2097
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 31, 2021
11 3:36 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR BRIAN A. BENJAMIN, Acting President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
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25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 Senate 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 BENJAMIN: 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 BENJAMIN: Reading
14 of the Journal.
15 THE SECRETARY: In Senate, Tuesday,
16 March 30, 2021, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, March 29,
18 2021, was read and approved. On motion, Senate
19 adjourned.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: 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.
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1 Reports of select committees.
2 Communications and reports from
3 state officers.
4 Motions and resolutions.
5 Senator Gianaris.
6 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President, I
7 move to adopt the Resolution Calendar.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: All in
9 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar please
10 signify by saying aye.
11 (Response of "Aye.")
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
13 Opposed, nay.
14 (No response.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 Resolution Calendar is adopted.
17 Senator Gianaris.
18 SENATOR GIANARIS: Can we now take
19 up the calendar.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
21 Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 452, Senate Print 70, by Senator Hoylman, an act
24 to amend the Executive Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
2100
1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3 act shall take effect on the 90th day after it
4 shall have become a law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
9 Hoylman to explain his vote.
10 SENATOR HOYLMAN: Thank you,
11 Mr. President.
12 This Monday, right before noon, a
13 woman of Filipino descent, an immigrant, was
14 walking through the streets of Hell's Kitchen.
15 As she walked down 43rd Street, just a block from
16 Times Square, in my district, a man kicked her in
17 the stomach. She fell to the ground and was then
18 repeatedly, brutally kicked in the head while her
19 assailant yelled expletives and told her "You
20 don't belong here."
21 This wasn't a crime without a
22 witness. Security footage of the assault showed
23 three men watching from the lobby of a nearby
24 luxury building. As the woman struggled to stand
25 up, one of the men closed the front door to the
2101
1 building.
2 This morning the NYPD charged her
3 alleged assailant with felony assault as a hate
4 crime.
5 I'm thankful that her alleged
6 attacker has been charged, Mr. President, and I'm
7 hopeful that justice is going to be served. But
8 I'm alarmed that even as New York City has seen a
9 surge in reported hate crimes against
10 Asian-Americans, this is the first assault --
11 this is the first assault on an Asian-American to
12 be charged as a hate crime this year.
13 This isn't happening in a vacuum.
14 The Asian-American Bar Association recently
15 published a report showing that hate crimes
16 against Asian-Americans in New York City have
17 risen by 900 percent compared to last year. Our
18 city, New York, has seen the largest increase in
19 reported hate crimes among any large American
20 city.
21 This is unacceptable. It's a
22 failure of our criminal justice system. And it's
23 wrong.
24 We cannot fight back against this
25 wave of hatred and violence if we don't have the
2102
1 data and information to understand the scope of
2 the problem and the tools to fight it. That's
3 why we need this bill, Mr. President, the Hate
4 Crimes Analysis and Review Act.
5 We need to pull back the curtain on
6 hate crimes and better understand who's
7 committing them and who's being targeted by them.
8 This act is going to require the New York State
9 Division of Criminal Justice Services to maintain
10 and make public statistical data about hate
11 crimes while expanding the data points
12 law enforcement is required to report.
13 This act is also going to require
14 DCJS to issue an annual stand-alone report and
15 statistical analysis of hate crimes based on this
16 data, codifying the agency's current practice.
17 But let's be clear. The impact of
18 the legislation isn't going to be just felt in
19 the AAPI community. Today, coincidentally, we
20 commemorate the International Transgender Day of
21 Visibility. But even as we celebrate the
22 resilience of that community, we're also living
23 through a moment when trans people, particularly
24 Black trans women, are being murdered at record
25 rates.
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1 In 2020, the number of trans people
2 murdered nationally surpassed the number of trans
3 people murdered in 2019, in just seven months.
4 In 2019 the number of hate crimes targeting LGBTQ
5 people rose 20 percent over 2018 in New York
6 City, only surpassed by the terrifying 55 percent
7 increase in hate crimes targeting our city's
8 Jewish community.
9 We're facing a crisis in our city
10 and state. We need to understand the full scope
11 of the crisis if we are to contain it. This act
12 is a positive step in doing that and bringing
13 justice to communities that badly need it.
14 I'd like to thank Senate Majority
15 Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for bringing this
16 legislation to the floor for a vote,
17 Assemblymember Karines Reyes and Dick Gottfried
18 for their work on the companion legislation, and
19 to my colleagues for their support.
20 I vote aye, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
22 Hoylman to be recorded in the affirmative.
23 Announce the results.
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2104
1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 526, Senate Print 2929A, by Senator Parker, an
4 act in relation to designating Kings County as a
5 cease and desist zone.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
14 Senator Parker to explain his vote.
15 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 I rise to vote aye on this bill
18 that's been very important for my community and
19 really, I think, the beginning of a conversation
20 that needs to happen statewide.
21 We have a housing crisis. Even in
22 the midst of a pandemic, the housing crisis has
23 been, you know, really palpable, particularly in
24 places like Brooklyn, you know, the state's
25 largest county and really the country's
2105
1 third-largest city if it stood alone.
2 And we have a problem particularly
3 in the context of housing around aggressive
4 solicitation. And what this bill attempts to do
5 is address the issue of aggressive real estate
6 solicitation. And really this aggressive
7 solicitation has become a main tool that has, you
8 know, created a perfect storm of gentrification,
9 flipping homes for high profit, third-party
10 transfers, deed theft, and some other
11 unscrupulous activity that's done by the real
12 estate industry.
13 It creates instability in our
14 communities, particularly for long-standing
15 residents. And it's also -- these aggressive
16 pitches and this pressure on reluctant
17 homeowners, you know, really puts a real strain
18 economically on the community. Because once
19 these folks leave their homes, they then -- it
20 becomes hard for them to find other places to
21 live.
22 And in particular, the targets have
23 been our senior citizens, have been a lot of
24 people in Black and Latino communities and
25 low-income communities generally, where
2106
1 oftentimes almost everything they own may be
2 wrapped up in this piece of real estate.
3 And so bad real estate actors have
4 targeted New York City's most vulnerable
5 residents -- seniors, New Yorkers who are facing
6 foreclosure, and residents also who have limited
7 English proficiency.
8 We must protect New Yorkers. That's
9 our job here. And so I pass this bill and ask my
10 colleagues to vote for it, and I hope that this
11 begins a process by which, you know, the most
12 vulnerable who are homeowners in our community
13 find some relief.
14 Thank you, Mr. President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
16 Senator Parker to be recorded in the affirmative.
17 Announce the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
19 Calendar 526, those Senators voting in the
20 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
21 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Hinchey, Jordan,
22 Kaplan, Lanza, Martucci, Mattera, Oberacker,
23 O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath, Reichlin-Melnick,
24 Ritchie, Serino, Skoufis, Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
25 Ayes, 39. Nays, 24.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 546, Senate Print 4935, by Senator Rivera, an act
5 to amend the Public Health Law.
6 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Lay it
8 aside.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 573, Senate Print 3579, by Senator Breslin, an
11 act to amend the Insurance Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
20 Announce the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 586, Senate Print 4251, by Senator Skoufis, an
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1 act to amend Chapter 435 of the Laws of 2014.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
12 Calendar 586, voting in the negative:
13 Senator Brisport.
14 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 614, Senate Print 28, by Senator Kaplan, an act
19 to amend the State Administrative Procedure Act.
20 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Lay it
22 aside.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 628, Senate Print 954, by Senator Gaughran, an
25 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
2 the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
4 act shall take effect on the 180th day after it
5 shall have become a law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 635, Senate Print 4074, by Senator Hinchey, an
16 act to amend the Highway Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
25 Announce the results.
2110
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 636, Senate Print 4450, by Senator Stavisky, an
6 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
10 act shall take effect on the first of April.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
15 Announce the results.
16 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
17 Calendar 636, those Senators voting in the
18 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
19 Helming, Jordan, Martucci, Oberacker, O'Mara,
20 Ortt, Palumbo, Rath and Weik.
21 Ayes, 51. Nays, 12.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 637, Senate Print 4651, by Senator Kaminsky, an
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1 act to amend the Highway Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
10 Senator Kaminsky to explain his vote.
11 SENATOR KAMINSKY: Thank you very
12 much, Mr. President.
13 I rise today under unfortunate
14 circumstances to honor the memory of Pete Sobol,
15 who was taken from us far too early in his life
16 very suddenly last month. Pete Sobol was a son
17 of the Five Towns, particularly of Inwood, and he
18 seemed to carry the community on his shoulders.
19 No one put more of his time, dedication and
20 strength into preserving a community, even as it
21 changed around him.
22 After Hurricane Sandy, he helped
23 turn the Five Towns Community Center into a
24 Red Cross hub. When COVID hit, he was able to
25 demand testing and turn the Five Towns Community
2112
1 Center, which he loved and he served as president
2 of their board for many years, into a testing
3 center.
4 When the community had a decision to
5 make about what it was going to do and whether it
6 was going to embrace, in the true spirit of
7 America, a new class of immigrants who had come
8 into the community recently, Pete was their
9 champion, making sure that no one was left
10 behind, that everyone had the services they
11 needed, got the education they deserved. He
12 would give the shirt off his back if he could.
13 And one very quick story illustrates
14 why Pete Sobol, you know, was the spirit of the
15 community. One day driving over a bridge, my
16 wife and I saw a man in the middle of the highway
17 on one of the malls, a piece of grass, with a
18 weed whacker and a big jug of water. He decided
19 that the highway wasn't looking right, and
20 instead of waiting or writing to someone else --
21 I guess, like me -- or petitioning someone or
22 complaining, he went and mowed the lawn in the
23 middle of the highway. He went and started
24 trimming the hedges. He went and started
25 watering the flowers.
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1 Next weekend you'd see him out there
2 on his hands and his knees, beautifying the
3 place, because he believed that a community is
4 what you make of it. And he welcomed everyone,
5 no matter their background, no matter their
6 status, to join him in that endeavor. And that's
7 why Pete Sobol was a special person.
8 It was sad to lose him, and we're
9 going to be naming a bridge that enters the very
10 community he loved the Pete Sobol Memorial
11 Highway. And it's the least we could do to honor
12 the memory of a great man.
13 I vote aye. Thank you,
14 Mr. President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
16 Kaminsky to be recorded in the affirmative.
17 Announce the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
20 bill is passed.
21 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
22 reading of today's calendar.
23 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's go to the
24 controversial calendar, please.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2114
1 Secretary will ring the bell.
2 The Secretary will read.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 546, Senate Print 4935, by Senator Rivera, an act
5 to amend the Public Health Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
7 Lanza, why do you rise?
8 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President, I
9 believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
10 waive the reading of that amendment and ask that
11 Senator Rath be recognized and heard.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
13 you, Senator Lanza.
14 Upon review of the amendment, in
15 accordance with Rule 6, Section 4B, I rule it
16 nongermane and out of order at this time.
17 SENATOR LANZA: Accordingly,
18 Mr. President, I appeal the ruling of the chair
19 and ask that Senator Rath be recognized.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
21 appeal has been made and recognized, and
22 Senator Rath may be heard.
23 SENATOR RATH: Mr. President, I
24 rise to appeal the ruling of the chair.
25 The proposed amendment is germane to
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1 the bill at hand because the bill at hand deals
2 specifically with Public Health Law. For more
3 than a year now, the Governor has issued numerous
4 executive orders amending, suspending and
5 terminating provisions of the Public Health Law.
6 Almost daily now it seems more
7 questions surrounding the Governor and his
8 actions are coming to light. From the sexual
9 harassment allegations, to nursing home deaths,
10 to COVID-19 testing prioritization for our
11 families, to equitable vaccine distribution, the
12 list goes on and on.
13 Despite the numerous investigations
14 into the Governor and his administration, the
15 public continues to receive no clarity and no
16 answers on any of these issues. All the while,
17 the Governor still maintains arbitrary control of
18 our great state.
19 After the Majority told residents
20 they took action to reassert our legislative
21 authority, restaurants, small businesses and
22 families continue to struggle and try to
23 understand and navigate the dozens of executive
24 orders still in place.
25 This Majority said they would look
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1 at the Governor's orders and even encouraged us
2 to bring to the floor resolutions to roll back
3 specific orders, yet they refuse to allow these
4 resolutions to be brought up for consideration.
5 The only thing that is clear is that
6 the status quo remains, and the Governor is still
7 running the state via executive order.
8 As I have said many times now, this
9 is doing a huge disservice to the residents of
10 New York State. Millions of New Yorkers are left
11 without their voice being heard because the
12 Majority and the Governor want to maintain their
13 control.
14 New Yorkers need to be able to trust
15 their government, and what is happening here is
16 destroying what little trust is left. Therefore,
17 I strenuously appeal the ruling of the chair and
18 urge my colleagues to give this amendment the
19 thoughtful consideration it deserves.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
22 you, Senator Rath.
23 I want to remind the house that the
24 vote is on the procedures of the house and the
25 ruling of the chair.
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1 Those in favor of overruling the
2 chair signify by saying aye.
3 SENATOR LANZA: Request a show of
4 hands.
5 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
6 let's record each member of the Minority in the
7 affirmative without a showing of hands.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Without
9 objection, so ordered.
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 20.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
13 ruling of the chair stands, and the bill-in-chief
14 is before the house.
15 Are there any other Senators wishing
16 to be heard?
17 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
18 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
19 Read the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
2118
1 Announce the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 bill is passed.
5 The Secretary will read.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 614, Senate Print 28, by Senator Kaplan, an act
8 to amend the State Administrative Procedure Act.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
10 Lanza, why do you rise?
11 SENATOR LANZA: Mr. President, I
12 believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
13 waive the reading of that amendment and ask that
14 Senator Tedisco be recognized and heard.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
16 you, Senator Lanza.
17 Upon review of the amendment, in
18 accordance with Rule 6, Section 4B, I rule it
19 nongermane and out of order at this time.
20 SENATOR LANZA: Accordingly,
21 Mr. President, I appeal the ruling of the chair
22 and ask that Senator Tedisco be recognized.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
24 appeal has been made and recognized, and
25 Senator Tedisco may be heard.
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1 SENATOR TEDISCO: Thank you,
2 Senator Lanza. And thank you, Mr. President.
3 Mr. President and my colleagues,
4 this amendment is definitely germane because it
5 relates directly to small businesses being
6 effective in coming back when we open the
7 economy. And that relates to this amendment,
8 because the important part about that is not only
9 making them successful, but to bringing those
10 individuals back who are jobless right now and on
11 that security program we put in place called
12 unemployment.
13 Mr. President and my colleagues, I
14 don't think there's a word, of course, or a
15 series of words or a sentence or a paragraph or
16 even a book that can be written about the impact
17 of this horrendous pandemic and the tragedy it
18 has wrought on the constituents and the citizens
19 not only of this state, the 19.5 million people,
20 but this nation and our world.
21 And we understand that, probably,
22 and know that, just as well as our family members
23 in our Senate and our Assembly districts on the
24 other side of this building. Because I believe
25 if we look at it, as we've advocated in the past
2120
1 and in the present for all my fellow Senators
2 here, I would say there was a hundred percent or
3 more increase in our advocacy on the calls we've
4 gotten related to what we could do to help our
5 constituents in every segment of society across
6 this state and our Senate districts.
7 The individuals, the families, those
8 who were separated from their loved ones with the
9 nursing home issue, the nursing home numbers,
10 looking at the situation on the second floor on
11 the decision on March 25th that our Governor made
12 which led to one of the worst tragedies in the
13 history of New York State, a tragedy within this
14 holistic tragedy of what's happened not only with
15 the health and safety and well-being, the loss of
16 life, but it's an economic tragedy also for the
17 individuals who are jobless right now.
18 And we've worked with those
19 families, those individuals. We've worked on the
20 PPEs of our first responders, who have done a
21 great job. But also we've tried to work with our
22 small, medium and large businesses, all
23 businesses. Because when businesses are back and
24 we open our economy, well, the jobs hopefully
25 will start to come back.
2121
1 But for some, the light at the end
2 of that tunnel is very dim. And I would venture
3 to say -- and I think my office, my staff, the
4 work we've done and I think the other Senators
5 with the work they've done, and this unemployment
6 system, which was a complete disaster. Crashed
7 over and over and over again. We got calls every
8 single day during the past year. We're still
9 getting calls that individuals who have been
10 jobless for not days and weeks, but for months,
11 can't get into the system. Big bureaucracy. We
12 had to intervene.
13 And I'm proud to say we did
14 intervene. We got individuals into the system
15 and then we had to get the checks out of the
16 system because the system was crashing so much.
17 These are individuals, the totality,
18 4 million individuals on unemployment over the
19 course of this past year with this pandemic.
20 Four million individuals. Don't see much of a
21 light at the end of the tunnel for their economic
22 well-being. They don't know if they're going to
23 be able to put food on the table. They don't
24 know if they're going to be able to pay their
25 rent. They don't know if they're going to be
2122
1 able to pay their mortgage and keep their house.
2 They don't know if they're going to be able to
3 pay their kid's tuition to keep them in school,
4 which is so important, that education. They
5 don't know if they're going to be able to keep
6 their cars.
7 In fact, many have called and said,
8 I sold my house, I had to. Couldn't pay the
9 mortgage. They took my car, I couldn't pay the
10 car bill. Medical bills having problems with.
11 And the individuals who are impacted
12 the most within this unemployment system, even
13 when they've got that bridge and that lifeline
14 going, are the individuals that know they can't
15 go back to their previous job. Because guess
16 what? The business and the company they've
17 worked for didn't make it. They went belly up.
18 They don't exist anymore. That job doesn't
19 exist. They've got to find a new job.
20 Some, when we open it up fully, will
21 be able to go back. They'll be helped out.
22 They'll find something into the future to help
23 them.
24 Well, the federal government has
25 done something about this for the unemployed, and
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1 that's what this amendment is all about. Well,
2 they've done two things. First of all, they
3 extended the deadline for New Yorkers to pay
4 their taxes. It is now May 17th. And that's a
5 good thing, because these people who are really
6 reaching and trying to rustle up the money to pay
7 their taxes, that's important for them.
8 But they've done something else,
9 Republicans and Democrats, bipartisan, at the
10 federal government. They've said don't giveth
11 and then taketh away. Don't give me a benefit
12 and say it's a lifeline, unemployment assistance,
13 a bridge to a better place with the economy so I
14 can pay those bills and get into the job market.
15 We're going to give you a $10,200
16 break on your first $10,200. The federal
17 government has passed that, that's in place.
18 They not only passed an extension of when we pay
19 our taxes, but they're going to give those people
20 who are most downtrodden now, don't see any light
21 in that tunnel, that break.
22 It makes sense, and we should be
23 doing that in New York State. And I'm shocked
24 that the Majority has not brought out a bill
25 here, that the Governor has not done his
2124
1 executive order -- because he's still got control
2 of 60 of them right now -- or the other side of
3 the aisle hasn't done that.
4 You've taxed the rich by $7 billion.
5 But these aren't the rich. These are the people
6 who are most challenged economically, and you
7 haven't done a thing yet.
8 Now, we can do something right now.
9 We can do something with this amendment. Because
10 this amendment, I believe like the federal one,
11 is bipartisan. This is Senator Felder's bill,
12 one of your Democratic colleagues. And it's got
13 Republican and it's got Democratic members on it.
14 Because you know what? I never ask
15 and I don't believe any of my Democratic
16 colleagues ask or my Republican colleagues ask --
17 Can you help me with advocacy for my
18 unemployment, get me in the system, get me --
19 I've never asked, and I don't believe you've ever
20 asked, are you a Democrat, are you a Republican,
21 are you independent, what -- we don't care about
22 that. Because we represent everybody. And we
23 should represent everybody.
24 This is an amendment which embodies
25 a bill, Senator Felder's bill -- I give him
2125
1 credit for that -- but I'm a sponsor of the bill,
2 several of my colleagues are, your colleagues are
3 sponsors of the bill, to do not taxing the rich,
4 you're letting those who are downtrodden be
5 taxed. You giveth and you taketh away. Let's
6 not do that. That sends a terrible message.
7 Mr. President, you can stand up
8 today there and this Majority can stand up and
9 today and say, We're not going to turn our back
10 on you. We're not going to give you some money
11 and say, This is a bridge to a better place for
12 you, but we're going to take it away and actually
13 tax the money for those who don't have a job to
14 go back to right now. It makes no sense
15 whatsoever.
16 Now, we can do two things here,
17 Mr. President. You can either say, yeah, bring
18 this bill to the floor, it's germane. Let's
19 Republicans and Democrats together vote for this
20 amendment which embodies a bipartisan bill to
21 bring some assistance to those who don't know
22 what their economic future is. And we can pass
23 this here, send it to the Senate {sic} and pass
24 it, let the Governor sign it and say, We had your
25 back. Which we should, for those people who
2126
1 don't have a job and don't know if they're going
2 to be able to put food on the table.
3 Or you can do something else,
4 Mr. President, which I hope you don't do: Use
5 the word "procedure." If you use the word
6 "procedure," you and this Majority I believe are
7 turning your backs not on Republicans and
8 Democrats, but everybody who we represent in the
9 state, the 4 million people who don't know where
10 their economy is going right now.
11 So I hope you don't do that. I hope
12 you say, We're going to change that, we're going
13 to stop this stress, we're going to stop the
14 anxiety to a certain extent, we're going to make
15 sure that we got your back.
16 Mr. President, please have the back
17 of everybody that we represent in New York State.
18 Make this germane. Because they're going to
19 know, once you use that word "procedure," you're
20 just going like this {turning back} to the people
21 we represent. And I don't think that's good for
22 Republicans or Democrats or anybody who
23 represents anybody at any level.
24 Mr. President, I ask you to accept
25 the appeal and make this germane and let us vote
2127
1 on it.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Thank
3 you, Senator Tedisco.
4 I want to remind the house that the
5 vote is on the procedures of the house and the
6 ruling of the chair.
7 Those in favor of overruling the
8 chair signify by saying aye.
9 SENATOR LANZA: Request a show of
10 hands.
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
12 we've agreed that each member of the Minority
13 will be recorded in the affirmative without a
14 showing of hands.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Without
16 objection, so ordered.
17 Announce the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 20.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
20 ruling of the chair stands, and the bill-in-chief
21 is before the house.
22 Are there any other Senators wishing
23 to be heard?
24 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
25 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
2128
1 Read the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
8 Martucci to explain his vote.
9 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Thank you,
10 Mr. President.
11 As we all know, right now
12 businesses are suffering. And it was hard enough
13 to do business here in the State of New York
14 before the pandemic. And now with COVID, these
15 challenges have just been magnified.
16 I want to start by thanking my
17 colleague Senator Kaplan for bringing this bill
18 to the floor today.
19 As a small business owner, I know
20 firsthand just how costly, difficult and
21 time-consuming it can be to even find or
22 understand the complex and seemingly endless web
23 of regulations that govern our small businesses
24 here in New York.
25 This bill requires state agencies
2129
1 make these regulations easily available online.
2 This will save our small businesses time, it will
3 save them money, and most importantly it will
4 allow them to focus on what they do best, which
5 is create jobs.
6 Mr. President, I'm proud to
7 cosponsor this bill. Once again, I thank my
8 colleague Senator Kaplan for bringing this bill
9 to the floor, and I'm proud to vote yes today.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
11 Martucci to be recorded in the affirmative.
12 Announce the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
15 bill is passed.
16 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
17 reading of the controversial calendar.
18 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
19 there will be an immediate meeting of the
20 Finance Committee in Room 332.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: There
22 will be an immediate meeting of the Finance
23 Committee in Room 332.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: The Senate will
25 stand at ease.
2130
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 Senate will stand at ease.
3 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at ease
4 at 4:05 p.m.)
5 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened at
6 9:20 p.m.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
8 Senate will return to order.
9 Senator Gianaris.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
11 there's a report of the Finance Committee at the
12 desk. Please take that up.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Senator Krueger,
16 from the Committee on Finance, reports the
17 following bill:
18 Senate Print 2502B, Senate Budget
19 Bill, an act making appropriations for the legal
20 requirements of the state debt service.
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to accept
22 the report of the Finance Committee.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: All
24 those in favor of accepting the report of the
25 Finance Committee signify by saying aye.
2131
1 (Response of "Aye.")
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
3 Opposed, nay.
4 (No response.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
6 Finance Committee report is accepted.
7 Senator Gianaris.
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: Please take up
9 the supplemental calendar.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 644, Senate Print 2502B, Senate Budget Bill, an
14 act making appropriations for the legal
15 requirements of the state debt service and lease
16 purchase payments.
17 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
18 SENATOR GIANARIS: Mr. President,
19 before that bill is laid aside, I believe there's
20 a message of necessity at the desk?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: There
22 is a message of necessity at the desk.
23 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to accept
24 the message of necessity.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: All in
2132
1 favor of accepting the message of necessity
2 signify by saying aye.
3 (Response of "Aye.")
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
5 Opposed?
6 (Response of "Nay.")
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
8 message is accepted, and the bill is before the
9 house.
10 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Lay it
12 aside.
13 SENATOR GIANARIS: Can we please
14 take up the controversial calendar.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
16 Secretary will ring the bell.
17 The Secretary will read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 644, Senate Print 2502B, Senate Budget Bill, an
20 act making appropriations for the legal
21 requirements of the state debt service and lease
22 purchase payments.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
24 O'Mara.
25 SENATOR O'MARA: Yes,
2133
1 Mr. President, if Senator Krueger would yield for
2 a few questions on this budget bill.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
4 the sponsor yield?
5 SENATOR KRUEGER: I certainly do.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
7 sponsor yields.
8 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
9 Chairwoman Krueger, for the opportunity to ask
10 you a few questions this evening on this debt
11 service bill.
12 And I first and foremost want to say
13 that it is incredibly important that we send
14 notice to the creditors of the State of New York
15 that we are living up to our obligations and will
16 make the payments necessary.
17 Yet I have some questions on the
18 eleventh-hour nature of this bill, that we're
19 actually doing it pursuant to a message of
20 necessity.
21 Chairwoman Krueger, can you explain
22 to us why this bill was not resolved before we
23 needed a message of necessity to have it done
24 before 12:01 a.m. April 1st?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Certainly.
2134
1 Through you, Mr. President, we are running a bit
2 late this year because it is almost at the
3 deadline of when the year of -- the fiscal year
4 ends.
5 So as I think my colleagues know, we
6 have quite a few budget bills remaining to get
7 done. We don't have them. In fact, because we
8 don't have them, some of the information in this
9 bill right now, or at least in the memos, is
10 hypothetical about what we expect our borrowing
11 will be next year because we haven't completed
12 the assignment. So I can give my colleague
13 estimates of what the borrowing will be for the
14 coming year, but not a final number because we
15 don't have that yet.
16 So we didn't want to bring a bill to
17 the floor where we didn't have all the
18 information, because we prefer not to. But we
19 also know, because of what this bill does -- make
20 clear to the people of New York and the people we
21 have borrowed money from, that New York State
22 continues to operate in good faith, and when they
23 wake up tomorrow they will know that we have made
24 a commitment to continuing to pay our bills.
25 So that's why it is so crucial to
2135
1 get this bill done, even if we can't complete the
2 budget by midnight, so that we make sure everyone
3 knows we'll be a little bit late with the rest,
4 but we'll get it done. But we are guaranteeing
5 that we will continue to make the payments on the
6 debt we owe.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
8 Chairwoman.
9 Through you, Mr. President, if the
10 chairwoman would continue to yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
12 the sponsor yield?
13 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I do.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR O'MARA: When is the end of
17 our fiscal year and the start of the next fiscal
18 year, Senator?
19 SENATOR KRUEGER: Just
20 double-checking. April 1st is the start of the
21 new fiscal year, so March 31st would be the end
22 of this fiscal year.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
24 Mr. President, if the chairwoman will still
25 yield.
2136
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
2 the sponsor yield?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 sponsor yields.
6 SENATOR O'MARA: So we are taking
7 this bill up, as usual with budget bills, in the
8 dark -- maybe not as late as usual, but according
9 to the clock in the corner, 2 hours and 35
10 minutes before the end of the fiscal year, with a
11 message of necessity.
12 We've had the Governor's Executive
13 Budget and his debt service proposals for about
14 two months now. Can you explain to us what the
15 differences are between what the Governor
16 proposed back in January, and/or altered in his
17 30-day amendments, compared to what we're doing
18 here this evening in this bill? What are the
19 differences?
20 SENATOR KRUEGER: One minute.
21 We're just getting you the right answers.
22 Through you, Mr. President. The
23 difference between what the Executive proposed in
24 his 30-day amendments and what we have before us
25 tonight is a change for fiscal year '22 of how
2137
1 much we will allow for emergency debt
2 authorizations. The Governor had asked for
3 8 billion in PIT notes and 3 billion for a line
4 of credit. That has shifted to, for the coming
5 year, 3 billion in PIT notes and 2 billion line
6 of credit.
7 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
8 Mr. President, if the chairwoman will still
9 yield.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
11 the sponsor yield?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR O'MARA: Senator, what is
16 the current total debt outstanding for New York
17 State?
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: So the current
19 outstanding state-supported debt for fiscal year
20 '21, 59.7 billion.
21 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
22 Mr. President, if the chairwoman will yield.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
24 the sponsor yield?
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
2138
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
2 sponsor yields.
3 SENATOR O'MARA: We have in
4 New York a constitutionally mandated debt cap or
5 ceiling. Where does this put us on a percentage
6 of the debt cap we have left to access, and what
7 that dollar amount is?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: We have
9 $14.5 billion left as room under our debt cap for
10 fiscal year '22.
11 SENATOR O'MARA: On a total of --
12 through you, Mr. President, if the chairwoman
13 will continue to yield.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
15 the sponsor yield?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
18 sponsor yields.
19 SENATOR O'MARA: So that's that
20 $15 billion figure over and above the 57 or so
21 billion dollar figure you mentioned a moment ago?
22 SENATOR KRUEGER: I don't remember
23 mentioning a $15 billion figure.
24 SENATOR O'MARA: Fifty-seven.
25 SENATOR KRUEGER: Fifty-seven was
2139
1 the current -- it was 59.7, the total outstanding
2 debt under state-supported debt. And then I said
3 14.5 billion left under our current cap.
4 SENATOR O'MARA: Okay. Through
5 you, Mr. President, if the chairwoman will
6 continue to yield.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
8 the sponsor yield?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR O'MARA: You mentioned that
13 the short-term borrowing for PIT revenues, an
14 11 -- and another reduction from the Governor's
15 proposal to begin with. And I'm assuming that's
16 because revenues have come in stronger than
17 anticipated at the end of the year here.
18 SENATOR KRUEGER: And particularly
19 a commitment by the federal government to the
20 State of New York both for state spending and for
21 spending at our localities level.
22 So this was all intended to be
23 emergency backup money. We think it's a good
24 idea to have an option for an emergency borrowing
25 plan. But we are much less concerned about
2140
1 needing numbers as large as what we did last
2 year, which was closer to what the Governor
3 started with this year.
4 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
5 Mr. President, if the chairwoman will continue to
6 yield.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
8 the sponsor yield?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I will.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
11 sponsor yields.
12 SENATOR O'MARA: What is the
13 state's anticipated debt service under this
14 proposal, and compared to last year?
15 SENATOR KRUEGER: And again, this
16 is still proposed because we haven't completed
17 our assignments on the remainder of the budget.
18 But we project the state appropriation for debt
19 service to total $16.4 billion, with cash
20 disbursements projected to net at about
21 6.4 billion.
22 SENATOR O'MARA: Through you,
23 Mr. President, if the chairwoman will continue to
24 yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
2141
1 the sponsor yield?
2 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, of course.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
4 sponsor yields.
5 SENATOR O'MARA: Is the federal
6 unemployment funds that we've borrowed from the
7 federal government of about 7.9 billion, is that
8 covered in this bill, the service of that debt?
9 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
10 Mr. President, I actually think we're stumped.
11 We're not sure. We could try to get somebody to
12 help us with the answer, and then we'd need to
13 wait a little while or continue with other
14 questions and hopefully have someone else from
15 Finance give us the answer.
16 I think partly, even when we get an
17 answer, it will be tentative because there is
18 some belief that the federal government will be
19 forgiving the funds that states had to borrow
20 during the COVID pandemic. So we might not
21 actually owe them anything back, we might owe
22 them something back, and it might or might not be
23 reflected in these numbers.
24 SENATOR O'MARA: Okay. Through
25 you, Mr. President, if the chairwoman will yield.
2142
1 And I will -- if you come up with an answer, I
2 only have a couple -- or a few more questions
3 left. So if you do, we can talk offline.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
5 the sponsor yield?
6 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes, I yield.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR O'MARA: Of the debt
10 service -- or no, excuse me, of the extra, over
11 and above anticipated revenues that are coming in
12 at the end of this budget year, how much of that
13 is going to pay down existing debt?
14 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm not sure if
15 I'm understanding the question right, so let me
16 try to answer it one way. And then if the
17 sponsor {sic} thinks I missed the understanding
18 of his question, he will repeat it in a different
19 way.
20 As we said, we expect cash
21 disbursements for the coming year to be
22 6.4 billion, and the year that we're ending in a
23 few hours had 11.9 billion in disbursements.
24 But I'm not sure -- you were asking
25 about some subset of that based on some money
2143
1 coming in from the federal government at the end
2 of the year?
3 SENATOR O'MARA: Well, through you,
4 Mr. President, if I can clarify.
5 Basically what I'm trying to get at
6 is with tax revenues coming in much larger than
7 anticipated, at least over the last few months
8 what was being expected to what we see today, and
9 with $12.6 billion at this point of federal
10 stimulus money to the state, how much of that are
11 we utilizing to pay down our existing debt?
12 SENATOR KRUEGER: I don't think
13 we're allowed to use our federal money to pay
14 down existing debt at all. I think that the
15 federal money was intended to cover the costs in
16 our coming years of what we needed.
17 So if you're asking should the state
18 be continuing to pay down debt it owes from
19 previous years out of revenue, yes, we should.
20 That's what this whole bill is about, making sure
21 that we continue to make our payments correctly
22 and appropriately.
23 So if -- if you're asking should we
24 have taken the federal money and paid off an
25 increased amount of our debt, again, I'm pretty
2144
1 sure that wouldn't be allowed under the rules of
2 the road from the federal government.
3 If the -- if my colleague is asking
4 should we have taken greater amounts of our
5 existing revenue and paid off debt at a faster
6 rate than we were currently planning, that is
7 almost an ideological decision and discussion.
8 I personally think, given the fact
9 that we still are not sure how quickly we are
10 going to be recovering from this pandemic and
11 this economic collapse, we're not sure whether
12 we're going to have another round, we're not sure
13 how much it's going to cost us to mitigate and
14 prepare ourselves for the post-pandemic world.
15 I think personally I would argue
16 this would not be the best time to be speeding up
17 our commitment of paying off debt. This debt was
18 accounted for, explained, there's a plan to pay
19 it back. I believe that we were going to
20 continue to do that. So if my colleague's
21 question is should we be speeding up doing that,
22 my opinion is no.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
24 Chairwoman. And through you, Mr. President, if
25 the chairwoman would continue to yield.
2145
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
2 the sponsor yield?
3 SENATOR KRUEGER: Yes.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
5 sponsor yields.
6 SENATOR O'MARA: Well, I certainly
7 disagree with that approach on not using excess
8 revenues coming in to pay down debt that we have
9 racked up in the state, as I think most
10 homeowners would do in their own personal
11 finances when extra revenues come in.
12 While we were preparing this budget,
13 while Governor Cuomo was pleading with the
14 federal government for stimulus aid, the Governor
15 was talking about a $15 billion deficit. We've
16 got 12.6 billion coming from the feds to cover
17 all but 2.4 billion of that. And then since
18 then, we've had revenues come in about
19 $2.5 billion stronger than anticipated, and then
20 anticipated to be coming in another 2.5 to
21 $3 billion above that.
22 So that exceeds our $15 billion
23 perceived deficit by the Governor by 2 to
24 3 billion dollars. Why is not some of that being
25 utilized? And I'm not suggesting it be stimulus
2146
1 funds, although I think some of it could be.
2 Certainly not all of it. But with the extra
3 revenues that are coming in, those are certainly
4 available to us to use as we see fit.
5 So why would we not be using some of
6 that 2 to 3 billion dollars to pay down debt
7 going forward?
8 SENATOR KRUEGER: Through you,
9 Mr. President, I think I'll continue with the
10 answer I thought I gave, which is I'm quite sure
11 now we cannot use the federal revenue that is
12 stimulus money to pay back debt by the State of
13 New York. Nor would I think that would be a very
14 good idea.
15 We have a plan to pay off the debt
16 that we owe. I'm certainly encouraging any kind
17 of refinancing at lowest or lower interest rates,
18 and I think the State of New York does that on a
19 continuing basis, and that is smart and prudent,
20 so that as interest rates go down, we're paying
21 less on the money we owe.
22 But again, I think my colleague and
23 I have an ideological difference about whether at
24 this moment in history it is better to pay off
25 debt early or have the money ready to be used for
2147
1 both the things we don't know may be around the
2 corner as we continue with our pandemic and our
3 rebuild.
4 I'm not saying that I would always
5 disagree with him, and that if we were back at a
6 stable economy without a skyrocketed unemployment
7 rate, if we knew that we had the answer to COVID
8 illness and nobody was going to get it again, I
9 would say, you know, it might be a time to do
10 some early payoffs. But I don't think that's the
11 right answer right now, Mr. President.
12 It doesn't prevent us from asking
13 the question again during the course of the year
14 or in a year. But I think it is prudent for us
15 not to do that now.
16 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you,
17 Chairwoman.
18 Just on the bill, Mr. President.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
20 O'Mara on the bill.
21 SENATOR O'MARA: Did you get an
22 answer for something you wanted before I go, Liz,
23 or --
24 SENATOR KRUEGER: I haven't read it
25 yet, so I --
2148
1 SENATOR O'MARA: Okay. All right.
2 You know, I have concerns with this
3 bill. And if the sponsor would yield for one
4 quick question while she's reading it, I'm sorry.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Does
6 the sponsor yield?
7 SENATOR KRUEGER: I'm sorry, yes.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: The
9 sponsor yields.
10 SENATOR O'MARA: I'm sorry, I just
11 forgot the one last question.
12 Do you anticipate that this debt
13 service bill may be amended while we wrap up the
14 rest of the budget bills at the end of it, as a
15 cleanup?
16 SENATOR KRUEGER: No, I think this
17 would be the debt service bill. But we may
18 discover that there is some slight change in the
19 amount of money that the state is going to be
20 spending. Because we don't have an exact number
21 on a final number on the spending for the state
22 or the revenue for the state.
23 SENATOR O'MARA: Thank you.
24 And on the bill, Mr. President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Senator
2149
1 O'Mara on the bill.
2 SENATOR O'MARA: I agree that this
3 Legislature and the State of New York needs to be
4 clear and direct with those that we've borrowed
5 billions and billions of dollars from.
6 But I don't believe this effort,
7 given our current fiscal situation -- as dire as
8 things have been over the year, revenues have
9 upticked towards the end of the fiscal year,
10 drastically closing the deficit of what was
11 anticipated, by some 5.7 billion between
12 increased revenues and anticipated revenues and
13 the revenue consensus that the Legislature and
14 the Executive agreed to. Over and above the
15 12.6 billion, which goes to close what was stated
16 as a $15 billion deficit.
17 The fact that the other bills of
18 this budget are not put together and we don't
19 have any idea what the final spending number is
20 going to be. Or I know there's a big effort to
21 increase taxes just for the sake of increased
22 taxes, because it's not needed with our fiscal
23 situation right now.
24 And by not putting forth a stronger
25 effort to pay down on our debt, we I don't think
2150
1 are sending a message to the lenders, to the
2 bankers that we're being completely fiscally
3 responsible with the revenues that we have. And
4 we should be making a greater effort to do that,
5 particularly when you're talking about raising
6 taxes on many people in this state.
7 So I have concerns with the approach
8 in this debt service, fully understanding that
9 this is going to pass, that we do need to make it
10 clear that we're going to fulfill our
11 obligations. I'm not sure that needs to be done
12 tonight and could be done with a clearer and
13 fuller picture of what it should be when we have
14 the full context of the budget. And knowing what
15 the revenues are going to be -- what the spending
16 is going to be, we pretty much know what the
17 revenues are going to be -- so we can make a more
18 informed decision on whether this is an
19 appropriate use or an appropriate way to approach
20 our debt at this moment in time or whether we
21 should be paying down more.
22 And those are my concerns. I'll be
23 urging my colleagues on this side of the aisle
24 not to support this legislation, and I will be
25 voting in the negative myself.
2151
1 Thank you, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
3 Senator Krueger on the bill.
4 SENATOR KRUEGER: Thank you very
5 much, Mr. President.
6 I thank my colleague for his
7 questions. I want to get him the answer he asked
8 for before, will we need to pay unemployment
9 borrowing from the federal government back
10 through debt. And the answer is no. I was
11 correct that it is possible that the federal
12 government may exempt us from some or all of
13 this. But regardless, the unemployment fund is a
14 separate fund within state law, and payments that
15 have to be made, even upon borrowing in heavy
16 unemployment times, is through the unemployment
17 system, so the state would not be borrowing money
18 to pay back the federal government.
19 As far as my colleague's point about
20 is this a good time to speed up or advance paying
21 off our previous debt, I have to say not only did
22 I explain why I thought it wasn't the right time,
23 but also, just to clarify, the bond market will
24 not think lesser of us if we don't speed up
25 paying what we owe them. Ironically, they don't
2152
1 really like it when you prepay, because you're
2 paying them interest. So they're not
3 particularly wild about anybody prepaying their
4 debt, the same way credit card companies really
5 can't stand customers who pay their monthly full
6 bill.
7 And it's a period of very low
8 interest. So in fact for the state to have
9 outstanding debt to be paying off in the amounts
10 and the time frames that we arrange to do so,
11 where we can get refinancing of even lower
12 interest rates than we originally paid, is also
13 prudent and responsible.
14 So I think if New Yorkers understand
15 that reality, that the debt we are paying has
16 already been established, how it was going to be
17 paid back was already established, nobody is
18 saying you've failed to do this, we're going to
19 be angry at you or penalize you or not continue
20 to lend to you -- because we're paying our debts
21 on time, within the time frame of the agreements,
22 to be honest at a time where most states in the
23 country can't necessarily say that. We're
24 handling it correctly. And I'm confident that
25 this is the right debt service bill for us to be
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1 passing tonight.
2 And my colleague is right that we
3 should have answers for the rest of the budget by
4 10 to 10:00 when the budget year ends at
5 midnight, but unfortunately we don't. And I've
6 lived through 19 years here in Albany in the
7 Legislature, and quite a few of them we were very
8 late on the budget -- July, August -- and it
9 wasn't a good thing. But as long as we get this
10 bill done tonight, when people wake up tomorrow
11 and we haven't completed the full budget, it's
12 going to have no impact on their lives or their
13 budgets or whether government is operating in the
14 State of New York.
15 So we're not perfect. I believe
16 we're going to get there just a few days late.
17 And I don't think any real harm will be done as
18 long as we do commit to paying the money we owe.
19 And I'm confident you have the votes when you
20 ask, Mr. President, and we will be able to get
21 this bill done tonight.
22 I certainly vote yes and urge my
23 colleagues to vote yes. Thank you,
24 Mr. President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Are
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1 there any other Senators wishing to be heard?
2 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
3 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
4 Read the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN:
11 Announce the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
13 Calendar 644, those Senators voting in the
14 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
15 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 BENJAMIN: The
21 bill is passed.
22 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
23 reading of the controversial calendar.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: Is there any
25 further business at the desk?
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: There
2 is no further business before the desk.
3 SENATOR GIANARIS: I move to
4 adjourn to the call of the Temporary President,
5 with intervening days being legislative days.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BENJAMIN: On
7 motion, the Senate stands adjourned at the call
8 of the Temporary President, with intervening days
9 being legislative days.
10 (Whereupon, at 9:50 p.m., the Senate
11 adjourned.)
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