1396
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 15, 2021
11 3:37 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR SHELLEY B. MAYER, Acting President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
3 will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: In the
9 absence of clergy, let us bow our heads in a
10 moment of silent reflection or prayer.
11 (Whereupon, the assemblage respected
12 a moment of silence.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Reading of
14 the Journal.
15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Sunday,
16 March 14, 2021, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday, March 13,
18 2021, was read and approved. On motion, Senate
19 adjourned.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Without
21 objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
22 Presentation of petitions.
23 Messages from the Assembly.
24 Messages from the Governor.
25 Reports of standing committees.
1398
1 Reports of select committees.
2 Communications and reports from
3 state officers.
4 Motions and resolutions.
5 Senator Gianaris.
6 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
7 on behalf of yourself, I wish to call up
8 Senate Print 572, recalled from the Assembly,
9 which is now at the desk.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
11 Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number 42,
13 Senate Print 572, by Senator Mayer, an act to
14 amend the Education Law.
15 SENATOR GIANARIS: I move to
16 reconsider the vote by which this bill was
17 passed.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
19 Secretary will call the roll on reconsideration.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
23 is restored to its place on the Third Reading
24 Calendar.
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: I offer the
1399
1 following amendments.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 amendments are received.
4 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
5 there is a privileged resolution at the desk,
6 Senate Resolution 504, by Leader Stewart-Cousins.
7 Please take that up and read its title only.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 Secretary will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
11 504, by Senator Stewart-Cousins, in response to
12 the 2021-2022 Executive Budget submission
13 (Legislative Bills S.2500-A, S.2501, S.2502,
14 S.2503, S.2504-A, S.2505-A, S.2506-A, S.2507-A
15 S.2508-A, S.2509-A), to be adopted as legislation
16 expressing the position of the New York State
17 Senate relating to the 2021-2022 New York State
18 Budget.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
20 Gianaris.
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
22 for the debate on this resolution, our
23 Finance chair, Senator Krueger, will be
24 responding for the Majority.
25 We are ready for the debate.
1400
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
2 O'Mara.
3 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
4 Madam President. Good afternoon.
5 Good afternoon, Chairwoman Krueger.
6 I look forward to discussing the Senate one-house
7 budget resolution that we have before us today.
8 Madam President, will the sponsor --
9 or will Senator Krueger yield for some questions.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
11 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: I will be honored
13 to yield, yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
15 Senator Krueger yields.
16 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, what is
17 the total in spending of this overall budget
18 that's being proposed here by the Senate
19 Majority?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: The total is
21 209.984 billion.
22 SENATOR O'MARA: 209.98 billion?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: 209 billion,
24 984 million.
25 SENATOR O'MARA: If the Senator
1401
1 will continue to yield.
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
4 Krueger, do you yield?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I would,
6 Madam President.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: What was the total
8 of last year's enacted budget?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you, just
10 a clarification. Last year versus the current
11 year?
12 SENATOR O'MARA: Well, no, the
13 current -- I'm sorry. The current year, yes.
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay, thank you.
15 194 billion, 330 million.
16 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
17 Madam President, will the sponsor yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
19 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do,
21 Madam President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
23 Senator Krueger yields.
24 SENATOR O'MARA: So, Senator, this
25 increases spending year over year from this
1402
1 current year to next year by, from my
2 calculations, $15 billion, 650 million?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Approximately
4 right. I'll give it to you. Yes, sir.
5 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
6 Madam President, if the speaker -- if the Senator
7 will yield.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
9 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, Madam Chair.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
12 Senator Krueger yields.
13 SENATOR O'MARA: How much of this
14 $15.6 billion increase is made up of federal
15 funds that are coming through the recent stimulus
16 package enacted?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: I believe that
18 the correct answer to that question is 3 billion
19 that we've already received in federal stimulus,
20 3 billion more that we're going to get in federal
21 stimulus, plus 1.6 billion -- 1.5 for enhanced
22 FMAP. So that would total 7.5 million,
23 approximately.
24 SENATOR O'MARA: Billion, yes.
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Billion, thank
1403
1 you.
2 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
3 Madam President, if the Senator would continue to
4 yield.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
6 Senator Krueger, will you continue to yield? And
7 make sure you speak into the mic.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. Yes,
9 Madam President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
11 Senator Krueger yields.
12 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, it's
13 certainly commonly perceived by New Yorkers out
14 there that through the most recent federal
15 stimulus package New York is expecting to get --
16 $12.6 billion?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: In restricted
18 aid, yes.
19 SENATOR O'MARA: And those are
20 unrestricted. How much of that --
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Excuse
22 me --
23 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
24 Madam President, if the sponsor will yield,
25 continue to yield.
1404
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
2 Krueger, do you yield?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
5 SENATOR O'MARA: How much of that
6 12.6 billion in unrestricted funds coming in this
7 most recent stimulus package is being
8 incorporated into this budget resolution?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Six billion.
10 SENATOR O'MARA: So that will --
11 through you, Madam President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Does
13 Senator Krueger continue to yield?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
16 Senator Krueger yields.
17 SENATOR O'MARA: So that will then
18 leave 6.6 billion to go towards the following
19 year's fiscal year budget?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
21 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
22 Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
1405
1 SENATOR O'MARA: And it's my
2 understanding from the federal stimulus money
3 that both those two years, totaling 12.6 billion,
4 has to be spent by a certain date, I believe it's
5 September of 2023?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: There may be a
7 couple of different dates for the different
8 purposed money. So I want to say mostly.
9 But I also want to just have some
10 staff person double-check my answer for you. If
11 you want to continue --
12 SENATOR O'MARA: Yes.
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: -- and if we get
14 an answer to confirm for you.
15 SENATOR O'MARA: Sounds good.
16 Madam President, if the Senator will
17 continue to yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
19 Krueger --
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: She
22 continues to yield, Senator O'Mara.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: In the terms of
24 the state operating funds portion of the budget,
25 what is the dollar amount and percentage increase
1406
1 in just state operating funds from this current
2 year into this proposed budget for next fiscal
3 year?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: So the
5 question -- I'm sorry, through you,
6 Madam President, just to clarify. The state
7 operating funds for the current fiscal year? And
8 then you asked for how it goes through to the
9 next year? I didn't quite understand that.
10 SENATOR O'MARA: Just to clarify.
11 The -- what's the increase in state operating
12 funds from this year to the next year?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Approximately
14 15 billion more between next year and this year.
15 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
16 Madam President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
18 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, of course.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
21 Senator Krueger yields.
22 SENATOR O'MARA: What percentage
23 increase is that in state operating funds from
24 this current year into next year?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: 15.3 percent.
1407
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
2 Madam President, if the sponsor --
3 or if the Senator will continue to yield.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
5 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: She
8 yields.
9 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, can you
10 tell me or all of us what the CPI has been over
11 this most recent 12 months?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: We're projecting
13 2.2 for the upcoming fiscal year.
14 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
15 Madam President, just to clarify.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
17 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
20 Senator yields.
21 SENATOR O'MARA: That's an estimate
22 of an increase in the CPI of 2.2 percent?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: That is what I'm
24 reading, yes, sir.
25 SENATOR O'MARA: Okay. Through
1408
1 you, Madam President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
3 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
6 Senator yields.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: Given that CPI is
8 going to be 2.2 percent anticipated, how can this
9 Senate Majority justify a 15.3 percent increase
10 in state funds spending?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: I really
12 appreciate that question, thank you.
13 Madam President, we can justify that
14 because we are making investments in desperately
15 needed programs and services for the people of
16 New York, coming out of a pandemic, coming out of
17 an economic crisis and, to be honest, coming out
18 of too many years of austerity budgets where
19 we've seen a cut -- almost death by a million
20 cuts to critical programs and services.
21 So we are talking about an increase
22 in the state budget significantly more than in
23 past years. We have both expenditures and a
24 revenue plan to do so. Not all of it requires
25 new revenue. Rather, about half of it is avails
1409
1 and other alternative uses for money.
2 But we're talking about -- sorry --
3 a real investment in our public schools
4 statewide, who have been crying out for help,
5 particularly the high-needs schools in poor
6 areas, urban, rural and suburb. We're talking
7 about a commitment to Foundation Aid, which every
8 one of our school districts articulates desperate
9 need for. We're talking about fully funding
10 4-year-old pre-K.
11 We're talking about an investment in
12 construction for our libraries, and expansion of
13 those services. We're talking about fair funding
14 adjustments for schools that come to us every
15 year, Madam President -- the 853 schools, the
16 4201 schools, the 4410 schools that have suffered
17 from serious funding declines related to the
18 COVID pandemic.
19 We're talking about middle-class tax
20 relief, even at a time when we have had money
21 troubles, but we feel it is critical that we
22 address the high taxes of our middle-class
23 New Yorkers.
24 We are talking about -- sorry, just
25 have to turn the page, excuse me -- a real
1410
1 investment in keeping our New Yorkers healthy.
2 We all know how many people we've lost, but we
3 also learned a lot during this pandemic about the
4 lack of access to good, quality healthcare in so
5 many corners of the State of New York.
6 So we're investing more in our
7 public health structure and in making sure that
8 our underfunded safety net hospitals get some of
9 the funds that they desperately need.
10 And we realize that we're going to
11 see many problems when we all take off these
12 masks and leave our houses, in issues of drug
13 dependence, mental health issues. And so we're
14 putting real money behind those programs and the
15 things that we know they need.
16 We're also addressing safety in our
17 nursing homes. There's not one of us who serves
18 in the Legislature, Democrat or Republican, who
19 doesn't know the suffering that goes on and has
20 been going on in nursing homes during this
21 pandemic. And truthfully, most of us knew there
22 was a real problem there before also. So we're
23 making real investments in the care facilities
24 and nursing homes and home care services for our
25 most vulnerable elderly and disabled people.
1411
1 We're also trying to make sure that
2 we have fairness for all New Yorkers in the way
3 that we distribute our resources. We want to
4 make sure we keep New Yorkers in their homes, so
5 we're investing in New York State housing
6 authorities. And we're investing money in making
7 sure that people can pay their rent, both
8 commercial and residential, and that people who
9 may have not totally lost their businesses but
10 had to close or be forced to close for many, many
11 months of this last year, get the money they need
12 to kick-start themselves back into the economy,
13 back into business.
14 We're also making a real investment
15 in our colleges by addressing the TAP gap issue,
16 which has been getting worse and worse every year
17 in SUNY and CUNY, by increasing the maximum of
18 TAP by a thousand dollars per student. We're
19 expanding our investment in our community
20 colleges in Bundy Aid. We're continuing to make
21 investments in our mass transit, which took such
22 a hit over the last year. It's quite horrifying,
23 actually, statewide the new needs that we have
24 for mass transit.
25 And we're working to invest in
1412
1 bringing our economy back to life with things,
2 you know, as -- what I might say as small as
3 $100 million for the New York State Council for
4 the Arts, to help the arts and nonprofit cultural
5 institutions rebuild themselves, to small
6 business grants, to commercial rent relief. The
7 list just goes on and on and on.
8 Investments in our environment. We
9 want to authorize the $3 billion Clean Water,
10 Green Jobs, Green New York Bond Act. That's not
11 part of the budget, because it would be a bond
12 act. We talked about it last year, we supported
13 it last year. It never happened. We want to go
14 forward this year and make sure we get those
15 bonded monies to complement all the really
16 critical environmental stewardship proposals that
17 we have within this budget and freestanding as
18 legislation.
19 I could go on; there's 49 pages.
20 But I think that was the general idea.
21 SENATOR O'MARA: That's a -- that's
22 a -- Madam President, if the Senator will
23 continue to yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
25 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
1413
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course. Thank
2 you.
3 SENATOR O'MARA: There's no doubt
4 that that is an impressive list, and you could go
5 on for quite some time with all of the increased
6 spending for these programs.
7 However, we have for pay for this.
8 And we have to continue to pay for this as we go
9 forward. And while in honor of St. Patrick's Day
10 I have my shamrock tie on today, I don't think
11 the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow will
12 come anywhere close to covering this
13 $15.6 billion increase in spending. And with the
14 litany of items that you've laid out, I guess I
15 should have worn my Christmas tie instead for
16 this. But I appreciate your outlining generally
17 what's there.
18 Now, for all those programs that
19 you've talked about and in this $15.68 billion
20 increase from year to year, how much of that
21 15-plus-billion-dollar increase is going towards
22 one-time COVID-related expenses as opposed to
23 recurring annual spending?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: One moment.
25 Approximately half.
1414
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
2 Madam President, if the Senator will yield.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
4 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
6 SENATOR O'MARA: So then roughly
7 7.8 billion will be recurring year to year after
8 this. And some of that will certainly be made up
9 with the second year of federal stimulus money
10 coming. After that year, there will be no more
11 stimulus money -- at least it's planned at this
12 point.
13 What does the state do when we get
14 to this fiscal cliff in two years and we've had
15 all this additional spending? Because one thing
16 in my tenure in Albany is it's very easy to start
17 a program and increase funding, and it's very
18 difficult to pull back on spending. What is the
19 state and our local governments to do when this
20 stimulus money runs out over the next two years?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: So thank you.
22 We are trying to ensure, in the way
23 that we have laid out our one-house proposal,
24 that the stimulus monies, the one-time monies
25 from the federal government are being used in
1415
1 ways that are needed now but are not anticipated
2 to be new ongoing costs in the outyears.
3 And then we are investing in asking
4 New Yorkers who are able to pay a higher rate of
5 taxation to help us meet our needs on an ongoing
6 basis through new tax revenues.
7 So I should be clear. This package
8 proposes tax reductions for people in the State
9 of New York who earn less than a million dollars
10 a year. We have a circuit breaker to help people
11 who are what's called house rich but money poor,
12 who are desperately trying to make sure they can
13 pay their property taxes, so a circuit breaker to
14 help them.
15 We are not denying the continuation
16 of the middle-class tax break -- which the
17 Governor does end in his budget -- but we are
18 making good on that commitment to continue that
19 program.
20 And then we are asking New Yorkers
21 who can actually afford to pay a higher rate of
22 taxes to contribute more through the tax system
23 in a variety of ways, and that will be ongoing
24 year in, year out.
25 So we are asking wealthy individuals
1416
1 who make more than a million dollars a year to
2 go, Okay, we need an increase in taxes to help
3 our state. We're asking businesses who I believe
4 earn $5 million and more to make an increase in
5 their corporate contributions.
6 And so we are very confident that
7 the proposal we have put together provides us the
8 ongoing revenue for continuing programs while
9 using the money from the federal government as a
10 stimulus to get us back on our feet, without an
11 expectation that we can count on that.
12 I believe that answers the
13 questions.
14 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
15 Madam President, if the Senator will continue to
16 yield.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
18 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: She
21 yields.
22 SENATOR O'MARA: So taking out the
23 stimulus funds of 6 billion against the
24 15.68 billion spending increase that this budget
25 resolution creates -- and in years going forward
1417
1 you're talking about increasing taxes to cover
2 that from the cliff that will undoubtedly be
3 created in two years from this.
4 Now, what is the total of the whole
5 tax package you've got here, on increasing taxes
6 on individuals and businesses in New York State?
7 Because my understanding on the middle-class tax
8 cut that you talked about, that's valued in total
9 at about $400 million.
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Sounds right.
11 SENATOR O'MARA: But what is the
12 total of increases in taxes to other
13 non-middle-class payers?
14 I have it somewhere in the range of
15 6.2, 6.3 billion dollars. Is that in your
16 ballpark?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes. You're
18 faster at my chart than I am. Thank you.
19 Approximately $6.2 billion.
20 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
21 Madam President, if the Senator will continue to
22 yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
1418
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Now I know that,
2 Senator, your side of the aisle does not share
3 the concerns that our side of the aisle has with
4 New Yorkers departing as their basic costs of
5 taxation increase upon them.
6 However, the -- as I read it, the
7 increase in income tax to high earners -- and
8 that is individuals making more than a million
9 dollars -- you're increasing their income tax
10 rate from 8.82 percent to 9.85 percent, which is
11 an 11.7 percent increase in the taxes they're
12 paying to the State of New York.
13 Do you consider an 11.7 percent
14 increase to be significant? And do you consider
15 it to be justified?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do think it is
17 justified. I think that the research over
18 decades of tax changes in PIT show that people
19 actually don't make a decision about where to
20 live or where to set up a business based on
21 marginal changes in their PIT.
22 So I think for a person making over
23 a million dollars a year or a couple making over
24 $2 million a year, because that's the base, with
25 an increase from 9 -- what is the number? A
1419
1 change from 8.82 to 9.85 -- that most people will
2 take a look at what that means for them in their
3 taxes and say, Well, the feds dropped my taxes
4 significantly, so I'm actually ahead of the game.
5 I'm doing very well -- because most people who
6 are making a million for a single or over
7 2 million for a couple actually do believe
8 they're doing quite well.
9 Many of them made their money here
10 in New York. Ironically, many of them came to
11 New York to be successful and make their money
12 here. They weren't even New Yorkers to start
13 with. They come from all over the world to come
14 here and become our entrepreneurs and our new
15 millionaires.
16 And so I'm not too worried that
17 people will look at this change in their PIT and
18 say, I'm leaving New York. I think New Yorkers
19 understand, whether they are well-to-do or not so
20 well-to-do, that we're actually in this together
21 and this great state of ours only remains a great
22 state if we have the infrastructure we need, if
23 we have the educational system to get them the
24 workers they want in their businesses. If we
25 have the infrastructure of mass transit and roads
1420
1 that get workers to and from the jobs that they
2 want to fill. If we have investments that make
3 sure we have our great arts and culture back.
4 And we have clean water and we have clean air. I
5 think that's what people care about more than a
6 marginal difference in their PIT, particularly
7 when they're wealthy.
8 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
9 Madam President, if the Senator will continue to
10 yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
12 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do,
14 Madam President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
16 Senator yields.
17 SENATOR O'MARA: I have really
18 grave concerns on the departing of particularly
19 the wealthy from New York State.
20 And don't get me get me wrong, these
21 high earners do not hail from the 58th Senate
22 District that I represent in the Finger Lakes and
23 Southern Tier region. So I'm not kowtowing to
24 constituents that I need to get reelected by
25 having concerns over increasing their taxes and
1421
1 having them leave the state with their wealth and
2 the revenues that they generate for the rest of
3 us in New York.
4 You mentioned in your remarks prior
5 referencing the death by a thousand cuts or a
6 thousand slices. The Chinese term for that is
7 lingchi. And I reference that often in my
8 concerns over the impact that we could have and
9 we continue to have on the financial industry in
10 New York State, which you know and we all know is
11 so vitally important to our economy and
12 significantly important to our overall state
13 revenues here in New York.
14 And we have seen some businesses
15 from the financial industry relocate to other
16 lower-taxed states -- Florida, Tennessee, Texas.
17 And if we continue to see that, then we continue
18 to kill the golden goose in New York State.
19 Do you have any concerns on your
20 side of the aisle what the potential catastrophic
21 impact to our overall State Budget would be if we
22 see -- if we make that final slice and they
23 decide to leave, what do we do then? Because
24 once it starts, we're not going to be able to
25 turn it back.
1422
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
2 Madam President. I so appreciate my colleague's
3 questions, and I appreciate him talking about
4 what matters and doesn't matter in his district.
5 So let me talk about my district.
6 My district is the 28th Senate District, in
7 Manhattan. My district is the wealthiest
8 district in the State of New York. I'm not
9 worried, either on behalf of myself, that I don't
10 get elected again, nor am I worried that I won't
11 still be the district with the wealthiest people
12 in New York if I make this tax increase that will
13 impact some of them.
14 And I know people who say they're
15 leaving for Florida or have even left for
16 Florida, and I know people in Florida who are
17 saying how much they miss New York and can't wait
18 to come back here as soon as the masks come off
19 and the disease is done, because they remember
20 having left what it is that they loved about
21 New York.
22 And I also know that many of them
23 who actually left New York and might not come
24 back, they're still making their money off their
25 businesses in New York, so they'll still pay
1423
1 taxes in New York of a certain kind. Maybe not
2 PIT, but they'll pay their other taxes off of
3 their business in New York.
4 And there is something about
5 New York, and there always has been, particularly
6 in my city, where people come to New York City to
7 build their wealth, they come to New York City to
8 innovate in their field, in creating new fields.
9 So even as we've seen some
10 businesses -- the financial industry has been
11 losing workers in finance now for a couple of
12 decades. We see new growth in other kinds of
13 companies. We worried that New York City
14 wouldn't be a tech center. It's a tech center.
15 We worried that New York would miss out on other
16 new models of economics that were coming forward.
17 We diversified.
18 We've gone through bad times. I
19 lived through 9/11 on Manhattan Island. People
20 left then, they weren't going to come back. They
21 did. People are even saying the real estate
22 market is bouncing back again already, and
23 they're building giant new business towers in my
24 district in Midtown.
25 So no, actually, I'm not that
1424
1 worried. And the truth is they want to come
2 here, they want to stay here, they want to do
3 their business here if we're the great State of
4 New York. The cuts that I'm talking about are
5 the cuts we've been making that make it less
6 likely that we do have all those great
7 attractions that make people want to come here
8 and build their businesses here and raise their
9 families here.
10 So I'm not worried about anything
11 we're proposing. I worry that if we don't take
12 steps to turn around the way we run our
13 government and the services and the education and
14 the infrastructure, that those are the things
15 that kill the golden goose, not some marginal
16 tax-rate increases, Madam President.
17 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
18 Senator Krueger.
19 Madam President, if the Senator will
20 continue to yield.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
22 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
25 Senator yields.
1425
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, we
2 spoke about the initial personal income tax rate
3 increase for those making over a million dollars.
4 But there's two other brackets of increases that
5 are in this proposal, if I'm not mistaken, that
6 would raise the income tax from 8.82 percent to
7 10.85 percent on taxpayers making over 5 million
8 dollars. This would be a 23 percent increase in
9 their personal income tax burden just to the
10 State of New York.
11 And again, another bracket raising
12 it for those making over 25 million -- who
13 certainly I have even less sympathy for, but
14 would hate to see them leave given how many of us
15 regular Joe average taxpayers it will take to
16 make up the loss of each and every one of these
17 single high earners that may depart the state.
18 But increasing their tax to 11.85 percent from
19 8.82 percent is a 34 percent increase, nearly
20 34.5 percent increase of their personal tax
21 liability.
22 Senator, over 10 years ago, after
23 the census, New York has lost population compared
24 to the rest of the country, and we've lost
25 congressional seats as a result of that. As of
1426
1 last year's census that's being completed, we
2 stand to lose another congressional seat -- or
3 maybe two -- because of population loss.
4 Do you not think there's any
5 relation to this population loss because of the
6 high tax burdens and cost of living in New York
7 State?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
9 Madam President. If you raise someone's taxes
10 3 percent, you've still just raised their taxes
11 3 percent, not the -- take a look and it's at
12 23 percent.
13 Now, it is true we do go up for
14 people who make more than 5 million a year, for
15 people who make 10 million, 50 million. There's
16 not that many of them. I don't really want to
17 lose them, but I don't think we do.
18 Because what we should understand
19 about people who actually bring in over
20 $5 million a year in taxable wage income, that's
21 just a little piece of their annual income. The
22 wealthier you are, the less likely you are to
23 derive your wealth from your paycheck. Your
24 wealth comes in all kinds of ways.
25 But nobody really thinks they need
1427
1 that much cash, so they don't choose to take
2 their profits in however they're making their
3 money as income. So it's a sort of unusual niche
4 in its own right to take that much money in
5 income. And so some of those people might focus
6 on 3 percent more than anything else in their
7 lives. With all due respect, I hope not, because
8 that's sort of sad. You've got all that money
9 and all that opportunity and you're staring at
10 your accountant's chart and saying, They took my
11 PIT up 3 percent? Okay.
12 But you know what, here's the price
13 we're all paying if we don't do this. The growth
14 in inequality among -- in the tax system of
15 New York State. The growth in 1 percent of
16 New Yorkers having 30, 40, 50 percent of the
17 total resources of the rest of the state. That's
18 bad for everyone. I would argue it's also bad
19 for the people at the top.
20 And I've got millionaires in my
21 district who are telling me: Yes, Liz, you
22 should raise our taxes, there's something wrong
23 out there. It's not going the way we want it to,
24 it's not the place we wanted to live.
25 And I hear them. And I'm just as
1428
1 concerned that we are doing what's right for
2 other wealthy people who are saying, Please raise
3 my taxes, this is such an inequitable city and
4 state to live in at this time.
5 And I also recognize that improving
6 the progressiveness of all of our taxes
7 encourages us year by year to recognize what we
8 need to do to be the great state and the great
9 city we want to raise our children in or our
10 grandchildren to be able to stay in. They won't
11 be able to stay here if they don't have
12 opportunity, if they can't afford to live in the
13 community that their parents lived in, if as they
14 get older they can't afford their property taxes
15 in the community that they grew up in, perhaps
16 raised their children in, who now want to raise
17 their children in those same communities.
18 We need to make sure we've got
19 school systems that are available to those
20 children and grandchildren. We've got to make
21 sure there's a reason people want to stay in the
22 State of New York for generations. And it's not
23 marginal tax rates. It never was. And I don't
24 believe there's anything in this package that
25 will change that.
1429
1 Through -- oh, sorry, your turn.
2 SENATOR O'MARA: You have a
3 question for me, Senator?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: I think I have.
5 SENATOR O'MARA: Madam President,
6 if the Senator would continue to yield.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
8 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
11 Senator yields.
12 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator Krueger,
13 New York is known for having the most progressive
14 tax system in the country. And by "progressive,"
15 that's commonly understood that the wealthy are
16 paying higher percentages of their income -- as
17 opposed to those in lower income brackets -- than
18 in other states.
19 So we are the most progressive. And
20 this income tax rate increase proposal that we've
21 been talking about, according to our
22 calculations, is going to generate an additional
23 $4.3 billion.
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: That sounds
25 right.
1430
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
2 Madam President, if the sponsor will yield.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
4 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
7 Senator yields.
8 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, I would
9 submit that likely, as you say, there's not all
10 that many New Yorkers amount-wise,
11 number-of-people-wise, in these tax brackets,
12 that we're not talking about a whole lot of
13 people. But if we're not talking about a whole
14 lot of people, and we're talking about spreading
15 $4.3 billion across them, that sounds like a
16 fairly significant impact to us.
17 I want to move on to the next.
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
19 Madam President, I'll just point out --
20 SENATOR O'MARA: Okay. We.
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: -- we make
22 $110,000 a year here in this Legislature, I
23 believe, so those amounts of money could seem
24 like a lot of money to us.
25 But again, we're just talking about
1431
1 a 2 percent increase or a 3 percent increase on
2 people who make radically more than what we make
3 here in the Senate.
4 So it's sort of apples and apples,
5 if you look at it from the perspective of how
6 much they're earning versus what you're earning.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: Well, a 3 percent
8 increase on $100,000 is $3,000 --
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 O'Mara, are you asking --
11 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
12 Madam President, if the speaker -- through you,
13 Madam President, if the Senator would continue to
14 yield.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
16 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I would.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: She
19 yields.
20 SENATOR O'MARA: For those of us
21 making $100,000 a year, that 3 percent would be
22 $3,000. If you're --
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: And so it's good
24 we're not increasing his taxes, because it's not
25 a million or more.
1432
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Well, I agree.
2 But if -- if -- when you ramp that up to a
3 million, that increases it by how much, that
4 3 percent?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Three percent on
6 a million dollars is 30,000.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: A $30,000
8 increase. To the lowest-level bracket of the
9 increases that we're doing.
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: It's 1 percent at
11 that level, not 3 percent. So it would be
12 10,000.
13 SENATOR O'MARA: One percent,
14 10,000. So we get up to 3 percent with those
15 over 25. The --
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
17 O'Mara, are you --
18 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
19 Madam President, if the sponsor -- would the
20 Senator --
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
22 Thank you. Senator Krueger --
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I'm sorry,
24 I'm happy to respond.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: She
1433
1 continues to yield.
2 SENATOR O'MARA: Correct. And most
3 of that $4.3 billion increase, given the way
4 New York's business sectors are made up, I think
5 most of those are probably within the financial
6 industry of New York City, making that kind of
7 money.
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: I actually don't
9 know, Madam President, what the jobs of people in
10 different income brackets are, I'm sorry.
11 SENATOR O'MARA: The next tax
12 proposal -- through you, Madam President, I
13 hadn't finished my question before she
14 interrupted me. So will the Senator continue to
15 yield.
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
18 Senator yields.
19 SENATOR O'MARA: You have, Senator,
20 in your proposal a surcharge on capital gains
21 that would generate another $700 million --
22 presumably, again, from those same wealthy
23 individuals who we cherish so much here in
24 New York. Is that correct?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: So it is a
1434
1 1 percent surcharge on capital gains income of
2 taxpayers with incomes over 1 million as a single
3 filer or 2 million as a couple, correct.
4 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
5 Madam President, if the Senator would yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
7 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I would.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Yes, the
10 Senator yields.
11 SENATOR O'MARA: Do you have an
12 estimate of what the per-taxpayer impact of that
13 $700 million capital gains increase would be?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, because you
15 would have to know -- excuse me. Through you,
16 Madam President. I would need to know any
17 individual's capital gains in the year that they
18 were filing their taxes on. So they would know,
19 because you have to file with the federal
20 government where there is capital gains, and you
21 pay a much lower rate on capital gains than other
22 income. And then it would be a 1 percent
23 addition for the State of New York.
24 So I don't think we would know until
25 we try. And then we can look up how much we drew
1435
1 down.
2 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
3 Madam President, if the Senator will continue to
4 yield.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
6 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 Senator yields.
10 SENATOR O'MARA: Wouldn't it make
11 more sense to do some analysis beforehand about
12 what the impact is going to be to individuals
13 before throwing this dart out there and then
14 finding out later what the impact is?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: The logic is that
16 people who pay lower rates of capital gains from
17 the federal government -- and they've seen a
18 savings recently in changes in federal law --
19 they just pay a lower rate. So you pay a lower
20 rate on long-term capital gains at the federal
21 level.
22 So increasing your state taxes by
23 just 1 percent on that income, which is already
24 paying a lower level of taxation, is a reasonable
25 approach to supplementing the revenue that we
1436
1 received at the state level.
2 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
3 Senator. Madam President --
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do want to
5 point out the Senator is correct, it is also only
6 on high-income people. Because there are
7 pensioners who get capital gains when they're
8 retiring and selling off stock. This doesn't
9 apply unless your income is, again, above
10 1 million or above 2 million for a couple.
11 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
12 Senator.
13 Through you, Madam President, if the
14 Senator would continue to yield.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
16 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
19 Senator yields.
20 SENATOR O'MARA: The next category
21 of tax increases in the Senate Majority's
22 proposal, estimated to generate another
23 $1 billion from state taxpayers, is an 18 percent
24 surcharge on corporate franchise taxpayers.
25 Now -- oh, that's the Assembly Bill. Never mind.
1437
1 (Laughter.)
2 SENATOR O'MARA: That's not in our
3 bill.
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Tomorrow's
5 debate.
6 SENATOR O'MARA: That's the debate
7 next -- in a couple of weeks.
8 We are -- or not we, the Senate
9 Majority -- if I can continue my question, since
10 I was off-base there, Madam President.
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
13 Senator continues to yield.
14 SENATOR O'MARA: The Senate
15 Majority's proposal, according to my notes here,
16 increases corporate franchise taxes for a total
17 of $964 million, so pretty close to that billion
18 that the Assembly had in theirs. Am I reading
19 that correctly?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: That's correct.
21 SENATOR O'MARA: Who pays -- or
22 through you, Madam President, if the Senator will
23 continue to yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
25 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
1438
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
3 Senator Krueger yields.
4 SENATOR O'MARA: Can you explain to
5 us who pays this corporate franchise tax?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Corporations.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: Is it any size?
8 Is there any category that isn't paying this
9 increase?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Over $5 million
11 in gross -- (pause). In business income, I just
12 want to get that part right.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
14 Krueger, can you speak into the microphone?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm so sorry.
16 The new tax for corporations would apply to
17 corporations who have corporate business income
18 of over $5 million a year.
19 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
20 Senator.
21 Through you, Madam President, if the
22 Senator will continue to yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
1439
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR O'MARA: And your Senate
4 Majority proposal increases filing fees for LLCs,
5 limited liability companies, and LLPs, limited
6 liability partnerships, to generate another
7 $113 million in taxes. Now I assume, since those
8 are new filings, that tax is on every one of
9 these new filers regardless of the size of their
10 business.
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we hold
12 harmless LLCs with less than a million in gross
13 income. And it's actually not new, it's just
14 some kind of increase in the fee structure.
15 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you, Madam
16 President, if the sponsor -- the Senator will
17 continue to yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
19 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
22 Senator yields.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: The way it's been
24 explained to me is these are filing fees for LLCs
25 and LLPs. Are these for new formations, or are
1440
1 these annual renewals to determine who --
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Annual renewals.
3 SENATOR O'MARA: Okay. So if
4 somebody is starting up, this doesn't apply to
5 them.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: If they're
7 starting up, they wouldn't have -- I don't think
8 they'd have revenue of over a million dollars.
9 Because in theory you'd need to file the LLC
10 before you start doing business. Right?
11 SENATOR O'MARA: I would agree.
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: We both agree.
13 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
14 Madam President, if the sponsor -- if the Senator
15 would continue to yield.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
17 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
20 Senator yields.
21 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, since the
22 personal income tax rate increases are estimated
23 to be bringing in $4.3 billion and the
24 middle-class tax cut is supposed to be worth just
25 $400 million, how come the Senate Majority is not
1441
1 proposing a larger cut for middle-class taxpayers
2 out of that expected growth of $4.15 billion?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Well, we do
4 include a circuit breaker as well, which is
5 basically a middle-class property tax cut. And I
6 believe that has an estimated value of
7 400 million as well.
8 And I think it would be a little
9 challenging to explain to people that you were
10 raising the taxes of, that you were doing so to
11 reduce the taxes of others. So I completely can
12 justify these two tax reductions for the middle
13 class, but I think we all need to ask hard and
14 long how much we would tax people just to give
15 somebody else a tax cut.
16 I personally find it easier to
17 explain raising someone's taxes to pay for the
18 infrastructure and public health and education
19 needs of the State of New York than I would
20 explaining I'm just going to keep raising taxes
21 to give somebody else a tax cut. Maybe that's
22 just me, Madam President.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
24 Senator.
25 Through you, Madam President, if the
1442
1 Senator would continue to yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
3 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Happily.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
6 Senator Krueger yields.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: I, Senator, agree
8 with you on the need for infrastructure
9 improvements across the board, all sizes of
10 government, rural, suburban, urban. And you
11 talked about the infrastructure and you talked
12 about the significant impacts to mass transit in
13 New York City.
14 It's been reported that capital
15 improvement projects for the MTA average about
16 seven times the cost of these improvements -- of
17 the global average, the global average of these
18 types of projects worldwide. So New York City's
19 MTA, seven times as expensive.
20 What is in this one-house budget
21 proposal that the Senate Majority has put forth
22 that will rein in that excessive spending, way
23 over and above what we should be spending and the
24 value we're getting for every tax dollar we're
25 spending on that?
1443
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: We do put in
2 money for the MTA. We've put in money for the
3 upstate mass transit systems as well. And of
4 course the MTA covers 12 counties -- Long Island,
5 the Hudson Valley, Westchester.
6 But you're right, we all have
7 concerns that the MTA is exceptionally expensive
8 compared to other mass transit systems. And I
9 believe there's -- not in budget per se that
10 much, but we have done a number of pieces of
11 legislation that work to hold the MTA more
12 accountable for the money they are spending.
13 So let me just read. We restore
14 568 million in Executive cuts for statewide mass
15 transportation operating assistance and provide
16 an additional 385 million over last year's
17 levels. We provide 150 million for additional
18 funds for the Consolidated Local Streets and
19 Highway Improvement Program and 100 million for
20 the Urban Road Revitalization Program. We
21 provide an additional 175 million to support
22 critical infrastructure improvements in the DOT
23 capital plan, and another 100 million for Extreme
24 Winter Recovery.
25 And I also -- just because you
1444
1 absolutely were right when you talked about the
2 problems to our local governments, I believe that
3 we also reject the Governor's cuts to AIM funding
4 for our localities and give them back the sales
5 tax intercept money that we actually passed in a
6 previous year. So that their internet sales tax
7 collections somehow got intercepted, and sort
8 of -- maybe if you worked really hard at it --
9 became their AIM money, but at the end of the day
10 it was just more cuts to our localities.
11 So we put that money back because we
12 do recognize our local governments everywhere
13 throughout the State of New York need that money
14 at the local level, for transportation projects
15 and for so many other things.
16 And this gentleman is going to tell
17 me what else we are doing to rein in the
18 excessive costs in the MTA. We'll give him
19 another minute, or I can just tell you other
20 great things in our one-house budget while we're
21 waiting.
22 (Laughter; pause.)
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I thank you,
24 because we need to do more. But we're not going
25 to do it in the budget. But I'm going to commit
1445
1 to you that you and I are going to work with our
2 transportation staff and committees and see what
3 more we can do to hold the MTA accountable
4 through more transparency, more information that
5 is made available to us and the public so we can
6 ask those hard questions and watch and try to
7 direct far more carefully the money that they are
8 getting from the federal government, which is the
9 bulk of the money towards the MTA at this point
10 in time -- I believe it's a total of $8 billion.
11 They've gotten approval for
12 4 billion now, and in the new 2 billion pa --
13 2 trillion -- let's say that -- the new
14 $2 trillion federal package, I believe they get
15 another 4 billion.
16 But I think that we all have to come
17 up with more bells and whistles to make sure that
18 we are watching much more carefully. I
19 completely agree with you.
20 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
21 Senator.
22 Madam President, if the Senator will
23 continue to yield.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
25 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
1446
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 Senator yields.
4 SENATOR O'MARA: I appreciate that
5 sentiment, Senator Krueger. I wish there was
6 some language on it in this budget resolution to
7 require that.
8 You know, I stand in front of my
9 colleague, Senator Lanza, who has for years
10 pushed legislation requiring an independent audit
11 of the MTA, which is still not being done.
12 And the fact that we're spending on
13 the MTA, and who knows what other programs, seven
14 times the global average, we could be getting so
15 much more bang for our buck if we had stronger
16 oversight on the spending of their programs.
17 Perhaps we could get seven times as many projects
18 completed for the same amount of money if we
19 reined in oversight and kept a thumb on how
20 they're spending.
21 Because it's easy for us to stand
22 here and talk about billions of dollars and
23 hundreds of millions of dollars, and it all
24 sounds good, going to great causes. But if we're
25 just wasting it at seven times the global rate,
1447
1 it seems to me a very inefficient way to meet the
2 needs of New Yorkers.
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: So again, thank
4 you. Thank you for bringing up Senator Lanza's
5 efforts to get a forensic audit and accounting
6 and transparency.
7 Because I'm now reminded, we passed
8 that last year, Senator Lanza, and we passed
9 language requiring a transformation of how the
10 MTA is operated and managed and the staffing.
11 I don't think we've gotten the data
12 yet of anything, but in theory we have done these
13 mandates and we can try to push to get the
14 information sooner than later, because I have no
15 idea what the timetables are, and look at what we
16 find in relationship to monies that go to them.
17 So thank you.
18 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
19 Senator.
20 Madam President, if the Senator will
21 continue to yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator,
23 do you continue to yield?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: I shall, thank
25 you.
1448
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, I'm told
4 I'm running out of time so we have time for other
5 members to speak. But you brought up in our last
6 back-and-forth on the CHIPS funding and Urban
7 Road Revitalization, Extreme Winter Recovery
8 funding -- all with significant increases. Which
9 I've been a champion of for years, and think this
10 is fantastic.
11 But, you know, the $150 million
12 additional in CHIPS funding, bringing it to a
13 total of $588 million -- that, to me, is one of
14 the fairest programs we have in New York State on
15 a distribution basis because it goes exactly to
16 and for road mileage in every municipality, to
17 help them with their local roads and bridges.
18 But I don't understand why you're
19 adding this $100 million Urban Road
20 Revitalization Program which would be separate
21 and apart from CHIPS and therefore not
22 distributed through the CHIPS formula. It would
23 benefit only urban areas. And there's no
24 definition in the resolution of what the criteria
25 of the "urban setting" is and how that money
1449
1 would be distributed.
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: All right, Tom --
3 Senator. So I've learned that, you know, you are
4 correct, we did put the increase in in CHIPS, and
5 we're very happy about that. And we also put in
6 another hundred million in the Extreme Winter
7 Recovery, which I'm advised pretty much goes down
8 the same path as CHIPS, to the same places,
9 geographically distributed.
10 But that there was a need, yet
11 unmet, for the urban areas of New York -- not
12 including New York City, so this is not New York
13 City money. But in the other cities throughout
14 New York, that there are some real infrastructure
15 needs in their areas that somehow for some reason
16 don't get included in CHIPS. Perhaps because
17 they're cities; I'm not sure.
18 So we're working to try to make sure
19 we can get some money to these
20 outside-of-New York City cities to complete their
21 or help address their urban roadway problems.
22 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
23 Madam President, if the Senator will continue to
24 yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
1450
1 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course. Yes,
3 I do, Madam President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
5 Senator yields.
6 SENATOR O'MARA: It's been my
7 understanding that CHIPS funding and Extreme
8 Winter Recovery funding over the years has in
9 itself flowed through New York City on the
10 formula. It's not just for upstate or Long
11 Island or Lower Hudson Valley roads, it's the
12 whole state, based on road miles.
13 So you're taking an additional
14 100 million that I would argue should go into the
15 regular CHIPS to increase that from year to year
16 for everybody -- and not just call out urban
17 areas, because we all need safe roads and
18 bridges.
19 And I would like more information,
20 if you could follow up with me, certainly if this
21 survives getting to the final budget, just what
22 the criteria is of an urban area that would
23 partake in this funding and how it would be
24 distributed.
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Again, I don't
1451
1 know how it will be distributed today, other than
2 that I know it's not coming to New York City.
3 But it is also true that urban roadways are more
4 densely congested and used, and they may have
5 unique infrastructure costs that you might not
6 see on a rural road.
7 I wish I had a better answer for
8 you. And I will send somebody to come talk to
9 you about it when we're not in a two-hour window
10 on the floor, because it's a legitimate set of
11 questions and we have come to the extent of my
12 knowledge.
13 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
14 Senator. Madam --
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: My knowledge on
16 that specific issue. I still have a little other
17 information.
18 SENATOR O'MARA: I'm well aware of
19 that, Senator Krueger.
20 (Laughter.)
21 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
22 Madam President, if I could just speak on the
23 resolution for a moment.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
25 O'Mara on the resolution.
1452
1 SENATOR O'MARA: This resolution,
2 increasing spending by over $15 billion at a time
3 when we're struggling from COVID, our economy is
4 trying to rebound, things are still not
5 reopened -- and moving towards significant
6 spending increases, much of which will be
7 recurring in future years when federal stimulus
8 money is not available to us -- I believe is very
9 shortsighted.
10 I believe New York State has
11 received an unconscionable windfall from the
12 federal government of $12.6 billion just for the
13 state, let alone the other billions of dollars
14 that are going to local governments across the
15 state, that these spending increases are unwise,
16 unnecessary and risky. At the same time we're
17 trying to rebuild our economy, we're increasing
18 taxes in this proposal by over $6 billion. That,
19 to me, is unconscionable in this time of economic
20 strife, with many businesses struggling just to
21 keep their lights on.
22 And I will just close with a quote
23 in reference to, you know, the Governor
24 indicating that we were $15 billion in a hole.
25 We have never seen a real true accounting of what
1453
1 that $15 billion shortfall is, nor did the
2 federal government. Yet the federal government
3 is giving the state 12.6 billion.
4 The revenue forecasts and
5 receipts -- revenue receipts have been coming in
6 ahead, well ahead of pace of what was
7 anticipated. And they're forecast to have over
8 $2 billion increased revenue coming in that was
9 not anticipated through regular revenue
10 collections. That closes that $15 billion
11 without the need to raise over $6 billion in
12 taxes, and certainly not increasing spending by
13 over $15 billion.
14 I fail to see any rationale for
15 increasing taxes on businesses that are
16 struggling and increasing taxes on individuals
17 that may well flee the state, taking substantial
18 revenue with them.
19 It was tweeted by Senator Schumer's
20 spokesperson after the COVID relief package of
21 $2 trillion was announced that thanks to Senator
22 Schumer, "New York State's budget deficit for
23 this year is zero, nada, niete, zilch." That was
24 on March 8th.
25 So the deficit is closed, very
1454
1 easily. Yet this Majority wants to dig a further
2 hole going forward, that we will surely reach a
3 fiscal cliff in two years that will lead to even
4 graver consequences than we have today.
5 Thank you, Senator Krueger. And
6 thank you, Madam President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
8 Senator O'Mara.
9 Senator Serino.
10 SENATOR SERINO: Hello,
11 Madam President. Nice to see you.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Nice to
13 see you too.
14 SENATOR SERINO: And would
15 Senator -- through you, Madam President, would
16 Senator Krueger yield to some questions for me?
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
18 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course I do,
20 Madam President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
22 Senator yields.
23 SENATOR SERINO: Great, thanks.
24 Nice to see you, Senator Krueger.
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Good to see you,
1455
1 Senator Serino.
2 SENATOR SERINO: You know, from my
3 first year here, I've been talking about ticks.
4 So while I'm glad to see that your
5 proposal at least restores the meager $69,400 for
6 Lyme and tick-borne disease work at the
7 Department of Health, your one-house in the past
8 has specifically lined out $1 million to combat
9 the spread of Lyme and tick-borne diseases.
10 Ultimately, that figure was reduced to $250,000
11 in the final State Budget in both of the last two
12 years.
13 But this year I do not see any other
14 funding specifically lined out for Lyme and
15 tick-borne diseases here in this resolution.
16 So does this one-house budget
17 proposal include specific money for research,
18 education or prevention initiatives for Lyme and
19 tick-borne diseases?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: One second while
21 I confer with staff, Senator Serino.
22 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you.
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: I am being
24 advised that we did restore the $250,000.
25 SENATOR SERINO: It is restored?
1456
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
2 SENATOR SERINO: As a line item?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
5 Serino --
6 SENATOR SERINO: Oh, I'm sorry.
7 Through you, Madam President.
8 Thank you. I was going to ask you
9 if you could commit to more than the $250,000
10 this year, in light of how we keep on having more
11 increases of Lyme and tick-borne disease, so -- I
12 just urge you to make it a priority. As you can
13 imagine, we hear from so many people.
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: I can't commit to
15 anything -- oh, through you, Madam President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: So sorry.
18 I can't commit to anything beyond
19 what we've put in today in the one-house, but
20 we're going to be continuing to negotiate the
21 budget with the Assembly and the Governor. And
22 on a personal note, I agree this is a serious
23 issue. You have been an incredible spokeswoman
24 on behalf of it. And I am hoping that there
25 may be an ability to be of assistance.
1457
1 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you,
2 Senator Krueger.
3 Through you, Madam President, would
4 the Senator continue to yield?
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
6 Krueger, do you continue to yield?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do. Thank you,
8 Madam President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
10 Senator yields.
11 SENATOR SERINO: This resolution
12 states that nursing home reforms are not included
13 in the one-house budget proposal because a
14 package has already passed in this house.
15 However, many of the bills in that package were
16 one-house bills with no sponsors in the Assembly.
17 So while I don't believe that these
18 issues should be negotiated behind closed doors
19 as part of the budget process, the Governor has
20 said publicly that he will not sign a budget that
21 doesn't include his reform plan. And I'm
22 wondering how you plan to resolve the issues
23 between the two houses and the Executive when it
24 comes to these proposed reforms.
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: So through you --
1458
1 I'm sorry, through you, Madam President. I just
2 want to -- so the good news, Senator Serino, is
3 apparently of the bills that we passed in nursing
4 home reform, the Assembly has already passed five
5 or six of them. And we are hoping that we will
6 get them in agreement with us for the remaining
7 five or six, because we passed quite a large
8 package. So we're moving on those.
9 The other good news is there is
10 $200 million more for nursing homes within this
11 one-house budget.
12 SENATOR SERINO: And through you,
13 Madam President. I would just hope that, you
14 know --
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Will the
16 Senator yield? Senator Serino --
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: I will yield.
18 SENATOR SERINO: Oh, I'm sorry,
19 would you continue -- I actually just have --
20 well --
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: I
22 understand. But --
23 SENATOR SERINO: Okay. Through
24 you, Madam President, would the Senator continue
25 to yield.
1459
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
2 Senator Krueger, will you continue to yield?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
5 Senator yields.
6 SENATOR SERINO: I would also hope
7 that their investigations that go forward are
8 going to play a critical role in what needs to
9 happen here with any nursing home reforms. So,
10 you know, before anything gets done, I do believe
11 that that needs to happen as well, to have a real
12 plan.
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Both sides of the
14 aisle completely agree on that. We need to get
15 down to understanding what's going wrong in these
16 facilities and what we need to do to make sure
17 that nothing like this ever happens again.
18 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you.
19 Through you, Madam President, would
20 the Senator continue to yield.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
22 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
25 Senator yields, Senator.
1460
1 SENATOR SERINO: And you mentioned
2 about 200 million, Senator. The proposal
3 contains 200 million to increase nurse staffing
4 levels for nursing homes and acute care
5 facilities.
6 It's great to have this funding, but
7 if there aren't qualified candidates ready to be
8 hired, you still have a problem. So does this
9 budget propose any solutions for the nursing
10 shortages that the state currently faces?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: We restored money
12 for workforce retention that the Governor had cut
13 out of the budget. No, that's not by definition
14 for nursing, but it would certainly include
15 nursing. And it's worth us all working together
16 to make sure that that's a possibility.
17 I think that the nursing
18 shortages are also regionally different, so we
19 also need to understand how we help with nursing
20 where there is shortages and, say, home care
21 workers where it's home care workers and
22 something else somewhere else.
23 So I agree that we do -- I recognize
24 that there's a nursing shortage in certain areas
25 of the state that we need to focus on.
1461
1 SENATOR SERINO: And I --
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
3 Senator Serino.
4 SENATOR SERINO: Oh, through you,
5 Madam President, will the Senator will continue
6 to yield.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
8 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
11 Senator yields.
12 SENATOR SERINO: So I would hope
13 that the funding would be flexible and that it
14 could be used to support training and retention
15 programs. And anything that needs to be spelled
16 out that it says that -- like you said about, you
17 know, specifically for nursing.
18 You know, because I think that if we
19 continue to have a nursing shortage, it doesn't
20 matter if we throw money at the problem if there
21 really are no qualified nurses. And I think we
22 saw that during COVID. And I had a bill last
23 year too that would utilize displaced hospitality
24 workers. And in there, some of that language you
25 might even be able to use as part of this, it
1462
1 might be helpful.
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
3 Madam President. So the way we've written the
4 language, it is very flexible. And my staff have
5 assured me that when they go to the table to
6 negotiate three-way, they will take this as
7 advice on what we should be doing. So thank you.
8 SENATOR SERINO: Through you,
9 Madam President, will the Senator continue to
10 yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
12 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, ma'am.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
15 Senator yields.
16 SENATOR SERINO: One of the major
17 concerns that we heard about at last year's
18 nursing home hearings was a lack of access to and
19 support for the long-term-care ombudsman program,
20 which advocates for nursing home residents and
21 families.
22 I had proposed at least $5 million
23 to bolster that program. The Assembly's
24 resolution lines out $1 million for it. Do you
25 know if there's any specific funding to enhance
1463
1 this critical program in the Senate's resolution?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we did --
3 through you, Madam President. We did pass a bill
4 recently to expand the program, but there is not
5 lined-out money in the budget to expand it at
6 this time. And so you're proposing $5 million.
7 I will continue to be your advocate,
8 Senator Serino.
9 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you.
10 Through you, Madam President --
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Will the
12 Senator continue to yield? Senator Krueger, do
13 you continue to yield?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
16 Senator Krueger yields.
17 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you,
18 Senator Krueger. And as we know, it has to be
19 lined out, you know. Because otherwise,
20 unfortunately, other things take a priority. So
21 I appreciate that.
22 Would the Senator -- through you,
23 Madam President, would the Senator continue to
24 yield for a last question.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
1464
1 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do yield.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
4 Senator yields.
5 SENATOR SERINO: And then this is
6 something that I've talked about for years too.
7 Facilities caring for low-income individuals that
8 are paid through SSI have only had one rate
9 increase in more than 20 years, which has
10 resulted in closures of these facilities across
11 the state.
12 In the past, the State Senate
13 has championed legislation to phase in an
14 increase to the SSI rate which would help support
15 some of our most vulnerable neighbors. Do you
16 know if this resolution contains any funding to
17 increase this rate?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry,
19 Madam President, through you, can I just get
20 clarification? This is the personal need
21 allowance within SSI --
22 SENATOR SERINO: In SSI, yes, it's
23 like $32 --
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: -- for people who
25 are living in a group or a facility, right?
1465
1 SENATOR SERINO: Yes.
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: I just want to
3 make sure I understood the question correctly.
4 I don't believe there's anything in
5 our one-house budget, but I believe we have
6 legislation that's moving that supports this.
7 And without offending you, are you
8 really not a liberal Democrat from New York City?
9 Because you and I seem to be so in-tune on
10 many of the issues we're discussing today.
11 SENATOR SERINO: Do you know, there
12 are so many -- oh, sorry. Through you,
13 Madam President.
14 (Laughter.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
16 Senator Krueger, do you wish to continue to
17 yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry. No, I
19 will -- I took her time, Madam President. I will
20 yield back to the Senator.
21 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you, Senator
22 Krueger. You know, there's so many things that
23 don't have an R or a D attached to them, right?
24 You know, I think there's more that we agree upon
25 than disagree.
1466
1 But I think, you know, with the
2 assisted living home facilities, I know that --
3 you know, our ultimate goal, we would love to
4 have people living in their own homes, but for so
5 many people that's not an option. And seeing so
6 many of these facilities have to close, you know,
7 I think this increase in funding is so important.
8 And, you know, to have quality of
9 care, in whatever way that might be, for these
10 individuals is very important to me, I know
11 personally, and I appreciate whatever can be
12 done.
13 So I'm good. Thank you,
14 Senator Krueger, for answering all of my
15 questions. Thank you, Madam President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
17 Senator Serino.
18 Senator Helming.
19 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you,
20 Madam President.
21 I rise today to ask --
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Excuse me,
23 Senator Helming. Are you asking questions or are
24 you going to speak on the bill?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm just
1467
1 wondering whether to sit or not. Are you asking
2 questions?
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Are you
4 asking questions, Senator Helming?
5 SENATOR HELMING: Yes. I was just
6 about to say that.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Okay. I
8 got ahead of you.
9 SENATOR HELMING: I'll start over.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Okay.
11 SENATOR HELMING: Madam President,
12 if the Finance chair is agreeable, I'd like to
13 ask a few questions as the ranking member of the
14 Housing Committee.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
16 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: I do.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
19 Senator yields.
20 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you.
21 Through you, Madam President.
22 Senator Krueger, I have to say that
23 it's wonderful to see you in person. I've seen
24 you in many hearings and also even on television
25 recently, but it's great to see you in person.
1468
1 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
2 SENATOR HELMING: I want to thank
3 you and Senator O'Mara as well for the many, many
4 hours that you spent listening to the testimony
5 and hosting the hearings. Thank you for that.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
7 SENATOR HELMING: So as I said, I
8 had a couple of questions, primarily on housing
9 matters.
10 The 2019 Housing and Tenant
11 Protection Act created a temporary commission,
12 known as the New York State Temporary Commission
13 on Housing Security and Tenant Protection. This
14 commission was directed by the Legislature to
15 study the impacts of statewide housing to provide
16 recommendations back to the Legislature.
17 And Senator Krueger, I'm wondering,
18 has this commission weighed in on any of the
19 recommendations that are in this budget proposal?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, it has not.
21 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
22 Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, of course I
1469
1 do.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 Senator yields.
4 SENATOR HELMING: Is there a reason
5 why the commission was not asked to review the
6 proposals and offer their feedback?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
8 Through you, Madam President. As I think we're
9 familiar, there's a whole process for seating a
10 commission that involves recommendations and
11 confirmations through the Governor. And that has
12 not happened yet, so the commission has not
13 started its work.
14 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you.
15 Through you, Madam President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
17 Senator Krueger, do you yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
20 Senator yields for additional questions.
21 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
22 within the budget reso, there is an item -- the
23 title is Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity
24 Act -- and my understanding is that this is
25 basically to repurpose commercial space for
1470
1 housing. The reso includes language to
2 incentivize the conversion of commercial
3 buildings, including hotels, into affordable
4 housing. Would you say that that's an accurate
5 description?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes. I think it
7 may be unique to New York City. I don't think
8 it's a statewide program, I think it's a New York
9 City program.
10 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
11 Madam President, if the Senator would continue to
12 yield.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
14 Krueger, do you continue to yield?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
17 Senator yields.
18 SENATOR HELMING: How much money is
19 designated for this program?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
21 Madam President, $259 million.
22 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
23 Madam President, if the Senator would continue to
24 yield.
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry, I
1471
1 misspoke, 250. Two hundred fifty million.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
3 Senator Krueger --
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: And yes, I will
5 be happy to yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
7 Senator yields.
8 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
9 so I'd like to share with you that I think this
10 sounds like a very interesting program. I've
11 spoken to a number of advocates who are in favor
12 of this. Even in my district, upstate New York,
13 I've met with a hotel owner who he heard about
14 this program, is so excited. He has a hotel that
15 is empty right now. It's in a beautiful
16 location. We have a definite need to help house
17 homeless people.
18 But I'm just disappointed to hear
19 that this $250 million will be used primarily for
20 the Manhattan area. And I'm wondering, are there
21 any proposals that would assist in changing
22 underutilized commercial properties, including
23 hotels, into affordable housing outside of the
24 Manhattan area?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: So this specific
1472
1 proposal was a replacement for a different
2 proposal by the Executive that we rejected, and
3 that was for New York City only. So I think this
4 sort of became New York City only because it was
5 replacing a New York City only.
6 But we all agree there's no reason
7 why there isn't a possibility of using housing
8 dollars in the state budget for a model like this
9 if some other area wanted it.
10 So, you know, there are a variety of
11 different models of funding for housing that
12 exist in the current state budget, and we are
13 trying to add to it this year. So I actually
14 think that if you have someone who's really
15 interested in this, we should get this budget
16 done and then all go together to DHCR and say,
17 Hey, there's a great idea right here.
18 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
19 Madam President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
21 Senator Krueger, will you continue to yield?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
24 Senator yields.
25 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
1473
1 I appreciate your willingness to look at this.
2 But the time is now. People homeless throughout
3 the state, they need help now. I don't know if
4 there are other programs in the budget to help
5 address this, but so do the small business
6 owners. It's not only business owners in
7 Manhattan that are struggling, it's throughout
8 the state.
9 And I appreciate, like I said, your
10 willingness to look at this after the budget, but
11 my question is will you look now during the
12 negotiations? Will you make this a priority now
13 to open up that program to small businesses
14 owners throughout the State of New York?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: One second.
16 So it's Senator Gianaris's bill that
17 became the proposal in our one-house, which is
18 why I was oddly turning to him to chat about it.
19 It seemed logical. And he is open to having that
20 discussion.
21 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
22 Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
1474
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you both.
4 I appreciate that. It's very important, like I
5 said, to people throughout the state.
6 I want to turn now to the COVID-19
7 Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The
8 one-house resolution provides for the creation of
9 this Emergency Rental Assistance Program, and it
10 appears to me that the program is funded by a
11 sweep of all of the federal dollars that are
12 allocated for rent and utility assistance.
13 Senator Krueger, how much federal
14 funding is expected to be directed to this
15 program?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: So our
17 understanding is that the locals have their own
18 shares, that we're not sweeping, we're just
19 taking the money from the two different federal
20 streams and saying, Okay, these go to these
21 programs, which to some degree mandated how
22 they're used by the federal money. So we don't
23 believe we are sweeping.
24 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
25 Madam President.
1475
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
2 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
3 SENATOR HELMING: So,
4 Senator Krueger, last spring the state received
5 $100 million in federal funding. I've talked
6 about this funding numerous times on this floor,
7 in committee, et cetera. Less than half of that
8 money was delivered to the tenants and landlords
9 who so desperately need it.
10 In December the state received
11 another $1.3 billion. And we've all seen it,
12 we've all agreed to it that New York State has
13 had difficulty getting the federal dollars out
14 the door. It's like turned into this
15 bureaucratic nightmare, right? And the
16 restrictions have been so tight to gain access to
17 the funding that basically no one has qualified.
18 Which, you know what, now as I'm talking about
19 this, you know what I'm thinking about? It
20 sounds very similar to the rollout of the
21 COVID vaccine. The requirements were so strict
22 with the hospitals that vaccines got wasted
23 instead of going into the arms of people.
24 But back to this funding, does the
25 resolution -- in order for us to get this money
1476
1 out to the people who need it so much, does the
2 reso include clear and succinct language to
3 ensure this federal money gets into the hands of
4 small landlords in a timely manner?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay. So it is
6 true that there was a hundred million dollars of
7 unrestricted federal money that we got the
8 Governor to agree to put into a pilot program,
9 really to show that we could get it out quickly
10 to people who needed it.
11 And yes, you are right, on their
12 first round they only spent about half of
13 100 million.
14 They did a second round. Do we know
15 how much they finally got out.
16 SENATOR HELMING: No. No, it's
17 still --
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: It's still in
19 review process.
20 So in our one-house bill we are
21 carefully following the language of a bill
22 proposed by Senator Kavanagh where it lines out
23 what is supposed to happen. And it's pretty
24 strictly matching what the federal law says we
25 can do with it.
1477
1 So we're hoping that we can move
2 things more quickly than we had in the past and
3 it would go through OTDA instead of DHCR.
4 I don't know your experience in your
5 counties. My experience in my city is OTDA is
6 the agency -- or HRA, the local social services
7 district -- is the agency that has the
8 relationship with the landlords and the
9 third-party vendor payment structure set up. And
10 so I'm pretty optimistic that that will work
11 fairly efficient.
12 Obviously every county has its own
13 model for how they've been doing things, so I
14 can't speak for whether that would work exactly
15 right. But the feds are pretty strict about
16 who's eligible and how, with the new money. So
17 we have to fit into their boxes.
18 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
19 Madam President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
21 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
24 Senator yields.
25 SENATOR HELMING: So just a comment
1478
1 on that last statement. Other -- many other
2 states in this nation were able to move that
3 money out. It's unique to new York that so much
4 was stalled.
5 I'm met with landlord associations
6 from around the state. Typically these are the
7 smaller organizations, organizations like SPOONY,
8 the Small Property Owners of New York;
9 Finger Lakes Landlord Association; and Under One
10 Roof Coalition. They want to be supportive, more
11 supportive of some of these bills --
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: So --
13 SENATOR HELMING: I didn't ask the
14 question yet.
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: I know, but
16 that's -- I'm sorry. Please.
17 SENATOR HELMING: These
18 associations and their members provide an
19 invaluable service. They provide safe and secure
20 housing that is so, so desperately needed. And
21 as a state I believe it's part of our
22 responsibility to protect these business owners
23 and the housing that they provide for people who
24 need it.
25 When I hear from these groups, their
1479
1 primary concern is they don't feel like they're
2 involved in the decision making. They don't
3 really have an opportunity to contribute
4 information that helps shape these decisions that
5 are made.
6 Specifically, as part of the Rental
7 Assistance Program, there's a requirement that
8 landlords must cooperate in order to get paid.
9 But I think everyone here, we must keep in mind
10 that there are many landlords who have tried to
11 work with tenants during the pandemic but have
12 still lost significant income due to unpaid rent.
13 And to add insult to injury, if you
14 will, these landlords continue to do their best
15 to work with the tenants, who are not always
16 cooperative. These tenants have refused to apply
17 for the previous round of assistance and/or
18 they've moved out or abandoned rental units,
19 leaving the landlords with thousands of dollars
20 in unpaid rent and utilities.
21 Senator Krueger, my question is,
22 does the one-house bill ensure that all tenants
23 in arrears or facing eviction for nonpayment or
24 who have left the landlord unpaid are required to
25 cooperate with the landlord in order to file an
1480
1 application?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: My understanding
3 is up to 120 percent of AMI, they do. They do
4 have to cooperate. And under the new federal
5 monies, the landlords can apply for the money
6 even if the tenant is not cooperating.
7 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
8 Madam President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
10 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
13 Senator yields.
14 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
15 I would be interested in having that section of
16 the reso pointed out to me where it says that.
17 And later is fine.
18 But maybe you could answer me, what
19 happens if a landlord accepts the rental payment
20 under this new program. What consequences are
21 there to the landlord?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: If you accept the
23 arrears money, you cannot evict for a year. So
24 that is what the landlord is exchanging for
25 getting the federal money. And it's 15 months
1481
1 maximum in back-rent arrears that they can
2 receive.
3 And the section of the -- the bill
4 number that matches the one-house budget is
5 S2742C.
6 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
7 Madam President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
9 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
12 Senator yields.
13 SENATOR HELMING: So just to
14 clarify, if a landlord participates in this
15 program, is there a one-year freeze on the rent
16 and utility? Is the landlord -- you know, they
17 can't increase any rent, they can't increase any
18 utilities for a year?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: They can't
20 increase their rent. It doesn't apply to
21 utilities.
22 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
23 Madam President.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
25 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
1482
1 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
2 I just --
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: So one
4 moment. Excuse me, Senator Helming.
5 Senator Krueger, do you continue to
6 yield?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, of course.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 Senator yields.
10 SENATOR HELMING: I believe that is
11 a change from Senator Kavanagh's bill, because I
12 remember specifically asking this question and
13 reviewing it in committee. It's my understanding
14 the bill froze both the rent and the utilities.
15 But we can clarify that later.
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: I don't know how
17 to answer that one. I think this needs to be a
18 conversation with Senator Kavanagh at the moment
19 because -- I used to be on the Housing Committee
20 with you all, but I'm no longer on the
21 Housing Committee, so I wasn't at the committee
22 meeting.
23 But Nic can also follow up with you
24 afterwards on anything that she might be aware of
25 that did or didn't happen in the
1483
1 Housing Committee.
2 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
3 Madam President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
5 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
8 Senator yields.
9 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
10 this budget reso allows the Governor to
11 unilaterally close correctional facilities within
12 180 days notification. Does the budget reso
13 provide any additional resources for
14 post-incarceration housing?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: We extended the
16 notice to six months. And no, it doesn't say
17 anything about post-incarceration housing.
18 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
19 Madam President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
21 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
24 Senator yields.
25 SENATOR HELMING: Are there any
1484
1 provisions in the budget reso for the reuse of
2 closed facilities, maybe for housing, rehab,
3 et cetera?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: There are
5 provisions that allow local governments to
6 repurpose the buildings.
7 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
8 Madam President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
10 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
11 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
13 Senator yields.
14 SENATOR HELMING: Is there anything
15 in this budget resolution that would formally end
16 the practice of double-bunking?
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I think the
18 answer is no. Unless your next question is about
19 HALT, and then there are some issues.
20 (Inaudible.)
21 SENATOR HELMING: (Overtalking.)
22 Through you, Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry, yes, I
1485
1 do continue to yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 Senator yields.
4 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
5 I think you would agree with me that there's a
6 growing shortage of housing for those with
7 mental illnesses and for those with developmental
8 disabilities who also experience behavioral
9 issues.
10 Just this past Saturday I was with a
11 number of my colleagues from both sides of the
12 aisle from this chamber, and we heard from two
13 more mothers, Amy and Michelle, about their
14 personal experiences involving their children and
15 the dramatic lack of available beds and housing.
16 In my opinion it's critical that New
17 York State make a firm commitment to providing
18 adequate housing and services, yet it seems to me
19 the reso offered by the Majority is very vague.
20 What I read simply urges OMH to reconsider the
21 closure of any inpatient beds.
22 I've heard from experts in the
23 field, caregivers and families, and they've all
24 demonstrated that we need more beds, not less.
25 Does this budget restore and add children and
1486
1 adult in-patient mental health beds?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I have asked
3 different staff to come in to help, because I
4 thought we were changing topics. So now I'm on
5 hold, Madam President, pending other staff.
6 But just to clarify, when you talked
7 about people leaving prison -- that was not this
8 question, that was the previous question. This
9 question applies more to families with children
10 who need residential placement, am I correct?
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
12 Senator Helming, do you want to ask an another
13 question?
14 SENATOR HELMING: Madam President,
15 I was waiting for you to ask me if I yield to a
16 question from Senator Krueger.
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Oh, she's right.
18 Will you yield to a question,
19 Senator Helming?
20 SENATOR HELMING: I want to make
21 sure to follow the rules.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
23 Understood, Senator Helming.
24 Senator Krueger, do you yield for --
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, I'm asking if
1487
1 Senator Helming will yield to me.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Oh, yes,
3 okay. Senator Helming, do you yield for a
4 question?
5 SENATOR HELMING: Yes.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
7 So if I could ask you to clarify.
8 In your last question, which I haven't answered,
9 is it about people leaving prisons who may have
10 mental health and other issues? Or did you shift
11 to families with children, so more of an OCFS
12 mental health category of question?
13 SENATOR HELMING: Shift.
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Shift. Thank
15 you.
16 SENATOR HELMING: You're welcome.
17 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
18 Madam President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator,
20 just to be clear, for clarification, you did not
21 need to ask the presiding officer, you can just
22 ask directly on a clarification during debate.
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: We're all
24 improving our knowledge of parliamentary
25 procedure today. Thank you.
1488
1 And I'm still waiting for other
2 staff to come in so that I can give
3 Senator Helming a reasonable answer to her
4 perfectly good question.
5 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
7 Gianaris.
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: Why don't we
9 stand at ease for a moment while the relevant
10 staff arrive at this point.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
12 will stand at ease.
13 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease
14 at 5:17 p.m.)
15 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at
16 5:19 p.m.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
18 will return to order.
19 Senator Krueger, you're responding
20 to the question.
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
22 So the answer is we did not add
23 money, but the Governor had added some additional
24 money for beds for residential. We delayed or
25 stopped the closing of four psychiatric OCFS
1489
1 facilities for young people, so that we don't
2 lose those beds and in fact there are -- there
3 would be more beds available in those facilities
4 because they all are under the count of how many
5 children they can have participating.
6 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
7 Madam President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
9 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
12 Senator yields.
13 SENATOR HELMING: Senator Krueger,
14 thank you for that response.
15 I have a number of additional
16 questions, but I've been given the hook.
17 (Laughter.)
18 SENATOR HELMING: It's my
19 understanding that we're only allowed a certain
20 amount of time, which I'd like to go on the
21 record as saying is tremendously disappointing.
22 We are talking about spending billions of dollars
23 here, and the fact that we have a limited time to
24 ask questions -- so with that, Madam President, I
25 will thank you. Senator Krueger, thank you for
1490
1 responding.
2 And I will be back to explain my
3 vote. Thank you.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
5 Senator Helming.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you. I
7 think we should blame Senator O'Mara, personally,
8 don't you?
9 (Laughter.)
10 SENATOR HELMING: Just the process.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
12 Tedisco.
13 SENATOR TEDISCO: Thank you,
14 Madam President. I'd like to ask the Senator to
15 yield for some questions.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
17 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Yes, I
19 will.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
21 Senator yields.
22 SENATOR TEDISCO: Thank you,
23 Senator. Through my position as ranking member
24 on the Education Committee -- and as a previous
25 educator, I've had a little experience in the
1491
1 classroom -- I'd like to have my remarks relate
2 to the education part of our budget.
3 I've found my job not only
4 challenging, but extremely rewarding. And
5 probably like you and the rest of my colleagues
6 in this room, anytime we've talked to our
7 constituents or done surveys or asked them about
8 our educational system, they're always very
9 supportive because they realize that our students
10 and our kids are our future, but a big part of
11 that future and their success is a great
12 education. So that's why this part of the budget
13 every year I think is so important.
14 I'm going to want to ask you a
15 little bit about the funding, the Foundation
16 funding and the general funding and the programs
17 themselves. With limited time -- I guess they've
18 given me 10 minutes. I guess they're New York
19 minutes. And at first I want to ask you about
20 something you were talking about beforehand with
21 Senator O'Mara. And you were talking about
22 population and keeping people in New York State.
23 And I just want to ask you -- the
24 first question is -- you may not know this;
25 somebody may know this -- in 1973, do you know
1492
1 how many Congresspeople we had in New York State?
2 Because we have property taxes and they're paid
3 by the constituents in our population, and we get
4 our strength from the number of congressional
5 people we send out there, and our Senators, who
6 fight for us.
7 Do you have an idea of what -- the
8 number of congressional members we had from
9 New York State in 1973?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Okay, I can't
11 look at these two much younger people and expect
12 them to know. And I'm even thinking, Madam
13 President, I wasn't following Congress carefully
14 enough in 1973.
15 May I ask Senator Tedisco to let me
16 know, because I know he knows.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Tedisco.
19 SENATOR TEDISCO: Absolutely. So
20 we had 39 members.
21 Would the Senator yield for another
22 question?
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Senator Krueger, will you yield for a question?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
1493
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR TEDISCO: You certainly
4 know how many Congresspeople we have now.
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: I don't even know
6 my name today. Tell me how many we have now.
7 SENATOR TEDISCO: Okay. We have 27
8 now, I believe. But it's projected -- and I'm
9 going to ask another question. It's projected
10 that we'll lose one, possibly two with the
11 census. So that would bring us down to 25. That
12 would mean we lost 14 in population.
13 Now, there's got to be a reason why
14 a state as large and as great as New York State,
15 which was called the Empire State at one point --
16 and as these people move out, it's getting closer
17 to The Empty State, if they continue to move like
18 they're moving. And, you know, our slogan is "I
19 Love NY." It's looking like "I Leave NY" now.
20 Which is not a good sign.
21 Could you give me some idea of why
22 you think we're down to this many congressional
23 individuals? Because you were talking about
24 keeping people in New York State and the best way
25 to do it is expanding the taxes and more
1494
1 spending. This is a record-breaking, over
2 $200 million {sic} budget. Could you tell me
3 what your feelings are about that?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: So I believe that
5 the regional migration patterns in this country
6 for decades now have been away from the Northeast
7 and the older cities towards the South and the
8 Southwest. So I don't think it's unique to
9 New York that there have been these migration
10 patterns.
11 And it has been disproportionately
12 from the areas we call upstate New York, and not
13 from the City or immediate suburbs, because I
14 don't believe we have seen the people leaving in
15 the City and Nassau County and Suffolk or even
16 Westchester. So it's pretty much been
17 outmigration from Northern New York and Northwest
18 New York and the Western Tier.
19 For some of the exact same reasons,
20 as they've seen this pattern throughout the
21 country in the older cities, if we don't have the
22 jobs in the more modern economic models, then
23 there aren't things for people to stay and do, so
24 they go somewhere where there are jobs. If they
25 don't have the infrastructure for the jobs to
1495
1 want to be in their communities, there's a
2 decrease in people.
3 It's interesting because we know we
4 have some really great education, including in
5 our colleges throughout the state. But you still
6 have to make sure that you are matching what it
7 is that the business community is looking for.
8 So I think a lot of migration patterns correlate
9 to changes in the economy. That would be my
10 general answer.
11 SENATOR TEDISCO: Would the gentle
12 Senator yield for another question.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
14 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: I will. I'm not
16 sure any of this is in the budget, but I'm going
17 to give it my damnedest. Thank you,
18 Madam President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
20 Senator yields.
21 SENATOR TEDISCO: Would you be
22 surprised, Senator, to know that we were number
23 one in outmigration the last three years, of all
24 the states in this nation, and we lost
25 1.4 million over the last decade? And when you
1496
1 talked about the Northeast states migrating, do
2 you know that 16 percent of that population last
3 year went to New Jersey from New York State,
4 moved to New Jersey?
5 When you said we don't have the
6 economy or the jobs, doesn't that mean we need an
7 agenda change in New York State to keep people
8 here? Because the people who are leaving are the
9 people who can afford to leave. Who's going to
10 be left to pay for a $208 billion budget when the
11 people who can afford to leave, leave? The
12 middle class and lower-income. How are we going
13 to take care of the education costs I'm going to
14 be talking about here today, the infrastructure,
15 healthcare, our nursing homes and our hospitals?
16 If those who leave are the ones who
17 can afford to leave -- because you have to pack
18 up, you have to get a moving van -- and when 16
19 percent are going to New Jersey, doesn't that say
20 we have to have a little bit of a change in
21 direction on how we tax and how we spend? Are
22 you saying we have to tax more and spend more to
23 keep people here?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: So the 16 percent
25 who went to New Jersey primarily went from the
1497
1 New York City area because the housing costs were
2 less in New Jersey and they could commute. But
3 the tax costs really weren't less in New Jersey,
4 and we're pretty much neck and neck with them on
5 taxes.
6 I guess I will ask you -- through
7 you, Madam President, may I ask the Senator a
8 question?
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 Tedisco, Senator Krueger has a question.
11 SENATOR TEDISCO: Sure.
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
13 So you were here and you were
14 listening. We're proposing meeting our needs for
15 our communities by taxing higher-income people.
16 Assuming you don't disagree we want more money
17 for education, we want better healthcare, we want
18 better infrastructure, how would you suggest we
19 pay for them?
20 SENATOR TEDISCO: Well, I'd start
21 with something like $450 million for Hollywood
22 moguls who make millions and billions of dollars
23 and come to this state, spend a week, put a
24 couple of people to work, and then leave and walk
25 out of the state.
1498
1 And then I'd look at these Regional
2 Economic Development areas, which the Comptroller
3 says they promise us jobs, we give them billions
4 of dollars, they don't create the jobs, and they
5 walk out of the State of New York.
6 So I think our priorities are a
7 little mixed up, and we need a little bit of a
8 redirection on how we spend our revenue to keep
9 people in New York State.
10 I'd like to ask the Senator to yield
11 once again.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
13 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
16 Senator will yield.
17 SENATOR TEDISCO: I want to ask you
18 about Foundation Aid. In 2018 I was sitting in
19 this room and I was happy as a bird because I was
20 in the Majority. But outside in the hallways we
21 heard a lot of noise -- it was rallying, it was
22 protesting, and those were about full funding for
23 Foundation Aid.
24 I want to ask you, in comparison to
25 the Governor's proposal, in this proposal in
1499
1 terms of Foundation Aid -- first of all, I
2 presume -- I'll ask you it anyway. Do you
3 support full funding for Foundation Aid? And is
4 there full funding following the formula for
5 Foundation Aid in this particular one-house, but
6 how does the funding differ between the Governor
7 and what you've put in for Foundation Aid?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we go up 1.37
9 billion in Foundation Aid from where the Governor
10 was in his proposed Executive Budget. And we
11 propose a three-year full phase-in to get to
12 where we need to be in Foundation Aid.
13 SENATOR TEDISCO: Thank you.
14 Would the good Senator yield for
15 another question?
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
17 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
19 SENATOR TEDISCO: So that begs this
20 question for the Majority who said they want to
21 fund full Foundation Aid. In 2019, this Majority
22 proposed 1.2 billion. Do you know what you voted
23 for at the end of that budget, the final budget,
24 in Foundation Aid? $618 million. That's less
25 than half than what you proposed. You voted for
1500
1 that budget.
2 Last year there was no one-house
3 budget. The Governor flattened out -- no funding
4 increase. You voted for that for Foundation Aid.
5 How does a Majority that says they
6 want full funding for Foundation Aid, a very
7 necessary -- and you talked about it being
8 necessary -- come to a conclusion when they
9 debate and then negotiate, that they get half of
10 what they've said they want in their individual
11 budget that you're -- similar to today, 1.37.
12 If you follow history, it will be
13 less than half of that. Do you think you can
14 really get 1.37, a 7.4 percent increase?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: So you certainly
16 know, from your years in the majority and the
17 minority in these two houses -- because you
18 served in the Assembly before -- that the concept
19 of one-house budgets are ultimately aspirational.
20 We all ask for things we hope to get; we all lick
21 our wounds at the end of the process because we
22 don't get everything we were trying for.
23 SENATOR TEDISCO: Sure.
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: But in fact the
25 answer to your question of how do we think we can
1501
1 get there is by making the investments in getting
2 new revenues into the state that will continue
3 year after year to make sure that we have the
4 money for education.
5 My dear friend Senator O'Mara said
6 he was outraged the federal government gave us
7 $12 billion and he was outraged we were asking
8 for more revenue from wealthy New Yorkers. Well,
9 I'm outraged that he thinks that way. How do we
10 pay for the services we need, the investments we
11 need -- the future -- if we don't have the money
12 to do so?
13 So saying we're upset that we
14 finally get some money from Washington -- who, by
15 the way, we are still year after year after year
16 the state that sends more money to Washington
17 than we get back by billions of dollars. So
18 finally, it takes a pandemic world crisis and
19 half a million people dying so that we finally
20 get some of that money back from Washington? I'm
21 not outraged about that. I don't think it's
22 going to come very often, which is why we are
23 doing what we are doing, trying to plan for the
24 years after that with a tax base that actually
25 adds up to the kinds of programs and services you
1502
1 want for your district, I want for my district.
2 SENATOR TEDISCO: Would the Senator
3 yield for a question.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
5 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
8 Senator yields.
9 SENATOR TEDISCO: And I liked the
10 way you talked about it -- my district, your
11 district, fairness and parity. I do believe you
12 believe in fairness and parity in our educational
13 aid and how it's distributed across the state.
14 I would ask you this. How do you
15 square that fairness and parity -- and I look
16 through the aid categories, I see there's a
17 $12 million investment in special target aid to
18 Yonkers. I have high-need districts in
19 Schenectady, in Gloversville, in Johnstown --
20 high-need, low-wealth districts. How do you
21 square that away with parity and fairness
22 following the formula, Senator?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: My understanding
24 is that we are restoring a cut that was made and
25 has resulted in a gap for both Yonkers and
1503
1 Rochester. Is that correct? Oh, sorry, I'm
2 reading the text instead of the numbers. So the
3 12 million is for Yonkers, you're correct.
4 And Yonkers is a disproportionately
5 poor city that has been suffering from
6 underfunding in education now for a very long
7 time.
8 SENATOR TEDISCO: Would the
9 gentlewoman yield.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
11 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: I will,
13 Madam Chair from Yonkers.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
15 Senator yields.
16 SENATOR TEDISCO: I can tell you
17 Schenectady, Gloversville, Johnstown have been
18 suffering from underfunding for years, Senator.
19 But let me ask you this. Special
20 schools in New York State, what does this budget
21 do for special schools?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: There's a
23 6.6 percent increase commensurate with the
24 increase for other public schools.
25 SENATOR TEDISCO: Would the Senator
1504
1 yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3 Krueger, do you continue to yield?
4 SENATOR TEDISCO: That wasn't in
5 the Governor's budget, that's an addition you put
6 in?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, that's
8 correct.
9 SENATOR TEDISCO: I'm going to go
10 quickly now because I know other people want to
11 speak, so I'll just ask quickly. Albert Shanker
12 grant programs for gold standard teachers and a
13 lot of other programs for teachers, you put those
14 back into the budget.
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: They have been
16 restored.
17 SENATOR TEDISCO: I think that's a
18 great thing. I commend you for that. I like
19 that very much.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
21 Tedisco, are you asking Senator Krueger to
22 continue to yield?
23 SENATOR TEDISCO: Yes, would you
24 yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
1505
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
2 Krueger, do you continue to yield?
3 The Senator yields.
4 SENATOR TEDISCO: The teacher
5 tenure thing. Because of the pandemic last year,
6 they weren't able to get the two-year evaluation.
7 Is there anything in here for the APPR
8 evaluations to help out with teacher tenure?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, there is
10 nothing in the one-house budget. But Senator
11 Mayer just introduced a bill to address this
12 problem.
13 SENATOR TEDISCO: Congratulations.
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: So perhaps when
15 she's not on the podium running the Senate floor,
16 you can chat with her about her bill.
17 SENATOR TEDISCO: I will do it.
18 Would the Senator yield.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
20 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
23 Senator yields.
24 SENATOR TEDISCO: Preschool
25 availability across, you put some money in there
1506
1 that the Governor didn't have for preschool ed?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: We put full
3 funding for preschool into the budget.
4 SENATOR TEDISCO: Fantastic.
5 Summer enrichment programs --
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Excuse me,
7 Senator Tedisco, are you asking --
8 SENATOR TEDISCO: Yes, would she
9 yield again.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: -- the
11 Senator to yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
13 SENATOR TEDISCO: Summer enrichment
14 programs, how does that differ from the
15 Executive Budget?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Nothing here.
17 But the 12 billion in federal money for schools
18 can be used for that purpose.
19 SENATOR TEDISCO: Anything -- would
20 she yield again?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
22 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
23 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
24 And when I just said million, I
25 meant billion, so excuse me.
1507
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR TEDISCO: We know how
4 important broadband has become. You've heard me
5 say on the floor several times about my district,
6 we need homing pigeons or smoke signals to get
7 communications. Does this budget do anything for
8 broadband or web infrastructure?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: It requires the
10 internet providers to put aside money in a fund
11 that will go to help ensure that every household
12 with children has broadband access.
13 SENATOR TEDISCO: Thank you.
14 On the resolution.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
16 Tedisco on the resolution.
17 SENATOR TEDISCO: Senator Krueger,
18 thank you so much for your dedication towards
19 answering all these questions. It's -- it must
20 be overbearing, a tremendous challenge. You do a
21 great job with it, and we appreciate it very
22 much.
23 I'm just hopeful that when we get to
24 the end of the day, holistically this budget does
25 what's right for our constituents, we continue to
1508
1 attract people to New York State, keep them in
2 New York State, and we spend their money wisely
3 and we provide the product that they wish to
4 have, and the product will provide enhanced
5 scores and graduation rates because in there is
6 parity and fairness across the board for all our
7 municipalities and our school districts.
8 And once again, thank you for your
9 consideration. You're quite a dynamo, Senator.
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you so
11 much, Senator.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
13 Senator Tedisco.
14 Senator Palumbo.
15 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
16 Madam President. Will the chairwoman yield for
17 quick questions.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
19 Senator Krueger, will you yield for a question?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'll do my best,
21 Madam President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
23 Senator will yield.
24 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
25 Senator. And I'll give a little preface to it,
1509
1 but it should only be maybe one or two questions
2 on the public protection piece.
3 In Part O the Executive Budget
4 created a gun clearinghouse which indicated --
5 and I'll read you the sentence while you get
6 acclimated: "Whenever a state or local
7 enforcement agency seizes or recovers a gun that
8 was unlawfully possessed, recovered from a crime
9 scene or is reasonably believed to have been used
10 in or associated with the commission of a crime,
11 or is otherwise recovered by such agency as an
12 abandoned or discarded gun, such agency shall
13 report such seized or recovered gun to the
14 criminal gun clearinghouse as soon as
15 practicable." And this clearinghouse would
16 require that information to be shared with
17 federal agencies, ATF, DCJS and the local agency,
18 to track where that gun came from.
19 Now, when I get to the one-house
20 resolution, on page 10, Part O, the Senate
21 rejects the proposal to strengthen
22 information-sharing between local police, DCJS
23 and federal databases.
24 So Senator Krueger, my question is
25 that that information-sharing of course could
1510
1 result in solving many serious crimes that have
2 to do with an illegal handgun. Could you please
3 tell me why this Majority, in the one-house
4 budget, rejects the sharing of gun information
5 between those agencies, please.
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: One moment.
7 Through you, Madam President. Oh,
8 hello, Madam President. You changed on me. New
9 Madam President.
10 So it's my understanding that we
11 pretty much rejected any policy proposal with no
12 money or budget attachment to it because we
13 wanted to deal with the issues separately as
14 legislation that goes through this floor.
15 So it was really a broader policy
16 decision than that question. It was we're not
17 letting the Governor do legislation through the
18 budget.
19 SENATOR PALUMBO: Will the sponsor
20 yield for one more question, then, please. Or
21 the chairwoman.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD:
23 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Senator
1511
1 Krueger yields.
2 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you. And I
3 appreciate that, Chairwoman.
4 And in that regard, though, we have
5 the DAs Association, when we speak of the
6 discovery reform that was passed last year, they
7 were looking for $100 million. This budget only
8 has $40 million appropriated for those funds. So
9 do you intend with that comment you just made to
10 at least fully fund -- since that's already been
11 implemented, would you provide the
12 DAs Association with that $100 million that
13 they're requesting so they can properly implement
14 the discovery system that's already been signed
15 into law last year?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: So through you,
17 Madam President, so that was our -- this would be
18 our second round of funding. We gave them 40
19 million; we're giving them another 40 million.
20 So there's still 20 million unresolved, under
21 that math. And never say never, but it's really
22 not 40 million, it's 80 million.
23 SENATOR PALUMBO: Very good. Thank
24 you. And thank you again, Madam President. And
25 I hope that gets corrected in the ultimate
1512
1 budget.
2 That's all I have. Thank you,
3 ma'am.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Thank
5 you, Senator.
6 Senator Rath on the resolution.
7 SENATOR RATH: Thank you,
8 Madam President. Will the Senator yield for some
9 questions.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD:
11 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: I will.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: The
14 Senator yields.
15 SENATOR RATH: Thank you very much.
16 On January 11th this Senate passed
17 broad and sweeping changes to the Election Law.
18 On that day I shared many of my concerns about
19 the cost and the administrative burden with my
20 colleagues.
21 In the Aid to Localities bill,
22 Senate Bill 2503B, there is $4 million in new
23 funds dedicated to local Boards of Elections to
24 address reforms passed by this body. Can the
25 Senator please elaborate on how this total of
1513
1 $4 million was calculated?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: As soon as I get
3 my expert staff here.
4 Can you restate the question? Staff
5 will hear it, and the right staff will come in.
6 SENATOR RATH: Yes. I will say it
7 extra loud.
8 In the Aid to Localities bill,
9 Senate Bill 2503B, there is $4 million in new
10 funds dedicated to local Boards of Elections to
11 address the elections reforms passed by this
12 body. Can the Senator elaborate on how this
13 total was calculated?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm getting half
15 of the answer. You didn't think it was that
16 complicated a question, did you?
17 SENATOR RATH: It seemed like a
18 good one to me.
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: My understanding
20 is that it will be laid out as pursuant to the
21 populations so they'll take the 4 million and it
22 will be distributed based on the populations of
23 the different counties.
24 As to how we got to the number
25 4 million, maybe the right person is showing up.
1514
1 We estimated, based on the requests
2 for additional sites by the counties, and
3 concluded that 4 million sounded like the right
4 amount. But we would only know if we get it out
5 there to them, get through an election or two,
6 and see whether they're still crying out for
7 more.
8 SENATOR RATH: Through you,
9 Madam President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
11 Senator Krueger, will you yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
14 Senator yields.
15 SENATOR RATH: You foresaw my
16 question in part, at least, which is will there
17 be parity in the disbursal of these funds between
18 urban and rural counties.
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: There will be
20 parity based on population. So, I mean, you
21 assume that urban will have larger numbers of
22 sites, but they maybe just have bigger sites, not
23 more of them, I don't know. So they're just
24 going to take the population and be fair across
25 the board.
1515
1 The sites are tied to the population
2 of each county, so it actually is logical.
3 SENATOR RATH: Through you,
4 Madam President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
6 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: Of course.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 Senator yields.
10 SENATOR RATH: Pivoting to local
11 governments, in Part KK of the Public Protection
12 and General Government bill, Senate Bill 2505B,
13 there is a measure to restrict assistance to
14 municipalities where video lottery gaming
15 facilities are located.
16 Can the Senator please explain why
17 only certain municipalities are eligible for this
18 money.
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: So we restored
20 nearly a hundred million in Aid to Localities,
21 between the AIM fixes and the giving them back
22 their sales tax revenues. And there was a sense
23 that there was just not a lot of VLT money to
24 take away and give to more localities.
25 SENATOR RATH: Through you,
1516
1 Madam President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
3 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
6 Senator yields.
7 SENATOR RATH: Could the Senator
8 please elaborate on why counties like Genesee
9 County and Saratoga County were excluded?
10 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
11 Madam President. It's my understanding that in
12 the past, the Governor did approve money for
13 those counties, and he did not include it this
14 time. And we felt that we did not have the
15 ability to take more of the money and move it
16 around.
17 SENATOR RATH: Through you,
18 Madam President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
20 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
21 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
23 Senator yields.
24 SENATOR RATH: I find it quite
25 interesting that Genesee and Saratoga Counties
1517
1 were excluded, as well as Sullivan County, while
2 others were included. So this is a question that
3 the Assembly has addressed. And are you aware
4 that the Assembly fully restored all VLT money
5 for all host counties and municipalities?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: So speaking for
7 myself, no, this is new information. I suspect
8 staff might know that. So you know that they did
9 go that route.
10 So yes, you're right. So let's hope
11 the Assembly wins that fight.
12 SENATOR RATH: Through you,
13 Madam President.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
15 Senator Krueger, do you continue to yield?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, certainly.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
18 Senator yields.
19 SENATOR RATH: Thank you.
20 I would certainly hope that the
21 Senate follows the lead of the Assembly and we
22 all share in that advocacy.
23 Thank you.
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Are there
1518
1 any other Senators wishing to be heard?
2 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
3 closed.
4 Call the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
7 Stec to explain his vote.
8 SENATOR STEC: Thank you,
9 Madam President. I rise to explain my vote.
10 These are difficult times. We've
11 had a lot of challenges in the last year,
12 certainly, that would justify a lot of unusual
13 challenges, a lot of difficult choices and a lot
14 of unusual activity in our own Senate finances.
15 However, the Senate's one-house
16 budget bill is $15 billion above last year's
17 budget. The Governor's proposal was only
18 $2 billion higher than last year's budget. In
19 two years -- the Senate one-house bill proposed
20 in front of us today is $210 billion. That's
21 21 percent higher than what the actual budget was
22 two years ago.
23 The Senate Finance chair a few
24 minutes ago said that the one-house bill is
25 aspirational. Well, this is very real money;
1519
1 $210 billion is an awful lot of money. I have a
2 lot of businesses that are aspiring to survive
3 COVID and aspiring to survive the business
4 climate in New York State. I have a lot of
5 constituents back home that are aspiring to pay
6 their taxes and to put their kids through school
7 and to pay their mortgages.
8 This budget is irresponsibly high.
9 And there's the old adage, don't let a crisis go
10 to waste. We've got two crises -- we've got a
11 Governor embroiled in two scandals and we have
12 the COVID pandemic. It seems to me that on the
13 backs of these two crises, we have put forward an
14 awful lot of aspirations that are going to be
15 costing my constituents and our children an awful
16 lot of money for generations to come.
17 I will be opposed to this one-house
18 bill. Thank you.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
20 Stec to be recorded in the negative.
21 Senator Hinchey to explain her vote.
22 SENATOR HINCHEY: Thank you,
23 Madam President.
24 This has been one of the most
25 difficult years our state has ever faced. It's
1520
1 forced us to look directly at the cracks in our
2 system and laid bare the systematic inequalities
3 that have been buried just so shallowly under the
4 surface of our everyday lives.
5 It's created a moment where we have
6 to take a hard look at ourselves to identify our
7 values and, as the Empire State, determine what
8 kind of leader New York should be.
9 I ran for State Senate on the
10 premise that we need more upstate voices at the
11 table, fighting for our communities at the
12 moments that matter most. And I'm proud to say
13 that I'm delivering on that promise. Today's
14 budget is the best budget for upstate New Yorkers
15 that we've ever seen. There are real substantive
16 gains that even just last year were unimaginable.
17 For example, for the first time ever
18 the Catskills Park has its own funding line item
19 in the EPF stewardship fund, unlocking the
20 ability for infrastructure investment, research
21 and stewardship. It's the kind of investment our
22 region has been asking for for over 20 years.
23 We're helping our upstate
24 communities with the first-ever commitment to
25 real property tax relief, helping local
1521
1 governments fund the essential services residents
2 depend on, investing greatly in rural housing and
3 healthcare access, growing green jobs, and
4 pushing for education parity with fully funded
5 universal full-day pre-K for our upstate
6 children.
7 We're strengthening upstate
8 infrastructure by protecting our local roads and
9 bridges through increased CHIPS funding and
10 Extreme Winter Recovery funds, closing the
11 broadband gap once and for all by getting the
12 accurate household-level mapping data and adding
13 additional clean water funding so that our aging
14 infrastructure gets the attention it deserves.
15 And we're committing to our
16 agriculture sector by bolstering the overall ag
17 budget and protecting farmland, funding new
18 research and development initiatives, and
19 creating a new line item dedicated to supporting
20 small farms.
21 This one-house budget proposal is a
22 win for upstate New Yorkers and one we can build
23 off of for years to come. And for that reason, I
24 vote aye.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
1522
1 Hinchey to be recorded in the affirmative.
2 Senator Borrello to explain his
3 vote.
4 SENATOR BORRELLO: I'm in the wrong
5 chair, excuse me.
6 Thank you, Madam President.
7 You know, as New Yorkers I think we
8 can all say that we are desperate to move on from
9 this pandemic. The economic devastation, the
10 cost in lives in New York State has been very
11 heavy. But if we want to move ahead, we're going
12 to have to ensure that our economy can recover
13 and thrive.
14 That's why I was relieved to hear
15 that our federal government was going to provide
16 a very generous $12.6 billion in federal aid, as
17 well as an additional 10 billion for schools,
18 colleges, childcare and other budget items.
19 I thought that would mean we'd no
20 longer need a tax increase right now, which would
21 hurt New Yorkers at an incredibly sensitive and
22 difficult time.
23 But then we saw this budget, with
24 $6.3 billion in new taxes, a record amount of
25 spending, $210 billion, $15 billion more than the
1523
1 Executive Budget proposal.
2 What's that going to mean for
3 New Yorkers? And I understand there's this
4 philosophy that it's only a small number of
5 people and they can pay a little bit more. But
6 that's really not the reality.
7 The companies that are leaving
8 New York State, the people that are leaving in
9 record numbers -- more so than any other state --
10 those are the jobs that are leaving. Those are
11 the families that are leaving. They're not just
12 the wealthiest 1 percenters. These are people in
13 my district, the people that -- like at Siemens
14 Energy, 400 jobs, because they're closing,
15 because New York is no longer a state that
16 Siemens can do business in. These are not
17 billionaires or multimillionaires. These are
18 working-class folks trying to feed their families
19 that can no longer do that.
20 So these taxes that we're going to
21 increase, they're going to affect all of those
22 folks, not just the wealthiest 1 percent.
23 We should be taking steps to reverse
24 the trend of increasing taxes and regulations.
25 And if there's one thing this pandemic has taught
1524
1 us, it's that no one needs to be any one
2 particular place. We can choose to pretty much
3 be anywhere, working virtually, remotely,
4 learning remotely. So we have to give people
5 reasons to remain here in New York -- the
6 highest-taxed state in the nation and now one of
7 the least safe states in the nation. Those are
8 not reasons for people to remain in New York.
9 They're certainly not reasons to move to
10 New York.
11 So we can talk about the last
12 election and how many votes we received, but the
13 reality is people are voting with their feet and
14 they're voting to leave New York State in record
15 numbers.
16 Now, there are some great things in
17 this budget that I am happy and proud to support.
18 But unfortunately, the way the system works here
19 in Albany is it's one big bundle, and we have to
20 vote up or down. So while I am happy about some
21 of the infrastructure funds that have been
22 restored, the help for our farmers that
23 desperately need it, and some other things that I
24 think will be good, ultimately, with the largest
25 tax increase in history, the largest spending
1525
1 amount ever in the history of New York State, I
2 have to reluctantly vote no.
3 Thank you.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
5 Borrello to be recorded in the negative.
6 Senator Gianaris to explain his
7 vote.
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
9 Madam President.
10 I want to explain why the vote I'm
11 taking today is one I'm very excited about.
12 There are many things in this resolution that I
13 and many of my colleagues have been fighting for
14 for a long time, and a lot of which responds very
15 directly to some of the pain of the last year
16 that people have felt. So I just want to take a
17 moment to go through some of the key elements,
18 some of which may have been lost in the context
19 of some bigger issues.
20 But one that I have been pursuing
21 for some time is a removal of the Opportunity
22 Zone tax break in New York, an abused program
23 that was intended to help distressed communities
24 but in fact has been manipulated to pump money to
25 developers who are developing overdeveloped areas
1526
1 already and, from what I gather, has been used to
2 support developments that were going to be
3 happening whether this tax break existed or not,
4 because they were already underway.
5 It is a horrible waste of money. It
6 will save us over $60 million this year. So that
7 repeal is an important one for me.
8 But I want to also talk about some
9 of the things that are in here that will help
10 people in need who have suffered over the last
11 year, that many of us have spoken about. Rent
12 relief for New Yorkers who have suffered greatly
13 during the pandemic, lost their jobs or had
14 massive economic loss and have been in arrears.
15 And we're doing it in a way where the rent is
16 going to get paid, the smaller landlords will get
17 their money so they can continue to pay their
18 mortgages and their bills, and it's a success
19 story for all involved.
20 Helping our small businesses -- a
21 billion dollars for small business aid,
22 $500 million in the form of grants and
23 $500 million in the form also of rent relief for
24 those commercial tenants who have had a very,
25 very rough time over the last year. We've
1527
1 already lost too many of them, and this will help
2 us save those that remain.
3 A great amount of assistance for
4 people who have not been eligible for all the
5 federal money that's been flowing through the
6 country. People that have been delivering our
7 food and doing our laundry and helping us
8 continue to live our lives during a very, very
9 difficult time. When others had the privilege of
10 being sheltered at home, they were people who
11 were helping our communities continue to
12 function. This resolution will provide support
13 for them.
14 And then a couple of things that the
15 Governor tried to do in his proposal that we are
16 rolling back. Among others, we are restoring
17 money that was proposed to be raided from the
18 MTA. What a horrible, horrible idea at a time
19 when the subways and buses need more support, not
20 less. How are we supposed to get people back to
21 work if the subways and buses aren't working to
22 get them back to work? How are people supposed
23 to get to their doctor's appointments if there's
24 no way to get around or if it's not functioning
25 the way it's supposed to? We would restore that
1528
1 money.
2 And I want to say a word about Local
3 Law 97 in New York City, which is a
4 nation-leading effort to combat climate change.
5 Years of effort advocates, City Councilpeople in
6 the city put into this to get done, and I want to
7 give a special recognition to my own Councilman,
8 Costa Constantinides, who chairs the
9 Environmental Committee in New York City in the
10 Council. They established a law that is a
11 national model, and it was proposed in the
12 Executive Budget to overrule that by sneaking a
13 provision in there that would obviate what the
14 city had done. And this resolution would roll
15 that back as well.
16 So there's so many things, I could
17 go on further. But I know I'm only explaining my
18 vote, so I only have so much time. But I am
19 proud to cast a vote in the affirmative on this
20 resolution. It is a great piece of work, and
21 this Majority is very proud of it.
22 Thank you, Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
24 Senator Gianaris to be recorded in the
25 affirmative.
1529
1 Senator Jordan to explain her vote.
2 SENATOR JORDAN: Thank you,
3 Madam President. I rise to explain my vote.
4 There are many things in this overly
5 progressive budget that cause me to vote no. But
6 I will call attention to a major failing of this
7 one-house Senate budget, a video lottery
8 terminal -- also known as VLT -- host aid not
9 being restored for the City of Saratoga Springs
10 and Saratoga County as was requested back in
11 January.
12 The exclusion of this funding for my
13 district, as well as my colleague Senator Rath's
14 district, appears to have been driven by partisan
15 politics, seeing that the VLT aid to host cities
16 with Democrat Senators are receiving this aid.
17 This all must be rectified. Back on
18 January 25th I raised this issue to the Majority
19 with my colleague Senator Jim Tedisco,
20 Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, and Assemblywoman
21 Mary Beth Walsh. We made a bipartisan push
22 seeking full restoration of the $3.1 million in
23 host aid for Saratoga County and the City of
24 Saratoga Springs.
25 While just over $3 million pales in
1530
1 comparison overall to the State Budget's 193
2 billion All Funds spending, this VLT funding is
3 nonetheless extremely important for the City of
4 Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County. Saratoga
5 Springs has been especially hit hard by the
6 COVID-19 pandemic. Saratoga Race Course was not
7 allowed to have fans in attendance during last
8 year's meet, and that lack of fans caused serious
9 impacts on the city's economy as countless small
10 businesses, restaurants, hotels that depend on a
11 strong racing season and tourism were negatively
12 impacted. You can see it in our downtown.
13 VLT host aid was created to support
14 assumed local service needs and costs associated
15 with hosting VLT facilities, especially public
16 safety costs and other significant expenses
17 incurred by local governments, like the City of
18 Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County.
19 A loss of this funding would
20 devastate local finances and result in a
21 reduction or elimination of essential local
22 services. Saratoga Springs is led by a
23 Democratic mayor, and the city made a bipartisan
24 request back in early January for a restoration
25 of this critical VLT funding.
1531
1 This issue is too important to fail
2 prey to petty partisan politics. Without this
3 aid, I will have to vote no.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
5 Jordan to be recorded in the negative.
6 Senator Brouk to explain her vote.
7 SENATOR BROUK: Good afternoon,
8 Madam President. I'd like to speak on, just for
9 a bit, the impact of this budget on our state and
10 on my district, the 55th District near Rochester,
11 New York.
12 Within this resolution are some
13 incredible wins for the Rochester region. So I
14 want to thank my colleagues and Senate leadership
15 for recognizing the moment we're in and rejecting
16 the austerity mindset of the Executive Budget,
17 which failed to meaningfully support New Yorkers
18 in need.
19 I told my community that I would
20 bring their voices and their needs to the table.
21 And today, with this resolution, I'm proud to
22 claim that the Senate has delivered more to our
23 district than has been delivered in many, many
24 years.
25 As a proud public school graduate,
1532
1 I'm thrilled that we successfully delivered
2 significant investment to our local schools,
3 especially to Rochester City School District,
4 which faced a dire future after years of
5 underfunding.
6 We have successfully advocated for
7 increases in Foundation Aid, which school
8 districts across the state so desperately needed.
9 This is the investment our state needs and is the
10 only way forward to secure a bright future.
11 This budget will have long-lasting,
12 positive impacts on our communities. The
13 Executive Budget included an amendment that would
14 take away local control of the Erie Canal. The
15 canal is an important community asset for
16 recreation and economic development. Local
17 residents and elected officials urged me to fight
18 against this takeover, and I'm proud that the
19 Senate has rejected this amendment.
20 The one-house budget also makes a
21 key investment in Rochester's Police
22 Accountability Board, which has been fighting to
23 end the cycle of police violence that has plagued
24 our community.
25 The $1 million allocated to fund the
1533
1 Police Accountability Board's vital work is an
2 important first step in ensuring that Rochester
3 residents never again have to wake up to the news
4 that our police has killed someone in crisis
5 instead of supporting them, or that our police
6 have pepper-sprayed a mother while she holds her
7 3-year-old child, or that our police have
8 handcuffed and pepper-sprayed a 9-year-old girl
9 while she calls out for her father.
10 Today I'm glad that my neighbors are
11 getting some good news instead. The New York
12 State Senate is making an investment in their
13 futures.
14 There are enormous unprecedented
15 wins that will have a lasting impact on the
16 residents of the 55th District and across the
17 state. The Senate is taking strong steps in the
18 right direction to ensure that the health,
19 housing and educational needs of New Yorkers are
20 met. But there remains an urgent need to invest
21 in working-class and middle-class New Yorkers
22 beyond just this year.
23 I urge my colleagues to continue
24 pushing for sustained investment in our
25 communities. The New York State Legislature must
1534
1 think bigger, and we must include mechanisms for
2 sustainable revenue to set our state up for
3 success.
4 I look forward to continuing this
5 important work with my colleagues and will be
6 voting aye on this resolution.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
8 Brouk to be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Senator Martucci to explain his
10 vote.
11 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Thank you,
12 Madam President.
13 I'm disappointed. I'm disappointed
14 because I hoped to be able to come here and
15 support this one-house budget resolution. I'm
16 disappointed because there are good things in
17 this resolution, things that I proudly support.
18 These include keeping Goshen Secure
19 open, increased school aid, money for our local
20 roads, help for our small businesses and, at long
21 last, fair pay for our home-care workers. These
22 are all great things.
23 The problem is that even in light of
24 the state's recent windfall of cash --
25 $12.7 billion from the federal government,
1535
1 $10 billion for education, billions more for
2 local governments -- this resolution proposes
3 over $6 billion of new taxes, one of the largest
4 increases in our state's history.
5 These new taxes hit everyone, not
6 just the rich, as has been advertised. When you
7 add fees to broadband, charge utilities and
8 insurance companies more and increase the costs
9 to businesses, you're hitting middle-class
10 New Yorkers. Corporations and utilities will not
11 just eat this increase; they'll pass this cost on
12 to consumers, and these consumers are my
13 constituents.
14 Our economy has suffered enough this
15 year. Our state has suffered from high taxes for
16 decades. Last year -- or this year, rather, we
17 have more than enough money, all provided by the
18 federal government to meet our budget needs
19 without asking New Yorkers to pay one dime more.
20 It's not time for new taxes, new
21 taxes are not necessary, and I'll be voting in
22 the negative.
23 Thank you, Madam President.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
25 Martucci to be recorded in the negative.
1536
1 Senator Brisport to explain his
2 vote.
3 SENATOR BRISPORT: Thank you,
4 Madam President. And I'd like to start by
5 thanking you for recognizing me to speak.
6 I'd like to thank my colleagues for
7 their extraordinary work and diligence in
8 drafting this budget. And I'd like to thank
9 central staff for their work to cross every T and
10 dot every I. And I'd like to specifically thank
11 our leader for bringing together a conference of
12 43 very different individuals.
13 Colleagues, New York has the single
14 highest income inequality of any state in our
15 nation. After we pass this budget, we will
16 remain number-one most unequal. And while we may
17 disagree on who to tax, what to tax, and how
18 much, it is an objective fact that in societies
19 with high inequality, the wealthy wield
20 disproportionate influence on the political
21 process.
22 In New York our Governor has wielded
23 enormous power to normalize the idea that the
24 wealthy should be our greatest concern. I saw
25 that idea echoed over the past few weeks with
1537
1 questions like, How will the wealthy feel about
2 this budget? Will the wealthy feel piled upon?
3 Will the wealthy continue to stay here, or will
4 they leave? Will the wealthy call us to yell at
5 us? Will the wealthy stop voting for us?
6 Do we ask how the unhoused will feel
7 about this budget, the uninsured? Do we center
8 the concerns of the unemployed, the incarcerated
9 or the undocumented? No. Because in a society
10 as unequal as ours, the marginalized do not wield
11 political power. The wealthy do.
12 I don't blame anyone here for the
13 way this discussion has played out. Centering
14 the wealthy has become the culture of Albany, a
15 culture propagated by a Governor who is loyal to
16 no one but his billionaire donors. He has pushed
17 austerity rather than equity, and it has become
18 the norm here to ask how will the wealthy react?
19 I'm voting aye today. And as we
20 move forward into negotiations with the Governor,
21 I'm asking that we don't let him center the
22 New Yorkers who have gotten billions of dollars
23 richer during this pandemic. We must remember
24 the vast majority of New Yorkers who are still
25 struggling during this pandemic. We must treat
1538
1 our one-house budget as a floor, not as a
2 ceiling. We must declare this to be the bare
3 minimum we will accept for our communities. And
4 we must push for even more.
5 This body has the opportunity to
6 usher in a new day for our state. We must rise
7 to that occasion.
8 Thank you.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you.
10 Senator Brisport to be recorded in
11 the affirmative.
12 Senator Helming to explain her vote.
13 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you,
14 Madam President.
15 In so many areas I find that this
16 budget has misguided priorities and it falls
17 really short, especially for everyday New Yorkers
18 living in upstate.
19 Adding a new internet tax? Guess
20 what, it's not going to help us deliver expanded
21 broadband service.
22 Individuals and families looking for
23 housing services for loved ones with
24 developmental disabilities, mental illnesses or
25 behavioral concerns won't find help in this
1539
1 budget. The needs of so many physically
2 challenged people who are enrolled in the state's
3 Consumer Directed Personal Attendant Program -- a
4 lifeline, a lifeline that keeps them out of
5 nursing homes and keeps them in their own homes,
6 living as independently as possible -- they're
7 not going to find help in this budget.
8 If this budget stands as presented
9 today, our veterans are going to be shortchanged.
10 The Warrior Salute program that provides housing
11 and counseling for homeless veterans and veterans
12 experiencing trauma? Cut again.
13 And no funding once again for a
14 Veterans Memorial Cemetery. This in a state that
15 likes to call itself progressive. New York State
16 is one of only four states without a
17 state-operated facility. Sampson Veterans
18 Memorial Cemetery was constructed with the intent
19 to become a state facility. Let's get it done.
20 We've heard talk surrounding the
21 budget about creating a new crime related to
22 domestic violence, and yet the budget fails to
23 deliver on a $300,000 grant to construct a home
24 for women and children to protect them from
25 domestic violence. By the way, I have to comment
1540
1 that that shelter was to be built in Seneca
2 County, Seneca Falls, the birthplace of the
3 women's rights movement. There are only six
4 counties in this state that don't have shelters.
5 This shelter that was proposed and approved was
6 going to serve three of those. Again, the budget
7 doesn't deliver.
8 Our volunteer firefighters and rural
9 EMS providers will not find support in this
10 budget.
11 Madam President, I could go on, but
12 the bottom line is this budget will be the final
13 nail in the coffin for so many small local
14 businesses. It's going to send even more
15 individuals and families packing their bags and
16 fleeing the state.
17 This budget proposes one of the
18 largest tax increases in the history of our
19 state.
20 In my opinion, this budget
21 resolution is yet another attack on the middle
22 class. It's another attack on job creators, and
23 it's going to crush anyone aspiring to achieve
24 the American dream.
25 For these reasons and others, I am
1541
1 voting no on the budget resolution before us.
2 Thank you.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
4 Senator Helming to be recorded in the negative.
5 Senator Reichlin-Melnick to explain
6 his vote.
7 SENATOR REICHLIN-MELNICK: Thank
8 you, Madam President.
9 When I ran for office last year, I
10 talked a lot -- and my constituents and the
11 voters responded -- about making New York a state
12 that works for everyone, not just the wealthy and
13 the well-connected. This budget would go a long
14 way towards making that goal a reality.
15 It's a historic investment in our
16 state, in our public education systems, in our
17 healthcare systems, our roads, our mass transit,
18 in services for seniors, services for veterans,
19 assistance to our local governments and,
20 importantly, property tax relief for middle-class
21 families in the 38th District and around New York
22 State.
23 This budget restores over
24 $1.3 billion and adds that to the Foundation Aid
25 formula that funds our local schools. In the
1542
1 38th Senate District, which I represent,
2 $37 million coming into schools. It increases
3 Foundation Aid by requiring a minimum of
4 60 percent due under the formula, and that would
5 bring over 85 million into schools in the
6 38th District in Rockland and Westchester.
7 We are restoring the income tax cuts
8 that the Governor proposed to delay:
9 $394 million in income tax relief for the middle
10 class in this state. And property tax relief,
11 creating a new $400 million circuit breaker for
12 property taxpayers paying over 6 percent of their
13 income towards their property taxes.
14 This will benefit thousands of
15 residents in my district and tens of thousands
16 and millions of residents throughout New York
17 State. It's investments like these that show why
18 we are making New York a better place for people
19 to live, work and do business.
20 We have to support this budget. I
21 am proud to support it. Thank you.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Senator
23 Reichlin-Melnick in the affirmative.
24 Senator Biaggi to explain her vote.
25 SENATOR BIAGGI: Thank you,
1543
1 Madam President. I rise today in support of the
2 proposed one-house budget.
3 The greatest crisis that New York
4 State faces right now is mass destitution. The
5 Bronx, in the district that I currently
6 represent, has the highest unemployment rate in
7 the state, at 15 percent. Families currently are
8 facing severe food insecurity and many, many,
9 many fear losing their homes. Members of our
10 immigrant communities have not seen a dime in
11 government relief.
12 The need is massive, and equity and
13 justice must be our guiding principles. The
14 one-house budget resolution takes meaningful
15 steps to meet the moment we are in and to provide
16 assistance to our most vulnerable communities.
17 The changes that are proposed to the personal
18 income tax, the capital gains tax, and the
19 corporate franchise tax in particular will
20 generate significant revenue to fund education,
21 rent and mortgage relief, small business relief
22 and so much more.
23 Notably, the Senate proposal
24 increases education funding to $5.7 billion,
25 including a $1.37 billion increase in
1544
1 Foundation Aid, and commits to fully phasing in
2 Foundation Aid over the next three years.
3 The funding acknowledges the
4 challenges our public schools endured over the
5 last year and the resources that they desperately
6 need and are waiting for. Additionally, the
7 one-house budget funds the Excluded Workers Fund
8 with $2.1 billion to help those who faced
9 unemployment during the pandemic but who have
10 been ineligible for unemployment assistance.
11 And while this is a step in the
12 right direction, we must fully fund our excluded
13 workers for $3.5 billion.
14 The resolution also invests
15 $200 million in housing vouchers, invests
16 millions in supplemental rent aid, and it
17 restores all the cuts to Medicaid, which is
18 incredibly significant to me because,
19 representing the Bronx, which has been the
20 epicenter of COVID-19 not only for the state but
21 for the country, it is a place that cannot afford
22 to have any more cuts made to its medical system.
23 The resolution also proposes many
24 commonsense updates to outdated tax codes, and
25 these slight adjustments will be the adjustments
1545
1 that we will be able to make to ask the very
2 wealthiest amongst us to play their role and to
3 provide aid and resources to working families
4 across the state, as one New York.
5 There is a lot more that we can do,
6 and this is a moment for us and for New York
7 State to be able to rebuild our future in a way
8 that works not only for the few, but for the
9 many. I am very committed to supporting our
10 communities and taking care of all New Yorkers,
11 and I am looking forward, looking forward to
12 making transformational and creative and
13 sustainable revenue raisers and changes that
14 leave nothing on the table.
15 I believe the proposed one-house
16 budget leads us in this direction, and I look
17 forward to the end of our budget negotiations.
18 Thank you very much,
19 Madam President. I vote aye.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Senator
21 Biaggi to be recorded in the affirmative.
22 Senator Liu to explain his vote.
23 SENATOR LIU: Thank you,
24 Madam President.
25 I am going to vote yes on the budget
1546
1 resolution before the Senate today. This
2 resolution puts forth a correct path into the
3 future for New York. We're getting through a
4 very, very difficult crisis and period, but
5 nonetheless we have to lay the foundation for our
6 future.
7 And part of laying that foundation
8 is fulfilling a promise -- in fact, a mandate
9 that we should have -- that the State of New York
10 should have fulfilled over a dozen years ago.
11 And that is to provide the resources, the funding
12 so that all of the schoolchildren in New York
13 State could get a sound, basic education. That
14 concept of Foundation Aid to our public schools
15 has never been fully fulfilled.
16 Today, in this budget resolution, we
17 finally put our state on a firm path towards
18 fulfilling that entire mandate, by phasing in the
19 entire $4 billion per year that is still owed
20 over the next three years. The plan will provide
21 the funding in order to fully phase this, as we
22 promised.
23 In addition to the Foundation Aid
24 for our public schools, we're not forgetting
25 higher education, which is just as important as K
1547
1 or pre-K to 12 education. Our SUNY system, our
2 CUNY system, our public institutions of learning,
3 they have been starved for too long. Their
4 reliance on student tuition has continued to
5 increase over the last couple of decades. We
6 must start to reverse this. And this budget
7 provides the greatest increase to our public
8 universities that we have seen in a very long
9 time.
10 We are asking some New Yorkers to
11 pay more, no doubt. These New Yorkers, though,
12 make over a million dollars a year. Or, if it's
13 a couple, make over $2 million a year. These tax
14 increases will affect less than 1 percent of the
15 taxpayers of our great state.
16 And in many cases, as has been
17 recently documented, they are more than willing
18 and understand the need for this. Many of these
19 high-income earners have not been adversely
20 affected by COVID, unlike many of our front-line
21 workers who make far less than that threshold.
22 And along the way, we're also
23 providing some relief for middle-class and even
24 upper-middle-class taxpayers in the form of some
25 property tax relief, property tax being far more
1548
1 regressive than income tax.
2 So, Madam President, I'm proud to
3 vote yes on our Senate budget resolution, and I
4 look forward to holding the line and keeping this
5 intact as we approach the deadline for the final
6 budget on April 1st.
7 Thank you.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Senator
9 Liu to be recorded in the affirmative.
10 Senator Mayer to explain her vote.
11 SENATOR MAYER: Thank you,
12 Madam President.
13 Today we stand and push forward,
14 particularly in the area of education, as my
15 colleagues have said. We have put a stake in the
16 ground that we are committed to fully fund
17 Foundation Aid and, beginning this year, will
18 finish the three-year project to ensure that
19 every district gets what they deserve and what
20 they are owed under the law and under the
21 Constitution.
22 I'm so pleased that we are adding
23 substantial money for schools throughout the
24 state -- urban, rural and suburban. Every
25 district has suffered through COVID. Children,
1549
1 parents, communities, schools have faced this
2 crisis head-on and have had incredibly difficult
3 times. We need to help them through.
4 And through this budget, we are
5 using state money to do what the state is obliged
6 to do. And we are using federal money to
7 supplement, not supplant, the state's obligation
8 to these children and to our districts.
9 I'm very, very proud that we've made
10 such a clear commitment to every child,
11 regardless of zip code, to every district,
12 regardless of whether it is represented by a
13 Democrat or a Republican. Our commitment is to
14 the children of this state, and this one-house
15 resolution really makes our commitment so clear.
16 I want to also say that the
17 broadband access in this bill, based on a bill
18 that I sponsored to ensure that every child has
19 free access to broadband while they have remote
20 learning, is an important step to a statewide
21 solution to a statewide problem. We no longer
22 can have piecemeal approaches to dealing with a
23 problem that affects every single district. We
24 must have a solution that every child in every
25 community gets access to broadband while we
1550
1 require learning at home.
2 So I couldn't be more pleased that
3 this one-house resolution sets us in the
4 direction of making clear not only our
5 aspirations, as our chair said, but also our
6 commitment to the children, to the districts, to
7 the parents of New York. We are going to fight
8 for you, we are going to deliver for you, and
9 today we are voting for you.
10 I vote aye.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Senator
12 Mayer to be recorded in the affirmative.
13 Senator Harckham to explain his
14 vote.
15 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you,
16 Madam President.
17 First I want to thank our Majority
18 Leader, Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, for
19 leading such a collaborative process where we end
20 up in a space creating a budget that, as Senator
21 Mayer just mentioned, addresses the people all
22 over this state -- upstate, downstate, urban,
23 rural, suburban.
24 I want to thank Senator Krueger
25 for her work as chair of the Finance Committee as
1551
1 we sorted through all the numbers, and certainly
2 Senator Mayer for her work leading the education
3 table and the excellent result that we have
4 before us today on education.
5 This is a bill that invests in the
6 people of New York State, and it invests in the
7 people of the Hudson Valley. And it starts with
8 restoring the cuts to the Dwyer program. The
9 Joseph P. Dwyer program is a veterans
10 peer-to-peer program based around suicide
11 prevention, but also helps with depression, the
12 opioid crisis, homelessness. This is a vital
13 program in our district. I'm proud to say that
14 we've restored it.
15 To our small businesses who have
16 been hurt so hard by this pandemic, more than
17 $500 million in grant money and -- one of my
18 bills -- a $100 million grant fund directed
19 toward businesses that we've asked to stay closed
20 during the pandemic to keep all of us healthy.
21 Another $500 million in commercial rent relief
22 for small businesses, who have fallen behind.
23 Just as we're helping our tenants with their
24 arrears, we need to help our small businesses
25 with their arrears.
1552
1 And while we're asking the
2 wealthiest New Yorkers to pay more of their fair
3 share, we're holding the line and keeping this
4 year's round of middle-class tax cuts in the
5 budget. That was vital.
6 And for the first time, a property
7 tax circuit breaker, something that's been talked
8 about for years and years in Albany. For the
9 first time, we've got it in, a $450 million
10 saving for property taxpayers right there.
11 And lower interest rates for
12 homeowners who are in arrears on their tax
13 payments, gone from the usurious 18 percent down
14 to a much more manageable 7.5.
15 And as we've just heard from Senator
16 Liu and Senator Mayer, record investments in
17 education, including universal pre-K for the
18 first time throughout New York State.
19 These are investments that we need
20 to help with economy rebound and to create the
21 educated workforce we need to attract world-class
22 companies to come back to New York as we grow in
23 the future.
24 So I'm very proud of this resolution
25 and proud to vote aye. Thank you,
1553
1 Madam President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Senator
3 Harckham to be recorded in the affirmative.
4 Senator Lanza to explain his vote.
5 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you,
6 Madam President. Madam President, to explain my
7 vote.
8 First I want to thank
9 Senator Krueger, Senator O'Mara for their
10 exchange. I think it was extremely informative,
11 and I really respect and am grateful for the hard
12 work that they both put into this budget.
13 You know, as was pointed out,
14 there's a lot here that is good for the State of
15 New York. I particularly support the investment
16 in education. I don't think you can ever go
17 wrong investing in education, and I think the
18 spending there makes a lot of sense. I agree
19 with Senator Liu.
20 I wish there was a little more
21 money, Madam President, for the developmental
22 disability population in New York. I don't think
23 that we ever meet our obligation and
24 responsibility with respect to that very
25 vulnerable population.
1554
1 But Madam President, I want to
2 explain the reasons why I can't support this
3 resolution.
4 You know, for a year the people of
5 the State of New York were told about this budget
6 hole, this deficit, and how severe and how dire
7 the circumstances were here in New York. And we
8 all wondered what was going to happen. I don't
9 think anybody really imagined that the solution
10 to that tremendous budget deficit was to spend
11 billions and billions and billions of dollars
12 more. But here we are, and that's what this
13 budget does.
14 You know, there was a conversation
15 on the floor here -- what it would mean, why are
16 people leaving New York, why aren't we attracting
17 people and businesses in the way that we used to.
18 We can have long conversations about that. But
19 the fact of the matter, Madam President, is you
20 have to look within. The fact of the matter is
21 that New Yorkers are leaving, by the millions.
22 You know, if it were a business, if
23 you had a bakery and people decided not to shop
24 at your bakery but rather to go across the state
25 to another bakery, any good business, any entity
1555
1 that wanted to survive would look into the
2 reasons why that's happening.
3 I would propose to you,
4 Madam President, that the reason is budgets like
5 this.
6 You know, Senator Krueger pointed
7 out that there are people that are willing to
8 spend more. And I would agree with that, that
9 this is only a 3 percent increase on the upper
10 earners in the State of New York. But you know
11 the old adage, Madam President, the straw that
12 broke the camel's back. These are folks that are
13 already paying most of the way here in New York.
14 And I would agree that people would spend more.
15 But people want something in return.
16 And the fact of the matter is -- I
17 say this with great sadness -- we're not getting
18 more here in New York. We're getting less. You
19 know, crime is on the rise. I look at my beloved
20 City of New York; it's dirtier than ever, we have
21 more homelessness in New York. Things don't seem
22 to be going in the right direction in spite of
23 the increased spending year over year.
24 I heard talk about austerity
25 budgets. Madam President, I must have missed
1556
1 them. And I've been here a number of years, even
2 when Republicans were in the Majority here in
3 this chamber. You know, I don't ever remember
4 there being an austerity budget. Every single
5 year we spend more and more and more and more,
6 and things do not seem to be getting better.
7 You know, this pitting one group of
8 New Yorkers against another to say, Hey, we're
9 going to raise taxes by billions of dollars here,
10 but don't worry, you're not going to pay it.
11 That's the game that's always played. People are
12 fooled into believing don't worry, we're not
13 coming for you. It's for someone else.
14 I reject that. We have got to stop
15 pitting each other against each other. You know,
16 people said, Some people are leaving. And I know
17 people say, Good riddance. You know, it's not my
18 friend that's leaving. I don't like you because
19 you make a lot of money. Or: It's not me that's
20 leaving, it's not my family member that's
21 leaving.
22 I don't want anybody to leave,
23 Madam President. You know, we want to keep the
24 job creators and the job seekers. It's a
25 marriage. We need each other. And I promise
1557
1 you, people make choices. You say they're not
2 going to leave; what happens when you're wrong?
3 People -- if you can buy a house for
4 a million dollars or a house for $100,000, and
5 the house for $100,000 offers more -- people say
6 people aren't leaving. I live in the
7 southernmost point of New York State,
8 Madam President, Staten Island. It's like the
9 last stop. And people are flying through.
10 And they report back from places
11 around the country. And you know what they say?
12 They say: We pay less, and we get more. It's
13 not a good formula for the future of New York.
14 There's talk that only 1 percent are
15 going to pay. That's nonsense. We're all going
16 to pay. If you increase the tax on the business
17 owner who makes the bread, the person who buys
18 the loaf of bread is going to have to pay more.
19 And that's what this budget does.
20 And that's why I can't support it. And I know
21 there's a lot of good work here and there are a
22 lot of good aspects to this budget. But
23 increasing billions of dollars at this moment is
24 the absolute worst thing we could be doing.
25 Madam President, unfortunately I'm
1558
1 going to be voting in the negative.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Senator
3 Lanza to be recorded in the negative.
4 Senator Krueger to explain her vote.
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you,
6 Madam President, to explain my vote.
7 So people might think she already
8 spent three hours on the floor here explaining
9 her vote. You know, I was listening to everyone,
10 and I was thinking about the big picture. So
11 this is my 19th year in the New York State
12 Senate, and I come into this chamber and I am
13 always taken by the beauty of it and the history
14 of this building and the history of this state.
15 And what is it about New York? It's
16 about great leaders who think boldly about the
17 future and are willing to say it's not working,
18 we got off-kilter somewhere, we have to reboot,
19 using 21st-century language.
20 And I've been waiting for a reboot,
21 I think, all 19 years that I've been here, and
22 we've had some great successes just in the last
23 couple of years. But I listen to my colleagues
24 from the other side of the aisle saying why we
25 can't do this. But then they list out all the
1559
1 programs and services that their communities need
2 and how frustrated they are that they can't get
3 them taken care of.
4 And I understand that because I
5 think everyone here has that feeling about the
6 community they represent. But when they're asked
7 to imagine that you would have an adequately
8 funded state budget so that you could cover the
9 costs of these services and programs, and not be
10 which part of the baby are we saving, which part
11 of the baby are we not saving this year.
12 If you imagine that we could
13 actually have a state that made the true level of
14 investment in its own people, in its own
15 infrastructure, in its own future, you can see a
16 different state for everybody.
17 And some people have talked so
18 articulately about the injustice of the inequity
19 of income in the state. And it's more real here
20 than anywhere, and this whole country is being
21 asked to confront that question. And I hope
22 Washington does soon. But we're here in
23 New York, and we need to take responsibility for
24 our future and our people.
25 And I have no question -- people
1560
1 keep saying, You just can't keep taxing people.
2 Well, that's true. And some people's proposals
3 went so much farther than what we've done today,
4 and we didn't do that. But when I hear my
5 colleagues say the taxes are going to fall on
6 everyone, don't forget, I think, ah, every person
7 in American politics is taught never raise a tax,
8 it will be the undoing of you.
9 It's not true. It's never actually
10 been true. But if you're underfunding the
11 fundamentals of your society, first off, you're
12 paying a lot more for all the problems that are
13 created when you underfund what needs to be
14 funded, so don't have the illusion you're saving
15 money by not investing.
16 And second, you're supposed to lead
17 because you asked people to vote for you and you
18 asked people to give you the power to make really
19 tough decisions like what our tax rates are going
20 to be and what the laws are and how long we might
21 have to go to jail for.
22 And I'm telling you that this state,
23 if it's going to have the great future that it
24 used to talk about having in the past, has to
25 wake up and think it through differently.
1561
1 So I know people are scared about
2 calling for a significant raise in taxes. But
3 again, it's on the wealthiest New Yorkers. And
4 it's not a punishment, it's a cry for help:
5 You've done great, you're doing great, we need
6 your help because we want everybody to do well.
7 And if you invest in us, we're going to be there
8 and be the state you want us to be, and that's
9 why you're going to stay.
10 And for all the many people who know
11 history better than me and have typed into me now
12 that when Senator Tedisco earlier said they're
13 all fleeing New York, they're pointing out
14 actually we had a million more people today than
15 we did in 1970. So they didn't all flee. We
16 have a growing population. There's other reasons
17 that other states have more Congresspeople.
18 So they didn't flee. And we do not
19 want them to flee. And we have more millionaires
20 now than ever before also, and billionaires,
21 actually. And what we're asking of them is not
22 so unreasonable and is not going to mean that my
23 district is emptied the day we vote for this bill
24 in real -- because today's a one-house budget
25 bill. And I hope that more of them will come out
1562
1 and speak and say, You know, Liz, you're right.
2 I mean, I'll tell you one
3 constituent said to me: You expect me to
4 complain if you raise my taxes? I live in the
5 greatest city of the world in the greatest
6 country of the world, and I'm rich. I have no
7 right to complain. And I was like, Hmm, I wish
8 all my constituents were like that.
9 But that's really what we're saying.
10 You know, some of you are doing fabulously even
11 in a pandemic economic-crash period. But we all
12 need a little help being pulled up. And when you
13 pull us all up, it's better for everyone.
14 So I proudly vote yes,
15 Madam President. Thank you.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD:
17 Senator Krueger to be recorded in the
18 affirmative.
19 Leader Stewart-Cousins to explain
20 her vote.
21 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank you
22 so much, Ms. President.
23 And I just want to thank our
24 incredible Finance chair, Senator Liz Krueger,
25 especially for, you know, what you've done with
1563
1 leading the long but important budget hearings,
2 and of course what happened today. Thank you,
3 Senator Krueger, for always being that voice
4 that, you know, speaks the truth.
5 And I also want to thank my deputy
6 leader, Mike Gianaris, for managing today's
7 discussion and debate. And of course to the
8 Presidents who also managed today's proceedings.
9 I want thank my counsel and Finance
10 staff and the staff on the other side for the
11 hard work that we do, especially during this
12 time. It does not go unnoticed.
13 And I want to give a special
14 shout-out to my chief of staff, Shontell Smith,
15 as well as our Finance Secretary, Dave Friedfel,
16 Communications Director Mike Murphy, and Director
17 of External Affairs Loren Amor, for all the hard
18 work.
19 And of course I want to thank the
20 amazing members of this Democratic Majority
21 Conference who put so much effort during this
22 budget process -- often up late, on weekends, and
23 everyone's input that helped us shape these
24 priorities.
25 I'm grateful to be in this chamber
1564
1 today to speak on our one-house budget resolution
2 and talk about some of the things that we're
3 advancing here.
4 Last year there were no budget
5 resolutions as we confronted what would become
6 the early moments of the COVID-19 pandemic.
7 There has been so much taken by this virus since
8 that time. Over 48,000 New Yorkers have lost
9 their lives, with countless loved ones left
10 behind. New Yorkers have lost their livelihoods,
11 businesses that they built from the ground up
12 unable to survive. Students have had precious
13 moments to learn, grow and thrive -- have lost so
14 much in this school year.
15 The toll this past year has had on
16 front-line essential workers and their families
17 is immeasurable, and our debt to them frankly is
18 unpayable.
19 But because of who we are as people
20 and the resiliency of so many, we're standing
21 here today with greater knowledge, hope and
22 opportunity.
23 I think we all understand that this
24 pandemic exposed so many inequities and
25 deficiencies that existed long before it ravaged
1565
1 our nation and our state. This budget resolution
2 is a step towards addressing those inequities.
3 We're laying out a path that will lead New York
4 State through this pandemic and beyond.
5 The proposals in this resolution put
6 forth fairness, fiscal responsibility, and smart
7 investments to ensure economic stability and the
8 delivery of services so many of our neighbors
9 depend on. This resolution is also a testament
10 to our commitment to establishing fiscal equity
11 and investing in our state's long-term success.
12 As we take this first important step
13 in this challenging budget process, I want to
14 recognize that we are truly fortunate that the
15 new Democratic Congress delivered on President
16 Biden's promise to provide critical funding
17 through the American Rescue Plan that will help
18 the economy, families, schools and small
19 businesses across New York State.
20 So thank you, President Biden and
21 Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker
22 Nancy Pelosi, and those from the New York State
23 Congressional delegation who showed moral
24 leadership in supporting this needed recovery.
25 I've been clear in stating that
1566
1 while federal support has been desperately
2 needed, we as a state must also take bold action
3 to equitably raise the needed revenue to address
4 our challenges from before, during, and after
5 this pandemic. That's why we're asking
6 New Yorkers who make over a million dollars
7 annually to help our state.
8 Our proposals also ensure that
9 wealthy corporations, many who have seen their
10 profits only increase during this pandemic, pay a
11 fairer share in taxes.
12 Let me be clear. Despite what our
13 colleagues across the aisle may mischaracterize,
14 if you are a New Yorker who does not make
15 millions and billions of dollars, this does not
16 impact you.
17 And what this new revenue will do is
18 help fund crucial services such as public
19 education, infrastructure, assistance for
20 small businesses, and tax relief for middle-class
21 New Yorkers. In fact, this resolution provides
22 relief for working- and middle-class taxpayers,
23 creating a personal income tax credit to reduce
24 the net cost of property taxes for overburdened
25 middle-class homeowners that will reduce property
1567
1 taxes by approximately $400 million annually.
2 And this resolution strongly rejects
3 any delay in the implementation of the ongoing
4 middle-class tax cut for one year, which will
5 save taxpayers 394 million this year.
6 As we work to rebuild our economy,
7 we must support small businesses who have
8 suffered throughout this pandemic. That's why
9 we're calling for investing over $1 billion in
10 New York's small businesses: $500 million for
11 small businesses assistance grants, $500 million
12 for commercial rent relief. That's 500 million
13 for small businesses assistance grants and
14 500 million for commercial rent relief.
15 Women and Black and Brown
16 New Yorkers have faced disproportionate hardship
17 during this pandemic and must not be left behind.
18 That's why we're proposing adding an additional
19 $1.3 billion for the Minority and Women Owned
20 Business Development and Lending Program.
21 It's been proven that the arts are
22 an economic driver from Broadway and the bright
23 lights of New York City to theaters and cultural
24 institutions on Main Streets in communities
25 across New York State. That's why, as we reopen
1568
1 our economy, our resolution proposes investing an
2 additional $100 million in New York State Council
3 on the Arts grants for nonprofit cultural
4 organizations.
5 In 2019 we passed the strongest
6 housing and tenant protections in the history of
7 New York State. However, the pandemic has
8 further exposed how close people are from having
9 a roof over their head to being homeless. Too
10 often the difference is just one single paycheck.
11 This budget resolution includes an
12 unprecedented $750 million for the New York City
13 Housing Authority, $200 million for public
14 housing authorities across the New York State,
15 adding $200 million for homeowner assistance,
16 creating the Housing Access Voucher Program to
17 provide a cash subsidy to eligible low-income
18 individuals and families that are homeless or
19 facing imminent loss of housing, and providing
20 $400 million for additional rental assistance in
21 addition to the available federal funds.
22 With federal funding we propose the
23 creation of a COVID-19 Emergency Rental
24 Assistance Program to provide rent arrears
25 vouchers to landlords on behalf of tenants
1569
1 experiencing financial hardship due directly or
2 indirectly to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3 New York students and educators have
4 navigated tough times, adapting to remote
5 learning and safely reopening our schools. The
6 Senate Majority is moving forward with a
7 transformational increase in state and federal
8 resources, ensuring that students receive a
9 high-quality education and teachers can ensure no
10 one is left behind and that they are adequately
11 supported.
12 This includes providing a total
13 school aid increase of $5.7 billion, including a
14 $1.37 billion Foundation Aid increase, and
15 $3.85 billion in federal Coronavirus Response and
16 Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act -- called
17 CRRSAA -- funding.
18 We are proposing $3.5 billion more
19 school aid than the Executive's proposal, and
20 utilizing federal aid to supplement, not
21 supplant, the state's education funding.
22 State-funded school aid would increase to a total
23 of $29.5 billion.
24 A commitment to a three-year
25 phase-in in Foundation Aid to ensure that all
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1 districts receive full Foundation Aid by the
2 2023-'24 school year, and including $500 million
3 to fully fund 4-year-old full-day pre-K
4 statewide.
5 We continue to make New York State a
6 national leader in environment and conservation
7 efforts and put forth historic action to
8 authorize $3 billion for the Environmental Bond
9 Act of 2021, Clean Water, Green Jobs, Green
10 New York, to fund environmental improvements that
11 preserve, enhance and restore New York's natural
12 resources and reduce the impact of climate
13 change.
14 The pandemic highlighted gaps in our
15 healthcare system, and the Senate Majority is
16 committed to ensuring that New Yorkers receive
17 quality and affordable healthcare. Which is why
18 this resolution opposes cuts to Medicaid and
19 critical health services, restoring
20 $180.5 million in Medicaid cuts to hospitals,
21 $74 million in long-term care, $60 million to
22 mainstream managed care, and millions more to
23 various other Medicaid-supported programs.
24 Additionally, we propose
25 $624 million to increase the minimum wage for the
1571
1 lowest-paid home healthcare workers, who have not
2 seen raises in years and have kept working
3 through the pandemic, on the front lines, at
4 great personal risk.
5 Our proposal also includes
6 $40 million in hazard pay for front-line workers
7 in SUNY hospitals.
8 So many hardworking people in
9 New York have faced economic hardships and
10 challenges in employment opportunities during
11 this pandemic. That's why we're proposing a new
12 Excluded Worker Fund to provide unemployment
13 benefits to workers who lost their jobs during
14 COVID-19 but were ineligible for unemployment
15 insurance.
16 This pandemic has highlighted the
17 importance of the services nonprofits across the
18 state provide, which is why we added $50 million
19 for various nonprofit health, human services,
20 labor and veterans organizations.
21 The Senate Majority understands that
22 our partners in local governments are also facing
23 many challenges as a result of this pandemic, and
24 they deserve adequate funding and support. To
25 support them, our resolution includes restoring
1572
1 $39 million of aid and incentives for the AIM
2 funding, and adding $59 million of AIM funding to
3 fund the repeal of the county share of AIM
4 payments.
5 Along with local governments, we
6 have shared responsibility to having
7 infrastructure worthy of the 21st century.
8 That's why we're investing $568 million to
9 restore statewide mass transportation operating
10 assistance cuts and to provide $385 million in
11 additional statewide mass transportation
12 operating assistance. And $150 million to be
13 added to the base amount for the CHIPS program,
14 the Consolidated Local Street and Highway
15 Improvement Program.
16 So New York has a robust and
17 expansive agricultural industry, and it's crucial
18 to our economy. And so we must support our
19 farmers. And that's why we propose restoring
20 $7.3 million for statewide agricultural programs.
21 In this resolution we continue our
22 commitment to improving New York's justice system
23 and making communities more safe. That includes
24 a new investment of $100 million for the Jails
25 and Prisons Assistance Program to fund
1573
1 alternative therapeutic and rehabilitative
2 programs related to segregated confinement and
3 medication assisted treatment reforms.
4 We further commit $6 million in new
5 funding for upstate civil or criminal legal
6 services, including legal services for survivors
7 of domestic violence, and veterans, and dedicate
8 at least $10 million from the Victims of Crime
9 Act funding to establish a statewide hospital and
10 community-based gun violence prevention program.
11 And as part of our continued efforts
12 to empower voters and prevent their
13 disenfranchisement, we fund the Independent
14 Redistricting Commission with $4 million and
15 another $4 million to reimburse local Boards of
16 Election for the expansion of early voting
17 initiatives.
18 In closing, many of you have heard
19 me speak of tearing down barriers and creating
20 opportunities. This pandemic has certainly
21 called upon us to do so, and I know that we are
22 up for the challenge that this process will bring
23 us. This virus, as I said earlier, has exposed
24 so many inequities and so many deficiencies. We
25 must look for ways to not only recover but also
1574
1 build back our great state even stronger.
2 In the coming weeks the Senate
3 Majority will continue to work with our partners
4 in government to pass a timely, balanced and
5 ethical budget that will continue to lead us
6 forward and create brighter days ahead.
7 Madam President, I vote aye.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: Leader
9 Stewart-Cousins to be recorded in the
10 affirmative.
11 Announce the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
13 Senate Resolution 504, those Senators voting in
14 the negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello,
15 Boyle, Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
16 Martucci, Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
17 Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and
18 Weik.
19 Ayes, 43. Nays, 20.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: The
21 resolution is adopted.
22 Senator Liu.
23 SENATOR LIU: Is there any further
24 business at the desk?
25 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: There is
1575
1 no further business at the desk.
2 SENATOR LIU: I move to adjourn
3 until Tuesday, March 16th, at 3:00 p.m.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT PERSAUD: On
5 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
6 Tuesday, March 16th, at 3:00 p.m.
7 (Whereupon, at 6:55 p.m., the Senate
8 adjourned.)
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