the attempts at immigration 18 reform, seriously, in a bipartisan way, there 19 have been lions who have tried to do 20 immigration reform. And perhaps the greatest 21 loss to our country on that issue was Senator 22 Kennedy. 23 And I also went back and looked at 24 some of the things that Senator McCain had 25 said on the issue. And I'm not going to go

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 into what's happening now in the state that he 2 represents in great detail, but it really is 3 at odds to what he stands for. 4 So whether you're a progressive 5 Democrat or a libertarian-leaning Republican, 6 there is no way you could look at this 7 legislation, this bill, this action taken by 8 Arizona and not be saddened by it. 9 So I hope that it will galvanize 10 our nation towards doing true immigration 11 reform that will protect individual rights and 12 also protect all of the things that we cherish 13 about this country. 14 I'll be voting yes, Madam 15 President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 17 Adams. 18 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, Madam 19 President. 20 You know, this is a -- it's a 21 complicated issue when you deal with 22 immigration matters. And when you ask the 23 average police officer, he or she will state 24 that they don't like getting involved in 25 immigration issues. They want to leave that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to the federal government. They would rather 2 deal with the issues of fighting crime and 3 some of those points. 4 I was just talking to my staff and 5 just going over a quick perusal. Arizona's 6 law orders immigrants to carry their alien 7 registration documents at all times and 8 require police to question people if there's 9 reason to suspect they're in the United States 10 illegally. 11 Just think about this for a moment. 12 Let's say you're -- many individuals who are 13 from outside the United States, they do 14 various tasks, particularly in New York City. 15 Many do babysitting and nannies. Miss Wong or 16 someone is pushing a child down the street or 17 picking a child up from school. Police 18 believes that he or she is here illegally, 19 they stop and question them and, if they are, 20 they could arrest them on the spot or take 21 them to the precinct. What happens to that 22 child? 23 Or better yet, someone is in an 24 intercultural relationship where your mate is 25 either Hispanic, Mexican, Chinese or any other

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 group. You're stopped while having dinner or 2 leaving a restaurant or parking your car, 3 someone stops and say I want to see the 4 identification of your wife, your husband, the 5 person you are going out with that evening. 6 Think about how would you feel. You know? 7 How would you feel if all of a 8 sudden you're walking down the block hand in 9 hand with someone you decided to be in a 10 relationship with that's not from America, 11 that don't look like American -- what the heck 12 does an American look like? Who is making the 13 determination of what someone looks like 14 that -- let me read this again: And require 15 police to question people if there's reason to 16 suspect they're in the United States 17 illegally. 18 What criteria are we arming our 19 police officers with that they can make an 20 intelligent decision that you know what, the 21 person you're holding hands with Onorato, 22 because they're Asian, they may not be here 23 legally, so I'm going to stop you, I'm going 24 to question your mate. Or Senator Flanagan, 25 you're walking down the block with your lovely

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 wife that happens to be Hispanic. I don't 2 know if she's here legally. I'm going to stop 3 you and question the status of your wife. 4 Senator Parker, you decide to date 5 an Asian woman. I don't know if she's here 6 legally. I'm going to stop you and question 7 if she's here right. 8 Ruth Hassell-Thompson, you decide 9 that you want to date a German male. I don't 10 know if he's here legally. Let me stop you 11 and question you. And, you know, he doesn't 12 have a identification card, you know what I'm 13 going to do? I'm not only going to stop you, 14 I'm taking you down to the precinct. 15 Can you imagine the environment 16 that's created? Particularly a -- I'm really 17 in trouble, because I'm a bachelor and I love 18 beautiful women of all origins. So I'm in 19 trouble. 20 (Laughter.) 21 SENATOR ADAMS: This is wrong. 22 This is wrong. You can't create an atmosphere 23 where this country promotes intercultural 24 relationships -- this is what we promote. 25 Unlike any other country, we promote different

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 groups from different backgrounds that come 2 from different geographical areas on the globe 3 to interact with each other. And if we create 4 an environment where Senator Libous and his 5 Middle Eastern background, all of a sudden 6 he's out with his family, can be stopped and 7 harassed -- if we create that, that's the 8 wrong thing to do. 9 And so we can't close our eyes, 10 cover our ears, and shut our mouths and say 11 you know what, that's happening over there. 12 The last I checked, Arizona is in America. 13 And we have a responsibility as New Yorkers to 14 lead what is right, not only here in the 15 eastern part of the country but the western, 16 the northern, and the southern, to send a 17 strong message and prick the conscience of the 18 entire country and hope that cascades 19 throughout the entire globe, that human beings 20 should not be treated wrongly merely because 21 of where they were born or how they look. 22 That's what this law does. This 23 law is telling our police officers to make 24 this wild assertion, based on a person's 25 physical looks, to say if they are an American

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 or not. Can you imagine if we did that to 2 young Italians when they were coming up? To 3 say, well, if you walk a certain way or talk a 4 certain way or eat at a certain restaurant you 5 automatically have to be in the Mafia? Can 6 you imagine that? 7 Can you imagine if we did it to or 8 were trying to do to Hispanics? Just because 9 you speak broken English, or your mother, 10 probably the first generation that didn't 11 speak English at all, well, you know what? I 12 heard her speaking English, so she can't be an 13 American, let me stop and detain and question 14 her. 15 And let me tell you what happened 16 in cases like this far too often. Individuals 17 who are stopped like that, they're not stopped 18 just once, they are stopped repeatedly over 19 and over and over again, until they reach the 20 point that they are afraid to go out. They're 21 afraid to go shopping, they're afraid to walk 22 the streets, they're afraid to enjoy the 23 country because over and over, they're stopped 24 and they're harassed: Let me see your ID, let 25 me see your ID, let me see your identification

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 card. 2 Look at the criterias of this. I 3 was in Soweto, South Africa, and this is what 4 they were doing to blacks there. Every time 5 you walk down the block: "Let me see your 6 identification. Are you supposed to be out? 7 Let me see your papers." Does that sound 8 familiar? "Let me see your papers." This is 9 what this is saying. "Let me see your 10 papers." Have you heard that before? "Let me 11 see your papers." Have you heard that before? 12 I have. 13 This is the wrong direction for 14 this country to go in. And if we start with 15 Mexicans, then, Libous, you better watch out. 16 If we start with people from El Salvador, then 17 you better watch out, Serrano. If we start 18 with people from the Middle East, then you 19 better watch out, Addabbo. Because when fear 20 becomes the motivating factor for police 21 practices, then when you get rid of one 22 particular group, you start to look for other 23 groups. 24 We cannot allow fear to motivate 25 policies in this country. Our country is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 better than that. That's what they do in 2 other countries. We don't do that in America. 3 If we have a crime issue in Arizona, then 4 let's give them the law enforcement resources 5 to fight that crime. If there's border 6 issues, then let's do a better job of 7 protecting our borders. If there are 8 immigration issues, then let's pass the proper 9 federal law to address the issues of 10 immigration that not only should attack those 11 who are here illegally but the countless 12 number of underground marketing of those who 13 benefit from the immigration problem in 14 America. From nanny to picking lettuce, 15 everyone who benefits should impact and they 16 should be held accountable. 17 Immigrants are here illegally 18 because there's a market for their existence. 19 And we can't all of a sudden start to say that 20 now we no longer want to identify that very 21 real market that is going on every day in many 22 parts of these border states where people 23 exploit immigrants for profit. And that's 24 what we need to start having a real 25 conversation about. We could stop this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 immigration issue immediately if there wasn't 2 so much profit that was made from it, and 3 exploiting immigrants over and over again. 4 So this is the wrong direction that 5 we should go into. Arizona is wrong. And 6 New York should not silently sit back and 7 pretend the geographical boundaries that 8 separate our state from their state is the 9 reason that we should ignore that. We should 10 never ignore that. We've learned from the 11 past. You cannot pretend that tyranny does 12 not exist merely because you refuse to open 13 your eyes to the tyrannical act. That's 14 wrong. Dr. King said it best: Evil prevails 15 because good people sit silently by and permit 16 it to happen. 17 I'm not going to allow it to 18 happen. And if it means going to Arizona, 19 being arrested for not showing ID, then I'm 20 willing to do that. That is what we are as 21 human beings. This is a point in time that we 22 have to stand up as Americans and define what 23 our country is. Fear is not going to motivate 24 me to stand back, remain silent when another 25 person of the greatest race alive, and that's

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the human race, is being treating 2 unwarrantedly, unjustly, and that's wrong. I 3 believe that. And I know that many of us 4 believe that. 5 That's why we should be standing up 6 today pointing out what's wrong with a bill 7 that tells police officers that if they're 8 walking down the block and Senator Libous is 9 with his family and they believe that his 10 family member is here illegally, they can stop 11 and question him. And if they don't have 12 their papers, they can take him to jail. 13 I don't believe a bill that states 14 if Senator Flanagan is walking with his family 15 and they believe that his wife is here 16 illegally, that they can stop and question 17 her, and if she doesn't have her papers, they 18 can take her to jail. I don't believe a bill 19 that says that if Senator Serrano's mother is 20 thought to be here illegally, she can be 21 stopped and taken to jail if she doesn't have 22 her papers. I don't believe it. I don't 23 believe that's right. 24 And the only reason many of us are 25 able to accept this is because we're saying,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 well, it's not going to happen to me. That's 2 why we're able to accept this. We're saying 3 nobody is going to make the mistake that I'm 4 not an American. Nobody is going to stop the 5 nanny that's pushing my daughter. Nobody is 6 going to stop the beautiful woman that I'm 7 having dinner with, or the beautiful male that 8 I'm having dinner with. No one is going to 9 interrupt my card game that I'm sitting down 10 having cards with a group of friends. No one 11 is going to walk into a restaurant or pull me 12 off a movie line. No one is going to pull 13 over my car. 14 It could happen to anyone of us 15 that don't fit the description of who is an 16 American. And no one in here has fit that 17 description to state who is an American and 18 who's not. This is the wrong direction for 19 our country to go. 20 Thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 22 Squadron, to close. 23 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you, 24 Madam President. I rise to follow Senator 25 Adams in just expressing just how damaging

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 this Arizona law is. 2 You know, obviously it's a national 3 issue. Obviously, it's a issue of major 4 national import. But, you know, I represent a 5 pretty small Senate district in the context of 6 the nation. But in my Senate district is the 7 Lower East Side. And the Lower East Side of 8 Manhattan is where immigrant after immigrant 9 after immigrant generation have started their 10 path here as Americans. They've started in 11 the Lower East Side, whether it's German and 12 Irish or Jewish or Latino, from Puerto Rico, 13 coming over, or now an enormous number of 14 Chinese immigrants are coming into this nation 15 starting at the Lower East Side in order to 16 become Americans. 17 Because the only way to become an 18 American is by coming here as someone who 19 wasn't born here and start that path and that 20 journey. And the idea now we would say if 21 there is a chance, if there's a likelihood 22 that you are an immigrant, you are going to be 23 treated in this way -- if you can't prove that 24 you are here rightfully, you are going to be 25 hauled off to jail. If you're not carrying

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 your papers in this country, you don't have 2 the right to be free in this country -- is a 3 real blight on the entire nation. 4 And down in the Lower East Side, we 5 don't have this law. We'll never have this 6 law in this state, God willing. But the fact 7 that Arizona has enacted this law is a slap in 8 the face to Lower East Siders in New York 9 State, to people across New York City and 10 New York State, to everyone who started their 11 journey in this country as an immigrant, 12 whether in this generation or in the last 13 generation or 10 generations ago. And as a 14 nation, as a community, as a state we must 15 stand against it. 16 Thank you, Madam President. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 18 question is on the resolution. All those in 19 favor please signify by saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye.") 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 22 Opposed, nay. 23 (Response of "Nay.") 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 25 resolution is adopted.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 3 I believe there's a resolution at the desk by 4 Senator Onorato. I ask that the resolution be 5 read in its entirety and move for its 6 immediate adoption and allow Senator Onorato 7 to speak on his resolution. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 9 Klein, has this resolution been deemed 10 privileged and submitted by the office of the 11 Temporary President? 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 13 Madam President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 15 Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 17 Onorato, legislative resolution urging the 18 Metropolitan Transportation Authority to 19 reconsider the layoff of hundreds of station 20 agents in New York City. 21 "WHEREAS, The Metropolitan 22 Transportation Authority (MTA) is planning to 23 lay off approximately 500 employees in 24 New York City, starting this week, in response 25 to its current financial problems; and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 "WHEREAS, Several hundred station 2 agents employed by the MTA will lose their 3 jobs. Station agents are the key personnel 4 who help riders in the event of an emergency; 5 and 6 "WHEREAS, The Metropolitan 7 Transportation Authority plans to use security 8 cameras and buzzers to help passengers in 9 distress to compensate for the absence of 10 laid-off station agents in several highly used 11 subway stations in New York City; and 12 "WHEREAS, This reduction of the 13 MTA's workforce will impact the security -- 14 and sense of security -- for the thousands who 15 ride the subways regularly and have started to 16 feel safer visiting New York City since 17 September 11, 2001; and 18 "WHEREAS, The need for continued 19 responsiveness by station agents and other 20 employees to ensure the safety and security of 21 those who ride New York City's subways and 22 buses was demonstrated this week by an 23 attempted car bomb explosion in Times Square; 24 and 25 "WHEREAS, Layoffs are a drastic

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 response to financial difficulties that rip 2 apart the security of affected employees and 3 their families; and 4 "WHEREAS, The layoff of hundreds of 5 MTA employees will have a downward effect on 6 New York City's economy and government by 7 taking away the ability to workers to support 8 local businesses and provide tax revenues, and 9 may force many onto public assistance; and 10 "WHEREAS, The layoffs will also 11 increase the unemployment rolls in New York 12 City, which currently has an unemployment rate 13 of 10 percent, which is higher than the rest 14 of the state, and which also has an 15 unemployment rate of 38.7 percent for 16 African-Americans and 23 percent for 17 Hispanics; and 18 "WHEREAS, The Metropolitan 19 Transportation Authority, as the country's 20 largest urban transportation system, has built 21 an excellent reputation for responding to the 22 needs of its riders and making New York City 23 easy to get around by mass transit, which 24 helps the local economy by constantly bringing 25 thousands of visitors to New York City each

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 year; and 2 "WHEREAS, The MTA's good reputation 3 is due in large part to the dedication and 4 quality of work performed by the MTA station 5 agents and other employees; and 6 "WHEREAS, Station agents can play 7 an active role as partners with the MTA to 8 curb the loss of $27 million in revenues from 9 turnstile jumping, as such loss was reported 10 in a recent MTA audit; and 11 "WHEREAS, The MTA's workforce is 12 one of its strongest assets which should be 13 maintained -- not reduced -- during this 14 difficult financial period; and 15 "WHEREAS, There are alternatives to 16 laying off station agents that the 17 Metropolitan Transportation Authority should 18 consider to reduce costs that have not been 19 given careful consideration by the MTA; now, 20 therefore, be it 21 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 22 Body pause in its deliberations to urge the 23 Metropolitan Transportation Authority, its 24 chairman and board of directors, to consider 25 and use alternatives to laying off its station

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 agents and other employees starting this week; 2 and be it further 3 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 4 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 5 to Jay Walder, Chairman and Chief Executive 6 Officer, Metropolitan Transportation 7 Authority; Andrew M. Saul, Vice Chairman, 8 Metropolitan Transportation Authority; and 9 Michael Bloomberg, Mayor, New York City." 10 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 11 Onorato. 12 SENATOR ONORATO: Thank you, 13 Madam President. 14 Well, the resolution speaks for 15 itself. I think it's a travesty to go laying 16 off 500 MTA workers at this time that the 17 state is in the dire straits that we're in. 18 These workers contribute a great 19 deal to the economy of the City of New York 20 and provide a needed safety factor. These 21 station ticket agents are the eyes and ears of 22 the crime that's being committed, whenever it 23 is being committed, in the subways, on the 24 platforms, and are the instant callers to the 25 Police Department or the Transit Police to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 handle the situation. 2 And I'm sure that the MTA can find 3 other means, just as the Governor did when he 4 proposed laying off 8,900 workers in the state 5 workforce. He rescinded that process and 6 found other means by cutting other projects 7 within the agency. 8 And I'm urging the MTA to use the 9 same technology that the Governor used in 10 providing the safety for the City of New York 11 and its riders and to restore the faith that 12 these workers had when they took these jobs. 13 I urge the chairman of the MTA to reconsider 14 his position and rescind that order. 15 Thank you, Madam President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 17 Schneiderman. 18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 19 Madam President. And I want to thank Senator 20 Onorato. 21 I have been engaged in battles with 22 the MTA for quite some time, from long before 23 I was a State Senator, when I represented the 24 NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and the TWU in 25 litigation with the MTA. And one issue that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 came up over and over again was the question 2 of the Authority's shortsighted approach to 3 the issue of public safety. 4 And I understand there's a fiscal 5 crisis. But our fundamental duty as a 6 government, first and foremost, is to provide 7 for the safety and security of our citizens. 8 And there is no question that the reduction of 9 MTA workers is going to hurt our efforts to 10 ensure public safety. I mean, you know, after 11 what just happened in Times Square, I think 12 it's obvious that having alert folks with the 13 ability to report suspicious conduct is 14 essential to ensuring safety. 15 In the MTA -- we're talking about 16 thousands and thousands of people whose lives 17 have been saved and injuries have been avoided 18 because of MTA workers. The number of 19 emergency calls made, the number of 20 notifications of the police and EMTs is 21 staggering. 22 So to then just say, okay, well, we 23 have no choice but to lay off these workers, 24 there's a tremendous cost. And it's much 25 greater than the money that will be saved.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So I'm pleased to support this 2 resolution. I hope everyone will support this 3 resolution. This is something that is not 4 optional. There's some things we have to do. 5 And I will joining my colleagues in fighting 6 as hard as we can to prevent layoffs of police 7 officers, reduction in other things that are 8 essential for public safety. 9 Let's be clear about this. These 10 reductions will adversely affect public 11 safety. That is the last thing we should be 12 doing, not the first thing. The MTA's 13 approach is shortsighted, it is wrong, and I 14 stand with my colleagues here in opposing it 15 and will do everything I can -- hopefully 16 don't have to go to court again -- but, you 17 know, do everything I can to prevent these 18 layoffs. This is something that just is 19 really -- we can't tolerate. 20 And as a body that has some 21 supervisory power over authorities, I think 22 it's something that we have to take a very 23 strong stand on. I'm honored to support this 24 resolution, Madam President, and I hope 25 everyone in this chamber will support it.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 2 DeFrancisco. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: You can't 4 make this up. You truly cannot make this up. 5 Week after week, on the extender 6 bills, we from upstate New York try to get 7 amendments to the bills because the extenders 8 are resulting in people not being able to be 9 put to work. Road and bridge projects stopped 10 because bills aren't being paid. Construction 11 projects stopped because bills can't be paid. 12 SUNY projects -- not CUNY -- SUNY projects 13 being stopped because they're not getting 14 paid. People get laid off. People aren't 15 being paid. It increases the unemployment 16 rolls. I could just change the word from 17 "MTA" to "upstate." 18 And instead of working on the 19 remedy, which is to follow the 2007 law and 20 debate, as passionately as we debated the 21 ill-conceived laws of Arizona today or 22 passionately debated the MTA's outrageous 23 concept of laying employees off because they 24 don't have any money, we could be debating the 25 various aspects of the budget and try to put

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 as many of these people back to work because 2 the budget process will be done. 3 You truly can't make this up. You 4 truly can't make this up. 5 And, ladies and gentlemen, we can 6 debate -- I'm sure we've got more policy 7 judgments to make on other states and more 8 criticism of the federal government and more 9 MTA resolutions because MTA is in trouble. 10 But the fact of the matter is we have one 11 primary obligation that is long overdue, and 12 that is to start the conference committees, 13 get a budget, so we can put people -- what, am 14 I out of order now? Am I not germane? Go 15 ahead, you were going to say -- 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 17 Continue, Senator DeFrancisco. 18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I was just 19 wondering if I was going to be out of order or 20 not germane. Because it would be -- that 21 would also -- you couldn't make that one up 22 either. But -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 24 DeFrancisco, please complete your comments. 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: But I don't

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 want you to feel shy. You were going to say 2 something. I want you to get it off your 3 chest. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 5 DeFrancisco -- 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. 7 I think I've made the point. The point simply 8 is this. Let's stop this stuff and stop 9 debating what other people are doing wrong, 10 and look in the mirror. 11 The leaders should look in the 12 mirror and say in less than a week we're going 13 to be laying off more employees. State 14 employees are going to be furloughed for a day 15 each week while we debate the wisdom of an 16 Arizona law and we debate whether MTA should 17 lay off workers because they don't have any 18 money, a topic of which we don't the 19 information that they have to determine their 20 fiscal responsibilities and their fiscal 21 abilities. 22 So again, I would call for us to 23 follow the 2007 law and let's start doing what 24 we're supposed to be doing now. 25 Thank you.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 2 Marcellino. 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 4 Madam President. 5 As onerous as the laying off of 500 6 people by the MTA is -- and it is. And I 7 think it's a terrible thing to do. 8 Especially, as Senator Onorato just said, that 9 we have a crisis and we're going to put these 10 people on the streets at a time when we really 11 don't want to do that and add to the 12 unemployment rolls -- the MTA is also doing 13 something which I consider to be far more 14 egregious. It is proposing to cancel what is 15 known as the Able-Ride system. 16 This is a system of bus 17 transportation that occurs on Long Island to 18 provide disabled, physically challenged 19 people, mentally challenged people, a ride to 20 their medical needs, in some cases for 21 dialysis. I have a constituent that uses the 22 system three times a week to go to dialysis at 23 a local hospital. He cannot get there by 24 private transportation. It's very expensive. 25 Able-Ride, by the way, is not free,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Madam President. It's a $7 fee. Which he's 2 willing to pay. Because on the North Shore of 3 Long Island, where this is most important, 4 there is no bus service. There are no buses 5 that do this. The streets are not big enough. 6 The major bus lines don't go there. So the 7 people that are served by this system really 8 need it. This is going to -- so, I'm told by 9 Senator Padavan, is Access-A-Ride in the City. 10 This, I'm told, is proposed to save 11 the MTA $1 million, possibly. Out of a 12 $750 million deficit, and probably an $11 13 billion to $12 billion budget that the system 14 has, they're going to cut service to the most 15 vulnerable and people who need the system the 16 most at a time when they need the system the 17 most. This is truly life and death for the 18 people who use this Able-Ride system. 19 I would urge that we all call upon 20 the MTA -- I've spoken to Mr. Walder. He 21 understands my position. I've written him 22 letters. Others have done the same. There 23 have been stories in the local papers about 24 it. This is not the way to balance your 25 budget, on the backs of those people who are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in the greatest need. 2 I am sure in that morass which is 3 known as the budget of the MTA, a million 4 dollars can be found in another way, rather 5 than by cutting the Able-Ride system. 6 Thank you, Madam President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Thank 8 you. 9 Are there any other Senators that 10 wish to be heard on the resolution? 11 Seeing none, the question is on the 12 resolution. All those in favor please signify 13 by saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (Response of "Nay.") 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 19 resolution is adopted. 20 Senator Klein. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 22 I believe there's a resolution at the desk by 23 Senator Adams. I ask that the resolution be 24 read in its entirety and move for its 25 immediate adoption.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 2 Klein, has this resolution been deemed 3 privileged and submitted by the office of the 4 Temporary President? 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 6 Madam President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 8 Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Legislative 10 resolution by Senator Adams commemorating the 11 65th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. 12 "WHEREAS, The suffering and 13 sacrifices of members of the United States 14 Armed Forces, who served so faithfully and 15 courageously in World War II, must be 16 remembered with reference so future 17 generations will never forget the cost of the 18 peace they made possible; and 19 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 20 concern, and in full accord with its 21 long-standing traditions, this Legislative 22 Body is justly proud to commemorate the 65th 23 Anniversary of Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, to 24 be celebrated on Saturday, May 8, 2010; and 25 "WHEREAS, May 8, 1945, the date

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 when the Allied Forces formally accepted the 2 unconditional surrender of the armed forces of 3 Nazi Germany, marked the end of the Third 4 Reich. The citizens of Europe were liberated, 5 as were the survivors of Hitler's 6 concentration camps and the Allied prisoners 7 of war; and 8 "WHEREAS, With victory in the 9 Pacific just over the horizon, celebrations 10 broke out all over the world. V-E Day, May 8, 11 remains a time when people across the globe 12 pay tribute to those who so courageously 13 fought for the freedom we enjoy today; and 14 "WHEREAS, In acknowledgment of the 15 supreme sacrifice of the fallen forces on 16 May 8, 2010, many will mourn those losses; 17 others will celebrate with fireworks; and 18 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 19 Legislative Body, acting on behalf of this 20 Empire State, to honor the members of the 21 United States Armed Services who served so 22 valiantly and with such distinction to 23 liberate Europe from the tyranny of the Third 24 Reich, and specifically to honor the more than 25 100,000 veterans of World War II yet living in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 New York, who remind us by their example why 2 they were the 'Greatest Generation'; now, 3 therefore, be it 4 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 5 Body pause in its deliberations to commemorate 6 the 65th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day; 7 and be it further 8 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 9 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 10 to the Intrepid Air-Sea-Space Museum in 11 New York City, the New York State Military 12 Museum in Saratoga Springs, the United States 13 Merchant Marine Academy, and the United States 14 Military Academy at West Point." 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 16 Adams. 17 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, Madam 18 President. And I'm doing the resolution for 19 both V-E Day as well as V-J Day. And I just 20 want to take a moment -- the other resolution 21 is not necessary to read in its entirety. I'm 22 sure it will be present for those who want to 23 read and sign on. 24 I think it's imperative that while 25 our young men and women are overseas fighting

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in both Afghanistan and Iraq, that we never 2 forget that we are able to enjoy our liberties 3 and freedoms here in America because our men 4 and women that have donned the green fatigues 5 or the blue, Navy blue, or whatever other 6 colors, indicate the army of hope and 7 prosperity that they bring across the globe. 8 Thank you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 10 Larkin. 11 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, Madam 12 President. 13 Thank you, Senator Adams, for the 14 resolutions. 15 You know, I look at these two 16 resolutions for World War II, in Europe and in 17 the Pacific. D-Day was the 6th of June, '44, 18 was the day we finished basic training at Fort 19 Dix and then went to the South Pacific. 20 While a lot of people in this in 21 this room were not thought about -- George, 22 you were too young. Come on, George, smile. 23 I said you were too young. 24 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Oh, you're 25 right.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR LARKIN: But, you know, 2 when you start to think about on the TV now 3 they're talking about what the Pacific was all 4 about. But the struggles of all the armed 5 forces going into the Pacific, when you have 6 to go all the way back to Corregidor, you have 7 to go back to 1941, December the 7th, and then 8 take that stream all the way up -- 9 Quadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. 10 Many of troops that went to the 11 Philippines, when President Truman dropped the 12 bomb, the 6th and the 9th of August, 1945, we 13 were practicing climbing the mountains because 14 we were going to go to Japan. There was a 15 million body bags in the Philippines in August 16 of 1945, because that was the intelligence 17 estimate of the number of Americans we would 18 have lost had we gone through and invaded 19 Japan. 20 So there's a lot to say about the 21 end of World War II. A lot of troops came 22 home. And, you know, there was nothing for 23 them. Troops couldn't get into college. 24 There wasn't enough housing. 25 But, you know, we're the greatest

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 country in the world. We're the greatest 2 country in the world because there were a lot 3 of young people, a lot of young people, 16, 4 17, 18 years of age went to combat and never 5 came home. 6 I came out of Troy, New York, and 7 there were three other fellow that's went away 8 with me. One was killed in Germany, the other 9 two were killed in Okinawa. But that war was 10 something. And the end of it, I don't know 11 how many know that there were eight signings 12 of the end of the war in the Pacific, eight 13 specific signings at different locations. The 14 one most popular that everyone knows is 15 September the 2nd, in Yokohama Bay, with 16 General MacArthur, where they did the signing, 17 official signing. But there were seven 18 others, to accommodate the British, the 19 Australians, and a lot of other allies so that 20 they could take part in the ceremonies which 21 their troops fought to end the war in the 22 Pacific. 23 New York had the 27th Infantry 24 Division. Many elements from this part of the 25 state fought in the Pacific -- Saipan, others.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 But, you know, to take a few moments and think 2 about what happened to the end of that war and 3 to think about the young people who made the 4 sacrifices. 5 I think I understand this more than 6 most people because six weeks ago this 7 Thursday I received a call, not about Japan, 8 not about the Pacific, but about Korea. And 9 it makes you think of how important life is 10 and that, you know, sometimes we ought to stop 11 struggling and try to cooperate. Because the 12 cooperation six weeks ago was a woman telling 13 me that her husband's body, remains, were 14 found. I was the best man at their wedding. 15 He had been in captivity 59 years. They were 16 married December 1949, we went to Korea July 17 of 1950, and he was captured by the Chinese in 18 November 1950. 19 So we've been at a string of wars. 20 But I hope everybody just takes a moment -- 21 whether you like to think about war or not, 22 but just think about what's in the resolution. 23 It's what means something to America. Too 24 many of our young children, mine included, 25 don't realize the impact that that war,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 World War II, had on their parents, their 2 grandparents. 3 And when we start to just pass it 4 by as passing a resolution -- it is important. 5 It's important that everybody knows. Nobody 6 was exempt from the casualties. No one was 7 exempt from the hits on it. And it's 8 important because just last Wednesday we had 9 part of the Greatest Generation, I consider, 10 is those young cadets from West Point. Just 11 for information, the group that was here last 12 year, two-thirds of them are in combat in 13 Afghanistan and Iraq today. 14 So think about it. And if you 15 don't know enough to think about it, go to the 16 library and get a book or ask somebody. Or 17 the next time you see something that says the 18 American Legion, the VFW, Jewish War Vets, 19 whatever it might be, go and attend one of 20 their functions and meet some of the people 21 who fought in those wars and made it easy for 22 you and I to sit here today. And just think 23 about how easy we have it. We have it easy. 24 And just remember this. There are 25 1.9 million Americans that have been killed

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 and wounded in combat since World War II. 2 Thank you, Madam President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 4 Huntley. 5 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Yes, Madam 6 President. I just wanted to commend Senator 7 Adams for his resolution. 8 And that's why it's so important 9 that we spend more time and energy when we're 10 here in this chamber, here in Albany, meeting, 11 talking about what we can do for veterans. 12 And like Senator Larkin said, this 13 is the greatest country. And the part that 14 disturbs me the most, that the greatest 15 country does not do enough for our vets. And 16 we are here because they're fighting for us. 17 Many have died. And sometimes we seem, as a 18 body, very unappreciative. And I think we 19 need to read, if we don't know about it. I've 20 read books about the world wars. That's where 21 I got my knowledge from. 22 And I think it's important that we 23 all become a part of that and try to make 24 lives for our vets better. And that's why I'm 25 so concerned about St. Albans Veterans

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Hospital. They deserve better, and we can do 2 that for them. 3 Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 5 Leibell. 6 SENATOR LEIBELL: Thank you, 7 Madam President. 8 It is fitting that we pause for a 9 few moments during today's deliberations to 10 think back on V-E Day and V-J Day. In my age 11 group, it's not uncommon to have gone to 12 school with classmates who had lost their 13 fathers or their older brothers during that 14 conflict. 15 Today we find ourselves in a 16 similar conflict, to the extent that we have 17 hundreds of thousands of young people who are 18 continuing a great tradition in this country 19 of defending freedom around the world. 20 We have been blessed that we have 21 so many people who have been willing to serve 22 our great country. I know my own father told 23 me that on V-E Day in Europe, because there 24 was a war in the Pacific, every unit expected 25 to be sent to the Pacific. And he said to me

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 there was one question we all had in our 2 minds: Would we go through the United States, 3 would we be able to see our families again, or 4 would they send us directly through the Canal 5 and right out to the Pacific? 6 For so many of them, they were 7 transferred out of the Europe at the 8 conclusion of the hostilities there and went 9 directly over to combat in the Pacific. And 10 many -- many lost their lives in that 11 conflict. 12 So it is important that we pause 13 today. We're grateful to Senator Adams for 14 putting forth these resolutions. I hope 15 they'll be open to everybody on the floor to 16 join in sponsorship, because it is so 17 important that this country always remember 18 the events of those difficult times. 19 Thank you, Madam President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 21 Maziarz. 22 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 23 much, Madam President. 24 You know, the previous two 25 resolutions that we did, there was

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 disagreement on both sides of this room. It's 2 great to see something like this. And I thank 3 Senator Adams for bringing it forward. 4 Because, you know, sometimes in 5 history events happen and, you know, many, 6 many, many years later people begin to realize 7 the extent of what all of that meant. When 8 you think about it, World War II, you know, 9 when you think of the book that was written, 10 "The Greatest Generation," and some of the PBS 11 series that are out there, Ken Burns' series 12 on the war, you know, talking about four small 13 towns in America that sent their sons off to 14 war, and more recently in the Pacific, and you 15 think about the young people that just left 16 home -- I was with a group of veterans, a 17 World War II veteran, and he was saying how he 18 had never been more than 20 miles away from 19 his home. The furthest he had ever been 20 from -- he grew up in Lockport was to go to 21 Batavia to pick up apples with his father. 22 And suddenly, within like eight weeks, he 23 found himself over in Europe in areas that he 24 couldn't pronounce, couldn't spell, and had no 25 idea on a map how to find them. But he was

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 there fighting for a cause, and this country 2 came together to do it. 3 And I just want to mention Colonel 4 Larkin, the highest ranking military officer 5 that we have here in the New York State 6 Senate. Senator Padavan thinks he is, and 7 Senator Larkin is such a gentleman that he 8 allows Senator Padavan to think that, even 9 though he's not. 10 (Laughter.) 11 SENATOR MAZIARZ: But this is 12 really a great resolution. It's something 13 that we should all pause to think about. 14 I take part in an organization 15 called Honor Flight. And I would suggest 16 every one of my colleagues, on both sides of 17 the aisle, to go to honorflight.com. This is 18 a national organization that takes World War 19 II vets -- now, mind you, these individuals 20 are in their late 80s, in some cases early 21 90s. And they take these individuals to 22 Washington, D.C., for one day -- Southwest 23 Airlines cooperates with it -- for one day to 24 visit the World War II Memorial in Washington, 25 D.C.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And if you want any information 2 about it, contact my office and we'll show 3 you. It's the best program I've ever done in 4 my public life. And it really honors those 5 individuals who really deserve an honor, 6 because they really preserved freedom. It was 7 their sacrifice that allows us to stand up 8 here and argue about resolutions, about 9 immigration and the MTA, that they allowed us 10 to do that here today. 11 So thank you, Madam President. And 12 again, thank you, Colonel Larkin, the highest 13 ranking military officer here in the New York 14 State Senate. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 16 Little. 17 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Madam 18 President. 19 I would like to join my colleagues 20 today in thanking Senator Adams for putting 21 forth this resolution because it gives us an 22 opportunity to reflect on World War II and on 23 all of those men and women and for the 24 sacrifices that they made, for the lives that 25 were lost but for the freedom that was gained

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 for all of us. 2 Last May, it's about exactly a 3 week -- the same week, a year ago this week, I 4 had the opportunity to visit my son, who is 5 serving in Japan as a naval aviator, and he is 6 on the Atsugi Naval Base. This air base was 7 actually built in 1939 by the Japanese, and it 8 was an air base that the kamikaze pilots and 9 planes trained at. 10 Today it is a pleasure to be able 11 to be there to reflect on what took place 12 there and what has taken place since there, 13 but to see that it is a base that is jointly 14 occupied by the Navy, the American Navy, and 15 the Japanese military as well. And there's 16 such a great working relationship between the 17 two that it shows how far we have come and how 18 much we all appreciate that peaceful 19 relationship. 20 So thank you. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 22 Oppenheimer. 23 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you. 24 I really hadn't thought much about Corregidor 25 and Guadalcanal and names like that, but they

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 were a part of my childhood. As some of you 2 know, my father joined the Army the day after 3 Pearl Harbor. And for the next five and a 4 half years, my sister and I were Army brats, 5 moving every single year to a different place. 6 My father was a colonel in the 7 Judge Advocate General's department. And 8 every battle was discussed in our home, and we 9 followed it very closely. And it was an 10 experience I don't wish on everybody, but I 11 think it was a broadening experience for me 12 personally to have lived in so many different 13 places each year, learning to quickly adjust 14 to a new place, trying to make friends, and 15 feeling very, very close to the war effort. 16 And wherever we went, my mother immediately 17 volunteered for the Red Cross. 18 So even though I was a child, it 19 was a part of our lives and very significant. 20 And there wasn't -- you couldn't believe the 21 joy when V-E Day came and a few months later 22 when V-J Day came. We were just all crying 23 and laughing on the street. We were living in 24 Washington, D.C., at the time. 25 So I thank you for bringing back

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 these remembrances. And please God, we will 2 never have another war like that. 3 Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 5 Farley. 6 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam 7 President. I rise to pay tribute to one of 8 our colleagues that serves here, a Marine who 9 was part of the Greatest Generation, who 10 served in World War II, Senator Owen Johnson. 11 Yeah, O.J. 12 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Thanks for 13 the recognition. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 15 there any other Senators wishing to be heard 16 on this resolution? 17 Seeing none, the question is on the 18 resolution. All those in favor please signify 19 by saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye.") 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 22 Opposed, nay. 23 (No response.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 25 resolution is adopted.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Adams has indicated he 2 would like to open up this resolution for 3 cosponsorship by the entire house. Any 4 Senator not wishing to be on the resolution 5 please notify the desk. 6 Senator Craig Johnson. 7 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Madam 8 President, I believe that Senator Adams has 9 another resolution at the desk. I ask that 10 the title of the resolution be read and move 11 for immediate adoption. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 13 Johnson, has this resolution been deemed 14 privileged and submitted by the office of the 15 Temporary President? 16 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Yes, 17 Madam President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 19 Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Adams, 21 legislative resolution commemorating the 65th 22 Anniversary of Victory in Japan Day. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Are 24 there any Senators wishing to be heard on the 25 resolution?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Seeing none, the question is on the 2 resolution. All those in favor please signify 3 by saying aye. 4 (Response of "Aye.") 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 6 Opposed, nay. 7 (No response.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 9 resolution is adopted. 10 Senator Adams has indicated that he 11 would like to open up this resolution also for 12 cosponsorship by the entire house. Any 13 Senator not wishing to be on the resolution 14 please notify the desk. 15 Senator Johnson. 16 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Madam 17 President, there will be an immediate meeting 18 of the Finance Committee, followed by an 19 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 20 the Majority Conference Room, Room 332. 21 Pending the return of the Rules 22 Committee, can we please stand at east. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: There 24 will be an immediate meeting of the Finance 25 Committee, followed by an immediate meeting of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the Rules Committee in Room 332. 2 Pending the return of the Rules 3 Committee, the Senate will stand at ease. 4 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 5 ease at 6:22 p.m.) 6 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 7 at 6:50 p.m.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 9 Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 11 I believe there's a report of the Rules 12 Committee at the desk. I move that we adopt 13 the Rules Committee report at this time. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: There 15 is a report of the Rules Committee at the 16 desk. 17 The Secretary will read. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith, 19 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 20 following bills: 21 Senate Print 4966, by Senator 22 Oppenheimer, an act to amend the Education 23 Law; 24 And Senate Print 7573A, by Senator 25 Aubertine, an act to amend the Economic

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Development Law. 2 Both bills ordered direct to third 3 reading. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: All 5 those in favor of adopting the Rules Committee 6 report please signify by saying aye. 7 (Response of "Aye.") 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 9 Opposed, nay. 10 (No response.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 12 Rules Committee report is adopted. 13 Senator Klein. 14 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 15 at this time can we please go to a reading of 16 the calendar. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 18 Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 152, by Senator Schneiderman -- 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 22 aside for the day, please. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 24 bill is laid aside for the day. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 278, by Senator Oppenheimer, Senate Print 2 6868A, an act to amend the Tax Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: There 4 is a home-rule message at the desk. 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 12 Oppenheimer, to explain her vote. 13 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: This is 14 not -- I see a lot of hands up, so I think 15 I'll have to give a little explanation here. 16 Because I'm not sure that it is what they 17 think it is. 18 This is one-quarter of 1 percent in 19 the sales tax for White Plains. And what they 20 want to do with that money is to put it into a 21 reserve fund, because they have totally spent 22 down their reserve fund and it has no money in 23 it. And so they feel that they are obligated 24 to put money into a reserve fund in case an 25 emergency occurs. They have totally depleted

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 their fund balance. 2 And this is going to be a 3 stabilization reserve fund, and it's 4 replenishing the deficit in which it now finds 5 itself. So this is as safe as it can be, and 6 it can only used under emergencies. And it's 7 because they have no money in the reserve fund 8 now. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 10 Libous. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you. I 12 rise because Senator Seward just entered the 13 chamber. Thank you, Madam President. 14 (Laughter.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: We saw 16 him, thank you. 17 Announce the results. 18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 32. Nays, 19 29. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 298, by Senator Parker, Senate Print 3601C, an 24 act to amend the Social Services Law. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Read

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: All 8 those voting in the negative, could you please 9 raise your hand again so the Secretary can 10 recognize you. 11 Announce the results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 13 the negative on Calendar Number 298 are 14 Senators Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 15 Flanagan, Golden, Griffo, O. Johnson, Lanza, 16 Larkin, Leibell, Libous, Little, Nozzolio, 17 Ranzenhofer, Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, 18 Winner and Young. 19 Ayes, 41. Nays, 20. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 21 bill is passed. 22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 23 316, by Senator Squadron, Senate Print 5288A, 24 Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and 25 Assembly proposing an amendment to Section 8

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of Article 2 of the Constitution. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: 6 Announce the results. 7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 8 the negative on Calendar Number 316 are 9 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 10 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 11 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 12 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 13 Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, Robach, 14 Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner and 15 Young. 16 Ayes, 32. Nays, 29. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 407, by Senator Klein, Senate Print 4589C, an 21 act to amend the Public Health Law. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 23 aside for the day, please. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 25 bill is laid aside for the day.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 421, by Senator C. Johnson, Senate Print 7366, 3 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 13 bill is passed. 14 Senator Klein, that completes the 15 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 17 can we please go to a reading of the 18 supplemental calendar. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 478, by Senator Oppenheimer, Senate Print 23 4966, an act to amend the Education Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Read 25 the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Call 4 the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 8 bill is passed. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 483, by Senator Aubertine, Senate Print 7573A, 11 an act to amend the Economic Development Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 20. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 20 Stachowski, to explain his vote. 21 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Yes, 22 normally I support every economic development 23 program. But unfortunately, I can't support 24 this one. 25 Currently we have programs that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 total about 900 megawatts of power for 2 economic development, and we have not touched 3 the rural and domestic power. In this bill we 4 take the rural and domestic power and put it 5 into a program that then adds up four programs 6 and totals the same 900 megawatts of power. 7 The problem with this -- you'd say, 8 normally, it's a wash. But the problem is 9 that the residents we're taking the power from 10 are going to have an increase their utility 11 bills. And I recall last year standing on 12 this floor listening to how people couldn't 13 afford to pay for that. And now here we are a 14 year later with a bill that's going to 15 increase it more than the assessment that the 16 Governor put on power last year. 17 And with that in mind, I'm not 18 willing to do that. So -- and I also 19 understand that so far there's not a same-as 20 bill with this. So to put a bill out to set 21 up a negotiating position taking the rural and 22 domestic power is a problem for me. 23 I don't want to see Power for Jobs 24 go out. I think we can still have a Power for 25 Jobs program without taking the rural and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 domestic power. Hopefully we'll come to a 2 better bill by next week and we can get a 3 Power for Jobs program in place. But at this 4 time, because of the way this bill was 5 structured and the speed with which it's 6 passing, I can't support it. I vote no. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 8 Stachowski to be recorded in the negative. 9 Senator Young. 10 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam 11 President. 12 I'm a strong supporter of the Power 13 for Jobs program. And apparently this is not 14 the final version of a Power for Jobs bill. 15 It takes some steps in the right direction, 16 but there are a number of issues that still 17 need to be rectified, especially the impact on 18 residential consumers and farmers. 19 And so I will be supporting this 20 bill, but I would urge people who are working 21 on these issues in this entire chamber to come 22 up with a final bill that really works for 23 everyone. 24 Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Young to be recorded in the affirmative. 2 Senator Little, to explain her 3 bill. 4 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Madam 5 President. 6 I have many, many businesses in my 7 district that rely on Power for Jobs and many 8 companies that are looking for additional 9 Power for Jobs as they invest. So it's 10 important that we do more than extend the 11 Power for Jobs bill, that we do something that 12 adds some longevity to it, as this bill does. 13 But I too, as Senator Young, am 14 concerned about the additional cost to 15 farmers, and I hope that that can be addressed 16 as we go forward. 17 Thank you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 19 Little will be recorded in the affirmative. 20 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his 21 vote. 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I'm 23 going to support the bill because we need to 24 provide some benefits to businesses in this 25 state in order to keep people employed. But

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 as these negotiations go forward, as Senator 2 Stachowski said, this is a stand-alone bill. 3 I just want to remind everybody -- 4 I have brought this to the floor before -- 5 that Power for Jobs should really be primarily 6 for manufacturing and job creation in the 7 private sector. I've got a list of Power for 8 Jobs recipients. Presently they include the 9 American Ballet Theater, the American Cancer 10 Society, the American Folk Art Museum, and I 11 can go on. It gets kind of interesting. The 12 Brooklyn Historical Society. 13 Now, those are all worthwhile, 14 wonderful organizations. And I have 15 historical societies in my district and arts 16 organizations in our district. But I don't 17 really think that's the priority for Power for 18 Jobs. It should be manufacturing, farming, 19 private companies that create private-sector 20 jobs. 21 And I would hope that that would be 22 part of the negotiations, to make sure that 23 that's where that goes, the Power for Jobs 24 goes, especially since we're taking dollars 25 away from the consumer, the private consumer,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in order to put this bill together. 2 Thank you. I vote aye. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 4 DeFrancisco will be recorded in the 5 affirmative. 6 Senator Aubertine, to explain his 7 vote. 8 SENATOR AUBERTINE: Thank you, 9 Madam President. 10 I certainly want to express my 11 appreciation to the chairman of the Energy 12 Committee for acting swiftly on this bill, in 13 light of the fact that the current Power for 14 Jobs program expires May 15th. 15 But in the process of crafting this 16 legislation to replace the existing Power for 17 Jobs program, we traveled across New York 18 State. We held joint roundtables with the 19 Assembly, gathered information from Buffalo, 20 Niagara, Jamestown, Long Island, Kingston, 21 Albany, Oswego, Syracuse, Massena, all across 22 New York State. And because of the process, I 23 believe we've come up with a very good bill 24 that will lead the way for the Power for Jobs 25 program in the very near future.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 But the support that we've 2 garnished from across the state comes from 3 organizations such as MACNY, the Buffalo 4 Niagara Partnership, the Business Council, the 5 Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan 6 Development Association, the National 7 Federation of Independent Business, Consumers 8 for Affordable Sustainable Energy, the Center 9 for Economic Growth, the Plattsburgh-North 10 Country Chamber of Commerce -- and the list 11 goes on and on. 12 And it's clear that the steps that 13 we've taken with this legislation are steps in 14 the right direction and steps that will 15 sustain economic development all across 16 New York State with the Power for Jobs 17 program. 18 And I certainly am supportive of 19 it, and I would encourage my colleagues to be 20 supportive as well. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 22 Aubertine to be recorded in the affirmative. 23 Senator Libous, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Madam

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 President. 2 I'm disappointed that we have to be 3 faced with a decision on this bill on the 4 floor today. And Senator Aubertine, in all 5 due respect, I think this is a political 6 document. Because May 15th -- and put it into 7 the record -- will come and go, and there will 8 be no companion bill in the Assembly. And 9 what will happen here is what's happened in 10 Albany since April 1st: Nothing. And that's 11 the problem. 12 We have a political document here 13 because now, if you vote against this, you're 14 going to be against Power for Jobs. Well, let 15 me tell you something. I visited a company in 16 my district just last Friday, and they depend 17 on Power for Jobs, 290 employees. They want 18 to double their workforce in three years. And 19 they depend on a real bill that's called Power 20 for Jobs. 21 This bill is going to hurt my 22 farmers. It's going to take a credit away 23 from them. And it was said, when I asked the 24 question in committee of Senator Aubertine, he 25 said, "Well, in the bill we're going to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 protect them for a couple of years." And that 2 may be the case, but over the long term 3 they're going to get hurt. 4 I'm disappointed that we put this 5 on the floor today, Madam President. I'm 6 disappointed that there will be no companion 7 to this. And I'm disappointed that we are 8 going to give false hope to all the businesses 9 of this state, as if there is a solution to 10 Power for Jobs. 11 So I'm torn. I don't know if I 12 should vote yes or I should vote no. Because 13 I support Power for jobs, but I don't support 14 this bill. 15 So, Madam President, I'm going to 16 vote no. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 18 Libous will be recorded in the negative. 19 Senator Griffo, to explain his 20 vote. 21 SENATOR GRIFFO: Thank you, Madam 22 President. 23 Yesterday in the Energy Committee I 24 expressed some of my concerns also that this 25 is May 4th, and May 15th is fast approaching.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And much like the budget process that my 2 colleague Senator Libous said, these deadlines 3 seem to come and we're playing brinksmanship 4 with such major and important policies here in 5 the State of New York. 6 There are several bills that are 7 out there right now. There is no Assembly 8 companion. There are really no formal 9 negotiations. There's no reconciliation 10 process where we can communicate through a 11 conference committee to get a result. 12 So if I had to prognosticate, I 13 would think that we're going to see this bill, 14 several other bills -- no movement, where I am 15 hopeful maybe there would be movement, but 16 probably not, and then it would be a mere 17 extender again. So I think that's a 18 disservice, because this is a program that 19 truly needs to be made permanent. 20 And I hope that we can learn and 21 really do better as a result of how we 22 approach this process to get fundamental 23 changes in laws that can benefit the 24 constituents and the businesses that we 25 represent.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I vote yes. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 3 Griffo to be recorded in the affirmative. 4 Senator Maziarz, to explain his 5 vote. 6 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 7 much, Madam President. 8 I just want to keep my comments to 9 the comments that were made earlier about the 10 distribution of the rural and domestic power, 11 the R&D power. It should be noted that, you 12 know, last year in the state budget, by one 13 vote in this house, the 18A assessment was 14 increased on all commercial and residential 15 customers in this state. This legislation 16 actually incrementally decreases that 18A 17 assessment, which should be a wash for most of 18 the residential customers, but a huge, a huge 19 positive for businesses that are located. 20 And, you know, it's already been 21 talked about how important it is for the 22 business climate to have a long-term extension 23 to the Power for Jobs program which already 24 protects tens of thousands of jobs in this 25 state and will protect even more jobs in this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 state. 2 So I vote in the affirmative, Madam 3 President. Thank you. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: Senator 5 Maziarz to be recorded in the affirmative. 6 Is there any other Senator wishing 7 to explain their vote? 8 Announce the results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 10 the negative on Calendar Number 483 are 11 Senators Duane, Libous and Stachowski. 12 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: The 14 bill is passed. 15 Senator Klein, that completes the 16 reading of the supplemental calendar. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 18 is there any further business at the desk? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: No, 20 Senator Klein, there is no further business at 21 the desk. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: There being no 23 further business, Madam President, I move we 24 adjourn until Wednesday, May 5th, at 25 11:00 a.m.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT SAVINO: There 2 being no further business to come before the 3 Senate, on motion, the Senate stands adjourned 4 until Wednesday, May 5th, at 11:00 a.m. 5 (Whereupon, at 7:13 p.m., the 6 Senate adjourned.) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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