Tuesday, April 12, 2011

1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE 2 3 4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD 5 6 7 8 9 ALBANY, NEW YORK 10 April 12, 2011 11 3:13 p.m. 12 13 14 REGULAR SESSION 15 16 17 18 SENATOR JOSEPH A. GRIFFO, Acting President 19 FRANCIS W. PATIENCE, 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 GRIFFO: The 3 Senate will come to order. 4 I ask all present to please rise 5 and join with me as we recite the Pledge of 6 Allegiance to our Flag. 7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited 8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.) 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: For 10 today's invocation we have the Reverend James 11 Johnson, youth pastor from Valley Bible 12 Baptist Church in Middleburgh. 13 Reverend? 14 REVEREND JOHNSON: Let us pray. 15 Father in heaven, we are thankful 16 for this time we are allowed to gather. 17 Father, we ask that You would just go before 18 us, Father, and just put Your hand in blessing 19 upon this time. Guide the hearts and minds of 20 the folks here. And, God, just keep us safe 21 in all we do. 22 We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 24 you, Reverend. 25 The reading of the Journal.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, 2 Monday, April 11, the Senate met pursuant to 3 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, April 10, 4 was read and approved. On motion, Senate 5 adjourned. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without 7 objection, the Journal stands approved as 8 read. 9 Presentation of petitions. 10 Messages from the Assembly. 11 Messages from the Governor. 12 I'd ask if we could have just some 13 order, please, in the chamber in order to 14 transact the business. 15 Messages from the Governor. 16 The Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: The Governor 18 returned without executive approval the Senate 19 Bill Number 2803E, Chapter Number 53, Line 20 Veto Number 1 through 22, entitled "An act 21 making appropriations for the support of 22 government: AID TO LOCALITIES BUDGET." 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 24 Libous. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 move to lay the said line items as vetoed by 2 the Governor upon the table. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So 4 ordered. 5 Reports of standing committees. 6 Reports of select committees. 7 Communications and reports from 8 state officers. 9 Motions and resolutions. 10 Senator Libous. 11 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 12 Mr. President. 13 On behalf of Senator Griffo, 14 Mr. President, on page 22 I offer the 15 following amendments to Calendar Number 282, 16 Senate Print 4193, and ask that said bill 17 retain its place on the Third Reading 18 Calendar. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 amendments are received, and the bill will 21 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar. 22 Senator Libous. 23 SENATOR LIBOUS: And one more 24 time, Mr. President, on behalf of Senator 25 Griffo -- Mr. President, there's a lot of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 noise in the chamber. I can't hear myself. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: I would 3 ask all the chamber to please come to order so 4 that we can hear and transact the business of 5 our distinguished leader who has these 6 important bills. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. 9 On behalf of Senator Griffo, I move 10 the following bill be discharged from its 11 respective committee and be recommitted with 12 instructions to strike the enacting clause: 13 Senate Print 1201A. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So 15 ordered. 16 Senator Libous. 17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 18 at this time could we move to adopt the 19 Resolution Calendar, with the exception of 20 Resolution Numbers 993, 1136, 1183, 1240 and 21 1259. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 23 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar, 24 with the exception of Resolutions 993, 1136, 25 1183, 1240 and 1259, signify by saying aye.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (Response of "Aye.") 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 3 Opposed? 4 (No response.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 6 Resolution Calendar is adopted. 7 Senator Libous. 8 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 9 Mr. President. 10 Mr. President, I believe we can 11 take up Resolution Number 1136, by Senator 12 Krueger. Could we please have its title read, 13 and I believe that Senator Krueger would like 14 to be called upon before it's adopted. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 16 Secretary will read. 17 THE SECRETARY: Legislative 18 Resolution Number 1136, by Senator L. Krueger, 19 memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to 20 proclaim April 12, 2011, as Equal Pay Day in 21 the State of New York. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 23 Krueger. 24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very 25 much.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Today is Equal Pay Day at the 2 national level. And it is only right that 3 New York State also honor and recognize the 4 importance of moving forward to guarantee 5 equal pay regardless of gender here in 6 New York State in all jobs. 7 It is shocking that in the year 8 2011 there is still such large wage disparity 9 between women and men working side by side 10 together in equivalent or exact jobs. 11 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 12 year-round full-time working women in 2009 13 earned only 77 percent of the earnings of 14 year-round full-time working men, indicating 15 there has been little change or progress in 16 pay equity throughout the decades. 17 The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act 18 was signed into federal law amending Title VII 19 of the Civil Rights Act, and we believe that 20 New York must continue to strive to provide 21 leadership in this area. It is no excuse to 22 have a state where young women are told that 23 they can do everything men can do, that they 24 are equal under the law, that they have the 25 same opportunities and rights in our state,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 yet only to learn when they move into the 2 workforce that they are likely to lose 3 $713,000 over a 40-year period compared to 4 their male colleagues. 5 This is not acceptable. There are 6 any number of bills that we could and should 7 pass through both houses and work with the 8 Governor side by side to pass into law. And 9 today I hope that through this resolution -- 10 that I'm encouraging everyone to be a 11 signatory on -- that we start to realize the 12 importance of this issue and the fact that 13 we're actually falling behind, that the State 14 of New York, the great State of New York, 15 often a leader in almost every issue for the 16 other 49 states, has fallen behind many of our 17 colleague states in guaranteeing that there is 18 pay equity for all. 19 And so this resolution memorializes 20 Governor Andrew Cuomo to proclaim April 12, 21 2011, as the Equal Pay Day of the State of 22 New York, recognizing the full value of 23 women's skills and significant contributions 24 to the labor force, and to further encourage 25 businesses to conduct internal pay evaluations

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to ensure that they are treating women equally 2 and paying them equally with their male 3 colleagues. 4 Thank you, Mr. President. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 6 you, Senator Krueger. 7 Senator Stewart-Cousins on the 8 resolution. 9 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank 10 you, Mr. President. 11 I just rise to commend my colleague 12 for bringing this to our attention again. We 13 would think that New York would be leaders in 14 women's equality. 15 And I stand, frankly, because I 16 have three students who are shadowing me from 17 the League of Women Voters, three women who -- 18 three young women who are here. And this is 19 one of those places where women and men 20 actually do get paid equally. And so it's 21 good that you are here. 22 But it's also good that you're here 23 to understand that we still have things to do 24 and your involvement in government, your 25 vigilance about what we as New Yorkers can

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 project as the ideal, is extremely important. 2 So I welcome you and again commend 3 Senator Krueger for letting us know as a state 4 that we have work to do to make sure that 5 women do not make 77 percent of what men make. 6 We contribute all of us so much. 7 So again thank you, Senator 8 Krueger. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 10 you, Senator Stewart-Cousins. 11 The question is on the resolution. 12 All in favor signify by saying aye. 13 (Response of "Aye.") 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 15 Opposed? 16 (No response.) 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 resolution is adopted. 19 Senator Libous, the sponsor has 20 requested that the resolution be open for 21 cosponsorship. Without objection? 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Without 23 objection, Mr. President. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 resolution will be offered to cosponsorship.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 If you do not want to be a cosponsor, please 2 notify the desk. 3 Senator Libous. 4 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I 5 believe Resolution Number 993, by Senator 6 Huntley, is at the desk. She would ask that 7 you read it in its entirety, and I believe you 8 should call on the Senator before it's 9 adopted. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 previous resolution is adopted, and now we 12 call upon the Secretary to read. 13 THE SECRETARY: Legislative 14 Resolution Number 993, by Senator Huntley, 15 paying tribute to the life and accomplishments 16 of Thomas White, Jr., distinguished citizen 17 and devoted member of his community. 18 "WHEREAS, It is the custom of this 19 Legislative Body to pay tribute to the 20 citizens of the State of New York whose 21 lifework and civic endeavor serve to enhance 22 the quality of life in their communities and 23 the great State of New York; and 24 "WHEREAS, A resident of Rochdale 25 Village in Queens, New York City Councilman

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Thomas White, Jr., died on August 27, 2010, at 2 the age of 71; and 3 "WHEREAS, A native son of Southeast 4 Queens, born on August 21, 1939, Thomas White, 5 Jr., fought hard for the residents of South 6 Jamaica throughout his lifetime. His 7 illustrious career and service exemplifies the 8 values of all who dream to make life better 9 for themselves and those around them; and 10 "WHEREAS, Councilman White was an 11 advocate for the Southeast Queens community 12 for over 30 years. He worked tirelessly to 13 develop community-based programs for senior 14 citizens and youth and for crime prevention 15 and drug and alcohol treatment. He also 16 worked with programs to prevent teen pregnancy 17 and to help create primary care programs for 18 those suffering from HIV/AIDS; and 19 "WHEREAS, As the cofounder and 20 executive director of Queens Village Committee 21 for Mental Health for Jamaica Community 22 Adolescent Program, Inc. (J-CAP), one of the 23 largest and most effective alcohol and 24 substance abuse residential treatment programs 25 in New York State, Thomas White, Jr., helped

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to reclaim over 20,000 young men and women who 2 have suffered the effects of abuse, misuse and 3 addiction. His herculean efforts helped young 4 people find positive goals and role models to 5 become valuable and productive assets to the 6 community; and 7 "WHEREAS, In addition, as the 8 New York City Councilman from the 28th Council 9 District in Queens, Thomas White, Jr., served 10 as chair of the New York City Council's 11 Economic Development Committee. His efforts 12 were instrumental in creating programs that 13 ranged from providing loans to help small 14 businesses stay afloat and grow, to helping 15 New Yorkers avoid foreclosures; and 16 "WHEREAS, Thomas White, Jr., 17 graduated from Stony Brook University with a 18 master's degree in social work in 1982; and 19 "WHEREAS, Thomas White, Jr., is 20 survived by his mother, Marie White, two 21 children, Bryan White and Lucile Precious 22 Middleton, and two grandchildren; and 23 "WHEREAS, Armed with a humanistic 24 spirit, imbued with a sense of compassion, and 25 comforted by a loving family, Thomas White,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Jr., leaves behind a legacy which will long 2 endure the passage of time and will remain as 3 a comforting memory to all he served and 4 befriended; now, therefore, be it 5 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative 6 Body pause in its deliberations to pay tribute 7 to the life and accomplishments of Thomas 8 White, Jr., distinguished citizen and devoted 9 member of his community; and be it further 10 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this 11 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted 12 to the family of Thomas White, Jr." 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Huntley. 15 SENATOR HUNTLEY: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 I would like to first introduce 18 Ms. Diane Gonzalez, who is sitting up 19 (indicating), who is now the executive 20 director of one of the largest drug programs, 21 J-CAP in the County of Queens. She was 22 basically Tom White's protege. 23 And Tom White did some magnificent 24 things in Queens. He saved many lives of 25 young people of all ethnic groups. He worked

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 tirelessly to make sure that young people did 2 not turn to drugs. And when they did, he 3 worked tirelessly to get them off of drugs and 4 was very, very successful. 5 And it was shocking to all of us 6 when he passed away so quickly. It just 7 happened so fast that -- that's one of the 8 reasons I did this resolution, because it was 9 like a lot of us never had a chance basically 10 to say goodbye to him. And I thought he was 11 worthy of that, because he lived in a 12 community that he loved and in a community 13 that loved him. 14 He was city councilman, but I 15 always called him Tom White the advocate for 16 Southeast Queens. I think he was not -- as 17 political as he wanted to be, I think he was 18 more of an advocate for poor people, for sick 19 people, for people who needed his help. 20 And it does give me great pleasure 21 today just to say to you that Tom White is 22 missed in our community, Tom White left a 23 great, great legacy. If you're ever in Queens 24 and you go on Baisley Boulevard, you will see 25 this giant, giant rehab center. And if you go

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 on the other area of Sutphin Boulevard, you 2 will see another giant, giant rehab center. 3 And he worked hard at that. 4 And I just wanted Diane and also 5 Tom's -- the young man who I think was one of 6 Tom's -- he has lots of pictures with Tom -- 7 who Tom looked after and loved, and he's here 8 today also. And I just want to tell you I am 9 so happy that you could come just to hear. 10 And you will get a copy of this resolution. 11 Thank you. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 13 question is on the resolution. All in favor 14 signify by saying aye. 15 (Response of "Aye.") 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 17 Opposed? 18 (No response.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 resolution is adopted. 21 Senator Libous. 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 23 there's a resolution at the desk by Senator 24 Libous, Number 1183. Could we please have the 25 title read and move for its immediate

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 adoption. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Legislative 5 Resolution Number 1183, by Senator Libous, 6 memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to 7 declare April 2011 as Child Abuse Prevention 8 Month in the State of New York. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 question is on the resolution. All in favor 11 signify by saying aye. 12 (Response of "Aye.") 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 14 Opposed? 15 (No response.) 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 resolution is adopted. 18 Senator Libous. 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 20 I'd like to open this up for cosponsorship to 21 all of my colleagues. If anybody does not 22 want to be on this resolution, they would let 23 the desk know, please. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: So 25 noted. The resolution is open for

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 cosponsorship. If you choose not to, please 2 indicate by letting the desk know. 3 Senator Libous. 4 SENATOR LIBOUS: There's a 5 resolution at the desk by Senator Kennedy, 6 Number 1240. May we have the title read, 7 Senator Kennedy would like to be called upon, 8 and then we'd move for its adoption. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 10 Secretary will read. 11 THE SECRETARY: Legislative 12 Resolution Number 1240, by Senator Kennedy, 13 honoring Police Chief Christine Ziemba upon 14 the occasion of her retirement after 34 years 15 of distinguished service to the Cheektowaga 16 Police Department. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 18 Kennedy. 19 SENATOR KENNEDY: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 What a tremendous honor it is to 22 stand here to honor Christine Ziemba. Police 23 Chief Christine Ziemba has led a long and 24 illustrious career fighting to improve public 25 safety in Western New York as a leader within

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the Cheektowaga Police Force. When she was 2 hired in 1976, Chief Ziemba became the first 3 female police officer in the Town of 4 Cheektowaga. She recently retired after 5 34 years of service to the hardworking men and 6 women of Cheektowaga and Western New York. 7 After joining the force in 1976, 8 Chief Ziemba climbed the ranks. She was 9 promoted to lieutenant in 1985, and the town 10 board named her chief of the Cheektowaga 11 Police in March of 2002 because of her 12 distinguished service. 13 Chief Christine Ziemba was the 14 first woman to ever serve as a police chief in 15 Western New York, and she was one of only four 16 female police chiefs serving throughout 17 New York State at the time of her retirement. 18 Chief Christine Ziemba has been a 19 pioneer for women in law enforcement across 20 New York State. Her dream and unrelenting 21 ambition helped pave the way, inspiring more 22 women to join the ranks of law enforcement. 23 In her official acts, Chief 24 Christine Ziemba worked undercover with the 25 Narcotics Unit. She also served in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Juvenile Aid Bureau. She reinforced 2 partnerships with other departments and 3 organizations throughout Western New York, 4 throughout Erie County, and throughout 5 New York State. She helped create the Sex 6 Offense Unit, which was at the time the first 7 in the country to have specific officers 8 handle cases throughout the entire 9 investigation process. 10 Also, in addition to leading the 11 Crime Resistance Unit, Chief Christine Ziemba 12 brought the D.A.R.E. program to all of the 13 towns' schools. She commenced the Citizens' 14 Police Academy. She oversaw the Police 15 Explorers program. She worked with 16 Neighborhood Watch groups. And she actively 17 recruited new officers interested in joining 18 the department. 19 Chief Ziemba was born in Buffalo, 20 and her family later moved to the Town of 21 Cheektowaga, the largest town in the 58th 22 State Senate district I now represent. She 23 graduated from Maryvale High School and went 24 on to earn her four-year degree in criminal 25 justice at Buffalo State College.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Chief Christine Ziemba has devoted 2 her life to public service. She has 3 demonstrated great courage and diligence in 4 protecting our families and improving the 5 safety of our neighborhoods. That alone makes 6 Chief Ziemba very deserving of this 7 recognition that we honor her with today. 8 But when you consider the path that 9 she has paved for women in law enforcement, 10 inspiring and encouraging other women to serve 11 and protect, it becomes clear that this 12 recognition is long overdue, and it's the very 13 least we can do to honor and thank Chief 14 Ziemba for her service to this community and 15 to this state. 16 Chief Christine Ziemba is a 17 courageous public servant, a fighter for 18 public safety, and a trailblazer for the 19 hardworking women of New York State. I am 20 proud and honored to bestow this honor upon 21 her today, and I would ask all of us to 22 recognize Chief Ziemba, who is with us today 23 on the floor with her brother Ron, who is also 24 a 21-year member of the Cheektowaga Police 25 Force, also retired.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Chief Ziemba, thank you very much. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Chief 3 Ziemba, it's an honor to welcome you to the 4 Senate chambers today, and we extend our best 5 wishes to you in your retirement. 6 (Applause.) 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 question is on the resolution. All in favor 9 signify by saying aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 12 Opposed? 13 (No response.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 15 resolution is adopted. 16 Congratulations again, Chief. 17 Senator Libous. 18 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 19 Mr. President. 20 I believe there's a resolution at 21 the desk by Senator Maziarz, 1259. I would 22 ask that we just read its title and then move 23 for its immediate adoption. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 Secretary will read.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Legislative 2 Resolution Number 1259, by Senator Maziarz, 3 memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to 4 proclaim April 23, 2011, as a Day of 5 Remembrance for the Polish Martyrs of the 6 Katyn Forest. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 question is on the resolution. All in favor 9 signify by saying aye. 10 (Response of "Aye.") 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 12 Opposed? 13 (No response.) 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 15 resolution is adopted. 16 Senator Libous. 17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 18 earlier today when we adopted the Resolution 19 Calendar, Senator Larkin had Resolution 1303 20 on it. He would like to open that up for all 21 the members that would like to be on it. 22 Again, our normal procedure will 23 follow. If members do not want to be on it, 24 please let the desk know. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 you, Senator Libous. 2 Resolution 1303, by Senator Larkin, 3 is opened up to cosponsorship. If you choose 4 not to be a cosponsor, please indicate at the 5 desk. 6 Senator Libous. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 8 at this time I will call an immediate meeting 9 of the Rules Committee in Room 332, an 10 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 11 Room 332. 12 The Senate will stand at ease. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There's 14 an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in 15 Room 332. 16 The Senate stands at ease. 17 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 18 ease at 3:35 p.m.) 19 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 20 at 3:56 p.m.) 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 Senate will come to order. 23 Senator Libous. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 25 let's go to the reading of the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 noncontroversial calendar first. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 130, by Senator Dilan, Senate Print 1347, an 6 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 8 the last section. 9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 10 act shall take effect on the first of January. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 12 the roll. 13 (The Secretary called the roll.) 14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 16 bill is passed. 17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 18 153, by Senator L. Krueger, Senate Print 397, 19 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 21 the last section. 22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This 23 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 25 the roll.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 (The Secretary called the roll.) 2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 bill is passed. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 156, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1756, an 7 act in relation to permitting the County of 8 Suffolk. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 10 the last section. 11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 12 act shall take effect immediately. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 14 the roll. 15 (The Secretary called the roll.) 16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 18 bill is passed. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 157, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 2131, an 21 act in relation to authorizing the Bay Park 22 Fire District. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 24 the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 179, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print -- 10 SENATOR BRESLIN: Lay it aside. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it 12 aside. 13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 14 203, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 219, an 15 act to amend the Banking Law. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 17 the last section. 18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 19 act shall take effect immediately. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 21 the roll. 22 (The Secretary called the roll.) 23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 bill is passed.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 2 245, by Senator Grisanti, Senate Print 3919, 3 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation 4 Law. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 6 the last section. 7 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This 8 act shall take effect immediately. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 10 the roll. 11 (The Secretary called the roll.) 12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 14 bill is passed. 15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 16 248, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 1071 -- 17 SENATOR BRESLIN: Lay it aside. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it 19 aside. 20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 21 288, by Senator Ritchie, Senate Print 4144, an 22 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 24 the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 act shall take effect on the 30th day. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 7 bill is passed. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 302, by Senator Grisanti, Senate Print 3918, 10 an act to amend Chapter 307 of the Laws of 11 2005. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 bill is passed. 22 Senator Libous, that completes the 23 noncontroversial reading of the calendar. 24 SENATOR LIBOUS: May we have the 25 reading of the controversial calendar, please.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 Secretary will ring the bell. 3 The Secretary will read. 4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 5 179, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 921, 6 an act to amend the Education Law. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 8 Krueger. 9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you, 10 Mr. President. If the sponsor could please 11 yield. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 13 Marcellino, do you yield? 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, I do. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 16 Senator yields, Senator Krueger. 17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you so 18 much. 19 Senator Marcellino, I believe that 20 this bill came up a few years ago. Is this 21 the same bill that you sponsored at that time? 22 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, it is. 23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 24 And, Senator, my reading of the bill is that 25 if a --

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 2 Krueger, are you asking Senator Marcellino to 3 continue to yield? 4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Excuse me, 5 Mr. President. I am asking him to yield. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 7 Marcellino, do you yield? 8 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I will. And 9 if it will expedite the process, I will yield 10 to a series of questions from the Senator. 11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you so 12 much. Again, once we get the rhythm going, 13 Mr. President, I love to go back and forth 14 this way. 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I believe in 16 rhythm. 17 SENATOR KRUEGER: So my 18 understanding of the bill is if a student is 19 suspended in one school district and then 20 transfers, the suspension would have to be 21 upheld in the new school. 22 So what would happen when a pupil, 23 a student who has been suspended moves to a 24 new district during the course of the 25 suspension? How long are they supposed to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 stay suspended? What kind of process could be 2 used to resolve the issue in the new school 3 district? 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Well, let me 5 correct a misconception on your part. The 6 bill is not a mandate. The bill does not 7 require that the school district continue the 8 suspension from a previous district. It 9 simply gives them the authorization to 10 continue the suspension so that they might get 11 a handle on the situation. 12 We're not talking about suspensions 13 of three or four days, a typical suspension of 14 a kid who gets into a fight with another kid 15 in a hallway and, you know, they get suspended 16 to calm things down. We're talking about very 17 egregious incidences. 18 The incident that was brought to my 19 attention by the superintendent was one where 20 guns were brought into the school by a student 21 and used to threaten others. The 22 superintendent suspended him, the family took 23 the kid and moved to a different district in 24 order to game the system and avoid the 25 suspension.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 We just don't think that that 2 should be done. I think the new district 3 should have the option on a kid-by-kid basis, 4 a child-by-child basis, to analyze the 5 situation, to take appropriate steps to meet 6 with the family, meet with the kid and resolve 7 the issues and set up a program within the 8 school, either through counseling or a program 9 of classes that the child can be suited for 10 because they're moving in in the middle of a 11 semester, what's missing and so on. 12 In other words, it gives the 13 district a chance to evaluate the system and 14 evaluate the situation on a child-by-child 15 basis and not to be rushed into a situation 16 which might not be effective for the system, 17 might put people at risk, and it might also 18 negatively impact the child's education. 19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you, 20 Mr. President. If, through you, the sponsor 21 will continue to yield. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 sponsor yields. 24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 25 So in a hypothetical, there's a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 child who lives in New York City and is 2 suspended from their school. They move to 3 your district and they file paperwork to start 4 at that school. How do the two school 5 districts communicate? Does the City of 6 New York have any obligation, under your law, 7 to let the Glen Cove school district know that 8 this child has been suspended? Where does the 9 information flow start and stop? 10 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Well, I 11 don't live in Glen Cove, I live in Syosset. 12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Oh, I'm sorry. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: But Glen 14 Cove is a very good school district and works 15 very well. 16 But the district could communicate. 17 I don't think there's a mandate that requires 18 them to. 19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 20 if the sponsor would continue to yield. 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Sure. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 sponsor yields. 24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Is it your 25 understanding that school districts are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 entitled to respond to questions and answers 2 from each other about the status of students 3 or the suspension? Is there any other law 4 that would need to change that would mandate 5 New York City to provide said documentation to 6 another school district who asked for it? 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I don't 8 think I'd be in favor of mandating anything on 9 that level. 10 But I would think that it would be 11 in the best interests of the child if 12 information was passed on and if there was a 13 situation of safety, safety of staff and 14 safety of other children in the district in 15 which child is moving into that, that 16 information should be passed along so proper 17 precautions can be taken into consideration. 18 All we're looking at is trying to, 19 one, do what's in the best interests of the 20 district that is the receiving district, and, 21 two, do what's in the best interests of the 22 child. So that the child coming in is given 23 the appropriate attention and direction that 24 it needs to move forward in its educational 25 career.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 2 if the sponsor would continue to yield. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 sponsor yields. 5 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm going to 6 lay out the hypothetical again, because I know 7 you were answering but I didn't quite 8 understand, so I apologize. 9 So student Chris is subpoenaed from 10 a New York City school. The family moves to 11 Syosset. Chris goes to start school at 12 Syosset. How does Syosset know that in a 13 previous school district Chris was suspended, 14 for what reason, for how long a period? 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: It would be 16 my understanding that it wouldn't unless they 17 were told. Or unless this became such a 18 high-profile situation that they heard it 19 coming. 20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you, 21 Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue 22 to yield. 23 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Sure. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 sponsor continues to yield.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 2 So I agree with you, if a student 3 has severe problems, a new district wants to 4 know about them, wants to have a conversation 5 with the family, wants to potentially do an 6 individual educational evaluation of the 7 student, figure out what special services they 8 might need, what special issues the school 9 might face. 10 But it's not at all clear to me why 11 there would ever be a circumstance where a 12 family, knowing their child had problems in a 13 previous school district -- i.e., a 14 suspension -- would come to the new school 15 district and say, "Ah, yes, he's under 16 suspension." 17 So even in the example you 18 originally raised, I just don't understand 19 where this would ever come up. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Number one, 21 this is not retroactive. The suspension would 22 still have to be in effect. In other words, 23 the child could not have been suspended in the 24 City of New York, served the suspension, and 25 then moved to another district two months

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 later and the district would have the option 2 to reimpose the suspension. We're not talking 3 about that. 4 What we're talking about is where 5 the suspension is still in the case and still 6 in vogue and still in fact, that the child 7 moves over. 8 And it would be, frankly, in the 9 best interests of the parents, I would think. 10 The parent would want that new district to 11 understand something and to deal with their 12 child appropriately and provide the 13 appropriate situation where the child is given 14 the proper classwork, the proper classes, the 15 proper counseling, so that this incident 16 doesn't get repeated and frankly doesn't get 17 blown out of proportion. 18 Because in some cases, things do. 19 Rumors start and things get carried away. The 20 old telephone game, where you tell somebody at 21 one end and by the time it gets to the other 22 end it's totally different, you don't even 23 recognize the story that you started with. 24 One would think the parents would 25 want that kind of attention applied to the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 child so that the child can get, as I said 2 several times -- and I don't mean to be 3 repetitious, but I will because it's 4 important -- that the child will get the best 5 attention and the best services that it should 6 and not be just tossed into another situation 7 and have the thing repeat itself. 8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 9 on the bill. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 11 Krueger on the bill. 12 SENATOR KRUEGER: I want to thank 13 the sponsor for taking the time to try to 14 explain to me his argument for the bill. 15 And I'd like to explain briefly why 16 I cannot vote for this bill. 17 We have a very high rate of 18 suspensions in some parts of the state. For 19 different age groups, suspensions can be 20 higher or not. And my concern is if there has 21 been a suspension from school and if in fact a 22 family has moved to a new location -- and I 23 doubt very much they are moving to a new 24 location because their child is suspended, but 25 for many other possible reasons -- I would

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 hate to think that I voted for a bill that 2 might set up the child to not be able to 3 attend school for some period of time in the 4 new location where in fact -- and in fact 5 might be -- the parents might be discouraged 6 from coming to the school and saying "My child 7 Chris is a wonderful child who has A, B, C 8 issues, and I really want us to work on them 9 together." 10 Because I don't want parents to be 11 afraid to talk to the school or the school 12 system about their child and any special needs 13 they might have. And I think it's important 14 for parents to be able to be up-front about 15 their concerns about their own child. And I 16 know that the schools want to know as much as 17 possible. 18 And I just see this situation 19 potentially being a setup where, because 20 something happened at X time in X location, 21 that a child might face increased penalties 22 and almost the beginning of a stigma against 23 them in a new location and a new school where 24 the parents can't do what they believe is in 25 the best interests of the child, and in fact

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the school might likely never find out the 2 information they need to have to make the 3 right decisions. 4 So I do believe that the sponsor is 5 well-intentioned with the piece of 6 legislation. I heard him just talk about the 7 importance of wanting to make sure that 8 schools have the information they need to make 9 good decisions on behalf of the children who 10 attend their schools. 11 I'm just afraid that this would 12 likely translate either into a bill that has 13 no impact because nobody's going to volunteer 14 this information one way or the other, you 15 can't mandate it between school systems, and 16 it may force parents to hide information that 17 is not in the best interests of their child or 18 the new school system. 19 So I will be voting no. Thank you, 20 Mr. President. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 22 Marcellino. 23 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 24 President, just a point that I did not make 25 before.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 The child, if moved to a different 2 district, would still get an appeal in that 3 second district, get a second bite at the 4 apple as far as an appeal to the original 5 suspension. So they would have the appeal in 6 the first district and then, if they moved to 7 the other one and they chose -- again, it's an 8 option -- if they chose to keep the suspension 9 in place -- not add to it, but keep the 10 suspension in place for its original 11 duration -- there would be a second appeal 12 available to the parent and the child on that 13 case as well. 14 So we're buying time here for the 15 kid, we're buying time for safety of both 16 staff and other children and the child 17 involved themselves. We don't want to have 18 the child come into a situation where they're 19 just tossed into the arena without any 20 services, without the appropriate help. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Is 22 there any other Senator wishing to be heard? 23 Seeing none, debate is closed and 24 the Secretary will ring the bell. 25 I'm sorry, Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Hassell-Thompson. Senator Hassell-Thompson. 2 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 3 you, Mr. President. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On the 5 bill? 6 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: On the 7 bill. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 9 Hassell-Thompson on the bill. 10 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank 11 you, Mr. President. 12 I did not -- I chose not to ask 13 questions because I remember having asked 14 several of these questions of Senator 15 Marcellino before when he passed the bill. 16 But I just needed to reemphasize 17 some of the points that I heard Senator 18 Krueger make. And that is with the high 19 number of students who are being suspended, 20 many times when children move to a different 21 school district it is really because of 22 neighborhood and a lot of other environmental 23 things that parents want to take their 24 children out of a particular environment. 25 And suspensions -- I've had a lot

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 of experience, particularly with my home 2 school district in terms of the numbers of the 3 students that were suspended. When we began 4 to look at the numbers and talked about the 5 numbers of young people who were being 6 suspended and what was the correlation between 7 that number and the number that ultimately 8 dropped out of school, we were finding that 9 children who dropped out were those who had 10 had a series of suspensions. 11 And so one of the things I'm always 12 afraid that if we give authority -- because 13 you used the word it now gives the authority. 14 Sometimes giving authority is almost like 15 saying you're off the hook and whatever you 16 choose to do with this youngster is absolutely 17 okay. 18 We don't need more of our children 19 to be suspended. What we need to be doing is 20 looking at, as we have done -- we put money 21 into the Rochester School District, we put 22 money into a couple of Westchester school 23 districts to look at and to devise programs to 24 look at why youngsters are being suspended and 25 create support systems that allow them to not

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 only not continually be out of school but 2 actually like being in school. 3 Which is not something that most 4 young people who get into trouble do. You'll 5 find that the base of their issues has 6 everything to do with not wanting to be there 7 because they're not being successful, and so 8 they drop way behind other students. And you 9 may think that three or four days doesn't make 10 a difference, but it does. Particularly for a 11 lot of the students who are marginal, any days 12 that they lose from school is more than they 13 should lose. 14 So I have to continue to say to 15 you, Senator Marcellino, I hear the concern 16 that you have, but I will continue to vote no 17 on this bill. Thank you. 18 Thank you, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Is 20 there any other Senator wishing to be heard? 21 Debate is closed. Debate is 22 closed. The bell has rung. And it will 23 continue to ring. 24 Read the last section. 25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 act shall take effect immediately. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 3 the roll. 4 (The Secretary called the roll.) 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 6 Montgomery to explain her vote. 7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, 8 Mr. President. I'm very sensitive to what 9 Senator Marcellino intends for this bill to 10 do, but very often one person's medicine is 11 another person's poison. And we have to be 12 very, very careful about how we so liberally 13 and easily suspend young people and maintain 14 these suspensions and punish them and figure 15 out as many ways as we can to eliminate them 16 from being part of a school system. 17 And so I'm going to continue to 18 oppose this legislation, and hopefully we can 19 come up with a better way of trying to figure 20 out what to do with young people who are in 21 trouble in our schools. 22 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote 23 no. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 25 Montgomery to be recorded in the negative.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Adams to explain his vote. 2 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you, 3 Mr. President. 4 I'm going to vote yes on this bill. 5 I'm concerned about uncontrolled suspension of 6 young people, but there's a greater concern 7 that I have, and that's disruption in the 8 classroom. 9 And there are children who are -- 10 haven't reached a point that they are able to 11 be in an environment where a group of young 12 people are attempting to learn. And so if a 13 child reached a level that they should be 14 suspended, we need to be careful to make sure 15 that's fair, but at the same time my concern 16 is for the larger number of students in the 17 classroom who are attempting to receive a 18 quality education. 19 And too often one or two children 20 disrupt an entire classroom. And I don't 21 think we can continue to just turn our back 22 and pretend as though some children need to 23 learn how to be in a proper classroom 24 environment. 25 So I'm going to vote yes on this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill, and I hope we continue to make sure that 2 we educate all our children. But at the same 3 time we've got to look for the greater good 4 for the overwhelming number of children that 5 sit in the classroom every day and hope to 6 receive some form of education, and my son is 7 one of them. And I believe that he should 8 receive a fair education without having to be 9 disrupted, and so I'm going to vote aye on 10 this bill. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 12 Adams will be recorded in the affirmative on 13 this bill. 14 Senator Savino to explain her vote. 15 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 I also rise in support of this 18 legislation. However, I do understand and I 19 recognize the concerns that have been raised 20 by Senator Krueger, Senator Montgomery, and 21 Senator Hassell-Thompson. They're absolutely 22 correct in the concerns that they have. 23 But at the same time, I, like 24 Senator Adams and Senator Marcellino, also 25 take the position that discipline of children

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in our schools should be two things. One, it 2 should be constructive and it should also -- 3 it should be progressive first and 4 constructive and instructive. 5 And what we want to prevent here is 6 we want to prevent the possibility of a parent 7 not understanding that their child needs more 8 intervention. And when that child is issued a 9 suspension, which is a very high penalty in 10 school, that they not then take that child and 11 move them to another school district to avoid 12 that penalty. 13 We need parents to be engaged in 14 their child's school life. We need parents to 15 help deal with whatever that crisis was in 16 that child's life or that problem behavior 17 that led to that suspension. 18 That's why I supported this 19 legislation the previous times it came before 20 the Senate. And when I met with the School 21 Administrators Association, that's their 22 concern. They want to make sure that these 23 kids are not moved from school to school to 24 avoid the consequences of their behavior. 25 Because that is what a suspension should be.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 It should be the worst type of penalty that's 2 issued to a child, but in an effort to get 3 them to understand that there are consequences 4 to their behavior. 5 Moving them to another school 6 district without having the ability of that 7 new school district to impose those 8 consequences isn't going to be instructive to 9 that child. So in the end, we still want 10 discipline to be instructive and progressive. 11 Thank you, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 13 Savino to be recorded in the affirmative. 14 Senator Stewart-Cousins to explain 15 her vote. 16 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Yes, 17 thank you, Mr. President. 18 I had voted, frankly, for this 19 before. And just recently however, I heard 20 statistics that have really left an impression 21 on me. Since No Child Left Behind, it seems 22 that there is an extraordinary growth in the 23 amount of suspensions, especially among black 24 and Latino children. And so it really has 25 grown to, I think, almost an epidemic

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 proportion in some places. 2 Should a child have an opportunity 3 to start anew, I think that's a good thing. I 4 think that a child who is disruptive and has 5 real issues, they will, yes, go into a new 6 school district, but I'm sure that there is a 7 process, just as there was in the old school 8 district, to deal with that child. 9 So I'm all for giving the child an 10 opportunity to get a fresh start, especially, 11 again, in light of the statistics of the 12 growth in suspensions since No Child Left 13 Behind. So I'll be voting in the negative. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 15 Stewart-Cousins to be recorded in the 16 negative. 17 Is there any other Senator wishing 18 to explain their vote? 19 Announce the results. 20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to 21 Calendar Number 179, those recorded in the 22 negative are Senators Espaillat, 23 Hassell-Thompson, Huntley, L. Krueger, 24 Montgomery, Parker, Perkins, Rivera, Serrano 25 and Stewart-Cousins.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Ayes, 46. Nays, 10. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 bill is passed. 4 The Secretary will continue to 5 read. 6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 7 248, by Senator Libous, Senate Print 1071 -- 8 SENATOR DILAN: Explanation. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 10 Dilan has requested an explanation, Senator 11 Libous. 12 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 13 this is the bill that I've had before this 14 house on a couple of occasions. It's the 15 Dedicated Highway Bridge and Trust Fund bill. 16 As I like to say and as I have said on this 17 floor, it puts the trust back in the fund. 18 As many of you know, right now the 19 Dedicated Highway Trust Fund gets raided every 20 year. It gets raided for snow and ice 21 removal, it gets raided for the operation of 22 the Department of Motor Vehicles. 23 When the fund was set up in the 24 '90s, its intent was to be a dedicated highway 25 and bridge trust fund. And unfortunately,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 over time, the trust had come out of the fund. 2 And what I'm trying to do -- and as my 3 colleagues have joined me in the past, I 4 believe this bill has passed almost 5 unanimously in the past -- is to put the trust 6 back in the fund. 7 Right now the money that comes out 8 of the fund goes to the areas that I 9 mentioned. What this bill would do is take 10 over a period of five years so that the money 11 in the fund would go to what it's supposed to 12 be used for -- not snow and ice removal, but 13 to repair bridges and roads in all of the 14 State of New York. 15 So, Mr. President, this bill comes 16 before the body as it has in the past. It's 17 passed this house on a number of occasions. 18 For whatever reason, it doesn't seem to pick 19 up any momento -- momentum. Maybe the bill is 20 a momento -- but it doesn't pick up any 21 momentum in the Assembly. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 23 Dilan. 24 SENATOR DILAN: Yes. First I'd 25 first like to thank Senator Libous for

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 sponsoring this bill and bringing it forward 2 and recognizing that there is a problem with 3 the Dedicated Highway Trust Fund and really 4 bringing it to light. 5 The Dedicated Highway and Bridge 6 Trust Fund was created in 1991, like Senator 7 Libous indicated. It was meant to be a 8 pay-as-you-go funding stream for construction 9 and rehabilitation of state roads and bridges. 10 At the time, then Governor Mario 11 Cuomo, in his approval message, stated that 12 "This is a reliable, predictable stream of 13 revenues which will allow us to provide for an 14 orderly development and management of 15 transportation programs and projects without 16 reliance upon periodic bond issues." 17 So I would like to know if Senator 18 Libous would respond to several questions. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 20 Libous, would you yield for a series of 21 questions? 22 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I 23 would be pleased to yield to my friend Senator 24 Dilan. 25 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Dilan. 2 SENATOR DILAN: And also I would 3 like to say that we all have voted for this 4 bill at one time or another in the past. 5 However, I was enlightened a little bit in the 6 past two years, as chair of the Transportation 7 Committee, and found out a little more about 8 this fund and the problems that it does have 9 now. 10 So how does this legislation before 11 us today help bring us back to the clearly 12 stated intended goal of the fund, of "pay as 13 you go"? Does it do that? 14 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 15 Mr. President. Senator Dilan asked a very 16 good question. 17 Senator, what it allows us to do is 18 over a phaseout period of five years to 19 replace the fund at an amount of I believe 20 it's $137 million a year, to be paid out of 21 the General Fund. And then over a five-year 22 period the fund becomes flush, if you will, 23 and that the taxes and fees that go into the 24 fund will continue to pay for a number of 25 programs, as the Senator mentioned and he's

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 quite aware of, like the CHIPS program, 2 bonding for roads and bridges and some of the 3 other issues. 4 But it would be a five-year 5 phaseout. You know, right now, 6 Mr. President -- and I don't have the exact 7 number, I think it might be about 8 $520 million -- but the General Fund actually 9 puts money back into the Dedicated Highway 10 Trust Fund. And what we're trying to do is 11 clean up the fund so that it just goes for 12 roads and bridges. 13 SENATOR DILAN: Now, as I 14 indicated, in Mario Cuomo's approval message 15 he indicated that it was a pay-as-you-go 16 program and it was to avoid bonding. But as 17 early as 1993, this legislative body provided 18 the authority to bond state highway and bridge 19 projects. And actually the first bond issue 20 was 1974 [sic], and almost every year 21 thereafter for these projects, in order to 22 leverage against the dedicated fund. 23 This was an 18-year practice that 24 has left the fund unable to pay for critical 25 road and bridge work, as it is now crippled by

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 the growing debt service. And according to 2 the Division of Budget, 49.2 percent of the 3 revenue of the dedicated fund went towards 4 paying down the debt in fiscal years '08 and 5 '09, and that percentage is estimated to 6 increase to 72.4 percent in as little as two 7 years. 8 So does this legislation help to 9 alleviate the debt burden faced by the fund? 10 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 11 Senator Dilan is right on the money, sir. He 12 knows his figures. Because he is right, 13 42 percent of the fund does go to, right now, 14 state operations, and 30 percent of the fund 15 goes to debt service and 29 percent of the 16 fund actually goes to road and bridges. 17 Now, think about that, my 18 colleagues -- and, Senator, I know because of 19 your background in transportation, you're very 20 much aware of this -- that you have a 21 Dedicated Highway Trust Fund in which 22 29 percent of the fund goes to roads and 23 bridges. Thirty percent of the fund goes to 24 pick up debt. Because that debt, as Senator 25 Dilan says -- and he's absolutely right -- is

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 some of the bonding debt, because you cannot 2 fix all of the roads and bridges in New York 3 State without bonding. 4 And we've had, over the years, 5 several bond issues. And, Mr. President, the 6 Senator is accurate. I think the last bond 7 act, Senator, may be four years ago. 8 And what happened during that bond 9 act is that they took pieces of projects from 10 every member in this chamber throughout all of 11 this state, and they took it from -- my good 12 friend Senator Rivera had a project, for 13 instance, in his district. And let's say the 14 project was a $10 million project. It would 15 take $2 million of that $10 million from the 16 bond act. But if the DOT fund or the 17 dedicated bridge fund could not supplement the 18 $8 million, then Senator Rivera's bridge would 19 not get fixed. And that's what's happened to 20 the DOT budget probably over the past six to 21 eight years. 22 So the Senator is right, a portion 23 of this fund does go to bonding. As a matter 24 of fact, to those of us in this chamber, the 25 CHIPS money -- the CHIPS money is bonded

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 money. Without bonding for CHIPS money, none 2 of our local governments could pave those 3 potholes. That's not cash we take out of the 4 budget, that's actually bonded money that we 5 get from the Dedicated Highway Trust Fund. 6 So what we're trying to do here -- 7 and the Senator is right, that it's very 8 imbalanced. I'm trying to balance the fund. 9 Recognizing it's going to take five years, I 10 want to take the $655 million that goes for 11 snow and ice removal pre I think it's 2000, 12 Senator, when they used to take it out of the 13 General Fund and put it right in the DOT 14 budget and use snow and ice removal out of the 15 DOT budget and take the I think $200 million 16 for the operation, $200 million for the 17 operation of the Department of Motor Vehicles. 18 Now, we just passed a budget here. 19 And every Senator -- every other state agency, 20 with the exception of the authorities, of 21 course, the money to run those state agencies 22 comes out of the General Fund. The money to 23 run the Department of Transportation comes out 24 of the Dedicated Highway Trust Fund. 25 So, Mr. President, I think my

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 colleague and I are in pretty much agreement 2 here that there is bonding that comes out of 3 here. I'm just trying to balance the fund so 4 at the end of the day, at the end of five 5 years, this fund is used for road and bridge 6 repair. 7 SENATOR DILAN: You know, I just 8 want to say that I'm not clear if this piece 9 of legislation actually accomplishes any type 10 of fix with respect to the problem that the 11 dedicated fund is having with its debt 12 problem. 13 Just to be clear, in 2001 this 14 house voted 55 to zero, including 17 members 15 of the current majority and Senator Libous, 16 yourself, on two dedicated fund measures that 17 year. One began the funding of DMV operations 18 and the DOT snow and ice removal out of the 19 dedicated fund. That was the first measure. 20 And the second was the deposit of annual DMV 21 fees, roughly about $169 million, that come 22 from DMV to the fund. 23 So why were these department 24 operations and revenues transferred to the 25 fund when DMV has always operated as a

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 revenue-generating agency and a 2 self-sustaining agency? Why was this money 3 moved into the dedicated funds? 4 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 5 is that a question? 6 SENATOR DILAN: Yes. 7 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 8 Senator Dilan, you're right. Okay? 9 Now I'll speak for myself. At that 10 time we did that. I'm trying to correct it 11 because it hasn't balanced out, it's been 12 imbalanced. And you're right, I voted for 13 that, because at the time we thought it was 14 the right thing to do to get our roads and 15 bridges fixed. We were given a presentation 16 by the administration at that time, and we 17 believed, like we often do, that at least at 18 that moment it was the right thing to do. And 19 I think it was. 20 However, I think here we are now in 21 2011, and I think it's time -- as I have been. 22 And Senator Dilan has worked with me on this 23 over the years, and I know we've had a 24 vigorous debate on this bill. I think this is 25 the fourth time I've brought this bill to the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 floor. So I've been trying to correct 2 whatever -- and I'm not going to call it an 3 error, because at the time I think this body 4 felt it was the right thing to do. 5 But I think right now it is also 6 the right thing to move forward. And since 7 the bridge accident that took place in Senator 8 Little's district -- was it two years ago, 9 Senator? -- and some of the other problems in 10 all of our districts, you go to the dedicated 11 fund and it's broke. And we all know that 12 there is no money. Right now the DOT budget 13 is $8 billion. Half of that goes to the MTA, 14 half of that goes to operating and capital 15 costs. And all I'm trying to do here, 16 Senator, is clean it up. 17 So I don't disagree with you, you 18 know, on what was done in 2001, I think you 19 said it was. I voted whatever I voted for. 20 But I just think that this is 2011, and I 21 think we always have to be progressive. I 22 think we have to look at the times. And we 23 always have to maybe do better -- I didn't say 24 I was a progressive, Senator, I said we have 25 to be progressive and look at the times and do

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 better than we did in 2001. And I think that 2 this bill would do that. 3 SENATOR DILAN: I would just like 4 to comment and then one more question. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 6 Dilan, are you on the bill now or are you 7 still going to continue to question? 8 SENATOR DILAN: Well, I'll ask a 9 question. 10 With this legislation you're 11 proposing to stop DMV operations and DOT snow 12 and ice removal, the funds that come out of 13 the -- to stop that practice. So how -- and 14 also, at the same time, have the $169 million 15 coming out of DMV still going to the trust 16 fund. 17 So how would we then fund DMV and 18 also fund the ice and snow removal? 19 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 20 the Senator raises a good question. That's my 21 five-year phaseout. Because as you do a 22 five-year phaseout, the funding would then 23 come from the General Fund, just like every 24 other state agency, just like snow and ice 25 used to come from that.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And certainly I would be open, 2 Senator, to be flexible on the DMV fees. 3 Because one could argue, as I think you are, 4 that the DMV fees should pay for the operation 5 of the DMV. Mr. President, I'm a flexible 6 guy. I would be open to doing that as long as 7 we could clean up the Dedicated Highway Trust 8 Fund. I would be more than happy to work with 9 Senator Dilan on cleaning that up. But I 10 would like to move the bill forward today so 11 that maybe we could get some attention in the 12 Assembly. 13 SENATOR DILAN: On the bill. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 15 Dilan on the bill. 16 SENATOR DILAN: I look forward to 17 working with Senator Libous and anyone else in 18 this house to recognize the problem that this 19 fund is definitely having. It's going to get 20 to a point where we're not going to have the 21 ability to fund any capital project with 22 respect to DOT or highways and bridges in the 23 State of New York if this practice continues. 24 So I look forward to working with 25 Senator Libous to ensure that the Assembly

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 recognizes the problem that we have here and 2 definitely fixing this fund. So with that 3 said, I will be voting for the bill. 4 Thank you. 5 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 6 Little. 7 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, 8 Mr. President. On the bill. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 10 Little on the bill. 11 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you. 12 I'd like to thank Senator Libous 13 for putting forward this bill and thank all of 14 you that will sponsor and support this bill. 15 In my district, October 16th of 16 2009, I got a call that a major bridge between 17 Vermont and New York, the Crown Point Bridge, 18 was being closed. We all knew the Crown Point 19 Bridge needed repair and had been subject to 20 several inspections. But an inspection the 21 day before they closed it showed that the 22 bridge was really in need of repair and about 23 to fail. 24 Fortunately, no one was injured and 25 we didn't have a total failure of the bridge,

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 but -- or it didn't fall down with cars on it. 2 But just imagine the disruption to the lives 3 of the people in that district. The detour, 4 mind you, was over 100 miles for people who 5 lived in Crown Point and worked in Vermont, 6 attended a hospital for healthcare in Vermont, 7 or went over to Vermont for education and 8 vice versa. So there was a tremendous 9 disruption. 10 Fortunately, the bridge was blown 11 up and is now being replaced by a really 12 beautiful bridge that will have bike lanes and 13 sidewalks, something that all of New York 14 State will be proud of. 15 But the point to be made is that we 16 are an older state and many of our roads and 17 bridges have been in existence for a long 18 time. We have found that many of the bridges 19 in New York State are in need of repair and, 20 on the scale that they measure them on, are in 21 a scale which shows that they need attention. 22 So any way that we can get more of 23 this dedicated highway fund to go for what it 24 is needed for -- for improving infrastructure, 25 for repairing bridges, and for seeing that we

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 don't have a disaster with one of our bridges 2 and a loss of life -- is very, very important. 3 I also commend Senator Libous for 4 the way he's approaching this, as it is a 5 phaseout. It would be really nice to just cut 6 off the money and do it all at once and keep 7 the money in the dedicated highway fund, but 8 we know that that would cause problems 9 elsewhere. 10 So I appreciate the interest and 11 what he has done for this bill, and I look 12 forward to voting for it and hope that all 13 will support the bill. 14 Thank you. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Is 16 there any other Senator wishing to be heard? 17 Seeing none, debate is closed, and 18 the Secretary will ring the bell. 19 Read the last section. 20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 21 act shall take effect immediately. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 23 the roll. 24 (The Secretary called the roll.) 25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 bill is passed. 3 Senator Libous, that completes the 4 controversial reading of the calendar. 5 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 6 can we return to reports of standing 7 committees. I believe there's a report of the 8 Rules Committee at the desk. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Reports 10 of standing committees. 11 The Secretary will read. 12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Skelos, 13 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 14 following bills: 15 Senate Print 2631, by Senator 16 Marcellino, an act to amend the Tax Law; 17 Senate Print 4248, by Senator 18 Hassell-Thompson, an act in relation to term 19 of service of trustee-elects. 20 Both bills ordered direct to third 21 reading. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: May we 23 have just some quiet in the chamber, please. 24 Senator Libous. 25 SENATOR LIBOUS: Could I move we

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 accept the report of the Rules Committee, 2 Mr. President. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 4 favor of accepting the Rules Committee report 5 signify by saying aye. 6 (Response of "Aye.") 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 8 Opposed? 9 (No response.) 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 report is accepted. 12 Senator Libous. 13 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 14 could we now have the noncontroversial reading 15 of Supplemental Calendar 33A, please. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 Secretary will read the noncontroversial 18 supplemental calendar. 19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 20 391, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 21 2631 -- 22 SENATOR BRESLIN: Lay it aside. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it 24 aside. 25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 392, by Senator Hassell-Thompson, Senate Print 2 4248, an act in relation to term of service of 3 trustee-elects. 4 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 5 the last section. 6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 7 act shall take effect immediately. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 9 the roll. 10 (The Secretary called the roll.) 11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 13 bill is passed. 14 That completes the noncontroversial 15 reading of the supplemental calendar, Senator 16 Libous. 17 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. Could we have the reading of 19 the controversial supplemental calendar. 20 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 21 Secretary will ring the bell, and the 22 Secretary will read. 23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 24 391, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 25 2631 --

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Explanation. 2 SENATOR BRESLIN: Explanation. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 4 Breslin and Senator Krueger have requested an 5 explanation, Senator Marcellino. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr. 7 President, it will be my pleasure to provide 8 one to my two distinguished colleagues. 9 This legislation would require the 10 Department of Taxation and Finance to pay tax 11 refunds within 30 days of receipt of a tax 12 return. 13 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 14 Krueger. 15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. Would the sponsor please 17 yield? 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Will 19 the sponsor yield? 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 sponsor does yield. 23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 24 Have you gotten an opinion from the 25 Department of Tax and Finance regarding this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 legislation and their position? 2 SENATOR MARCELLINO: No, we have 3 not, Senator. 4 SENATOR KRUEGER: If the sponsor 5 would continue to yield. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes. 7 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 8 sponsor yields. 9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 10 Do you know the current average 11 turnaround by the Department of Tax and 12 Finance for refunds on personal income taxes? 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Senator, I 14 couldn't give it to you to the day. I know 15 what the current law requires, 45 days. 16 But it is my understanding, in 17 conversation with a number of my constituents 18 and even some of our fellow members, that that 19 date is not necessarily adhered to. There are 20 some members who filed returns in January and 21 still haven't gotten their refunds back. 22 There are others who got them back quickly and 23 others who just never get them back for a 24 reasonable period of time, without written 25 explanation as to why.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 2 if the sponsor would continue to yield. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 Senator yields. 5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 6 Would this bill to apply to all refunds owed 7 by the Department of Tax and Finance or 8 selected taxes? 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: If you're 10 owed money, you should get it back. It's your 11 money. 12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 13 if through you the sponsor would continue to 14 yield. 15 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 sponsor yields. 18 SENATOR KRUEGER: My reading of 19 the bill is that it would just apply to 20 personal income taxes. So the sponsor 21 answered he thinks it applies to all money 22 owed. 23 I just want to rephrase the 24 question. Am I incorrect in my reading of the 25 bill, that it's just on personal income taxes?

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I believe 2 the bill as written would require the 3 payment -- let me just double-check, but I 4 believe you're right. Hold on. 5 I was right, Senator, it applies to 6 all refunds owed. 7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 8 Mr. President, I correct myself and 9 thank the sponsor. My question was actually 10 really addressed to -- was intended to clarify 11 that there may be different issues for 12 corporate franchise taxes or personal income 13 tax or sales and use taxes. Which is a 14 statement and correction, not a question. 15 Now, will the sponsor continue to 16 yield, please? 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, I do. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 sponsor yields. 20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 21 Do we have any estimated cost of 22 what would be involved for the State of 23 New York to change its system? It would 24 overlap, I think, both the Department of Tax 25 and Finance, its processing vendors, and

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 potentially the Office of the State 2 Comptroller. Because currently we have a 3 30-day -- it would change from 45 days to 4 30 days. So have we estimated what it would 5 cost the State of New York? 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: No, we have 7 not estimated that, Senator. 8 But I would suspect that, as has 9 been my experience when you talk to various 10 departments and you're dealing with them to 11 make changes, the departments always tell you 12 it's going to cost you huge amounts of money 13 to make what I consider to be changes on 14 computers these days. These taxes do not have 15 to be entered by abacus, and they're not 16 entered by hand. Everything is done on 17 computers. Everything is calculated on 18 computers. And it requires the change of some 19 computer programming, which should not, in my 20 mind, require great expense. 21 However, we have not sought and we 22 do not have an estimate. 23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 24 if the sponsor would continue to yield, 25 please.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I yield. 2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 3 So we don't know what the fiscal 4 impact is, but conceivably there's a fiscal 5 impact. So why didn't we move this bill 6 through the Finance Committee? 7 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I think 8 you're going to have to ask the Finance 9 Committee chairman that, because you are the 10 ranking member of that. The bill was not 11 flagged by Finance, it was referred to Rules 12 as per procedure. 13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 14 if through you the sponsor would continue to 15 yield. 16 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I continue 17 to yield. 18 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 19 sponsor yields. 20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 21 And so in fact for the record, I am 22 the ranker, so I can't flag bills to Finance. 23 But I would have flagged this to Finance had I 24 been the chair, because I'm quite sure this 25 will be a cost to the state.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And a follow-up question -- 2 SENATOR MARCELLINO: If I may -- 3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: It's a cost 5 to the state because they have to pay a refund 6 no matter what. So the state has to pay a 7 refund, and they do expect to do that. 8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 9 through you. There would be, I believe, an 10 additional cost to the change for changing its 11 systems over with the changes required in this 12 bill. 13 But this bill also requires Tax and 14 Finance to pay interest if they do not make 15 payments or refunds to taxpayers within 16 30 days. And I believe it explicitly states 17 an interest rate to be paid. 18 Could the sponsor clarify that 19 section of the law for me? 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: It requires 21 a 6 percent interest rate if the refund isn't 22 provided in a timely fashion or if the 23 department doesn't provide written notice as 24 to the reason why the tax return -- I'll wait 25 till you can hear me.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. If 2 the sponsor would continue to yield. 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I hadn't 4 finished my answer. I was simply waiting till 5 you could hear my answer so we could have a 6 colloquy here. 7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Excuse me. 8 Thank you. 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: A tax 10 refund, if a written notice is applied to or 11 sent to a constituent or a tax person, the 12 person who pays their taxes and is owed a 13 refund should receive a written notice from 14 the department if they're not going to get 15 their refund in a timely fashion because they 16 either made a mistake on their refund or there 17 is other such discrepancy found by the 18 Taxation and Finance Department. 19 If that person -- if you, Senator, 20 do not pay your taxes in a timely fashion, you 21 get a fine applied to you immediately. 22 Without argument, without payment, without 23 discussion and without appeal, you will be 24 fined for late payment of taxes and the 25 government will expect to get their money

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ASAP. There will be no leeway as to whether 2 or not you can pay them within 10 days, 3 30 days, or 50 days. You must pay. If you 4 don't pay, you are threatened with jail or 5 loss of licenses, liens placed against your 6 pay, and all other such penalties. 7 So the state, the federal 8 government, the tax collector insists on 9 prompt payment from the taxpayers of money 10 owed to the government. And I don't think 11 it's unreasonable to ask the government to pay 12 promptly to the taxpayer. It's their money. 13 They're owed it. And they should get it. 14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. If 15 the sponsor would continue to yield. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 17 sponsor yields. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I'll be 19 happy to. 20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. So 21 I'm interested in the discussion of 22 discrepancy that you just raised. 23 So if the department sees a 24 discrepancy between what you have filed and 25 what they understand to be the taxes owed, are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 they supposed to still make the refund or pay 2 the interest? 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: No. Just 4 simply notify the taxpayer that there is a 5 problem with the tax form and that there has 6 to be a discussion and we'll set up a date for 7 meeting, and you meet with the Department of 8 Taxation and Finance and you settle your 9 accounts, as to whether or not the mistake is 10 real, whether you have a reasonable 11 explanation and they agree with you, or 12 whatever. In some cases there's even court 13 cases; you may want to take them to court and 14 file on that basis. 15 So it doesn't require in that 16 sense, in my understanding. It would simply 17 mean the procedure has to be followed. In 18 other words, we just don't want the taxpayer 19 left out there in limbo with no response, no 20 answer, and money that they're owed but no 21 explanation as to why they're not getting it. 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: It's 23 getting a little noisy in the chamber. I'd 24 ask if you could take conversations outside 25 the chamber so the members can hear each other

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 in conversation. 2 Senator Krueger. 3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 4 So just to clarify so that the 5 sponsor and I are both on the same page, if 6 the department concludes there is some kind of 7 discrepancy, they do not have to pay interest 8 after 30 days, they have to provide notice and 9 clarification to the taxpayer within 30 days? 10 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, 11 Senator, that would be my understanding of the 12 bill, that the department is required to 13 notice the taxpayer that there is a problem 14 with the tax return and that an explanation is 15 required, set up some type of a meeting date 16 with the taxpayer that is mutually acceptable 17 so they can get together and deal with it. 18 That's normal procedure right now. 19 That's the way it operates right now. You 20 don't get your refund until everything is 21 clarified. 22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 23 If through you, Mr. President, the 24 sponsor would continue to yield. 25 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Sure.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 2 sponsor yields. 3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Is it your 4 understanding, in your language of 5 discrepancy, that the agency, Tax and Finance 6 agency, could define discrepancy in a very 7 broad purview, anything they wish it to be, 8 and simply send a notice for clarification, 9 that there doesn't need to be more specific 10 definitions of what the discrepancy is? It 11 may be that in fact the tax return was 12 incorrect, there was more exemptions taken 13 than legally allowed, for example. 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: No, I -- 15 Senator, I have a little more faith in the 16 government and the people involved. I do not 17 believe the government is just going to send a 18 blanket notice out to taxpayers that "there's 19 a problem with your return so therefore we're 20 going to hold your refund until we clarify the 21 issue." 22 All tax returns, as you well know, 23 now are reviewed by computer. It's all 24 computerized. There are parameters set. If 25 the numbers go above a certain point or below

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 a certain point, the computer clicks them off, 2 sets these filings apart, and procedures 3 follow in that basis. 4 The entire system is computerized. 5 The federal government has gone to total 6 computerization. You must, if you want -- and 7 they'll tell you this, if you want your refund 8 promptly delivered, file by electronic means 9 and you will get it back. If you do not, if 10 you file by hand and they have to read it by 11 hand and enter it by hand, that might delay 12 the process. However, if you file 13 electronically, which is the current mode, 14 everything gets taken care of by machine and 15 you can get an appropriate response in a 16 reasonable period of time. 17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you, 18 Mr. President. If the sponsor would continue 19 to yield. 20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Sure. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 sponsor yields. 23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 24 And I agree with the sponsor that 25 the vast majority of tax returns that are

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 being filed electronically are getting a 2 relatively fast response from New York State. 3 And I believe their average rate of responding 4 on tax refunds is about 30 days currently. 5 Although the sponsor raises an 6 interesting question, because I believe this 7 year there was a specific problem with a 8 software program, TurboTax, and New York State 9 filings. So if the software program was 10 responsible for the problem leading to a delay 11 in the refund beyond 30 days, who would have 12 be responsible for paying interest to the 13 taxpayer under this bill? 14 SENATOR MARCELLINO: If it was 15 the government's program, the government would 16 be responsible. If it's your personal program 17 and you created the problem because you used a 18 program that didn't mesh, then it's your 19 problem and you have to deal with it. But if 20 the government set the program up and the 21 government created the program or purchased 22 the program and then used the program and it 23 screwed up, it's their fault and you're owed. 24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. So, 25 Mr. President, permit me just to repeat to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 confirm from the sponsor. 2 If you're using, say, TurboTax, 3 which is a private software company, or some 4 other private software to do your electronic 5 filing of state taxes, and the mistake is due 6 to the software program, then the State of 7 New York would not be liable for the interest 8 or the delay in refund, under this law? 9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: If I as a 10 taxpayer cause a problem that creates a delay, 11 it's my problem. Not the government's 12 problem. If it's the government's program 13 that causes the delay, then it's the 14 government's problem. 15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 16 if the sponsor would continue to yield. 17 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I'd be happy 18 to. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 sponsor yields. 21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 22 This bill requires a 6 percent 23 interest rate. That's, in today's world, an 24 exceptionally high rate of return. How did 25 the 6 percent number get determined? I would

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 love to make 6 percent on anything and 2 everything, to be quite honest. 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yeah, so 4 would I, Senator. These days, if you make a 5 half a percent, you're lucky, on your bank 6 account. 7 But it would be my understanding 8 that the taxpayers should get what I consider 9 a fair return on their money, and 6 percent 10 would provide an incentive to do it correctly. 11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 12 if the sponsor would continue to yield. 13 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I will 14 continue to yield. 15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 16 Because we both agree that this is 17 a significant interest rate, do we have any 18 estimate of how much this could cost the State 19 of New York in a one-year period and where we 20 would get the money to pay this cost? 21 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Senator, 22 that would be frankly an impossibility to 23 predict, because you don't know from year to 24 year what the tax is going to be. You don't 25 know who's going to be paying, how much

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 they're going to be paying. 2 I assume you could get a -- if you 3 went back a few years, you could probably get 4 past taxes paid and, you know, apply an 5 estimate to that, but that would have 6 absolutely no impact as to what next year's 7 tax payment would be, because it would be 8 subsequently less. 9 As you well know, this state budget 10 is dependent on tax returns. And from year to 11 year those tax returns go up, they go down. 12 Times are good, they're up. Times are bad, 13 they go down. So everybody's impacted. So I 14 think it would be almost impossible to give 15 you an accurate explanation on that. 16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 17 if the sponsor would continue to yield. 18 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Happy to. 19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 20 As I recall, when we last visited 21 this bill a year or two ago when Governor 22 Paterson indicated that because of lack of 23 funds the state would need to elongate the 24 refund process by three weeks, he declared he 25 had unilateral authority to do this as

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Governor. 2 Under this legislation, would the 3 Governor still have unilateral authority to 4 lengthen the process beyond the 30-day period? 5 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I disagreed 6 with my good friend David Paterson when he did 7 that. He took advantage of his executive 8 position in being able to direct the agencies 9 of the state and direct the commissioners of 10 the state to not pay out money that was duly 11 owed to the residents. His claim at the time, 12 I believe, he was fearful that the state would 13 run out of money and he wouldn't have cash on 14 hand to pay his bills. 15 Well, the taxpayers are a bill due 16 and owed, and they had a right to get their 17 money collected. And I don't think any 18 individual has a right to just take it on 19 their own and say "I'm not going to pay this 20 bill today because I don't think we have the 21 money." Or "I don't want to pay this refund 22 out or I don't want to pay these people 23 because I, the Governor of the state, decide 24 that I think we should have this money in our 25 bank account collecting interest so that we

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 can apply it going forward to other needs." 2 You're borrowing the money from the 3 taxpayer when you do that. That taxpayer is 4 due and owed interest on that money. It's a 5 loan to the government and, as a matter of 6 fact, an involuntary loan to the government 7 that should never have occurred. 8 SENATOR KRUEGER: If through 9 you -- 10 SENATOR MARCELLINO: I yield. 11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 12 Again, I don't find language in 13 this bill that explicitly prevents a Governor 14 from unilaterally determining that because of 15 state cash-flow issues he may need to elongate 16 the time period beyond 30 days, as under the 17 45-day statute there is no explicit language 18 and so we learned that he could. 19 So I just want to clarify. This 20 legislation would not prevent a Governor from 21 unilaterally determining that because of a 22 cash flow or other situation in the State of 23 New York he could order the Department of Tax 24 and Finance to go beyond the 30 days? 25 SENATOR MARCELLINO: You're

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 right. And the response to that is if the 2 Governor unilaterally elongates the time 3 period under this legislation that is 4 proposed, he pays 6 percent interest to the 5 taxpayer for borrowing their money. It's as 6 simple as that. 7 I don't believe David Paterson, 8 Governor Paterson had a right to do what he 9 did, but he did it. Those taxpayers, in my 10 mind, are owed money. They loaned their money 11 involuntarily to the State of New York for a 12 period of time. They should have been 13 recompensed for providing that service and 14 that money that they couldn't use and they 15 couldn't apply for their own personal needs. 16 It was their money. 17 This bill would provide a 18 disincentive for a Governor to do that because 19 it provides that if you don't pay the money 20 out in a timely fashion as indicated by the 21 bill, you owe 6 percent interest rate, which 22 my lawyer friends tell me is below the rate of 23 a judgment, which is approximately 9 percent 24 these days. So, you know, we're working a 25 happy medium here.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Mr. President, 2 if through you the sponsor would continue to 3 yield. 4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: My pleasure. 5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. 6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: [Inaudible.] 7 SENATOR KRUEGER: We're having 8 fun today, two bills. 9 So under current reality, only 10 approximately 33 percent of the money paid out 11 in personal income tax refunds each year is 12 actually a refund for an overpayment of taxes 13 either through withholding or estimated 14 payments or carry-forwards. Therefore, the 15 revenue implications of this bill as written 16 can be quite large. Because I read this bill 17 as requiring the 6 percent interest to apply 18 to, again, all taxes. And that would 19 include -- just double-checking -- if there 20 was a delay in getting someone's earned income 21 tax credit to them, a noncustodial parent tax 22 credit, the Empire State child credit, the 23 child and dependent care credit, college 24 tuition credits, real property tax credits. 25 Is that your understanding of this

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 bill, that there would be the 6 percent 2 interest applied on all of the above? 3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: On all of 4 the above only if they don't pay the refund in 5 a timely fashion. If you pay the refund in a 6 timely fashion which is duly owed to the 7 taxpayer, regardless of who or what the 8 taxpayer is or the reason for the tax payment, 9 then you don't have to pay any interest 10 penalty, you simply pay the refund, which is 11 the appropriate thing to do. 12 They're owed the money. It's like 13 the commercial says, it's my money and I want 14 it now. The taxpayers are screaming they want 15 their money now, and in a timely fashion. I 16 think we, as representatives of the people of 17 this state, owe them that much that they get 18 their money in a timely fashion and if we make 19 a mistake, if government screws up, government 20 should pay a penalty like everybody else. 21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. On the bill. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 24 Krueger on the bill. 25 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm torn. I

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 want to thank the sponsor for his explanation. 2 I know that this is a bill that has been 3 floating around for quite a few years in the 4 Senate. And I'm torn because I think the 5 sponsor is right; if people are owed refunds, 6 then the State of New York should be 7 appropriately timely and professional in 8 getting them their money. 9 My dilemma is I don't think we 10 spent enough time fine-tuning this bill. The 11 fact that we haven't asked Tax and Finance 12 what any of the technical effects that this 13 bill would have on them, we don't know how 14 much change would be required in systems, 15 whether there would be additional staff 16 required. 17 The effective date is to go into 18 effect immediately. We're right in the 19 middle, technically, of tax season. People's 20 taxes have to be submitted by April 15th. And 21 so if we were to pass this bill and it came 22 into law, by May 15th everything would have to 23 change and be put into effect. Or that's how 24 I read "to go into effect immediately." 25 So I don't think we're really ready

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to roll this out immediately. I have to say 2 that the budget did not factor in additional 3 costs for the Department of Tax and Finance 4 for implementation, start-up, and in fact 5 speeding up the process by which they get 6 refunds back to taxpayers. 7 Although I am not sure that there 8 is a major outcry from the public calling for 9 this legislation in its current form 10 immediately, because it turns out 80 percent 11 of people are receiving their refunds within 12 30 days already. So you could argue, well, so 13 this isn't that big a deal because it's only 14 the other 20 percent of the people. Or you 15 could say this is a really big deal, we're 16 requiring changes in lots of different systems 17 for 100 percent of tax returns when 18 technically there might be a problem only for 19 20 percent or there might not be a problem at 20 all because those 20 percent could in fact 21 fall into the discrepancy category that the 22 sponsor very correctly explained was possible. 23 I also am very concerned that we 24 have a 6 percent interest rate attached to 25 this. And I have no idea, nor does the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 sponsor, how large a cost this would be for 2 the State of New York. 3 A 6 percent rate of return, I have 4 to say you almost want the Department of 5 Taxation not to get that refund back to you. 6 You will probably find tax experts going into 7 the business of figuring out just exactly how 8 to put in a tax return so that the state can't 9 get you the refund and you can earn 6 percent 10 for a whole number of months. In fact, that 11 might be a new career opportunity for job 12 creation, figuring out how we can get 13 6 percent from the state. 14 And yet I also don't really want to 15 vote against the bill because, again, I do 16 think it's important for us to be sending the 17 message we want an efficient, accountable 18 government and when we ask people for their 19 taxes and we hold them to paying them and 20 following the laws, we should also follow the 21 law. 22 So what I'm going to do is split 23 the baby. I'm going to support the bill under 24 the belief that it won't become law until and 25 unless the Governor and the Assembly come back

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to negotiate with us on how to deal with the 2 technicalities of this bill. 3 So I want to thank the sponsor for 4 his answers. I will be voting for the bill. 5 But again, for the record, only supporting it 6 as law if we can fix quite a number of the 7 concerns I have raised here today. 8 Thank you very much, Mr. President. 9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 10 you, Senator Krueger. 11 I believe you have until the 18th 12 this year. 13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Excuse me. 14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 15 Robach. 16 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, just very 17 quickly. 18 I rise to applaud Senator 19 Marcellino for putting this bill in. Those of 20 you that really do hands-on constituent 21 service, you'll know there's nothing more 22 irate than somebody who's waiting for their 23 income tax return to come in. 24 And, you know, I have seen many 25 times -- the current law says they're supposed

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 to pay 3 percent interest, the state. I 2 haven't even seen that applied, let alone 3 changing it to the 6 percent. I don't know 4 who arbitrates that or who enforces it, but I 5 can tell you I've had many constituents who 6 have gone well past the 45-day time before 7 they got their tax refunds and not seen that 8 3 percent. And so I think this will just be a 9 another tool to speed this along. 10 And one thing, I can't remember who 11 brought it up, Senator Krueger or Senator 12 Marcellino, but what I've found in advocating 13 for constituents are clearly, for a lot of my 14 elderly constituents and low-income 15 constituents who don't file electronically, 16 they seem to disproportionately have a longer 17 return. 18 And I had one individual that was 19 literally waiting to do a home improvement, 20 predicating getting that money. And even with 21 all of our work, it still took a great length 22 of time to get that for the individual. And 23 their quote was: "You know, we have to put it 24 in on time. Shouldn't the state have to give 25 it back in a timely fashion?"

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 And I think that's the sentiment of 2 Senator Marcellino's bill. My guess is by 3 moving from 45 to 30 days you'll really just 4 more be enforcing the 45-day limit we 5 currently have. 6 And so I'm very happy to vote for 7 this bill. And I hope, rather than change, we 8 can all work together to maybe get some action 9 in the other house to make this a reality for 10 all of our mutual constituents. 11 Thank you, Mr. President. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 13 you, Senator Robach. 14 Is there any other Senator wishing 15 to be heard? 16 Seeing none, debate is closed and 17 the Secretary will ring the bell. 18 Read the last section. 19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 20 act shall take effect immediately. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 22 the roll. 23 (The Secretary called the roll.) 24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays, 25 2. Senators Duane and Parker recorded in the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 negative. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 bill is passed. 4 Senator Libous, that concludes the 5 reading of the controversial calendar. 6 SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, 7 there will be an immediate meeting of the 8 Rules Committee in 332. 9 The Senate will stand at ease 10 pending the report of the Rules Committee. 11 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 12 is an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee 13 in Room 332. 14 The Senate stands at ease. 15 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 16 ease at 5:18 p.m.) 17 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 18 at 5:29 p.m.) 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 20 Senate will come to order. The Senate will 21 come to order. 22 Senator Maziarz. 23 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very 24 much, Mr. President. 25 Can we return to the reports of

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 standing committees. I believe there's a 2 report of the Rules Committee at the desk. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Senator Skelos, 6 from the Committee on Rules, reports the 7 following bill direct to third reading. 8 By Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 9 4211, an act to amend the Education Law. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 11 Maziarz. 12 SENATOR MAZIARZ: I move to 13 accept the report of the Rules Committee, 14 Mr. President. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: All in 16 favor of accepting the report of the Rules 17 Committee signify by saying aye. 18 (Response of "Aye.") 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: 20 Opposed? 21 (No response.) 22 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 23 Rules report is accepted. 24 Senator Maziarz. 25 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Can we have the

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 noncontroversial reading of the calendar, 2 please. 3 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 4 Secretary will read. 5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 6 368, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 4211, 7 an act to amend the Education Law. 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 9 the last section. 10 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside, 11 please. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Lay it 13 aside. 14 Senator Maziarz, that completes the 15 noncontroversial reading of the supplemental 16 calendar. 17 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Just hold on 18 for one second, Mr. President. 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Thank 20 you, Senator Maziarz. 21 (Pause.) 22 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Mr. President. 23 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Senator 24 Maziarz. 25 SENATOR MAZIARZ: The Senate will

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 stand at ease for a moment. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 3 Senate will stand at ease. 4 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at 5 ease at 5:40 p.m.) 6 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened 7 at 5:52 p.m.) 8 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 9 Senate will come to order. The Senate will 10 come to order. 11 Senator Breslin. 12 SENATOR BRESLIN: Mr. President, 13 I request that the lay-aside be removed and we 14 proceed on the noncontroversial calendar. 15 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 16 lay-aside requested is so ordered, and the 17 Secretary will read the substitution. 18 THE SECRETARY: Senator Flanagan 19 moves to discharge, from the Committee on 20 Rules, Assembly Bill Number 6611 and 21 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 22 Number 4211, Third Reading Calendar Number 23 368. 24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 25 substitution is so ordered.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 Senator Maziarz, we will return now 2 to the noncontroversial reading. Without 3 objection? 4 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Without 5 objection, Mr. President. 6 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 7 Secretary will read. 8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 9 368, by Member of the Assembly Nolan, Assembly 10 Print Number 6611, an act to amend the 11 Education Law. 12 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Read 13 the last section. 14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This 15 act shall take effect immediately. 16 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Call 17 the roll. 18 (The Secretary called the roll.) 19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 55. Nays, 20 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative. 21 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 22 bill is passed. 23 Senator Maziarz. 24 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Yes, 25 Mr. President. Can we at this time return to

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 motions and resolutions. 2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Motions 3 and resolutions. 4 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Mr. President, 5 on page number 11, on behalf of Senator 6 Marcellino I offer the following amendments to 7 Calendar Number 129, Senate Print Number 998A, 8 and ask that said bill retain its place on 9 Third Reading Calendar. 10 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The 11 amendments are received and adopted, and the 12 bill will retain its place on the Third 13 Reading Calendar. 14 Senator Maziarz. 15 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 16 Mr. President. 17 Is there any further business at 18 the desk? 19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There 20 is no further business before the desk. 21 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you, 22 Mr. President. There being no further 23 business, I move that we adjourn until 24 Wednesday, April 13th at 11:00 a.m., 25 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.

Candyco Transcription Service, Inc. 1 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: On 2 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until 3 Wednesday, April 13th, at 11:00 a.m. 4 Senate adjourned. 5 (Whereupon, at 5:54 p.m., the 6 Senate adjourned.) 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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