Wednesday, July 28, 2010

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 July 28, 2010 11 6:46 p.m. 12 13 14 EXTRAORDINARY SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR NEIL D. BRESLIN, Acting President 19 ANGELO J. APONTE, Secretary 20 21 22 23 24 25

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 3 Senate will please come to order. 4 I ask everyone present to rise and 5 repeat with me again the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: In the 9 absence of clergy, may we bow our heads in a 10 moment of silence. 11 (Whereupon, the assemblage 12 respected a moment of silence.) 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 14 Senator Klein. 15 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 16 there a proclamation from the Governor at the 17 desk? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 19 Senator Klein, there is a proclamation from 20 the Governor at the desk. 21 The Secretary will read. 22 THE SECRETARY: "Pursuant to the 23 power vested in me by Article IV, Section 3 of 24 the Constitution, I hereby convene the Senate 25 and the Assembly of the State of New York in

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Extraordinary Session, at the Capitol, in the 2 City of Albany, on the twenty-eighth day of 3 July, two thousand ten, at six o'clock p.m., 4 for the purpose of considering legislation I 5 will submit with respect to various items, and 6 for the consideration of legislation with 7 respect to such other subjects as I may 8 recommend. 9 "Given under my hand and the Privy 10 Seal of the State in the City of Albany this 11 twenty-sixth day of July in the year two 12 thousand ten. 13 "By the Governor, David A. 14 Paterson." 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 16 proclamation having been read, the Senate is 17 in extraordinary session. 18 Senator Klein. 19 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, I 20 believe there's a privileged resolution at the 21 desk by Senator Sampson. I ask that the title 22 of the resolution be read and move for its 23 immediate adoption. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 25 Senator Klein, has this resolution been deemed

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 privileged and submitted to the office of the 2 Temporary President? 3 SENATOR KLEIN: Yes, it has, 4 Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 6 Secretary will read. 7 THE SECRETARY: By Senator 8 Sampson, Senate Resolution Number 1, providing 9 for the introduction of bills in the Senate 10 during the Extraordinary Session. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 12 question is on the concurrent resolution. All 13 those in favor please signify by saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 17 Senator Libous. 18 SENATOR LIBOUS: Are there bills 19 before the house, based on this resolution, 20 that are going to be read? 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 22 Senator Klein. 23 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, at 24 this time the Senate leaders and the Governor 25 and the Assembly submitted proposals to the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Governor. We're currently awaiting the 2 Governor's response. Pending the resolution 3 of negotiations, we won't be acting on any 4 bills tonight. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Then, 6 Senator Libous, at this time there are no 7 bills before us. 8 SENATOR LIBOUS: So the Governor 9 has not submitted any bills to the Senate for 10 special session? 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: At 12 this particular moment -- you are correct, 13 Senator Libous -- we are awaiting those bills 14 from the Governor. 15 SENATOR LIBOUS: So we are 16 waiting for those bills, Mr. President? We 17 have started special session but we do not 18 have the bills from the Governor? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: To 20 repeat, Senator Libous, the Governor has 21 submitted to us a proclamation. In response 22 to that, there have been items given to the 23 Governor, and it is a process that has not yet 24 been concluded. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: So the purpose

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of today's special session was not to conduct 2 any business or pass any legislation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 4 purpose of today's session was in accordance 5 and adherence to the proclamation submitted to 6 the Senate. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Which had 8 legislation attached. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Asked 10 and answered, Senator Libous. Thank you. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: I'm sorry, 12 Mr. President? 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Asked 14 and answered. 15 SENATOR LIBOUS: I don't -- 16 Mr. President, I disagree. The Governor 17 specifically said publicly that he was sending 18 up several items for the Legislature to take 19 action on, and I don't believe those items are 20 before the house. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: That's 22 been asked and answered, Senator Libous. You 23 are correct. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 25 Mr. President.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Point of 2 order. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 4 Senator DeFrancisco, why do you rise? 5 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I just have 6 a question. 7 If a special session was called 8 bringing everybody from throughout the state 9 at great expense to the taxpayers of the State 10 of New York when we're in a budget deficit 11 situation -- and you're saying the Governor, 12 after calling that, has not submitted any 13 bills for consideration? Is that what you're 14 saying? 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: I'm 16 saying the process is yet to be completed. At 17 this point in time you are technically 18 correct, Senator DeFrancisco. 19 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Well, let 20 me try to clarify it. 21 The process to be completed is a 22 proclamation for a special session with bills 23 attached to it. My question: Has that 24 process been completed, in that has the 25 Governor submitted the bills that were

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 attached to the proclamation that we're 2 supposed to deal with in special session 3 today? 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: I'd 5 suggest that if you read the proclamation, it 6 goes over subjects to be considered dealing 7 with particular areas of legislation. And 8 that process has not been completed. 9 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: It's not 10 been completed because we haven't considered 11 anything. 12 Are we going to consider it in 13 accordance with the proclamation of the 14 Governor for everyone from throughout the 15 state to come up here at the taxpayers' 16 expense? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: We'll 18 be convening in extraordinary session, Senator 19 DeFrancisco, and I would anticipate that in 20 the coming days we will take up that 21 particular legislation submitted to us by the 22 Governor. 23 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: But not 24 today. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN:

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Obviously not. That's been asked and 2 answered. You're correct. 3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I didn't 4 realize I was in court. But -- 5 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Well, 6 but it's -- 7 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you 8 very much. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: But 10 when you answer it four or five times -- 11 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Okay, thank 12 you. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 14 you, Senator DeFrancisco. 15 Senator Skelos. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 17 on the privileged resolution Senate 1, it 18 indicates that all bills that will be 19 introduced during extraordinary session will 20 be referred to the Rules Committee or, I 21 believe, to the Finance Committee. 22 Have there been bills accepted by 23 the Senate Democrat Majority that have been 24 sent to us by the Governor to be taken up at 25 the extraordinary session?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: No, 2 Senator Skelos, there have been no specific 3 bills submitted to us by the Governor. 4 SENATOR SKELOS: So the Governor 5 has not sent up any bills for this 6 extraordinary session. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: That's 8 correct, Senator Skelos. 9 SENATOR SKELOS: Have they been 10 sent up and the Senate not accepted those 11 pieces of legislation? 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 13 answer to that is no. The process is ongoing. 14 We anticipate the completion of the process at 15 a later point in the extraordinary session. 16 SENATOR SKELOS: I guess my 17 question is we've heard about process, Senator 18 Carl Kruger has mentioned about critical mass. 19 Are we at that critical mass yet where we're 20 going to have bills before the chamber to 21 either vote yes or no to be referred to Rules? 22 Will there be a Rules Committee 23 meeting, a Finance Committee meeting tonight 24 during extraordinary session? Or is the 25 intent to gavel in, basically, and gavel out?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 2 Senator Skelos, we will not gavel out. We 3 will continue in extraordinary session with 4 the expectation that we will receive bills 5 that we will act upon. 6 SENATOR ROBACH: Senator Breslin. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: I'm 8 sorry. Senator Robach, why do you rise? 9 SENATOR ROBACH: You know, on 10 that questioning, I guess I'd like to ask, in 11 particular, we've all been following this; our 12 constituents want to know what's going on. 13 Where I live, people are very concerned -- the 14 Governor has made the statement and been in 15 the media saying one of the bills he's put up 16 was a property tax cap. 17 Will we be taking that bill up at 18 some point during this process? I think it's 19 important to know. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: I 21 guess, Senator Robach, you're asking questions 22 that are beyond the chair at this point in 23 time. Is there a point of order that you 24 would wish to make? 25 SENATOR ROBACH: I guess the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 point of order is why are we here if we're not 2 going to take up the Governor's bills? 3 And I guess I'm wishfully 4 requesting that a bill we've talked about for 5 a long time that the Governor says he agrees 6 with also on the property tax cap, I would 7 hope we would minimally take up that bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 9 you, Senator Robach. 10 Senator Sampson. 11 SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you very 12 much, Senator Robach. And I hope to take up 13 that bill that deals with a property tax cap. 14 At this point in time, just a point 15 of clarification. The Governor has sent the 16 bills up to us. We are in disagreement with 17 respect to the revenue bill, which we have not 18 accepted. We will be taking up that and 19 introducing those bills during extraordinary 20 session at some point in time. 21 Just to further clarify, I expect 22 to have a discussion with respect to the 23 Governor dealing with a lot of these bills 24 that he has sent up to us sometime this 25 evening.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Just for a point of clarification 2 to all the members in the chamber. Thank you. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Thank 4 you, Senator Sampson. I stand corrected. 5 Senator Libous. 6 SENATOR LIBOUS: I now stand to 7 say thank you to Senator Sampson, because the 8 bills were sent up. And it was very 9 disappointing to hear from the chair that the 10 bills were not sent up from the Governor's 11 office. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: I 13 stand corrected, Senator Libous. 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 17 Senator Klein. 18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, 19 if I could just -- 20 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: Sure. 21 Senator Skelos. 22 SENATOR SKELOS: -- ask one 23 further question. 24 I'm not sure what the procedure 25 is -- and perhaps our good friends at the desk

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 can inform you and you can inform the 2 membership -- when the Governor sends bills to 3 the Senate or to the Assembly to be acted 4 upon -- obviously, I'm concerned about the 5 Senate -- are they time-stamped as to when 6 they are accepted and when we do receive them? 7 And if they have been sent, could 8 you inform us if they have been accepted and 9 the time of the acceptance? 10 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 11 Absolutely, Senator Skelos. I do not have 12 that information available to me now. I 13 certainly will provide it to you. 14 SENATOR SKELOS: Is this -- at 15 what point of critical mass will we be 16 informed about this? 17 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: I'm 18 presiding over the house. That certainly 19 isn't a question for me acting as the 20 president of the session. 21 SENATOR SKELOS: So it's on the 22 radar screen somewhere. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: And I 24 would expect to be able to have an answer for 25 you tonight.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Klein. 2 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, 3 now that we've reached the point of critical 4 mass, can you please call on Senator Ruth 5 Hassell-Thompson for an announcement. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 7 Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson. 8 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 9 point of order. I don't believe we've voted 10 on the resolution yet. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: On the 12 resolution, all those in favor please signify 13 by saying aye. 14 (Response of "Aye.") 15 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 16 Opposed, nay. 17 (Response of "Nay.") 18 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: The 19 resolution is adopted. 20 Senator Klein. 21 SENATOR KLEIN: Now can we please 22 call on Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson for an 23 announcement, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 25 Senator Hassell-Thompson.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: There 2 is to be an immediate meeting of the Senate 3 Majority in Room 332. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 5 Senator Klein. 6 SENATOR KLEIN: Mr. President, is 7 there any further business at the desk? 8 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: 9 Senator Klein, the desk is clear. 10 SENATOR KLEIN: There being no 11 further business, Mr. President, I move that 12 we adjourn until Thursday, July 29th, at 13 10:00 a.m. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT BRESLIN: There 15 being no further business, the Senate stands 16 adjourned until Thursday, July 29th, at 17 10:00 a.m. 18 (Whereupon, at 6:57 p.m., the 19 Senate adjourned.) 20 21 22 23 24 25

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