Tuesday, June 1, 2010

1 2 3 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 4 5 6 7 8 ALBANY, NEW YORK 9 June 1, 2010 10 4:07 p.m. 11 12 13 REGULAR SESSION 14 15 16 17 SENATOR DAVID J. VALESKY, Acting President 18 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 19 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 VALESKY: The 3 Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to please 5 rise and recite with me the Pledge of 6 Allegiance. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: In the 10 absence of clergy today, may we bow our heads 11 in a moment of silence. 12 (Whereupon, the assemblage 13 respected a moment of silence.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 reading of the Journal. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 18 Monday, May 31, the Senate met pursuant to 19 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, May 30, 20 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 21 adjourned. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 23 Without objection, the Journal stands approved 24 as read. 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: Mr. President, on 10 behalf of Senator Stachowski, on page number 11 30 I offer the following amendments to 12 Calendar Number 604, Senate Print Number 7664, 13 and ask that said bill retain its place on 14 Third Reading Calendar. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 amendments are received. 17 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, on 18 behalf of Senator Sampson, on page number 37 I 19 offer the following amendments to Calendar 20 Number 154, Senate Print Number 5262B, and ask 21 that said bill retain its place on Third 22 Reading Calendar. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 amendments are received. 25 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 believe there are substitutions at the desk. 2 I ask that we make the substitutions at this 3 time. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 Secretary will proceed with reading the 6 substitutions. 7 THE SECRETARY: On page 36, 8 Senator Stavisky moves to discharge, from the 9 Committee on Higher Education, Assembly Bill 10 Number 10118 and substitute it for the 11 identical Senate Bill Number 7748A, Third 12 Reading Calendar 658. 13 And on page 36, Senator Huntley 14 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 15 Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities, 16 Assembly Bill Number 10448 and substitute it 17 for the identical Senate Bill Number 7649, 18 Third Reading Calendar 661. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Substitutions ordered. 21 Senator Klein. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 23 believe there's a resolution at the desk by 24 Senator Adams. I ask that the resolution be 25 read in its entirety and move for its

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 immediate adoption. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 4 privileged and submitted by the office of the 5 Temporary President? 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 7 Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Adams, 11 legislative resolution honoring the 12 distinguished veterans from the State of 13 New York upon the occasion of their induction 14 into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall 15 of Fame, to be celebrated on June 1, 2010. 16 "WHEREAS, Members of the Armed 17 Services from the State of New York who have 18 served so valiantly and honorably in wars in 19 which this country's freedom was at stake, as 20 well as in the preservation of peace in 21 peacetime, deserve a special salute from this 22 Legislative Body; and 23 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such 24 concern, and in full accord with its 25 longstanding traditions, this Legislative Body

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 is justly proud to honor the distinguished 2 veterans from the State of New York upon the 3 occasion of their induction into the New York 4 State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame, to be 5 celebrated on June 1, 2010; and 6 "WHEREAS, New York State Senate 7 Veterans Hall of Fame inductees are members of 8 any branch of the United States Armed Forces, 9 which include Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air 10 Force and Marine Corps. These exceptional men 11 and women are chosen for this prestigious 12 honor based on either service in combat or 13 notable work performed after discharge from 14 service; and 15 "WHEREAS, The 2010 inductees 16 include Joseph Conace, John J. Perrone, David 17 J. Clark, Kevin M. Ryan, Lillian Yonally, 18 Richard Pedro, Jeremy K. Torrisi, Herbert 19 Barret, Charles W. Merriam, Edward Borowski, 20 Robert Tom Riordan, Ruben R. Pratts, Charles 21 'Jeff' Scherz, John C. Donovan, Jerry 22 Williams, Lester R. Muse, Jr., Ralph Esposito, 23 Richard S. Tibbetts, Pat Devine, Lester 24 Modelowitz, Anthony Zippo, Eugene McSherry, 25 Joe Ceurter, Thomas F. Sharpe, Rick Connors,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Ronald Tocci, Patrick W. Welch, Ph.D., Ralph 2 Kring, Bob Moran, Chester A. Scerra, Thomas G. 3 Seifert, Randolph Wilkerson, Jamie-Lynn 4 Winkler, Eli Vetrano, Matthew George Francis 5 Ryan, Ed Zaluski, Frank Tracz, Randy Dupree, 6 Stanley Rychlicki, Rich 'Rodeo' Washington, 7 Sam Stahlman and Job Mashariki; and 8 "WHEREAS, The banner of freedom 9 will always wave over our beloved New York and 10 all of America, the Land of the Free and the 11 Home of the Brave; and 12 "WHEREAS, The freedoms and security 13 we cherish as Americans come at a very high 14 price for those serving in the military in 15 times of conflict. It is fitting and proper 16 that we who are the beneficiaries of those who 17 risk their lives must never forget the courage 18 with which these men and women served their 19 country; and 20 "WHEREAS, Our nation's veterans 21 deserve to be recognized, commended and 22 thanked by the people of the State of New York 23 for their service and for their dedication to 24 their communities, their state and their 25 nation; now, therefore, be it

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 2 Body pause in its deliberations to honor the 3 distinguished veterans from the State of 4 New York upon the occasion of their induction 5 into the New York State Senate Veterans Hall 6 of Fame, to be celebrated on June 1, 2010; and 7 be it further 8 "RESOLVED, That copies of this 9 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 10 to the 2010 inductees." 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 12 Senator Adams, on the resolution. 13 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 First I would just like to say that 16 there was a certain level of energy that was 17 in the air as we held a ceremony for our vets 18 over at the Legislative Office Building. You 19 would have thought that, you know, there were 20 some rock stars that were here. There was a 21 bipartisan show of just affection. 22 And we are proud just to have our 23 vets here. Each one of the members in the 24 Senate nominated one individual. My colleague 25 Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins and I put

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 together the plans for this event today. And 2 although we called it the Hall of Fame, we 3 would like to look to call it the Hall of 4 Honor, because you honor us with your 5 presence. 6 And this is what's great about 7 America, and it's really what's great about 8 this Senate, you know, and the camaraderie. I 9 say over and over again we will haggle and 10 argue about legislation and bills, and we will 11 debate about things that matter to us. But 12 we're able to use paper and budgets -- we 13 don't have to use bullets -- because of you. 14 You know, this land we call the 15 home of the free and the land of the brave is 16 because of men and women like you, that in 17 spite of danger, in spite of fear, in spite of 18 your commitment to family, you chose to adorn 19 a uniform and go abroad and make sure that 20 we're safe here at home. 21 And we have an obligation, I never 22 forget -- sometimes when the vets come in my 23 office and they talk to me as the chair of the 24 committee and I look at their faces as they 25 talk about the complexities of navigating the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bureaucracy of government -- you served us 2 with honor. You should not have to return to 3 America and have battle scars of getting the 4 resources you deserve. 5 There's no reason our men and women 6 who come home from fighting abroad can't have 7 free school and colleges in a college-friendly 8 campus. There's no reason that they have to 9 worry about issues in Afghanistan and then 10 worry about losing their homes to foreclosure. 11 If John the soldier can search for bin Laden 12 in the cave, then he can come here to America 13 and search for Ben the robber as a police 14 officer. 15 We must understand the complexities 16 of going through the transitional period from 17 combat to civilian life, and we should not 18 penalize you because of those complexities. 19 We lost a countless number of men and women 20 through the Vietnam War, I say over and over 21 again, because we didn't have the services 22 that they deserved and that they needed. 23 This Hall of Honor that we're 24 creating, because you're representative of the 25 many men and women who will go unnoticed, who

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 will only have one parade, who will only have 2 one day of coming home -- but we in the State 3 Senate, we're saying no to that. We want a 4 continuous and constant reminder that no 5 matter how difficult government is and no 6 matter how many bills come before us and no 7 matter how many things we must do of balancing 8 budgets, we will never forget our vets. 9 That's the greatest symbol we can 10 say to America as we start our session every 11 day and do the Pledge of Allegiance. The true 12 pledge is a pledge to the men and women who 13 make sure that this country is safe. And 14 that's what you did for us. And it's more 15 than just veterans of wars, it's more than 16 just veterans during peacetime. You are 17 veterans of life. 18 And the difficulties of fighting a 19 battle should not be also increased by coming 20 home. And that's what true patriotism is. As 21 I said earlier, it's not merely waving the 22 flag in front of our home. Patriotism is 23 never forgetting the men and women who have 24 served us throughout the years. We're proud 25 of that as State Senators. It doesn't matter

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 if it's Buffalo, Binghamton or Brooklyn, we 2 are proud of that in a very uniform fashion. 3 We will set aside any disagreements 4 to come to a bipartisan understanding that we 5 respect and we honor you and we thank you for 6 the energy you brought inside this Capitol and 7 inside the program we have today. 8 These are our honorees in the Hall 9 of Honor for 2010. And we commend you for 10 your service to this country and what you 11 continue to do for this great country, the 12 United States of America. We're united 13 because of men and women like you. I thank 14 you. 15 Thank you, Mr. President. 16 (Applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 18 you, Senator Adams. 19 Senator Farley. 20 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 I just want to rise to pay tribute 23 to my veteran over here, who's a member of the 24 Greatest Generation, WW2. A remarkable man 25 who was a V-12 person. That's the best and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the brightest. 2 They sent him off to college, he 3 went to Hampton-Sydney and came out an ensign 4 and was commander of an LCS landing craft that 5 was at Saipan. And if it wasn't for the 6 atomic bomb that was dropped on Japan, he was 7 ready to go to -- the next assignment was to 8 invade Japan. 9 He's a remarkable man who owns an 10 agency that goes back a hundred and -- let's 11 see, 1895, I think that would be 115 years. 12 The Merriam Agency. And his son is now 13 running it, and it's been in the family for 14 115 years. 15 He's a remarkable person that I've 16 known almost my entire political life, which 17 is 40 years, and somebody that's always been a 18 supporter of mine but, more than that, a real 19 hero to our community. Charles Merriam, 20 congratulations and we're proud of you. 21 Thank you. 22 (Applause.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 24 you, Senator Farley. 25 Senator Larkin.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, 2 Mr. President. 3 And welcome, my combat veterans of 4 these wars: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, a 5 couple of little pinches in the islands, 6 Bosnia, Iraq I, and now Iraq II with 7 Afghanistan. 8 You know, I was talking to my 9 veteran, Tony Zippo -- please stand, Tony. 10 Tony Zippo had two tours in Vietnam. 11 (Applause.) 12 SENATOR LARKIN: Tony is what 13 each and every one of us getting out have to 14 come to. Tony is involved not just because 15 he's a veteran service officer, but we dragged 16 him into the Purple Heart Hall of Honor. And 17 he said, "Gee, I'll volunteer." I said, 18 "Good, we need a treasurer. You've got a 19 background in accounting." He's now the 20 treasurer, and he can pay all the bills. 21 But you know what? This is the 22 greatest country in the world. Why? Because 23 of you. Look at one another. I'll bet I 24 talked to 25 of you. Not one of us talked 25 about combat. We talked about Buffalo. What

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 did we talk about? Patrick, stand up and let 2 everybody know you. 3 Patrick, Patrick is doing something 4 for veterans in education -- 5 (Applause.) 6 SENATOR LARKIN: -- that you 7 can't beat. As a matter of fact, we've 8 recruited him to come to Orange County for our 9 village housing. Thank you, Pat. 10 But that's what we need. You know, 11 a lot of people on the outside want to help. 12 You know what's missing? They really don't 13 know what you need. They don't know what you 14 see in young kids coming home. I don't 15 remember all those kids coming home with half 16 a leg, no arm, half the head blown off. We 17 saw them, but they got out of the way right 18 away. Today, with the news media, they're in 19 your face. 20 And of course we have those 21 laplazard [sic] people who are now saying, Oh, 22 I didn't mean to say that I was in Vietnam, I 23 meant to say something else. They're a 24 disgrace to this country and to you, every one 25 of you, because you served. You answered the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 call. 2 And you were there to show these 3 people here -- and these people in this 4 chamber, the 62 members, are serious about 5 helping you. But you've got to go and tell 6 them. I got more from Pat this morning, got 7 two ears full -- with the hearing aids that 8 aren't working too, Pat. But you've got to 9 step forward and help us. 10 You're heroes. The problem is, a 11 lot of people out there don't appreciate what 12 you've done because you don't go bragging 13 about your story. I read a story yesterday 14 where a guy said, You know, I was mad at 15 Vietnam and I hid and I smoked and I did this, 16 I did that, and I spat at them. And now he 17 wants to apologize. 18 I can tell him a place in DC, 19 there's a big black wall. There's a miniature 20 of it in Sullivan County; he doesn't live far 21 from it. He can go there and make an apology 22 to those who never made it home. 23 To those of you who made it home, 24 I'm very proud of you. The best part of my 25 life was serving 23 years on active duty, from

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 a private to a lieutenant colonel. And on the 2 way I met some of the most bravest, honest, 3 dedicated, committed Americans, and they're 4 just like you. 5 Thank you, and God bless you all. 6 (Applause.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 8 you, Senator Larkin. 9 Senator Bonacic. 10 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 11 Mr. Chairman. 12 This is one of the greatest days in 13 our Senate chamber. For many of us, it was an 14 emotional weekend. Many of us attended the 15 Memorial Day celebrations and we honored those 16 who made the ultimate sacrifice. Today, I 17 want to congratulate each and every one of our 18 heroes that have come to this chamber on 19 behalf of all of the members. And you are now 20 in our Senate Hall of Fame. 21 My particular hero -- and I would 22 ask him to stand -- is Kevin Ryan, who is a 23 Vietnam War veteran. Kevin, please stand up. 24 (Applause.) 25 SENATOR BONACIC: He is here with

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 his bride Martha of 42 years, who's behind me 2 up in the gallery, his son Patrick, and Terry 3 Breitenstein, who's the head of the Veterans' 4 Service Agency of Ulster County. 5 I want to stress two quick points. 6 Every veteran that is still alive today is my 7 "American Idol." That's number one. And 8 number two, we are honoring you today not only 9 for your service in the different wars that 10 you served, but the service that you give 11 every day to veterans who need help and to 12 people in your community. You are still 13 serving, you are still our heroes, and you are 14 still my American Idol. 15 Thank you. 16 (Applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 18 you, Senator Bonacic. 19 Senator Espada. 20 SENATOR ESPADA: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 I too would like to exercise the 23 privilege of the house and ask my honoree, 24 Herb Barret, to please stand. His son, 25 Mr. Barret, is also upstairs. Mr. Herb

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Barret. 2 (Applause.) 3 SENATOR ESPADA: I want to repeat 4 what's been said about their heroism, but I 5 know the time is limited. I want to 6 particularly thank Mr. Barret for his work at 7 that Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx and the 8 development of a memorial there in tribute to 9 World War II, Vietnam, Korean vets. 10 And his work, as the Senator just 11 spoke, carries on on a daily basis. Even 12 yesterday, we spent some great time at the VA 13 hospital, the VA hospital where my father, a 14 Korean vet, could not be at. He's at a 15 nursing home. We can't communicate; advanced 16 dementia is his issue. But the fact that I 17 was there with other Korean veterans made me 18 feel like I was with my dad, the fact that we 19 were talking about the circumstances and the 20 afflictions of the day. 21 In the early 1950s, my father did 22 not serve with other Americans. That is, he 23 served directly from Puerto Rico, could not 24 speak English, was brown-skinned, and was 25 relegated to his battalion. I think others

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 could speak to some of the issues of the day 2 which resulted in behaviors now in our core 3 beliefs now that we look back and say, Wow, we 4 behaved like that then. 5 I just want to read from an 6 editorial that appeared two days ago in El 7 Diario la Prensa, that we should look beyond 8 the bargains, the commercialization of these 9 holidays, that we should look to the 10 devastation of war which is so widespread and 11 so deep. That we should look at the fact that 12 in Iraq and Afghanistan we've lost some 5,000 13 to 6,000 young men already. Just a couple of 14 weeks ago, Sergeant Edward Rivera was lost to 15 us from New York City, on May 25th. 16 That the issue of post-traumatic 17 disorder is real, is very real and persistent. 18 That 26 percent increase in the suicide rate 19 of some of our veterans, that the number of 20 homelessness of our veterans that come back, 21 the number of -- interestingly enough, the 22 number of persons, 28,000, that continue to 23 give service that are noncitizens of the 24 United States of America. 25 I want to call attention to this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 only because the freedom fighters that sit 2 there, the honorees that sit there, braved up 3 during the previous conflicts and wars. They 4 went into battle as one. They planted the 5 seeds that led to the intensity, the vigor 6 that saw us through the civil rights movement 7 of the '60s, that continue to propel us to 8 great heights as a people. 9 Even today, we go into the calendar 10 to deal with a Domestic Workers' Bill of 11 Rights. Later this year, and hopefully soon, 12 we'll deal with farmworkers. We deal with the 13 issue of human rights and civil rights on an 14 ongoing basis. And these brave heroes went 15 into war with the complexities that we live 16 with ourselves, then and now. 17 But it was your efforts as warriors 18 that make us better today. That is, it wasn't 19 a one-time shot. It was an investment in how 20 we as human beings evolved, how we continue to 21 brave up, to imitate what you did so many 22 years ago. Today, we value those core values, 23 we take them to heart, and it arms us with the 24 ability to give justice to those who have 25 none, to give voice to those who have none.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Thank you for your contributions, because they 2 are everlasting. 3 Thank you so very much, 4 Mr. President. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 7 you, Senator Espada. 8 Senator Smith. 9 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you very 10 much, Mr. President. 11 Colleagues, today is a very special 12 day, a day that, one, we want to obviously 13 thank our colleagues in the Senate -- Senator 14 Adams, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins -- for 15 bringing to us something that from time to 16 time, if we are honest with each other, we 17 tend to forget. 18 You need to understand, my friends 19 who have served in a conflict, there are just 20 certain times in this chamber that we will 21 pause our deliberation of the legislative 22 business that we are charged to do and 23 actually read an entire resolution. That 24 resolution is archived. And just as the 25 conflicts that you served in are part of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 history, so too will this resolution be 2 forever in the archives of the State Senate. 3 So your great-great-great 4 grandchildren at any point in time, Lester 5 Muse, will be able to go to the Internet, look 6 up the day when we honored Mr. Wilkerson and 7 said what we thought about the conflict that 8 you were in. Mr. Scherz, the uniform that you 9 wear from World War II is one that many people 10 have not seen in this chamber. 11 Each and every one of you served. 12 And as I said to you earlier, the commitment 13 that we made to you, every morning when you 14 rose up, you didn't have the option of saying 15 "I'm not going to go out on the battlefield, 16 I'm not going to deal with this conflict 17 today." You couldn't tell your sergeant or 18 your captain or your general that "I'm not 19 going because I'm tired." 20 Well, Senator Adams talked about 21 the conflict that you are now experiencing on 22 this ground. So our commitment to you, and I 23 ask my colleagues to support this, is that we 24 will make sure that every day that we get up 25 and every day that we're on the floor of this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senate, we will not exercise the option of 2 discretion to not choose to deal with a bill 3 or to deal with an issue that you had. 4 Our commitment is when you call, we 5 will answer. Our commitment is when you come 6 to our office, you will see us. Our 7 commitment is when that bill comes to the 8 floor, we will pass it. Because just as you 9 refused to and could not exercise the option 10 of discretion not to serve that morning, we 11 choose to take that same path. 12 We can't do what you did, because 13 we were not there. But if we can do just a 14 little to show you our appreciation -- not 15 just by having this resolution passed today, 16 not by just archiving it so that it is here 17 until the year 2050 and beyond, but to know 18 that when you come to our office, when you 19 call us on the phone, and when a bill that is 20 on this schedule today that Senator Adams put 21 forward comes up, we will pass it unanimously 22 without question. 23 So I want to thank you for being 24 here today. I can't tell that I understand 25 what you've been through, because I don't wake

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 up in the middle of the night with some of the 2 challenges that your memory has. What I can 3 tell you is that as long as I have breath and 4 as long as God has given me the opportunity to 5 serve in this body, when something comes 6 forward that is related to you, you can be 7 assured I will be as forceful as you were when 8 you were in that conflict. 9 So I want to thank you. Know that 10 I will continue to pray for you and your 11 family. And always know that I am here to 12 serve you, along with our colleagues. 13 Thank you, and God bless. 14 (Applause.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Smith. 17 Senator Griffo. 18 SENATOR GRIFFO: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 Senator Adams said today that these 21 fine individuals were greeted like rock stars. 22 And they all started out really as everyday 23 citizens who dedicated themselves to service 24 to this great country, who did that with 25 courage, with honor, and with distinction.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 They went from everyday citizens to 2 extraordinary individuals who are truly the 3 heroes of this great country. 4 And I am honored today to have with 5 me an individual who served in World War II. 6 I'd like to ask Charles "Jeff" Scherz to 7 please stand. Jeff? 8 (Applause.) 9 SENATOR GRIFFO: Jeff is a member 10 of the U.S. Army, served during World War II 11 under General Patton, was involved in D-Day 12 and the Battle of the Bulge. He really is a 13 tremendous individual, not only in service to 14 his country, but when he came out of the 15 military, he served his community and was 16 elected mayor of the Village of Boonville. 17 So to Jeff and to all of the 18 veterans who are here today, so simply we can 19 say thank you. But I believe what is so 20 important to each and every one of us is to 21 continue to reflect what you all stood for and 22 how you conducted your lives. So we have an 23 obligation and responsibility to continue to 24 be attentive and responsive to veterans' 25 issues and needs, to not only those who are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 living but those who continue to serve. 2 And also I think all of us have an 3 obligation and responsibility to live our 4 lives with that same unabashed passion that 5 you had for patriotism for this great country. 6 So to each and every one of you, 7 thank you and God bless you. 8 (Applause.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 10 you, Senator Griffo. 11 Senator Huntley. 12 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 Senator Bonacic said something that 15 was very interesting. He said Sunday and 16 Monday were two days where we really realize 17 what veterans mean. Every year when we go for 18 the laying of the wreath and to talk with 19 family members, I think it just leaves 20 basically a hole in your heart. 21 And yesterday as we were laying 22 wreaths, you know, I was thinking about the 23 young men and women who have died so that we 24 could be free. Because that's actually what 25 it's about. In this country we have the best

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 freedom system going that there is, and all 2 because of the veterans. 3 I have a young man, Lester Muse. 4 Please stand up. He's my honoree. 5 (Applause.) 6 SENATOR HUNTLEY: And he proudly, 7 proudly wears a Purple Heart. 8 And he is a fantastic human being. 9 He's director of my veterans affairs at my 10 office. I have a full veteran program. And 11 Lester Muse is the one that makes things 12 happen. And I want to publicly thank him for 13 going beyond the call of duty, because that's 14 who veterans are. They don't know when to 15 stop. If there's a project, Lester goes on 16 and on and he gets the job done. 17 His wife, Mrs. Muse, is up there. 18 There she is. Mrs. Muse, stand up. 19 (Applause.) 20 SENATOR HUNTLEY: And I just want 21 to tell you that today is a great day. And I 22 commend all you veterans. And I also bring 23 special greetings from my husband from the 24 United States Marines. He is a Marine -- you 25 never say "was," he is -- and he brings

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 greetings also to all of you. 2 Thank you kindly for coming. 3 (Applause.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 5 you, Senator Huntley. 6 Senator Libous. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 I rise, along with my colleagues, 10 to honor the gentlemen that are here today and 11 to say thank you. And first off, let me say 12 thank you to Senator Adams and Senator 13 Stewart-Cousins for making this day possible. 14 We say thank you around Memorial 15 Day, but unfortunately we don't say thank you 16 enough. And I think at times like this we 17 have to reflect on the sacrifices that were 18 made by your brothers who never made it home 19 and certainly for the deeds that you all 20 performed. 21 Joseph Ceurter is my honoree today. 22 And, Joe, would you please stand up? I want 23 to read -- 24 (Applause.) 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Joe, please

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 stay. 2 I just want to read one paragraph, 3 Mr. President, because I think this says it 4 all, not only for what Mr. Ceurter gave but 5 also for what his colleagues that sit before 6 us and for what many others did so that we 7 could stand here in this chamber and enjoy the 8 freedoms and exercise the -- most of the 9 time -- important debate and other times 10 debate that kind of exercises the jaw. 11 But Joe Ceurter, in one brutal 12 engagement with the Communist North Korean 13 Army, a mortar shell exploded near him, 14 knocking him unconscious. Thinking he was 15 dead, his unit was forced to retreat as the 16 position was being overrun by the enemy. Joe 17 regained consciousness as he was being 18 pummelled by the rifle butt of an enemy 19 soldier, and he quickly leveled his rifle and 20 killed his attacker. Joe continued firing on 21 the enemy soldiers, eventually forcing them to 22 retreat. 23 Serving in the Korean War, Joseph 24 Ceurter was awarded two Silver Star medals, 25 two Bronze Star medals, five Purple Hearts for

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 his many heroic deeds in the service of our 2 country. 3 Joe Ceurter, God bless you, and God 4 bless your colleagues. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 7 you, Senator Libous. 8 Senator Volker. 9 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President, 10 thank you, and thank you again to Senator 11 Adams and Senator Stewart-Cousins for 12 sponsoring this dedication. 13 The gentleman who is my honoree is, 14 I believe, one of the older gentlemen, Stanley 15 Rychlicki. Stanley, would you stand? Can you 16 hear me, Stanley? 17 (Applause.) 18 SENATOR VOLKER: Stanley was a 19 staff sergeant. And as you can see, he has a 20 lot of battle ribbons. He fought bravely in 21 the Second World War. 22 It's ironic, because he is going to 23 be 91. My father-in-law, who was actually 24 there in Europe at the same time, but fought 25 with Patton -- and I'm hoping he's watching,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 because my father-in-law is not really well. 2 He lives with us because we refuse to put him 3 in a nursing home, and we take care of him at 4 home. He's actually very sharp; it's just 5 that he's hard to get around. 6 But when I look at Stanley, I think 7 to myself -- by the way, he was jumping up and 8 down before. I think he has more energy than 9 I have. But he's a classic example of the 10 kind of gentlemen -- and I mean gentleman -- 11 who have fought so many of our wars. 12 Stanley is from Caledonia, 13 New York, which is Livingston County, from 14 Western New York. The people of his area are 15 so proud of him. And I want him to know I am 16 so proud of him also. 17 So thank you, Stanley, so much for 18 coming here and for what you did. 19 (Applause.) 20 MR. RYCHLICKI: You're welcome! 21 (Laughter.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 23 you, Senator Volker. 24 Senator Nozzolio. 25 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Mr. President and my colleagues. 2 The lives of the patriots, the 3 American patriots who are chronicled here 4 today are awe-inspiring. We should invite 5 them here each and every week, because this 6 body benefits from the honor that's been 7 bestowed to our country by the sacrifices of 8 these wonderful veterans. It is my honor to 9 stand among you. 10 I wish to recognize the 11 contributions of Rick Connors. Rick, would 12 you please stand? 13 (Applause.) 14 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Throughout his 15 26 years of military service, Rick earned over 16 15 medals, with a number of commendations for 17 his service. He served beginning in 1963, and 18 through his active duty and through his time 19 in the Reserves performed with great dignity 20 and distinction in every capacity on behalf of 21 his nation. 22 That we have benefited from Rick's 23 service and all the service of all our 24 veterans here. I think Senator Larkin said it 25 best: As those who have given so much for our

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 nation so that we could enjoy the greatest 2 standard of living, the greatest democracy in 3 the history of the world, that freedom was 4 because of your sacrifice, and we stand on 5 your shoulders. 6 Rick Connors' 26 years of service 7 would be enough, and his distinction in that 8 capacity would be enough to have him be a 9 member of our Military Service Hall of Fame. 10 But Rick continues as an advocate for veterans 11 across the greater Finger Lakes region, and 12 Rick has taken on a responsibility as a 13 spokesperson and as the leader of the Sampson 14 Veterans Memorial Cemetery Committee, which is 15 dedicated to constructing, on the location of 16 hallowed ground in the Finger Lakes region, in 17 the heart of the Finger Lakes region, a place 18 of a hundred acres among a larger place where 19 during World War II and in preparation for 20 every battle that has taken place from the 21 World War II conflict to today, 750,000 air 22 men and sailors train at the Sampson Naval 23 Base and then the Sampson Air Force Base. 24 That base is being turned into the 25 Sampson Veterans Memorial Cemetery, which will

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 be a lasting memorial to the service of all 2 veterans. All veterans are welcome to lie 3 there as a final resting place. It is a 4 beautiful location. It's hallowed ground 5 where many who trained there fought to serve 6 their nation and never returned home after 7 that training and encounter. 8 But Rick is president of the 9 Sampson Cemetery, and that he is working very 10 hard, along with hundreds of other veterans 11 from across our state and nation who are 12 trying to establish and have done great work 13 and are ready to establish later this year a 14 first-class, world-class veterans cemetery, a 15 lasting permanent memorial to the sacrifices 16 of all veterans. 17 Thank you, Rick, for your efforts. 18 Thank you veterans all for making our nation a 19 free and democratic place. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 (Applause.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 24 you, Senator Nozzolio. 25 Senator Breslin.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you very 2 much, Mr. President. 3 I first of all would like to thank 4 Senator Adams and Senator Stewart-Cousins. 5 And I have two individuals. One I 6 share with Senator Libous, and that's Richard 7 Pedro. Would you stand? 8 (Applause.) 9 SENATOR BRESLIN: Dick served in 10 the Navy during World War II, from '44 to '47, 11 in a very active way, and since that time has 12 been involved in a tremendous amount of 13 veterans activities spanning some fifty-plus 14 years. 15 In addition to that, in 1984 he was 16 named an adjutant, and has served, because of 17 his professionalism, his honesty, and his 18 participation in veterans' activities, from 19 '84 to present. 20 We salute you, we salute everyone 21 here for your service to your country. Thank 22 you. 23 (Applause.) 24 SENATOR BRESLIN: And now I turn 25 to a young woman. That's Lillian Yonally.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Would you stand, please, Lillian? 2 (Applause.) 3 SENATOR BRESLIN: I won't mention 4 how old you are, Lillian. 5 I will mention, though, a very 6 secret time in U.S. history where Lillian was 7 able to join really the Air Force, the Women's 8 Service Aviation Unit, in World War II. And 9 she joined at 21. She began flying when she 10 was a teenager. 11 And during World War II, when 12 pilots were going abroad, Lillian was here 13 training additional pilots and taking the 14 place of pilots. Also, being up in planes, 15 she was flying planes and acting as target 16 practice for people who were training to go 17 across to serve in war. 18 The men in the Air Force didn't 19 want to acknowledge the role of women for fear 20 that they would steal their thunder. It does 21 sound like a man, Shirley Huntley said. Well, 22 she was flying planes that were brand-new, 23 that hadn't been tested -- she flew B-25s -- 24 and provided a tremendous service. 25 But then, near the end of the war,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 rather than acknowledging women and their 2 participation -- the Air Force was a little 3 nervous, they didn't want the secret out -- 4 they disbanded. And what they did was they 5 allowed these women, when they disbanded, 6 to -- they took their uniforms and had the 7 women pay their way home. 8 And it wasn't until 1977 that our 9 government and the Air Force recognized the 10 great contributions that these women made. 11 And earlier this year, after 12 legislation was passed with the intervention 13 of President Obama, Lillian was presented with 14 a Congressional Gold Medal Recognition Award 15 for her service. And, you know, to wait from 16 World War II, with all those missions, 17 training people, to wait to 1977 to be 18 acknowledged for your participation in the war 19 effort, and to sit silently by, is a great 20 tribute to Lillian Yonally. 21 And it's my honor to have her here 22 as my friend and a great participant in World 23 War II and one of the Greatest Generation. 24 Thank you, Lillian. 25 (Applause.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 2 you, Senator Breslin. 3 Senator Alesi. 4 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. On the resolution. 6 My colleagues, I thought I was 7 ready to jump right in with my first sentence, 8 but Senator Breslin just pulled me off track 9 with his comments. It made me think of my own 10 mother, actually, who was in the service. She 11 was in the Army during World War II. And so 12 thank you for that moment, a pleasant memory. 13 I'd be proud to have sponsored and 14 joined with any of the people that we're 15 honoring today in the Hall of Fame. A 16 remarkable group, each with a remarkable 17 story. And what a recipe, if you take all of 18 these marvelous ingredients we have, for the 19 freedom that we enjoy in this country and who 20 has served in what different era. 21 But today I have the pleasure of 22 welcoming Colonel John Perrone. John, would 23 you just rise for a moment so that we could 24 recognize you and thank you, along with 25 others?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (Applause.) 2 SENATOR ALESI: We used to call 3 him "Major" back home, but not for his service 4 in the Army. He had so many years in the 5 sheriff's department, but as a major, finally. 6 What we came to know about John 7 Perrone was that he has 35 years of combined 8 service in the Reserves and Active. But it 9 wasn't until the Olympics in Salt Lake City 10 that he was asked to return to active duty. 11 And this is when we learned of his real 12 expertise in things that we weren't paying 13 much attention to. 14 And he was asked to serve as the 15 antiterrorism chief for the Olympics in the 16 U.S., in Salt Lake City, at a time when the 17 world was welcoming people from many countries 18 all over and we hadn't yet quite focused a 19 whole lot on terrorism as we know it today 20 until, while they were doing that, there was 21 an attack on the World Trade Center. And of 22 course that brought a whole new dimension to 23 homeland security. And the things that we 24 worried about then became weapons of mass 25 destruction and other kinds of terrorism that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 went way beyond normal conventional security. 2 Colonel Perrone was thrust into 3 that whole scenario when he was at the Salt 4 Lake City games, and later was asked to use 5 his expertise and became, after the 9/11 6 attacks, the Commander of Joint Operations at 7 Guantanamo, where he oversaw 1200 men and 8 women in uniform and 600 people that were 9 detained at that high security and very 10 dangerous place. People that, as we know, had 11 no good intentions towards the United States. 12 A very difficult position to be in, 13 but one that drew upon the expertise, the 14 singular expertise, in many instances, of John 15 Perrone. He was also, as a result of that, 16 the principal advisor to the Department of 17 Defense on all aspects of security operations. 18 So we think of our friends -- he's 19 a neighbor, a friend. He's joined today by 20 his wife, Susanne, and his son, Michael, and 21 good friends Debbie and Gene Caccamise -- 22 who's a Western New York Bricklayers' 23 representative. I wanted to make sure I get 24 that in, Gene. 25 But most importantly, knowing John

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 as a neighbor and friend and someone that, if 2 you look at everybody that we're honoring 3 today -- regular, everyday Americans, until 4 something exceptional happens in our lives and 5 we look to someone else to take care of it for 6 us. 7 And over the years and over the 8 generations the people that we're honoring 9 today -- the people that have served in so 10 many different capacities, that have been 11 willing to answer that call of duty and that 12 have given us the sense of security -- are so 13 well deserving of today's honor, I'm just so 14 proud to be joining my colleagues in the 15 Senate to recognize all of them. And 16 especially, for my purposes, my good friend 17 Colonel John Perrone, and who is currently 18 still serving, as the director of Homeland 19 Security Management Institute. 20 So, ladies and gentlemen, Mom and 21 Dad, I want to thank you again from the bottom 22 of my heart, all of you and your families. We 23 have the honor of joining you, and I can't 24 tell you how great an honor it is for me to be 25 with you today.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (Applause.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 3 you, Senator Alesi. 4 Senator Golden. 5 SENATOR GOLDEN: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 I too rise in honor of all of our 8 vets here today and across this great nation 9 and around the world. And I have with me 10 today a young man, Ruben Pratts, who -- stand 11 up there Ruben -- ladies and gentlemen, he 12 just finished yesterday putting on the 13 143rd -- stay standing, Ruben, stay 14 standing -- putting on the 143rd consecutive 15 longest-running Memorial Day parade in the 16 nation in Brooklyn yesterday, and had tens of 17 thousands of people show up and thousands of 18 veterans marched through Brooklyn. 19 You did a great job. 20 (Applause.) 21 SENATOR GOLDEN: Ruben, after 22 graduating high school, went into the Marine 23 Corps. In Thanksgiving of 1967, he was 24 assigned to the III-MAF of the 1st Marine 25 Division, 7th Engineer Battalion I Corps in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Da Nang in October of 1968 to December 3rd of 2 1968, and then the 11th Marine Division and 3 Engineer at Phu Bai. 4 While in Vietnam, he helped save a 5 fellow Marine under sniper fire and had him 6 evacuated. One week later, as a result of the 7 Tet offensive flare-up, Ruben was wounded 8 while doing guard duty in the bunker. And at 9 the end of September, on patrol on Route 1, 10 his truck was hit and he was wounded again 11 alongside several other Marines and a killed 12 in action. 13 What's so remarkable about Ruben, 14 as he was removed from Vietnam and sent over 15 to finish his time over in Hawaii before he 16 was discharged, was his ability to put on that 17 parade yesterday, but also that he's involved 18 in Community Board 3, that he serves on the 19 New York Health and Hospitals Woodhull Medical 20 Center Auxiliary Board, the Local Precinct 21 Council of the Police Department, the SRO 22 Advisory Board, and he's also a member of two 23 block associations and was the president of 24 both of them. 25 What's also impressive about

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Ruben -- I'm not even going to go into the 2 number of medals that he received, because 3 each of our vets received many medals up here 4 today. But I will tell you that Ruben today 5 has devoted his time to cultural and ethnic 6 associations, serving as the president of the 7 National Federation of Puerto Rican Pioneers. 8 And he's also included the 9 different organization he belongs to and risen 10 in and served as an officer of: The Military 11 Order of the Purple Heart, the past New York 12 State Commander -- twice -- Command Chapter 13 405, Brooklyn, New York; Senior Vice 14 Commandant, Marine Corps League 226, Disabled 15 American Vets 154, Veterans of Foreign Wars, 16 and currently Ruben serves on the United War 17 Council and on the New York Memorial Day 18 Parade Committee as Chief Street Marshal, 19 which that was the Memorial Day Parade that he 20 brought down Third Avenue just yesterday in 21 Brooklyn. 22 This nation needs and our soldiers 23 returning from service need the role models 24 that are here -- like you, Ruben, and like the 25 men that are right next to you that have

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 served our great nation -- they need that 2 inspiration and that motivation to be able to 3 go on and do the things that you have done and 4 to stay involved in our communities and to get 5 involved with our VFWs and our American 6 Legions and our brick and mortar and to help 7 to be part and to grow this great nation. 8 They have served so well, and it's 9 important that we bring them in. Over a 10 thousand are dead today in Afghanistan, 11 thousands in Iraq. Fifteen hundred veterans 12 die each and every day here in this nation, 13 and many of them from World War I, World War 14 II, Korea, Vietnam. But some of them still 15 are dying from Vietnam, from the effects of 16 Vietnam. 17 We need to be able to take care of 18 those returning. We need to be able to make 19 sure they get a good college education. We 20 need to be able to deal with post-traumatic 21 stress so they have the ability to live a good 22 life and a good quality of life here in this 23 great nation. 24 You guys have made those 25 commitments. And we've got to continue,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 continue to drive and give the ability for 2 those young men and women to get the jobs they 3 need and to have the futures that they require 4 to live in this great nation. You guys have 5 done that. You've given them that 6 opportunity. 7 Continue to be those role models. 8 Continue as we as this great State Senate up 9 here try to bring those rules and laws and 10 regulations together so that we can make it 11 easier for our men and women as they return so 12 that they get that good quality of life. 13 Thank you for your service. Thank 14 you for your service to this nation and to our 15 communities. God bless you. 16 (Applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 18 you, Senator Golden. 19 Senator Stewart-Cousins. 20 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 21 you. Thank you, Mr. President. 22 It is certainly an honor to rise 23 and to address these wonderful patriots and 24 citizens, those who have given so much and 25 continue to this day to give.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I want to thank Senator Adams 2 because I did get a chance to cosponsor today, 3 only because I knew it was time. I saw my 4 first induction into the Senate Hall of Fame 5 before I was elected, and I was impressed and 6 honored that the Senate would have such a Hall 7 of Fame. And since I've been a Senator, I've 8 had the opportunity to induct people on a 9 yearly basis. But I wondered how many of my 10 colleagues actually took advantage of 11 congratulating our veterans publicly. 12 And although most probably did, I 13 thought and Senator Adams thought it would be 14 wonderful if we could, this year, bring you 15 all up here and tell you collectively and 16 personally how grateful we are that you have 17 given so much to us. And not just send things 18 down to our districts, but to bring you here 19 so that you know that the connection between 20 you and this legislative body is unbreakable, 21 and to let you know that who you are is the 22 essence of what we are. 23 The reason why we don't have any 24 debates about this is because you made it 25 possible for us to have this. We can debate

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bills because you fight for freedom. We 2 understand that you are the reason that we do 3 what we do. So yes, we have an open and 4 listening ear, and a commitment to you to work 5 on making it the best America it could be. 6 And for my own honoree, Eli 7 Vetrano -- Eli, would you like to stand? 8 (Applause.) 9 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Many of 10 us, I'm sure all of my colleagues went to 11 Memorial Day services and recognitions. And 12 Eli, in the City of Yonkers, has been behind 13 every single one for decades. 14 He spent two years in the Army, 15 1950 to '52. What's most remarkable about Eli 16 is that he never stopped being a soldier. And 17 when he came home, he spent every moment not 18 only reaffirming what it was he knew to be 19 true, but making sure everyone else understood 20 what it was that patriots such as our veterans 21 do for our country. 22 Eli has been affiliated with the 23 American Legion for more than 15 years. He 24 served as the commander of the Donald Konrade 25 Post 1954 for 16 years. Chairman of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Central Committee of War Veterans of Yonkers. 2 He's also the chairman of something called 3 "Color Me Proud," and that is taking to our 4 schools pictures, flags, and making sure that 5 our children get involved. 6 Eli made sure that the Dignity 7 Memorial honoring our Vietnam vets came to 8 Yonkers, and he made sure that Yonkers had a 9 huge monument to Gold Star mothers so that we 10 understand the sacrifice of the families of 11 people who don't return from the war. 12 I could go on and on about what Eli 13 means. Because Eli understands that by 14 reaching everyone where they are, the next 15 generation -- now he's also in our veterans 16 agency making sure that people returning have 17 what they need -- that we best serve our 18 country and best serve the memory of those who 19 have paid the ultimate price. 20 I thank you all for your enduring 21 commitment to our country. I thank you for 22 taking time out of your schedule to come here 23 to be part of this humble celebration. And I 24 thank you again for just being you. We honor 25 you. God bless you. Thank you.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (Applause.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 3 you, Senator Stewart-Cousins. 4 Senator Foley. 5 SENATOR FOLEY: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 On behalf of the constituents of 8 the 3rd Senatorial District, I'd like to thank 9 all the veterans who are being honored here 10 today. 11 As has been mentioned yesterday and 12 throughout last weekend, Memorial Day weekend, 13 it was one of the great responsibilities that 14 we have as elected officials to participate in 15 those particular events. As I said throughout 16 the weekend, and it's even true today, the 17 Memorial Day services are services that unify 18 us as Americans, that unify us as citizens of 19 New York and in the respective communities 20 that we live in. 21 It's that sense of unity and that 22 sense of purpose which is why we're here today 23 to honor, through our Senate Hall of Fame, the 24 many veterans who are here within the chamber. 25 One who is not in the chamber but

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 was here earlier is the honoree from the 3rd 2 Senatorial District, Sam Stahlman. Sam 3 Stahlman has been a constituent and a family 4 friend for many, many years. He served in the 5 United States Army, the Infantry Division. He 6 enlisted, as a matter of fact, at the age of 7 17. He took part in the European theater of 8 war. As a matter of fact, he was among the 9 early waves of the Normandy invasion and also 10 took part in the Battle of Bastogne. 11 And although Sam was wounded in the 12 Battle of Bastogne, and in fact received the 13 Purple Heart, he went on to other battles 14 throughout that particular war where he 15 received the Purple Heart, where he received 16 twice the Bronze Star, and where his division 17 also received the Presidential Citation two 18 times. But what he's most proud of, ladies 19 and gentlemen, is the fact that he received 20 the Combat Infantry Badge, which he wore very 21 proudly for all the Veteran Day services for 22 these many years. 23 So Sam Stahlman is the honoree 24 within the 3rd Senatorial District. We honor 25 him today. We also honor all of our veterans

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 who are here today to say thank you, you mean 2 the world to us, and this is one way that we 3 can show our appreciation. 4 Thank you, Mr. President. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 7 you, Senator Foley. 8 Senator Oppenheimer. 9 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you. 10 I think we all honor our veterans 11 because we know in our hearts and in our minds 12 that freedom isn't free. And you are the 13 folks that paid the price for the freedom that 14 we enjoy. And so whenever we are able to say 15 exactly what is on our minds in public, or any 16 variety of things -- where this democracy 17 permits us to pretty much say and do anything 18 except overthrow the government -- we 19 recognize that these freedoms are there 20 because of our Constitution and because you 21 went to war to protect those freedoms for us. 22 But I'm here today for -- actually, 23 he's my second most favorite veteran. My 24 first most favorite veteran is my father. But 25 after my father comes Ron Tocci. Ron Tocci,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 would you stand? 2 (Applause.) 3 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: And of 4 course in this chamber this man needs 5 absolutely no introduction. 6 Where to start? You know, I have a 7 two-page summary of all the things that Ron 8 has done for the veterans of this state. I 9 for some reason thought we weren't going to be 10 able to speak, so I left it on my desk in the 11 office. But I will tell you a few things that 12 I know very personally because we're neighbors 13 and live close to each other. 14 Ron served in Korea. But when he 15 came back, his mind was still with the people 16 he had served with. And he was thinking and 17 thinking about how he could do more for the 18 people that had served that maybe hadn't 19 received the kind of welcome and support that 20 they needed when they came back. 21 So what Ron did is he, oh, starting 22 in the mid-'60s, maybe early '70s, he got 23 elected to our Westchester County Board of 24 legislators. And he was a very active 25 legislator on behalf really of everyone. And

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 because of his fine record, he was then 2 elected to the New York State Assembly in 3 1984. He and I won -- I won for the Senate, 4 he won for the Assembly in that same election. 5 And we had a good time campaigning together. 6 Well, once Ron got into state 7 government, he was seriously pursuing all his 8 interests in how best can I help veterans. 9 And within a few years, he became the chair of 10 the Assembly Standing Committee on Veterans 11 Affairs. And from that place he had a real 12 podium on which to develop legislation, find 13 out what was needed by veterans all around 14 this state. 15 And he did. He moved around the 16 state, everybody got to know him as the 17 spokesperson for veterans, trying to seek out 18 what was most needed by the veterans that had 19 come back and needed assistance. 20 So then, after that -- we still 21 have more -- he joined the administration, the 22 Governor's administration, and he became the 23 first Commissioner of Veterans Affairs in 24 New York State, and he did that for several 25 years. And I think Ron stepped down about two

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 or three years ago. 2 And from that podium, he just did 3 so much for the veterans in this state. He 4 opened four veterans homes all around the 5 state. He saw what needed to be done in 6 education, what needed to be done in housing. 7 He is about the best advocate, I think, for 8 veterans that New York State has ever had. 9 And so I am very, very proud to be 10 honoring Ron Tocci today, my dear friend and 11 also a great advocate for veterans. 12 (Applause.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 14 you, Senator Oppenheimer. 15 Senator Owen Johnson. 16 SENATOR OWEN JOHNSON: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 I'd like to associate my views with 19 those of others who have praised the honorees 20 today. We say they're here to be honored by 21 us, but actually we're honored by their 22 presence. And we're very pleased that you're 23 here. We're very appreciative of your 24 service. 25 My honoree today is Richard

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Tibbetts. He's a hero in his local community 2 of Lindenhurst. He led the Memorial Day 3 parade yesterday, the day before. And he 4 served, he was called to duty by the U.S. Army 5 in 1966, and he served until 1972 with the Big 6 Red One Division, 1st Infantry Division. 7 For his service in Vietnam, he was 8 awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with three 9 Bronze Stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign 10 Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Combat 11 Infantryman Badge, Sharpshooter Rifle Badge 12 and a Purple Heart. 13 Upon his return to his community of 14 Lindenhurst, he joined the Veterans of Foreign 15 Wars, and he has been the commanding officer 16 for almost 15 years. Everyone in the 17 community loves him. He serves in the Town of 18 Babylon Veterans CERT Committee where all the 19 veterans post, very active in that. And the 20 quality of his leadership is he was just 21 reelected again for commander. 22 As I said, he was the grand marshal 23 of our parade and we're very proud of him and 24 we're certainly happy that we have the 25 opportunity to congratulate and commend him

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 today. 2 Thank you, Richard. 3 (Applause.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 5 you Senator Johnson. 6 Senator Hannon. 7 SENATOR HANNON: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 First of all, I am thrilled to be 10 here today to hear of all of the exploits of 11 you heroes. It is just an amazing footnote to 12 having Memorial Day yesterday, and I 13 congratulate all of you. 14 I'm also thrilled to get a chance 15 to speak about a gentleman who's been 16 introducing me for over a decade at Memorial 17 Day ceremonies in Garden City, and that's John 18 C. Donovan. I wonder if you'd stand. 19 (Applause.) 20 SENATOR HANNON: Not only has 21 Mr. Donovan been active and been a hero -- and 22 I'll tell you about his medals -- but he has 23 been the spark for keeping alive honoring 24 those people who have served, died for our 25 country.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And I always think it's appropriate 2 to participate in the ceremonies because after 3 all, government had started, had made the 4 decision, had committed a draft and committed 5 people to war, and unless we so honor 6 everybody who served, we have not done a good 7 enough term as our job as public officials. 8 John Donovan is the recipient of 9 several military awards: The Bronze Star, 10 Vietnam Service Medal, National Defense 11 Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign 12 Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious 13 Unit Citation, Overseas Combat Bars, and a 14 Parachutist Badge, all in connection with 15 serving in combat in the Vietnam War, '68 and 16 '69. 17 He's also been the commander of the 18 William Bradford Post in Garden City, which 19 has embraced the parade, thousands of people 20 coming out every Memorial Day. And because 21 Long Island, the middle of Nassau County is 22 the heart of aviation -- Lindbergh took off 23 just a short distance away, we had Mitchell 24 Field, we had staging for all of World War I 25 right from the plains of Hempstead, and at the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 other end of my district we have Republic 2 Aircraft, Republic Airfield now, which has the 3 American Airpower Museum, where many flights 4 were flown yesterday in memory of parachutists 5 who had died. 6 Keeping the spirit, keeping the 7 honor alive, holding the tradition of service 8 to our country as a noble and just cause, we 9 honor John inducted into the Hall of Fame 10 today and honor all of you who are inducted 11 because you have done great things for our 12 country. 13 Thank you, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 (Applause.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 17 you, Senator Hannon. 18 Senator Saland. 19 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 Mr. President, like all of my 22 colleagues, I rise to express my gratitude and 23 appreciation to each and every one of these 24 distinguished members of our armed forces, 25 each of whom in their own way has contributed

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to bringing us to this very day. 2 Memorial Day certainly is a day 3 upon which we pause and we reflect, and I'm 4 sure each of these gentleman and ladies 5 perhaps reflect more deeply than the rest of 6 us on this particular Memorial holiday. But 7 we're here to recognize and add to our Hall of 8 Fame each of these distinguished veterans. 9 I would like to recognize Ralph 10 Kring. Ralph, if you might rise. 11 (Applause.) 12 SENATOR SALAND: I heard 13 reference to what has now become part of our 14 routine lexicon, which is "the Greatest 15 Generation," thanks to Tom Brokaw. And he is 16 part of that Greatest Generation. 17 And upon graduation from Hudson 18 High School in Columbia County in 1944, he 19 enlisted and served in the Pacific, being in 20 the Philippines and later stationed in Japan. 21 Went in as a private, obviously, and came out 22 as a sergeant. Has been involved for decades 23 with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, rising to 24 the position of post commander of the VFW in 25 the Town of Ghent.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And his contributions didn't stop 2 merely with his service to his country and to 3 his comrades in arms. He's contributed 4 mightily to his community. And while he's 5 been deeply involved with the VFW for decades 6 since his joining in the aftermath of World 7 War II, he and members of his family as well 8 are deeply involved in our community. 9 And I think it's important to note 10 that his wife, Florence, is here in the 11 gallery, I believe, and his children are here. 12 And his children served in the community, as 13 does their dad. They're certainly devoted to 14 his principles of participation and patriotism 15 and giving. 16 And in speaking with him a bit 17 earlier, his youngest son is currently 18 completing a tour in Iraq, where he is serving 19 as a sergeant, Sergeant Mark David Kring, and 20 he and his family look forward to the 21 conclusion of his one-year tour and his return 22 home within the next couple of weeks. 23 So God bless you for your service, 24 Ralph, God bless certainly your son for his, 25 and God bless all of you for your

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 contributions to this great nation. You 2 probably have done more for us than we can 3 ever do for you. And we welcome you and thank 4 you for participating in the ceremony. 5 (Applause.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 7 you, Senator Saland. 8 Senator Thompson. 9 SENATOR THOMPSON: Yes, it's with 10 great privilege and honor that today I 11 nominate Captain Matthew Ryan to the New York 12 State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame, from the 13 60th District. 14 Would you be kind enough to stand 15 up? 16 (Applause.) 17 SENATOR THOMPSON: I support the 18 nomination of Captain Matthew Ryan to the 19 New York State Veterans Hall of Fame for many 20 reasons. Captain Ryan has placed himself in 21 harm's way during several tours of duty, 22 including Iraq and Afghanistan. He stood 23 watch at Ground Zero following the 9/11 24 attacks. Because of his dedication and 25 leadership, Captain Ryan has been awarded the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Bronze Star, the Army Achievement Medal and 2 campaign ribbons for Iraq and Afghanistan. He 3 continues to serve his country as a commander 4 with the HHT 2nd 101st Calvary. 5 When Captain Ryan is not somewhere 6 in the world keeping America safe, he can be 7 found putting his leadership skills to use in 8 the classroom. He's a Spanish teacher at 9 Grover Cleveland High School in Buffalo, 10 New York. Ryan is an Army-certified linguist 11 who speaks over nine languages. 12 If we could put our hands together 13 one more time for him. 14 (Applause.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Thompson. 17 Senator Fuschillo. 18 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. I rise to join with my 20 colleagues to salute these distinguished men 21 and women. 22 Every single day the national 23 media, when we turn on the news at 6 o'clock, 24 show us or they try to show us what's wrong 25 with America. Let me introduce somebody to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you that makes America right, and that's 2 Marine veteran Robert Tom Riordan. 3 (Applause.) 4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Tom is a man 5 who has -- a very simple man who walks around 6 our community and has dedicated every single 7 day of his life to help veterans, whether it's 8 the VA hospital out in Northport or his own 9 post in Merrick, where he served as the 10 commander for a number of years. He's been a 11 member there for over 20 years. But every 12 single day he thinks about how he can make a 13 veteran's life better. 14 You know, yesterday I saw him at 15 his best, as chairman of the Memorial Day 16 parade in my hometown community in Merrick. 17 When I approached the parade, I saw him gather 18 his troops, and I looked at the men and women 19 with their battle scars and aging. Their 20 pants were so neatly pressed, their shoes were 21 shined, their jackets so neat, their ties were 22 perfect as they matched down the double yellow 23 line on my hometown on Main Street. They 24 didn't sway left or right, they kept going 25 down the street so perfectly. And the crowd

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of over 2,000 people gave them the salute, the 2 applause, the just recognition that they 3 deserve. 4 And, Tom, I've always respected and 5 admired you for your work, but most 6 importantly, I respect you as a human being 7 who's done so much for our community and so 8 much for this nation. 9 Tom is joined by his wife, 10 Margaret. They have three children and 11 10 grandchildren that occupy some of their 12 time when he's not in the command. 13 Tom, thank you and God bless you. 14 (Applause.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 16 you, Senator Fuschillo. 17 Senator Ranzenhofer. 18 SENATOR RANZENHOFER: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 I'm proud today to join with my 21 Senate colleagues in welcoming you all here to 22 the New York State Senate and also 23 congratulating you on your entry into the 24 Veterans Hall of Fame. 25 One of the things which is very

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 interesting as I sit here and listen to all 2 the other speakers -- and they've all been so 3 eloquent -- is that whether you served in 4 World War II or Korea or Vietnam, Iraq, 5 Afghanistan, is what you have done after your 6 military service as well. Obviously there are 7 many who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and 8 you've all gallantly served our country. But 9 after coming back to our country, your lives 10 did not stop there. You continued to serve 11 our community. 12 With that, I'd like to introduce my 13 nominee, who Senator Larkin also recognized 14 earlier, but I would like Dr. Patrick Welch to 15 stand up, please, again. 16 (Applause.) 17 SENATOR RANZENHOFER: Patrick, 18 thank you for joining us today. 19 I've known Patrick for a number of 20 years, and I think Dr. Welch really typifies 21 and exemplifies what each and every one of you 22 have done. And that is, after service -- and 23 Pat was badly injured in Vietnam. He was so 24 badly injured it took him two years to 25 rehabilitate from his wounds.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 But he carried on after that, he 2 raised a family -- married 42 years, four 3 children -- and one of his daughters, Deanna, 4 is up here today from the Capital Region; she 5 joins us. Deanna, thank you for joining us, 6 with your dad -- and went on to serve our 7 community. 8 And I first got to know Patrick 9 when he was recruited to serve as the Director 10 of Veterans Affairs for Erie County. And he 11 took a department that had been squandering, 12 to some effects, and really gave it a 13 tremendous amount of leadership and advocacy. 14 And one of the things that I always 15 remember in my encounters with Pat is we would 16 conduct veteran outreaches into the community. 17 And one of the things that Pat would say to 18 veterans who have come home, when they were 19 trying to find out what benefits were there 20 for them, it wasn't what you were entitled 21 to -- he did not view this as an entitlement, 22 but he viewed this as something that you 23 earned for your service. 24 And that is the way that he 25 approached his job with Veterans Affairs. He

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 was a real asset and still is a real asset to 2 the community and, going out, would never 3 hesitate to speak to any group to help any 4 veteran, any veteran at any time with any 5 problem that they had. 6 And he continued his advocacy. As 7 I was marching in my local Memorial Day 8 parades, I was having this discussion with 9 Pat, and Pat was down in Washington, D.C., 10 with the Rolling Thunder -- again, supporting 11 veterans in our nation's capital. So going 12 from Buffalo to Washington, D.C., back to 13 Buffalo, and then to be here today, Pat is 14 always reaching out to help fellow veterans. 15 And I'm very pleased that Patrick 16 is going to continue to serve our community 17 with a new position at Daemon College -- 18 again, helping veterans, helping them and 19 their families for all their service to the 20 community. 21 So again, Patrick, with your 22 colleagues, men and women, I want to thank you 23 for your heroic and valiant service to our 24 country and for your continued, continued 25 service to our community and all the veterans

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that serve. Thank you again for joining us 2 here today. 3 (Applause.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 5 you, Senator Ranzenhofer. 6 At this point we will pause briefly 7 during the consideration of this resolution so 8 that the chair may recognize Senator Peralta 9 for the purposes of a brief introduction of a 10 group from his district. 11 Senator Peralta. 12 SENATOR PERALTA: Thank you, 13 Mr. President. 14 I rise today to welcome the 15 students and faculty as well as Dr. Regina 16 Carroll, the superintendent and CEO, of the 17 Lexington School for the Deaf Center. They're 18 visiting us today in Albany. 19 And I wanted to just talk 20 briefly -- if you could please stand -- I 21 wanted to talk briefly about the Lexington 22 School for the Deaf Center. It has served the 23 broader deaf and hard-of-hearing community of 24 New York since 1964, over the last 146 years. 25 The Lexington School for the Deaf

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 and Center for the Deaf seeks to be an 2 exemplary education service and research 3 institution for the deaf and hard of hearing 4 in New York City and the country. It 5 specializes in many different areas, 6 collaborating with the deaf and hard of 7 hearing to realize their full potential in 8 both the deaf and hard-of-hearing worlds, 9 working with individuals and their families of 10 all ages, races, creeds, colors, ethnicities, 11 languages, sexual preferences and 12 socioeconomic situations; ensuring mastery of 13 expressive and receptive communication skills 14 by individuals at every point along the 15 spectrum; designing, constructing and using 16 evolving information technologies to the best 17 of their advantages; and letting them become 18 real leaders in our country. 19 Now, today they are here visiting 20 Albany, but they're also here because they're 21 celebrating the 11th Annual Basketball Classic 22 Tournament, where they play against the 23 New York State Assembly and the New York State 24 Senate. 25 So before we welcome them, I want

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to wish them much luck, much success in 2 everything that they do in their life, but I 3 would also wish them much luck and success 4 tonight and will ask them one thing: Please, 5 please, please take it easy on the 6 legislators, because they're not as young as 7 you are. Good luck tonight. 8 And please help me welcome the 9 Lexington School for the Deaf. 10 (Applause.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 12 you, Senator Peralta. 13 Thank you to our special guests who 14 join us today, and good luck this evening. 15 Returning to the resolution at 16 hand, Senator Hassell-Thompson. 17 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 18 you, Mr. President. I rise to add my voice to 19 those who are here today to honor those who 20 have fought in all the wars and who have done 21 so for the sake of freedom and democracy. 22 I would just like to quickly and 23 briefly enter the name of my candidate for the 24 Hall of Fame in the person of Jerry Wayne 25 Williams, if he will stand.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (Applause.) 2 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Jerry 3 served in Southeast Asia for over two years. 4 He served in the United States Air Force, on 5 the Advisory Team 2-2. He fought firefighting 6 and rescue techniques to the Vietnam National 7 Air Force. 8 When Jerry came home from Vietnam, 9 he like many of the soldiers were not honored. 10 It was not considered an honorable war. For a 11 very long time, Jerry did not want to accept 12 honors and was embarrassed and uncomfortable. 13 Three years ago, he began to help 14 me put together a ceremony commemorating Pearl 15 Harbor Day. And each year that breakfast has 16 grown larger and larger. And each year he has 17 begun to come out and speak, and in the 18 speaking he has begun to heal. That's a 19 process many of you are continuing to go 20 through and probably will for all of your 21 lives. 22 I needed to honor Jerry today 23 because I needed him to know that serving 24 honorably is what's important. Not what the 25 war is called, but what the service is. And

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to him and to all of you who have served today 2 and who are being honored today, I thank you, 3 I thank him for the democracy that allows me 4 to raise my voice on this floor in the name of 5 civil rights, in the name of human rights, and 6 in the name of human dignity. 7 And thank you, Jerry, and thank all 8 of you for your service today. 9 (Applause.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 11 you, Senator Hassell-Thompson. 12 Senator Marcellino. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 Like all of us in this chamber, 16 this past weekend I attended several parades 17 and functions throughout the district. At one 18 function in the Town of Huntington, which I 19 represent in Suffolk County, there was a 20 wreath-laying this past Sunday morning at the 21 various monuments commemorating the different 22 wars that this country has participated in, 23 honoring the veterans who served. 24 One of the councilmen stood up and 25 gave a speech and talked about a friend of his

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 who was discussing a job opportunity that he 2 was interested in. And it went something 3 like: "Well, you know, if they offer me the 4 right amount of pay and I get the good travel 5 expense account and I get my choice of a good 6 place to live and I get a bonus and the 7 vacation time is good, I may consider the 8 job." 9 And I began to think about the 10 veterans who, when they received the call from 11 Selective Service or chose to volunteer on 12 their own, I wonder how many of you men and 13 women thought about the pay that you were 14 going to get, thought about the vacation time 15 you were going to be given and all those great 16 places that you were going to be sent to, and 17 how many of you were offered your choice of 18 theater in which to serve your country. I see 19 from the looks on your faces, not too many. 20 Because that's the kind of 21 individuals -- you didn't do it for the 22 vacation time. You certainly didn't do it for 23 the pay. And when called, you served. You 24 put yourselves in harm's way because there was 25 a greater calling. This country was in need,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 and you went to do your part. And you did it 2 so well, and your comrades in arms have done 3 it so well over the years that the freedoms 4 that our forefathers -- and, according to my 5 wife, our foremothers -- have stood for that 6 they put in writing in our Declaration of 7 Independence and our great Constitution, the 8 only constitution, written constitution of its 9 kind in the world that has survived, not been 10 thrown out and thrown out and thrown out by 11 every election or every circumstance going 12 down the pike, like in many countries -- you 13 did your jobs so well that we have those great 14 freedoms. 15 And, as so many of my colleagues 16 have said, that we can stand here and talk. 17 We have the right of free religious beliefs. 18 We have the right to say anything we please. 19 We have the right to challenge our elected 20 officials. As a matter of fact, it's an 21 obligation to do just that, to challenge. 22 You and your colleagues, men and 23 women who put it on the line for this nation, 24 preserved and protected those freedoms. 25 You've maintained them. This nation can never

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 do enough for you, can never say thank you 2 enough for those great achievements. It's not 3 about the medals. It's not about the pay, 4 obviously. It's about protecting this great 5 nation and what it stands for. 6 You did that. We will be ever 7 grateful for that. We will never be able to 8 say thank you enough for that. And your 9 sacrifice that you've made for this great 10 country is legend, and we'll keep it in our 11 hearts forever. 12 I thank you for what you've done. 13 I thank you for all the community work that 14 you continue to do. And may God bless each 15 and every one of you and your families. 16 Thank you, Mr. President. 17 (Applause.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 19 you, Senator Marcellino. 20 Senator McDonald. 21 SENATOR McDONALD: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 My candidate, Thomas Sharpe, from 24 Troy, New York -- U.S. Marine, Korean War -- 25 couldn't be here today. His wife called me

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 this morning, and he was ill. 2 He is an amazing individual, like 3 so many of you folks. I see Ruben Pratts over 4 there, who's a friend of my candidate. A 5 fellow from Troy and a fellow from Brooklyn. 6 God bless you. 7 Mr. Sharpe is the head or was the 8 commander and now is currently the treasurer 9 for the National Purple Heart Foundation. A 10 young man of 17, he went in the military. 11 Going to Korea with the 1st Marine Division, 12 he had most of his chest shot off. 13 He came back. He came back 14 strongly. It took him a while, but he came 15 back to live a productive life, to work many 16 years, to raise a family and not to forget the 17 community that he came from or to forget the 18 community of veterans that he loved so much. 19 Whether it be his community or the veterans' 20 causes, he is an illustration of what's good 21 about these folks. 22 It's a special honor for me, as an 23 Army Vietnam veteran, to look at you folks, 24 the inspiration all over our state. All I can 25 tell you is I'm humbled and I'm so happy that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the New York State Senate has this program and 2 that we all are so appreciative and respectful 3 of what you've done for us. 4 And as I tell the crowds that I 5 deal with on Memorial Days -- and it's 6 especially significant for a Vietnam veteran 7 to say this -- is that the men and women who 8 serve us now and served us in the past do it 9 for one reason. They love us, and we love you 10 back. 11 Thank you. 12 (Applause.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 14 you, Senator McDonald. 15 Senator Flanagan. 16 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. I know the hour is getting 18 late, but I wanted to get up and add my voice 19 to my colleagues'. 20 And it's fascinating to listen to 21 the stories and biographies, and I'll start 22 with this. You gentlemen and ladies are a 23 model of patience, civility, good humor. 24 Sometimes those are things that are lacking in 25 the chamber that we work in.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 But I want to ask all of you 2 collectively a favor. I would like you to 3 reenlist effective immediately -- 4 (Laughter.) 5 SENATOR FLANAGAN: -- because we 6 need a heck of a lot of help with our state 7 budget, and you look like the right group that 8 could come in and take care of all kinds of 9 different things that we need. 10 Yeah, see, Mr. Pratts' ready to go. 11 The budget's a lot harder than that parade, 12 though I know you did a great job. 13 My nominee here today is a 14 gentleman from Hauppauge, Edward Borowski. 15 And I just want to briefly talk about him. 16 (Applause.) 17 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. Borowski, 18 it's great to see you here. He's joined by a 19 lot of members of his family, including my new 20 friend Amanda, who is here enjoying her 21 grandfather's day. 22 And I must add, too, that 23 Mr. Borowski was nominated by his son Paul. 24 And in expressing why he thought his father 25 would be a good nominee, first of all he just

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 said that "I'm very proud to know that he's my 2 father, and we're very proud of his 3 patriotism." 4 But Mr. Borowski served in the 5 United States Navy from 1942 to 1945, 6 including service on the battleship Texas. 7 And many like many of my 8 colleagues, including Senator Ranzenhofer who 9 referenced this, it's your service after 10 military time that continues to be exemplary. 11 And I try and instill in my own children a 12 sense of volunteerism that I think is lacking 13 in many of our young men and women today. 14 But Mr. Borowski has acquitted 15 himself quite well in many community endeavors 16 for decades, decades. He has established a 17 scholarship in memory of his wife for the last 18 10 years, extolling people who give exemplary 19 community service. But I'm going to focus in 20 on one thing that he's done in particular, 21 which I think speaks to all of you and to him 22 individually. 23 When we talk about veterans, one of 24 the better places in the State of New York is 25 the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Brook. It's a very well run facility. It is 2 a state facility and it is well run because we 3 have incredible volunteers like Mr. Borowski. 4 Sixteen years he's been volunteering his time 5 there. And I can tell you, quite candidly, 6 today he was lobbying me, telling me they need 7 money for new elevators. He was explaining 8 why, and he was unabashed in his request. But 9 it was paralleled by his sincerity. 10 So I am very proud to join my 11 colleagues and very proud to have a 12 constituent here who I would like to honor, 13 along with everyone else today. 14 Mr. Borowski, thank you for your 15 service. Congratulations. 16 (Applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 18 you, Senator Flanagan. 19 Senator Dilan. 20 SENATOR DILAN: Thank you very 21 much, Mr. President. 22 First I rise to commend Senator 23 Eric Adams and Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins 24 for having the vision and putting this event 25 together.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And secondly, to all the veterans, 2 I want to say thank you for your service and 3 for keeping and making America strong. And 4 God bless you all of you. 5 And lastly, I will be very brief 6 because I know that my Hall of Famer has a 7 6 o'clock train to catch. My constituent and 8 Hall of Famer is Sergeant "Rodeo" Rich 9 Washington, if you'd like to stand up. 10 (Applause.) 11 SENATOR DILAN: He served in the 12 United States Army and served two years in 13 Pusan, Korea, from April 1965 to April 1967. 14 And Sergeant Washington was also in charge of 15 the transport unit at the Port of Pusan. He 16 had about 20 military individuals under his 17 supervision and about 200 civilian career 18 staff there. 19 And I want to thank you for your 20 service during the Vietnam era and also just 21 to say thank you for continuing in all the 22 organizations that are veteran-related. 23 And he is also an organizer of the 24 Veterans Day Parade on Fifth Avenue, which is 25 about 650,000 strong. And also he has

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 indicated to me that, for the first time, this 2 year the Veterans Day Parade will be 3 televised, so we all can also enjoy it. 4 So God bless you, and all of you, 5 and thank you very much. 6 (Applause.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 8 you, Senator Dilan. 9 Senator Sampson. 10 SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you very 11 much, Mr. President. 12 I just want to rise and thank my 13 colleagues Senator Adams and Senator Andrea 14 Stewart-Cousins for this resolution. 15 And I want to commend these 16 veterans for being inducted in the New York 17 State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame. 18 And I just have to thank you for 19 the service that you have given to this 20 country. Thank you for the sacrifice that you 21 went through to make sure that we in this 22 chamber enjoy the freedoms that America has to 23 offer. It's people like yourself, veterans 24 like yourself who have given us the safety and 25 most of all the security that we need not only

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in the past and present but also in the 2 future. 3 So I just rise here today to just 4 thank you from the bottom of my heart for all 5 that you have done for us and continue to do 6 for us. And we just have to remember the way 7 we honor our veterans is to not forget about 8 them, but to provide you the same safety and 9 security that you provided us during your 10 years of service. So when you come home, we 11 have to reciprocate the same, making sure that 12 what you did for us to give us that security 13 does not go in vain. 14 Once again, thank you very much, 15 and may God continue to bless you, your 16 family, but most of all may God continue to 17 bless America. 18 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 19 (Applause.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 21 you, Senator Sampson. 22 Senator Onorato. 23 SENATOR ONORATO: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. I rise too to join my 25 colleagues in congratulating the honorees

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 here. 2 As a member -- every member of my 3 family is a veteran. My father was a veteran 4 of World War I, my older brother, my two 5 brothers older than me were in the Army, and 6 two were in the Navy, and I was in the Army 7 during the Korea. 8 And I heard all of your resumes 9 that were placed upon you, and I'm truly 10 amazed of your heroic feats in deservedly 11 becoming Hall of Famers. It's an honor well 12 deserved. 13 And I really want to say a special 14 thank you to one of my former colleagues from 15 when we both served together in the Veterans 16 Committee. Ron Tocci was the chairman of the 17 Veterans Committee, and I was the ranking 18 member in the Senate, and we worked very, very 19 closely to make sure that the veterans' rights 20 were observed and taken care of. And Ron is 21 still continuing in that capacity. 22 And again, congratulations and God 23 bless you all. 24 (Applause.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you, Senator Onorato. 2 Senator Young. 3 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 I wish to extend my deepest, most 6 heartfelt gratitude to all of our veterans for 7 your service and your sacrifice on behalf of 8 our great country. 9 And my veteran who's being 10 recognized today is Frank Tracz of Olean. 11 Frank is a World War II veteran. He actually 12 served during the Battle of the Bulge, and on 13 December 16, 1944, he was involved in an epic 14 battle. 15 Now, if you know anything about 16 history, the Battle of the Bulge was the 17 largest battle fought by the Americans during 18 World War II. The Americans lost 81,000 men. 19 And it was fought over the winter months from 20 1944 to 1945. It was the last major offensive 21 against the Nazis during World War II. The 22 Nazis and Hitler were trying to divide the 23 Allied troops, they were trying to split them 24 up as they were driving toward Germany. 25 And Frank was there. Frank was

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 there, and he actually ended up being captured 2 by the Germans and spent five months in a 3 concentration camp in Germany. 4 You know, it's very urgent, I 5 believe, every single day that we thank our 6 veterans, but that we especially thank our 7 World War II veterans. They used to be 8 16 million strong. We are losing a thousand 9 World War II veterans every single day. It's 10 estimated that there are only about 2 to 11 2½ million of them left in this country. And 12 that makes the case that we need to say thank 13 you to them every single day, and we need to 14 preserve their histories. 15 You know, what really struck me 16 yesterday as I took part in Memorial Day 17 ceremonies is that behind every person who 18 served there's a human story, there's a story 19 that needs to be told. Your stories are being 20 told today, and we're so grateful for your 21 service, as I said. 22 But we need to make sure that we 23 don't just think about people who serve our 24 great country as statistics. You know, 25 oftentimes we say, well, so many served, so

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 many were wounded, so many died. There are 2 human stories behind every single person, and 3 we need to focus on that. 4 You know, Frank Tracz was part of 5 that Greatest Generation, and he came back to 6 Olean and he did what all of the veterans did 7 at that time. They rolled up their sleeves 8 and they built our country. And that's what 9 Frank did. Frank actually came back to Olean 10 and he opened a restaurant that was very 11 successful. 12 So we thank him for that, we thank 13 all of you for that, for all that you've done 14 for our country and to protect our freedom. 15 Thank you. 16 (Applause.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 18 you, Senator Young. 19 The question is on the resolution 20 All those in favor please signify by saying 21 aye. 22 (Response of "Aye.") 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 24 Opposed, nay. 25 (No response.)

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 2 resolution is adopted. 3 (Standing ovation.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Adams has indicated that he would like 6 to open the resolution to cosponsorship. Any 7 member wishing not to sign on as a cosponsor 8 of the resolution should notify the desk. 9 Senator Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 11 can you please recognize Senator Libous. He 12 has some guests in the gallery today. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: One 14 second, Senator Libous. 15 If we could just get a bit of order 16 in the house, please, as our special guests 17 leave. 18 Senator Libous. 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 I have some special guests in the 22 gallery, and I'm going to ask them to please 23 stand. I'm going to ask Ian, Travis, Jordan, 24 Jacob and Andrew to stand, please. 25 These outstanding young individuals

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 are 13 years old. They're from the Owego 2 Apalachin Middle School, and they recently 3 competed against almost a thousand other bands 4 and school music programs throughout the 5 country on VH1, the national Battle of the 6 Bands contest, and they came in second. 7 And what makes them amazing, which 8 ties into what the veterans do that we're 9 honoring today, is many of the events that 10 they do for the community. And for instance, 11 they do a tradition in serving the community 12 by partnering with Angels Over Iraq and 13 Afghanistan, a nonprofit organization -- 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Libous, pardon the interruption. It's 16 a bit difficult to hear. 17 Gentlemen, if we could keep the 18 noise down just a bit, Senator Libous has some 19 special guests in the balcony that he's 20 attempting to introduce. 21 Thank you. Thank you, Senator 22 Libous. 23 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 As I was saying, our young people

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 up here, one of the things that they do is 2 they serve the community by partnering with 3 Angels over Iraq and Afghanistan, a nonprofit 4 organization which collects food and other 5 goods for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. 6 They've also worked with Relay for Life, Rock 7 Out for Polio. 8 And, Mr. President, I think one of 9 the things that makes this group of young 10 people -- they're the group Hover -- so 11 special is that they're also excellent 12 students. Their grades are outstanding and 13 extremely good. And while they take the time 14 for their musical talent, the whole concept of 15 what they were doing was to promote music 16 within our schools. 17 So I am very proud of them; they 18 come from my district. They're a talented 19 group of young men. And I wish them the very 20 best. And they serve as a role model for 21 others of the teenage group that can move 22 forward and show that our young people are 23 very much on the ball today, their academic 24 achievements are outstanding, and certainly 25 their musical ability is just superb.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Let's give them a big round of 2 applause. 3 (Applause.) 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 5 you, Senator Libous. 6 A very special welcome to our young 7 musicians who are joining us this afternoon. 8 Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 10 believe there's a resolution at the desk by 11 Senator Peralta. I ask that the title of the 12 resolution be read and move for its immediate 13 adoption. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 15 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 16 privileged and submitted by the office of the 17 Temporary President? 18 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 19 Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 21 Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 23 Peralta, legislative resolution welcoming the 24 students and faculty of the Lexington School 25 for the Deaf/Center for the Deaf as they visit

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Albany, New York, on June 1, 2010. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 3 question is on the resolution. All in favor 4 signify by saying aye. 5 (Response of "Aye.") 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 7 Opposed, nay. 8 (No response.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 10 resolution is adopted. 11 Senator Peralta had previously 12 introduced the guests a few moments ago. He 13 has also indicated he would like to open the 14 resolution for cosponsorship to the entire 15 house. Any Senator wishing not to cosponsor 16 this resolution should notify the desk. 17 Senator Klein. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 19 believe there's a resolution at the desk by 20 Senator Savino. I ask that the title of the 21 resolution be read and move for its immediate 22 adoption. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 24 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 25 privileged and submitted by the office of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Temporary President? 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 3 Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 7 Savino, legislative resolution honoring 8 Outgoing President Andrew J. Windsor upon the 9 occasion of his designation as a recipient of 10 the 2010 Civic Award by the Bay Ridge 11 Community Council. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 question is on the resolution. All in favor 14 signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 17 Opposed, nay. 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 20 resolution is adopted. 21 Senator Klein. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 23 believe there's another resolution at the desk 24 by Senator Savino. I ask that the title of 25 the resolution be read and move for its

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 immediate adoption. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 4 privileged and submitted by the office of the 5 Temporary President? 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 7 Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 Secretary will read. 10 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 11 Savino, legislative resolution honoring Edmund 12 J. Moderacki upon the occasion of his 13 designation as a recipient of the 2010 Civic 14 Award by the Bay Ridge Community Council. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 16 question is on the resolution. All in favor 17 signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 20 Opposed, nay. 21 (No response.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 23 resolution is adopted. 24 Senator Klein. 25 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Savino has another resolution at the 2 desk. I ask that the title of the resolution 3 be read and move for its immediate adoption. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 5 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 6 privileged and submitted by the office of the 7 Temporary President? 8 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 9 Mr. President. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 11 Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 13 Savino, legislative resolution honoring 14 Maureen F. Stramka upon the occasion of her 15 designation as a recipient of the 2010 Civic 16 Award by the Bay Ridge Community Council. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 question is on the resolution. All in favor 19 signify by saying aye. 20 (Response of "Aye.") 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Opposed, nay. 23 (No response.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 25 resolution is adopted.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 3 believe there's a resolution at the desk by 4 Senator Maziarz. I ask that the title of the 5 resolution be read and move for its immediate 6 adoption. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 8 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed 9 privileged and submitted by the office of the 10 Temporary President? 11 SENATOR KLEIN: 12 Yes, it has, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 14 Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 16 Maziarz, legislative resolution honoring 17 Barclay Elementary School upon the occasion of 18 its designation as a recipient of the 2010 19 School Library of the Year Award by the 20 Rochester Regional Library Council. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 22 question is on the resolution. All in favor 23 signify by saying aye. 24 (Response of "Aye.") 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Opposed, nay. 2 (No response.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 4 resolution is adopted. 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 7 move to recall Senate Resolution Number 4175, 8 by Senator Foley, which was previously adopted 9 by this house on March 9th. I ask that the 10 title of the resolution be read and allow 11 Senator Foley to speak on his resolution. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 Secretary will read. 14 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Foley, 15 Legislative Resolution Number 4175, commending 16 George Bloom upon the occasion of 40 years of 17 distinguished service to Local 1104, 18 Communication Workers of America, as he is 19 honored by the Long Island Federation of Labor 20 on March 4, 2010. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 22 Senator Foley, on the resolution. 23 SENATOR FOLEY: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 I rise today to also salute George

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Bloom for his great work over these past 2 40 years in the labor movement. 3 George Bloom began his membership 4 in the labor movement at the age of 16, when 5 he joined the Bakery and Confectionary Workers 6 Union and worked in a bagel shop. At the same 7 time, he took a job at McDonald's and, true to 8 form, attempted to organize a union at his 9 particular store. And after the young union 10 leader threatened a walkout, the employer only 11 then began to treat the workers with respect 12 and dignity. 13 In 1970, George Bloom began his 14 career at New York Telephone as an installer, 15 and in less than a year he was asked to become 16 a shop steward. In July 1971, George served 17 as a picket captain when the Communication 18 Workers of America went out on strike for 19 seven months. He later served as a picket 20 captain during the historic 32-week strike 21 against NYNEX in 1989. 22 George has continued to remain 23 active in the Communication Workers of America 24 Local 1104, most recently serving as its very 25 able president. Currently George is also on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the executive board of the Long Island 2 Federation of Labor. He was recently honored 3 by that particular organization. 4 And we in the State Senate here 5 today also want to thank him for his service, 6 both in the labor movement as well as in a 7 variety of local charities. George Bloom is 8 with us here today in the gallery. We'd like 9 to welcome him here today and congratulate him 10 for his years of service both to our country 11 as well as to the labor union. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 14 you, Senator Foley. 15 Senator Craig Johnson, on the 16 resolution. 17 SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON: Thank you 18 very much, Mr. President. 19 I just want to join my good friend 20 Senator Foley in congratulating George Bloom 21 on this award, and I thank you, Senator Foley, 22 for sponsoring this resolution. 23 George has been an outstanding 24 advocate on behalf of the CWA for a number of 25 years and is an important leader of labor on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Long Island. 2 So, George, I congratulate you on 3 this award. And, Senator Foley, I thank you 4 for sponsoring the resolution. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 6 you, Senator Johnson. 7 And welcome, Mr. Bloom, to the 8 Senate chamber. This resolution was 9 unanimously adopted on March 9th. 10 Senator Klein. 11 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 12 this time I move to recall Senate Resolution 13 Number 5544, by Senator Hassell-Thompson, 14 which was previously adopted on May 26th. I 15 ask that the title of the resolution be read 16 and move for its immediate adoption and allow 17 Senator Hassell-Thompson to speak on her 18 resolution. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 20 Secretary will read. 21 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 22 Hassell-Thompson, Legislative Resolution 23 Number 5544, memorializing Governor David A. 24 Paterson to proclaim April 2010 as Parkinson's 25 Disease Awareness Month in the State of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 New York. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 3 Senator Hassell-Thompson, on the resolution. 4 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 5 you, Mr. President. I appreciate you 6 recalling this resolution to give me an 7 opportunity to speak. 8 One of the things that's very 9 interesting about Parkinson's disease is that 10 it is a progressive disorder of the nervous 11 system that affects movement. And there are 12 over 50,000 to 60,000 new cases of Parkinson's 13 disease that are diagnosed each year, adding 14 to the 1 million people who are currently 15 living with this disease. 16 While greater strides have been 17 made in the battle against Parkinson's, there 18 is no cure. It's a substantial health problem 19 in the State of New York and throughout the 20 United States, and it strikes 50 percent more 21 men than women, with the average age of the 22 onset being age 60. 23 The resolution talks extensively 24 about many things, but the main thing, the 25 reason that we're asking Governor Paterson to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 call attention and create an awareness month 2 is because this is a disease that's very quiet 3 and silent in its onset. And with the numbers 4 of citizens every day who are becoming 5 affected, we need to raise the awareness, 6 raise the banners high in support of those who 7 live with and work with this degenerating and 8 progressive disorder. 9 So thank you, Mr. President, for 10 giving me the opportunity to recall this 11 resolution. 12 And there are a couple of employees 13 that work for us here in the State of New York 14 who are stricken with this disease but 15 continue to work every day. And so my hat 16 goes off to them for their dedication and 17 commitment to a work that is important to them 18 with a disease that is debilitating more and 19 more every day. 20 Thank you, Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Thank 22 you, Senator Hassell-Thompson. 23 As Senator Klein indicated, this 24 resolution was previously adopted. 25 Senator Klein.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 2 this time can we please go to a reading of the 3 calendar. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 5 Secretary will proceed with a reading of the 6 noncontroversial calendar. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 74, by Senator Klein, Senate Print 2490E, an 9 act to amend the Correction Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 11 the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect on the 60th day. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 15 the roll. 16 (The Secretary called the roll.) 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 87, by Senator Perkins, Senate Print 6248, an 22 act to amend the Election Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 24 the last section. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 2 bill is laid aside. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 188, by Member of the Assembly O'Donnell, 5 Assembly Print Number 5537A, an act to amend 6 the Penal Law and others. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 8 the last section. 9 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 11 bill is laid aside. 12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 13 196, by Senator Savino, Senate Print 2311D, an 14 act to amend the Labor Law, the Executive Law 15 and the Workers' Compensation Law. 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 bill is laid aside. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 365, by Senator L. Krueger, Senate Print 21 3584B, an act to amend the Election Law. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 23 the last section. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill is laid aside. 2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 3 366, by Senator Addabbo, Senate Print 5447C, 4 an act to amend the Election Law. 5 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 7 bill is laid aside. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 517, by Senator Onorato, Senate Print 2248A, 10 an act to amend the Labor Law. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 bill is laid aside. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 524, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 6846, an 16 act to amend the Executive Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 18 the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: 25 Announce the results.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 2 the negative on Calendar Number 524 are 3 Senators O. Johnson, LaValle, Marcellino, 4 Skelos and Young. Also Senator Golden. 5 Ayes, 55. Nays, 6. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 528, by Senator Addabbo, Senate Print 2866A, 10 an act to amend the Election Law. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 bill is laid aside. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 560, by Senator C. Kruger -- 16 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill 17 aside for the day, please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 bill is laid aside for the day. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 565, by Senator Breslin, Senate Print 6763, an 22 act to amend Chapter 405 of the Laws of 2005 23 amending the Tax Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: There 25 is a home-rule message at the desk.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 5 the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 9 bill is passed. 10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 11 566, by Senator Thompson, Senate Print 6848, 12 an act to amend the Public -- 13 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 15 bill is laid aside. 16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 17 572, by Member of the Assembly Weinstein, 18 Assembly Print Number 8392C, an act to amend 19 the General Obligations Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 31. This 23 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 25 the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 574, by Senator Aubertine, Senate Print 7570, 7 an act to amend the Domestic Relations Law and 8 the Executive Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 581, by Senator L. Krueger, Senate Print 4784, 21 an act to amend the Civil -- 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 24 bill is laid aside. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 603, by Senator Oppenheimer, Senate Print 2 7635, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 3 Law. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 13 bill is passed. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 629, by Senator Schneiderman, Senate Print 16 7096A -- 17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay it aside. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The 19 bill is laid aside. 20 Senator Klein, that completes the 21 reading of the noncontroversial calendar. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 23 can we please go to a reading of the 24 controversial calendar. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT VALESKY: The

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Secretary will ring the bells. 2 Senators are asked to proceed to 3 the chamber for the reading of the 4 controversial calendar. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 The Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 87, by Senator Perkins, Senate Print 6248, an 9 act to amend the Election Law. 10 SENATOR LIBOUS: Read the last 11 section. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Hearing no debate, the debate is closed. 14 The Secretary will ring the bells. 15 Members of the Republican minority, 16 we haven't called a vote yet, so you're a 17 little ahead of yourselves. Just waving to 18 say hi. 19 Read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 19. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Announce the results. 2 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 3 the negative on Calendar Number 87 are 4 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 5 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 6 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 7 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 8 Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, Robach, 9 Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner and 10 Young. 11 Ayes, 32. Nays, 29. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 The bill is passed. 14 I remind members that we're on the 15 controversial calendar. We have a lot of 16 bills on the controversial calendar. It will 17 go a lot more smoothly if members stay in 18 their seats for the controversial calendar. 19 The Secretary will read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 188, by Member of the Assembly O'Donnell, 22 Assembly Print Number 5537A, an act to amend 23 the Penal Law and others. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Read the last 25 section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 Debate is closed. The Secretary will please 3 ring the bell. 4 Read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 Senator Padavan, why do you rise? 12 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President, 13 is there a rule that during this period of 14 voting a member should be in their seat? Is 15 there such a rule in this house? 16 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 17 Let me consult the rules, Senator Padavan. 18 Senator Klein. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 20 can we please lay the bill aside for the day. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 The roll call is withdrawn. The bill is laid 23 aside for the day. 24 The Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 196, by Senator Savino, Senate Print -- 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator LaValle, why do you rise? 4 SENATOR LaVALLE: Senator Padavan 5 asked a question. I didn't hear the chair 6 rule on his question whether a member had to 7 be in their seat when voting. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Padavan or Senator LaValle, are you 10 making a point of order? 11 SENATOR LaVALLE: Yes. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Senator LaValle, I will consult the rules as 14 we are reading the roll for the next bill and 15 then I'll make sure I get you that answer. 16 SENATOR LaVALLE: Yes, thank you. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 The Secretary will read. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 196, by Senator Savino, Senate Print 2311D, an 21 act to amend the Labor Law, the Executive Law 22 and the Workers' Compensation Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Senator Lanza, why do you rise? 25 SENATOR LANZA: On the bill.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 Senator Lanza, on the bill. 3 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you, 4 Mr. President. 5 First let me say that I know that 6 domestic workers across this state are some of 7 the finest, hardest-working and most 8 compassionate neighbors we have here. And I 9 am fully supportive of all efforts to ensure 10 that domestic workers are able to work with 11 dignity, fairness, and in a safe environment. 12 And I very much wanted to stand 13 here today in support of legislation that 14 would ensure that those protections exist. In 15 fact, I worked with the sponsor of the bill, 16 Senator Savino, and I commend her for her 17 efforts and leadership here. But as the bill 18 stands, I have grave concerns with respect to 19 certain provisions. 20 I don't think we should lump all 21 employer/employee situations together. My 22 concern here is with respect to situations 23 involving nannies and babysitters, situations 24 involving children and families. Families and 25 homes are not businesses. And I fully believe

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that we can support the rights that we seek to 2 afford domestic workers in a way that 3 recognizes those differences. 4 And so you can understand where I'm 5 coming from, I want you to know that it is my 6 strongest belief that there is nothing more 7 sacred than the family and nothing more sacred 8 than the relationship between a parent and a 9 child. I will support a domestic workers' 10 rights bill as long as it does not contradict 11 and trump parental rights. And I think in 12 some respects this legislation does. 13 Let me tell you what I mean. This 14 bill would require -- and I believe create a 15 cause of action, because there is civil and 16 criminal liability here -- would require a 17 parent in certain circumstances to explain, 18 either to a government agency or someone else, 19 why they seek to immediately terminate an 20 employee that works alone in their home with 21 their babies. 22 I don't think a parent should ever 23 have to explain to anyone why they seek to end 24 that relationship immediately. I believe in 25 parents' intuition when to comes to their

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 children. And let me go a step further I 2 especially believe in a woman's, a mother's 3 intuition. A mother should never be forced to 4 question that intuition, and I think this 5 legislation would make that happen. 6 Yes, I understand and I thank the 7 sponsor Senator Savino for attempting to 8 address this concern by changing the language 9 requiring that only in the absence of good 10 faith would that liability exist. But I'm 11 still gravely concerned that we require 12 anything, any explanation. Who is to 13 determine when good faith is achieved? To 14 whom does the mother or the father need to 15 explain the facts underlying their conclusion 16 that they've arrived at good faith? 17 I think it's a very dangerous 18 precedent. We should never, never ignore a 19 mother's intuition. Now, I understand and 20 I've heard the terrible stories of 21 mistreatment when it comes to workers. And 22 that's why I want to be here in support of 23 legislation that does something about that. 24 And we can. We can accomplish that in a way 25 that appreciates and recognizes the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 distinctions between a babysitting situation 2 and another situation. 3 We can have different rules, maybe 4 even only slightly different rules when it 5 applies to babysitters and nannies. Because 6 for a parent, a child's safety comes first. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator Diaz, why do you rise? 9 SENATOR DIAZ: Would Senator 10 Lanza accept a question from me? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Senator Lanza -- Senator Diaz, do you wish to 13 ask Senator Lanza to yield for a question? 14 SENATOR DIAZ: Yes, sir. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Senator Lanza, do you yield to a question from 17 Senator Diaz? 18 SENATOR LANZA: I'd be glad to as 19 soon as I'm finished. And I'll be wrapping up 20 briefly. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 So, Senator Diaz, please wait till Senator 23 Lanza completes, and then he will yield. 24 Senator Lanza. 25 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Now, there are many horror stories, 2 as I said, with respect to mistreatment. 3 So -- and again, I preface my statement by 4 talking about what I believe to be the one of 5 the greatest, most compassionate workforces 6 out there. But there are exceptions, and 7 that's what I'm concerned about. 8 You've probably all seen those 9 horror stories concerning abuse of children in 10 the home, those undercover videos where we see 11 the terrible mistreatment by a very few, a 12 small minority of those who have been given 13 the great responsibility of watching another's 14 children. Let me tell you how that comes 15 about. 16 When does a parent put an 17 undercover video in their child's nursery when 18 they go to work? When does a parent take the 19 step to put a video camera in a peephole in 20 their own home when they go to work? In 21 almost every situation, it is based upon the 22 feeling of a mother, a woman's intuition when 23 it comes to her child. 24 Now, we could talk about good faith 25 all we want. I could tell you that in a court

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of law good faith needs to be proven with 2 facts. Questions would go along evidentiary 3 lines, questions like did you see abuse, did 4 you hear abuse, are there black-and-blues, 5 what's the evidence. 6 But let me tell you the evidence in 7 the majority of the cases where a mother took 8 the draconian step to put a video camera in 9 her own home. It was a feeling, a look in the 10 eye, of either her child or the employee, a 11 feeling, a parent's intuition which caused 12 them to take the further step of trying to 13 confirm that intuition. And we all have seen 14 the horrible videos to know that more often 15 than not, in my opinion, a mother's -- a 16 parent's, but especially a mother's intuition 17 is usually right. 18 And so while I understand that this 19 situation could be avoided, a parent might 20 have that feeling and decide to ignore, at 21 their own peril, civil liability, criminal 22 liability. They might decide to ignore the 23 provisions of this legislation. Or they may 24 say, "You're fired, but I'll pay you for two 25 more weeks, even though you're not here and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I'll have to pay someone else to watch my 2 baby." 3 And you know, I've heard the 4 stories too that these are wealthy people 5 taking advantage of not-so-wealthy people. 6 Let me disabuse you all of that notion. Let 7 me talk about the people in my district who 8 employ nannies in their homes. They do so 9 precisely because they are not wealthy. They 10 do so because in order to provide for their 11 families, to pay the bills, they need to go 12 out and get two jobs and three jobs and four 13 jobs. That's why they do it. 14 So I guess what I'm saying is we 15 can do this, we can do it better, we can 16 recognize the difference between the different 17 roles and tasks that domestic workers take on 18 all across this state. But overriding all of 19 that, we should never force a parent into the 20 situation where they feel that it is in their 21 economic interest or legal interest to ignore 22 a feeling they have regarding their baby. And 23 I truly believe that this legislation will put 24 mothers and fathers in that position across 25 this state.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So what I ask is that we take a 2 step back, that we briefly go back to the 3 drawing board. I'm committed to working with 4 the advocates and Senator Savino and all those 5 who support to legislation to getting this 6 right. And we can do this, I promise our 7 great domestic workers, and we can do this 8 very quickly, in a way that protects domestic 9 workers' rights and parent rights. 10 For that reason, Mr. President, 11 I'll be voting no. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Senator Savino, Senator Diaz did ask -- 14 Senator Lanza, will you yield for a question 15 from Senator Diaz? 16 SENATOR LANZA: Yes, 17 Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Senator Diaz. 20 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 Senator Lanza, please correct me if 23 I don't hear you right. It is my house, it's 24 my wife, it's my children, my child. You're 25 telling me that with this bill I would have no

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 power to decide I don't want this person in my 2 house with my child or my children? 3 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President, 4 through you, I think that you can -- and I 5 don't think that there's any law, I hope, that 6 we can draft that would require you to allow 7 anyone in your home who you didn't wish to 8 have there. 9 But under this legislation, I 10 believe, first, there are certain things that 11 you must do before that happens. You need to 12 continue to pay that person after you've asked 13 them to leave. If you're in the situation 14 where you need to have a nanny, it means that 15 you'll have to pay for another nanny, so 16 you'll be paying for two, only getting one. 17 Remember, the people in this situation are in 18 this situation because they can't afford to be 19 in another situation. 20 And I also believe, potentially, 21 that you'll be called to explain -- 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 Senator Savino, why do you rise? 24 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you, 25 Mr. President.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Actually, I think it would be 2 better if I answered the question for Senator 3 Diaz, considering I am the sponsor of the bill 4 and this is a section of the bill -- 5 SENATOR LIBOUS: Point of order, 6 Mr. President. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator Savino -- Senator Savino. 9 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 While I certainly look forward to hearing your 12 discussion on the bill, Senator Lanza has the 13 floor. Senator Diaz did ask him to yield for 14 a question. Senator Lanza is answering the 15 question. 16 And I am sure momentarily you will 17 have an opportunity to correct Senator Lanza 18 if he's incorrect and provide an explanation, 19 I'm sure a detailed explanation on the bill. 20 But pursuant to the rules, Senator Lanza does 21 have the floor. And the only way is if he 22 were to yield to you to answer the question. 23 That's up to Senator Lanza. 24 SENATOR LANZA: He said it, 25 Senator.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Lanza, you may continue. 4 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. And I'll answer the question, 6 and then Senator Diaz I'm sure is free to ask 7 anyone in the chamber questions that he has. 8 And so you can ask that person to 9 leave the home. You do then have a further 10 responsibility. There is also the question of 11 whether or not you'll be required to answer 12 questions with respect to the decision you 13 made. And my position is that a parent should 14 never be forced to answer to anyone when it 15 comes to someone being alone with their child 16 in their home. 17 And then there's the question of 18 whether or not a cause of action may be 19 created by this legislation. And I'm not 20 concluding that one is, but I'm not sure. 21 And all that, I think, goes toward 22 creating a disincentive for a mother or a 23 father to listen to their intuition. Knowing 24 that they may have to answer for the decision, 25 there may be some liability, there's certainly

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 a cost with respect to that decision, I think 2 all that may play toward causing some parents 3 to think twice before they listen to their own 4 feelings, and I think that's a bad precedent. 5 SENATOR DIAZ: Would Senator 6 Lanza yield for one more question, one last 7 question. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Lanza, will you yield for one last 10 question from Senator Diaz? 11 SENATOR LANZA: Yes, 12 Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Lanza will yield, Senator Diaz. 15 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Lanza -- 16 thank you, Mr. President. Senator Lanza, if I 17 had someone working in my house and I suspect 18 that the person is abusing, assaulting or 19 doing something wrong to my baby, but I don't 20 want to accuse the person -- I just don't want 21 to say she's doing this or he's doing this -- 22 but my suspicion bothers me, so I want to tell 23 that person "Go out now, forget about it," 24 could I be sued for that? Or do I have to go 25 and explain to someone the reason why and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 accuse the person? Would I be forced to 2 accuse the person? 3 SENATOR LANZA: Through you, 4 Mr. President. You know, Senator, I'm not 5 sure. And that's the problem I have with 6 this. 7 We all have experienced the 8 unintended consequences of legislation, 9 especially in this field, the labor field, 10 where I think good-intentioned legislation 11 designed to protect workers sometimes allows 12 for some -- yes, a few, but always too many -- 13 to game the system and that legislation. And 14 so that is my concern here. 15 And if that is what a parent 16 believes, then I think the parent will be 17 faced with a very conflicted course of action. 18 Number one, because remember, when you 19 question and you try to analyze a feeling or 20 intuition when it comes a parent, it's not 21 always evident. You can't point to one thing 22 or another. It's not tangible, quite often. 23 And so even a parent might say, maybe I'm 24 getting it wrong on this one. 25 Today -- my grandfather used to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have an expression when it came to food: When 2 in doubt, throw it out. Today, you might just 3 follow it. Because after all, the stakes are 4 as high as they ever get in this life. With 5 this legislation, you might say, well, I may 6 get sued, I may have to get hauled before some 7 government agency and explain the cause, I may 8 have to pay for a couple of weeks and get 9 another nanny and pay that person. 10 So I think we're getting in the way 11 of something that I think is an important 12 impulse and something to which parents should 13 be able to, the way they have for time 14 immemorial, listened to and to heed. 15 Especially, again, when it comes a woman's 16 intuition, a mother's intuition. I've seen 17 it. And let me just tell you, if my wife ever 18 turned to me and said "I can't explain this," 19 and it's with respect to one of my babies, 20 "but I have a bad feeling," that's enough. 21 That's beyond a reasonable doubt, as far as 22 I'm concerned. 23 I would never nor would I want 24 anyone ever to be in a position where they 25 felt it was important to question that. And

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that's the concern I have with this 2 legislation. 3 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you. Thank 4 you, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 Thank you. Senator Savino, on the bill. 7 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 This was not exactly how I had 10 anticipated this debate would begin on what is 11 widely recognized as an historic moment in the 12 New York State Senate, where we are going to 13 take up and pass today the Domestic Workers' 14 Bill of Rights -- the first Domestic Workers' 15 Bill of Rights in the United States. 16 The women who are sitting up above 17 us in the chamber on both sides are a small 18 representative sample of the 200,000 domestic 19 workers who work in our state seeing to it 20 that our economy continues, taking care of our 21 children, taking care of our elderly, taking 22 care of our homes. Their workplace is 23 someone's home. So yes, in fact, it is a 24 place of employment. 25 But what they're doing is nothing

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 new for working people in the United States. 2 You know, the concept of workers banding 3 together for mutual aid and protection is not 4 a new tradition. In fact, it dates back to 5 the medieval craft guilds when smithies and 6 carpenters and masons banded together in an 7 attempt to improve their working conditions. 8 There's a 500-year history of the fight for 9 workers' rights in this country. 10 And whenever they banded together 11 for mutual aid and protection, there were 12 always people who stood before them and 13 against them and said "We can't afford to do 14 this, we can't do this, we can't provide basic 15 rights." But yet and still, workers fought 16 against it, and they rose. They rose in 17 places like Ludlow and Lawrence, the coal 18 mines of West Virginia, the factories and the 19 sweatshops of our urban centers, the shipyards 20 of Brooklyn, the wharfs of San Francisco. 21 They were beaten down every step of 22 the way -- beaten down by the courts and the 23 legislatures, and still they rose; beaten down 24 by cops and Pinkertons, and still they rose; 25 industrialists and robber barons, and still

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 they rose. 2 And New York State assisted working 3 people in their fight for justice in many ways 4 long before the federal government ever acted. 5 This state enacted the first child labor laws. 6 This state enacted the first minimum wage law. 7 This state enacted the first factory-worker 8 protection laws. 9 And long after we did that, the 10 federal government finally passed the National 11 Labor Relations Act in 1935, when Franklin 12 Delano Roosevelt, a former member of this 13 body, enacted into law workplace protections 14 for every worker in America, with the 15 exception of two groups. One, of course, is 16 farmworkers, and the other was domestic 17 workers. 18 The farmworkers have had some 19 intermittent success in this country; not yet 20 here in New York State. But they have a 21 Farmworkers' Bill of Rights in places like 22 California and in other states. But nowhere 23 in America have we been able to enact a 24 Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights. 25 And that invisible workforce that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 we all take for granted, who take care of our 2 children and our elderly and clean our houses, 3 work every day without the basic protections 4 that even our teenagers who work in McDonald's 5 enjoy. 6 And what exactly are we affording 7 to domestic workers, the invisible workers? 8 We're giving them a day of rest. Imagine 9 that. You know, the City of New York last 10 month passed a piece of legislation granting 11 carriage horses in Central Park two days of 12 rest. Are horses worth more than domestic 13 workers? I don't think so. 14 We're giving them paid holidays, 15 just like every other worker in America gets, 16 a paid holiday for New Year's and Christmas 17 Day and Thanksgiving. And the ability to 18 waive that holiday and be paid overtime, just 19 like every other worker in the United States 20 enjoys. Sick days and vacation days, just 21 like every other worker. 22 We're giving them protection under 23 the Human Rights Law. They currently have 24 none. We're giving them protection under the 25 Workers' Compensation Law. They currently

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have none. We're giving them protection under 2 unemployment insurance. They currently have 3 none. 4 And with respect to the issue that 5 Senator Lanza raised -- he's right, he and I 6 worked on this piece of language and worked on 7 the language. And I had thought that we had 8 achieved something that he understood or was 9 willing to support, but obviously he still has 10 some concerns about it. And I'm going to work 11 with him and listen to those concerns. 12 Because this bill, while it's going 13 to pass here in the New York State Senate 14 today, doesn't have an exact match in the 15 Assembly. The Assembly bill is the weaker 16 version. The Senate is the ceiling, and the 17 Assembly is the floor. But because this house 18 has always led with respect to protecting the 19 rights of workers, it is appropriate that we 20 put forth the better bill. 21 And the provision of the bill that 22 Senator Lanza is concerned about and Senator 23 Diaz has asked questions about relates to the 24 notice of termination. And the legislation 25 says clearly that an employer must provide

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 14 days written notice of termination. It 2 will not apply, though, that 14-day written 3 notice of termination does not apply if the 4 employer reasonably believes in good faith 5 that the domestic worker has committed 6 assault, neglect or abuse at the place of 7 business. 8 Now, yes, that employer would bear 9 the burden of proof if that worker brought 10 forward a claim. But there is no obligation 11 for you, Senator Diaz, to keep someone in your 12 home that you feel is a danger to your child 13 or anyone else in your home. If you want to 14 avoid having to bear the burden of proof if 15 they bring the claim, all you need to do is 16 provide them the two weeks' severance salary 17 and tell them to leave your home at that 18 modem. So we allowed for that. 19 I listened and I met with as many 20 members of this body as I could to address 21 your concerns. I spent more time trying to 22 explain what a domestic worker wasn't, as you 23 brought me every possible permutation of what 24 you thought they were. 25 Senator Johnson addressed concerns

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 about au pairs. We amended the bill to 2 specifically state that au pairs are not 3 covered because they are covered by federal 4 law. 5 I met with Senator Lanza on his 6 issue and I thought we had achieved language 7 that he felt comfortable with. Obviously, I 8 was mistaken, and we're going to continue to 9 reach out to him. 10 I explained to as many people as I 11 could that domestic workers are not 12 babysitters, they are not casual employees, 13 they are not the woman who shows up to clean 14 your house on Thursday and goes next door and 15 cleans someone else's house on Friday. They 16 are not people who work for an agency who then 17 come to your home. They are not home 18 healthcare attendees. They are the invisible 19 workforce that we depend upon. 20 And so today we have an opportunity 21 to take our place in history again, to lead 22 the way for the rest of America and establish 23 the first Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights, 24 finally allowing the invisible women to rise. 25 I sincerely hope all of you will

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 look up in the chamber and you will see the 2 faces of these women and you will understand 3 their plight and realize that those most basic 4 protections that every one of us takes for 5 granted, even our youthful workforce in 6 McDonald's, they have none. 7 Here is our chance to do something, 8 make this legislative session about 9 eradicating 400 years of injustice, providing 10 decency, respect and dignity to the invisible 11 workforce. 12 Thank you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 15 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 16 you, Mr. President. 17 I had wanted to ask Senator Lanza 18 while he still had the floor a question, if he 19 will answer. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 Senator Lanza, will you yield for a question 22 from Senator Hassell-Thompson? 23 SENATOR LANZA: Yes, 24 Mr. President. 25 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Just a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 very brief question, thank you. Through you, 2 Mr. President. 3 I thought I heard you say that this 4 bill would take away the right of a parent or 5 anyone to be able to dismiss or terminate 6 someone's employment as though that's not 7 possible now. Are you suggesting that even in 8 absence of this law that you could not be 9 taken to the labor board if someone worked in 10 your home? Is that correct? 11 SENATOR LANZA: Through you, 12 Mr. President. I think it will certainly 13 become more frequent to those who might want 14 to game the system. It will certainly be 15 easier, with this legislation, to create a 16 cause of action. It will certainly be easier, 17 with this legislation, to force a parent to 18 answer questions about their decision. 19 And perhaps my position is an 20 extreme one, in that I believe that a parent 21 should never have to explain or give a reason, 22 ever, with respect to the situation that I'm 23 describing. 24 Can you do it now without this? I 25 don't think so. People bring all sorts of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 frivolous actions. But I would hope -- it 2 would seem to me, though, that that cause of 3 action, in the absence of this law, would 4 certainly be much weaker than it would with 5 this law. 6 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: 7 Through you, Mr. President, if the Senator 8 would still yield. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 Senator Lanza, will you continue to yield? 11 SENATOR LANZA: Yes, 12 Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Hassell-Thompson. 15 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 16 you, Mr. President. 17 I'm little bit confused. You're 18 saying -- at least I hear you saying that this 19 bill would strengthen the case and presume 20 that the person who brings the case would win? 21 Is that your assumption? 22 SENATOR LANZA: Through you, 23 Mr. President. You can never speak with 24 respect to an outcome or predict an outcome in 25 any case, regardless of how strong a case may

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 appear to be from the outset. 2 What I'm saying is in this 3 legislation it specifically places the burden 4 on the parent to prove cause. And so -- 5 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: I'm 6 sorry, Mr. President. Parent or employer? 7 SENATOR LANZA: Well, I said -- 8 through you, Mr. President. I said that there 9 were different types of domestic worker 10 employer/employee relationships. I said I'm 11 fine and I would like to be here supporting 12 and ensuring that we create an opportunity for 13 domestic workers to work with dignity, 14 fairness and in a safe environment. 15 But I also believe that there's a 16 distinction between the circumstance involving 17 a domestic worker who is a nanny babysitting 18 your child alone in your home when you're at 19 work and a domestic worker performing other 20 functions. I think there's a distinction. 21 And what I'm suggesting is that we should have 22 legislation that recognizes that distinction. 23 So in the situation that I'm 24 concerned with, the employer and the parent 25 are one and the same, because that is the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 situation that I'm talking about, where it is 2 a single mom who's working and can't be home 3 and needs a nanny, who might have a feeling 4 and now needs to think about the ramifications 5 or the repercussions for her to act on that 6 feeling, whether it's a lawsuit, an expense. 7 And so that's what I'm concerned 8 about here, specifically with respect to a 9 situation between a worker and a parent's 10 child. 11 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 12 you, Senator Lanza. 13 On the bill. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Senator Hassell-Thompson, on the bill. 16 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Just 17 very quickly. Thank you, Mr. President. 18 I've listened to the concerns 19 expressed by Senator Lanza. And as someone 20 who is a parent and now a grandparent, I can 21 understand some of the concerns that he's 22 expressing. 23 I think, however -- admittedly, I 24 think he is going to an extreme. 25 Particularly, he prefaces his statement by

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 saying that he thinks that all domestic 2 workers and all workers are entitled to or 3 should have dignity and respect and all those 4 things -- and yet terminating someone's 5 employment and being concerned about whether 6 they have to answer for that termination or 7 not, somehow that lacks respect if you believe 8 that you don't have to respond. 9 I mean, most of our staffs work at 10 our pleasure. But even working at our 11 pleasure does not disallow us from treating 12 them in a respectful manner, including their 13 termination. So how people are given their 14 exit notice is, to me, very critical, is very 15 basic to what respect is really about. 16 I think that what this bill 17 attempts to do is to take, as Senator Savino 18 has clearly outlined, 400 years of a labor 19 force who continues to work in our homes, be 20 protective of our properties, our children, 21 all those things that we hold sacred, and yet 22 we don't think enough of them to want to give 23 them the benefits that you would give to any 24 other worker. 25 I can't see how we could say that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that's offering people dignity. Anytime you 2 don't pay people appropriately, that doesn't 3 give them dignity. Anytime they don't have 4 work hours that are reasonable and respectful, 5 that's not dignity. And certainly it's not 6 respectful of their needs. In order to 7 rejuvenate, you know, we need our own time 8 off, our own space in order to be continue to 9 function and to do a job well. That's no less 10 true of people who work as domestic workers. 11 There are many of us in these 12 chambers, if we're not embarrassed to say so, 13 that we've come from families that we were 14 raised by people who were domestics who worked 15 in somebody else's home and tried to do so 16 with dignity when they were allowed to. 17 Paying people is a demonstration of 18 dignity. Paying them well is a clear signal 19 that we think they deserve dignity. And 20 certainly giving them appropriate time off and 21 vacation is an example of how we show dignity. 22 So if we're really interested in 23 dignity, fairness and respect for the people 24 who work for us, whatever their titles, then 25 this bill becomes very important. And thank

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you, Senator Savino, for an industrious piece 2 of legislation that I think we should be proud 3 to pass in these chambers. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Senator Bonacic. 6 SENATOR BONACIC: Will the 7 sponsor yield for a couple of questions. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Savino, Senator Bonacic is seeking for 10 you to yield. 11 SENATOR SAVINO: I will do my 12 best, Senator Bonacic. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Savino will yield, Senator Bonacic. 15 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 16 Senator Savino. Just a couple of questions. 17 If I wanted to hire a domestic 18 worker, are they required to have a criminal 19 background check before they come into my 20 home? 21 SENATOR SAVINO: Under the 22 legislation, we're not requiring that. But 23 you as an employer could institute that if you 24 wanted to. 25 SENATOR BONACIC: Right. But my

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 point is -- 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Bonacic, do you wish her to yield for 4 another question? 5 SENATOR BONACIC: Yes. Through 6 you, Mr. President, I'm going to ask a series 7 of questions of the sponsor, and I'll take 8 them one at a time and go through you. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 Thank you, Senator Bonacic. 11 SENATOR BONACIC: Will Senator 12 Savino yield to another question? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Savino, will you continue to yield? 15 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 16 SENATOR BONACIC: So there is no 17 requirement to have a criminal background 18 check for a domestic worker to come into my 19 home unless I, the employer, elect to have 20 one; is that correct? 21 SENATOR SAVINO: That is correct. 22 But that is consistent with most workplaces, 23 unless you have established the practice of 24 doing a criminal background check on your 25 prospective employees, as some employers do.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 In addition, you could determine, 2 as the prospective employer, that you'd like 3 to have that person cleared through the State 4 Central Registry for Child Abuse and Neglect 5 or the Sex Offender Registry. Whatever the 6 standards that you determine for your 7 workplace. 8 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. Would 9 you yield for another question? 10 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 11 SENATOR BONACIC: In speaking on 12 the bill, you've talked about 200,000 domestic 13 workers. Can I ask you, where did you get 14 that figure from? 15 SENATOR SAVINO: The number is 16 based upon the Domestic Workers United, which 17 is an umbrella advocacy group that reaches out 18 to domestic workers. And that's their 19 estimation that there are about 200,000. 20 There in fact could be more. 21 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. Do you 22 know -- 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Do you wish her to continue to yield, Senator 25 Bonacic?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR BONACIC: Yes. Excuse 2 me. Thank you for reminding me. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 4 You're welcome. 5 Senator Savino, do you wish -- 6 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator Bonacic, you may proceed. 9 SENATOR BONACIC: Do you know 10 what percentage of those workers are illegal 11 immigrants? 12 SENATOR SAVINO: I would assume 13 that many of the domestic workers, because 14 they are foreign-born, could potentially be 15 undocumented workers. 16 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. So -- 17 SENATOR SAVINO: Which is what 18 makes them particularly vulnerable. However, 19 labor law applies to undocumented workers in 20 New York State with respect to minimum wage 21 standards and any of the other issues that 22 apply to workers if you are employed by an 23 employer. 24 SENATOR BONACIC: Will Senator 25 Savino yield to another question.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 Senator Savino, do you continue to yield? 3 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Senator Bonacic. 6 SENATOR BONACIC: You spoke on 7 the bill about justice. Do you believe that 8 the pay that employers give to domestic 9 workers now is greater than the pay they would 10 be receiving in their country of origin, where 11 they came from before they were deemed an 12 illegal immigrant? 13 SENATOR SAVINO: Well, one, 14 Senator Bonacic, it's hard to answer that 15 question because I'd have to know where every 16 domestic worker came from and be aware of what 17 the prevailing wage for a domestic worker in 18 that country would be. So I can't answer that 19 question. 20 What I do know is, though, that 21 we're not setting a wage floor in this bill. 22 We were very cognizant of those concerns about 23 not adding expenses onto families that are 24 hiring domestic workers. So we don't have a 25 wage floor beyond the minimum wage. Which, by

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the way, they are required to pay. If you do 2 have a domestic worker, you're required to 3 minimally pay the minimum wage. 4 The determination about how much 5 you would pay that domestic worker would be 6 made between the employer and the worker. We 7 are not requiring employees of domestic 8 workers to provide health insurance. We're 9 cognizant of the cost of providing a single 10 plan for a single employee. 11 So we're not establishing a wage 12 floor, we're not requiring employers to pay 13 anything more than what they agree to pay that 14 domestic worker, as long as it is minimally 15 the minimum wage of the State of New York. 16 And if they work overtime, then to pay them 17 what the Fair Labor Standards Act says must be 18 applied, which is time and a half beyond 19 40 hours a week. 20 SENATOR BONACIC: Mr. President, 21 will Senator Savino yield to another question? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 Senator Savino, do you continue to yield? 24 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Savino continues to yield. 2 SENATOR BONACIC: Did you contact 3 the Budget Office to get a fiscal impact on 4 what the amount of workmen's compensation 5 would be or a percentage of those domestic 6 workers, 200,000 or more, and how it would 7 affect the state and the businesses that would 8 have to pay for it? 9 SENATOR SAVINO: Through you, 10 Mr. President, the State of New York's -- the 11 fiscal impact on the State of New York would 12 be minimal. What we would be doing is 13 requesting the Department of Labor to now 14 enforce this law, as they enforce every other 15 labor law that exists in the State of 16 New York. 17 With respect to how much it would 18 cost a prospective employer to cover for 19 workers' compensation and unemployment 20 insurance, that's set in statute. They would 21 be notified by the Department of Labor how 22 much that would be. 23 For a single employee, it's a 24 relatively small amount of money. But I don't 25 have the exact dollar amount. For instance,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 temporary disability insurance is about 2 60 cents per week, and the entire cost can be 3 passed through to the employee. 4 The cost of contributing to 5 workers' compensation for a single employee is 6 relatively small. It could be done through 7 the state's TDI. And with respect to 8 unemployment insurance, again, we're talking 9 about a relatively small amount of money. 10 Which could be deducted from the employee's 11 paycheck as an offset. 12 SENATOR BONACIC: Will Senator 13 Savino continue to yield for another question? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Senator Savino, will you continue to yield? 16 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Senator Savino continues to yield. 19 SENATOR BONACIC: If there is a 20 couple that hires a nanny for the week and 21 that domestic worker or nanny becomes 22 disabled -- hurts their back, spine injury -- 23 just so I understand the bill, and that 24 domestic worker is permanently disabled, 25 50 percent, 70 percent, does that family of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 two have to pay those disability payments to 2 that domestic worker so long as that domestic 3 worker is permanently disabled? 4 SENATOR SAVINO: Through you, 5 Mr. President, just as with any other 6 employee, if you have someone in your employee 7 and they become disabled, their disability 8 benefits would be paid out through the state's 9 Temporary Disability Insurance Fund. 10 SENATOR BONACIC: Out of the 11 state fund. 12 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 13 SENATOR BONACIC: Okay. Thank 14 you. 15 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you. 16 SENATOR BONACIC: On the bill. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Senator Bonacic, on the bill. 19 SENATOR BONACIC: Now, we all 20 want to treat our employees fairly and 21 humanely. But what is disturbing to me in 22 this discussion is that many of those domestic 23 workers are in this country illegally, and now 24 we are passing legislation to entitle them to 25 workmen's comp benefits, disability benefits,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 and all the labor rights -- from someone that 2 should not be in this country legally. And I 3 find that disturbing. 4 The second point that I'd like to 5 make, I think there can be a huge fiscal 6 impact on our workmen's comp fund and our 7 disability fund for a percentage of these 8 employees who may get hurt. We wish none of 9 them get hurt. But we know policemen, 10 firemen, there's a percentage of 10,000 people 11 that become disabled as part of natural 12 occurrences. I'm concerned with that. 13 And then if accidentally an 14 innocent couple hires a criminal and they find 15 something goes wrong, or they subsequently 16 find out that person is a criminal but that 17 domestic worker didn't do anything wrong while 18 they were in their home, I've got to give them 19 a two-week notice before they leave? And if 20 the domestic worker says, Hey, I may have been 21 a criminal, but I didn't do anything wrong in 22 your house so you don't have the right to let 23 me go unless you give me two weeks' notice -- 24 I think we're lacking common sense here. 25 For many reasons, we should be

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 voting against this legislation. But the most 2 offensive is that we're giving rights to 3 people that are in this country illegally, and 4 I say that is wrong. If you want to do that, 5 give a referendum in November. Let the people 6 decide that of this state, and not do this 7 back-door permanent rights of collective 8 bargaining for illegal immigrants. 9 It's not to say they're bad people. 10 I'm not saying they're bad people. Let them 11 go through the process of becoming a citizen 12 and/or a green card to be here legally, and 13 then give them the benefits. 14 So for that reason, I'm voting no 15 with an exclamation point. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 17 Senator Bonacic to be voting in the negative. 18 Senator Saland. 19 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. Would Senator Savino yield? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 Senator Savino, will you yield to Senator 23 Saland for questions? 24 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes, Senator 25 Saland.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 Senator Saland, she'll yield. 3 SENATOR SALAND: Senator Savino, 4 in your exchange with Senator Bonacic did I 5 hear you say that a parent would have the 6 ability to do a criminal background check? 7 SENATOR SAVINO: As any employer 8 has the ability to establish conditions of 9 pre-employment. 10 So if a parent -- Senator Saland, 11 if a parent who decides to take on the 12 services of a domestic worker to either be a 13 nanny or a caregiver of an elderly person 14 determines that as a condition of 15 pre-employment in their home they want a 16 criminal background check, they have the right 17 to do that. Just as any other employer does. 18 SENATOR SALAND: Would Senator 19 Savino continue to yield. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 Senator Savino, will you continue to yield? 22 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 23 SENATOR SALAND: If I'm such a 24 parent, how would you suggest that I do that? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Savino. 2 SENATOR SAVINO: Well, Senator 3 Saland, I would imagine that if one wanted to 4 do a criminal background check, they would 5 consult with the Department of Labor to 6 determine how other employers do it and then 7 proceed in the same fashion. 8 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. 9 Thank you, Senator Savino. 10 I'd like you to continue to 11 yield -- well, I'll ask you another question 12 and I'll come back to the other. 13 What is a casual laborer? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Senator Savino, will you continue to yield? 16 SENATOR SAVINO: Excuse me? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Senator Savino, will you continue to yield? 19 SENATOR SALAND: What is a casual 20 laborer? 21 SENATOR SAVINO: A casual laborer 22 would be someone who shows up to clean your 23 house on, say, a Tuesday. They come every 24 Tuesday. And in between working for you, they 25 also clean someone else's house. So you don't

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have -- it's not a primary employee/employer 2 relationship. You are not their sole 3 employer. 4 We define what a domestic worker is 5 in the bill as either a full-time employee of 6 40 hours, minimally 40 hours, or 20 to 40 7 hours, not working for someone else. 8 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you. 9 Senator Savino, if you'll continue to yield. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 Senator Savino -- 12 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 13 SENATOR SALAND: On page 7 of 14 your bill, at line 10, the current law reads 15 that the term "employer" does not include the 16 employment of domestic workers or casual 17 laborers employed at the place of residence of 18 his or her employer. 19 And you now change that language to 20 say "includes the domestic workers employed at 21 the place of residence of his or her 22 employer," and you delete all reference to 23 casual laborers. 24 Now, did they fall into an abyss? 25 Are they covered by some thing, some body?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Because by deleting them, I would think it's 2 implied that they now have some other status, 3 and that status would be that they are now 4 under the definition of what constitutes being 5 an employer. 6 SENATOR SAVINO: Hold on one 7 second, Senator Saland, so I can read it. 8 Mr. President, through you. So the 9 section of the bill that you're referencing 10 begins with the term "employer," includes the 11 employment of domestic workers. And we're 12 striking out the section "does not include." 13 Because prior to the establishment of this 14 legislation, you could not -- 15 SENATOR SALAND: Could you excuse 16 me, Senator Savino. 17 Would someone please shut off their 18 cellphone? Thank you. 19 SENATOR SAVINO: Prior to the 20 passage of the Domestic Workers' Bill of 21 Rights, the concept of employment of a 22 domestic worker was not covered by the law. 23 So we are including domestic workers now -- an 24 employer of a domestic worker as an 25 employer -- and striking "casual laborer,"

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 which could refer to an individual such as a 2 part-time housekeeper who only shows up 3 intermittently, or perhaps someone who comes 4 in to mow your lawn or things of that nature. 5 SENATOR SALAND: Again, if you'll 6 continue to yield. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator Savino, do you continue to yield? 9 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 10 SENATOR SALAND: If that's the 11 case, then what we've done is we've -- you 12 have deleted reference to casual laborers as 13 not being under the umbrella of employer. But 14 they have to go somewhere. They have to be 15 somewhere, they have to be picked up 16 somewhere. 17 So should there not be another 18 sentence, unless it's not your intention, that 19 says that a casual laborer is still excluded 20 from the definition of who shall be employed 21 by an employer? 22 SENATOR SAVINO: One second. 23 Mr. President, through you. In 24 consulting with my counsel here, originally 25 this section of the law was a noninclusionary

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 section which outlined that domestic workers 2 and casual laborers would not fit underneath 3 this category. So we are changing it to an 4 inclusionary language now, to include domestic 5 workers, but we're still omitting casual 6 laborers. Which were omitted under the 7 original statute. 8 If that makes -- if that answers 9 your question. 10 SENATOR SALAND: Quite candidly, 11 I don't think it does. But thank you. 12 On the bill, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Saland, on the bill. 15 SENATOR SALAND: With reference 16 to this last point, which is a relatively 17 minor point, but a point nonetheless, casual 18 laborers have just gone into the abyss of I 19 have no idea where or what -- I have no idea 20 what their relationship is to an employer. 21 The law was pretty clear before that they were 22 excluded from terms and conditions of 23 employment. They've been deleted from the 24 language that existed in the prior law. 25 And I would respectfully submit

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that if it's Senator Savino's intention that 2 they not be included or covered as she is now 3 providing for domestic workers, that there be 4 a sentence added to this particular 5 paragraph -- or anyplace else she might think 6 appropriate -- that makes it clear that casual 7 laborers are not intended to be covered by the 8 change that now she would have applied to 9 domestic workers. 10 On the prior point with regard to 11 fingerprinting -- I'm sorry, with regard to 12 criminal background checks, the only way you 13 can get a criminal background check is if you 14 go through a fingerprinting process. That's 15 the only bona fide way of doing it. That's 16 what we require by law for purposes of doing 17 criminal background checks on people who would 18 want to get a license for one or another 19 position, for people who are going to be 20 working with children, in many instances. We 21 required that when we did criminal background 22 checks on school employees. 23 The only way you can do it is you 24 go through the FBI and the DCJS. You cannot 25 independently, without enabling legislation,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have the ability to get that authority. 2 So to say that a parent can do a 3 criminal background check, you may be able to 4 hire a private investigator if that's what you 5 would like to do, and that private 6 investigator may have the ability to give you 7 some semblance of an investigation. But you 8 certainly cannot get the kind of criminal 9 background check that's associated with 10 getting a license or that's associated with 11 different types of child protective 12 employment. 13 And continuing on the bill, if I 14 may, Mr. President, I'd like to revisit the 15 point that was raised by Senator Lanza a bit 16 earlier. 17 I -- and I believe I've mentioned 18 on this floor on more than one occasion, I 19 handled many child neglect and abuse cases for 20 my county a number of years ago. And while I 21 appreciate the efforts of Senator Savino and 22 Senator Lanza to work out language that would 23 inure to the benefit of protecting children, 24 we all know of stories -- and there are a 25 myriad of them -- where a child is taken to an

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 emergency room under circumstances that can't 2 fully be explained -- a broken bone, a burn, 3 the child allegedly fell down the stairs, put 4 his hand on a hot burner. 5 And these are among the reasons why 6 we've required that reports be retrained for a 7 much more extensive period of time than they 8 once were, to see if there's any kind of 9 history. 10 I would be deeply troubled to be 11 placed in a situation -- and while I don't 12 have children, I -- well, I do have children, 13 they're adult children -- I don't have young 14 children and wouldn't find myself in this 15 situation, I do have four young grandchildren. 16 I would hate to see my children put 17 in a position where they would be required, in 18 order to have peace of mind, to effectively 19 buy out somebody who they have reason to 20 believe, and perhaps could not prove in a 21 court of law and certainly under the burden of 22 proof required here -- and reasonable, just 23 the word "reasonable" is always a factual 24 issue -- reasonable good faith is certainly 25 always a question of fact.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 You're basically imposing upon the 2 parent a burden of a litigation that they're 3 not going to go through. You're basically 4 saying if you have reason to terminate 5 somebody's employment under circumstances 6 which you think are in the best interest -- 7 and here I'm referring to someone who's caring 8 for a child -- of that child, you effectively 9 have to buy out, buy out the person who you 10 believe may be perpetrating some offense 11 against your child. 12 Very similarly, if there are things 13 that may be missing from your home and you 14 can't say conclusively that somebody has taken 15 them, again, you may be forced to buy someone 16 out in order to get peace of mind that will 17 make you feel as if your home is not being 18 violated or your child is not being threatened 19 or violated. 20 So, Mr. President, I intend to vote 21 against this bill. And I would ask that my 22 colleagues, notwithstanding the laudable 23 purpose of the bill, vote against the bill. 24 And perhaps there's another version of the 25 bill that can address some of these issues

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 that might in fact make it a bit more 2 palatable and also a bit more protective. 3 Thank you, sir. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Thank you, Senator Saland. 6 Senator Schneiderman. 7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you 8 Mr. President. I rise in support of this 9 legislation -- 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 Senator Schneiderman, on the bill? 12 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: On the 13 bill, Mr. President. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Senator Schneiderman, on the bill. 16 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And I rise 17 in support of this bill. I want to thank 18 Senator Savino and all the others who have 19 worked on it. 20 And I want to take issue with some 21 of my colleagues on a very basic aspect of 22 this bill. 23 This legislation provides very 24 basic, very minimal rights to a large class of 25 workers who have been denied those rights.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 The objections that we're hearing that relate 2 to termination provisions deal with a very 3 small portion of the bill and I believe have 4 been misstated. 5 All workers, if you have a right, 6 have a right to redress if your rights are 7 wrongfully terminated. The discussion about 8 what happens when an employer wrongfully 9 terminates an employee I think are taken out 10 of context. 11 We're not saying, as has been made 12 clear, you have to keep someone in your home. 13 We're just saying that if you do not have -- 14 and I'm reading the language of the statute -- 15 a reasonable good faith belief that the 16 employee has committed some misconduct, you 17 have to pay them out. This is a minimal 18 penalty imposed on an employer who acts 19 without a reasonable good-faith belief. 20 Ladies and gentlemen, we are taking 21 talking about thousands and thousands of 22 people who today are without any rights, who 23 work long hours, who provide essential 24 services. You have to have a remedy where you 25 have a right. This bill provides a remedy if

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 your rights are violated. There's no way 2 around that, ladies and gentlemen. You can't 3 provides rights to domestic workers without 4 providing a remedy for the violation of those 5 rights. 6 This is simple justice, ladies and 7 gentlemen. It is justice that has long been 8 denied. And I assure you that this minimal 9 set of rights, inasmuch as we're making 10 history here, we're making history that should 11 have been written a long time ago. I'm sorry 12 it's taken this long. 13 I'm glad we have so many people 14 here who are advocates who came to my 15 synagogue, B'nai Jeshurun; we had a great 16 rally. You've been rallying all over the 17 State of New York. I believe the 18 overwhelming majority of the people of the 19 State of New York recognize that simple 20 justice must be done. 21 The provisions that have been cited 22 over and over again by my colleagues really 23 are something you must have to provide the 24 meaning of rights. If there's no remedy, 25 there's no right. This bill provides minimal

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 rights, it provides a minimal remedy. 2 Thank you, Senator Savino. I hope 3 everyone will vote for this bill, and I am 4 proud to vote for it today, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 Senator Parker. 7 SENATOR PARKER: On the bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Parker, on the bill. 10 SENATOR PARKER: I rise also to 11 support this bill. Let me give my most 12 heartfelt congratulations to Senator Savino 13 for all her hard work and for preparing so 14 well on this. 15 This is a long time coming. This 16 is not nearly even the last step, but a mere 17 first step for what we need to do for workers 18 and particularly domestic workers around this 19 state. 20 I come from a district in Flatbush, 21 East Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, 22 Kensington and Boro Park, where we have a 23 large number of domestic workers. And I know 24 that this will be an important piece of 25 legislation that's really going to change

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 their lives, that's really going to give their 2 life chances a big boost. 3 And it's really the kind of thing 4 that we should have done really a long time 5 ago. As Senator Schneiderman indicated, this 6 is, you know, a first and small step that we 7 need to take, that these rights are really 8 just some basic rights. You know, what we're 9 talking about here is, you know, not a golden 10 parachute. You know, this is not a Wall 11 Street bailout, you know, CEO type of scenario 12 here we're talking about. We're just talking 13 about some real basic things that everybody 14 who works and who is engaged in the labor 15 market ought to have access to. 16 And so I am glad that we're taking 17 this step today. I'm asking my colleagues 18 across the aisle to join us in doing this 19 important thing for all of our communities. I 20 know that some people are concerned about 21 issues around immigration. And it's 22 interesting that, you know, no one is here 23 saying we shouldn't be hiring people who are 24 not citizens and people who are not -- you 25 know, we should not be hiring people who are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 out of status, we're just simply stating that, 2 well, we want to still hire people who are not 3 in status, but we just don't want to give them 4 any rights. We just want to just make sure 5 that we can keep them on the margins of 6 society and not provide them with the kind of 7 basic things that they ought to have in order 8 to participate in this great democracy. 9 I say that this is but a first step 10 in this state. But what this really harkens 11 to is two things that need to happen and we 12 ought to be reaching out to our Congressional 13 members and our President to do. 14 One is significant immigration 15 reform. We need significant immigration 16 reform, and we've seen that from our debate in 17 this chamber and the national debate around 18 what's happening in Arizona. But this debate 19 also raises the issue around immigration and 20 the fact that we ought to be looking for 21 significant immigration reform. 22 The second thing is that this 23 really ought to be the beginning of what we 24 are adding to a national movement around 25 domestic workers nationally. That this issue

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 is not a New York State issue exclusively, 2 this is an issue that in fact domestic workers 3 are experiencing around the country. 4 You know, some of you, you have 5 teenage kids and you might have seen "The 6 Nanny Diaries." Well, the reality is in 7 New York there are the real nanny diaries, and 8 those nanny diaries are not happy endings that 9 are Disney stories. They are sometimes very 10 tragic and deal with a lot of abuse and labor 11 and things that aren't very pretty and we 12 would never cover on TV. 13 This, Diane Savino, is a step to 14 start changing that story so that workers in 15 this state can have a happy ending. Thank you 16 so much. I'm voting aye, and I encourage any 17 colleagues to do the same. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Senator Espada. 20 SENATOR ESPADA: Thank you, 21 Mr. President, for the opportunity. 22 I do want to succinctly state that 23 this is landmark human rights legislation. My 24 only dismay is that I can't vote twice for it 25 from the 33rd District, having had so many of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you visit our offices with pictures of black 2 eyes and broken noses and tales of despair. 3 The state of women worldwide is not 4 good. Gender discrimination and violence 5 claims the lives of hundreds of thousands of 6 women. And I know you come from different 7 places throughout the globe, but you come as 8 many of us came. 9 You know, I don't quite know the 10 definition of a person that's worthy of human 11 rights. But I know you came to this country, 12 wherever you came from, because had you a 13 vision of America that you were taught in your 14 schools, that you watched on TV. And so we 15 were the land of opportunity, we were the land 16 of the United States Constitution -- and by 17 the way, a document of liberation that itself 18 has met many litigious contests in the courts. 19 So the idea that something may end up in court 20 certainly was not in the mind of our founding 21 fathers. 22 But the idea that we are all 23 entitled to these basic rights was excluded 24 from you during the last Great Depression, in 25 the 1930s, when a great president, FDR, and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the national legislature said no to domestic 2 workers, it said no to farmworkers. Today we 3 go from no leverage and no rights and no sick 4 days and no holidays and no vacation days and 5 no notice to all of the bills contained in 6 your great work, Senator Savino. 7 It is landmark legislation not 8 because we get to set the example for the rest 9 of the United States of America, but in fact 10 the world over, where you come from. And God 11 bless you for seeing in us what we sometimes 12 can't see in ourselves. 13 It is very poignant that today we 14 celebrate, first and foremost, very properly 15 so, freedom fighters, folks who gave their 16 lives in World War II, in the Korean War, in 17 Afghanistan and Iraq right now. 18 And so Senator Savino and those of 19 us who support this legislation and those of 20 us who will continue to vote for human rights 21 owe you a debt of gratitude. Because long 22 before pencil was put to paper, long before 23 this became I think a D print, long before it 24 gets enacted in the other chamber, you were 25 the fire, you were the fury, you were the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 source that gets us to this point today when 2 we can pass this bill and say a better day is 3 coming. 4 I must tell you that a greater 5 injustice, Mr. President, is the rationing out 6 of human rights. If we know today that 7 farmworkers have no rights, thousands of them, 8 if we know that the same case for justice can 9 be had, can be made and can be triumphant here 10 in these chambers this year, then we would 11 have failed in our duties. 12 So I take this opportunity to deal 13 with this long overdue call for justice and 14 protection for these workers by asking that 15 soon this chamber take up the Farmworkers' 16 Bill of Rights as well. 17 I'll be voting in favor. Thank you 18 so very much. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Thank you, Senator Espada. 21 Senator Klein. 22 SENATOR KLEIN: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. Thank you very much. 24 I want to thank the Senate sponsor, 25 Senator Savino, for her hard work on this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill. She certainly organized and I think put 2 together a comprehensive bill. And it's quite 3 startling why we're here today debating this 4 at length. 5 Today, when this bill passes, 6 hopefully we will be able to help over 200,000 7 domestic workers here in New York. We're not 8 giving them all that much. Basic things that 9 some of us take for granted -- workplace 10 protections like overtime pay, the chance to 11 take at least a day off every week, coverage 12 under unemployment, employment discrimination 13 laws. Basic rights which we believe should 14 really go to all workers in our great state. 15 It's also unfortunate that we 16 waited so long to pass this legislation. 17 New York in the past was the leader in 18 workers' rights, labor rights. And to first 19 pass a bill like this in 2010 I think is far 20 too long. 21 For someone like myself, this sort 22 of takes on a very personal connotation. I 23 had the privilege of growing up in a 24 two-family home with my grandmother, who got 25 Alzheimer's disease at a very young age,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 62 years of age. So she was able to stay in 2 our home as long as possible, until it became 3 a medical necessity that she go to a nursing 4 home. 5 So we hired domestic workers in our 6 home. And I know that many of the people who 7 employ domestic workers appreciate the work 8 that they do. I know myself, and my family, 9 the various workers that worked for us five, 10 six years taking care of my grandmother became 11 family. We exchanged gifts during the 12 holidays, celebrated birthdays, because they 13 were truly doing God's work. They were there 14 to take care of my grandmother when it was 15 very difficult for others to take care of her. 16 And I think that holds true for 17 most of the domestic workers across our great 18 state. We rely on these people to take care 19 of our children. We rely on them to take care 20 of our elderly loved ones. We rely on them 21 for the basic things that we can't do 22 ourselves. So to deny them equal rights that 23 go to other workers would be a disgrace. 24 So I think today, I think what 25 we're doing is sort of righting a wrong that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 unfortunately took too much time to do here in 2 New York State. So, Mr. President, I vote yes 3 on this bill, and I'm hopeful that we can 4 quickly have an agreement with the Assembly 5 and make this law in New York State finally 6 after all these years. 7 I vote yes. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Klein to be voting in the affirmative. 10 Senator Smith. 11 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you very 12 much, Mr. President. 13 Senator Savino, thank you for your 14 leadership on this issue. You know, it's been 15 a year or so we have been fighting 16 aggressively. You have shepherded this piece 17 of legislation in such a way that I hope it 18 becomes a model on how one can move a piece of 19 legislation through this chamber, with my 20 assumption that some Republicans will be 21 voting for this as well. 22 To my friends who are in the 23 gallery, thank you for keeping us focused. 24 It's a little bit unfortunate that you had to 25 work this hard. But all hard work yields good

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 results, and I believe today you will have 2 that result. 3 It is important. Two hundred 4 thousand workers. Senator Schneiderman talked 5 about basic rights, something that you 6 deserve. Colleagues, they have a job. When 7 you have a job, you deserve certain rights and 8 benefits from having at a job. I have a job. 9 I have certain basic rights that I get from 10 having that job. I believe all you're asking 11 for is to have that same respect. And today 12 you you're going to get that same respect, 13 because Senator Savino has worked very hard 14 for that. 15 This is a basic rights bill. As my 16 colleagues have said, there has been a number 17 of statements on the floor that were 18 inaccurate with regard to the extent of what 19 this bill does. And perhaps, Senator Savino, 20 you could have worked a little harder and put 21 more stuff in here. But at the end of the 22 day, what is happening is that you are now 23 going to have the same respect that you 24 deserve, the same respect that you asked for, 25 the same respect that you asked for when you

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 came into every one of our offices. 2 Patiently, you waited, and now your patience 3 is going to pay off. 4 We have more to do. This is just a 5 beginning. But this is your day. Do not let 6 anyone rob you of your success that you have 7 proven that this system can work if you stay 8 focused and you band together. 9 Congratulations to you. Congratulations to my 10 colleague Senator Diane Savino. And 11 congratulations to my colleagues who are going 12 to do the right thing on behalf of these 13 individuals. 14 Thank you, Senator. I will be 15 voting in the affirmative. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 17 Senator Smith to be voting in the affirmative. 18 Senator Adams, on the bill. 19 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 And I just want to say both to 22 Senator Lanza and Senator Bonacic and to those 23 of you who are in the gallery, some of their 24 questions, you know, both Senator Bonacic and 25 Senator Lanza, really they asked questions

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 from the heart, and I don't think one should 2 personalize and feel that they didn't. Those 3 are some concerns they had and they wanted to 4 raise. 5 But let me just give a few points 6 that we need to know of. Someone raised a 7 question about a background check. Let me let 8 you in on a secret. You don't do a criminal 9 background check for Senators. Okay? There 10 is no criminal background check for any 11 Senator that's elected. So you know, that's 12 number one. 13 And just go down for a moment. To 14 say in Gabon they're paying someone a quarter 15 and in New York they're paying them $2 under 16 minimum wage but at least they get more than 17 in Gabon, you don't -- there's no -- you know, 18 tyrannical actions cannot be based on 19 intensity. What's wrong is wrong. You don't 20 sit and state that, well, they're denying you 21 over where you came from and so we should be 22 able to deny you just one notch more. That's 23 wrong. 24 The reason we are Americans is 25 because we set the tone on what's right. We

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 don't set the tone from the bottom up, we set 2 the tone from the top up. People who are 3 employed are deserving of basic rights, and 4 this is what Senator Savino is stating. 5 And so we can philosophize and 6 romanticize on all the other issues that get 7 away from the basic rights. And if you will 8 look closely on the floors of these galleries, 9 you will see the fingernails that were bit off 10 from countless number of people who made the 11 pilgrimage to sit up in these rafters hoping 12 that we will have the audacity and respect to 13 vote the right way although we do not live 14 what you live. This is what this is about. 15 Every group of Americans -- 16 Chinese-Americans, Italian-Americans, 17 Irish-Americans, African-Americans -- all sat 18 in those galleries one day and bit off their 19 nails hoping that they can get 32 votes just 20 so they could be treated with a level of 21 dignity and respect. There's nothing 22 different from this group that's here. 23 They've all, we've all made this pilgrimage. 24 It was only the beginning of last 25 year when we saw the gay community sitting up

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in those rafters. Women that were fighting 2 for the right to vote sat in those rafters. 3 Italian-Americans that made their way past 4 Ellis Island sat up in those rafters. 5 Chinese-Americans that were working in 6 sweatshops sat up in those rafters. There's a 7 history of people who sat up in these rafters. 8 What you are asking for is no 9 different than every American that made their 10 way here. You did a pilgrimage through 87 11 North to come here and follow the rich 12 tradition of Americans that merely stated, We 13 too love America and we too want to benefit 14 from America. 15 And human rights are not based on 16 your immigration status. You don't look at 17 your immigration status, I don't want to see 18 your green card before I decide if I'm going 19 to treat you like a human being. I won't sit 20 and raise the question "But first let me find 21 out if you're here legally or illegally." 22 That's a federal government problem. New 23 Yorkers treat people with dignity and respect 24 regardless of what's in your passport. And 25 don't let anyone deny you the right to be

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 treated like a human being merely because of 2 your immigration status. You deserve to be 3 treated like a human being. 4 I'm hearing all of this eloquence 5 about, well, you're an illegal alien so we can 6 treat you a certain way. We can pay you less 7 based on you should be lucky you're here. 8 Listen closely to that. That's what they told 9 every immigration group, every one. Every 10 immigrant group was told that. 11 This is a landmark piece of 12 legislation, and we can only retrospectively 13 appreciate what Senator Savino did. Can you 14 imagine the joy that I can actually vote on a 15 piece of legislation that impacts me 16 personally it? I sat down as a child every 17 night and watched my mother's footprints in 18 the snow as she was a domestic worker, and 19 would only sleep after they were covered up 20 from the snow. Coming home at 7 o'clock in 21 the morning after cleaning house after house. 22 And here I got the right now to vote on a bill 23 that impacts my life. 24 I don't speak for those people; I 25 am those people. We're going to pass this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill here today. And hopefully your son or 2 daughter will come on this floor one day and 3 vote on a piece of legislation that a 4 nail-biting person had to hope that 32 people 5 came together and, although they didn't live 6 your experience, they understood your pain and 7 understood your experience. That's what this 8 is all about. 9 I am proud to be able to vote for 10 this legislation. I'm proud to be part of 11 this landmark experience that's about to take 12 place. I'm proud to know that we have the 13 opportunity to make sure every employee in 14 this state is treated better than what we 15 treat animals. To hear Senator Savino state 16 horses are allowed two days off. Horses. 17 If horses are allowed two days off 18 and people are telling you you don't have the 19 right to two days off, or one day off, I can't 20 believe that. Forgive them. They know not 21 what they do. Forgive them. They will have 22 the opportunity one day to retrospectively 23 look over this moment of this landmark piece 24 of legislation, and they will understood that 25 they were on the wrong side of history. And I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 don't think anything is more tragic than 2 looking over your life and realizing you were 3 on the wrong side of history. 4 Today I vote aye on this bill 5 because I want history to know I'm on the 6 right side of all those who have adorned those 7 rafters, who have bit off their nails, who 8 have hoped that 32 people can find the 9 audacity to vote the right way and give you 10 the rights of dignity and respect that this 11 country is known for. I am an American, and 12 this is the American way to go. Welcome to 13 the universe of being respected based on our 14 vote. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Senator Diaz, on the bill. 17 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. On the bill. 19 I am Puerto Rican, black with kinky 20 hair. And the majority of the people you see 21 sitting there are Hispanic. And the majority, 22 I believe, of domestic workers are Hispanic. 23 And I feel good and feel bad, and I will tell 24 you why, Mr. President. 25 I feel bad when I hear Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Bonacic telling the whole world that we are 2 doing this for the undocumented and that we 3 are going to give them medical benefits, 4 unemployment benefits, worker compensation 5 benefits, disability insurance benefits to 6 undocumented. That's kind of offensive. 7 I believe, Mr. President, that the 8 State of New York has a law against hiring 9 undocumented people. I believe that people 10 that hire the undocumented are being punished 11 by the law. So I find that kind of insulting 12 and offensive, telling the whole world that 13 we're doing this because we are going to hire 14 undocumented. 15 I feel good, Mr. President, because 16 I hear my colleagues, with such a passion, 17 supporting practically my people. Senator 18 Adams spoke about dignity and respect. And I 19 hope that the same passion, the same fervor, 20 the same fire we could find to support Senator 21 Espada's bill for the farmworkers that are 22 also being unjustly treated. 23 So I hope that I will find the same 24 fire, the same passion to support that bill 25 and to take care of the farmworkers that are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 also Hispanic, the majority of them. [In 2 Spanish.] 3 So, Mr. President, thank you very 4 much for this word. I know that you didn't 5 understand anything that I said in Spanish. 6 But I'm just telling my -- some of the 7 Hispanic people sitting there the victory that 8 they are getting today and that we need their 9 support for the farmworker bill too, because 10 they also need it. 11 So I'm telling them that they will 12 walk out of here happy -- happy because they 13 got a victory, happy because they got a 14 historic vote -- but don't forget that there 15 are other workers as they that need their 16 support to get for them the same thing they're 17 getting today. 18 Thank you, Mr. President. And 19 thank you, ladies and gentlemen. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 Thank you, Senator Diaz. 22 Senator Perkins, on the bill. 23 SENATOR PERKINS: Thank you, 24 Mr. President. 25 I'm going to support this bill.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I'll be brief, because I know much has been 2 said and I agree with all of it. 3 Senator Adams, I didn't get a 4 chance to meet your mother, though she does 5 remind me of my grandmother. And in fact, 6 when I look up there, I see your mother and my 7 grandmother up there in all those faces of all 8 those women, who came home like your mother 9 came home or came home like my grandmother 10 came home, to take care of the family, and 11 were treated as second-class workers, 12 second-class citizens. 13 Senator Savino, I want to thank you 14 so much for the extraordinary accomplishment 15 you've made. I know this was not an overnight 16 sensation; this took a lot of work. And I 17 know that we've heard some prejudices that 18 were disturbing. But we've made history, you 19 have made history, we've been able to join you 20 in making history in a very, very important 21 way that resonates not only with respect to 22 the domestic workers' rights, which I believe 23 are as American as apple pie, but also with 24 respect to the farmworkers' rights, that 25 hopefully we'll be able to get an opportunity

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to move in the same direction. 2 And hopefully this debate, this 3 discussion will not only bring out those 4 prejudices but will also give us an 5 opportunity to grapple with them and maybe 6 move away from them. It's sometimes a little 7 surprising to see some of the thinking that we 8 have still amongst us. 9 But it's all good. It's all good 10 because we're moving forward, it's all good 11 because it's an honest debate, it's an 12 important debate. And the right thing, after 13 all is said and done, is going to be done, and 14 we're all going to feel very good about it. 15 This is one of the proudest moments 16 any of us could feel in a body like this, to 17 be able to do for so few what has been done so 18 often for so many -- they who are women, 19 especially, who have had to struggle with 20 being treated with respect and dignity and get 21 the right kind of pay and treatment for the 22 work that apparently is very essential. A lot 23 of folks can't do without them. 24 And in fact, they're afraid that 25 this law will alienate you from them. And

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 quite the opposite. You will be even more 2 bonded with them than ever before, and in a 3 way that will be more dignified than ever 4 before. 5 So I'm honored at this moment to be 6 able to be a part of this historic occasion 7 for this leadership in this Senate, this 8 historic leadership in this Senate. This 9 could not have been done otherwise. 10 And so congratulations again. 11 Congratulations to all of you. I'm going to 12 say hello to my grandmother, I'm going to say 13 hello to your mother. I know they're sitting 14 up there just like you. I see you, Grandma, 15 right there smiling. I see you. And I'm here 16 too. Okay? So thank you for bringing me 17 here. 18 I vote aye. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Senator Duane, on the bill. 21 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. 23 I want to thank and congratulate 24 Senator Savino for her determination, her -- 25 really, her doggedness on this legislation.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And she just -- her heart being so much into 2 this I think is what has moved it to the floor 3 today, and I think that's really wonderful. 4 I was interested to hear earlier my 5 colleague from Sullivan and Orange and Ulster 6 County to talk, because my great-grandmother 7 worked for a family in Goshen as a household 8 servant. And that's -- I want to say she had 9 some shame around that and what happened to 10 her while she was working in that household. 11 And her daughter, my grandmother's sister, my 12 Aunt Margaret, also worked as a domestic, and 13 then was able to go on and become a teacher in 14 the New York City public school system. 15 And without going in great detail 16 on the merits or even the politics of this 17 legislation, I do want to say that it's in 18 part because of who those women were in my 19 life and what they passed down to me that I am 20 really happy to be here to vote for this. And 21 also sorry that it took us so long, but happy 22 that we are doing this. 23 And, you know, I believe that this 24 legislation is something that in this state we 25 will be as proud of as we are for the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 organizing that went on because of the 2 terrible tragedy of the Triangle Fire, which 3 is a building in my district. I am fortunate 4 enough to live in housing that was built by 5 the ILGWU, which was founded as a result of 6 that. 7 So whether it's this legislation or 8 our outlawing of the child labor, and because 9 we allowed workers to speak for themselves, I 10 am going to be very happy, proud, a little bit 11 with a feeling of bittersweetness to be able 12 to vote for this legislation, and look forward 13 to our Governor signing it into law. And I 14 think that Senator Savino will -- it's just 15 one of the many reasons that Senator Savino 16 will have many mentions in our state history 17 books. 18 Thank you, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Thank you, Senator Duane. 21 Senator Peralta, on the bill. 22 SENATOR PERALTA: Thank you, 23 Mr. President. On the bill. 24 I want to congratulate Senator 25 Savino for this landmark piece of legislation,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 something that is long overdue, as was 2 previously stated. 3 I want to thank everyone who's here 4 in the gallery for showing up and for pushing 5 this effort. Because without your effort, 6 without your push, this would not become a 7 reality today. You definitely did a great job 8 in making this a reality, at least in the 9 New York State Senate, so you should be proud 10 of yourselves today. 11 I also want to touch on the idea 12 and the concept that was brought up earlier 13 about whether someone is here undocumented or 14 not. I have yet to meet or hear of a sales 15 tax that discriminates against anyone who's 16 documented or undocumented. 17 Senators have tried to make the 18 connection between the fact that someone is 19 here undocumented and how much of a burden 20 it's going to be on the state, that the state 21 will pick up this burden, whether it's going 22 to be through workers' comp or whether it's 23 going to be through other ways. 24 But I would argue that whether 25 you're undocumented or you're documented, when

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you go to the store and you purchase things 2 and you pay the sales tax, when you pay your 3 income tax, the state doesn't ask you whether 4 you're documented or undocumented. The state 5 does not reject whether you're documented or 6 undocumented, or checks. There's no list. 7 They still receive those dollars. 8 So I would argue that this piece of 9 legislation, although it's minimal, will 10 probably pay for itself. Because whether 11 you're undocumented or documented, you still 12 pay sales tax. Many pay income tax. So it's 13 going to come back to New York State. So to 14 make that argument, I just wanted to clarify 15 that it's probably not the best argument. 16 But I stand here today very proud 17 of the fact that I am going to be voting on 18 this landmark piece of legislation. I 19 happened to vote on a piece of legislation 20 that was landmark in the Assembly, and now I'm 21 going to be able to vote on a piece of 22 legislation that's landmark here in the 23 New York State Senate. 24 And this is just about making sure 25 that people are treated with dignity and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 respect, workers are treated with dignity and 2 respect. That's what this is all about. So I 3 don't see why there had to be a two-hour 4 discussion or debate on something so simple 5 and so basic as rights. But it is what it is, 6 and we're here two hours later. 7 I just want to say that I will 8 continue to support you as workers. I know 9 that many of us will be voting in the 10 affirmative. And I want to congratulate you 11 and say keep up the good work, because now the 12 work is on the other house. Now the struggle 13 will be on the other side. And coming from 14 the other side, I will commit that I will work 15 with you to make sure that I get some of those 16 members to make sure that that becomes a 17 reality on that side. 18 So I will be voting in the 19 affirmative. Thank you, Senator Savino, for 20 your leadership and your vision. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 Senator Huntley, on the bill. 23 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Yes, 24 Mr. President. I would just like to 25 congratulate Senator Savino for this bill.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 This bill brings back a lot of 2 memories for a lot of people. And when people 3 talk about undocumented, Afro-Americans were 4 born documented. True Americans. And there 5 are many things that have gone on in the lives 6 of these people that also affected 7 Afro-Americans for many, many years. 8 So when you listen to people talk 9 about other people's rights, it's kind of 10 heartbreaking that at this point in our lives, 11 at this point in the country, that we still 12 have these prejudices. Because that's what it 13 is. And I just hope that one day we will all 14 be able to come together and care about other 15 people and their values and care that they 16 will be able to raise their families. 17 You know, just like Senator Peralta 18 said, we have many, many undocumented children 19 in our public schools. Nobody asks them 20 before they take the report card if they're 21 documented. Nobody cares. We're no longer 22 breaking the law because there are so many 23 undocumented people that we have allowed to 24 come. They're here, they're like us. 25 They're people, they're human

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 beings, and I think we need to understand 2 that. This is a melting pot. This is no 3 longer just white America. It's a melting 4 pot. 5 Thank you. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 7 Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, on the bill. 8 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 9 you, Mr. President. 10 I rise to say to those workers who 11 have sat so quietly in the gallery, those 12 workers who hoped that this moment would come 13 and wanted to bear witness to history, those 14 workers who, up until this point, didn't feel 15 that they had a voice in their place of 16 business, much less in a chamber like this. 17 And it seemed that for me to stay 18 silent would really be disrespectful of the 19 struggle that it took for each and every one 20 of you to be here today. 21 So as we do this history-making 22 vote, as we congratulate Senator Savino for 23 her hard work, it reminds us of why we exist: 24 To give voice to you. And why you exist: To 25 encourage others who think that they could

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 never, ever stand up to power to understand 2 that, yes, it can be done. And when you work 3 together for a cause that's right and just, it 4 works out. 5 I stand just to pay tribute. We're 6 looking forward to the vote. I think my 7 colleagues must have said that the struggle 8 continues, it doesn't end here. But when you 9 leave here, I hope your heads will be a little 10 bit higher, your stride a little bit stronger, 11 and your purpose more defined. 12 Congratulations. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Padavan. 15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Would Senator 16 Savino yield to a question. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Senator Savino, will you yield for a question 19 from Senator Padavan? 20 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 Senator Padavan, Senator Savino will yield. 23 SENATOR PADAVAN: Senator Savino, 24 a lot of the discussion seems to be generated 25 around the issue of legal immigration, which I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 have a slightly different view than some do. 2 I happen to believe that those who 3 are smuggled into this country and placed 4 almost in bondage, many as domestic workers, 5 is an affront to humanity. It's also a cause 6 of many citizens, people in this country 7 legally, not getting the employment that they 8 not only qualify for but they should be well 9 paid for. 10 Now, here's my question. If an 11 individual who hires a domestic worker learns 12 that that person they have hired is in this 13 country illegally, and they dismiss them for 14 that reason, would that employer be subject to 15 the same penalties and procedures that your 16 bill provides and which you discussed with 17 some of my colleagues, including Senator 18 Lanza? 19 SENATOR SAVINO: Through you, 20 Mr. President. I'm assuming you're referring 21 to the notice of termination? 22 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yeah. Yes. 23 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes, it would, 24 Senator Padavan. 25 SENATOR PADAVAN: It would what?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR SAVINO: The notice of 2 termination would apply even if the employee 3 was an undocumented worker, as many of our 4 labor laws apply to undocumented workers if 5 they're in employment. 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: But would you 7 yield, Senator. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Savino, will you continue to yield? 10 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Senator Padavan, she'll continue to yield. 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: But there's a 14 section in the bill that deals with 15 termination for a reasonable cause, or words 16 to that effect. Would this be not be a 17 reasonable cause? 18 SENATOR SAVINO: Through you, 19 Mr. President, the question is would the 20 determination by the employer that a domestic 21 worker was an undocumented worker, could that 22 be used to satisfy the reasonable-faith effort 23 to avoid the notice of termination. 24 (Conferring with counsel.) 25 SENATOR SAVINO: Through you,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Mr. President, with respect to the 2 determination or the suspicion on the part of 3 the employer that the worker is undocumented, 4 it is unlikely that it would not still require 5 the employer to provide 14 days' notice of 6 termination. Because the way the language is 7 drafted in the bill, that 14-day notice of 8 termination would be waived if the employer 9 reasonably believes in good faith that the 10 domestic worker has committed assault, neglect 11 or abuse. 12 So just by the suspicion that the 13 person is undocumented, it would not waive 14 that 14-day notice. However, the employer 15 could notify the employee, give them the 16 14-day notice and tell them not to come back. 17 The bill also doesn't establish a 18 cause standard for firing workers. Because 19 essentially, under New York State labor law, 20 workers are still at-will workers unless 21 they're covered by a collective bargaining 22 agreement. We are also not providing 23 collective bargaining rights in this bill. 24 So you can terminate an employee in 25 New York State that's not covered by

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 collective bargaining rights for good reason, 2 bad reason, or no reason. You just can't 3 terminate them for violations of Title VII of 4 the Equal Employment Opportunities Act. 5 I hope that answers your question. 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: Senator, let me 7 ask you another question. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Do you wish Senator Savino to continue to 10 yield, Senator Padavan? 11 SENATOR PADAVAN: There are 12 laws -- 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Savino, do you yield for Senator 15 Padavan? 16 SENATOR SAVINO: Yes. 17 SENATOR PADAVAN: There are laws, 18 federal and otherwise, that say you must not, 19 or you're subject to penalty, knowingly hire 20 an illegal immigrant. Would that apply to 21 this case, the situation, the subject area 22 we're dealing with? 23 SENATOR SAVINO: I have to think 24 about that, Senator Padavan. 25 While yes, it's true, the law says

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you're not supposed to knowingly hire 2 undocumented workers or illegal immigrants, 3 however we want to describe them, the reality 4 is employers do it every day in this state and 5 every other state across the country. 6 So would the -- would knowing -- I 7 still don't believe it would apply. No, I 8 still don't believe it would apply. I don't 9 believe it has anything to do with it. 10 SENATOR PADAVAN: On the bill. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Senator Padavan, on the bill. 13 SENATOR PADAVAN: If that is the 14 case, Senator, you're violating the human 15 trafficking law that we have in this state, 16 the toughest in the nation. If the answer to 17 your question is what you said it is, then 18 you're violating an already existing statute. 19 And I don't think you really are. 20 I think if you look at it further, you'll find 21 out you're not. 22 SENATOR SAVINO: So perhaps -- 23 through you, Mr. President, perhaps I didn't 24 actually understand the question as you put it 25 to me. So let's try this one again, Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Padavan. 2 SENATOR PADAVAN: Are we opening 3 that up again? 4 SENATOR SAVINO: Or if you'd like 5 to speak on the bill and I -- 6 SENATOR PADAVAN: I'll speak on 7 the bill. I think we've belabored the point 8 long enough. 9 But let me just make a couple of 10 points. First, I believe that it is all our 11 responsibilities to ensure that people who are 12 employed in this state, no matter what they 13 are, what that category of employment is, are 14 here in this country either with a green card 15 or some means, visa or whatever. 16 Because particularly in this 17 category of employment, they are the most 18 obvious and frequent victim of those who come 19 to this country illegally. They are the 20 victim of those who come in and work for less 21 than minimum wage, off the books, and are 22 taken advantage of. And so they don't get the 23 employment that they're entitled to at the pay 24 they're entitled to. So I think that is part 25 of our responsibility to deal with that issue.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Now, your bill does not have an 2 exact companion in the Assembly, as I 3 understand it. And I would suggest to you, as 4 you work with the Assembly in coming up with a 5 bill that is identical, that you take a hard 6 look another some of these questions that have 7 been raised, because they're not entirely 8 without merit. 9 I'm going to vote for this bill, as 10 you know. But at the same time, I don't think 11 we should be myopic to concerns that have some 12 degree of validity, in order to come up with 13 up with a statute that not only seeks to 14 achieve your objective and your worthy goals, 15 but at the same time makes sense in some other 16 ways. 17 Thank you. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Seeing no other Senators wishing to be heard 20 on the bill, the debate is closed. 21 The Secretary will ring the bells. 22 Read the last section. 23 THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This 24 act shall take effect on the first of January. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Call the roll. 2 (The Secretary called the roll.) 3 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 4 Senator Savino, to explain her vote. 5 SENATOR SAVINO: I will yield to 6 Senator Onorato. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Yielding to Senator Onorato to explain his 9 vote. 10 SENATOR ONORATO: Thank you, 11 Mr. President. 12 I want to take this opportunity to 13 congratulate Diane Savino for all her 14 perseverance and hard work on putting this 15 bill together. It was a long time in coming, 16 and it was one of her most dedicated missions 17 for this particular session. I want to 18 congratulate her. And as the chairman of the 19 Labor Committee, we worked very, very closely 20 putting this bill on the floor. 21 And the next bill that's coming up 22 in a very, very short time is going to be my 23 farmworkers bill, so we're going to do all of 24 the people of the State of New York the 25 justice that they deserve.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I vote aye. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Onorato will be recorded in the 4 affirmative. 5 Senator Savino, to explain her 6 vote. 7 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 First, I want to thank all of my 10 colleagues. I know many of you have been 11 congratulating me on the passage of this bill 12 today, all the work that I've put into it, but 13 quite frankly I don't deserve either the 14 congratulations or the good wishes. It is the 15 people who are sitting up in this chamber 16 around here, and it's those of you who helped 17 me move this bill forward, the 26 cosponsors, 18 including Senator Frank Padavan, those of you 19 who have engaged me in discussion on this bill 20 and I know will continue to. 21 Believe me, I listened, I heard the 22 concerns that you have. And I believe it is 23 critically important that as we move forward 24 with this bill -- and we will, as we reconcile 25 with the Assembly -- I'm going to be visiting

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 all of you again, asking for your input, your 2 advice, and to see that we pass a piece of 3 legislation that we can all be proud of. 4 You know, the history books are 5 going to write a lot of interesting things 6 about the 2009-2010 legislative session, 7 there's no doubt about that. Not all of it 8 will be good. But I hope that before 9 December 31st of this year that this 10 legislative session in the New York State 11 Senate, which has gotten so much coverage for 12 so many reasons, will also be able to show 13 that we made history again for workers' 14 rights, and we're going to do that together. 15 Tonight is just the first step in 16 equality and justices for the invisible women. 17 Congratulations. Invisible women rise. 18 (Applause from the gallery.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Senator Squadron, to explain his vote. 21 SENATOR SQUADRON: Thank you. 22 Just to join the chorus, I 23 congratulate Senator Savino, despite her 24 demurring, and the women in this chamber and 25 across the State of New York. This is a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 historic step for this state and also a step 2 that will change daily lives. 3 It's a rare opportunity as a state 4 legislator to do something that you know, when 5 it becomes law, will change lives immediately. 6 This will. It's a historic day. 7 Congratulations, Senator Savino, all of my 8 colleagues, and especially all of the people 9 who've made the trek up here today. It really 10 has made a difference. Thank you for being 11 here. 12 I vote aye. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Squadron to be recorded in the 15 affirmative. 16 Senator Montgomery, to explain her 17 vote. 18 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 I also rise to congratulate Senator 21 Savino. This is really a very important bill, 22 and I know you've worked very hard on it. 23 And the fact of the matter is this 24 is a women's rights bill. And many of the 25 women who work in those situations as domestic

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 workers are themselves parents, and many of 2 them take care of their own families. So 3 while they work for other families, they also 4 have their own families. 5 So this goes a long way in at least 6 expressing our support that they should have 7 the right to some equality and some equity in 8 the labor that they do. 9 So I commend you, thank you, and on 10 behalf of all of those women who depend on 11 these jobs to support their own families, I 12 thank you. I vote aye. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Montgomery to be recorded in the 15 affirmative. 16 Senator Oppenheimer, to explain her 17 vote. 18 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: We've been 19 discussing this a long time, so I'll be very 20 brief. 21 It just seems that we should, at 22 this point in our history, be discussing 23 something so basic to human dignity and human 24 rights as this issue is that it's hard for me 25 to believe that we will be the first state in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 this nation to be discussing this and, with 2 the help of all of you here, passing it. 3 So congrats, and we'll be working 4 hard on this. It's really hard for me to 5 believe that we are the first state to touch 6 this. But for each of you, it's going to make 7 a great deal -- a big difference in your 8 lives. And you'll be able to have maybe a 9 little more time with family, maybe a little 10 more time, who knows, to go home to a country 11 that isn't yours right here. 12 And I just -- I just hope that it 13 will have benefits for each one of you. 14 I'll be voting yes. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Senator Oppenheimer to be recorded in the 17 affirmative. 18 Are there any other Senators that 19 wish to explain their votes? 20 Seeing none, announce the results. 21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 22 the negative on Calendar Number 196 are 23 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 24 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 25 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 2 Nozzolio, Ranzenhofer, Robach, Saland, Seward, 3 Skelos, Volker, Winner and Young. 4 Ayes, 33. Nays, 28. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 The bill passes. 7 (Loud cheers and applause from 8 gallery.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 The Secretary will read. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Senator Libous, why do you rise? 14 Order in the chamber, please. 15 SENATOR LIBOUS: I believe about 16 an hour and a half ago Senator Padavan had a 17 point of order about the voting procedure, and 18 you were going to respond to it. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 I was riveted by the debate. We'll make sure 21 we get to that point as soon as possible, but 22 I was caught up in the debate. 23 The Secretary will read. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Pardon me? 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I'll get to the answer in a moment. I got 2 caught up in the debate. The Secretary will 3 read. I'll just double-check the answer on 4 voting in your seats. 5 The Secretary will read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 365 -- 8 SENATOR LIBOUS: Point of order. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 Senator Libous. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Point of order. 12 I'm asking for the rule to be read 13 so the question could be answered. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Senator Libous, even though we've moved on, 16 we've moved on, I will gladly say that yes, 17 they're required to be in their seats when 18 they vote. 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: So you would 20 repeat that one more time? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 Sure, so you can hear. Even though we've 23 moved on. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: What does that 25 mean, "even though we've moved on"?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 We've moved on from the bill. That was prior 3 to the bill we voted on. 4 The answer is, Senator Libous, that 5 they're required to be in their seats when 6 they vote. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 8 maybe I'm being confusing, and I apologize. I 9 was asking for a point of order on the rule 10 for voting. And whether we moved on or not 11 didn't seem to be the issue. 12 So they need to be in their seats 13 in order to vote. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Correct, Senator Libous. 16 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 17 Mr. President. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 You're welcome, Senator Libous. 20 The Secretary will now read. 21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 22 365, by Senator L. Krueger, Senate Print 23 3584B, an act to amend the Election Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 25 Are there any Senators wishing to be heard on

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the bill? 2 Seeing none, the debate is closed. 3 The Secretary will ring the bells. 4 (Pause.) 5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: If anybody 6 is presiding, I have a point of order. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator DeFrancisco, what is your point of 9 order? 10 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Do the 11 rules provide a specific amount of -- or a 12 time limit for which we have to wait for 13 someone to show up for a vote? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 No. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: There's no 17 such rule? And -- 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Are you asking for a second point of order? 20 I've just ruled on your first point of order. 21 The answer is no. 22 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I have 23 a second question. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 25 What's your point of order, Senator?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: To whom do 2 we refer such a request to in this body in 3 order to make a rule of that nature? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Senator DeFrancisco, I have requested the 6 members of this entire chamber to stay close 7 to the Senate. 8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: No, no, 9 I -- 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 Senator -- I'm ruling on your point of order, 12 Senator DeFrancisco, so please. 13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Go ahead. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Thank you. I have asked the members of the 16 Senate to stay close to their chairs and stay 17 close to this chamber. Obviously maybe one or 18 two or three have had, unfortunately, reasons 19 to exit the chamber. We are now going to wait 20 for them. And we are going to wait for them 21 since there's no time constraint. 22 So the answer is is you've referred 23 it to me, I'll refer it back to the members of 24 the body again to remind the members of the 25 body to please stay close to the Senate

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 chambers. 2 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: May I 3 repeat my point of order so you answer the 4 question as opposed to what you just answered. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 Senator DeFrancisco. 7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: My point of 8 order is to whom do I refer a request that 9 there be a rule change to put a time limit on 10 the amount of time we have to wait for any 11 individual member to do whatever they're doing 12 so that the rest of the members don't have to 13 sit here indefinitely while that person is 14 doing whatever they're doing? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Senator DeFrancisco, I'm going to refer you to 17 Rule 11 of the Rules of the Senate of the 18 State of New York. 19 "Resolution to amend the Senate 20 Rules. No amendment to the Senate Rules shall 21 be considered by the Senate unless a 22 resolution for such amendment, together with a 23 memorandum specifying the purpose of the 24 proposed amendment, suspension or rescission, 25 shall be introduced to the Committee on Rules

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 and reported therefrom to the Senate floor." 2 So you can take up your request to 3 the Committee on Rules. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you, 5 Mr. President. I believe we can now go 6 forward. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Thank you very much, Senator DeFrancisco. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I thought 10 I'd fill with the void with something. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This 14 act shall take effect immediately. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Announce the results. 20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 21 the negative on Calendar Number 365 are 22 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 23 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 24 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 25 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, Robach, 2 Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner and 3 Young. 4 Ayes, 32. Nays, 29. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 The bill is passed. 7 The Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 366, by Senator Addabbo, Senate Print 5447C, 10 an act to amend the Election Law. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Seeing no debate, the debate is closed. The 13 Secretary will please ring the bells. 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 16 act shall take effect immediately. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 Announce the results. 22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 23 the negative on Calendar Number 366 are 24 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 25 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 2 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 3 Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, Robach, 4 Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner and 5 Young. 6 Ayes, 32. Nays, 29. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 The bill is passed. 9 The Secretary will continue to 10 read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 517, by Senator Onorato, Senate Print 2248A, 13 an act to amend the Labor Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Seeing no Senators wishing to speak on the 16 bill, debate is closed. The Secretary will 17 please ring the bells. 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect on the 180th day. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 Call the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 25 Announce the results.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 2 the negative on Calendar Number 517 are 3 Senators DeFrancisco, Farley, Flanagan, 4 Golden, Griffo, Hannon, O. Johnson, Lanza, 5 Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, Libous, Little, 6 Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, Nozzolio, 7 Ranzenhofer, Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, 8 Winner and Young. 9 Ayes, 37. Nays, 24. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 The bill is passed. 12 The Secretary will continue to 13 read. 14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 15 528, by Senator Addabbo, Senate Print 2866A, 16 an act to amend the Election Law. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Seeing no further debate on the bill, the 19 Secretary will please ring the bells. Debate 20 is closed. 21 Read the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 23 act shall take effect immediately. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 25 Call the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator DeFrancisco, to explain his vote. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, I vote 5 no on this bill. 6 And it seems to me that there must 7 be some kind of motive behind this bill to 8 have individuals from the more populous areas 9 of the state to travel around the state and 10 get involved in elections that are nowhere 11 near their home. 12 I don't know of any situation where 13 if poll watchers are needed, at least in 14 upstate New York, that the local populace who 15 happen to be registered to vote and vote in 16 those elections aren't enough people to be 17 poll watchers. 18 So to me, this is going to result, 19 in my mind, and the intent of this bill is 20 going to result in people from other districts 21 coming in from other districts, flooding other 22 districts to get involved with elections that 23 are not in their home areas. 24 I think that's a horrible 25 precedent. And whether or not those poll

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 watchers happen to be lawyers or not, it's a 2 horrible precedent. And I vote no. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 4 Senator DeFrancisco to vote in the negative. 5 Announce the results. 6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 7 the negative on Calendar Number 528 are 8 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 9 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 10 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 11 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 12 Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, Robach, 13 Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner and 14 Senator Young. 15 Ayes, 32. Nays, 29. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 17 The bill is passed. 18 The Secretary will continue to 19 read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 566, by Senator Thompson, Senate Print 6848, 22 an act to amend the Public Authorities Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Debate is closed. The Secretary will please 25 ring the bells.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Announce the results. 9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 10 the negative on Calendar Number 566 are 11 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 12 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 13 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 14 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 15 Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, Robach, 16 Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner and 17 Young. 18 Ayes, 32. Nays, 29. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 The bill is passed. 21 The Secretary will continue to 22 read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 581, by Senator L. Krueger -- 25 SENATOR KLEIN: Lay the bill

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 aside for the day, please. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 The bill is laid aside for the day. 4 The Secretary will continue to 5 read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 629, by Senator Schneiderman, Senate Print 8 7096A, an act to amend the Labor Law. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 Debate is closed. The Secretary will please 11 ring the bells. 12 Read the last section. 13 THE SECRETARY: Section 10. This 14 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Call the roll. 17 (The Secretary called the roll.) 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Senator Saland, to explain his vote. 20 SENATOR SALAND: Yes, 21 Mr. President. 22 Mr. President, I'm holding a copy 23 of apparently an editorial from the Buffalo 24 News. And while the subject that it dealt 25 with is the Empire Zones, it reads in part as

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 follows: 2 "Taxes are higher in New York, 3 insurance costs more in New York, electricity 4 costs more in New York, labor costs more in 5 New York, regulations are impenetrable in 6 New York. 7 "The state starts at a disadvantage 8 in keeping and attracting business, so it must 9 play catch-up twice, first to even the field, 10 and again to compete with the incentives 11 offered by states that are already more 12 business-friendly. 13 "Worrying only about surrounding 14 states won't get the job done. New Yorkers 15 are nothing if not mobile, as the large 16 population of former Buffalonians in North 17 Carolina attests. But it's more than that. 18 "If a company has installations in 19 several states, including New York, and wants 20 to expand, it will do so in the state where it 21 makes the most economic sense. Our public 22 utilities may be hostages," and there's more 23 of the same. That editorial could have been 24 written about this bill as well. 25 We are really continuing to drive

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 nails into the coffin of making New York 2 uncompetitive. And what you're doing is 3 imposing on our ratepayers of our public 4 utilities the requirement to pay more by 5 imposing this wage requirement on public 6 utility company employees. 7 Mr. President, I vote in the 8 negative. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 Senator Saland to be recorded in the negative. 11 Senator Bonacic, to explain his 12 vote. 13 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. 15 This bill is a job killer, plain 16 and simple. It also will raise the energy 17 costs on businesses and consumers. And the 18 question we ask, if this becomes law, why 19 would any business ever stay in the State of 20 New York? 21 But where it goes over the top, if 22 an employer does not pay a prevailing wage, he 23 is subject to a C felony prosecution, which 24 carries up to 15 years. Have we gone insane 25 in this chamber?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I vote no. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Bonacic to vote in the negative. 4 Senator Schneiderman, to explain 5 his vote. 6 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you, 7 Mr. President. I obviously am supporting this 8 legislation. 9 And I just want to say, in response 10 to some of my colleagues, all this bill does 11 is expand a basic principle that's already 12 embodied in Article 9, which is that if you 13 accept a state contract, if you work for a 14 public agency or if you accept the benefits of 15 state law that enable you to function 16 essentially as a monopoly if you're a utility, 17 you are not, in the State of New York, allowed 18 to pay poverty wages. The State of New York 19 should not subsidize poverty. 20 I realize there's a philosophical 21 disagreement about this. But, ladies and 22 gentlemen, this is something that is worth 23 fighting for. And just as we took a blow for 24 domestic workers earlier, we're taking a blow 25 for many thousands of service workers across

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the state. It is worth it to have people paid 2 prevailing wage. It is worth it to have 3 people able to support their families. 4 This produces long-term benefits 5 for everyone in this state, and I'm proud to 6 sponsor and support this legislation. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Schneiderman to be recorded in the 10 affirmative. 11 Senator Ranzenhofer, to explain his 12 vote. 13 SENATOR RANZENHOFER: Thank you, 14 Mr. President. Just briefly. 15 I rise in opposition to this piece 16 of legislation. They say that insanity is 17 doing the same thing over and over again and 18 expecting to get a different result. What 19 this is is another job-killing piece of 20 legislation. 21 This will increase costs in a state 22 which already has the greatest cost for doing 23 business in New York State and across the 24 country. This will cause people to lose job 25 and not gain any employment in this state.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 We'll continue to send people out of the state 2 and search for jobs elsewhere where the jobs 3 are being created outside of the state. 4 I'll be voting no. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 Senator Ranzenhofer to be recorded in the 7 negative. 8 Any other Senator wishing to 9 explain their vote? 10 Seeing none, announce the results. 11 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 12 the negative on Calendar Number 629 are 13 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 14 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 15 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 16 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 17 Nozzolio, Ranzenhofer, Robach, Saland, Seward, 18 Skelos, Volker, Winner and Young. 19 Ayes, 33. Nays, 28. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 The bill is passed. 22 Senator Klein, that completes the 23 reading of the controversial calendar. 24 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 25 this time can we please go to a reading of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 supplemental active list. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 499, by Member of the Assembly Espaillat, 6 Assembly Print Number 9737, an act to amend 7 Chapter 266 of the Laws of 1981. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Senator Hannon, why do you rise? 17 SENATOR HANNON: I'd just like to 18 know what bill it is. It's not -- 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 It's Calendar Number -- 21 SENATOR HANNON: Is this the 22 addition to the regular active list? 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Yes. 25 SENATOR HANNON: Thank you.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 Announce the results. 3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. Nays, 4 0. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 The bill is passed. 7 The Secretary will continue to 8 read. 9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 10 630, by Member of the Assembly Espaillat, 11 Assembly Print Number 8296A, an act to amend 12 the Executive Law. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Read the last section. 15 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 16 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Call the roll. 19 (The Secretary called the roll.) 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 Senator Ranzenhofer, why do you rise? 22 SENATOR RANZENHOFER: I don't 23 have a copy of this bill. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 25 One second, Senator Volker.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Ranzenhofer, the copy of 2 the bill is in the black book on your desk. 3 You don't have a copy of the supplemental 4 active list? 5 SENATOR RANZENHOFER: None of my 6 colleagues do. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator Libous. 9 SENATOR LIBOUS: It appears that 10 the back row, for some reason, does not have 11 this. 12 You don't have it either? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Libous, we're going to hold for a 15 minute to make sure that the back row has a 16 copy of the supplemental active list sheet 17 that you do have in your possession. 18 Senator Ranzenhofer -- 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 20 they were looking for the usual Senate -- it 21 says "Senate Calendar." So I think we've got 22 everything under control. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Senator Ranzenhofer, is it sufficient in front 25 of you that --

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR RANZENHOFER: Yes. 2 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 7 act shall take effect on the 90th day. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Call the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Announce the results. 13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 The bill is passed. 16 Senator Klein, that completes the 17 supplemental active list. 18 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 19 this time there will be an immediate meeting 20 of the Finance Committee, followed by a 21 meeting of the Rules Committee in the Majority 22 Conference Room. 23 Pending the return of the two 24 committees, can we please stand at ease. 25 I'd just urge my colleagues to go

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to committee and get back as quickly as 2 possible so we can finish for the day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 4 There will be an immediate meeting of the 5 Finance Committee, followed by an immediate 6 meeting of the Rules Committee in Room 332. 7 To echo Senator Klein, please, if 8 you're members joining the committees, to 9 please come back in. Those members not on the 10 committees, please stay close. 11 Pending the return of the Rules 12 Committee, the Senate will stand at ease. 13 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 14 ease at 8:48 p.m.) 15 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 16 at 9:52 p.m.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 Senator Klein. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 20 believe there's a Rules Committee report at 21 the desk. I move that we adopt the report at 22 this time. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 There is a report of the Rules Committee at 25 the desk.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 The Secretary will read. 2 THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith, 3 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 4 following bills. 5 Senate Print 103A, by Senator 6 Sampson, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 7 Law; 8 3171, by Senator Griffo, an act to 9 amend the Education Law; 10 3539A, by Senator L. Krueger, an 11 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law; 12 4876A, by Senator Foley, an act to 13 amend the Real Property Tax Law; 14 5370, by Senator Hassell-Thompson, 15 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law; 16 6279A, by Senator Adams, an act to 17 amend the Private Housing Finance Law; 18 7041, by Senator Valesky, an act to 19 amend the Environmental Conservation Law; 20 And Senate Print 8019, by the 21 Senate Committee on Rules, an act making 22 appropriations for the support of government. 23 All bills ordered direct to third 24 reading. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 All those in favor of adopting the Rules 2 Committee report please signify by saying aye. 3 (Response of "Aye.") 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Opposed, nay. 6 (Response of "Nay.") 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 The Rules Committee report is adopted. 9 Senator Klein. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 11 can we please go to a reading of the 12 supplemental calendar. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 The Secretary will read. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 668, by Senator Sampson, Senate Print 103A, an 17 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 Call the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Announce the results. 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 4 The bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 669, by Senator Griffo, Senate Print 3171, an 7 act to amend the Education Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 11 act shall take effect on the first of July. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Announce the results. 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 The bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 670, by Senator L. Krueger, Senate Print 22 3539A, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 23 Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 25 Read the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This 2 act shall take effect on the 120th day. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 4 Call the roll. 5 (The Secretary called the roll.) 6 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 7 Announce the results. 8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 The bill is passed. 11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 12 671, by Senator Foley, Senate Print 4876A, an 13 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Read the last section. 16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 17 act shall take effect immediately. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Call the roll. 20 (The Secretary called the roll.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 Announce the results. 23 Senator Larkin, to explain his 24 vote. 25 SENATOR LARKIN: A little more

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 than explain my vote. We just had a meeting, 2 and there was a decision here made to clarify 3 this before we did anything with this bill. 4 SENATOR LaVALLE: Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 Senator LaValle, why do you rise? 7 SENATOR LaVALLE: Just a point of 8 information. What bill are we on, please? 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 For a point of information, Senator LaValle, 11 we're on Calendar Number 671. 12 SENATOR LaVALLE: By Senator 13 Foley? 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 By Senator Foley. 16 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you. 17 SENATOR LARKIN: I'll speak on 18 the bill. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Senator Larkin, to explain his vote. 21 SENATOR LARKIN: I understand 22 where Senator Foley is coming from. But when 23 you look at the exemptions, those of you 24 who've served at town or village or cities, 25 when you do the assessments and you start to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 say it's transferable, I think we've got 2 another bill that we already did and it says 3 local option. 4 I think that we ought to be 5 looking, because if some individual moves from 6 Point A to Point B and the benefit that he 7 gets is better than where he was living 8 before. 9 And I just asked him at the meeting 10 if we couldn't have this discussed with the 11 Association of Towns or the Conference of 12 Mayors, because it's a good bill. But 13 somebody better make sure that they're all 14 talking off the same sheet of music. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Thank you, Senator Larkin. 17 Senator Little, to explain her 18 vote. 19 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. I would like to explain my 21 vote. 22 And certainly having a son who is a 23 veteran and another son who's on active duty, 24 I support veteran's issues. However, on this 25 bill I believe it's a local option and it

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 differs between towns as to what kind of 2 veterans tax exemption is given within that 3 town. And they're taking away -- normally you 4 could transfer within a city, town or village 5 and even though you bought another house, you 6 could carry that exemption with you. 7 They're taking away city, town and 8 village and saying that you can do that within 9 a county. For instance, Washington County is 10 made up of 17 towns and nine villages, some 11 which have a veterans exemption, some which 12 don't have a veterans exemption. 13 So my concern is that now you could 14 live in one town with a veterans exemption, 15 move to another town without a veterans 16 exemption. As long as you're within the same 17 county, you're carrying it with you -- whereas 18 many of the veterans in that town don't have a 19 veterans exemption. 20 So I think this is something that 21 needs a little further examination and 22 clarification, and it's something that we 23 ought to at least have some input from the 24 local governments on. Therefore, I'm voting 25 no.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Thank you. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Little to be recorded in the negative. 4 Read the last section. 5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 6 act shall take effect immediately. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Call the roll. 9 (The Secretary called the roll.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 Announce the results. 12 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 13 the negative on Calendar Number 671 are 14 Senators Larkin, Little and Ranzenhofer. 15 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 17 The bill is passed. 18 The Secretary will continue to 19 read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 672, by Senator Hassell-Thompson, Senate Print 22 5370, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 23 Law. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 25 Read the last section.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR LaVALLE: Lay it aside, 2 please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 4 The bill is laid aside. 5 The Secretary will continue to 6 read. 7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 8 673, by Senator Adams, Senate Print 6279A, an 9 act to amend the Private Housing Finance Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 Read the last section. 12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 13 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 15 Call the roll. 16 SENATOR SALAND: On the bill, 17 please. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Senator Saland, on the bill. 20 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 21 Mr. President. 22 I don't profess to have any great 23 knowledge about the Housing Finance Law -- 24 Senator Adams isn't in the chamber, and I 25 understand he wants to provide preferences to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 veterans. And I don't know if this was his 2 intention or not. 3 I raised this, I believe, in the 4 Rules Committee. He is eliminating the word 5 "disabled" on the second page of the bill 6 which currently provides a preference for 7 disabled veterans. I simply didn't know if 8 that was something done inadvertently or 9 intentionally. And if that's what he proposes 10 to do, that's what he proposes to do. 11 I mentioned it, and supposedly it 12 was going to be mentioned to Senator Adams, 13 and I hope it was. And perhaps he could 14 respond to that. That's all. 15 Thank you. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 17 Read the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 Call the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Senator Adams, to explain his vote. 25 SENATOR ADAMS: I just want to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 explain -- yes, thank you, Senator Saland. 2 And I'm one of those few Senators, I stand in 3 the chamber the whole day so we can move good. 4 I don't leave, you know. 5 The bill -- we don't remove 6 "disabled." What happened was between 1961 -- 7 just to explain my vote -- between 1961 and 8 1975, we offered this to Vietnam veterans, 9 disabled or not. What we're doing is we're 10 still allowing disabled vets to have the 11 Mitchell-Lama, you know, the option, but we're 12 also expanding it to all those who serve 13 during wartime to have the same option. 14 So we're not taking away the 15 "disabled," we're just expanding it to include 16 all the other soldiers who fought in all the 17 wars that are currently going on now. 18 I vote aye. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Senator Adams to be recorded in the 21 affirmative. 22 Announce the results. 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. Nays, 24 0. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 The bill is passed. 2 The Secretary will continue to 3 read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 674, by Senator Valesky, Senate Print 7041, an 6 act to amend the Environmental Conservation 7 Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Read the last section. 10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 11 act shall take effect immediately. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Call the roll. 14 (The Secretary called the roll.) 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Announce the results. 17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 The bill is passed. 20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 21 Calendar Number 677, Senator C. Kruger moves 22 to discharge, from the Committee on Finance, 23 Assembly Bill Number 11313 and substitute it 24 for the identical Senate Bill Number 8019, 25 Third Reading Calendar 677.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 Substitution ordered. 3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 4 677, by the Assembly Committee on Rules, 5 Assembly Print Number 11313, an act making 6 appropriations for the support of government. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 10 there a message of necessity and appropriation 11 at the desk? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 There is a message of necessity and 14 appropriation at the desk. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 16 move to accept the message at this time. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 18 The question is on the acceptance of the 19 message of necessity and appropriation. All 20 those in favor please signify by saying aye. 21 (Response of "Aye.") 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 Opposed, nay. 24 (Response of "Nay.") 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 The message is accepted. 2 Read the last section. 3 THE SECRETARY: Section 17. This 4 act shall take effect immediately. 5 SENATOR LaVALLE: Lay it aside, 6 please. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 The bill is laid aside. 9 Senator Klein, that completes the 10 reading of the noncontroversial supplemental 11 calendar. 12 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 13 can we please go a controversial reading of 14 the supplemental calendar. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 The Secretary will ring the bell. All members 17 are asked to come to the chamber for the 18 reading of the controversial supplemental 19 calendar. 20 And again I repeat, I request all 21 members to please stay in their seats or stay 22 within the chamber so we can move the debate 23 along. 24 The Secretary will read. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 672, by Senator Hassell-Thompson, Senate Print 2 5370, an act to amend the Real Property Tax 3 Law. 4 SENATOR LaVALLE: Explanation, 5 please. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 7 Senator Hassell-Thompson, an explanation has 8 been requested by Senator LaValle. 9 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 10 you, Mr. President. 11 This bill is an attempt to amend 12 the Real Property Tax Law, granting an 13 additional tax exemption for two qualified 14 veterans living in the same household. 15 There was a discussion in Rules, 16 and somehow all of us looking at it failed to 17 realize that under the justification it does 18 say that each county must opt in for both 19 alternative exemptions. And that seemed to 20 have been the basis of concern. 21 If there's specific questions, I'll 22 answer them. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Senator LaValle, why do you rise? 25 SENATOR LaVALLE: Would the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator yield for a question. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Hassell-Thompson, will you yield for a 4 question? 5 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Yes. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 7 Senator LaValle. 8 SENATOR LaVALLE: Senator, you 9 were right on the money that the sense was, 10 was this at a local option. And the members 11 are having a hard time finding that language. 12 Could you point that out to us in the bill? 13 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: The 14 language is not in the bill, but it is in the 15 supporting memo. Which harkens back to the 16 original bill that allows for exemptions. 17 What this bill does is enhance an 18 existing tax exemption. It gives an 19 additional tax exemption to two categories, 20 those with two veterans sharing the same 21 household and those veterans who served in a 22 combat zone. Both options have -- must be 23 opted in by each county. 24 The original law does say that this 25 enhancement does not change the original law.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR LaVALLE: Section -- 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator LaValle, do you wish -- 4 SENATOR LaVALLE: Yes. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 6 Senator Hassell-Thompson, will you yield for 7 another question? 8 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Yes. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 Senator LaValle. 11 SENATOR LaVALLE: Is that 12 original section in Section 1 of the law which 13 talks about paragraphs A and B of subdivision 14 2 of Section 458(a) of the Real Property Tax 15 Law, is that in that section of law that is -- 16 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: I 17 would be lying to you if I told you that it 18 did, because I'm not looking at the original 19 law. 20 But what I have been told, because 21 I didn't -- I don't have access at this moment 22 to the original law, but that the original law 23 does contain the language that says each 24 county must opt in. 25 And in this memo it says that

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 New York State recognizes in blah, blah, blah, 2 and then it says the alternative exemptions 3 are available only for residential properties 4 of veterans who served during wartime or 5 received an expeditionary medal. This 6 provides for an exemption of 15 percent of the 7 assessed value to veterans who served during 8 wartime, an additional 10 percent to those who 9 served in a combat zone. Each county must opt 10 in to grant this alternative exemption. 11 SENATOR LaVALLE: Just on the 12 bill, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator LaValle, on the bill. 15 SENATOR LaVALLE: Based on what 16 Senator Hassell-Thompson has indicated, and 17 based on a reading of the original law, so it 18 is your intent and actual, we have found to 19 date that the counties must -- the county, 20 city, town or village may adopt a local law. 21 So it does have a opt-in provision. 22 Thank you, Senator. 23 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 24 you. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Are there any other Senators who wish to be 2 heard on the bill? 3 Hearing none, the debate is closed. 4 The Secretary will please ring the bells. 5 Read the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect on the first of January 8 next succeeding. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 10 Call the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Announce the results. 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61. Nays, 15 0. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 17 The bill is passed. 18 The Secretary will continue to 19 read. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 677, substituted earlier today by the Assembly 22 Committee on Rules, Assembly Print Number 23 11313, an act making appropriations for the 24 support of government. 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Explanation. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Kruger, an explanation has been 4 requested by Senator DeFrancisco. 5 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Thank you, 6 Mr. President. 7 This emergency spending 8 appropriation bill, the ninth in a series, 9 covers the period through June 6th. It 10 provides an All Funds appropriation of 11 $5.45 billion and a General Fund appropriation 12 of $1.236 billion. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator DeFrancisco, why do you rise? 15 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I just have 16 a couple of questions of Senator Kruger, if 17 he'd yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Senator Kruger, will you yield for some 20 questions from Senator DeFrancisco? 21 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: It will be 22 my pleasure, Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Senator DeFrancisco. 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Kruger, it's my understanding that since the 2 leaders' meeting last week, during which there 3 was an agreement to have the staffs of the 4 Minority and Majority meet last Thursday, that 5 such a meeting did in fact occur, a meeting 6 among the staff members. Is that correct? 7 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, it 8 did. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: And can you 10 tell me, out of that meeting, whether or not 11 any agreements were reached? 12 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Through 13 you, Mr. President, the meetings were very 14 fruitful. To the extent that what we are 15 doing, as was expressed out of the five-way 16 leaders' meeting of last week, targets are 17 being looked at to see exactly what the 18 2-pont-odd-billion-dollar gap is and how we 19 approach filling it. 20 As you well know, tomorrow there is 21 a five-way leaders' meeting scheduled for 22 11:00 a.m. 23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would 24 Senator Kruger continue to yield. 25 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Kruger will continue to yield, Senator 4 DeFrancisco. 5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Senator 6 Kruger, at that leaders' meeting last week, 7 that was a week ago, and there's been no 8 announcement as to what the -- any 9 announcements about the $2.5 million, as to 10 how that's going to be debated among 11 committees of the rank-and-file members. 12 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Through 13 you, Mr. President, it's billion, 2-point-odd 14 billion. And yes, there are targets. Those 15 targets will be discussed tomorrow at the 16 five-way meeting. 17 And with the leadership agreeing, 18 the next step hopefully is the process to 19 begin conference committees. 20 SENATOR FLANAGAN: All right. 21 And would you yield to another question? 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 Senator Kruger, will you continue to yield? 24 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do, 25 Mr. President.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: So the 2 targets have been set at this point in time as 3 to the $2.5 billion gap, is that what you're 4 saying? 5 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: No, I'm 6 not. I'm saying that there are -- there are, 7 on the radar screen, places where we would be 8 looking toward, hopefully, with the agreement 9 of moving forward to fill in those target 10 numbers. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Senator DeFrancisco. 13 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would he 14 continue to yield. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Senator Kruger, will you continue to yield? 17 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I 18 will, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Senator DeFrancisco. 21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Does that 22 mean we're nearing the critical mass, since 23 they're on the target screen? 24 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: I guess 25 it -- through you, Mr. President, when we're

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 finished with this entire process what we're 2 going to do is develop a new glossary of terms 3 as to what this budget negotiation is all 4 about. So you can add "radar screen" to it as 5 well. 6 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: All right. 7 Lastly, Senator Kruger, the other thing that 8 was mentioned at the last leaders' meeting was 9 the fact that there have been $6.5 billion in 10 agreed-upon budget-gap closers. Could you 11 relate to this chamber what those $6.5 billion 12 of budget-gap closers are? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 I'm assuming you want Senator Kruger to yield 15 to that question. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. Would 17 you yield to that? 18 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Through 19 you, Mr. President, I think what we're talking 20 about are small, small closers that have been 21 tentatively agreed to. I do not have a list 22 currently, but I certainly will attempt to 23 have staff put one together and furnish it to 24 you. 25 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Would

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Kruger continue to yield. 2 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do, 3 Mr. President. 4 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: 6.5 billion 5 is not a small amount of budget-gap closers, 6 at least on my parameters. So you're saying, 7 though, that as to the $6.5 billion of 8 budget-gap closers, that's why we only need 9 $2.5 billion that we've got to worry about, 10 you mean there's a list presently as to what 11 those are? 12 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Through 13 you, Mr. President, there's not a 14 comprehensive list. We will attempt to put 15 together a list and furnish it to you. 16 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I don't 17 have any further questions. I'll just speak 18 on the bill. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 20 Senator DeFrancisco, on the bill. 21 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: You know, 22 I'm not quite sure where to begin here. I 23 just think this is so ridiculous, and it gets 24 more ridiculous each week. 25 We're asked to extend for our ninth

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 time a budget extender to keep government 2 operating. And from what we've been told in 3 the past, at midnight of the day we're doing 4 these extenders, everything is going to stop, 5 government is going to stop. Well, if we used 6 our entire two hours of time on this debate, 7 we would have the government stopped, because 8 it would become 12 o'clock. But nobody 9 believes that we have to do that to show that 10 government will not stop. 11 But if there's been a $6.5 billion 12 gap that's been closed, that's been closed -- 13 since all we're going to deal with, according 14 to Senator Kruger, is the additional 15 $2.5 billion, that that's going to be divided 16 up among tables -- shouldn't somebody be given 17 the knowledge of what those $6.5 billion of 18 closers are? I mean, you're going to get us a 19 list after nine extenders? 20 In fact, I think it was at least a 21 week ago that Assembly Speaker Silver actually 22 said that there's $6.5 billion of the gap has 23 been closed. Apparently it's been done 24 miraculously, because there's been no leaders' 25 meeting till last week, and there's not

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 another leaders' meeting till tomorrow. 2 But if that's been done, shouldn't 3 the public or the rank-and-file members be 4 notified of what that $6.5 billion gap that's 5 been closed, how it was closed? I've got a 6 feeling the reason no one is notified is that 7 it hasn't been closed, and we're being given 8 more nonsensical answers to legitimate 9 questions. 10 I know the people in my district, I 11 know we're falling over ourselves -- as a 12 veteran, I'm a veteran -- we're all falling 13 over ourselves today to pass veterans bills to 14 make our veterans feel real good about what 15 we're doing today. And we had a wonderful 16 ceremony today, and that's wonderful too. 17 But veterans also are citizens of 18 this state that, at the -- at least the 19 parades I was at and the events I was at, 20 asked me more than once, "What can you tell me 21 about the budget?" That's of concern to 22 veterans. Maybe not as much as the exemptions 23 that we're bestowing upon them tonight. Or 24 maybe not even as much as the honors we're 25 giving the people that came here today and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 were honored. 2 We've got to give answers. We've 3 got to provide some type of indication that 4 we're doing something. Other than a game that 5 is so transparent, and it gets more 6 transparent every week. 7 You know what's one of the most 8 ridiculous things about today is we've said 9 over and over that these public budget 10 meetings were part of a 2007 reform bill that 11 all of us were proud of and we're not 12 following the law. We've done that, I've said 13 that every week. 14 You know what's really ironic about 15 today? While that reform bill was being 16 ignored, the majority party, the Democrats, 17 came out with a new series of reform 18 legislation, how they're going to reform the 19 budget process. And you know what it 20 provided? We're going to move the date that 21 the budget is due from April 1 to June 1. 22 Well, guess what. You violated 23 your new reform before you even passed it. 24 You violated your new reform before you even 25 passed it. I mean, how can you defend that?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 I don't know. I don't know. I'd be 2 embarrassed. I'm embarrassed even though I -- 3 despite what I say, I have nothing to do or 4 nothing to say about closing this budget, 5 because we're not part of it. 6 We're now, by the way, according to 7 the Comptroller, who happens to be a 8 Democrat -- that's a nonpartisan person, a 9 Democrat -- we now went into a negative fund 10 balance last week. A negative fund balance. 11 I hope everyone is proud here of everything 12 that we're doing and proud of our answers on 13 the floor as to what's going on with the 14 budget. A negative fund balance, probably for 15 the first time in history. At least the 16 history that I know of since I've been here. 17 And the state had to borrow $500 million from 18 the state's temporary investment pool to 19 continue paying the state's obligations. 20 And by the way, we're not paying 21 all the state's obligations. And those in 22 many cases contractually that are over 30 days 23 in duration that haven't been paid, 24 contractors and the like, are incurring 25 interest payments. So we're losing money as

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 we're going through this process. 2 I'm not sure what we're waiting 3 for, what the majority party and the leaders 4 are waiting for. What is going to be better 5 the tenth week or the eleventh week or the 6 twelfth week? Are we going to get some 7 magical change in the economy? Well, let me 8 tell you, the market tanked again today. 9 There doesn't seem to be much hope, if you pay 10 any attention to the economists and the budget 11 and the investor community, that things are 12 getting better. In fact, they're getting 13 worse. 14 What miracle is going to happen? 15 Are we going to get a cash cow from Washington 16 and some more stimulus money to fill the gap 17 another year and kick the can of the problem 18 down the block for another couple of years? 19 Is that the concept? 20 And by the way, in case that's what 21 you're waiting for, the taxpayers in this 22 state that I know don't really care whether 23 you take their money from the wallet if it's 24 in this side of the pocket, the state side, or 25 this side of the pocket if it's the federal

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 side. It's their same wallet, the same money. 2 It only goes so far. And we don't deal with 3 our problems as they become due. 4 Are we waiting till people might be 5 so tired of waiting that they'll buy into 6 billions of dollars of borrowing? Is that 7 what we're waiting for? I'm not quite sure 8 that's going to happen, because I don't think 9 many people want borrowing to be the answer to 10 this budget problem. 11 Well, I guess I can go on and talk 12 about the other extenders and how we went 13 forward and maybe a week after we make an 14 amendment, then the road projects are in; a 15 week after we make an amendment, the racing 16 season is saved; a week or two after we make 17 an amendment talking about the parks, the 18 parks miraculously are saved. I mean, is that 19 a way to run government? 20 We don't have any amendments today. 21 You're going to have to figure it out 22 yourself. You're going to have figure out 23 yourself how you're going to correct the daily 24 problems that are arising throughout the 25 state.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 We want to participate. We've 2 asked to participate. But apparently, to this 3 date, the Assembly Speaker has not even named 4 members to the conference committees, and 5 there's going to be a leaders' meeting 6 tomorrow. There's no schedule to do anything. 7 And we're beyond your newest most wonderful 8 reform action, June 1 budget date. And still 9 no meeting scheduled. 10 And rhetorically, I'm just going to 11 ask the majority, what are you waiting for? 12 What are you waiting for? 13 Tomorrow should be extremely 14 interesting. But I would hope that tomorrow 15 will show two things, what the $6.5 billion in 16 closers are that have been agreed to, 17 supposedly, what the 6.5 billion of closers 18 have been agreed to, what they are and what 19 that agreement was, because none of us 20 participated in it; and, number two, the 21 $2.5 billion in deficit situation that we're 22 still in, how the structure is going to be 23 made for the conference committees to deal 24 with that additional deficit. 25 And I've got a feeling we're going

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to have a little talk, some more rhetoric, and 2 then maybe another week's delay in order for 3 another grand leaders' meeting to be held 4 where nothing gets done. 5 It seems to me if there was true, 6 true belief that something should be done, 7 then you don't wait from a Monday to the 8 following Tuesday or Wednesday to appoint 9 committee members, set a schedule and get a 10 list of the $2.5 billion and how you're going 11 to deal with it. If you are acting in good 12 faith. But obviously there's little good 13 faith or no faith that anybody in the state 14 has for the way the process is working. 15 So I would suggest one last thing 16 as I'm sitting down. I would suggest, in 17 order to try to divert the attention of the 18 general public from this problem, you come out 19 with another reform package that moves the 20 date for the budget to be passed from June -- 21 now from June 1, the new date, to July 1. And 22 then a month from now we'll talk again about a 23 new reform package that maybe you could come 24 out with that might move the date further and 25 further along, maybe to December 1, so you

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 don't have to do a budget before the next 2 crucial election. 3 So, ladies and gentlemen, at some 4 point we're going to have that one or two 5 people over there that's as embarrassed as I 6 am, and as the people on this side of the 7 aisle are, and say "Enough is enough, I'm not 8 voting for this thing," or "Enough is enough, 9 I'll give you one more week, Week 10," because 10 we've now gone past our latest, greatest 11 super-duper reform package on how to deal with 12 a budget. 13 I'm going to vote nay on this, as I 14 have in the last several weeks. Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 16 Senator Robach. 17 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, would 18 Senator Kruger yield for a couple of quick 19 questions, Mr. President. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 21 Senator Kruger, will you yield for a couple of 22 quick questions from Senator Robach? 23 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, 24 Mr. President. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Kruger will yield. 2 SENATOR ROBACH: Senator Kruger, 3 I just want to make sure I'm right on this. I 4 know Senator Sampson has named conference 5 committee members, Senator Skelos, Brian Kolb. 6 Who is the only party left that hasn't named 7 their conference committee members in the 8 process, out of our four groups? 9 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Only party? 10 I don't know what you mean by "party." 11 Through you, Mr. President. Senator Robach, 12 what do you mean by "party"? 13 SENATOR ROBACH: Out of the four 14 participating houses, minorities, majorities, 15 is the Assembly the only -- is Speaker Silver 16 the only one who has not named his conference 17 committees? 18 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: I believe 19 so. 20 SENATOR ROBACH: And I'm only 21 asking this because I'm not in the meetings, 22 and so I really do believe -- 23 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Through 24 you, Mr. President, in response to your 25 question, I believe so.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR ROBACH: You know what, I 2 would just ask this through you, 3 Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 You wish Senator Kruger to continue to yield? 6 SENATOR ROBACH: Would you 7 continue to yield? 8 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do. 9 SENATOR ROBACH: There's 10 obviously a great of frustration, not only 11 with us but in our constituency. And as much 12 as they're frustrated with the challenge at 13 hand, it is very frustrating when I don't 14 think anybody on either side of the aisle can 15 answer the question where we're at. 16 And I think that you would agree 17 that Senator DeFrancisco's very poignant 18 question as to what incremental progress we've 19 made, if any, even behind closed doors -- 20 we're so desperate for information, we'll take 21 that at this point -- what that is or what we 22 can report back to our constituents. Is there 23 anything that we can tell them at this point, 24 from your negotiations or staff negotiations, 25 between you and Sheldon Silver's staff and the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Governor's staff at this point at all? 2 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: They're 3 ongoing. 4 SENATOR ROBACH: What's that? 5 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: They're 6 ongoing. 7 SENATOR ROBACH: All right, let 8 me ask through you, Mr. President, one more 9 question. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 11 Senator Kruger, will you continue to yield? 12 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do, 13 Mr. President. 14 SENATOR ROBACH: If my 15 constituents are unhappy with the answer of 16 ongoing negotiations with no result, could you 17 provide me as an insider with anything a 18 little bit more comprehensive or thorough? 19 And maybe let me add this to the question: Is 20 that what you tell your own constituents? 21 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: 22 Negotiations are ongoing and they are -- in 23 my, in the world way I see the world, and they 24 are fruitful. 25 SENATOR ROBACH: Well, on the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill, Mr. President. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 3 Senator Robach, on the bill. 4 SENATOR ROBACH: You know, 5 really, nobody wants to shut down government. 6 That's not what this is about. But we have to 7 get a result at some point. 8 And my guess is tomorrow Sheldon 9 Silver, after he agreed publicly with all the 10 other leaders to do conference committees but 11 has done nothing in I don't know how many 12 days -- 10 days, 12 days, whatever -- will 13 probably continue to play the budget 14 rope-a-dope game, which doesn't work for my 15 constituency. I don't think it works for 16 yours or anybody's, for that matter. 17 But there has to be some pressure 18 to bear by all the parties to start getting a 19 result. Now, we have trampled on the Budget 20 Reform Act of 2007. I don't know the logic. 21 I don't make that decision. I think it's a 22 bad one. I think it's a bad one for good 23 government, but I also think it's a bad one 24 for results. 25 We're in challenging times, and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 this is where we should be letting the public 2 know the difficult decisions we have and 3 letting them in, so to speak, on what we can 4 do. Instead, you the Democratic conferences, 5 have chosen to go in exactly the opposite 6 direction and make it as closed and 7 nontransparent as possible. 8 And so now not only are we 9 frustrated with the result, but I literally 10 can't go back to my district, when a business 11 group, a community group says "What's going on 12 with the budget?" and really give them too 13 much information that's accurate. And, you 14 know, the one thing I have in this business is 15 my word, my handshake and my bond. But when 16 you don't have any information, how can you 17 really talk to somebody about what you're 18 going to do? 19 So we really not can do better, 20 must do better for our constituencies. And I 21 won't even go into all the people that can't 22 make their budget, school districts and 23 everything else. 24 But the time is long overdue. So I 25 hope everybody will get a little focused, and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 whatever pressure we can provide to get this 2 budget done, where we're already two months 3 late, get these conference committees really 4 going and make sure everybody participates, 5 critically, critically important. 6 But until that time, I'm going to 7 continue to vote no for this extender. And I 8 think it's hard, if you're voting yes, to 9 really go back to anybody and say in good 10 faith something constructive is trying to 11 happen to get a budget done. 12 Thank you, Mr. President. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 14 Senator Flanagan. 15 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. Would Senator Kruger yield to 17 a question? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 19 Senator Kruger, do you yield to a question 20 from Senator Flanagan? 21 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Yes, I do, 22 Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 24 Senator Flanagan. 25 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Kruger, I listened to your 2 dialogue with Senator DeFrancisco with rapt 3 attention, like most of my colleagues. And I 4 want to hone in on one thing in particular. 5 You talked about the $6.5 billion, you alluded 6 to "small closers." I would agree with 7 Senator DeFrancisco, $6.5 billion is a lot of 8 money. It represents well over 4 percent of 9 our entire budget. And you referenced that 10 there would be a list that would be put 11 together. 12 My question is, there is a leaders' 13 meeting tomorrow at 11 o'clock. Will that 14 list be available for the public's review and 15 consumption prior to that leaders' meeting? 16 SENATOR CARL KRUGER: Through 17 you, Mr. President. I can't say with any 18 certainty that there will be. 19 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President, 20 on the bill. 21 Thank you, Senator Kruger. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 Senator Flanagan, on the bill. 24 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I'm going to 25 join in the comments of my colleague and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 friend Senator DeFrancisco. It's not 2 fruitful, it's not ongoing, it's dead, it's 3 fruitless, it's a disgrace what we're involved 4 in right now. 5 Now, I'm going to touch on 6 something that Senator DeFrancisco briefly 7 touched on. The reality is we are at a 8 crossroads. We're out of cash. We are out of 9 cash. And the way we staved off the 10 inevitable was in a temporary way by saying 11 the $2.3 billion that was supposed to go out 12 June 1st to our school districts, who have 13 been clamoring for the money, we're not paying 14 it. Because we don't have it. 15 And then on top of that, we take 16 $500 million from the short-term investment 17 pool. And I know in some respects this is 18 absolutely tedious to listen to, but it is so 19 incredibly important. We took $500 million 20 from that fund. And last year in the budget 21 we made this funky little change that allowed 22 some of this to happen. 23 Last year, before we enacted the 24 budget, any money that was ever borrowed from 25 that pool had to be paid back within the same

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 month. That's not the rule anymore. Now it 2 can be done crossed over months. So now, 3 instead of paying it back within the inside of 4 a month, it can go for four months or to the 5 end of the fiscal year, whichever is shorter. 6 And I know that there are some 7 discussions -- not on a list, not publicly -- 8 about potentially doing intrayear transfers. 9 The head of the Division of the Budget is 10 quoted, as late as this afternoon: "'New York 11 has been able to stave off an empty treasury 12 thanks to holding back on aid to 13 municipalities and schools,' Division of 14 Budget Director Robert Mega said this 15 afternoon." 16 And then he goes on to say, "I 17 think it really depends, in terms of layoffs 18 and things we're facing, how successful the 19 early retirement program is. But there's 20 almost no scenario under the early retirement 21 program where we get all the savings we need." 22 Ladies and gentlemen, we're out of 23 money. I don't know how we can possibly go 24 back to our constituents and say it's ongoing 25 and it's fruitful. There's nothing going on.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 There's nothing that's happened since the 2 leaders' meeting last week. 3 I went to parades over the weekend 4 just like everybody else. It's embarrassing 5 to have to stand there and say, "No, there is 6 no budget." "No, there is no prospect of a 7 budget happening anytime soon." 8 So I'm going to do what I've done 9 for the last eight weeks. I'm going to 10 exercise the one power, discretion and 11 absolute authority that I have, just like 12 everybody else in the chamber and across the 13 way in the Assembly: I'm going to use my 14 vote. That's the one thing that makes me as 15 powerful as any leader, any chair in either 16 house. 17 And I'm going to vote no, because 18 it's ridiculous that we're letting this 19 charade and this folly go on. The taxpayers 20 deserve a lot better and a lot quicker. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 22 Seeing no other Senators wishing to debate the 23 bill, the debate is closed. 24 The Secretary will please ring the 25 bells.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Read the last section. 2 THE SECRETARY: Section 17. This 3 act shall take effect immediately. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 5 Call the roll. 6 (The Secretary called the roll.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 Senator Saland, to explain his vote. 9 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. 11 I'm going to cast my vote in the 12 negative. But I merely wanted to make 13 mention, in listening to the exchanges here on 14 the floor about $6.5 billion of alleged 15 agreed-upon and yet unseen cuts and another 16 $2.5 billion to go, some of us may be aware of 17 the fact that the Governor's budget called 18 upon an additional billion dollars or included 19 an additional billion dollars in so-called 20 FMAP or Medicaid money. 21 When last seen, that money had 22 disappeared from the federal budget, 23 notwithstanding the entreaties of a number of 24 New York Congressional delegation members that 25 that in fact was going to happen.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 So at this moment, as we stand here 2 today, there's at least an additional 3 billion-dollar hole in the Governor's proposed 4 budget. So I would hope that we would be 5 thinking in terms of dealing with not 6 $2.5 billion more, but $3.5 billion more. 7 Thank you, Mr. President. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 9 Senator Saland, how do you vote? 10 SENATOR SALAND: No. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 12 Senator Saland to be recorded in the negative. 13 Are there any other Senators 14 wishing to explain their vote? 15 Announce the results. 16 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in 17 the negative on Calendar Number 677 are 18 Senators Alesi, Bonacic, DeFrancisco, Farley, 19 Flanagan, Fuschillo, Golden, Griffo, Hannon, 20 O. Johnson, Lanza, Larkin, LaValle, Leibell, 21 Libous, Little, Marcellino, Maziarz, McDonald, 22 Nozzolio, Padavan, Ranzenhofer, Robach, 23 Saland, Seward, Skelos, Volker, Winner and 24 Young. 25 Ayes, 32. Nays, 29.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 The bill is passed. 3 Senator Klein, that completes the 4 reading of the controversial supplemental 5 calendar. 6 Can we just have some order, 7 please, in the chamber. 8 Senator Klein. 9 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 10 can we please return to motions and 11 resolutions. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 13 Returning to the order of motions and 14 resolutions. 15 Senator Klein. 16 SENATOR KLEIN: On behalf of 17 Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, on page number 18 27 I offer the following amendments to 19 Calendar Number 570, Senate Print Number 3890, 20 and ask that said bill retain its place on 21 Third Reading Calendar. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 23 So ordered. 24 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 25 there any further business at this desk?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 2 Senator Klein, the desk is clear. 3 SENATOR KLEIN: There being no 4 further business, Mr. President, I move that 5 we adjourn until Wednesday, June 2nd, at 6 3:00 p.m. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT CRAIG JOHNSON: 8 There being no further business to come before 9 the Senate, on motion, the Senate stands 10 adjourned until Wednesday, June 2nd, at 11 3:00 p.m. 12 (Whereupon, at 10:37 p.m., the 13 Senate adjourned.) 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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