3578
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 May 25, 2021
11 3:36 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
3579
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, Monday,
16 May 24, 2021, the Senate met pursuant to
17 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, May 23,
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 The Secretary will read.
25 THE SECRETARY: Senator Ramos moves
3580
1 to discharge, from the Committee on Codes,
2 Assembly Bill Number 459 and substitute it for
3 the identical Senate Bill 674, Third Reading
4 Calendar 385.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
6 Substitution so ordered.
7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Thomas
8 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
9 Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation,
10 Assembly Bill Number 479 and substitute it for
11 the identical Senate Bill 146, Third Reading
12 Calendar 1041.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
14 Substitution so ordered.
15 THE SECRETARY: Senator Brisport
16 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Local
17 Government, Assembly Bill Number 7174 and
18 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 6644,
19 Third Reading Calendar 1122.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
21 Substitution so ordered.
22 THE SECRETARY: Senator Sanders
23 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Banks,
24 Assembly Bill Number 7019 and substitute it for
25 the identical Senate Bill 6444, Third Reading
3581
1 Calendar 1152.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
3 Substitution so ordered.
4 THE SECRETARY: Senator Breslin
5 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
6 Insurance, Assembly Bill Number 3994 and
7 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 5761,
8 Third Reading Calendar 1163.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
10 Substitution so ordered.
11 THE SECRETARY: Senator Breslin
12 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
13 Insurance, Assembly Bill Number 7123 and
14 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
15 6485A, Third Reading Calendar 1166.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
17 Substitution so ordered.
18 THE SECRETARY: Senator Comrie
19 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Energy
20 and Telecommunications, Assembly Bill Number 3427
21 and substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
22 4194, Third Reading Calendar 1177.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
24 Substitution so ordered.
25 THE SECRETARY: Senator Hinchey
3582
1 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
2 Agriculture, Assembly Bill Number 7122 and
3 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 6713,
4 Third Reading Calendar 1232.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
6 Substitution so ordered.
7 THE SECRETARY: Senator Brooks
8 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
9 Transportation, Assembly Bill Number 4089 and
10 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 6535,
11 Third Reading Calendar 1246.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER:
13 Substitution so ordered.
14 Messages from the Governor.
15 Reports of standing committees.
16 Reports of select committees.
17 Communications and reports from
18 state officers.
19 Motions and resolutions.
20 Senator Gianaris.
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
22 Madam President. Good afternoon.
23 I offer amendments to the following
24 Third Reading Calendar bills:
25 By Senator Harckham, page 49,
3583
1 Calendar 1103, Senate Print 6553A;
2 Senator Gianaris, page 30,
3 Calendar 862, Senate Print 1192A;
4 Senator Benjamin, page 60,
5 Calendar 1198, Senate Print 5180;
6 Senator Rivera, page 5,
7 Calendar 107, Senate Print 1172A;
8 Senator Brooks, page 24,
9 Calendar 746, Senate Print 1372;
10 Senator Brooks, page 35,
11 Calendar 952, Senate Print 6001;
12 Senator Ramos, page 60,
13 Calendar 1191, Senate Print 2755A; and
14 Senator Brooks, page 66,
15 Calendar 1254, Senate Print 5876.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
17 amendments are received, and the bills shall
18 retain their place on the Third Reading Calendar.
19 Senator Gianaris.
20 SENATOR GIANARIS: I also wish to
21 call up the following bills, which were recalled
22 from the Assembly and are now at the desk:
23 Senate 1566, 1765, and 4777A.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
25 Secretary will read.
3584
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 189, Senate Print 1566, by Senator Sanders, an
3 act to amend the Banking Law.
4 Calendar Number 196, Senate Print
5 1765, by Senator Mannion, an act to amend the
6 Mental Hygiene Law and the Executive Law.
7 Calendar Number 528, Senate Print
8 4777A, by Senator Mannion, an act to amend the
9 General Construction Law.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to
11 reconsider the vote by which these bills were
12 passed.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
14 Secretary will call the roll on reconsideration.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bills
18 are restored to their place on the Third Reading
19 Calendar.
20 SENATOR GIANARIS: I offer the
21 following amendments.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
23 amendments are received.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: Please recognize
25 Senator Lanza.
3585
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
2 Lanza.
3 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you.
4 Madam President, on behalf of
5 Senator Palumbo, I wish to call up Print Number
6 4608, recalled from the Assembly, which is now at
7 the desk.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 Secretary will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 945, Senate Print 4608, by Senator Palumbo, an
12 act to authorize the Town of Brookhaven,
13 County of Suffolk, to alienate and discontinue
14 the use of certain parklands.
15 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, I
16 now move to reconsider the vote by which the bill
17 was passed.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
19 Secretary will call the roll on reconsideration.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
23 is restored to its place on the Third Reading
24 Calendar.
25 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, I
3586
1 now offer the following amendments.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 amendments are received.
4 Senator Gianaris.
5 SENATOR GIANARIS: At this time I
6 move to adopt the Resolution Calendar, with the
7 exception of Resolution 867.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: All in
9 favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar, with
10 the exception of Resolution 867, please signify
11 by saying aye.
12 (Response of "Aye.")
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Opposed,
14 nay.
15 (No response.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
17 Resolution Calendar is adopted.
18 Senator Gianaris.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's now take
20 up previously adopted Resolution 851, by
21 Senator Ryan, read that resolution's title, and
22 recognize Senator Ryan.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
24 Secretary will read.
25 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
3587
1 851, by Senator Ryan, commemorating the
2 200th Anniversary of the Town of Evans.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
4 Ryan on the resolution.
5 SENATOR RYAN: Well, thank you,
6 Madam President.
7 This year marks the 200th
8 anniversary of the founding of the Town of Evans,
9 New York. Evans is a town of 16,000 people
10 located on the shores of beautiful Lake Erie,
11 20 miles southwest of Buffalo. It's home to
12 popular waterfront attractions, including Bennett
13 Beach, Wendt Beach, and Sturgeon Point Marina.
14 It's also the site of a significant
15 architectural complex designed by Frank Lloyd
16 Wright. The Graycliff Estate is one of three
17 pieces done by Frank Lloyd Wright for the --
18 called the Larkin Complex. One is the Larkin
19 Industrial Building, the second is the Darwin
20 Mountain home for the owner of that building, and
21 then the third is Graycliff, which is their
22 summer home. It's a wonderful feature, and I
23 invite you and everyone to come and see it.
24 The residents of the Town of Evans
25 will spend the year celebrating the town's
3588
1 bicentennial. I'd like to take a moment to
2 highlight its place in history.
3 European settlers first started
4 coming into Evans around 1804. The first settler
5 was named Joel Harvey. He was an entrepreneur,
6 and he later renovated his home into a hotel and
7 a tavern. It was named the Frontier House, and
8 it was designed to accommodate those passing
9 through to newly purchased lands.
10 Following the War of 1812, when the
11 border between the United States and
12 then-Britain, now Canada became secure, people
13 started moving into the area at a much bigger or
14 quicker pace. And in 1821, New York State
15 officially established the Town of Evans.
16 After two centuries of township,
17 Evans has continued to thrive through many
18 decades filled with growth, change and
19 challenges. Today, under the leadership of
20 Supervisor Mary Hosler, the town stays true to
21 its mission -- and the mission is to serve as a
22 home for work, community and play.
23 So Happy Bicentennial to the Town of
24 Evans, and thank you, Madam Speaker -- Madam
25 Leader.
3589
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
2 Senator Ryan.
3 The resolution was previously
4 adopted on May 20th.
5 Senator Gianaris.
6 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
7 Madam President.
8 At this point can we take up
9 Resolution 867, by Senator Hinchey, read its
10 title, and recognize Senator Hinchey.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
12 Secretary will read.
13 THE SECRETARY: Senate Resolution
14 867, by Senator Hinchey, memorializing Governor
15 Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim June 2021 as
16 Dairy Month in the State of New York.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Hinchey on the resolution.
19 SENATOR HINCHEY: Thank you,
20 Madam President.
21 As chair of the Senate Agriculture
22 Committee and State Senator for the
23 46th District, which is home to over 1,000 farms,
24 it is with great pleasure that I rise today to
25 present a resolution to the Senate proclaiming
3590
1 the month of June as Dairy Month in New York
2 State.
3 New York State is an ag state, and
4 the dairy industry is the cornerstone of
5 New York's ag economy, supporting close to
6 63,000 jobs and providing a $42 billion impact on
7 our economy.
8 We have over 4,000 dairy farms in
9 New York that care for more than 600,000 cows,
10 which collectively produce over 14.8 billion
11 pounds of milk annually. And we are the
12 fourth-largest producer of milk and the leading
13 producer of yogurt, cottage cheese and sour cream
14 in the nation.
15 Dairy in New York is mostly small
16 and midsized family farms who have been doing
17 this work for generations. These are people who
18 love what they do, love the cows that they care
19 for, and do this not for profit but for love of
20 the profession.
21 A few weeks ago I had the
22 opportunity to meet with many of the dairy
23 farmers in Montgomery County through a visit with
24 a fourth-generation dairy farmer, Ray Dykeman,
25 and his family at Dykeman & Sons Farm. I toured
3591
1 their incredible operation and had the
2 opportunity to meet a group of farmers and
3 producers who are integral to the dairy value
4 chain in New York State, including our small
5 local dairies and direct-sale vendors.
6 These farms are the cornerstone of
7 our local economies, creating jobs and supporting
8 our rural towns and villages. Our dairy farmers
9 are some of those that have stepped up the most
10 during this COVID-19 pandemic -- big companies
11 like Chobani, and many of our smaller dairies I
12 visited have all participated in the Nourish
13 New York program, providing products to food
14 banks in all corners of our state to help
15 families put food on the table during these
16 difficult times.
17 Dairy Month in New York is a
18 critical opportunity for us to both honor the
19 hard work, innovation and stewardship stemming
20 from our local dairies and put the unique
21 challenges facing the industry front and center
22 so that we can work with current and future
23 generations to keep dairy strong here in New York
24 State.
25 With that, I'm proud to sponsor the
3592
1 resolution proclaiming June Dairy Month here in
2 New York.
3 Thank you, Madam President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
5 Senator Hinchey.
6 Senator May on the resolution.
7 SENATOR MAY: Thank you,
8 Madam President.
9 Like Senator Hinchey, I represent a
10 number of dairy farms, and I wanted to tell two
11 stories about them.
12 One is last week I met with Steve
13 Miller, whose Queensboro Farms dairy processing
14 plant started in Harlem. His ancestor,
15 Sarah Miller, started delivering milk door to
16 door, and eventually the family developed this
17 into a dairy processing company that had plants
18 across the state. They have one left, and it's
19 in the 53rd Senate District in Madison County.
20 And they sell butter and cheese and milk and
21 yogurt and are still very much thriving in
22 upstate New York.
23 So dairy is, as Senator Hinchey
24 said, it's a family business, but it's a family
25 business that stretches over many generations and
3593
1 is important to the history of our state as well
2 as to the current economy of our state.
3 But the other story I want to tell
4 is about last spring, when dairy farmers around
5 the state had their supply chains totally
6 interrupted, and they were having to throw out a
7 lot of milk. And so the Dairy Farmers of America
8 organized and started doing milk distributions.
9 And I went out in April with a group
10 of very cheerful dairy farmers, in one of the
11 coldest winds I have ever stood in, to hand out
12 gallons of milk to hundreds and hundreds of
13 people who came to collect milk who were in
14 difficulty because of the economy at that time.
15 And it was beautiful to see people
16 from the dairy industry who were struggling
17 themselves turn around and take their struggles
18 and turn it into a benefit for the people who
19 were in difficulty, who were food-insecure around
20 our region.
21 And so I'm very grateful to them,
22 but I also want to say I think that is indicative
23 of the resilience and the philosophy of dairy
24 farmers to be producing for people. It isn't for
25 profit, but for people.
3594
1 And so I want to honor the dairy
2 industry in New York and thank Senator Hinchey
3 for bringing this resolution, and I proudly
4 support it. Thank you.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
6 Senator May.
7 Senator Borrello on the resolution.
8 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you very
9 much, Madam President.
10 And I would like to first of all
11 thank the leader of our Agriculture Committee,
12 Senator Hinchey, for introducing this resolution
13 today.
14 Like her, I represent a tremendous
15 amount of farms. In fact my district is a little
16 over 4,000 square miles, and there's about
17 4,000 farms. So literally one farm for every
18 square mile in the 57th Senate District. A high
19 concentration of agriculture. And of those 4,000
20 farms, the biggest part of them is in fact dairy.
21 So I'm honored to be here today to
22 show our support for the dairy industry, an
23 industry that has been rocked -- even prior to
24 this pandemic, has been rocked with issues and
25 challenges. And yet those families, as Senator
3595
1 Hinchey mentioned, those that do it out of love,
2 not for profit, have continued on and endured and
3 ensured that our food supply chain remains strong
4 here, because dairy is such a critically
5 important part of everyone's nutrition every day.
6 So I want to say that this is more
7 than just honoring them, but recognizing them as
8 the front-line workers during this pandemic that
9 they are, recognizing them as the true heroes of
10 our food supply chain. And thanking them very
11 much for all that they have done to make sure
12 that when push comes to shove, our agriculture
13 community continues on. And dairy is certainly
14 the foundation of our agriculture community here
15 in New York State.
16 Thank you all, to everyone that does
17 this and continues to do this, and thank you very
18 much for this recognition.
19 Thank you, Madam President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
21 Senator Borrello.
22 The question is on the resolution.
23 All in favor signify by saying aye.
24 (Response of "Aye.")
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Opposed?
3596
1 (No response.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 resolution is adopted.
4 Senator Gianaris.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: At the
6 request of the sponsors, these resolutions are
7 open for cosponsorship.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 resolutions are open for cosponsorship. Should
10 you choose not to be a cosponsor of the
11 resolutions, please notify the desk.
12 Senator Gianaris.
13 SENATOR GIANARIS: Please take up
14 the calendar.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
16 Secretary will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 208, Senate Print 566A, by Senator Hoylman, an
19 act to amend the Executive Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
21 last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This act
23 shall take effect on the 90th day after it shall
24 have become a law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3597
1 roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
4 the results.
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
7 is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 385, Assembly Print 459, substituted earlier by
10 Assemblymember Gottfried, an act to amend the
11 Criminal Procedure Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
13 last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
17 roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
20 Ramos to explain her vote.
21 SENATOR RAMOS: Yes, thank you,
22 Madam President.
23 You know, there are long overdue
24 reforms here in New York State in order to update
25 our systems that have continually failed and
3598
1 burdened survivors of human trafficking across
2 our state.
3 You know, at a time when so many
4 New Yorkers are struggling, this bill today will
5 give survivors of trafficking the fresh start
6 they really need, breaking down barriers to
7 services and opportunities that will not only
8 allow them to survive but to thrive.
9 A criminal record imposes lifelong
10 detrimental effects limiting access to employment
11 and educational opportunities, financial
12 resources and housing. A criminal record can
13 also result in severe immigration consequences,
14 including the threat of deportation and the
15 inability to adjust immigration status or become
16 a citizen.
17 In the time of COVID, anything that
18 makes survivors more vulnerable in New York has
19 to go. I want to be clear: This bill expands on
20 existing vacatur provisions championed by
21 Senator Lanza in 2010 to include labor
22 trafficking survivors and all acts that survivors
23 were forced to commit by their abuser.
24 Since that bill passed, several
25 other states have passed more expansive vacatur
3599
1 provisions, including California and others. But
2 vacatur isn't automatic, and judges still have
3 discretion.
4 This bill wouldn't have an impact on
5 ongoing cases, nor does it change trafficking or
6 prostitution laws. Instead, what it does is
7 empower judges to vacate convictions so survivors
8 no longer have barriers to housing, employment,
9 education, or adjusting their immigration status.
10 This bill allows their records to
11 remain confidential. Without it, access to
12 employment and other very needed resources is so
13 tenuous that cycles of poverty continue for
14 survivors of trafficking. This makes people, of
15 course, more susceptible to being trafficked
16 again.
17 And I just want to dedicate my vote
18 on this bill today to the late Lorena Borjas.
19 She was the mother of the trans community in my
20 district. She was trafficked upon coming to the
21 United States and fought very hard for not only
22 this bill to be passed, but for all trafficking
23 victims -- whether it be sex workers,
24 farmworkers, nail salon workers, construction
25 workers, you name it, because it doesn't
3600
1 discriminate -- for them to be able to see the
2 light of day and hopefully break out of this
3 cycle.
4 So I want to thank of course the
5 Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and all
6 of my colleagues who are voting with me on this
7 bill.
8 Thank you, Madam President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 Ramos to be recorded in the affirmative.
11 Announce the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
13 Calendar 385, those Senators voting in the
14 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Gallivan,
15 Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza, Martucci,
16 Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath,
17 Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
18 Ayes, 44. Nays, 19.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
20 is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 405, Senate Print 153, by Senator Thomas, an act
23 to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules and the
24 Judiciary Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
3601
1 last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 15. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
5 roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
8 Thomas to explain his vote.
9 SENATOR THOMAS: Thank you,
10 Madam President.
11 I want to thank Leader Andrea
12 Stewart-Cousins for bringing this crucial
13 legislation to the floor today, and my colleagues
14 for voting to support our state's 20 million
15 consumers by putting a stop to abusive debt
16 collection practices that have become widespread
17 here in New York State.
18 Long before I became a Senator and
19 chair of the Consumer Protection Committee, I was
20 defending litigants in court sued on personal
21 debt they owed. It could be a credit card
22 balance, a student loan, a car loan, a utility
23 bill or a medical bill. Businesses would often
24 sell debts at a steep discount to third-party
25 buyers who tried to collect the payment
3602
1 themselves or hire outside firms to do so.
2 Often the same debt is resold
3 multiple times, and sometimes debts are packaged
4 and sold in bulk. In situations such as this,
5 documents are missing to show proper sale of the
6 debt or even the contract.
7 In litigation, the burden is on the
8 plaintiff to produce documents to prove the case.
9 But when debts are sold in the manner described
10 previously, admissible evidence is hard to come
11 by. In the vast majority of these cases
12 litigants just settle without seeing proper
13 paperwork, because of the lack of knowledge or
14 information needed to protect themselves.
15 Plaintiffs have relied on this
16 strategy for decades. But today we change that
17 system.
18 The Consumer Credit Fairness Act
19 would prevent debt buyers from continuing to
20 exploit gaps in our state's Civil Practice Law
21 and Rules, while allowing legitimate cases to
22 proceed.
23 The CCFA requires a notice to be
24 mailed to the defendants in consumer credit
25 actions by the clerk of the court, ensuring that
3603
1 defendants are given notice of the lawsuit. It's
2 already being done right now in New York City's
3 Civil Court, and it's going to now happen
4 statewide.
5 Given the lack of documentation
6 produced during these collection suits, the CCFA
7 requires court filings to include documents
8 identifying the debt and that the debt is
9 actually owed to the plaintiff.
10 The CCFA also reduces the statute of
11 limitations for consumer credit transactions from
12 six years to three years.
13 The CCFA will stop these abusive
14 debt collection lawsuits in their tracks while
15 preserving the rights of creditors to collect
16 debts in a way that is transparent and fair to
17 the consumer.
18 The CCFA has also been a
19 collaborative effort between industry and
20 consumer advocacy groups. I also want to thank
21 Assemblywoman Weinstein for being a great partner
22 in the Assembly, and her staff for working with
23 us to make this happen today.
24 I've never been more proud to cast
25 my vote in the affirmative. And Madam President,
3604
1 I dedicate this vote to all my colleagues back
2 before I became a Senator who worked so hard on
3 this. So thank you to all of them, and I vote in
4 the affirmative.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
6 Thomas to be recorded in the affirmative.
7 Announce the results.
8 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
9 Calendar 405, those Senators voting in the
10 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
11 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
12 Martucci, Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
13 Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and
14 Weik.
15 Ayes, 43. Nays, 20.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
17 is passed.
18 Senator Gianaris.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
20 thank you for allowing me to interrupt the
21 calendar for a brief moment.
22 One of the benefits of loosening the
23 capacity restrictions here in the chamber is we
24 once again get to greet long-time friends who
25 come to visit. And today we are fortunate to
3605
1 have with us the County Executive of Westchester,
2 and your predecessor in the Senate in your
3 district, George Latimer.
4 (Applause.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: To County
6 Executive Latimer, former State Senator, I
7 welcome you on behalf of the Senate. We extend
8 to you the privileges and courtesies of this
9 house, which you know very well.
10 Thank you very much.
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's continue
12 with the calendar now, please.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 407, Senate Print 1068A, by Senator Biaggi, an
17 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
19 last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
23 roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
3606
1 the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
3 Calendar 407, those Senators voting in the
4 negative are Senators Borrello, Boyle, Griffo,
5 Helming, Jordan, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Rath,
6 Serino, Stec and Tedisco.
7 Ayes, 51. Nays, 12.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
9 is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 470, Senate Print 3395A, by Senator Gounardes, an
12 act to amend the Executive Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
14 last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
18 roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
21 Gounardes to explain his vote.
22 SENATOR GOUNARDES: Thank you,
23 Madam President.
24 When we in this chamber two years
25 ago took a bold step to reform and strengthen the
3607
1 laws against sexual harassment in the workplace,
2 we did so with a glaring expectation. We carved
3 out, from the protections of the state's Human
4 Rights Law, the very people who work for members
5 of the legislative branch, members of the
6 executive branch, and members of the judicial
7 branch.
8 But today we are going to be
9 righting that wrong by passing this bill to put a
10 stop to the license to harass that elected
11 officials and judges have exercised in New York
12 State for far too long. We know that the power
13 imbalances that exist in politics and government
14 have existed for many, many years. It has been
15 well-documented in newspaper stories and in the
16 personal experiences and testimonials of people
17 who have come forward to share their stories of
18 what's happened to them while working in the
19 halls of power.
20 An exception to sexual harassment
21 laws for elected officials' employees runs
22 completely counter to the efforts to root out,
23 combat and deter harassment in government.
24 Survivors of sexual harassment should not be
25 gaslighted by the legal system.
3608
1 This law will make it crystal-clear
2 that employees of elected officials of every
3 branch of government and of judges work for the
4 very institutions that send them their paychecks,
5 that give them their benefits, that give them
6 everything that make them employees of that
7 branch.
8 It's amazing that we've had to do
9 this. This should have been done years ago when
10 we strengthened our laws. But I'm glad to see
11 that we are taking these steps today. And we
12 would not be here were it not for the courageous
13 stories of members and of survivors who have come
14 forward to share with us and shine light on what
15 they experienced -- some working in the halls of
16 this building -- about their pain and suffering
17 that are leading us to this step today.
18 And I proudly cast my vote aye.
19 Thank you.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
21 Gounardes to be recorded in the affirmative.
22 Announce the results.
23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
24 Calendar 470, those Senators voting in the
25 negative are Senators Lanza, Oberacker, O'Mara
3609
1 and Ortt.
2 Ayes, 59. Nays, 4.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
4 is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 561, Senate Print 4615A, by Senator Kaplan, an
7 act to amend the General Municipal Law and the
8 Education Law.
9 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
11 is laid aside.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 620, Senate Print 738, by Senator Biaggi, an act
14 to amend the General Obligations Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
16 last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
20 roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
23 the results.
24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
25 Calendar 620, those Senators voting in the
3610
1 negative are Senators Lanza and O'Mara.
2 Ayes, 61. Nays, 2.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
4 is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 625, Senate Print 164, by Senator Gianaris, an
7 act to amend the Public Officers Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 625, those Senators voting in the
19 negative are Senators Boyle and Felder.
20 Ayes, 61. Nays, 2.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 626, Senate Print 1059A, by Senator Liu, an act
25 to amend the Legislative Law.
3611
1 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3 is laid aside.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 691, Senate Print 766, by Senator Gounardes, an
6 act to amend the General Obligations Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
8 last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect on the 60th day after it
11 shall have become a law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
16 Gounardes to explain his vote.
17 SENATOR GOUNARDES: Thank you,
18 Madam President.
19 This bill that we are passing right
20 now would ban what we call "do not darken"
21 clauses, or "no rehire" clauses in the State of
22 New York.
23 This measure is important because
24 far too often victims of sexual harassment who
25 enter into settlement agreements are forced to
3612
1 sign away their rights to ever apply for
2 positions at companies or at places of employment
3 ever again.
4 This, plain and simple, is shutting
5 down economic opportunities to those who are
6 victims of sexual harassment and is a punishment
7 against those people who are brave enough to come
8 forward and share their stories as to what
9 happened to them at the hands of their abusers.
10 This legislation makes a strong
11 statement that until every single workplace in
12 our state is 100 percent free of discrimination
13 and sexual harassment, that we will not shield
14 these harassing workplaces at the expense of
15 victims of this harassment.
16 We have made sweeping progress over
17 the last few years in the fight against
18 discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
19 But today we will continue to send a strong
20 message that these "no rehire" clauses which are
21 in wide use across the state and, frankly, across
22 the country are an unfair restriction on these
23 individuals and should no longer be enforced in
24 the State of New York. And for that reason I
25 proudly vote aye.
3613
1 Thank you.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3 Gounardes to be recorded in the affirmative.
4 Announce the results.
5 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
6 Calendar 691, those Senators voting in the
7 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
8 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Martucci,
9 Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath,
10 Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
11 Ayes, 44. Nays, 19.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
13 is passed.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Calendar
15 Number 706, Senate Print 1746A, by
16 Senator Kennedy, an act to amend the
17 Public Authorities Law.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
19 last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
23 roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
3614
1 the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
4 is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 756, Senate Print 5405A, by Senator Mannion --
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is a
8 home-rule message at the desk.
9 (Pause.)
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
11 can we temporarily lay this aside. Apparently
12 the other house just passed it as well, so we're
13 waiting for the Assembly bill to be delivered to
14 us.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
16 is temporarily laid aside.
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: Now apparently
18 it has arrived. So can we remove that lay-aside
19 and take up Calendar 756 again.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
21 Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: Senator Mannion
23 moves to discharge, from the Committee on Local
24 Government, Assembly Bill Number 6376A and
25 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
3615
1 5405A, Third Reading Calendar 756.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 substitution is so ordered.
4 The Secretary will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 756, Assembly Bill Number 6376A, by
7 Assemblymember Magnarelli, an act authorizing the
8 use of existing village sewer rents for
9 infrastructure projects.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is a
11 home-rule message at the desk.
12 Read the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
16 roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
19 the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 778, Senate Print 812A, by Senator Biaggi, an act
25 to amend the Executive Law.
3616
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
2 last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
6 roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
9 the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
12 is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 851, Senate Print 5237B, by Senator Gaughran, an
15 act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
17 last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
19 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
20 shall have become a law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
22 roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
25 the results.
3617
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 906, Senate Print 3034A, by Senator Parker, an
6 act to amend the Public Service Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
8 last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
10 act shall take effect on the 30th day after it
11 shall have become a law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 906, those Senators voting in the
19 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
20 Gallivan, Jordan, Martucci, O'Mara, Ortt,
21 Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Stec and Weik.
22 Ayes, 50. Nays, 13.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3618
1 911, Senate Print 5084B, by Senator Harckham, an
2 act --
3 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
5 is laid aside.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 976, Senate Print 2995, by Senator Harckham, an
8 act to amend the Environmental Conservation Law.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
10 last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
14 roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
17 the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
19 Calendar Number 976, voting in the negative:
20 Senator Griffo.
21 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
23 is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 986, Senate Print 2841A, by Senator Sepúlveda, an
3619
1 act to amend the Correction Law.
2 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
4 is laid aside.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 994, Senate Print 1848, by Senator Skoufis, an
7 act to amend the Education Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 994, those Senators voting in the
19 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
20 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
21 Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath,
22 Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
23 Ayes, 44. Nays, 19.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
25 is passed.
3620
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 995, Senate Print Number 2053A, by
3 Senator Reichlin-Melnick, an act to amend the
4 Education Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
6 last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
10 roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
13 Reichlin-Melnick to explain his vote.
14 SENATOR REICHLIN-MELNICK: Thank
15 you, Madam President.
16 This is a bill which will give
17 many of the school districts in my Senate
18 district an important local option to allow them
19 to establish school wards for the purposes of
20 voting.
21 We have wards essentially for our
22 body here, in the state Senate and the State
23 Assembly. We each represent particular
24 geographic areas, and we work to represent them
25 well. Counties have the same in the county
3621
1 legislatures. And many cities and towns and
2 villages in the state use geographically based
3 wards to elect members from particular areas to
4 make sure that all parts of a community have
5 their voices heard and that no one section or no
6 one group of a neighborhood or a community
7 dominates that community.
8 It's important that we give school
9 districts that ability as well that all other
10 local governments have in New York State, to
11 choose at their local option, to move to a
12 ward-based system if they feel that that is the
13 best way that their community can be fairly
14 represented and that the voters and the residents
15 of that district can have their voices heard.
16 So I am proud to support this bill.
17 I think it's going to make a real difference for
18 school districts in Rockland that choose to use
19 this. And again, it's a local option, so I will
20 leave it to the school districts that I represent
21 in Rockland County to decide whether or not they
22 want to pursue this course. I know that some may
23 be interested. The local Rockland County
24 Teachers Association strongly supports this
25 legislation, as does NYSUT. And so I think it's
3622
1 a great bill that's going to give some new
2 options and help make sure that we have fair and
3 equal representation for the districts in
4 Rockland County.
5 Thanks very much. I vote yes.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
7 Reichlin-Melnick to be recorded in the
8 affirmative.
9 Announce the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
11 Calendar 995, those Senators voting in the
12 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
13 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
14 Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath,
15 Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
16 Ayes, 44. Nays, 19.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
18 is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 997, Senate Print 4650, by Senator Mannion, an
21 act to amend the Education Law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
23 last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
3623
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
2 roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
5 the results.
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
8 is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1027, Senate Print 3542, by Senator Stavisky, an
11 act to amend the Education Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
13 last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
17 roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
20 the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
23 is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 1041, Assembly Print 479, substituted earlier by
3624
1 Assemblymember Rozic, an act to amend the General
2 Business Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
4 last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
8 roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
11 Thomas to explain his vote.
12 SENATOR THOMAS: Thank you,
13 Madam President.
14 Cricket is the second most popular
15 sport in the world, watched and played by
16 billions of people across the world. Cricket is
17 widely popular in the Caribbean, South Asia,
18 Europe, Africa, and now it's catching on like
19 wildfire here in the United States.
20 Cricket leagues are popping up
21 everywhere. Big tournaments are being organized
22 in states like Florida, Texas and New Jersey.
23 But New York is without question the cricket
24 capital of the U.S.A. New Yorkers are crazy
25 about cricket. The sport goes hand in hand with
3625
1 the diversity and multiculturalism of our state,
2 which is home to a number of thriving immigrant
3 communities who grew up playing and watching
4 cricket.
5 In my district on Long Island, you
6 can head to Eisenhower Park on any given
7 afternoon and see cricketers practicing at the
8 two pitches that were installed last year.
9 Cricket represents a major
10 opportunity for New York State culturally,
11 socially and economically. Cricket is a massive
12 revenue generator. The European Business Review
13 estimated cricket's global value at about
14 8.4 billion this year, and that figure is
15 expected to grow exponentially over the coming
16 years.
17 And New York already has a place in
18 cricket history for having hosted the sport's
19 first international match in 1844.
20 I believe that New York has a unique
21 opportunity to become the official cricket
22 capital of the U.S., which is why I've introduced
23 legislation to recognize the legitimacy and value
24 of cricket to our state. Including cricket in
25 the New York State Athletic Commission recognizes
3626
1 the sport of cricket as an important part of the
2 social and cultural fabric of New York State and
3 expands the state's capacity to officially
4 promote the sport.
5 As the first Indian American to be
6 elected to the New York State Senate, I am
7 thrilled to sponsor this legislation, especially
8 because so many of the South Asian community
9 share a love and passion for this sport.
10 Thank you to Leader Stewart-Cousins
11 for bringing this bill to the floor today, and to
12 all my Senate colleagues. I hope that when you
13 next find yourself on Long Island, you can join
14 me for an exciting game of cricket in the park.
15 Thank you, and I vote in the
16 affirmative.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Thomas to be recorded in the affirmative.
19 Announce the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
21 Calendar 1041, those Senators voting in the
22 negative are Senators Griffo and Martucci.
23 Ayes, 61. Nays, 2.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
25 is passed.
3627
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 1078, Senate Print 5924A, by Senator Thomas, an
3 act to amend the General Business Law and the
4 Education Law.
5 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
7 is laid aside.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 1081, Senate Print 849A, by Senator Gounardes, an
10 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
12 last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect on the 60th day after it
15 shall have become a law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
17 roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
20 Gounardes to explain his vote.
21 SENATOR GOUNARDES: Thank you,
22 Madam President.
23 This is the third bill in this
24 package, again, to protect against sexual
25 harassment in the workplace that I've sponsored.
3628
1 And I just want to pause and say how
2 important it is, this entire package of bills
3 that we're advancing today, to help protect those
4 who are victimized at the hands of harassers, but
5 also to send affirmative statements and
6 affirmative principles that we will not tolerate
7 abusive and harassing behavior anywhere in our
8 workplace.
9 This bill is a pretty simple one,
10 actually. And what we have learned, hearing time
11 and time and time again from too many victims,
12 sadly, is that oftentimes victims cannot come
13 forward right away to share their stories, are
14 not able to come forward to get the relief that
15 they need and that they so rightly deserve.
16 So we are extending the statute of
17 limitations in this bill that we currently have
18 on the books from three years to six years,
19 because we recognize that victims of workplace
20 harassment oftentimes need more time to be able
21 to avail themselves of the legal system to
22 address their rights and to make sure that they
23 can come forward when they are ready to do so and
24 still not sacrifice their ability to seek redress
25 in the courts.
3629
1 This is a very, very important piece
2 of legislation. It's part of a very important
3 package of a whole host of bills that we have
4 passed here today. And I want to just thank our
5 entire conference for taking such a bold stance
6 to help make sure that we are continuing the
7 march forward to eradicate workplace
8 discrimination and harassment in our state,
9 because we cannot simply rest on our laurels, we
10 have to keep moving forward. We know all too
11 much and all too well that this is still a
12 pervasive problem everywhere across the state.
13 This package of bills helps address
14 that, and I am very proud to support this entire
15 package, especially this bill.
16 Thank you.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Gounardes to be recorded in the affirmative.
19 Announce the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
21 Calendar 1081, those Senators voting in the
22 negative are Senators Lanza and Savino.
23 Ayes, 61. Nays, 2.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
25 is passed.
3630
1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 1085, Senate Print 6392, by Senator
3 Reichlin-Melnick, an act to amend Chapter 329 of
4 the Laws of 2009.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
6 last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
10 roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
13 the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
16 is passed.
17 There is a substitution at the desk.
18 The Secretary will read.
19 THE SECRETARY: Senator Hoylman
20 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
21 Judiciary, Assembly Bill Number 5859 and
22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill 6622,
23 Third Reading Calendar 1086.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
25 substitution is so ordered.
3631
1 The Secretary will read.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 1086, Assembly Print Number 5859, by
4 Assemblymember Dinowitz, an act to amend
5 Chapter 237 of the Laws of 2015.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
11 roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
14 the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
17 is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 1093, Senate Print 6488, by Senator Kavanagh, an
20 act to amend the Private Housing Finance Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
22 last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3632
1 roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
4 the results.
5 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
6 Calendar 1093, those Senators voting in the
7 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
8 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
9 Martucci, Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
10 Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and
11 Weik.
12 Ayes, 43. Nays, 20.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
14 is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 1096, Senate Print 6606, by Senator Liu, an act
17 to amend Chapter 253 of the Laws of 2004.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
19 last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
23 roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
3633
1 the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
4 is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 1119, Senate Print 6258, by Senator Addabbo, an
7 act to amend Chapter 100 of the Laws of 2013.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
19 is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1120, Senate Print 6609, by Senator Jackson, an
22 act to amend Chapter 613 of the Laws of 1996.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
24 last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3634
1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3 roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
6 the results.
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
9 is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 1121, Senate Print 6610, by Senator Krueger, an
12 act to amend the Local Finance Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
14 last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
18 roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
21 the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3635
1 1122, Assembly Print 7174, substituted earlier by
2 Assemblymember Walker, an act to amend the
3 General Municipal Law.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
5 last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
9 roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
12 the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
15 is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 1144, Senate Print 6614, by Senator Kaplan, an
18 act to amend Chapter 396 of the Laws of 2010.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
20 last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3636
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
2 the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
5 is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 1152, Assembly Print 7019, substituted earlier by
8 Assemblymember Seawright, an act to amend
9 Chapter 223 of the Laws of 1996.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
11 last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
15 roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
18 the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
20 Calendar Number 1152, voting in the negative:
21 Senator Skoufis.
22 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3637
1 1153, Senate Print 4720, by Senator Stec, an act
2 to amend the Civil Service Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is a
4 home-rule message at the desk.
5 Read the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
9 roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
12 the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
15 is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 1163, Assembly Print 3994, substituted earlier by
18 Assemblymember Cusick, an act to amend the
19 Insurance Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
21 last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
25 roll.
3638
1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
3 the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
6 is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 1166, Assembly Print 7123, substituted earlier by
9 Assemblymember Woerner, an act to amend
10 Chapter 440 of the Laws of 2012.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
12 last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
16 roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
19 the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1177, Assembly Print 3427, substituted earlier by
25 Assemblymember Rosenthal, an act to amend the
3639
1 Public Service Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
3 last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
13 is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 1182, Senate Print 6696, by Senator Persaud, an
16 act to amend Chapter 74 of the Laws of 2007.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
18 last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
22 roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
25 the results.
3640
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1210, Senate Print 6394, by Senator Bailey, an
6 act to amend the New York State Urban Development
7 Corporation Act.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar Number 1210, voting in the negative:
19 Senator Skoufis.
20 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1232, Assembly Print Number 7122, substituted
25 earlier by Assemblymember Lupardo, an act to
3641
1 amend the Agriculture and Markets Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
3 last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
13 is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 1241, Senate Print 5959, by Senator May, an act
16 to amend the Canal Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
18 last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
22 roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
25 the results.
3642
1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1242, Senate Print 6105, by Senator Rath, an act
6 to amend the Highway Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
8 last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
12 roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
15 the results.
16 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
17 Calendar Number 1242, voting in the negative:
18 Senator Brisport.
19 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
21 is passed.
22 Senator Lanza.
23 SENATOR LANZA: Thank you,
24 Madam President.
25 Madam President, please join me in
3643
1 congratulating Senator Rath upon passing his
2 first bill in the Senate.
3 (Applause.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1246, Assembly Print 4089, substituted earlier by
6 Assemblymember Thiele, an act to amend the
7 Highway Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar Number 1246, voting in the negative:
19 Senator Brisport.
20 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 1272, Senate Print 2689, by Senator Martucci, an
25 act to amend Chapter 262 of the Laws of 2005.
3644
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is a
2 home-rule message at the desk.
3 Read the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 Martucci to explain his vote.
11 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Thank you,
12 Madam President.
13 This is an important bill for the
14 local Warwick community. This bill has huge
15 bipartisan support and is an extender to a very
16 important program that has been wildly successful
17 and has been around for decades. This allows the
18 Town of Warwick to continue to preserve land and
19 protect against overdevelopment.
20 It's my pleasure to do my small part
21 in making sure that the town has the tools
22 necessary to keep it beautiful, and for that
23 reason I vote aye and I thank my colleagues to do
24 the same.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3645
1 Martucci to be recorded in the affirmative.
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
4 Calendar 1272, those Senators voting in the
5 negative are Senators Akshar, Brooks, Gaughran,
6 Helming, Mannion, Reichlin-Melnick, Serino,
7 Skoufis and Thomas.
8 Ayes, 54. Nays, 9.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
10 is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 1277, Senate Print 3594, by Senator Gallivan, an
13 act granting retroactive membership in the
14 New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
15 System.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
17 last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
21 roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
24 the results.
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
3646
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
2 is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1279, Senate Print 4117, by Senator Akshar, an
5 act to authorize the Village of Endicott to offer
6 an optional twenty-year retirement plan.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is a
8 home-rule message at the desk.
9 Read the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
19 is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1282, Senate Print 5399, by Senator Ortt, an act
22 to amend the Highway Law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Read the
24 last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3647
1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3 roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
6 the results.
7 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
8 Calendar Number 1282, voting in the negative:
9 Senator Brisport.
10 Ayes, 62. Nays, 1.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
12 is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 1317, Senate Print 6964A, by Senator Biaggi, an
15 act to amend the Executive Law.
16 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
18 is laid aside.
19 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
20 reading of today's calendar.
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's move on to
22 the controversial calendar, please.
23 Start with Calendar 626, please.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
25 Secretary will ring the bell.
3648
1 The Secretary will read.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 626, Senate Print 1059A, by Senator Liu, an act
4 to amend the Legislative Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
6 Lanza, why do you rise?
7 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, I
8 believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
9 waive the reading of that amendment and ask that
10 Senator Serino be recognized and heard.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
12 Senator Lanza.
13 Upon review of the amendment, in
14 accordance with Rule 6, Section 4B, I rule it
15 nongermane and out of order at this time.
16 SENATOR LANZA: Accordingly,
17 Madam President, I appeal the ruling of the chair
18 and ask that Senator Serino be recognized.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The appeal
20 has been made and recognized, and Senator Serino
21 may be heard.
22 SENATOR SERINO: Thank you,
23 Madam President.
24 This bill is germane because both
25 bills deal directly with more effectively
3649
1 preventing sexual harassment here in the New York
2 State Capitol and holding perpetrators
3 accountable.
4 While I understand and support the
5 intent of the bill before us today, to better
6 train lobbyists to prevent sexual harassment,
7 under current New York State law all employers
8 are required to provide this training already.
9 So if these lobbying firms are adhering to the
10 law, this should already be happening.
11 Further, I don't know how why we
12 would want JCOPE, a body notoriously controlled
13 by the Governor, to be in charge of creating an
14 anti-sexual harassment training program when, to
15 date, JCOPE has completely failed to hold the
16 Governor and others accountable for the various
17 sexual harassment charges levied against them.
18 All of us in government are supposed
19 to be participating in anti-harassment training.
20 But if the recent charges leveled against the
21 Governor are any indication, that training is
22 clearly not enough.
23 The problem seems to be a lack of
24 effective enforcement. What's missing is a
25 process that victims can actually trust to hold
3650
1 perpetrators accountable. The amendment before
2 us today is a bill that I sponsor that would
3 create a totally independent commission to
4 collect reports of sexual harassment,
5 substantiate them, and truly hold perpetrators
6 accountable.
7 I understand we're taking up a bill
8 later today that is meant to overhaul JCOPE, an
9 important step in bolstering the integrity of a
10 body that has been under the Governor's control
11 for far too long. However, that new JCOPE would
12 have an awful lot on their plate, if I had to
13 guess, and my bill would actually create an
14 independent commission dedicated exclusively to
15 investigating sexual harassment claims in every
16 corner of state government.
17 The bill before the house might get
18 a good headline, but it's unlikely to make any
19 real difference in deterring sexual harassment.
20 However, we could pass my amendment today and
21 make a real difference for thousands of New
22 Yorkers employed in state government.
23 This is a moment to set politics
24 aside and work together to ensure that our state
25 is a place where survivors are heard,
3651
1 perpetrators are held accountable, and all New
2 Yorkers feel safe from harassment of any kind.
3 And I urge my colleagues to vote aye.
4 Thank you, Madam President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
6 Senator Serino.
7 I want to remind the house that the
8 vote is on the procedures of the house and the
9 ruling of the chair.
10 Those in favor of overruling the
11 charge signify by saying aye.
12 SENATOR LANZA: Request a show of
13 hands.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: We've agreed to
15 waive the showing of hands and record each member
16 of the Minority in the affirmative.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Without
18 objection, so ordered.
19 Announce the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 20.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The ruling
22 of the chair stands, and the bill-in-chief is
23 before the house.
24 Are there any other Senators wishing
25 to be heard?
3652
1 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
2 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
3 Read the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
12 Calendar 626, those Senators voting in the
13 negative are Senators Lanza and Savino.
14 Ayes, 61. Nays, 2.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
16 is passed.
17 Senator Gianaris.
18 SENATOR GIANARIS: At this time
19 let's move to Calendar 1317, please.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
21 Secretary will read Calendar 1317.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 1317, Senate Print 6964A, by Senator Biaggi, an
24 act to amend the Executive Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3653
1 Lanza, why do you rise?
2 SENATOR LANZA: Madam President, I
3 believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
4 waive the reading of that amendment and ask that
5 Senator Palumbo be recognized and heard.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
7 Senator Lanza.
8 Upon review of the amendment, in
9 accordance with Rule 6, Section 4B, I rule it
10 nongermane and out of order at this time.
11 SENATOR LANZA: Accordingly,
12 Madam President, I appeal the ruling of the chair
13 and ask that Senator Palumbo be recognized.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The appeal
15 has been made and recognized, and Senator Palumbo
16 may be heard.
17 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
18 Madam President.
19 With respect to germaneness, the
20 proposed amendment, which is a bill by
21 Senator Krueger, would essentially strike and
22 replace the general text of the bill-in-chief.
23 The bill-in-chief makes some technical amendments
24 to the composition of JCOPE and makes some
25 other -- what we will discuss shortly -- very
3654
1 significant changes, in my opinion, at altering
2 the number of members appointed by each political
3 party and so forth.
4 Senator Krueger's bill creates a
5 completely new and independent commission,
6 similar to my colleague Senator Serino, who
7 expressed those concerns with the current makeup
8 and work of the Joint Commission on Public
9 Ethics. Senator Krueger's bill would ultimately
10 allow for one appointee to a commission of 13
11 from each leader -- two in the Senate, two in the
12 Assembly, one from each. It would also allow --
13 I'm sorry, two from the Governor, one from each
14 party, four from the Legislature, as I mentioned,
15 and seven more -- to equal 13 -- by justices in
16 the state.
17 And of those seven, three need to be
18 from the major -- one party, the other three need
19 to be from the second-largest party, and one
20 needs to be an independent.
21 So this is now going to be comprised
22 of six members appointed from all those various
23 officials and bodies, as I mentioned, from one
24 party, six members from the second-largest party
25 in the state, and an independent. A truly
3655
1 bipartisan commission to oversee the legislative
2 work and oversee the bodies -- all bodies within
3 the state.
4 So this is something that we believe
5 is certainly germane to the same type of -- to
6 the bill-in-chief, which simply just makes, as I
7 said, some technical amendments. And when we
8 think about generally how this is good
9 government -- for example in the United States
10 House of Representatives, they have six and six
11 from the two major parties. That makes
12 appropriate sense.
13 Although there are some changes that
14 we will discuss shortly, I believe they should be
15 stricken, that this amendment is germane, and
16 that we should all vote aye.
17 Thank you.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
19 Senator Palumbo.
20 I want to remind the house that the
21 vote is on the procedures of the house and the
22 ruling of the chair.
23 Those in favor of overruling the
24 chair signify by saying aye.
25 SENATOR LANZA: Request a show of
3656
1 hands.
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: We've agreed to
3 waive the showing of hands, Madam President, and
4 record each member of the Minority in the
5 affirmative.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Without
7 objection, so ordered.
8 Announce the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 20.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The ruling
11 of the chair stands, and the bill-in-chief is
12 before the house.
13 Senator Palumbo.
14 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
15 Madam President. Would the sponsor yield for a
16 few questions, please.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Gianaris.
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: I will be
20 handling the debate, Madam President.
21 I do yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
23 Gianaris yields.
24 SENATOR PALUMBO: Terrific. Thank
25 you, Senator.
3657
1 And in fact I was speaking with the
2 sponsor just last night about ethics reform. I
3 thought I may have seen her around, but I'm more
4 than happy to ask these questions of you, sir.
5 Thank you for yielding.
6 SENATOR GIANARIS: My pleasure.
7 SENATOR PALUMBO: So, Senator,
8 generally speaking, and as I mentioned just a few
9 moments ago, this alters -- and correct me if I'm
10 wrong, please -- essentially the makeup of the
11 Joint Commission on Public Ethics just to the
12 extent that it allows now an equal amount for
13 each Majority Leader and Minority Leader in each
14 of the houses. Is that accurate?
15 SENATOR GIANARIS: Correct.
16 SENATOR PALUMBO: And then
17 ultimately that would be eight appointees by each
18 of the leaders in the two legislative houses, and
19 then six from the Governor.
20 SENATOR GIANARIS: That's correct.
21 SENATOR PALUMBO: Yes, thank you.
22 And would you yield for another
23 question, please.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3658
1 Gianaris, do you continue to yield?
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: I do.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
4 Senator yields.
5 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
6 Senator.
7 And then the amendments here would
8 ultimately require -- or would result in the
9 removal -- and I'll direct you, if you can --
10 it's a fairly short bill, but there are a few
11 sections that all essentially do the same thing,
12 that they strike language on page 2 and page 3
13 that at least one member for certain offices and
14 for -- and two members in other offices, that
15 those members of the same political party needed
16 to affirmatively vote to proceed with a JCOPE
17 complaint.
18 So can you please explain to us why
19 the need for those provisions had -- were --
20 is -- are to be stricken, why that was necessary?
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yeah. And I
22 think it's not just members of the same political
23 party but also members of the same branch of
24 government that would need to sign off on it.
25 But the reason that that's being
3659
1 stricken in this bill is because we're trying to
2 remove what's -- basically serves as a
3 self-serving self-defense mechanism where
4 appointees of a particular individual would have
5 to agree for that very individual to be
6 investigated.
7 SENATOR PALUMBO: Would you yield
8 to another question, please.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 Gianaris, do you continue to yield?
11 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
13 Senator yields.
14 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you.
15 So -- and what -- but what would the
16 ultimate underlying reason be for that? Are you
17 suggesting that there might be someone -- when
18 you say self-preservation, that they would only
19 vote to protect a member of their same party and
20 not be making an ethical decision, is that where
21 you're going with that?
22 SENATOR GIANARIS: Again, I don't
23 think it's a partisan issue so much as that if
24 someone is appointed by a specific individual and
25 then is asked to sign off on an investigation of
3660
1 that very individual, there can be a potential
2 conflict there.
3 SENATOR PALUMBO: Well, none of
4 that -- will you yield for another question,
5 please.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
7 Gianaris, do you continue to yield?
8 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes, I do.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
10 Senator yields.
11 SENATOR PALUMBO: So then why do we
12 still continue with this particular body and all
13 of the appointees being from political people?
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Well, there is a
15 proposal, as you well know, to revamp the
16 entirety of the Ethics Commission. I think
17 Senator Krueger has that proposal. But that is
18 in the form of a constitutional amendment. It
19 would take, from this point, at least three
20 years, I think, to actually come into effect
21 because of the process for amending the
22 Constitution.
23 And the thought was let's at least,
24 in the interim, do what we can to make things
25 better up until the point where we could have a
3661
1 more comprehensive solution.
2 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
3 Senator, I appreciate that. Would you yield for
4 another question, please?
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator,
6 do you yield?
7 SENATOR GIANARIS: I do.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 Senator yields.
10 SENATOR PALUMBO: Is there
11 currently an Assembly sponsor for this bill
12 that's before the house now, to your knowledge?
13 SENATOR GIANARIS: No, there is
14 not.
15 SENATOR PALUMBO: Okay.
16 SENATOR GIANARIS: Perhaps you
17 could -- (inaudible).
18 SENATOR PALUMBO: I'd be more than
19 happy to do so. My former colleagues. I'm sure
20 they'd be quite interested.
21 Thank you --
22 SENATOR GIANARIS: (Inaudible.)
23 (Laughter.)
24 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
25 Senator Gianaris.
3662
1 On the bill, please, Madam
2 President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
4 Palumbo on the bill.
5 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you, Madam.
6 When you think about the work
7 that -- we've all had certain issues, various
8 issues with JCOPE over the years, people calling
9 for it to be disbanded, that the Governor totally
10 controls it. But we've still got, here,
11 political people appointing political people.
12 And during the crafting of the
13 legislation to enable the Joint Commission on
14 Public Ethics, there were some very important
15 negotiations and discussions and very important
16 safeguards placed within that legislation. And
17 quite frankly, the number of appointees is what
18 it is. The majorities have changed in the past
19 three years. Obviously now the Democratic Party
20 controls the Senate; at one point they did not,
21 for many years. So there is a dynamic there
22 where we had two separate parties in two separate
23 houses with equal appointments, and that seemed
24 to be good government.
25 But we always had -- to avoid any
3663
1 sort of a political attack, we always had the
2 stopgap of these people are charged with being
3 ethical, if there's a conflict of interest, as
4 was suggested at one point by Senator Gianaris,
5 then they would recuse themselves. But really,
6 of that body, all you needed was a majority
7 vote -- and in some circumstances just one of
8 that same political party appointees, and in
9 others two. So not a lot, but just enough so
10 that there could be some balance there that we
11 are not using this as a weapon for political
12 attacks.
13 And now let's talk a little bit more
14 specifically about that. We had all these ethics
15 issues and ethics reforms that for many, many
16 years in this state have been of significant
17 concern. We created the Moreland Commission, of
18 course controlled by the Governor. When they
19 started to sniff around and get a little too
20 close, in my own personal opinion, to the second
21 floor, he disbanded it.
22 And then we have this independent
23 body, and we have a few years ago an executive
24 session. And the one member of that body --
25 interestingly enough, in a small world, was a
3664
1 prosecutor with me in the Suffolk County DA's
2 office many, many moons ago. And this was
3 public, so I certainly say her name, that Julie
4 was a young prosecutor with myself from upstate,
5 went to -- came from Albany Law School, was the
6 Essex County DA, and had the utmost integrity.
7 And when it was revealed to her
8 shortly after an executive session that the
9 Speaker got a phone call from Governor Cuomo
10 saying, Why did your appointee -- knowing exactly
11 who she was -- vote in secret executive session
12 in one particular way?
13 And of course that became
14 significant news. A complaint was immediately
15 filed with the Inspector General, because this is
16 serious stuff now. This is a breach of
17 confidentiality, particularly of an ethics
18 commission specifically.
19 And what happened? Well, the
20 Governor's old legislative aide, who actually was
21 the Inspector General, six days later issued a
22 secret letter to JCOPE and said it was completely
23 unfounded.
24 Now, I haven't seen Julie in a lot
25 of years, but former ADA Garcia quit because she
3665
1 has integrity and knew that this was a sham.
2 So to suggest, my friends, that
3 politics is not injected into this body is
4 actually inaccurate, and I think we all know
5 that.
6 So now, under the current makeup,
7 there are some individuals who were appointed
8 when the Republicans had the majority in the
9 Senate. Now as they leave, if this were in fact
10 to become law, you have a 10-to-4 Democrat
11 appointee to Republican appointee. Four. You
12 need none of those four to do anything. And as I
13 mentioned earlier, how is that possibly good
14 government when you look at just about everywhere
15 else?
16 The proposed amendment that I
17 provided before that Senator Krueger has -- the
18 constitutional amendment, that's
19 Senator Krueger's bill, is exactly how it's
20 supposed to be done, in my opinion. And yet we
21 have this proposal and in the U.S. House and all
22 of these other legislative bodies that are trying
23 to invoke smart government, they have an equal
24 amount from both major parties or even an equal
25 amount from both major parties and an extra.
3666
1 So although this may seem to be a
2 more fair iteration of the Commission on Judicial
3 Ethics {sic} -- of JCOPE, because the minority
4 parties get an extra one or two, it's completely
5 the opposite. This is making this so political
6 that the majority party can go forward on a
7 complaint with eight votes and attack someone
8 simply for political reasons. Because we know,
9 unfortunately, in this day and age, that actually
10 happens.
11 So, look, this starts the
12 conversation. Right? There's no Assembly
13 sponsor. We have only a few weeks left. And I
14 appreciate the fact -- and I do -- and the
15 sponsor and I, as I said, were discussing this
16 yesterday. She is certainly courageous and
17 dedicated to some real ethics reform up here, and
18 I appreciate that. As the ranker on the Ethics
19 Committee, I am absolutely thrilled that that is
20 her intention.
21 But unfortunately, this bill does
22 not do that. In fact, it goes the other way. As
23 such, Madam President, I urge a negative vote.
24 Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3667
1 Gianaris on the bill.
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
3 Madam President, on the bill.
4 I just want to correct some
5 misperceptions that may have been left by my
6 colleague in his remarks.
7 The current makeup of this
8 commission is 10 appointees of Democratic
9 officials and four of Republicans. So that will
10 be unchanged in this proposal. So for the good
11 Senator to be suggesting that somehow this would
12 create that distinction is completely false.
13 Perhaps the reason he's opposed and
14 some of his colleagues are opposed is because the
15 unfairness they baked into the JCOPE appointment
16 process is being resolved.
17 So they have -- the Minority in this
18 chamber has less than a third of the body, and
19 yet they have three times the appointees of the
20 Majority. So what we're trying to do is bring
21 fairness.
22 I think it was last week or the week
23 before when one of these endless hostile
24 amendments that go nowhere was brought up where
25 they said, we should have minority appointments
3668
1 equal to the majority on all these commissions.
2 Well, that's what this does. It says two for the
3 minority. Even though you have half as many
4 members as we do, you'll get the same amount of
5 appointees to this body, because we want it to be
6 fair.
7 Now, in doing that, because the
8 current makeup is so disproportionate to reality,
9 your colleagues in the Assembly would gain an
10 appointee and you would lose one. So we would
11 have two, you would have two, instead of you
12 having three and we having one even though we
13 have twice as many members as you do. That is an
14 improvement over the current process.
15 Now, if you want to vote against
16 improving the Ethics Commission in this state,
17 that's up to you to explain to the public why you
18 choose to do that. But it is unquestionably
19 better than what exists now.
20 I agree we need to do more. We have
21 colleagues that are leading the way on doing more
22 and making a more comprehensive solution that
23 would take amending the Constitution. But in the
24 interim, this is a very good step forward.
25 Thank you, Madam President.
3669
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Are there
2 any other Senators wishing to be heard?
3 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
4 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
5 Read the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
9 roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
12 the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
14 Calendar 1317, those Senators voting in the
15 negative are Senators Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
16 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Lanza,
17 Martucci, Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
18 Palumbo, Rath, Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and
19 Weik.
20 Ayes, 43. Nays 20.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
22 is passed.
23 The Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 561, Senate Print 4615A, by Senator Kaplan, an
3670
1 act to amend the General Municipal Law and the
2 Education Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
4 Borrello, why do you rise?
5 SENATOR BORRELLO: Yes, thank you,
6 Madam President. Would the sponsor yield for a
7 question?
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
9 Gianaris.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Me again,
11 Madam President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
13 Senator yields.
14 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you.
15 Thank you so much, Senator Gianaris.
16 I certainly understand the intent of
17 this piece of legislation, but I'd like to draw
18 your attention to some of the amendments here,
19 particularly line 10, where it says "symbols of
20 hate shall include but not be limited to symbols
21 of white supremacy," and so on and so forth.
22 My question is "but not be limited
23 to." Who determines, then, what is considered a
24 symbol of hate?
25 SENATOR GIANARIS: As an initial
3671
1 matter, let me point out to Senator Borrello that
2 this language should look familiar to him because
3 it mimics a bill we passed earlier that he voted
4 in favor of that created this restriction for
5 state governments. This now expands that for
6 municipalities.
7 But to answer the question more
8 directly, it would presumably be determined by
9 any enforcement agency, whether that be the
10 Attorney General or an appropriate agency that
11 would make an effort to go before a court, and
12 the court would make that determination.
13 SENATOR BORRELLO: Would the
14 sponsor continue to yield.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
16 Gianaris, do you yield?
17 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
19 Senator yields.
20 SENATOR BORRELLO: Yes, in response
21 to your first thing, I did vote in favor of it.
22 Now we're trying to really kind of make this very
23 broad and very vague when it comes to local
24 governments, including fire departments and
25 school districts. Which is why I have some
3672
1 concern on this.
2 But again, you said you would
3 assume. We really shouldn't be assuming who's
4 going to determine it. I guess I'll ask the
5 question again in a different manner.
6 If I'm a member of a volunteer fire
7 company and I would like to sell the red line
8 flags, you know, which are supposed to basically
9 honor those folks that are firefighters, could
10 someone determine -- and who would determine --
11 that a red line flag is considered a symbol of
12 hate?
13 SENATOR GIANARIS: I don't believe
14 anyone would determine that that would be a
15 symbol of hate.
16 SENATOR BORRELLO: Madam President,
17 Will the sponsor continue to yield?
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator,
19 do you continue to yield?
20 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
22 Senator yields.
23 SENATOR BORRELLO: So based on --
24 and I understand and I appreciate you're a
25 reasonable person at this point, but where in the
3673
1 law would it prohibit someone, this unnamed --
2 potentially the AG, maybe somebody else -- where
3 in the law would it specifically outline that the
4 red line flag would not be considered a symbol of
5 hate?
6 SENATOR GIANARIS: Well, first of
7 all, I do want to address something you said
8 earlier, that this is just as specific and as
9 precise as the bill you voted in favor of that
10 imposed this restriction on the state government.
11 But if you think that a symbol that
12 honors our firefighters would be deemed, first of
13 all, by an enforcer as a symbol of hate, and then
14 by a court that would determine whether that
15 enforcement action was legitimate, then I don't
16 know to tell you, because I can't fathom any
17 scenario where that would be the case.
18 SENATOR BORRELLO: Madam Chair,
19 will the sponsor continue to yield.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
21 Gianaris, do you continue to yield?
22 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
24 Senator yields.
25 SENATOR BORRELLO: Well, and I have
3674
1 a feeling that you're talking about having to
2 create a lawsuit and then going to court,
3 spending money and potentially losing on
4 something that's a basic constitutional right,
5 the freedom of expression and the freedom of
6 speech.
7 You're basically saying that -- if
8 I'm interpreting this correctly -- that that
9 would -- you know, that would have to be
10 determined by a court. Well, it's in our
11 Constitution. So I would argue it should not be
12 determined by a court.
13 But my question is you're saying you
14 don't think that could happen, but I do know, for
15 example, would you -- well, let me ask a
16 different question. Would the blue line flag
17 that supports our law enforcement, could that be
18 determined to be a symbol of hate under this law?
19 SENATOR GIANARIS: I don't believe
20 so. But let me also remind my colleague that the
21 court exists to interpret our laws and the
22 Constitution. So that is exactly what the
23 judiciary is supposed to do.
24 SENATOR BORRELLO: Madam President,
25 will the sponsor continue to yield.
3675
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
2 Gianaris, do you continue to yield?
3 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
5 Senator yields.
6 SENATOR BORRELLO: Well, I will
7 draw your attention to the fact that there was
8 actually a situation where a school district
9 prohibited a young person from wearing a hat that
10 had a blue line flag on it.
11 So that school district could
12 potentially be, under this -- the way this law
13 reads, I'm assuming that that school district
14 could be a governing body that could determine
15 that a blue line flag is a symbol of hate.
16 So under this law, could that be the
17 case?
18 SENATOR GIANARIS: No. It sounds
19 like that already happened absent this law. I
20 mean, the school made the determination to do
21 that based on their own views of the world, but
22 that has nothing to do with this legislation.
23 SENATOR BORRELLO: Madam President,
24 will the sponsor continue to yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3676
1 Gianaris, do you continue to yield?
2 SENATOR GIANARIS: Yes.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
4 Senator yields.
5 SENATOR BORRELLO: So I guess I'm
6 still unclear. Because we've seen people that
7 have considered the flag of the United States to
8 be a symbol of hate, and I don't see anywhere in
9 this bill where we've limited this. Now, if this
10 bill had limited just to white supremacy and
11 neo-Nazi ideology, battle flag of the
12 Confederacy, that would be one thing. But it's
13 very broad.
14 And we still don't really know what
15 governing body gets to determine -- if this bill
16 said we're going to create a commission to
17 outline or to be some kind of adjudicatory body
18 to determine what is a symbol of hate, that might
19 be different. But it's just very vague. It's a
20 poorly drafted piece of legislation, in my
21 opinion.
22 And yes, I voted for the last one
23 because it was limited to, for example, let's
24 make sure we're not selling Confederate flags at
25 the State Fair. That was something that was
3677
1 purely focused on the governing of the state
2 government, which is what we are bound and
3 determined to do here in this body.
4 But now we've opened it up to even,
5 you know, school districts and volunteer fire
6 departments. So how do we know that we're not
7 going to have people fighting legal battles over
8 something that's essentially a constitutional
9 right? So -- go ahead, I'm sorry.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Well, again,
11 first of all, I would encourage the good Senator
12 to read more thoroughly the bills he votes on,
13 because the language is exactly the same as the
14 bill you voted yes on. It included the same
15 exact definition of what a symbol of hate is,
16 including the language "but not limited to,"
17 which you seem to be concerned about.
18 And as it relates to your example
19 about the school district, this is not -- this
20 would come into effect when somebody displays
21 something, when a municipality displays something
22 that is deemed to be a symbol of hate.
23 The example you raised was an
24 individual was displaying some kind of symbol and
25 the school itself told them they couldn't do it.
3678
1 That is not what this bill deals with in any way,
2 shape or form.
3 This would be a municipality itself
4 displaying a symbol that an enforcement agent
5 would deem to be a symbol of hate, as this bill
6 broadly defines it, and then they would have the
7 opportunity to defend themselves if they wanted
8 to suggest that it wasn't.
9 SENATOR BORRELLO: Thank you,
10 Madam President. On the bill.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
12 Borrello on the bill.
13 SENATOR BORRELLO: You know, I
14 certainly understand the intention of this.
15 And yes, I did vote yes on a bill
16 similar to this, like I said. This is what --
17 when we had to do strictly with the operation of
18 state government and limited to state government
19 operations like, for example, the State Fair. If
20 the State Fair would like to limit vendors from
21 selling, you know, Confederate flags on the
22 grounds of the State Fair, I understand that.
23 That's the state's prerogative to do so. The
24 state is the operator of the fair.
25 But in this case we're talking about
3679
1 a very broad swath and a very undefined way of
2 saying what is a symbol of hate, because it says
3 "but not limited to." And we've seen examples,
4 examples after example of people that have said
5 that they consider this to be a symbol of hate.
6 Well, folks, I understand that we
7 don't want people going out there and inciting
8 violence against one another. You know, those
9 are -- there are people who wake up every day
10 that are bound and determined to do that. You
11 know, in my opinion, we call these people idiots.
12 But you know what? The Constitution
13 of the United States says that people have a
14 right to freedom of expression and to freedom of
15 speech. And sometimes those things are going to
16 offend us. I realize that things are offensive.
17 But we live in a nation with freedom of choice.
18 We do not live in a dictatorship where our speech
19 is silenced if it's not agreeable with the state,
20 with the government.
21 And no one told us that we were
22 going to go our entire lives without being
23 offended by something. That is a part of our
24 freedom. And we should stand together whenever
25 possible, we should avoid confrontation, we
3680
1 should avoid trying to incite people, absolutely.
2 But I have an issue with something
3 so broad that could potentially have an impact
4 that not just limits free speech and freedom of
5 expression, but will create a situation where
6 people may live in fear that perhaps something
7 that they hold dear -- like the blue line flag
8 for our law enforcement officials, the red line
9 flag for our firefighters, the green line flag
10 for those that serve in the military -- that that
11 could be determined to be a symbol of hate. And
12 that is not part of the founding principles of
13 our free nation.
14 So today I'm going to vote no on
15 this bill. Thank you, Madam President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Are there
17 any other Senators wishing to be heard?
18 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
19 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
20 Read the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3681
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Announce
2 the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
4 Calendar 561, those Senators voting in the
5 negative are Senators Borrello, Boyle, Helming,
6 Lanza, Oberacker, O'Mara and Ortt.
7 Ayes, 56. Nays, 7.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
9 is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 911, Senate Print 5084B, by Senator Harckham, an
12 act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
14 Martucci.
15 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Thank you,
16 Madam President. Will the sponsor yield for a
17 question.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
19 Harckham, will you yield?
20 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely,
21 Madam President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
23 Senator yields.
24 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Thank you. Good
25 to see you, Senator Harckham.
3682
1 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Good to see you
2 as well, sir.
3 SENATOR MARTUCCI: So your bill
4 deals with the merger of OMH and OASAS. And, you
5 know, whenever we merge departments or whenever
6 businesses merge together, there's often a
7 reduction in jobs. Is there any assurance in
8 this bill, or perhaps you can assure the house
9 that if the merger in this bill, the contemplated
10 merger were to take place, that there would be no
11 state workers who would lose their jobs?
12 SENATOR HARCKHAM: That would be
13 the intent. We have spoken with PEF. This is
14 not about a jobs reduction plan. This merger is
15 about patient-centered care and creating an
16 agency that better serves co-occurring disorders
17 in patients.
18 So in fact it mentions in here that
19 if there are any savings, they are reinvested
20 into patient care. But this should not be about
21 job loss. This is about integrating funding
22 streams and treatment.
23 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Madam President,
24 will the sponsor continue to yield.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3683
1 Harckham, do you continue to yield?
2 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Yes.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
4 Senator yields.
5 SENATOR MARTUCCI: So I agree that
6 the merger has laudable goals. But I guess just
7 to clarify and be perfectly clear, there is no
8 job protections that are included in this bill
9 itself, correct?
10 SENATOR HARCKHAM: No. In fact,
11 there are several.
12 One is that in order to put the plan
13 together, public and private-sector unions will
14 be required as part of the legislation to be part
15 of the task force that will drive the merger
16 plan.
17 And then there are two reports,
18 iterative reports due before the plan is final,
19 on jobs. One is on what the staffing levels will
20 be, and the second is on what they actually are
21 when the agency gets there and how they're done.
22 But again, when -- this is more
23 about administratively streamlining than it is
24 the treatment professionals in the field.
25 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Madam President,
3684
1 will the sponsor continue to yield.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator,
3 do you continue to yield?
4 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
6 Senator yields.
7 SENATOR MARTUCCI: So the sponsor
8 mentioned the task force. And specifically this
9 bill allows for labor appointments to that task
10 force that the bill itself would empanel.
11 It's been customary that this
12 Legislature has allowed the affected labor unions
13 to have appointments to those sorts of task
14 forces. Is that something that's included in the
15 provisions of this bill?
16 SENATOR HARCKHAM: It is. In fact,
17 we fought quite hard for this. In the Governor's
18 original proposal there was no such task force.
19 That was part of this legislation.
20 And then after the one-house, when
21 we were originally trying to get this done in the
22 budget, it was the executive branch that wanted
23 the public and the private union piece out, and
24 we negotiated very hard to keep it in.
25 And that's why it's here, for a
3685
1 couple of reasons. One, we want to protect jobs.
2 Number two, those are the folks who are doing
3 these jobs every day, and they know how the
4 system works, so we need their input. And that's
5 why we have required it as part of this
6 legislation.
7 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Madam President,
8 will the sponsor continue to yield.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator,
10 do you continue to yield?
11 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Absolutely.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
13 Senator yields.
14 SENATOR MARTUCCI: So -- again,
15 just so that I'm perfectly clear on the answer.
16 So this bill specifically prescribes an appointee
17 to the task force by the labor unions that are
18 affected by this merger?
19 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Yes. It says
20 that public and private labor who are in the
21 field, both on the mental health side and the
22 substance use disorder side, will be on the task
23 force. So that would be PEF, that would be CSEA
24 on the public side, and probably 1199, maybe
25 NYSNA and some others on the other side.
3686
1 But it's critical that we have the
2 professionals and the paraprofessionals at the
3 table, because they're the ones out in the field
4 doing this every day and we need their input on
5 how to integrate properly.
6 There are also the issues of
7 appropriate titles and things like that that we
8 want to maintain those professional standards on
9 both sides of the ledger.
10 SENATOR MARTUCCI: Thank you,
11 Madam President. And thank you, Senator.
12 On the bill.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
14 Martucci on the bill.
15 SENATOR MARTUCCI: So first I want
16 to begin by thanking my colleague Senator
17 Harckham for answering these important questions.
18 It sounds like he shares the concerns that I have
19 about the fact that this can affect public
20 employees here in the State of New York.
21 You know, look, anytime there's a
22 merger, I have tremendous suspect that it's going
23 cost jobs. And state workers have taken it on
24 the chin from this Governor and the Legislature
25 for years and years and years.
3687
1 And one of the things that I can
2 point to, just as an example, is the
3 consolidation of OMH beds in this year's State
4 Budget, where we hurt public workers even in a
5 year where we had tremendous state resources and,
6 from my perspective, it was our obligation to
7 support them, especially in a year where they
8 supported us so much.
9 From my perspective, I don't believe
10 that we need this bill. Because what we really
11 should be doing right now is focusing solely on
12 protecting our state workers. Though I am
13 certainly comforted by the Senator's comments
14 that he shares my concerns and they were included
15 in the crafting of this bill.
16 So as I said, because I personally
17 have concerns about the effects, the deleterious
18 effects of consolidation on our state workers,
19 I'll be voting in the negative.
20 Thank you, Madam President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Are there
22 any other Senators wishing to be heard?
23 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
24 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
25 Read the last section.
3688
1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
2 act shall take effect immediately.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
4 roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
7 Harckham to explain his vote.
8 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you very
9 much, Madam President.
10 I want to thank Senator Martucci for
11 his good questions.
12 Just as an aside, I was just told
13 that there is a specific provision that all
14 employees are protected. And if there is a
15 transfer, they will be protected. Because that
16 was the spirit and the intent of the law, and we
17 just quantified that. So I wanted to make that
18 clear. And thank you for your questions.
19 Again, Madam President, this is a
20 merger that is born of a desire to better assist
21 patients. For too long families, patients and
22 treatment providers have had to deal with two
23 agencies, two bureaucracies, two sets of
24 regulations, and two funding streams. By merging
25 these two into a larger behavioral health entity,
3689
1 we can cut down the red tape, we can cut out the
2 differing funding streams, we can create a larger
3 agency that is more nimble. We can deal with
4 co-occurring disorders, which is the state of the
5 art of treatment right now. So we want to do it
6 right.
7 To Senator Martucci's point, that's
8 why we've created the task force, to actually do
9 the merger and not just rely on the executive
10 branch to do it, because we want the stakeholders
11 to have a seat at the table.
12 This will be a big step forward for
13 treatment of behavioral health issues in New York
14 State, and for that reason I'll be voting aye.
15 Thank you.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
17 Harckham to be recorded in the affirmative.
18 Announce the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
20 Calendar 911, those Senators voting in the
21 negative are Senators Borrello, Helming, Jordan,
22 Martucci, Ortt, Palumbo, Ritchie, Savino, Tedisco
23 and Weik.
24 Ayes, 53. Nays, 10.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
3690
1 is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 986, Senate Print 2841A, by Senator Sepúlveda, an
4 act to amend the Correction Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
6 Helming.
7 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you,
8 Madam President. Will the sponsor yield for a
9 few questions?
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
11 Sepúlveda, will you yield?
12 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
14 Senator yields.
15 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
16 Madam President.
17 This bill would establish an inmate
18 visiting program in state and local correctional
19 facilities. In our local facilities, sheriffs
20 are responsible for the operation of the county
21 jails in the majority of our 62 counties across
22 the state. It's their responsibility. They're
23 obligated by statute to provide for the
24 well-being of inmates committed to their custody.
25 Senator Sepúlveda, did you happen to
3691
1 consult with the New York State Sheriffs'
2 Association on this bill?
3 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: We consulted
4 with many advocacy groups -- the Corrections
5 Association. I visited myself, personally, about
6 18 facilities and spoke to individuals that are
7 incarcerated, spoke with individuals that run the
8 facilities, including corrections officers,
9 executive directors, liaisons -- quite an
10 extensive number of people I've had conversations
11 about this legislation.
12 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
13 Madam President, if the sponsor will continue to
14 yield.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
16 Sepúlveda, do you continue to yield?
17 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
19 Senator yields.
20 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you. So I
21 think that was a no to my question on consulting
22 with anyone from the Sheriffs' Association.
23 But moving on, did anyone in DOCCS
24 provide input on this legislation?
25 And Senator, if you've visited local
3692
1 jails and our state correctional facilities like
2 I have, I'm sure you've heard, from the people
3 who work there, their concerns about mandated
4 overtime and the impacts that it's having on
5 them. It's my feeling that the inmate visitation
6 program proposed by this legislation will
7 ultimately require more staff. And like I said,
8 we already have these situations -- we hear from
9 the unions, we hear from the individuals that
10 they're mandated to work these back-to-back
11 shifts.
12 Does this bill provide for
13 additional staffing?
14 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Through you,
15 Madam President. I think that the issue here is
16 not that we're creating any new mandates for any
17 of the local jails. Because, with the exception
18 I believe of one, every jail, every correctional
19 facility has a policy already in place with
20 respect to visitation.
21 We're not giving them a big lift
22 here. It will cost the state approximately
23 five cents to implement this policy. And so the
24 reality is is that it's not a real mandate to the
25 facilities. We're just asking them to codify
3693
1 what they have. So whatever hours they have in
2 existence are the hours that we're going to
3 require.
4 But I think I should tell you what
5 the motivation is for this bill. You know, we're
6 very keen on saving the state money. The
7 National Institute of Correction Facilities did
8 some research that indicated that making sure
9 that families have visitation with incarcerated
10 individuals lowers recidivism by 13 to
11 25 percent. When you lower recidivism, you know
12 that you lower the costs of -- the expense of
13 incarcerating an individual considerably.
14 Also, my biggest motivation are the
15 105 children who have a parent that is
16 incarcerated. These children that have
17 incarcerated parents suffer from something called
18 adverse childhood experiences. They can develop
19 long-term health and mental health outcomes. So
20 if this policy will lower recidivism and will
21 help 105 -- potentially 105 children, then I
22 think it's policy that the state should adopt.
23 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
24 Madam President, will the sponsor continue to
25 yield for questions.
3694
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
2 Sepúlveda, do you continue to yield?
3 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: I will yield,
4 Madam President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
6 Senator yields.
7 SENATOR HELMING: Senator, the bill
8 requires state and local correctional facilities
9 to provide visiting programs which give
10 incarcerated people opportunities for personal
11 contact.
12 And I'll just clarify here, I'm not
13 opposed to visitation. I really don't know or
14 haven't heard from anyone who is.
15 But these opportunities for personal
16 contact with relatives, the children that you
17 mentioned, friends, clergy, volunteers and other
18 persons -- how does the bill define personal
19 contact?
20 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Well, I
21 think --
22 SENATOR HELMING: Is that
23 through --
24 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: The same way
25 that it's defined in the law. It could be
3695
1 through plexiglass, it could be sitting in front.
2 That's how you essentially define it. We're not
3 asking for a new definition, it's just in-person.
4 As opposed to video visitation.
5 SENATOR HELMING: So -- through
6 you, Madam President. So it's not defined in the
7 bill.
8 And you -- through you,
9 Madam President, will the sponsor continue to
10 yield. You mentioned --
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Hold on.
12 Excuse me one minute. I'm sorry.
13 Senator Sepúlveda, do you continue
14 to yield?
15 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Yes,
16 Madam President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
18 Senator yields.
19 SENATOR HELMING: You mentioned how
20 it occurs now. But when I visited, what I've
21 seen, especially in the family visiting rooms, I
22 don't see plexiglass, I see people reaching out
23 and touching, kids running around.
24 But I'd like to hear or understand
25 more of the type of personal contact that you
3696
1 envision, or that is intended by this bill.
2 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Through you,
3 Madam President. It's the same definition that's
4 in every DOCCS policy. It's about having as much
5 personal contact with someone.
6 What it's not is video visitation,
7 which the facilities are using more often. And
8 although I don't discourage it when necessary,
9 there's no substitute for direct contact between
10 a parent who's incarcerated and a child or family
11 member.
12 And so it's the same definition
13 that's used now under most facilities in DOCCS.
14 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you.
15 Through you, Madam President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Are you
17 asking the Senator to yield?
18 SENATOR HELMING: Yes.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator,
20 do you yield?
21 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Yes,
22 Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
24 Senator continues to yield.
25 SENATOR HELMING: Senator, do you
3697
1 have any concern that as this bill is written
2 that this personal contact may facilitate the
3 concealed transmission of contraband?
4 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Well, through
5 you, Madam President, you cannot throw out the
6 baby with the bathwater. If you want better
7 screening for contraband, then I think every
8 facility can work on that, either through
9 technology or so forth.
10 But you don't deprive potentially
11 105 children from direct contact with their
12 family members that are incarcerated because of
13 the concern about narcotics or contraband.
14 I think most facilities can do a
15 good enough job to control that so we don't
16 sacrifice a lower rate of recidivism and
17 certainly the mental health, well-being of
18 children whose parents are incarcerated.
19 SENATOR HELMING: Through you,
20 Madam President, will the sponsor continue to
21 yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
23 continue to yield?
24 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Through you,
25 Madam President, yes.
3698
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR HELMING: The bill requires
4 the visiting program to include visits of
5 sufficient duration, including a minimum of one
6 hour at local correctional facilities, so that
7 visitors and incarcerated people will be able
8 to maintain relationship bonds.
9 How is "sufficient duration"
10 defined?
11 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Well, it's
12 defined as whatever DOCCS defines it as. I mean,
13 most of these visits are -- generally speaking,
14 facilities give longer than an hour. So again,
15 we're not asking the facilities to do anything
16 extra that would require them to need more staff
17 to handle this hour.
18 Most visits are, in duration, much
19 longer than an hour, but we want to guarantee an
20 hour for children and family members to have
21 contact with those who are incarcerated so they
22 come out better when they're ultimately released.
23 SENATOR HELMING: On the bill.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
25 Helming on the bill.
3699
1 SENATOR HELMING: First I'd like to
2 thank my colleague for his responses.
3 Again, I want to state that I have
4 no objection to providing inmate visitation
5 programs at our state and local facilities. But
6 I do have -- I do have concerns.
7 I think the visits are beneficial
8 for the incarcerated individuals, and I actually
9 think they benefit the facilities. They provide
10 a more safe and secure facility. They're
11 actually a tool in the toolboxes of our law
12 enforcement to help control what's going on in
13 their facilities.
14 However, my problem with this
15 particular bill is that it's too broad and it
16 lacks the complete definitions. And any
17 legislation that allows for opportunities for
18 personal contact between inmates and visitors
19 must be explicit in the scope of that contact.
20 More importantly, it must be limited
21 to conduct that does not allow for the concealed
22 transmission of contraband. Under this
23 visitation program, an increase in contraband is
24 very possible. We most recently heard about
25 Marcy Correctional Facility, where two COs got
3700
1 very sick from the contraband that was smuggled
2 into the facility.
3 And we've also seen what happens to
4 incarcerated individuals who either overdose on
5 narcotics that are smuggled in or have other
6 adverse reactions to other types of contraband
7 that get into the facility.
8 And just speaking about the
9 children, when I sat and observed in the family
10 rooms and in the visitation rooms, one of my
11 concerns about this legislation and the
12 possibility that it could increase contraband
13 coming into the facility is those children, those
14 children who are running around in the area. I
15 want to make sure we do everything to protect
16 them.
17 Furthermore, I'd say this bill
18 provides no mechanism for additional staffing,
19 which will certainly be required to meet the bill
20 requirements. Our unions have been very vocal
21 about the detrimental impacts of mandated
22 overtime on COs and others.
23 And Madam President, what I would
24 request, respectfully request is that the sponsor
25 solicit the input of the New York State Sheriffs'
3701
1 Association and other law enforcement partners to
2 develop an amended version of this bill that will
3 not put the incarcerated individuals, the
4 visitors, and the employees of our local and
5 state correctional facilities in more jeopardy.
6 I know the New York State Sheriffs'
7 Association are willing to share their thoughts
8 on how to craft such legislation. In fact, they
9 submitted a memorandum in opposition, and at the
10 bottom of it they say that they're eager to share
11 their thoughts on how to craft a piece of
12 legislation that would achieve the dual goals of
13 providing emotional support to inmates as well as
14 preserving the safety and security of the jail.
15 I think it's always beneficial when
16 we invite everyone who's going to be impacted by
17 a piece of legislation to the table.
18 So I will be voting nay. Thank you.
19 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: To explain my
20 vote.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: One
22 minute, Senator Sepúlveda.
23 Are there any other Senators wishing
24 to be heard?
25 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
3702
1 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
2 Read the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
5 shall have become a law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 Sepúlveda to explain his vote.
11 SENATOR SEPÚLVEDA: Thank you,
12 Madam President, for allowing me to explain my
13 vote.
14 I want to thank my colleague for the
15 discussion on the bill. It seems to be a yearly
16 thing between me and the Senator.
17 The -- this bill just essentially
18 codifies correctional facilities' current
19 administrative practices of permitting
20 incarcerated individuals to have visitors.
21 Research has shown that visitation by family
22 members is one of the most important factors when
23 it comes to recidivism. And the National
24 Institute of Correction stated that having
25 visits, any visits at all, was found to reduce
3703
1 recidivism anywhere between 13 to 25 percent.
2 The bill provides that prisons and
3 jails must have reasonable visitation hours
4 likely to accommodate visitors from distant parts
5 of the state. The visit must also be long enough
6 so that the incarcerated individual and their
7 family can maintain relationship bonds. Through
8 in-person visitation this bill promotes
9 institutional and community adjustment upon
10 release.
11 The innovations of this bill are
12 that DOCCS and jails must publish overcrowding
13 policies so that visitors can know what to expect
14 when they arrive in the visiting room.
15 The provisions also indicate that
16 video visitation may supplement but not take the
17 place of in-person visits. This is critical
18 because some jails have tried to replace
19 in-person visits with video visitation or have
20 shortened the visitation hours because of the
21 availability of video visits.
22 While we support video visitation,
23 it cannot replace in-person visitation. With
24 in-person visitation, the family members, the
25 children get to hold hands with the incarcerated
3704
1 parent, play board games, or go outside to the
2 facility yards and playgrounds.
3 The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a
4 huge strain on relationships last year for those
5 that are incarcerated.
6 The bill does not require DOCCS to
7 change current practice, and our understanding is
8 that they are okay with the bill. Some jails are
9 already offering evening and weekend hours. So
10 only those that don't do this already will need
11 to spend nominal time to arrange their visiting
12 schedules to comply. But ultimately, it should
13 not be a big lift for jails to do so.
14 And just as important, in the event
15 that a facility has to shorten hours because of
16 an emergency, the bill provides for that.
17 So I think all of your concerns or
18 any concerns that you may have should be
19 alleviated.
20 So I want to thank the leader for
21 allowing me to pass this legislation, allow it to
22 come to the floor, and my colleagues for
23 supporting it. I vote affirmatively.
24 Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
3705
1 Sepúlveda to be recorded in the affirmative.
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
4 Calendar 986, those Senators voting in the
5 negative are Senator Akshar, Borrello, Boyle,
6 Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Jordan, Martucci,
7 Mattera, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt, Palumbo, Rath,
8 Ritchie, Serino, Stec, Tedisco and Weik.
9 Ayes, 44. Nays, 19.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
11 is passed.
12 Calendar Number 1078, Senate Print
13 5924A, by Senator Thomas, an act to amend the
14 General Business Law and the Education Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
16 Boyle.
17 SENATOR BOYLE: Thank you,
18 Madam President. Would the sponsor yield for
19 some questions?
20 SENATOR THOMAS: Through you,
21 Madam President, yes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
23 Thomas yields.
24 SENATOR BOYLE: Thank you.
25 Madam President, through you.
3706
1 Is this bill -- it covers both
2 private, independent colleges and SUNY and CUNY,
3 is that correct?
4 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Yes, correct.
5 Through you, Madam President, yes, it does.
6 SENATOR BOYLE: Will the sponsor
7 continue to yield?
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
9 continue to yield, Senator Thomas?
10 SENATOR THOMAS: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Yes, the
12 Senator yields.
13 SENATOR BOYLE: Senator, have you
14 done any estimates on the costs of this piece of
15 legislation for private colleges, for example?
16 SENATOR THOMAS: Through you,
17 Madam President. Through the COVID relief funds,
18 I believe private universities and colleges
19 received more than $40 billion. So I think they
20 are fully covered here when it comes to their
21 costs.
22 SENATOR BOYLE: Will the sponsor
23 continue to yield?
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
25 Thomas, do you continue to yield?
3707
1 SENATOR THOMAS: Yes.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 Senator yields.
4 SENATOR BOYLE: So this legislation
5 only goes through the COVID pandemic, is that
6 correct?
7 SENATOR THOMAS: Through you,
8 Madam President, no, it does not. But
9 universities have enough money to cover these
10 costs.
11 SENATOR BOYLE: Will the sponsor
12 continue to yield.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Do you
14 continue to yield, Senator Thomas?
15 SENATOR THOMAS: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
17 Senator yields.
18 SENATOR BOYLE: Senator, how about
19 SUNY and CUNY? Are there any additional funds
20 that have been authorized or appropriated for our
21 public colleges in New York State with the
22 costs -- that it's going to cost them for these
23 debts?
24 SENATOR THOMAS: Through you,
25 Madam President. So far we have seen
3708
1 institutions receiving a windfall from the
2 federal government. They need to be using this
3 to cover whatever expenses that they have, and
4 they're already using this. So this should --
5 this looks like they should cover whatever costs
6 come from this.
7 SENATOR BOYLE: Through you,
8 Madam President, will the sponsor continue to
9 yield?
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
11 Thomas, do you continue to yield?
12 SENATOR THOMAS: Yes.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
14 Senator yields.
15 SENATOR BOYLE: Senator, so if you
16 take out the tools, shall we say, that colleges
17 have to collect this debt, like withholding
18 transcripts, what else do they have? What's the
19 next tools or options that these colleges have,
20 both private and public, to collect the debt
21 that's owed them?
22 SENATOR THOMAS: Through you,
23 Madam President, transcripts are a record of
24 students' education. They are not tools to be
25 used for debt collection. So this is the
3709
1 backward policy that we are trying to change here
2 in New York State.
3 These individuals are not trying to
4 go to school for free. They are trying to live
5 their lives and get out of poverty. So when
6 something bad happens, because life happens,
7 COVID has happened -- things happen in people's
8 lives and they have to drop out, they cannot
9 afford the tuition anymore.
10 It is unconscionable, unconscionable
11 to withhold their transcripts so that they can be
12 prevented from getting a job so they can pay off
13 their balances.
14 SENATOR BOYLE: Through you,
15 Madam President, will the sponsor continue to
16 yield.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
18 Thomas, do you continue to yield?
19 SENATOR THOMAS: Absolutely.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
21 Senator yields.
22 SENATOR BOYLE: Senator, I'm not
23 questioning that the debt is a problem. What I'm
24 saying is that the options that colleges have,
25 both public and private, to collect these funds
3710
1 is also going to have an effect on the students.
2 Right now if you take away
3 withholding transcripts, which is kind of a minor
4 bump in enforcement, shall we say, they could go
5 straight to debt collection. And that's going to
6 cost. And I want to know if you have a concern
7 with that, them going straight to debt
8 collection and perhaps affecting their credit
9 scores, which affects much more of their life
10 than withholding their transcripts for a few
11 months.
12 SENATOR THOMAS: Through you,
13 Madam President. The private colleges and
14 universities are already using debt collection
15 practices. So we are taking away one way that
16 they are preventing an individual from bettering
17 their lives.
18 You said it's a tool. They have
19 been using it as a tool, and it's a backward
20 policy in this state that we are trying to
21 change.
22 Other states around the country are
23 changing this because they see, they see that
24 student debt is a big problem and we need to get
25 them out of poverty. And this is one way of
3711
1 doing that, and this is exactly why we need to
2 change the policy here in New York.
3 SENATOR BOYLE: Madam President, on
4 the bill.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
6 Boyle on the bill.
7 SENATOR BOYLE: Senator, I
8 appreciate your good heart in trying to resolve
9 this issue. And student debt is no doubt a major
10 issue in New York State and throughout the
11 country. But I believe that this is not the
12 correct way to fix it. This legislation is only
13 going to exacerbate the problem.
14 Right now some colleges withhold
15 transcripts so they get payment. If they do not
16 have this option, they're going to go straight to
17 debt collection. And as anybody who received
18 calls from debt collectors, it causes much
19 disruption in one's life, and then it goes to
20 their credit scores. As we all know, that
21 affects their ability to buy houses, to buy cars,
22 whatever they're going to do in the future. If
23 their credit score goes down because they didn't
24 make a payment earlier on in their college years,
25 it's going to cause much greater problems in
3712
1 their life.
2 It also does not allow colleges to
3 go the first step before they ask for a payment
4 plan. A lot of colleges, first they withhold the
5 transcripts, they get the student's attention who
6 owes them whatever amount they owe, and when that
7 discussion is had, then they say, Okay, let's
8 figure out a payment plan, let's make it easier.
9 You want to make the payment, we want to give the
10 transcripts, make everyone happy. It might take
11 a couple of weeks, a couple of months, and
12 then -- that's an easy step rather than going
13 directly to debt collection and hurting their
14 credit score.
15 For that reason, Madam President,
16 I'll be voting in the negative.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
18 Senator Boyle.
19 Are there any other Senators wishing
20 to be heard?
21 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
22 closed. The Secretary will ring the bell.
23 Read the last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
25 act shall take effect on the 30th day after it
3713
1 shall have become a law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Call the
3 roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
6 Thomas to explain his vote.
7 SENATOR THOMAS: Thank you,
8 Madam President.
9 Like I mentioned before, transcripts
10 are a record of a student's education. They are
11 not and were never meant to be tools for debt
12 collection.
13 My colleague Senator Boyle discussed
14 how if this tool was taken away, then their
15 credit score will be impacted and they won't be
16 able to find a proper -- they wouldn't be able to
17 buy a house or a car.
18 But I must say this. If they don't
19 have their transcript, they won't be able to find
20 a job, and that job will not be able to produce
21 the individuals that we need in this society to
22 give back and to be able to pay off their debts.
23 Now thousands of New Yorkers are
24 currently unable to obtain their transcripts from
25 higher education institutions across the state
3714
1 because they owe even small amounts of money --
2 from tuition fees to library fines and parking
3 tickets -- to the universities and colleges they
4 attend. This practice is known to some as
5 transcript ransoming. Transcript withholding is
6 a disruptive, counterproductive and harmful
7 practice that prevents student from being able to
8 transfer credits, reenroll in school to finish
9 their degrees, or obtain jobs that could help
10 them pay their balances.
11 Each withheld transcript represents
12 a student who is denied the opportunity to pursue
13 a chosen career path, denied access to social and
14 economic mobility through their higher education,
15 and ultimately denied access to the American
16 dream.
17 As New Yorkers recover from the
18 economic fallout of the pandemic, we have the
19 opportunity to remove this ineffective and
20 counterproductive barrier in higher education and
21 help our state recover faster by ensuring a
22 strong, diverse and educated workplace.
23 My legislation will stop the
24 practice of transcript withholding as a debt
25 collection tool and ensure our students have the
3715
1 necessary tools they need to thrive, especially
2 in these exceptionally challenging times.
3 I would like to thank the leader,
4 Andrea Stewart-Cousins, for bringing this bill to
5 the floor, and to all my Senate colleagues for
6 their support and standing up for students across
7 New York State.
8 I proudly vote aye.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Senator
10 Thomas to be recorded in the affirmative.
11 Announce the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
13 Calendar 1078, 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, Persaud, Rath, Ritchie, Serino, Stec,
18 Tedisco and Weik.
19 Ayes, 42. Nays, 21.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bill
21 is passed.
22 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
23 reading of the controversial calendar.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: Thank you,
25 Madam President.
3716
1 If we could briefly return to
2 motions, on behalf of Senator Ramos, on page 51 I
3 offer the following amendments to Calendar 1110,
4 Senate 2766A, and ask that said bill retain its
5 place on the Third Reading Calendar.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
7 amendments are received, and the bill shall
8 retain its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
9 SENATOR GIANARIS: I'd also like to
10 call up the following bills, which were recalled
11 from the Assembly and are now at the desk:
12 Senate 841 and 5760.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 332, Senate Print 841, by Senator Biaggi, an act
17 to amend the Environmental Conservation Law.
18 Calendar Number 743, Senate Print
19 5760, by Senator Breslin, an act to amend the
20 Insurance Law.
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to
22 reconsider the vote by which these bills were
23 passed.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
25 Secretary will call the roll on reconsideration.
3717
1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 63.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The bills
4 are restored to their place on the Third Reading
5 Calendar.
6 SENATOR GIANARIS: I offer the
7 following amendments.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
9 amendments are received.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Is there any
11 further business at the desk?
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: There is
13 no further business at the desk.
14 SENATOR GIANARIS: Move to adjourn
15 until tomorrow, Wednesday, May 26th, at
16 11:00 a.m.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: On motion,
18 the Senate stands adjourned until Wednesday,
19 May 26th, at 11:00 a.m.
20 (Whereupon, at 5:35 p.m., the Senate
21 adjourned.)
22
23
24
25