Tuesday, May 25, 2010

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 May 25, 2010 11 3:22 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS, 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 STEWART-COUSINS: 3 The Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to rise and 5 recite with me the Pledge of Allegiance to our 6 Flag. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 In the absence of clergy, may we all bow our 11 heads in a moment of silence. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 The reading of the Journal. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 18 Monday, May 24, 2010, the Senate met pursuant 19 to adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, 20 May 23, 2010, was read and approved. On 21 motion, Senate adjourned. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 23 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 24 as read. 25 Presentation of petitions.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Messages from the Assembly. 2 Messages from the Governor. 3 Reports of standing committees. 4 Reports of select committees. 5 Communications and reports from 6 state officers. 7 Motions and resolutions. 8 Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 10 I have a resolution at the desk. I ask that 11 the resolution be read in its entirety and 12 move for its immediate adoption. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 14 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 15 privileged and submitted by the office of the 16 Temporary President? 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 18 Madam President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 The Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Klein, 22 legislative resolution commending Eileen Frey 23 upon the occasion of her designation for 24 special recognition in honor of her unwavering 25 efforts with the Michael Frey Foundation.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 "WHEREAS, It is the custom of this 2 Legislative Body to recognize those 3 individuals of preeminent character whose 4 lives exemplify the highest ideals of humanity 5 and whose lifework and civic endeavor serve to 6 enhance the quality of life in their 7 communities and the great State of New York; 8 and 9 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 10 concern, and in full accord with its 11 long-standing traditions, this Legislative 12 Body is justly proud to commend Eileen Frey 13 upon the occasion of her designation for 14 special recognition in honor of her unwavering 15 efforts with the Michael Frey Foundation; and 16 "WHEREAS, In 1997, Eileen Frey, 17 along with her family, launched the Michael 18 Frey Foundation, named after Eileen's late 19 son, Michael Frey, who died in the line of 20 duty while working as an Eastchester police 21 officer in 1996; and 22 "WHEREAS, A heroic and courageous 23 police officer, Michael Frey worked for the 24 New York City Police Department for 25 approximately three years before transferring

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in 1989 to serve as an officer in his hometown 2 of Eastchester, New York; and 3 "WHEREAS, A woman of incredible 4 fortitude and perseverance, Eileen Frey has 5 made it her life's passion to keep Michael 6 Frey's legacy alive; and 7 "WHEREAS, Almost 14 years later, 8 after the 29-year-old became the town's only 9 police officer to die in the line of duty, 10 hundreds of his fellow officers, as well as 11 friends and relatives, celebrate the life and 12 sacrifice of Officer Michael Frey every year, 13 thanks to the efforts of Eileen Frey and the 14 Michael Frey Foundation; and 15 "WHEREAS, This incredible 16 foundation has raised money for education 17 scholarships for students in Eastchester, 18 Tuckahoe, and Bronxville, including a special 19 scholarship started by Eileen Frey for 20 students who specifically follow her son's 21 footsteps and attend Immaculate Conception 22 School and Archbishop Stepinac High School in 23 White Plains, New York; and 24 "WHEREAS, Eileen Frey and her son 25 Al were also instrumental forces in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 formation of the New Yorkers Against Gun 2 Violence chapter in Eastchester, New York. In 3 addition, she has served as the treasurer of 4 the California Ridge Association; and 5 "WHEREAS, A wonderful son, a 6 devoted police officer, and an inspiring 7 friend, Michael Frey will be forever missed by 8 all those who knew him, but his legacy will 9 long endure the passage of time, thanks to the 10 infinite love of his mother, Eileen Frey; and 11 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 12 Legislative Body that those who enhance the 13 well-being and vitality of their community and 14 have shown a long and sustained commitment to 15 excellence certainly have earned the 16 recognition and applause of all the citizens 17 of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be 18 it 19 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 20 Body pause in its deliberations to commend 21 Eileen Frey upon the occasion of her 22 designation for special recognition in honor 23 of her unwavering efforts with the Michael 24 Frey Foundation; and be it further 25 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 2 to Eileen Frey." 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Senator Klein. 5 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, Madam 6 President. 7 It is truly my honor to have 8 nominated Eileen Frey as my Woman of 9 Distinction in the 34th Senate District. And 10 I have the privilege of recognizing them today 11 in the chamber: Eileen, her husband Al, her 12 son Al, who have done such tremendous work on 13 behalf of their son. 14 One of the great losses in the Town 15 of Eastchester, that I have the privilege of 16 representing, was the loss of Michael Frey. 17 Michael Frey was the only police officer, 18 thank God, that was killed in the line of duty 19 in the Town of Eastchester. It took on sort 20 of a life of its own because of the hard work 21 of Eileen. And I think many of you, 22 especially those in the Lower Hudson Valley, 23 are very familiar with the bump stickers 24 "Thank A Police Officer" in honor of Michael 25 Frey.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I think Eileen's work deserves 2 tremendous recognition. There's very few who 3 would take a terrible tragedy in their life 4 and try to make something positive of it. 5 Eileen's fight against gun violence, Eileen's 6 fight on behalf of her son to provide 7 scholarships to those who follow in the 8 footsteps of her heroic son is something that 9 I wish could be replicated more often. 10 She is someone who I consider one 11 of my personal heroes, because it takes a very 12 special person to put aside personal tragedy 13 and go on and do so much for others. 14 Certainly that's something that I believe we 15 need more of, especially right now in this 16 state. 17 She's someone who fights hard every 18 day, recognizes the problems that police 19 officers have each and every day because of 20 the proliferation of guns in our society, and 21 has done her work in her Town of Eastchester 22 to educate the public to such. 23 So it is my distinct pleasure to 24 honor her today. And I know there's going to 25 be a ceremony later on today, but I did want

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to recognize this very special lady and 2 someone who I consider a dear friend and who's 3 not only a credit to the Town of Eastchester 4 but to all New Yorkers. 5 Let's welcome Eileen Frey, 6 everybody. 7 (Applause.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 9 Thank you, Senator Klein. 10 The question is on the resolution. 11 All those in favor please signify by saying 12 aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Opposed, nay. 16 (No response.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 18 The resolution is adopted. 19 Senator Klein has indicated that he 20 would like to open the resolution up for 21 cosponsorship by the entire house. Any 22 Senator wishing not to be on the resolution 23 please notify the desk. 24 And again, our congratulations to 25 the Freys. Thank you, Eileen.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 3 I believe Senator Sampson has a resolution at 4 the desk. I ask that the resolution be read 5 in its entirety and move for its immediate 6 adoption. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 9 privileged and submitted by the office of the 10 Temporary President? 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 12 Madam President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 16 Sampson, legislative resolution congratulating 17 the 2010 New York State Senate Contemporary 18 Women of Distinction Award honorees to be 19 celebrated May 25, 2010. 20 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 21 Legislative Body to recognize and pay tribute 22 to those women of distinction within the 23 Empire State who have made strong 24 contributions to their communities and who 25 inspire others through their model

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 citizenship; and 2 "WHEREAS, These illustrious women 3 have added vitality, sensitivity and 4 understanding to the diversity and value of 5 the people of the State of New York; and 6 "WHEREAS, This Legislative Body is 7 justly proud to congratulate the 2010 New York 8 State Senate Contemporary Women of Distinction 9 Award honorees to be celebrated at its annual 10 ceremony and reception on Tuesday, May 25, 11 2010; and 12 "WHEREAS, For the past 13 years, 13 the New York State Senate has honored a select 14 group of outstanding women who work to improve 15 the lives of others, subsequently making the 16 world a better place to live. To date, more 17 than 400 women across the state have been 18 awarded this most prestigious accolade; and 19 "WHEREAS, The 2010 Contemporary 20 Women of Distinction are being recognized for 21 their dedication to community, achievements in 22 education, the arts, health and business. 23 They have not only achieved great success on 24 an individual level, but also on a community 25 and social level, strengthening the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 communities of this great Empire State; and 2 "WHEREAS, Historically, great 3 achievements have been made by women of 4 New York, such as Susan B. Anthony, who was a 5 teacher in Hardscrabble, New York, and began 6 her career in social activism in Rochester; 7 Eleanor Roosevelt, born on West 37th Street in 8 New York City, fought for civil rights during 9 her tenure as First Lady; Ella Fitzgerald, who 10 grew up in Yonkers and became a jazz legend; 11 Lucille Ball, born and raised in Chautauqua 12 County, went on to become a legend of the 13 screen; and Harriet Tubman, who did a majority 14 of her work in the women's suffrage movement 15 from her home in Auburn, New York; and 16 "WHEREAS, The 2010 Contemporary 17 Women of Distinction include Aissatou Ndao, 18 Muriel Allerton, JoAnn T. Atlas, Aurelia 19 Greene, Mary Walsh Boatfield, Dolores 20 Patterson Caldwell, Edie Carbone, Linda S. 21 Chiarenza, Mary Carroll Clavin, Susan M. 22 Cohen, Ilene Corina, Corrina Grant, Joy 23 Cousminer, Rachel Lee Davis, Andrea L. DeMeo, 24 Katherine M. Doherty, Alice J. Fiacco, Rena 25 Finkelstein, Eileen Frey, Lisa A. Frisch, Ada

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Grabowski, Ph.D., Dedra Grant-Wade, Cheryl 2 Anne Hall, Helen Ann Henkel, The Honorable 3 Jacqueline Grace Boyce, Catherine McVay 4 Hughes, Dafny Joy Irizarry, Paloma 5 Izquierdo-Hernandez, Janice Emanuel-Bunn, 6 Carrie Kahn, Lynn Kennison, Peggy Liuzzi, 7 Kathy Marchione, Mary-Howell Martens, Kathleen 8 'Katie' Kilcommons McGowan, Anna Marie 9 Lusins-McLachlan, Ann Chambers Meagher, Mimi 10 Pierre Johnson, Mayor Stephanie A. Miner, 11 Margaret B. 'Mardy' Moore, Peg Overdorf, Jodie 12 A. Perry, Jean Phelps, Magaly Polo, Terri 13 Pouymari, Carol Quirk, Chandler M. Ralph, 14 Julie Ratner, M.D., Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, 15 Carol Ruane, Eileen Santiago, Ph.D., Mary 16 Silver, Carol G. Simon, Dee G. Vanenburg, 17 Diane Arneth, Victoria Schneps, Tricia 18 Haggerty Wenz, Helen R. Worth, and Olga Rovt; 19 and 20 "WHEREAS, Each of these exceptional 21 women of singular distinction have continually 22 demonstrated extreme competence, extraordinary 23 intelligence, and diligent leadership in their 24 unwavering service to their communities; and 25 "WHEREAS, It is the custom of this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Legislative Body that those who enhance the 2 well-being and vitality of their community and 3 have shown a long and sustained commitment to 4 excellence certainly have earned the 5 recognition and applause of all the citizens 6 of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be 7 it 8 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 9 Body pause in its deliberations to 10 congratulate the 2010 New York State Senate 11 Contemporary Women of Distinction Award 12 honorees, to be celebrated May 25, 2010; and 13 be it further 14 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 15 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 16 to the 2010 Contemporary Women of Distinction 17 honorees." 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Are there any other Senators wishing to be 20 heard on the resolution? 21 Senator Libous. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, Madam 23 President. 24 This is certainly a very special 25 day in the New York State Senate, Women of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Distinction, and we are going to honor not 2 only here on the floor but later on today a 3 number of very, very dedicated women who have 4 served not only the state but many 5 organizations in a very honorable manner. 6 I just want to also recognize, as 7 Senator Klein did, that Alice Fiacco is in the 8 gallery -- Alice, please stand up, be proud to 9 stand up -- who is my woman of distinction. 10 And she has dedicated her life to the fire 11 service in Broome County. And we'll talk a 12 little bit more about that later today. 13 But I'm just pleased to have Alice 14 here so that we, as all of you, will be 15 honoring each and every very special Woman of 16 Distinction, that I get that opportunity on 17 the floor. 18 So, Alice, congratulations to you. 19 Thank you for what you do in our community. 20 And, Madam President, I look 21 forward to the ceremony later today, which I 22 know you will be very involved in. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 24 Thank you, Senator. 25 Are there any other Senators

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 wishing to speak? 2 Senator Johnson. 3 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank you 4 very much, Madam President. 5 I want to first thank Leader 6 Sampson for his resolution and, like Senator 7 Libous, congratulate all the Women of 8 Distinction who are here today. 9 I wish to congratulate my woman of 10 distinction, Mimi Johnson, who is up in the 11 gallery as well, who has faithfully served the 12 Elmont community in my district, in particular 13 on one very important issue. 14 Last week the Investigations 15 Committee held a very important hearing in 16 Elmont involving the quality of the water in 17 the Elmont-Franklin Square area. And it was 18 through the leadership activities of Mimi 19 Johnson, who brought this issue to my 20 attention, who has been fighting the fight to 21 ensure that the residents of Elmont get a very 22 basic service from the Western Nassau Water 23 Authority, and that's clean water, drinkable 24 water. 25 And so for her actions on that one

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 issue as well as other issues, and her civic 2 activity, I want to congratulate Mimi Johnson 3 for being here and for being the Woman of 4 Distinction for the Seventh Senatorial 5 District. 6 So again, I thank Leader Sampson 7 and I join in the resolution. Thank you very 8 much. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Thank you, Senator. 11 Senator Larkin. 12 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, Madam 13 President. 14 You know, when we look about Women 15 of Distinction, you don't look at age, you 16 look at accomplishments. My Woman of 17 Distinction, Patricia Haggerty Wenz, had one 18 of the most startling beginnings. She married 19 a young man who was to be a coach at West 20 Point. They turned the sport of lacrosse 21 around. 22 All of a sudden, before the 23 championship game, he wanted to show the 24 cadets about the three things that they know 25 best: Duty, honor and country. And in doing

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that, he raced to the top of Michie Stadium 2 and he raced down. As he hit the bottom step, 3 he fell over and died. 4 A young lady, two children, what 5 was she going to do with herself? Brand-new 6 to the area. But she stood up and said, Hey, 7 I've got to move on. I have these children. 8 And a lot of the women that are here today -- 9 and some of ours in the Legislature -- have 10 been confronted with this. 11 So she said, What can I do? She 12 started out and look at people who were less 13 fortunate. She said, Yes, I've lost my 14 husband, my children have lost their dad, but 15 I have to move forward and do something. 16 She started an outfit that's called 17 Safe Harbors. It's in the City of Newburgh. 18 You've read about the City of Newburgh lately. 19 Sometimes Yonkers is all in the same path, 20 Madam President. 21 So she started going around America 22 and finding out, how do you do this, how do 23 you bring people together who are separated? 24 She started this Safe Harbors. It brought in 25 people that have been drug addicts, drunks,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you know, prostitutes, whatnot. And now she 2 has a Hotel Newburgh that Lucille Ball -- I 3 saw it in one of the articles that Lucille 4 Ball's first real performance was in the Ritz 5 Theater in Newburgh. And this lady said, If 6 Lucille Ball can do it, we can. 7 I was there Saturday night for 8 their annual ball, and everybody was saying 9 something -- as a matter of fact, she's on her 10 way here, but she's got a flat tire. 11 But the point about it is is she 12 took these people in from all walks of life. 13 She has them working, training, school, just 14 opened up a couple of lofts so artists from 15 the city can come up and do it and teach 16 others and still can turn what they want to 17 do. 18 This is a young lady that has shown 19 that she is a lady of distinction because of 20 her commitment to others. And we are a proud 21 community because Patricia Haggerty Wenz is 22 with us. And many of us who had the 23 opportunity to meet her first husband 24 understand what she said, he was a man for all 25 reasons. So is she.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Thank you, Madam President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Thank you, Senator. 4 Senator Ranzenhofer. 5 SENATOR RANZENHOFER: Thank you, 6 Madam President. 7 I'd also like to rise and join my 8 colleagues. And you can just hear from the 9 comments that have been made by the other 10 Senators how proud they are, each and every 11 one of them, of the woman that they have 12 nominated for Woman of Distinction. 13 This is the second opportunity I've 14 had to do this, and I'm very proud today to 15 have Carrie Kahn with us as the Woman of 16 Distinction for the 61st District. Carrie 17 Kahn has been very active in workforce 18 development. She is viewed as one of the 19 leaders in our community for workforce 20 development, workforce training, has brought 21 in a lot of money to help displaced workers 22 and other people in need of training getting 23 back into the workforce. 24 In addition to that, she also 25 volunteers as a member of the school board.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 She decided to get more involved in the 2 community a few years ago and ran for the 3 school board in order to help our 4 Williamsville Central School District move 5 through the challenges that we are facing. 6 And just last week, she was reelected for her 7 second term with the highest number of votes. 8 So she is a dedicated mother and 9 wife, very active in our community on the 10 school board, and just does a tremendous 11 amount for our community. I'm very proud to 12 have her as a Woman of Distinction and join 13 with my fellow Senators in just saying how 14 proud I am and pleased that she could join us 15 here today among many, many great Women of 16 Distinction in the chambers. 17 Thank you, Madam President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Thank you, Senator. 20 Are there any other Senators 21 wishing to speak on the resolution? 22 I certainly, before taking the 23 vote, want to acknowledge my Woman of 24 Distinction, Helen Henkel, who we will hear 25 more about, along with all of the other women

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 later today. 2 So the question is on the 3 resolution. All those in favor of its 4 adoption signify by saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 The resolution is adopted. 11 Senator Sampson has indicated that 12 he would like to open the resolution up for 13 cosponsorship by the entire house. Any 14 Senator wishing to not be on the resolution 15 please notify the desk. 16 Senator Klein. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 18 I believe Senator Winner has a resolution at 19 the desk. I ask that the title of the 20 resolution be read and move for its immediate 21 adoption. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 23 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 24 privileged and submitted by the office of 25 Temporary President?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 2 Madam President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 The Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 6 Winner, legislative resolution honoring 7 Desiree Miller, of Corning, New York, upon the 8 occasion of being crowned Miss New York State 9 Teenager. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator Winner. 12 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you, Madam 13 President. 14 It's my distinct honor to be able 15 to be here to present this resolution in honor 16 of a fine young lady from my district who is a 17 Young Woman of Distinction. And she is 18 Desiree Miller, who has been crowned Miss 19 New York State Teenager, and she's here in the 20 chamber today, and she's joined by her mother, 21 Crystal McCannon, and her advisor and pageant 22 director, Dick Gillespie. 23 And so if you could give some 24 recognition to Desiree Miller and congratulate 25 her on her honor and wish her all the best in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 her endeavors from a great part of the state. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Congratulations, Miss New York State Teenager. 4 (Applause.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Thank you, Senator Winner. 7 Are there any other Senators who 8 wish to be heard on this 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 STEWART-COUSINS: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 17 The resolution is adopted. 18 Senator Winner has indicated that 19 he would like to open the resolution up for 20 cosponsorship by the entire house. Any 21 Senator wishing not to be on the resolution 22 please notify the desk. 23 And again, congratulations to our 24 wonderful honoree. 25 Senator Klein.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 2 I believe Senator Stachowski has a resolution 3 at the desk. I ask that the title of the 4 resolution be read and move for its immediate 5 adoption. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 8 privileged and submitted by the office of the 9 Temporary President? 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 11 Madam President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 13 The Secretary will read. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 By Senator Stachowski, Legislative Resolution 16 5477, commending Peg Overdorf upon the 17 occasion of her designation as a 2010 18 Contemporary Woman of Distinction on May 25, 19 2010. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Senator Stachowski. 22 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Just 23 briefly. As Senator Sampson's resolution 24 spoke about all the ladies, Women of 25 Distinction, and Senator Klein did one on his

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 person, I had requested that mine get also 2 separated. 3 Peg Overdorf has been a community 4 activist for years. She runs a place called 5 the Valley Community Center in an old 6 neighborhood in South Buffalo which is a lower 7 economic strata. And it started out as a 8 storefront and now has two daycare centers, a 9 senior center and a community center. 10 She has an educational program that 11 after about six years got their first student 12 that was struggling in school that got 13 accepted to an Ivy League school. So she does 14 a marvelous job with that. She helps people 15 get job placement. She helps people with 16 resumes. She gets seniors transportation and 17 food pantry accessibility. 18 So Peg Overdorf just about does it 19 all in her community. She also is currently 20 the main driving force between a new park 21 being built on the Buffalo River, which is 22 going to be of great use to the people in that 23 community also. 24 So Peg, through her career, has 25 done so many wonderful things for so many

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 people that she easily qualifies as the person 2 from my district that's this year's Woman of 3 Distinction, and I just wanted to say a few 4 words about her on the floor of the Senate. 5 Thank you. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Thank you, Senator. 8 Are there any other Senators 9 wishing to speak on the resolution? 10 Hearing none, the question is on 11 the resolution. All those in favor please 12 signify by saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Opposed, nay. 16 (No response.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 18 The resolution is adopted. 19 Senator Klein. 20 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 21 at this time I move to recall Senate 22 Resolution Number 5187, by Senator Diaz, which 23 was previously adopted on May 12th. I ask 24 that the resolution be read in its entirety 25 and allow Senator Diaz to speak on his said

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 resolution. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Diaz, 5 Legislative Resolution Number 5187, honoring 6 Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez upon the occasion of 7 her designation as recipient of the 2010 Woman 8 of Distinction Award. 9 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this 10 Legislative Body to publicly recognize those 11 extraordinary individuals who have made 12 contributions to the success and progress of 13 society in the course of their life's work; 14 and 15 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 16 concern, and in full accord with its 17 long-standing traditions, this Legislative 18 Body is justly proud to honor Lillian 19 Rodriguez-Lopez upon the occasion of her 20 designation as recipient of the 2010 Woman of 21 Distinction Award; and 22 "WHEREAS, Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez 23 serves as president of the Hispanic 24 Federation, a nonprofit membership 25 organization serving more than 90 Latino

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 health and human service agencies in New York, 2 New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. She 3 first joined the federation in 1996 as vice 4 president, and under her leadership, the 5 association has dramatically increased its 6 organizational capacity to serve an 7 ever-increasing network of member agencies and 8 respond to the Latino community's needs 9 locally and nationally; and 10 "WHEREAS, Prior to joining the 11 Hispanic Federation, Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez 12 was employed at the New York City Health and 13 Hospitals Corporation, a public benefit 14 corporation which oversees the city's 15 healthcare system. She served in several 16 capacities, including executive assistant to 17 the chairman of the board of directors; and 18 "WHEREAS, Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez 19 is currently chair of New Yorkers for Smaller 20 Classes and co-chair of Broadband Everywhere. 21 In addition, she serves as a member of the 22 Citizens Union, the Wachovia Bank Community 23 Board, and the Manhattan Borough President 24 Community Board Reform Committee. She is a 25 true asset to society; and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 "WHEREAS, A great community is only 2 as great as those persons who provide 3 exemplary service, whether through 4 participation in voluntary programs, through 5 unique personal achievement in their 6 profession or other endeavors, or simply 7 through a lifetime of good citizenry; and 8 "WHEREAS, It is the custom of this 9 Legislative Body that those who enhance the 10 well-being and vitality of their community and 11 have shown a long and sustained commitment to 12 excellence certainly have earned the 13 recognition and applause of all the citizens 14 of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be 15 it 16 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 17 Body pause in its deliberations to honor 18 Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez upon the occasion of 19 her designation as recipient of the 2010 Woman 20 of Distinction Award; and be it further 21 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 22 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 23 to Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez." 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Senator Diaz.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam 2 President. 3 Today is one of those days that 4 makes it more important than others. Today we 5 are celebrating the Women of Distinction, the 6 2010 Women of Distinction. And there are many 7 of them that are being honored today, but I'm 8 taking pride in that today I am designating a 9 Woman of Distinction, a wonderful woman, a 10 marvelous woman, a woman that all men and 11 women have to be very careful because she is 12 one of those women that takes over. And she 13 needs no directions, she goes. 14 And every time, Madam President and 15 ladies and gentlemen, every time that we have 16 a catastrophe in one of our countries, it is 17 Lillian Rodriguez and the Hispanic Federation 18 that takes command, that takes action, and 19 that coordinates every effort and puts 20 everybody together to help other countries. 21 Lillian Rodriguez is here today 22 with her mother, Maria Rodriguez. And you 23 know, the Rodriguez last name in Puerto Rico 24 is one of the more common -- Diaz, Rodriguez, 25 Martinez, Rivera. But Lillian Rodriguez, I am

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 very proud and honored today to designate 2 Ms. Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez as a 2010 Woman of 3 Distinction. 4 And we just heard, Madam President 5 and ladies and gentlemen, we just heard in the 6 resolution Ms. Rodriguez-Lopez can be 7 justifiably proud of her many accomplishments. 8 Some of her many professional accomplishments 9 have been the New York City Health and 10 Hospitals Corporation. And as president of 11 the Hispanic Federation, through its 12 outstanding volunteer service, 13 Ms. Rodriguez-Lopez is truly a pillar of the 14 community and someone who I am happy to call 15 my friend. 16 She runs an organization, the best 17 organization in New York City. Run by a lady, 18 by a woman. Run by that person that I'm 19 honored today to present to you, the Hispanic 20 Federation. Go out -- if you don't ever heard 21 about the Hispanic Federation, go to your 22 website, go ask for it. And you will find the 23 reputation -- the honesty, the integrity, the 24 work that the Hispanic Federation is doing 25 under the direction of Lillian

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Rodriguez-Lopez. 2 Madam President and ladies and 3 gentlemen, Ms. Lillian Rodriguez has served 4 not only the Latino community but the entire 5 community -- indeed, the entire community with 6 her dedication, expertise and vision. That is 7 why she is so deserving of this award. 8 Lillian Lopez is a Hispanic woman. 9 Lillian Lopez is not only a Hispanic woman, 10 she's a leader. Every Hispanic elected 11 official, when they are called by the Hispanic 12 Federation and Lillian Lopez, we run. 13 Because -- we run. She is the one that puts 14 everybody together. And she is the one that 15 even the President of the United States, when 16 they invite leaders of our community, the 17 first one that gets invited is Lillian 18 Rodriguez-Lopez. 19 I'm so honored, I'm so pleased 20 today to be able to nominate and to be the one 21 that presents to you Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez. 22 Thank you, Madam President, ladies 23 and gentlemen, thank you for your time. And 24 thank you, Madam President, for this 25 opportunity.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 2 Thank you, Senator. 3 Are there any other Senators 4 wishing to be heard on the resolution? 5 Senator Huntley. 6 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Thank you, 7 Madam President. 8 I just want to thank the leader for 9 this evening, for Women of Distinction. I 10 think it's something that really brings all 11 our people around us so we can show the 12 appreciation that we have for them. 13 I want to welcome my person who 14 just arrived, Dr. Jean Phelps. I want to 15 welcome her. And I'm going to save the best 16 about Dr. Phelps for later, when we give out 17 the awards. 18 And I would also at this time like 19 to welcome Jacqueline Boyce, on behalf of 20 Senator Smith, who is not on the premises, and 21 he asked me if I would welcome her also. And 22 later on this evening we will talk more about 23 them. 24 Thank you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Thank you, Senator Huntley. 2 The previous resolution had been 3 adopted on May 12th. 4 And so again, our congratulations 5 to the honoree, and we will see you all this 6 evening at 5:30. 7 Senator Klein. 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 9 on behalf of Senator Diaz, can we please place 10 a sponsor's star on Calendar Number 588. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 So ordered. 13 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 14 are there any substitutions at the desk? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 There are substitutions at the desk, Senator 17 Klein. 18 The Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: On page number 20 21, Senator Farley moves to discharge, from 21 the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and 22 Corrections, Assembly Bill Number 9826 and 23 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 24 Number 6765, Third Reading Calendar 287. 25 On page 23, Senator Young moves to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 discharge, from the Committee on Crime 2 Victims, Crime and Corrections, Assembly Bill 3 Number 10233 and substitute it for the 4 identical Senate Bill Number 6658, Third 5 Reading Calendar 349. 6 On page number 28, Senator Sampson 7 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 8 Elections, Assembly Bill Number 10681B and 9 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 10 Number 7466B, Third Reading Calendar 439. 11 On page number 35, Senator Parker 12 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 13 Housing, Construction and Community 14 Development, Assembly Bill Number 1401 and 15 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 16 Number 6916, Third Reading Calendar 544. 17 And on page number 36, Senator Diaz 18 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 19 Aging, Assembly Bill Number 9838 and 20 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 21 Number 7647, Third Reading Calendar 551. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 23 Substitutions so ordered. 24 Senator Klein. 25 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 can we return to the reports of standing 2 committees. I believe there's a report of the 3 Finance Committee at the desk. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 5 Returning to the reports of standing 6 committees, there is a report of the Finance 7 Committee at the desk. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Senator C. 10 Kruger, from the Committee on Finance, reports 11 the following nomination. 12 As a member of the Metropolitan 13 Transportation Authority, Patrick J. Foye, of 14 Sandspoint. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Senator C. Kruger. 17 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Thank you, 18 Madam President. Can we please move that 19 nomination. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 21 Are there any Senators that wish to be heard 22 on the nomination? 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 24 President, I'm sorry, which nomination are we 25 on?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 2 This is the nomination of Patrick Foye for the 3 MTA. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I'd like to 5 be heard. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Fuschillo. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 9 Madam President. 10 I just want to thank Mr. Foye for 11 his opportunity to serve this great state. 12 You know, this is a challenging 13 position, being a member of the MTA board at a 14 time where they're facing drastic cuts, less 15 coverage for the commuters, reduction of 16 services, and an increase in fees. I asked 17 Mr. Foye to use his experience in both the 18 public and private sector, to be not only 19 concerned about the service but obviously the 20 fees that are charged to our consumers. 21 Once again, I thank him for his 22 service to the State of New York, and I wish 23 him well. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Thank you, Senator Fuschillo.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator C. Johnson. 2 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank you 3 very much, Madam President. I rise to also 4 second the nomination of Patrick J. Foye to 5 the MTA board. 6 We are in a very critical time, as 7 all of you are aware, with respect to the MTA. 8 And the MTA doesn't just limit its confines to 9 the five boroughs but goes to the 12-county 10 region surrounding it. And for a while now, 11 Nassau County has been without a voice on the 12 MTA board. 13 I can think of no better individual 14 to serve as the representative from Nassau 15 County than Pat Foye. I've known Pat for a 16 number of years. He happens to be a 17 constituent. More significantly, he happens 18 to be a friend. 19 His service to the state has been 20 stellar. And now he not only is going to be 21 serving on the MTA board, but he's now giving 22 back to his county, where he serves as the 23 deputy county executive focusing on economic 24 development -- which obviously, given these 25 very difficult economic times, is certainly a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 challenge, just like the challenge to serve on 2 the MTA board. 3 But don't just take it from me, 4 take it from the various groups and 5 organizations that Pat dedicates his time 6 to -- his very limited spare time -- in 7 volunteer efforts. Just last week I happened 8 to be in the audience when he was honored by 9 the Catholic Charities and heard about the 10 fine words from Bishop Murphy, who spoke 11 glowingly of the work that Pat has done for 12 Catholic Charities and for Nassau County. 13 So I congratulate him. My 14 condolences to his wife, Suzanne, to lose him 15 for another board opportunity; his daughters, 16 Caitlin and Heather and Olivia. 17 And, Pat, I congratulate you. You 18 have a lot of work ahead of you. And so I 19 wish you the best of luck and Godspeed. 20 Thank you very much. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Thank you, Senator. 23 Senator Bonacic. 24 SENATOR BONACIC: I'll be brief. 25 Hard decisions have to be made by

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 those on the board with the MTA. We had 2 chances to interact with Patrick when he 3 served with Governor Spitzer as the economic 4 development chief. He's a man that I consider 5 a fiscal expert. He knows how to analyze, 6 make tough business decisions. 7 We wish him well, and we're glad 8 that he's allowed his name to be put in 9 nomination for this challenging position. We 10 wish him and his family well. 11 Thank you, Madam Chair. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 13 Thank you, Senator. 14 Senator Marcellino. 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 16 Madam President. 17 In spite of what I just heard about 18 Patrick's friendship with Senator Johnson, I 19 intend to support and I will maintain my 20 support for Pat Foye. 21 At our confirmation during the 22 Finance Committee meeting, I had asked Pat to 23 look into the suspension of the Able-Ride 24 system on Long Island, which assists the 25 elderly and the handicapped. That is a system

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that has been suspended by the current 2 administration of the MTA, and we think that 3 was a mistake. We think the savings are 4 minimal and that they can be found in other 5 areas. 6 And I've asked Pat and he's agreed 7 to look into that and see if we can keep the 8 Able-Ride system going, because it's an 9 absolute necessity on Long Island for the 10 people it serves. 11 So, Pat, I wish you well. It's not 12 an easy job you're taking on, but I know 13 you're going to do it and do it well. So 14 congratulations, and God bless. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Are there any other Senators that wish to be 17 heard on the nomination? 18 Senator O. Johnson. 19 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Yes, I'd 20 like to join and, shall I say, celebrate the 21 appointment of Pat Foye to the MTA. 22 We've known him on Long Island. 23 He's done many public service positions and 24 has always been a man you can count upon to 25 listen to you and do the right thing.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So, Pat, we're glad to have you 2 there, and thank you very much for accepting. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Thank you, Senator. 5 Are there any other Senators 6 wishing to be heard on the nomination? 7 The question is on the motion to 8 confirm the nomination of Patrick J. Foye as a 9 member of the Metropolitan Transportation 10 Authority. All those in favor please signify 11 by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 14 Opposed, nay. 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 17 The motion carries. The nomination is 18 confirmed. 19 Congratulations to Mr. Foye. 20 (Applause.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 The Secretary will continue to read. 23 THE SECRETARY: As members of the 24 Small Business Advisory Board, Doreen Frasca, 25 of New York City; Michael J. Garner, of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 New York City; and Lisa Quiroz, of New York 2 City. 3 As members of the State Board for 4 Historic Preservation, Michael J. Devonshire, 5 of Brooklyn, and Paul M. Stewart, of Albany. 6 As members of the Taconic State 7 Park, Recreation and Historic Preservation 8 Commission, Frederick H. Osborn, III, of 9 Garrison, and Lucy R. Waletzky, M.D., of 10 Pleasantville. 11 As members of the State Council on 12 the Arts, Jill Erika Braufman, of New York 13 City; Laudelina Martinez, of Albany; John 14 Morning, of New York City; and Hal D. Payne, 15 of Buffalo. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 17 Senator Kruger. 18 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Thank you, 19 Madam President. Can we please move on these 20 nominations. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Are there any other Senators wishing to be 23 heard on the motion to confirm the 24 nominations? 25 The question is on the motion to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 confirm the nominations. All those in favor 2 please signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (No response.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 The motion carries. The nominations are 9 confirmed. 10 Senator Klein. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 12 at this time can we please go to a reading of 13 the calendar. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 The Secretary will read. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 387, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 5870, 18 an act in relation to authorizing. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 There is a home-rule message at the desk. 21 Read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Call the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Announce the results. 4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 The bill is passed. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 420, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 5140, 9 an act to authorize the Wantagh Memorial 10 Congregational Church to file an application. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Announce the results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays, 21 1. Senator Bonacic to be recorded in the 22 negative. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 24 The bill is passed. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 479, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 3499A, 2 an act to amend the Insurance Law. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Announce the results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 14 The bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 480, by Senator Breslin -- 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 18 aside for the day. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 The bill is laid aside for the day. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 510, by Senator Stavisky, Senate Print 1742A, 23 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Read the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 2 act shall take effect immediately. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Announce the results. 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays, 9 1. Senator Ranzenhofer to be recorded in the 10 negative. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 The bill is passed. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 512, by Assemblyman V. Lopez, Assembly Print 15 2364, an act to amend the Private Housing 16 Finance Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Announce the results.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 The bill is passed. 4 Senator Klein, that completes the 5 reading of the calendar. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 7 at this time can we please go to a reading of 8 the supplemental active list. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 The Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 514, by Senator Serrano, Senate Print 7776A, 13 an act in relation to requiring the Office of 14 Parks. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Read the last section. 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: Lay it aside. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 The bill is laid aside. 20 Senator Klein, that completes the 21 reading of the noncontroversial supplemental 22 calendar. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President, 24 at this time can we please go to a reading of 25 the controversial supplemental active list.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 2 The Secretary will please ring the bell. 3 Members are all asked to come to 4 the chamber for the reading of the 5 controversial supplemental active list. 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 514, by Senator Serrano, Senate Print 7776A, 9 an act in relation to requiring the Office of 10 Parks. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 12 Senator Flanagan, on the bill. 13 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 14 Madam President. Would Senator Serrano yield 15 to a couple of questions? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 17 Senator Serrano, do you yield? 18 SENATOR SERRANO: Absolutely. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 Senator Serrano yields, Senator Flanagan. 21 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you. 22 Senator Serrano, I was looking at 23 this bill not only in its specificity but in 24 context of some of the things that are going 25 on or not going on.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So the first question is, is there 2 an appropriation in this bill? 3 SENATOR SERRANO: Madam 4 President, through you. Senator Flanagan, 5 there is not an appropriation, because in 6 every week's extender bill there is an 7 appropriation for all state agencies, 8 including Parks. 9 The indication from the Office of 10 Parks, through Commissioner Ash, is that the 11 funding that's included in those extenders is 12 sufficient for them to maintain the operation 13 levels as they have up until this time. And 14 it would allow them to move forward with the 15 park operations as they pertain to getting 16 ready for the summer season, hiring 17 lifeguards, getting the parks open. 18 Right now we are in danger of 19 having our parks not open for Memorial Day, 20 and this will give us the opportunity to do 21 that. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 23 Excuse me, Senator. 24 May we have order in the chamber, 25 please.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator. 2 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Madam 3 President, would Senator Serrano continue to 4 yield. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 6 Senator Serrano, do you continue to yield? 7 SENATOR SERRANO: Yes. 8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Senator 9 Serrano, I'm trying to listen very carefully. 10 And you may have opened the door on something 11 that could be enlightening, in that you're 12 saying that there's general appropriation 13 authority in each extender bill, and you as 14 chair of the committee have had ongoing 15 discussions with Commissioner Ash and Parks 16 representatives and there appears to be some 17 fungibility in those funds. 18 So my basic question, then, is if 19 they felt they could do this, why the heck are 20 they closing the parks? Why are we going 21 through this rain dance, or this song and 22 dance on something that it appears could be 23 fixed administratively? 24 SENATOR SERRANO: Through you, 25 Madam President. Senator Flanagan, excuse me

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 if I wasn't clear in my response. 2 The bill that we have in front of 3 us will give, in language, the authorization 4 for the Office of Parks to move forward with 5 getting ready for the summer season. 6 Currently, they're not able to do that in each 7 extender because the language is for very 8 bare-bones operations at state agencies. 9 And then so what I'm saying is that 10 the funding that exists within each of the 11 extenders, if they had authorization, they 12 could use those funds to continue funding 13 parks or operating parks at previous budget 14 levels. 15 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Madam 16 President, would Senator Serrano continue to 17 yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Serrano, do you continue to yield? 20 SENATOR SERRANO: Yes. 21 SENATOR FLANAGAN: If I follow 22 that logic, then it would seem to me that we 23 could have bills on the floor for education, 24 for healthcare, for transportation, things 25 that we've argued about here before that we've

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 offered amendments on which you and your 2 colleagues have voted against. 3 So your argument is that we need 4 this specific bill to give Parks the authority 5 to spend at last year's level, but with no 6 appropriation. 7 SENATOR SERRANO: Madam 8 President, through you. Senator Flanagan, the 9 indication that I've been given is that no 10 additional appropriation is needed and that 11 the money that is included in the bare-bones 12 extenders is sufficient enough for the 13 operations to sort of bridge until we get a 14 final budget in place. 15 And to -- and, I'm sorry, through 16 you, Madam President, to answer your other 17 concerns, the issue of parks, as chair of the 18 Committee on Parks, and seeing the broad 19 bipartisan support that we've had on this 20 issue, Senator, we've seen both sides of the 21 aisle agree on the notion of saving parks; 22 we've seen actually both houses here in the 23 Legislature agree on this as well. 24 I can't speak to any of the other 25 parts of this budget. My only concern at this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 moment is parks. And I'm trying to do 2 anything that I can, in my power, to try to 3 find a way to keep the parks open. 4 Of course, what is most optimal is 5 to have a budget in place that closes the gap 6 that prevents any closure of parks. Until we 7 reach that point, this bill will act as a 8 bridge to at least give Parks the authority to 9 move forward with their operations in a way 10 that hopefully we won't lose the entire summer 11 season. 12 Because, Senator, as you know, the 13 parks provide a tremendous economic benefit to 14 our state. Every dollar that's invested in 15 parks reaps $5 in revenue. And they provide 16 tremendous recreational opportunities and 17 outlets for our community. In a recession, we 18 need our state parks more than ever. 19 So while I understand your concern 20 about why this isn't happening at other levels 21 and in other areas, I can't stress enough how 22 important it is that we keep these state parks 23 open, and both sides of the aisle agree on 24 this. 25 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Serrano. 2 Madam President, on the bill. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 On the bill. 5 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you. 6 I appreciate the comments of the 7 sponsor. And I'm going to make a clear 8 distinction. I believe Senator Serrano to be 9 a thoughtful legislator, sincere in his 10 approach, genuine in his effort to try and 11 address this issue. He is a gentleman in 12 every respect, and I appreciate that very 13 much. 14 To the bill itself, I think this 15 bill is a great example of why Albany is so 16 messed up -- right at this juncture, before, 17 and probably prospectively for a little bit of 18 time. 19 Senator Serrano is correct, the 20 failure is in not having a budget on time, 21 which could have and should have been done by 22 April 1st. There is no reason, no legitimate 23 reason why a budget could not have been done. 24 We have had eight extenders, we've had a lot 25 of emergency appropriation bills that frankly

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 we didn't need. There should have been open 2 debate, open dialogue. 3 There was an amendment offered 4 yesterday which would have rectified this 5 problem and done so in what I believe would 6 have been a more appropriate fashion, but the 7 majority voted it down. 8 So now we have a bill before us 9 that doesn't have an appropriation. And when 10 we've had these discussions before, Senator 11 Klein has gotten up and said that we are 12 offering amendments that he believes to be 13 either non-germane or unconstitutional because 14 we can't add items of appropriation. 15 And in essence, that's exactly what 16 we're doing with this bill, even though it's 17 not specified that way. We're saying that 18 they can spend at last year's level, which 19 means in essence we are changing the 20 Governor's budget as it was presented to us. 21 If there were going to be a legal problem -- 22 and not that I necessarily agree with the 23 approach that Senator Klein has taken, but we 24 have to be consistent. 25 So we don't have an appropriation.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 We certainly don't have an agreement. And 2 even though everyone appears to be in support 3 of the parks, I'm looking at a list of 81 4 closures; there's only a couple in the City of 5 New York. Most of them are scattered around 6 the state. I have a couple in my own district 7 where people are calling all the time. We all 8 get the same kind of calls. And it's frankly 9 embarrassing that we even have to have a piece 10 of legislation like this before us. 11 Again, I'll distinguish between the 12 sponsor and what is going on in relation to 13 this issue and the budget. But perhaps the 14 most disconcerting part to me is listening to 15 how this gets explained. 16 I'm trying to think, how do I go 17 back now to the people that I represent -- or, 18 for that matter, any one of us -- and say, you 19 know, we actually did a bill, we didn't really 20 put any money behind the bill, but we did a 21 bill so that we could try and keep the parks 22 open, and we found out during that discussion 23 that while we do these extenders there's a 24 slush fund for the Parks Department that they 25 are not utilizing properly.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So when I hear about their 2 opportunity to potentially keep the parks 3 open, I say to myself is this a failure in 4 leadership, is it a failure in management, is 5 it a failure to follow through, or is this 6 just a quintessential high-stakes game of 7 chicken hanging the issue of parks over 8 everybody's head? 9 It's an abysmal failure that we're 10 approaching Memorial Day and we're having a 11 discussion about whether or not state parks 12 should be open. That's absolutely absurd, 13 it's ridiculous, and it's not the way things 14 should be done. 15 Everybody should be in agreement. 16 The Governor -- if people are of goodwill, we 17 should have had this in an extender. But we 18 don't. This is aiming at the target and 19 shooting this way and shooting that way. 20 We're not hitting the bull's-eye. And that 21 ill serves the people of this state. 22 Having said all that, I join your 23 effort, and I am going to vote in favor of 24 this even though I have disdain for how we're 25 moving this ship forward, if you will. We

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 need to do a lot better. And frankly, the 2 taxpayers deserve a lot better than they're 3 getting, not only in relation to the budget 4 but specifically as it relates to parks. 5 Thank you. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Thank you, Senator Flanagan. 8 Senator Serrano. 9 SENATOR SERRANO: On the bill. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator Serrano, on the bill. 12 SENATOR SERRANO: And I 13 appreciate your comments, Senator Flanagan, 14 and I return the comment to you, Senator. You 15 are a gentleman and a friend. And I 16 appreciate your remarks. 17 I obviously feel a bit different 18 than you about this bill. Yes, I'm concerned 19 about where we are as far as a budget is 20 concerned. But I obviously feel a bit more 21 upbeat about the notion of the bipartisan 22 support that we've had on this bill. 23 I think that it's a relatively -- 24 when you look at the entire scope of our state 25 budget, it is a relatively small amount of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 money that will do so much to save state 2 parks. We're not talking about an enormous 3 amount of money, we're talking about a 4 relatively small amount that will prepare our 5 parks for the summer season and get us there. 6 Yes, I agree, there is a lot of 7 different things that we could be doing 8 better. But we shouldn't cut off our nose to 9 spite our faces. If there's a way that we can 10 try to find to try to get these parks to 11 remain open -- and I look at this letter that 12 I sent to the Governor that is a completely 13 bipartisan letter, with Republicans and 14 Democrats from this chamber. When we think 15 about the press conference that we had earlier 16 in the budget season, which had not only 17 Democrats and Republicans from this house but 18 from the Assembly as well -- a very rare feat 19 in Albany standards -- I can't help but think 20 that here's an example of legislators working 21 together. 22 I really think that we owe it to 23 the people of the State of New York to leave 24 no stone unturned to try to find a way to keep 25 our parks open. You indicated -- Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Flanagan indicated in his remarks, Madam 2 President, that the brunt of the burden of 3 these closures is in places outside of 4 New York. 5 Now, I represent East Harlem and 6 the South Bronx. I don't think I have any in 7 my district that are in danger of closing, or 8 maybe a couple. But yes, the majority of this 9 is throughout the state. 10 But if you believe in the economic 11 engine that our parks and our cultural 12 institutions and historic sites generate, if 13 you think about the number of camping 14 reservations that are not being made right now 15 because we don't have our parks operating, and 16 when you think about the number of staycations 17 that are not being planned -- and in a 18 recession, that is the time for staycations, 19 and people of the State of New York are 20 looking for things to do throughout the 21 state -- if we don't act quickly, if we don't 22 act in a fashion that allows our parks to move 23 very quickly -- and it should be noted that 24 this is a two-house bill, and I believe the 25 other bill in the Assembly is being passed

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 today as well -- we will lose that 2 opportunity. 3 So I commend Senator Flanagan for 4 his remarks and his passion on behalf of 5 parks, and I commend my colleagues from both 6 sides of the aisle here in the Senate as well 7 as my colleagues in the Assembly for 8 supporting this bill and trying to find a way, 9 any way that we can, to bridge that gap while 10 we work to get this budget done to allow our 11 parks to remain open for the economic impact 12 and for the spiritual impact that they have on 13 the people of the State of New York. 14 Thank you, Madam President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Thank you, Senator. 17 Senator Fuschillo. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 19 Madam President. Would Senator Serrano answer 20 a question? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Senator Serrano, will you yield for a 23 question? 24 SENATOR SERRANO: Absolutely. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator, I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 too agree with Senator Flanagan; I want to 2 thank you for putting this legislation forth. 3 But I have to ask you a question on 4 a response that you had made to Senator 5 Flanagan. You said that there's enough money 6 in the extenders to keep the operation of the 7 parks going. Now, as far as I'm concerned -- 8 and I listened to Senator Kruger and I 9 listened to Senator DeFrancisco debate the 10 extenders every Monday, and they do it with 11 great detail. And I get the briefing on the 12 extenders. And it's very specific where the 13 money is intended to go. 14 So my question to you is, is there 15 a slush fund that is being created with these 16 extenders that is un-itemized -- it's not 17 specific, it's not detailed in where it's 18 going -- based on your statement that there's 19 enough money in the extenders? 20 SENATOR SERRANO: Madam 21 President, through you. Senator, I thank you 22 for your question. No. To my knowledge, this 23 isn't a situation where there's a slush fund 24 or anything like that. 25 What we have been told by the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Department of Parks is that within the 2 extenders there is money, week-to-week money, 3 but the language within the extenders does not 4 give authorization. 5 Now, if you're looking at the major 6 gap to fill in Parks, that's something that 7 needs to be done in the budget. We're talking 8 about, you know, $6 million or $11 million -- 9 you know, there's some discussion on which is 10 it -- to stave off the 51 park closures. 11 But just to get us from one week to 12 the next, there is enough funds within each 13 extender appropriation. That has been 14 indicated to me by the Office of Parks. 15 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam 16 President, would Senator Serrano yield for one 17 more question. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Serrano, do you continue to yield? 20 SENATOR SERRANO: Absolutely. 21 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator, so 22 where is the money? 23 SENATOR SERRANO: The money is 24 within the extenders. 25 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Would Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Serrano yield for another question. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 3 Senator Serrano, do you continue to yield? 4 SENATOR SERRANO: Yes, 5 absolutely. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Fuschillo. 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Can you 9 specifically state where the money is? 10 SENATOR SERRANO: I don't have 11 that information. The only thing that I have 12 been told has been that the money exists 13 within the extenders and that they -- meaning 14 they, the Office of Parks -- does not have 15 authorization to engage in the activities that 16 we are outlining in our bill. Therefore, the 17 money remains unspent. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 19 Senator Serrano. 20 Madam President, just on the bill. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Senator Fuschillo, on the bill. 23 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: You know, 24 this raises great concern to all of us here in 25 these chambers.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And I'll preface this to Senator 2 Kruger and Senator DeFrancisco, our chair and 3 ranker for Finance, that we're voting on 4 extenders, whether yea or nay -- can we have a 5 little order in the house? 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 (Gaveling.) 8 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: We're voting 9 on extenders, whether yes or no, that aren't 10 specific. And evidently there's money there, 11 based on Senator Serrano's answer, that 12 departments can utilize if we bring forth 13 legislation. 14 Well, next week I think we should 15 bring forth legislation that appropriates 16 money to the State Education Department, and 17 we should bring forth legislation that 18 appropriates money to OMRDD, and we should 19 bring legislation that appropriates money that 20 was taken out of SUNY, the higher education, 21 and puts money back there. Because if there's 22 money in the extenders -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 24 Senator Kruger, why do you rise? 25 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: As a point

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of information. 2 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you. 3 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: What we're 4 talking about are -- you have to quantify it. 5 Approximately $6 million is what's needed to 6 open the gates to start cutting the grass and 7 doing what has to get done to get the parks 8 open. 9 Within the narrow scope of that 10 extender, there is the ability to manipulate, 11 for lack of a better term, that little bit of 12 money for a short period of time to sort of, 13 you know, turn on the lights. 14 But in the longer scope of 15 things -- you know, the Governor's proposal in 16 his bill dealing with parks has an $80 million 17 cut, and the $80 million cut would have 18 decimated the aquariums, the zoos and done all 19 the things that we're trying to avoid. So I 20 think the confusion lies with what we actually 21 can attain. 22 Now, while we're appropriating 23 money in the extender to pay the day-to-day 24 operation for our school budget, that's just 25 what we're talking about, the day-to-day

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 operation for a very small window of time. So 2 we could not sustain the parks indefinitely 3 using either Senator Serrano's bill or the 4 small amount of money that exists in that 5 weekly extender, but certainly we can open up 6 the gates, turn the lights on, get the grass 7 cut and start the process going. 8 Thank you, Madam President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 Thank you, Senator Kruger. 11 Senator Fuschillo, would you like 12 to continue? 13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I'd like to 14 finish. But would Senator Kruger now answer a 15 question? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 17 Senator Kruger, would you please yield for a 18 question? 19 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Just one 20 question. Yes? 21 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes. 22 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: So in that 23 manipulation of the extenders, where would you 24 manipulate to find $6 million that has been 25 specifically voted on and appropriated out of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 what the Senate is voting on? 2 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Well, you 3 don't -- again, through you, Madam President. 4 Again, we don't even need $6 million. We need 5 a small amount of money. This bill would 6 enable the agency to move their available cash 7 into an operating mode so once again, because 8 of the time constraints that are involved, we 9 would be able to hopefully try to start 10 meeting that Memorial Day weekend. 11 It's a very short stopgap measure 12 of once again doing things within the agency 13 to create that small little pot of money. 14 Thank you, Madam President. 15 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you. 16 Would Senator Serrano answer just 17 one further question. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Serrano, do you yield? 20 SENATOR SERRANO: Absolutely. 21 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Senator, is 22 there an Assembly sponsor? And did the 23 Assembly pass your bill? 24 SENATOR SERRANO: Yes, there is 25 an Assembly sponsor. My counterpart, the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 chair of the Parks Committee, Assemblyman 2 Steve Englebright, is also passing the bill 3 today. Today he will pass it. 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 5 Senator. 6 You know, again, I want to conclude 7 by saying while it's well-intended, this has 8 opened up a whole new world for us in this 9 Senate to think about, when an extender comes 10 before this house next week, about, as Senator 11 Kruger said, the manipulation of funds. 12 And I think we should be concerned 13 about that because, as I stated before, I'd 14 like to see bills like this come up where 15 other departments can manipulate their funds, 16 for lack of a better word, to put more funds 17 into education, higher education, OMRDD and 18 other necessary programs in the state. 19 Thank you very much, Madam 20 President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 22 Thank you, Senator. 23 Senator Padavan. 24 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, 25 Madam President.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 You know, we can kick this can 2 around all day, but here's what it boils down 3 to. Maybe about five hours ago I heard the 4 Governor say "It's only $5 million, but the 5 Legislature has not provided those funds for 6 me to open the parks this weekend." That was 7 an unequivocal statement on his part. And to 8 my knowledge, we have not done that. 9 Now, you know, with all due respect 10 to anyone in this chamber, I don't believe the 11 Governor would have said that if it weren't a 12 matter of fact. 13 So now what you're doing is you're 14 misleading the people of this state, who, 15 based on this bill and what you say will 16 happen in the Assembly, are going to go to 17 their parks this weekend and the gates will be 18 closed or the services not provided. That is 19 disingenuous. 20 Now, if the Governor says the 21 $5 million -- and that's the figure he used -- 22 is not there and that unless it's provided 23 this week in some fashion the parks will not 24 open, or at least those who have been 25 indicated that will not open, what are we

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 doing here? Write a letter home to our 2 constituents and say we voted for a bill to 3 open the parks? 4 Or is there anything meaningful 5 here that will satisfy the Governor, who 6 ultimately, through his commissioners, must do 7 what you want them to do, open up the parks? 8 That's not a question. You can answer it if 9 you wish. But I think that we are kidding 10 ourselves here if you're suggesting that this 11 bill is going to solve the problem. Because 12 it's not. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 14 Senator Little. 15 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Madam 16 President. 17 Certainly I too, as the ranking 18 member on the Tourism Committee, understand 19 the need, as does Senator Serrano, who has 20 worked hard to have this happen, the need to 21 have these parks open. Because here we are 22 approaching Memorial Day. There are people in 23 this state who had intended to use these 24 parks -- and especially, with this economy, 25 would use these parks more than ever -- whose

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 taxpayers' dollars have actually paid for 2 these parks and paid for the upkeep of these 3 parks in previous years. And here we were 4 going to tell them that these parks were going 5 to be closed. 6 The other victims of closing the 7 parks are the seasonal workers who would not 8 have a job for the summer, who are hanging in 9 the wind as to whether they would be used or 10 not used or where they were going to stand and 11 how they were going to provide any income 12 during the summer season. 13 So I'm pleased that we have somehow 14 found the money to keep these parks open and 15 they will be open for Memorial Day weekend. 16 But I would ask -- and maybe before I ask to 17 explain that when the Department of Parks, 18 Recreation and Historic Preservation was 19 formed, all of the campgrounds and parks 20 within the Adirondack Park and the Catskill 21 Park were not given to them to supervise. 22 They were not under the jurisdiction of Parks, 23 Recreation, whatever. They have remained with 24 DEC, and DEC is closing parks. 25 We had a meeting this morning about

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 one of the parks, the Moose River Plains, 2 which is a 40-mile road in the Forest Preserve 3 with 170, 180 primitive campsites, purchased 4 with state land, and the gate is closed. The 5 answer was people can go around the gate and 6 if they can make their way down the road 10, 7 12 miles, or even if they have a wheelchair, 8 they can get around there. But this park was 9 handicapped-accessible. And closing it with a 10 gate, it's not handicapped-accessible. 11 This park, the Schroon Manor 12 Park -- there's so many parks within the 13 Adirondack Park and the Catskill Park that are 14 being closed this year. And when you put up 15 "Closed for the Summer" signs, a lot of people 16 change their plans and there's a lot of damage 17 that we're not going to be able to correct. 18 But my question is, since you have 19 found $6 million to be able to keep the other 20 parks open, if we could find an additional 21 $2 million to be able to solve this problem 22 with DEC. 23 At the meeting this morning we had 24 the supervisors of the Town of Inlet and 25 Indian Lake. We also had Old Forge and Webb

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 who have agreed. And those towns are so 2 desperate because of the economic impact of 3 this park, the Moose River Plains, to their 4 summer economy -- which is their only economy, 5 basically -- that they're willing to try to 6 help. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Senator Serrano, why do you rise? 9 SENATOR SERRANO: I'm just trying 10 to clarify if the Senator is asking me a 11 question. I'd be more than happy to answer 12 it. 13 SENATOR LITTLE: I was getting to 14 it. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Senator Little, do you wish -- 17 SENATOR LITTLE: I do have a 18 question. And I'm just trying to point out 19 that at this morning's meeting, that we're 20 looking for the towns to come up with the 21 money to keep this park open. And, you know, 22 the towns don't have any more money than the 23 state does in this kind of situation. 24 And so listening that there is some 25 money available, could we make $2 million

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 available so that the parks within the 2 Adirondacks and the Catskills under DEC's 3 jurisdiction would also be able to open? 4 SENATOR SERRANO: Through you, 5 Madam President. First of all, I want to 6 thank you for your advocacy on behalf of 7 parks. And as the ranking member of this 8 committee, you've been amazing in trying to 9 find ways to keep our parks open. 10 And I agree with you wholeheartedly 11 on your idea of finding $2 million to keep the 12 parks within the DEC realm open. However, 13 that's a different agency, and I haven't dealt 14 with that. And I don't know the answer to 15 your question. 16 But conceptually, I would be in 17 support of that as well, but it's just not 18 anything that I have explored. 19 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 20 Continuing on the bill, though, 21 this is extremely important to the economy of 22 the Adirondacks and the Catskills. And the 23 reason these parks are with DEC has always 24 been a question to me and something I didn't 25 quite understand, why they aren't moved to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Parks and Recreation. 2 But to see that this is happening 3 where the other parks are being saved and they 4 are not -- and DEC claims that they don't have 5 any money to keep these open, and yet we're 6 talking here about some kinds of money in the 7 extender bill that every agency must have to 8 be able to keep these parks open. 9 This is Memorial Day weekend. 10 These people have just paid their taxes. 11 These taxes go for the state lands. The state 12 continues to purchase more land. And now 13 we're seeing that the access to that land is 14 being denied to the taxpayers at a time when 15 they would enjoy it the most. 16 So I would like to work to see that 17 the Adirondacks and the Catskills will get the 18 same benefit as the -- and I have parks that 19 are under Parks and Recreation that I'm really 20 glad are going to be able to be kept open. 21 But I think we have more work to do, as well 22 as getting the budget accomplished. 23 Thank you. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Thank you, Senator.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Serrano. 2 SENATOR SERRANO: And just to 3 conclude my thought, Senator Padavan had 4 mentioned that the Governor had indicated that 5 $5 million or 6 million -- I'm not sure what 6 the number is -- is what is needed to keep 7 parks open. And yeah, that's a correct 8 statement in the long term. If you wanted to 9 shut this budget down and actually maintain 10 parks for the rest of the year, yes, that is 11 the answer. 12 But that's not what I'm trying to 13 do here in this bill. This bill is a stopgap 14 measure just to get us from week to week so 15 that Parks can move forward with their 16 operation. So Senator Padavan was not 17 incorrect in his statement, but that's not 18 exactly what I'm trying to do here with this 19 bill. I'm trying to save parks now, short of 20 a budget being done. 21 Thank you. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 23 Thank you, Senator. 24 Are there any other Senators 25 wishing to be heard on the bill?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Hearing none, the debate is closed. 2 The Secretary will please ring the 3 bells. 4 SENATOR FARLEY: Madam President, 5 point of personal privilege. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Senator Farley, what is your point of personal 8 privilege? 9 SENATOR FARLEY: Point of 10 personal privilege. I'd just like to announce 11 to my colleagues that today is Senator 12 Maziarz's 57th birthday. 13 (Applause.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 15 Happy birthday, Senator Maziarz. 16 SENATOR MAZIARZ: I feel much 17 older. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 19 Senator Volker, is it your birthday? 20 SENATOR VOLKER: Can I just make 21 an announcement, as long as we're waiting, 22 that tomorrow is the Legislative Memorial 23 Service, at 8 o'clock at St. Mary's Church, 24 and then we'll have the breakfast afterwards. 25 I just thought this was a good time

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to make the announcement, okay. So it's 2 tomorrow morning. All right? Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 4 Read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 8 Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 11 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. 13 Everyone on this side of the aisle obviously 14 is going to support this bill to keep the 15 parks open. If it weren't the case, we 16 wouldn't be offering amendments week after 17 week to keep the parks open. 18 The difference between our efforts 19 and this effort is that each time we offer an 20 amendment like yesterday, that was soundly 21 defeated by everyone on the other side of the 22 aisle, we had an appropriation amount 23 associated with it: $6 million taken from the 24 New York State Power Authority. That made it 25 real. Why a real bill would be rejected over

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 a bill that it's a feel-good bill is beyond 2 me. 3 Every single appropriation bill has 4 this language: "No monies appropriated by 5 this chapter shall be available for payment 6 until a certificate of approval has been 7 issued by the Director of the Budget, who 8 shall file the certificate," et cetera. 9 To claim that there is some type of 10 manipulation or slush fund is pure sophistry. 11 The Governor at the open conference meeting 12 today said he will not approve the parks 13 opening unless there's some money that's saved 14 in another location. 15 So we're all voting yes knowing 16 full well that unfortunately this is 17 meaningless without the acceptance of the 18 Governor, and the only way to keep the parks 19 open is to get a budget. And we would 20 certainly hope that we would start working on 21 a budget before all parks are closed and 22 there's no money for anything. 23 Thank you, Madam President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 25 Senator DeFrancisco to be recorded in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 affirmative. 2 Are there any other Senators 3 wishing to explain his or her vote? 4 Announce the results. 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays, 6 0. 7 Absent from voting: Senators 8 Sampson and Schneiderman. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 10 The bill is passed. 11 Senator Serrano, that completes the 12 reading of the controversial supplemental 13 active list. 14 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you, 15 Madam President. Can we return to the order 16 of motions and resolutions. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 18 Returning to the order of motions and 19 resolutions. 20 Senator Serrano. 21 SENATOR SERRANO: Madam 22 President, at this time I move to recall 23 Senate Resolution Number 3840, by Senator 24 Seward, which was previously adopted on 25 February 9th. I ask that the title of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 resolution be read and that Senator Seward be 2 given the opportunity to speak on the 3 resolution. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 5 Thank you, Senator. 6 The Secretary will read. May I 7 please have order in the chamber. 8 The Secretary will read. 9 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 10 Seward, Legislative Resolution Number 3840, 11 commending the Honorable Anna Marie 12 Lusins-McLachlan upon the occasion of her 13 retirement after 20 years of distinguished 14 service on the Oneonta Town Board. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 16 Senator Seward. 17 SENATOR SEWARD: Thank you, Madam 18 President. 19 I'm very pleased to rise to pay 20 tribute to a very distinguished woman from my 21 district who has played such a leading role in 22 the growth of her community and touching 23 countless number of lives along the way, both 24 in local government and throughout the 25 community as a leader.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Marie Lusins-McLachlan has spent, 2 as the resolution stated, two decades as a 3 member of the Oneonta Town Board. And in that 4 capacity, she has helped to usher great 5 progress in her community, constantly focusing 6 on the needs of the people of that township. 7 And as someone who always had her 8 finger on the pulse of the community, Marie 9 was able to recognize the needs of the people 10 and also find ways to fulfill those needs. 11 For example, she helped develop a 12 countywide food bank called Community 13 Connection, assisting food pantries throughout 14 Otsego County helping those in need. Marie 15 also recognized the need for healthcare for 16 many struggling to pay their healthcare bills 17 and helped develop the Oneonta Community 18 Health Center, a free clinic for those in 19 need. 20 And her advocacy did not stop at 21 the borders of her community. She actually 22 rose through the ranks of the New York State 23 Association of Towns and Townships and spent a 24 year as president of that organization that 25 represents all of the 932 towns and townships

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 throughout the State of New York. 2 You know, Marie also used a 3 personal tragedy in her family as a source of 4 motivation for her community care. A brain 5 tumor that eventually claimed the life of her 6 daughter led her to work as a tireless 7 advocate for the mentally and physically 8 challenged, both children and adults. 9 And Marie served as president of 10 the Otsego County ARC and currently serves on 11 the surrogate decision-making committee, 12 continuing to make sure that those who need 13 those services receive those services as well 14 as essential care. 15 Now, I could go on and on. This is 16 just a sample of her very distinguished life 17 and career of service. But I'm very, very 18 pleased to have Marie Lusins-McLachlan here 19 with us today up front here in the Richardson 20 chairs, along with her husband, Richard, and 21 her daughter Gillian. 22 And I'm very, very pleased to rise 23 to honor her for her two decades of service on 24 the town board -- but more than that, a 25 lifetime of service to her community. And I'm

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 very, very delighted that all of my colleagues 2 have joined me by the passage of this 3 resolution. 4 Congratulations, Marie. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 Certainly congratulations. 8 And this resolution was previously 9 adopted on February 9th. So again, 10 congratulations for all you've done. 11 Senator Serrano. 12 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you, 13 Madam President. 14 On behalf of Senator Oppenheimer, 15 on page 19 I offer the following amendments to 16 Calendar Number 231, Senate Print Number 17 6776A, and I ask that said bill retain its 18 place on Third Reading Calendar. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 20 So ordered. 21 Senator Serrano. 22 SENATOR SERRANO: Madam 23 President, is there any further business at 24 the desk? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Serrano, the desk is clear. 2 SENATOR SERRANO: There being no 3 further business at the desk, I move that we 4 adjourn until Wednesday, May 26th, at 5 3:00 p.m. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT STEWART-COUSINS: 7 There being no further business to come before 8 the Senate, on motion, the Senate stands 9 adjourned until Wednesday, May 26th, at 10 3:00 p.m. 11 (Whereupon, at 4:52 p.m., the 12 Senate adjourned.) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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