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1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
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3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 6, 2017
11 3:25 p.m.
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14 REGULAR SESSION
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18 SENATOR ELAINE PHILLIPS, Acting President
19 FRANCIS W. PATIENCE, Secretary
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of
6 Allegiance.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: In the
10 absence of clergy, may we please bow our heads
11 in a moment of silence.
12 (Whereupon, the assemblage
13 respected a moment of silence.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
15 reading of the Journal.
16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Sunday,
17 March 5th, the Senate met pursuant to
18 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
19 March 4th, was read and approved. On motion,
20 Senate adjourned.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
22 Without objection, the Journal stands approved
23 as read.
24 Presentation of petitions.
25 Messages from the Assembly.
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1 Messages from the Governor.
2 Reports of standing committees.
3 Reports of select committees.
4 Communications and reports from
5 state officers.
6 Motions and resolutions.
7 Senator DeFrancisco.
8 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Madam
9 President, I move that the following bill by
10 Senator Young be discharged from its committee
11 and be recommitted with instructions to strike
12 the enacting clause. That's Senate Bill Number
13 560.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: So
15 ordered.
16 Floor Leader.
17 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Can we now
18 take up the noncontroversial reading of the
19 calendar.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
21 Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 136, by Senator Serino, Senate Print 2138, an
24 act to amend the Economic Development Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
8 Announce the result.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 139, by Senator Lanza, Senate Print 2592, an act
14 to amend the Public Authorities Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
23 Announce the result.
24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
25 Calendar Number 139, those recorded in the
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1 negative are Senators Comrie, Krueger and Rivera.
2 Ayes, 47. Nays, 3.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 159, by Senator Gallivan, Senate Print 1144, an
7 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
16 Announce the result.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 159, those recorded in the negative are
19 Senators Bailey, Comrie, Hoylman, Krueger,
20 Montgomery, Rivera, Sanders and Squadron.
21 Ayes, 42. Nays, 8.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 173, by Senator Griffo, Senate Print 1225, an act
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1 to amend the Public Service Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 176, by Senator Young, Senate Print 852, an act
14 to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 184, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 287, an act
2 to amend the Domestic Relations Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
11 Announce the result.
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 203, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 1617, an act
17 to amend the Administrative Code of City of
18 New York.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
2 Announce the result.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 211, by Senator Peralta, Senate Print 336B, an
8 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
10 the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect on the first of September.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
14 the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
17 Announce the result.
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 218, by Senator Funke, Senate Print 1670, an act
23 to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
25 the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
2 act shall take effect on the 60th day.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
4 the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Senator
7 Funke to explain his vote.
8 SENATOR FUNKE: Thank you, Madam
9 President.
10 I rise to thank my colleagues for
11 supporting this very simple but very important
12 legislation.
13 The bill creates a minimum of a $300
14 fine and up to 30 days in jail, along with a
15 mandatory driver safety course for anybody who
16 kills or seriously injures another person because
17 of a failure to obey a traffic signal or a
18 traffic sign.
19 It's a shame, really, that this bill
20 is necessary, but the truth is that right now,
21 when something like this happens and it doesn't
22 involve alcohol and it doesn't involve drugs or
23 some other aggravating factor, a driver who blows
24 through a yield sign or a red light and kills
25 somebody may not receive any real punishment at
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1 all.
2 And sadly, this happened to a
3 constituent of mine, and that's why this bill is
4 important to me.
5 In 2011, Kade O'Brien, from
6 Honeoye Falls, a 25-year-old Marine veteran who
7 served two tours in Iraq, was tragically killed
8 by a driver who failed to yield the right of way.
9 This was a young man with a valuable future and a
10 heroic past, including house-to-house fighting in
11 Fallujah, who was killed by a driver who failed
12 to yield the right of way. The penalty for that
13 was $35.
14 Kade wouldn't see another Christmas,
15 he wouldn't see his 3-month-old son grow up and
16 become a man.
17 Kade's father, Ed O'Brien, has been
18 through a lot as well. He lost his son. He was
19 diagnosed with cancer last year, and just this
20 past Christmas he suffered a heart attack. So he
21 is still fighting for his own health, for his
22 family and, most of all, justice for his son
23 Kade.
24 And today we help deliver a measure
25 of justice to Ed and his family, but more needs
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1 to be done.
2 And Assemblyman Fred Thiele sponsors
3 the bill in the Assembly, and I know he is
4 working hard to pass it. But we have to bring
5 more pressure on the Assembly leadership to
6 engage on this legislation, and I'm going to try
7 to make that a top priority post-budget to do
8 just that. We've passed this bill now two years
9 in a row, and now it's our job to try to get the
10 Assembly to do the same thing.
11 So I thank everybody for voting for
12 this piece of legislation. I vote aye.
13 Madam President, thank you very
14 much.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Thank
16 you, Senator Funke.
17 Senator Funke to be recorded in the
18 affirmative.
19 Senator Krueger.
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
21 Madam President. Nice to see you up there today.
22 I just wanted to go on record to
23 explain why again I'm voting no on Senator
24 Funke's bill. And it is not lack of concern
25 about having adequate penalties for people when
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1 they do these kinds of injuries between a car and
2 a human being.
3 It's to highlight, as I did in 2016,
4 that we already have a penalty greater in law
5 for -- I'm just going to read it correctly -- for
6 failure to yield to bicyclists and pedestrians,
7 which entails a $500 penalty and a 15-day
8 imprisonment for first offenses, going up to a
9 $750 penalty with 15-day imprisonment as well as
10 the possibility of losing your license, when you
11 are involved with a vehicle and bicycle or
12 pedestrian.
13 It seems to me that while I applaud
14 Senator Funke's goal with this legislation,
15 having such a low penalty of $300 when we in fact
16 have a much higher penalty in existing law for
17 something similar seems like it won't accomplish
18 what he hopes it to.
19 So I continue to vote no, urging
20 Senator Funke to hold up the penalty category in
21 his bill to existing Vehicle Law. And perhaps he
22 will agree that it requires a higher level of
23 penalty, given the tragedy that can and has, as
24 he pointed out, happened.
25 So I remain a no, but perhaps for an
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1 odd reason, that I actually don't think it goes
2 far enough.
3 Thank you, Madam President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Thank
5 you, Senator Krueger.
6 Senator Krueger to be recorded in
7 the negative.
8 Announce the result.
9 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
10 Calendar Number 218, those recorded in the
11 negative are Senators DeFrancisco and Krueger.
12 Ayes, 55. Nays, 2.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 222, by Senator Dilan, Senate Print 2915, an act
17 to amend the Highway Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
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1 Announce the result.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 223, by Senator Marchione, Senate Print 212, an
7 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
16 Announce the result.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays, 1.
18 Senator Hoylman recorded in the negative.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
20 bill is passed.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
22 Reannounce those results.
23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
24 Calendar 223: Ayes, 57.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 227, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1597, an
4 act to amend the Town Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
13 Announce the result.
14 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
15 Calendar 227, those recorded in the negative are
16 Senators Addabbo, Alcantara, Bailey, Comrie,
17 DeFrancisco, Gianaris, Hoylman, Krueger,
18 Montgomery, Peralta, Persaud, Rivera, Sanders,
19 Serrano, Squadron, Stavisky and Stewart-Cousins.
20 Ayes, 41. Nays, 17.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 236, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4072, an
25 act to amend the Town Law.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
2 the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
9 Announce the result.
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 239, by Senator Ortt, Senate Print 685, an act to
15 amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS:
24 Announce the result.
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 243, by Senator Hamilton, Senate Print 2943, an
5 act to amend the Executive Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect on the 30th day.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Senator
14 Hamilton to explain his vote.
15 SENATOR HAMILTON: Thank you,
16 President Phillips. I rise to thank my fellow
17 Senators for voting on this bill.
18 As you know, the Justice Center
19 deals with six different state agencies. It has
20 a very enormous caseload and very different
21 populations that they serve. And what this bill
22 does, this has more uniformity in providing
23 services in more efficiency for the
24 Justice Center.
25 Thank you, Madam President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Thank
2 you, Senator Hamilton.
3 Senator Hamilton to be recorded in
4 the affirmative.
5 Announce the result.
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays, 1.
7 Senator DeFrancisco recorded in the negative.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: The
9 bill is passed.
10 Senator DeFrancisco, that completes
11 the noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes, first
13 I'd like to compliment you on how you
14 expeditiously and effectively handled session
15 today --
16 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: Thank
17 you, sir.
18 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: -- and your
19 quick rise in the New York State Senate.
20 Is there any further business at the
21 desk?
22 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: No
23 further business at the desk.
24 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: That being
25 the case, I move to adjourn until Tuesday,
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1 March 7th, at 3:00 p.m.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT PHILLIPS: On
3 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
4 Tuesday, March 7th, at 3:00 p.m.
5 Thank you, everyone.
6 (Whereupon, the Senate adjourned at
7 3:41 p.m.)
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