Gaveled in 3:59 PM · Albany, New York · 2015–16 session
NEW YORK STATE SENATE
THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
ALBANY, NEW YORK
June 23, 2015
3:59 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, President
FRANCIS W. PATIENCE, Secretary
P R O C E E D I N G STHE PRESIDENT:The Senate will come to order.
I ask everyone present to please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
(Whereupon, the assemblage recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
THE PRESIDENT:In the absence of clergy, may we bow our heads in a moment of silence.
(Whereupon, the assemblage respected a moment of silence.)
THE PRESIDENT:Thank you.
The reading of the Journal.
THE SECRETARY:In Senate, Monday, June 22nd, the Senate met pursuant to adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, June 21st, was read and approved. On motion, Senate adjourned.
THE PRESIDENT:Without objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
Presentation of petitions.
Messages from the Assembly.
Messages from the Governor.
Reports of standing committees.
Reports of select committees.
Communications and reports from state officers.
Motions and resolutions.
Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, thank you, Madam President.
On behalf of Senator Little, I move that the following bills be discharged from their respective committees and be recommitted with instructions to strike the enacting clause: Senate Print Numbers 515 and 3501A.
THE PRESIDENT:So ordered.
Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I'm now handing up committee assignments. And have those been received?
THE PRESIDENT:Those have been received and filed with the Journal Clerk.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you, Madam President.
I'd like to call an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in Room 332 and stand at ease until the report comes back from the Rules Committee.
THE PRESIDENT:There's an immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol.
The Senate will stand at ease.
(Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease at 4:01 p.m.)
(Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at 4:16 p.m.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Mr. President, it's my understanding that there's a report of the Rules Committee at the desk.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The Secretary will read.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you.
THE SECRETARY:Senator Flanagan, from the Committee on Rules, reports the following bills:
Senate Print 983A, by Senator Montgomery, an act to amend the Correction Law;
Senate 4494B, by Senator Dilan, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law;
Senate 4495, by Senator Murphy, an act to amend the Highway Law;
Senate 5990, by Senator Espaillat, an act to amend the Public Authorities Law;
Senate 6000, by Senator Savino, an act to amend the Elder Law;
Senate 6002, by Senator Funke, an act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2015;
Senate 6003, by Senator Hannon, an act to amend the Public Health Law; and
Senate 6005, by Senator Young, an act to authorize.
All bills reported direct to third reading.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: I move to accept the report of the Rules Committee.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:All those in favor of accepting the report of the Rules Committee signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Opposed, nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The report is accepted.
Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Since we don't have the bills quite yet, we can't go to the noncontroversial supplemental calendar. So we'll stand at ease, hopefully for a very short period of time.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The Senate will stand at ease.
(Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease at 4:17 p.m.)
(Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at 4:22 p.m.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The Senate will come to order.
Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, can we go to motions and resolutions.
And I move to adopt the Resolution Calendar, which is on the desks.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Motions and resolutions.
The question is on the adoption of the Resolution Calendar. All in favor signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Those opposed, nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The Resolution Calendar is adopted.
Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, Mr. President, we now have the bills on the desks. And can we please do the noncontroversial reading of Supplemental Calendar 57A.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY:In relation to Calendar 1873, Senator Montgomery moves to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 6430A and substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 983A, Third Reading Calendar 1873.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The substitution is so ordered.
The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1873, by Member of the Assembly Perry, Assembly Print Number 6430A, an act to amend the Correction Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Announce the results.
THE SECRETARY:Ayes, 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1874, by Senator Dilan, Senate Print 4494B, an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Stavisky to explain her vote.
SENATOR STAVISKY:Yes, to explain my vote, Mr. President.
The families who have lost children and parents in various vehicular accidents have been in touch with my office. And I'm going to vote for this bill, but that doesn't in any way diminish our concern for Vision Zero and for strong enforcement of the traffic rules.
Particularly, the family I have in mind particularly is H.P. and Amy Liao, who lost their daughter Allison to a terrible accident a number of years ago, and they are still in our thoughts.
And we want to be sure that we continue the vigilance that we have shown in the past. I vote aye.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Stavisky to be recorded in the affirmative.
Senator Sanders to explain his vote.
SENATOR SANDERS:Thank you, Mr. President.
When the city proposed Vision Zero and we all accepted it, it was a way forward to make sure that we cut down on the fatalities that have wreaked havoc with so many families.
One unheard-of consequence of this was the arrest of so many bus drivers on this. There must be a way to ensure that we do have Vision Zero, that we do make sure that we're cutting down on the fatalities and at the same time not criminalizing some of the great members of the middle class, some of the great people who move New York City and keep everything going.
Having heard their pleas, how can I not vote yes on this matter?
Thank you very much.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Sanders to be recorded in the affirmative.
Senator Dilan to explain his vote.
SENATOR DILAN:Mr. President, I rise to ask my colleagues to support me on this bill.
This bill, it's only correcting a problem with Vision Zero, which I originally did support. And it's only fair that an accident is an accident. And this does not take the right away from the Police Department to arrest an individual who drives recklessly or commits multiple infractions.
The only thing that this bill does is corrects and places MTA bus drivers similarly situated with federal, state and city employees, who are now exempted in the case of an accident. So if after an investigation it is determined that a crime was committed, or an infraction, at that point in time the individual can be arrested.
What this bill does, it ensures that a person is not humiliated or handcuffed at the scene of an accident.
So I support this measure and ask my colleagues to do the same.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Dilan to be recorded in the affirmative.
Senator Hassell-Thompson to explain her vote.
SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON:Thank you, Mr. President.
I rise to support this bill. And even though I have stood with the Department of Transportation in the Bronx -- particularly around Gun Hill Road and some of the areas where there are multiple accidents, where the streets are very, very wide and it's very difficult for our seniors and children to cross.
But I do think that I have -- my observation of particularly our bus drivers as they move through the city is to put not only their passengers but pedestrians first and try to create safe environments. And I don't think that the implication that the Police Department has chosen to take in terms of these arrests really makes sense.
Just -- and so that this -- but the bill creates some difficulties for many of us, because I'm not sure the same can be said for some of our livery and some of the other elements that are contained in this bill. That's what happens with an omnibus bill, we have -- it becomes ominous, as opposed to omnibus.
But I have to support the bill, because I think that what has been happening in many of our communities is unfair to the people who are responsible for transporting us and making sure that we get safely from Point A to Point B.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Hamilton to explain his vote.
SENATOR HAMILTON:Yes, Mr. President.
I rise to support this bill with my union brothers and sisters in TWU. I've been a union member all my life, and I understand what it takes to work within the system and do the right thing.
I want to thank Senator Dilan for producing this bill.
And I just want to say our members of TWU literally move this city. They get up every day before the sun rises, leave their children sleeping, to make sure our city -- New York City is the most populated city in America. We move more people every day than any other city in America. And TWU workers do it with respect, distinction and dedication to their job.
And right now, as they move more people than anybody else in this state, you can't criminalize an accident. An accident is an accident. And no one should go to work fearful of being arrested on their job because of an accident.
There are timetables put before them by the MTA on getting people from A-B to Point Z within a short period of time. And I think at this point in time if you're on the job and you're not drinking, you're not impaired by any other influence, you shouldn't be arrested or criminalized for getting into the accident.
So I support this bill in support of the TWU, and I want to thank Senator Dilan for putting this bill forward.
And I just want to say my brother-in-law is a bus driver, and he gets up to work every day, he loves his job. He's been spit on on his job, he's been punched in the face on his job, he's been verbally abused on his job, and no one's ever been arrested for those criminal acts against him. But he still loves his job. And he still goes to work every day.
And this is just a microcosm of what MTA TWU workers face every day when they get on the train and they get on the buses and perform their jobs. So I just want to say thank you for the MTA, and I support the TWU workers in this bill.
Thank you very much.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Hamilton to be recorded in the affirmative.
Senator Panepinto to explain his vote.
SENATOR PANEPINTO:Yes, I don't live in New York City, I don't ride MTA buses, but I've been a union member for 35 years. And I think it's wrong that we're treating, you know, union bus drivers differently than we're treating the rest of the citizens in the State of New York.
And I just signed a box slip for Senator Dilan, I'm voting in the affirmative, and I want to thank him for bringing this bill forward. And we shouldn't be penalizing the hardworking men and women of the MTA.
So I vote aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Panepinto to be recorded in the affirmative.
Senator Díaz to explain his vote.
SENATOR DIAZ:Thank you, Mr. President.
I just rise to support Senator Dilan in this magnificent, tremendous, important piece of legislation.
You know, I have never seen anyone trying to punish his own people except for the mayor of the City of New York. The Honorable Bill de Blasio is trying to be a macho man, trying to show that he is the best. At what? I don't know what. Punishing the drivers of the buses of the City of New York.
And by the way, the majority of those drivers are minorities, black and Hispanic.
So, Mr. Mayor, macho man, you know, don't be that macho man. And understand that we -- we know and we want to stop accidents and we want to save lives in the City of New York. But the way that this mayor is doing it, he's punishing his own people. Those workers work for him. Those workers work for the mayor of the city that he's the boss. And he is punishing them.
So therefore I'm here today to reject that action from the mayor and to support Senator Dilan in this beautiful, magnificent, pro-worker, pro-drivers of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority piece of legislation.
I am voting yes. Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Díaz to be recorded in the affirmative.
Senator Montgomery to explain her vote.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY:Yes, thank you, Mr. President.
I rise to also thank my colleague Senator Dilan for this legislation.
This is really a very simple, I think, solution to a big problem that we have. It is unconscionable that we should have bus drivers arrested on the spot, unlike any other people who are unfortunately engaged in an accident, and without due process for them as drivers. So I certainly appreciate Senator Dilan's introducing this legislation.
And let me just say I live in a part of the city that is very, very congested, traffic-heavy, and with large numbers of streets that have been redesigned, reengineered, and in fact made much more difficult even to navigate with the smallest vehicle.
And you can well imagine what difficulty it is for bus drivers to navigate narrow streets, congested traffic, trying to make turns where unfortunately so many pedestrians in the City of New York do not consider the seriousness of the danger that they put themselves in when they stand out in the street, when a vehicle of any size, much less a large vehicle like a bus or a truck, is making a turn, and in many instances they become invisible to that driver.
So that's unfortunate. We have, I think, a lot of work to do, from both the perspective of the drivers but also from pedestrians being more responsible and certainly hopefully understanding the danger that they are in when they behave in certain ways.
So while I am so very much in favor of many of the aspects of the Governor's plan to try to reduce accidents, this does not seem to fit into that category. This is just punishing a certain group of people who are trying to do their work, trying to do their job in the most difficult of circumstances, and if there's a mistake, they get handcuffed and arrested. That, to me, is wrong.
So I am definitely supporting this legislation, and I really hope that my colleagues will join us in this measure that has been introduced by Senator Dilan.
I'll be voting yes, Mr. President. Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Montgomery to be recorded in the affirmative.
Senator Savino to explain her vote.
SENATOR SAVINO:Thank you, Mr. President.
I also want to thank Senator Dilan for bringing this bill out, and I want to thank all of my of my colleagues for supporting it.
A couple of years ago -- or just about a year ago, the new Mayor de Blasio put forward a very ambitious agenda called Vision Zero. We all want to make our streets safer in New York City for drivers, for pedestrians, and for our bicyclists. And there's probably no more difficult place to drive than the City of New York. And that is certainly true for our bus drivers.
We have people, as Senator Montgomery talked about, people who disobey traffic rules every day. We have drivers who drive in the bus lanes. We have drivers who ignore bus lanes. We have drivers who just do whatever they want to do. And our bus drivers, professional bus drivers, have to follow the rules every day in an impossible city to navigate, and they have to do with it with courtesy and with respect.
And they have to do it while being yelled at by passengers because they're late or because the door didn't open fast enough, or because the aisle is blocked. You name it, people just levy all kinds of animosity towards our bus drivers.
But this was one insult too many. To expect them to be held to a higher standard than the general public was an unintended consequence of Vision Zero, and we needed to do something to fix it. So I want to thank everyone for participating in that.
But there's one group I also want to talk about, and that is the Transport Workers Union Local 100 and ATU Local 726. They led the fight for this.
And when they started talking about this, they were vilified by many who said that they were part of the problem and that in fact they shouldn't defend bus drivers who were breaking the law. But they understood they had to defend their members and they had to get equity and justice for them as they go out there and move New York City every day.
So I want to thank all of you for voting for it; Senator Dilan; but mostly the men and women who move New York City.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Savino to be recorded in the affirmative.
Announce the result.
THE SECRETARY:In relation to Calendar 1874, those recorded in the negative are Senators Croci, DeFrancisco, Hannon, Hoylman, Krueger and Squadron.
Ayes, 54. Nays, 6.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
(Applause from gallery.)
THE SECRETARY:In relation to Calendar 1875, Senator Murphy moves to discharge, from the Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 6613 and substitute it for the identical Senate Bill Number 4495, Third Reading Calendar 1875.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The substitution is so ordered.
The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1875, by Member of the Assembly Katz, Assembly Print 6613, an act to amend the Highway Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY:Ayes, 60.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1876, by Senator Espaillat, Senate Print 5990, an act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 2. This act shall take effect on the 180th day.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Announce the result.
THE SECRETARY:Ayes, 60.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1877, by Senator Savino, Senate Print 6000, an act to amend the Elder Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 2. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2015.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY:Ayes, 60.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1878, by Senator Funke, Senate Print 6002, an act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2015.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 2. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of 2015.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Krueger to explain her vote.
SENATOR KRUEGER:Thank you.
So this bill is technically a chapter amendment to last week's technically incorrect bill. So I am glad that we are fixing the technical errors, but we've still picked the wrong dates.
And in fact, if this were to become the law, we would have two different primaries for the presidential and congressional. That's at an estimated cost of between $50 million and $100 million more to our local governments.
We could get this right, we still have time, and actually have one primary -- a radical notion -- for both the presidential and the congressional primaries in that spring.
So I'll be voting no on this bill, hoping we can eventually get this right in time.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Krueger to be recorded in the negative.
Senator Gianaris to explain his vote.
SENATOR GIANARIS:Thank you, Mr. President.
Last week we had a different version of this bill that I voted against because it contained technical problems that made it inconsistent with the DNC rules. That would have created all the sorts of problems in terms of the awarding of delegates in the Democratic Party process.
Those issues have been fixed in this bill. I understand there's honest discussion about what date would be better than another. But because the technical aspects of the bill are now correct, and my understanding is the Assembly is also moving on this, I'll be voting in the affirmative.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Gianaris to be recorded in the affirmative.
Announce the result.
THE SECRETARY:In relation to Calendar 1878, those recorded in the negative are Senators Avella, Breslin, Carlucci, Comrie, Hassell-Thompson, Hoylman, Klein, Krueger, Latimer, Perkins, Rivera, Savino, Serrano, Squadron and Valesky. Also Senator Montgomery. Also Senator Panepinto.
Ayes, 43. Nays, 17.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1879, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 6003, an act to amend the Public Health Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 2. This act shall take effect on the first month commencing after the 180th day.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY:In relation to Calendar 1879, those recorded in the negative are Senators Ortt and Ranzenhofer.
Ayes, 58. Nays, 2.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY:Calendar Number 1880, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6005, an act to authorize.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY:Section 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Announce the result.
THE SECRETARY:Ayes, 60.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:The bill is passed.
Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Is that the last bill on this calendar?
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:It is.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: With unanimous consent, I would request that Senator Montgomery be given the opportunity to explain her vote on her bill, Calendar 1873. She was unable to do it at the time and is now available.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator Montgomery to explain her vote.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY:Thank you, Mr. President.
I rise to thank my colleagues for consent to support this legislation. It's a very important bill to so many people, especially those women who happen to be, though incarcerated, are pregnant and are going to be delivering a child.
So this bill would expand what is also already in law as an anti-shackling bill, but it would extend that to all female inmates who are pregnant, who are in labor or postpartum, during transport or hospitalization, unless there are extraordinary circumstances that require them to be shackled.
So in any of those situations, they are not to be shackled unless there are extraordinary circumstances. And that extraordinary circumstance must be approved by the commissioner or superintendent or sheriff.
The bill also removes any correctional officer from the delivery room while a baby is being born unless the medical staff or the woman request a correctional person to be in the room.
In addition, this bill requires that the correctional employees be trained to follow the law -- as they now are not doing, apparently -- and so that everyone in the facilities that house women in our state are fully aware of what the law is, what the rules are, and that women themselves are informed as well.
Finally, it provides for an annual report to the Legislature on the use of restraints under the extraordinary circumstances exception to this law.
So this moves us closer to having a much more humane approach to women who are incarcerated as they prepare for the delivery of their babies and as they deliver those babies and as they also are required to have postpartum examinations for themselves and their babies.
So thank you, Mr. President, and I thank my colleagues for supporting this important legislation.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:Senator DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes. Is there any further business at the desk?
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:No further business at the desk.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: That being the case, we're going to adjourn until June 24th, that's tomorrow, at 3:00 p.m.
ACTING PRESIDENT CROCI:On motion, the Senate will stand adjourned until tomorrow at 3:00 p.m.
(Whereupon, at 4:48 p.m., the Senate adjourned.)
Highest impact first.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
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Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.
Not yet analyzed. Open the bill for its official title.