1577
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 19, 2026
11 11:15 a.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR SHELLEY B. MAYER, Acting President
19 ALEJANDRA N. PAULINO, ESQ., Secretary
20
21
22
23
24
25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The Senate
3 will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
6 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
7 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Major
9 Brittany Wooten, Chaplain of the United States
10 Corps of Cadets Regimental, will deliver today's
11 invocation.
12 Major?
13 CHAPLAIN MAJOR WOOTEN: What an
14 honor and a joy it is to be here.
15 Would you please bow your heads and
16 pray according to your faith tradition, as I pray
17 according to mine.
18 God of all Creation, I'm in awe and
19 humbled to stand before You in such a place as
20 this, for we know that You have and continue to
21 use this place to give voice to all Your
22 creation.
23 We give You thanks and praise for
24 the leaders gathered here today, and for those in
25 days gone by and those that will come in the days
1579
1 of the future.
2 On this 74th Annual West Point Day,
3 we celebrate and stand together with great
4 courage, for we know You are still working. May
5 the actions taken here today, the conversations
6 shared, and the cadets that are honored be
7 surrounded by Your blessings.
8 And I end closing words with our
9 West Point Cadet Prayer: Help us maintain the
10 honor of the Corps untarnished, unsullied, and to
11 show forth in our lives the ideals of West Point
12 in doing our duty to Thee and to our country.
13 All of which we ask in the name of
14 the great Friend and Master of all.
15 Amen.
16 (Response of "Amen.")
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Reading of
18 the Journal.
19 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
20 Wednesday, March 18, 2026, the Senate met
21 pursuant to adjournment. The Journal of Tuesday,
22 March 17, 2026, was read and approved. On
23 motion, the Senate adjourned.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Without
25 objection, the Journal stands approved as read.
1580
1 Presentation of petitions.
2 Messages from the Assembly.
3 Messages from the Governor.
4 Reports of standing committees.
5 Reports of select committees.
6 Communications and reports from
7 state officers.
8 Motions and resolutions.
9 Senator Gianaris.
10 SENATOR GIANARIS: Good morning,
11 Madam President.
12 There is a previously adopted
13 resolution, 1749, at the desk. Please take that
14 up -- it's by Senator Skoufis -- read its title,
15 and call on Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins
16 initially on that resolution, please.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
18 Secretary will read.
19 THE SECRETARY: Resolution 1749, by
20 Senator Skoufis, memorializing Governor Kathy
21 Hochul to proclaim March 19, 2026, as West Point
22 Day in New York State.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Majority
24 Leader Stewart-Cousins on the resolution.
25 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank you
1581
1 so much, Madam President.
2 And we are very, very excited. This
3 is a day that we all look forward to.
4 I want to thank you, Major Wooten,
5 for your prayer and for blessing us today and
6 obviously reminding us not only of the cadets'
7 prayer, but it is also appropriate for this space
8 as well.
9 And I'm really happy to see all of
10 you. I just met Commander Stuewe, we had an
11 opportunity to meet. I know that also
12 Colonel Christina Fanitzi is here. Hi,
13 Christina. I understand she was essential in
14 making sure one of my cadets got here, so thank
15 you for that.
16 And SFC Raymond Barnett as well,
17 hello. Thank you so much.
18 I also want to thank Senator Skoufis
19 for always bringing this -- I know you represent
20 West Point, and always bringing forward this
21 resolution.
22 And I also want to thank our chair
23 of Veterans, Homeland Security and Military
24 Affairs, Jessica Scarcella-Spanton who's such a
25 strong advocate for veterans and their families.
1582
1 It is such an honor for us to
2 commemorate West Point Day, celebrating the
3 United States Military Academy, an extraordinary
4 institution that New York is proud to call its
5 own.
6 You cadets won't know this, but this
7 is the 74th year that we have celebrated
8 West Point Day in this Senate. We come together,
9 we recognize your excellence, your dedication,
10 and the valor that you bring with you when you go
11 to study in West Point.
12 I also want to recognize one of my
13 constituents -- as I said, I'm very proud that I
14 have Cadet Kade Riddle -- stand up, Cadet -- of
15 Sleepy Hollow, New York.
16 Cadet Riddle is currently studying
17 systems engineering at the United States
18 Military Academy, an especially fitting path, as
19 West Point is widely considered the birthplace of
20 engineering education in our country.
21 Many of its early graduates went on
22 to build critical infrastructure across our
23 nation, including landmarks like the Washington
24 Monument.
25 Cadet Riddle hopes to branch into
1583
1 infantry, with aspirations of serving at
2 Fort Drum -- which means you'll be back here
3 again because we have Fort Drum Day --
4 (Laughter.)
5 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: -- and
6 attending Ranger School in the future.
7 I'm incredibly proud to welcome you
8 to the Senate floor today and hope to see you
9 back in the district. Thank you so much for
10 being here, Cadet Riddle.
11 You're not going to be alone;
12 there's members who are going to ask their other
13 cadets. So if you will get ready, he's the first
14 one that I ask to stand. But you will all be
15 standing when your Senators introduce you.
16 So thank you, Cadet Riddle.
17 The history of the United States
18 Military Academy stretches back more than
19 two centuries. Established in 1802 by
20 President Thomas Jefferson, it was the first
21 military academy in our nation.
22 Even before its opening, the West
23 Point region played a role in our country's
24 military history dating back all the way to 1779,
25 when it served as the site of President George
1584
1 Washington's strategic fortress and headquarters.
2 Over the years, more than
3 80,000 graduates have come through West Point's
4 halls, many of whom went on to shape our nation's
5 history: President Ulysses S. Grant,
6 President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Generals William
7 Sherman, John Jay Pershing, Douglas MacArthur,
8 Omar Bradley, Andrea Hollen, who was part of the
9 first class of cadets to include women.
10 When I look at the cadets today, I
11 see the same honor and integrity that's defined
12 West Point graduates for generations. You are
13 our nation's class of military leaders. The
14 example you set will inspire other young people
15 to answer the call to serve.
16 Growing up in a military family, I
17 saw firsthand what sacrifice and service to our
18 country truly means. My dad was a World War II
19 veteran, my brother a Vietnam veteran. And I
20 know what it takes to fight for our country.
21 No matter how difficult and
22 daunting, it is something that you do with your
23 heart and with your soul. And it's something
24 that I and so many of us here, including the
25 veterans here, do not take for granted.
1585
1 I know that sense of duty is
2 reflected in every one of you. And it's
3 important for us to remember that behind every
4 uniform is a person, someone just like you and
5 me, who has taken a brave step towards a path of
6 service in a way that many would not. Each cadet
7 here today carries forward the legacy of those
8 who made that choice before them.
9 We've all seen the headlines. We
10 know that trying times are ahead for the whole
11 country and that cadets here today will be among
12 those called to meet that moment with courage.
13 Please know that your commitment to protecting
14 our nation will always be honored here in
15 New York and in this chamber.
16 And I pledge that this Senate will
17 continue to support and advocate for you and to
18 assure that our gratitude is reflected not just
19 in words, but in actions.
20 We know, again, that this call to
21 service at this moment is different from any
22 other moment. And I'm so happy that you have the
23 foundation that West Point brings you to make the
24 right decisions at the right time on behalf of
25 all you command on behalf of our nation.
1586
1 Our prayers go with you. Thank you
2 so much for being our present and our future.
3 Thank you for your integrity, your bravery, your
4 courage, and your commitment to us.
5 Thank you, Madam President.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
7 Majority Leader.
8 Senator Skoufis on the resolution.
9 SENATOR SKOUFIS: Thank you very
10 much, Madam President.
11 Before I go on the resolution, I'd
12 like to first acknowledge the West Point
13 leadership team and support personnel that are
14 here, starting with Colonel Daniel Stuewe, the
15 West Point garrison commander. Thank you very
16 much for honoring us with your presence.
17 We heard from Major Brittany Wooten.
18 Thank you for the beautiful invocation earlier.
19 We're also joined by
20 Colonel Christina Fanitzi, regimental training
21 officer; Sergeant First Class Raymond Barnett,
22 tactical noncommissioned officer; Captain William
23 Lutz, Corps of Cadets, Brigade Tactical
24 Department; Master Sergeant Donald Seidle, USMA
25 Operations; Cadet Jay Suryanarayan, who is the
1587
1 First Captain, Corps of Cadets.
2 And then support personnel, we have
3 Mr. Matthew Hintz, USMA Public Affairs,
4 Community Engagement; Mr. Eric Bartelt,
5 USMA Public Affairs, Command Information; and
6 Ms. Jenna Cisneros, who's the Garrison
7 Public Affairs Officer.
8 I also want to thank the Secretary's
9 office, the floor team, and certainly my staff,
10 who put in a lot of effort to make West Point Day
11 possible today.
12 Now, on the resolution,
13 Madam President.
14 First I want to extend my gratitude
15 to the Majority Leader, not only for her remarks
16 just a moment ago, but -- and not only for
17 continuing West Point Day since taking over as
18 Majority Leader eight years ago, but in embracing
19 this very special day -- not just continuing it,
20 but embracing this very special day. And we
21 wouldn't be able to do any of this without that
22 embracing. So thank you, Madam Leader.
23 And it is truly my honor to rise
24 today as Senator from the 42nd District, home to
25 the United States Military Academy at West Point,
1588
1 on this 74th anniversary, as was mentioned a
2 moment ago, of West Point Day, a cherished
3 tradition in the halls of our Capitol. It's a
4 morning of great pride to myself and my
5 colleagues, as well as Senators past, including
6 my predecessor, Colonel Bill Larkin.
7 This year we celebrate the
8 250th anniversary of our country, so this
9 West Point Day is particularly meaningful, as the
10 garrison was so crucial in our country's
11 successful campaign for freedom two-and-a-half
12 centuries ago.
13 The Hudson River was a military
14 highway, transporting troops, artillery, food and
15 information for the colonists. The British knew
16 if they could seize the river, they could sever
17 New England from the rest of the rebellious
18 colonies and end the war for good.
19 But in spite of the concerted
20 efforts by the well-trained and well-armed
21 British troops, West Point was never captured,
22 standing as a symbol of American courage and
23 fidelity.
24 That was West Point and our
25 country's past. The future sits before us in the
1589
1 front of this chamber. These cadets prepared for
2 years to attend West Point, the best of the best.
3 They have chosen to dedicate their lives upon
4 graduation to serve this country, and for that we
5 are all truly grateful.
6 Two hundred and fifty years ago, a
7 ragtag band of colonists, exhausted but
8 victorious, began a great experiment, a genuinely
9 revolutionary process that produced the first
10 successful modern democratic republic. They
11 would be proud to see these young women and men
12 before us all these years later, ready to defend
13 what they fought so hard to build.
14 To our cadets, thank you for joining
15 us today and for your dedication. We are humbled
16 by your steadfast allegiance to our country
17 during this unsteady moment in our history.
18 And thank you, Madam President, for
19 the opportunity to speak on the resolution again.
20 And lastly, no matter the
21 circumstance, there is one thing I can say with
22 absolute confidence each year: Go Army,
23 Beat Navy!
24 Thank you.
25 (Laughter.)
1590
1 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
2 Senator Skoufis.
3 Minority Leader Ortt on the
4 resolution.
5 SENATOR ORTT: Thank you,
6 Madam Speaker -- Madam President. I appreciate
7 the opportunity to say a few words.
8 I want to welcome the cadets to the
9 New York State Senate chamber. It is great to
10 see you. It is great to be here every year on
11 this day.
12 I certainly want to thank my
13 colleague Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins, as well
14 as Senator Skoufis, for their words and for their
15 support of not only this resolution but of this
16 day.
17 You heard Senator Skoufis talk about
18 really a continuation of a very long tradition.
19 I remember when I first was elected, former
20 State Senator -- God rest his soul --
21 Colonel Bill Larkin, this was his, by far -- this
22 was Christmas, New Year's and Thanksgiving all
23 wrapped into one for him. This was -- this was
24 his day.
25 And I know Senator Skoufis, as
1591
1 someone who represents West Point, probably feels
2 the same way -- an immense sense of pride that we
3 all should feel, and I think all feel, to have
4 the oldest service academy, at the very founding
5 of the country, here in the State of New York.
6 And to look upon young Americans,
7 young New Yorkers, who have all kinds of options
8 before them. Because you do. You could have
9 gone to any school, and you chose West Point.
10 You chose service to this country.
11 And I would say -- and there's
12 people in this room who have done the same --
13 maybe not through West Point, but have certainly
14 worn the uniform that you aspire to wear.
15 I do want to recognize veterans in
16 the Republican Conference.
17 I know we have Senator Ashby, our
18 ranker on Veterans and Military Affairs, who you
19 will hear from, Army veteran.
20 We have Senator Mark Walczyk, who
21 still serves in the Army Reserves.
22 Senator Dan Stec -- now, he was in
23 another branch, so I don't want to belabor that.
24 (Laughter.)
25 SENATOR ORTT: But you'll hear from
1592
1 him, because he has a cadet. So, you know, we
2 all have to endure it.
3 (Laughter.)
4 SENATOR ORTT: And then you'll
5 also -- we have Senator Steve Chan, who was a
6 Marine.
7 And I know Senator Sanders also
8 served in the Marine Corps, in the Democratic
9 Conference.
10 But all of you I think certainly
11 understand why West Point. Right? It was
12 actually founded, of course, by President
13 Thomas Jefferson, as you heard, as you all no
14 doubt know. Which was ironic, because for much
15 of his political career he was very much opposed
16 to a standing army.
17 And yet he, under his presidency,
18 created the Military Academy at West Point. Why?
19 Because in practicality, he recognized that a
20 republic, and all that it represented, had to be
21 defended by somebody. And it had to have a
22 professional officer corps.
23 Now, I don't know what all of you
24 are going to go do. Maybe you'll do four years
25 and out. You'll be leaders in business, or
1593
1 you'll be leaders in politics, you'll be leaders
2 in not-for-profit or tech.
3 But maybe somewhere amongst you or
4 amongst your classmates is the next Joint Chiefs
5 of Staff, chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Or maybe
6 it's the next three-star general. Someone who's
7 going to be making major strategic decisions
8 advising the leaders of this country on issues of
9 the highest order -- life and death, war and
10 peace, national security.
11 That is why West Point exists, at
12 its core. If you want to join the military, you
13 can do that without having to go through
14 West Point. You've chosen a different path, a
15 much more challenging path, a path that speaks to
16 your character, to how you view duty, honor and
17 country.
18 And I would also remind everyone,
19 including the cadets, every generation has
20 challenges. Every generation, if you look back.
21 And I wish it wasn't the case. But I think it
22 was Plato who said only the dead have seen the
23 end of war.
24 Every generation has been called to
25 produce members to defend this country and to
1594
1 potentially put their lives and command the lives
2 of others in dangerous times.
3 I think sometimes as Americans we
4 think, here, the rest of the world is like this,
5 and it's not. It's a dangerous place. And thank
6 God we have you, young people who continue to
7 raise their hand. We continue to produce young,
8 bright Americans, New Yorkers, who are willing to
9 put their lives on the line and lay aside all the
10 promise and all the opportunities and all the
11 hopes that you have, to defend this country and
12 to lead others.
13 Because you will all be leaders of
14 other men and women in uniform, and that is a
15 sacred duty. To conduct a mission, to complete
16 the mission successfully and, if possible, get
17 those people back home safely to their families.
18 I can't think of anything higher or more
19 important at this time or any other time.
20 And when you graduate, when you wear
21 that -- the different uniform and you have that
22 flag on your shoulder, I want you to know that we
23 are as proud of you as you are of that flag and
24 of wearing that uniform.
25 So thank you very much for your
1595
1 service. Thank you very much for being here
2 today.
3 Again, to all my colleagues, thank
4 you very much for your support of this
5 resolution.
6 God bless America. And absolutely,
7 Go Army, Beat Navy!
8 (Laughter.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
10 Senator Ortt.
11 It is now my honor to introduce
12 Colonel Daniel R. Stuewe, commander of the
13 United States Army Garrison at West Point.
14 COMMANDER STUEWE: Majority Leader
15 Stewart-Cousins, Minority Leader Ortt, members of
16 this distinguished Senate, good morning and thank
17 you for welcoming us here today.
18 On behalf of Lieutenant General
19 Gilland and Sergeant Major Barretto, the
20 soldiers, the cadets, the civilians and families
21 of the United States Military Academy and U.S.
22 Army Garrison West Point, thank you for this
23 recognition and for your continued partnership.
24 Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins,
25 ma'am, thank you for the opportunity to address
1596
1 this chamber today.
2 Senator Skoufis, sir, thank you for
3 hosting us today and for your steadfast support
4 to the West Point community.
5 And Senator Scarcella-Spanton,
6 ma'am, thank you for your leadership and all you
7 do on behalf of New York's veterans and
8 servicemembers.
9 Ladies and gentlemen, since 1952 the
10 State of New York has formally recognized
11 West Point's contributions to our state and to
12 our nation. That enduring tradition speaks to
13 something deeper than ceremony. It reflects a
14 bond, one rooted in shared history, shared
15 responsibility, and shared commitment to service.
16 This year that history carries even
17 greater weight. The Army recently celebrated its
18 250th birthday, a milestone few institutions in
19 the world can claim. It was in June of 1775 that
20 the Continental Congress established the American
21 Army. Just three years later, in the winter of
22 1778, West Point became the strategic anchor of
23 that army.
24 General George Washington
25 understood the significance of the Hudson River
1597
1 Valley. He called West Point the most important
2 post in America. From those rocky heights above
3 the river, soldiers built fortifications and
4 placed artillery and stretched a massive iron
5 chain across the Hudson to prevent British
6 warships from dividing the colonies.
7 West Point was not simply a
8 garrison, it was a decisive stand for the
9 survival of a young republic. And for 250 years
10 the United States Army has stood in defense of
11 this nation, and West Point has remained central
12 to that story.
13 Today, as the garrison commander, I
14 have the privilege of leading the installation
15 that supports the United States Military Academy,
16 ensuring that this historic post remains secure,
17 resilient, and ready to accomplish its mission.
18 That mission is clear: It's to
19 educate, train, and inspire the leaders of
20 character for our Army and our nation. The
21 cadets with us here today -- who call the
22 Empire State home -- represent the next
23 generation of Army officers. They're part of a
24 corps of more than 4,000 young men and women who
25 have chosen a path of service over self. They'll
1598
1 commission as second lieutenants and lead
2 America's sons and daughters in an increasingly
3 complex world, and will do so in the same place
4 our Revolutionary War soldiers once stood watch
5 over the Hudson.
6 That continuity truly matters.
7 New Yorkers have always been part of the story,
8 from the regiments of the New York line during
9 the American Revolution, from the soldiers of the
10 69th Infantry Regiment, to the citizen soldiers
11 of the New York National Guard and Army Reserve.
12 And to the thousands of West Point
13 graduates who claim this state as home, New York
14 has been woven into the fabric of the
15 United States Army.
16 Today that partnership remains
17 essential. As a garrison, we're not only a
18 military installation, we live in a community --
19 we are a community. We're families raising
20 children in the Hudson Valley, we're civilians
21 who live and work alongside neighbors, and we're
22 stewards of this historic land, infrastructure,
23 and resources entrusted to us by the American
24 people.
25 We understand that our success
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1 depends on strong relationships, especially the
2 leaders here today. You support policies that
3 impact our soldiers and families, you advocate
4 for veterans, you strengthen education,
5 infrastructure, and economic opportunity across
6 this great state.
7 That partnership reinforces
8 readiness, and readiness is what the nation
9 expects from its Army. We're equally committed
10 to being good neighbors, to working
11 collaboratively with local and state leadership,
12 to preserving the history entrusted to us and
13 ensuring that West Point remains not only a
14 symbol of military excellence but a source of
15 pride for the Empire State.
16 A strong civil-military relationship
17 is not automatic. It requires engagement, it
18 requires trust, and it requires moments like
19 today.
20 So on behalf of the entire
21 West Point team, ladies and gentlemen, thank you
22 for your service to the people of New York, for
23 your continued support to our soldiers and
24 cadets, and for honoring West Point. It's truly
25 a privilege to stand in this chamber in the state
1600
1 that has been home to West Point for nearly
2 250 years.
3 Thank you so very much.
4 And Go Army, Beat Navy!
5 (Laughter; standing ovation.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
7 Colonel Stuewe.
8 Now, Senator Scarcella-Spanton on
9 the resolution.
10 SENATOR SCARCELLA-SPANTON: Thank
11 you, Madam President.
12 And thank you, Majority Leader
13 Stewart-Cousins, and of course Senator Skoufis,
14 for making sure that this happens every single
15 year.
16 And to the cadets and the senior
17 leadership, thank you so much for your service.
18 And Colonel Stuewe, thank you for your beautiful
19 and impactful words that I think are heard
20 throughout here.
21 As chair of the Veterans, Homeland
22 Security and Military Affairs Committee, I'm
23 proud to join my colleagues in honoring
24 West Point Day here on the Senate floor.
25 West Point represents some of the
1601
1 most talented and dedicated individuals our
2 nation has to offer, as you can see here in this
3 room now. They come from all corners of the
4 country to New York State, united by a shared
5 commitment to serving their country and
6 protecting our freedoms.
7 And yes, you made the choice to
8 partake in some of the most competitive and
9 grueling processes that you can go through just
10 to serve our nation. So it's very, very much
11 appreciated, and we should all look to you as an
12 inspiration.
13 Although we don't have any cadets
14 here from my district visiting us here today, two
15 years ago we were joined by Cadet Olivia Raykhman
16 from Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn, who I still
17 keep in touch with. Thank you, Senator Skoufis,
18 who does a great job of making sure all of you
19 actually meet your Senators, which is an amazing
20 thing. Olivia and her fellow cadets represent
21 the best and the brightest in our country.
22 And as we recognize West Point Day
23 we must also recognize the sacrifices that cadets
24 make to attend this prestigious university. Each
25 cadet has answered a call to serve to defend our
1602
1 liberties. And I look at you all now, and you're
2 young and you're getting ready to serve our
3 country, and I can't wait to see, just like
4 Olivia, what comes next for all of you.
5 So thank you to the cadets of
6 West Point for preparing to serve, and to all of
7 the senior leadership here today who are serving.
8 Your dedication to duty, honor and country are an
9 inspiration to us all.
10 And yes: Go Army, Beat Navy!
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
12 Senator Scarcella-Spanton.
13 Senator Ashby on the resolution.
14 SENATOR ASHBY: Thank you,
15 Madam President. I want to thank the command
16 team for being here; Colonel Stuewe.
17 I want to thank the Majority Leader
18 for bringing this resolution to the floor,
19 Senator Skoufis, and our own chairwoman for doing
20 an incredible job.
21 It's great to see the cadets here,
22 along with the command team, some of which --
23 some of who I actually served with in Iraq nearly
24 20 years ago, and another in Afghanistan.
25 So it's not quite a homecoming, but
1603
1 it's reassuring to see their faces and to see the
2 future leaders that will be coming up next.
3 And each year I try and remember a
4 certain type of cadet that comes through.
5 Normally, I think we're all aware of the
6 congressional appointments that take place, but
7 there are other ways to come through West Point.
8 You can enlist, and then come through.
9 So these individuals enlist in the
10 Army and then enter West Point. And they have an
11 experience a little separate, a little different
12 from some cadets. And I would hope that those
13 cadets that don't have that enlisted experience
14 lean on those enlisted soldiers, those prior
15 enlisted soldiers.
16 I say this out of experience as a
17 junior -- as a former junior officer. Learning
18 to lean on your NCOs, learning to lean on those
19 enlisted soldiers that have that experience, will
20 serve you well as leaders. And those commitments
21 that you have made today will bear out future
22 sacrifices later.
23 And at some point you may ask
24 yourself -- you may find yourself in hard times,
25 as I'm sure you have already been faced with, but
1604
1 they will be magnified later on in your life.
2 And it's these individuals, these people that
3 have helped you get here during your time of
4 service that will help you get through those
5 times and help you find the solutions and that
6 path forward.
7 So I implore you to do that. I am
8 continuously amazed and inspired by the work that
9 you do. And I look forward to hearing about all
10 of your future success.
11 Thank you, Madam President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
13 Senator Ashby.
14 Senator Harckham on the resolution.
15 SENATOR HARCKHAM: Thank you very
16 much, Madam President.
17 I want to thank you, Madam Leader,
18 for bringing this resolution to the floor every
19 year, and Senator Skoufis for sponsoring this and
20 for the great work that you and your team do, and
21 for all our colleagues who have spoken.
22 I grew up in the shadows of
23 West Point, spent a lot of time there. My father
24 had a fondness -- he was a combat veteran of
25 World War II, and the one thing that he always
1605
1 said to me was, of all the different officers he
2 served with in France and Germany, he said there
3 was a difference between officers from West Point
4 and other officers. He says there was a
5 competency, there was a confidence, and also a
6 care.
7 And you heard Senator Ortt allude to
8 that, that you have a responsibility for the
9 lives of the folks under your command. And he
10 said when they move forward under the leadership
11 of an officer from West Point, he always knew
12 that was taken into consideration.
13 And so we hope you remember that
14 moving forward. Please know how proud we are of
15 you, and thankful of your service.
16 And at this time it's my pleasure to
17 introduce, from my district, from Carmel,
18 New York, Cadet James Ardisana. If you would
19 join us, please.
20 He's from Company 81, and he's
21 majoring in civil engineering. Raised in Carmel,
22 he comes from a family of service. His father
23 wore the uniform of the FDNY, his mother a school
24 counselor, as we know every day how important
25 that profession has become.
1606
1 And he hopes to be an aviation
2 officer and attend several Army schools such as
3 Sapper, Air Assault, or Airborne. So you've got
4 a lot of ambition.
5 We need folks like you, to all of
6 you. I know all my colleagues have ended with
7 "Go Army, Beat Navy!" I will not exhaust that
8 and just say I hope they give you a little time
9 to party; you're only young once.
10 Thank you so much, Madam President.
11 (Laughter.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
13 Senator Harckham.
14 Senator Martins on the resolution.
15 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you,
16 Madam President.
17 You know, when so many speak
18 gratuitously of rights without corresponding
19 obligations, it is reassuring that we have with
20 us these cadets who are committed to defending
21 those rights and have chosen a path of service.
22 You know, they say that there's a
23 difference between reputation and character.
24 That reputation is what you're associated with,
25 how other people perceive you. And certainly as
1607
1 cadets at West Point, you share in that
2 reputation of excellence that is associated with
3 West Point.
4 But character is who you are, and
5 defines who you are. So, Madam President, let me
6 tell you a little bit about Cadet Ryan Zhang from
7 the 7th Senate District and the character that
8 the cadet has exhibited in his life to date.
9 So Cadet Zhang, if you would join
10 us. Thank you.
11 So the cadet is from Great Neck.
12 Great Neck is one of the lighthouse school
13 districts frankly in the entire world -- always
14 nationally ranked. But Cadet Zhang excelled at
15 Great Neck, and we could tell that there were
16 great things in his future.
17 I had the opportunity in 2023 to be
18 present when the cadet had his Eagle Scout Court
19 of Honor. I was able to be there to recognize
20 his efforts. And as an Eagle Scout, as we know,
21 once an Eagle, always an Eagle.
22 But that also goes to character.
23 And as a young man in Great Neck, in his
24 community, he also served as a volunteer
25 firefighter. So this idea of service is not just
1608
1 time at West Point, but it's something that is
2 part of who he is and part of his character.
3 Cadet Zhang is the son of two
4 immigrants who came here to study and stayed, in
5 pursuing the American dream. So he's pursuing it
6 as well, through service. Which is not only rare
7 these days, but I think something that we should
8 also highlight when we see it, and certainly see
9 it in someone so young.
10 So volunteer firefighter,
11 Eagle Scout, now service at West Point.
12 Obviously done very well academically. But he's
13 studying finance, he is in the Fencing Club,
14 Chinese Language Club. And Madam President, when
15 he graduates, he wants to go on and further serve
16 the country by attending the Airborne School and
17 attending the U.S. Army Military Freefall School.
18 Now, for those of you aren't aware,
19 the Military Freefall School is the Special
20 Forces where people fly as high as 25,000 feet to
21 jump out of an airplane using assistive oxygen,
22 in order to deploy, which is incredible. Because
23 I don't know how many of you or us have actually
24 jumped out of a perfectly working airplane. But
25 the idea of climbing to 25,000 feet, and to do so
1609
1 under those circumstances, and to want to do so
2 because it's part of your service, is
3 extraordinary.
4 And so, Madam President, allow me
5 the opportunity to recognize Cadet Zhang, to
6 thank him for his service, to thank him for his
7 continued service. And I would just say I know
8 as I stand here today just how proud your parents
9 are of you, the community is of you, and we
10 expect great things.
11 Thank you, Madam President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
13 Senator Martins.
14 Senator Mattera on the resolution.
15 SENATOR MATTERA: Thank you,
16 Madam President.
17 This is such a very, very special
18 day for all of us here today. Today is a very
19 special day in the New York State Senate and one
20 that I am honored to take part in, West Point
21 Day.
22 I first want to commend our Leader
23 Stewart-Cousins, and to Senator Skoufis, for
24 making sure that we continue this wonderful
25 tradition of celebrating the cadets and leaders
1610
1 of the United States Military Academy at
2 West Point this 74th anniversary.
3 I also thank the 11 very special
4 cadets that I got to meet who joined us here
5 today in the Senate chamber. You are all the
6 elite of the elite. You are the future defense
7 of our great nation, and we are so appreciative
8 of your service to our country.
9 I thank West Point senior mission
10 leader Colonel Daniel R. Stuewe and his fellow
11 leaders for joining us in Albany for this special
12 day, and for all you do for our country.
13 Thank you so, so much.
14 While I'm proud of each of our
15 cadets, it is special to me to welcome one cadet
16 from my district who grew up in the 2nd Senate
17 District, on Long Island, Cadet Caroline
18 Carvajal. Can you please -- can you please rise,
19 please stand up for us? Thank you so much,
20 Caroline.
21 Cadet Carvajal is from
22 East Northport, and she is a truly exceptional
23 individual. Currently she is a physics major at
24 West Point.
25 And you know, everyone in the
1611
1 2nd Senate District, especially those in your
2 hometown and in Northport High School, we are so
3 extremely proud of you. We all wish you the best
4 as you strive to attend Air Assault School this
5 summer to earn your wings and eventually get a
6 commission as a field artillery officer.
7 Also, she plays in the band also.
8 She plays the saxophone. I used to play the
9 trumpet, by the way, so we've got to get
10 together, okay, please?
11 (Laughter.)
12 SENATOR MATTERA: You bring immense
13 pride to our community and to our state and our
14 country. I thank you for your service,
15 sacrifice, and dedication. You are an
16 outstanding young woman with a bright future. It
17 is truly an honor to welcome you and your fellow
18 cadets to the Senate, and to thank you for making
19 the choice to serve our nation in the
20 United States Army after graduation.
21 So I just want to say God bless you
22 and all your fellow cadets that are here with us
23 today. God bless the United States Army and all
24 those who serve in the nation's military. And
25 especially, God bless the United States of
1612
1 America.
2 And thank you.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
4 Senator Mattera.
5 Senator Palumbo on the resolution.
6 SENATOR PALUMBO: Thank you,
7 Madam President.
8 It's my honor and I have great pride
9 to introduce Cadet Jess Joe Augustine, who hails
10 from the 1st Senate District.
11 Cadet Augustine, maybe move over a
12 little bit so I can see you, if you don't mind.
13 He's over in the -- front and center, Cadet.
14 Where are you? There he is, there he is. Very
15 good. Very good, thank you. Thank you, Cadet.
16 See, there you go, bold.
17 As I hear the comments from my
18 colleagues here -- you know, and we all have
19 great pride to recognize all of you, our current
20 leadership, our future leaders. We think about
21 the comments Leader Ortt and others made about
22 General George Washington, how he was really not
23 thrilled about having a standing army.
24 But many of us know there's a
25 tremendous interrelationship between what you
1613
1 folks do and what we do right here in government
2 on the floor. We can say virtually, within
3 reason, whatever we want because of the freedoms
4 that we enjoy, thanks to folks like you and those
5 folks to my left.
6 And General George Washington
7 specifically said the most effective way to
8 preserve peace is to be prepared for war, and
9 that's why he made the very serious decision to
10 ultimately establish the academy and to have a
11 standing army. And so I thank you for your
12 commitment and dedication to this country and
13 this state.
14 I'm going to tell everyone a
15 little bit about you. Cadet Augustine's in
16 Company H3. His intended branch is cyber. He's
17 majoring in environmental engineering. And in
18 high school he was a cross country, track and
19 field star. He won two state titles in the
20 3,000-meter steeplechase. And for those of you
21 who aren't very good at math, that's about
22 two miles. And he won two state titles.
23 And that dedication, of course,
24 translated directly to his life as a cadet. His
25 plans for the future are to graduate as a cyber
1614
1 officer, attend rigorous Army schools such as
2 Ranger and Sapper School, and eventually to
3 return to West Point as a professor, as an
4 instructor.
5 So to our future professor, thank
6 you. To all the cadets, and our friends here in
7 leadership and their commitment to this country,
8 I thank you all. God bless all of you. And
9 God bless the United States of America.
10 Congratulations.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
12 Senator Palumbo. Thank you.
13 Senator Rolison on the resolution.
14 SENATOR ROLISON: Thank you,
15 Madam President.
16 To the leader, thank you.
17 Senator Skoufis, again, thank you.
18 I have the honor today to stand and
19 recognize, acknowledge and thank Cadet Joshua
20 Brancamp. Would you please stand?
21 Before I have the opportunity to
22 talk about this fine young man and his service to
23 this country, you know, it's been said many times
24 that individuals who stand up and step up to do
25 the type of work, putting your lives on the line
1615
1 like you will be asked to do, really starts when
2 you want to aspire to do that. That takes
3 courage. That takes bravery. And of course it
4 takes dedication.
5 It's often been said, too, that
6 every single thing that you will do after you
7 make that decision is in the line of duty. So we
8 look at all of you here today and say, thank you
9 for that. Your bravery, your courage, your
10 dedication really started long ago when you
11 wanted to go to West Point.
12 And this fine young man, this cadet,
13 is from Hopewell Junction, Madam President, in
14 the Town of East Fishkill in the 39th District.
15 And he's a Company H3. Intended
16 branch, engineer. Major in civil engineering.
17 Club/sport, most important, Scoutmaster Council.
18 Even there, you're giving others the opportunity
19 to do what you have chosen to do yourself.
20 And military training, Air Assault.
21 You wanted to go to West Point, you've wanted to
22 serve because your dad was an officer and
23 continues to be an officer in the Army Reserve.
24 I know what it's like to see your
25 father and maybe want to do the same thing
1616
1 someday. So thank you for that as well.
2 In your future, Cadet Brancamp, you
3 want to graduate as an engineer officer and you
4 want to post to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. And
5 as an officer you hope to attend schools like
6 Sapper and Ranger School.
7 And to all of you here today, but
8 especially to Cadet Brancamp, you know, we had
9 the opportunity to talk briefly. And when I
10 shook your hand and I heard your voice, I knew
11 that handshake and that voice stood for bravery,
12 courage, and dedication. I could feel it and I
13 could hear it. So thank you.
14 God bless all of you for serving.
15 God bless all of you for what you're going to do
16 for this great country. God bless West Point.
17 To the executive staff, thank you for leading
18 these fine young men and women.
19 And God bless the United States of
20 America.
21 Thank you, Madam President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
23 Senator Rolison.
24 Senator Stavisky on the resolution.
25 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
1617
1 Madam President.
2 And thank you to the
3 Majority Leader, Senator Stewart-Cousins, for
4 bringing this resolution to the floor, and
5 Senator Skoufis for sponsoring it.
6 And Senator Skoufis, you have
7 continued the same kind of tradition, in speaking
8 on West Point Day, that Colonel Larkin did when
9 he served in this chamber. It meant so much to
10 him, and I know this means a great deal to you.
11 I am fortunate to have two cadets
12 here. And in fact, we know that there's another
13 cadet back at West Point because the first cadet
14 I will mention is Tricia Chen, a cadet from
15 College Point.
16 Cadet, thank you for coming.
17 And Cadet Chen's sister, her twin
18 sister Tracy, was here two years ago. And I said
19 it then,and I want to repeat what I said then
20 today.
21 That is an incredible family. Their
22 three children served in the military. Both
23 Cadets Chen served in the Army and received an
24 appointment through their service in the Army to
25 the Academy.
1618
1 But that family has raised their
2 children in an environment of service, of
3 commitment, of dedication. And that really is a
4 reflection not only upon them, but upon the
5 environment in which they grew up.
6 So thank you, Cadet Chen, who is
7 hoping to go to Flight School, from what I
8 understand. So good luck in your future
9 assignments.
10 And I also am proud to introduce
11 Cadet Joel Shin, if Cadet Shin would stand.
12 Cadet Shin is a computer science major, hopes to
13 continue in graduate school. And he too is a
14 resident of my district, but they live in
15 College Point, which I am proud to represent in
16 the Senate.
17 Cadet Shin is interested in a
18 variety of areas, including athletics, but
19 especially computer science and hopes to attend
20 graduate school, I believe in the fall.
21 And Cadet Shin again represents the
22 best that the community has to offer -- an idea
23 of service, of commitment, of traditional values
24 that are important, particularly for young
25 people.
1619
1 I chair the Committee on
2 Higher Education, so I feel even though
3 West Point doesn't come under our jurisdiction,
4 we are doing the right thing in terms of
5 educating young people for a career of service.
6 And we thank you for your
7 commitment, and let us continue this tradition
8 for another 74 years.
9 Thank you, Madam President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
11 Senator Stavisky.
12 Senator Stec on the resolution.
13 SENATOR STEC: Thank you,
14 Madam President.
15 Thank you, Leader Andrea
16 Stewart-Cousins and Senator Skoufis, for
17 supporting and bringing this forward today.
18 It's a pleasure. This is my first
19 opportunity to -- and probably the first time
20 that I've been entrusted with the responsibility
21 of welcoming a cadet to this chamber.
22 The 45th Senate District is home to
23 many fabulous and wonderful things, two of them
24 being the birthplace of the United States Navy --
25 Whitehall, New York -- and the second being the
1620
1 home of Cadet Richard McGrath. If Cadet McGrath
2 would stand, please.
3 Cadet McGrath is from Champlain,
4 New York. That is the northeasternmost town in
5 our state. It's on the shores of Lake Champlain,
6 and it's also on the Canadian border.
7 Senator Ashby mentioned previously
8 the importance and the value of prior enlisted
9 service in the Officer Corps, and Cadet McGrath
10 is one of those cadets. Shortly after he
11 graduated from Northeastern Clinton Central
12 School District, he enlisted as a cavalry scout,
13 completing one station unit training out of
14 Fort Benning, Georgia. And following graduation
15 he was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas, and later
16 attended the United States Military Academy
17 Prep School before going to West Point.
18 I note that he wants to be in the
19 Military Police, so there's a few of us here that
20 I sit amongst that you probably would have
21 crossed paths with had their service overlapped.
22 But fortunately for them, it will not.
23 But his major is environmental
24 science. And his love of the Adirondacks, he
25 stated that it's his aspiration that when he's
1621
1 finished with the Army, he'd like to work for the
2 New York State Department of Environmental
3 Conservation as an Environmental Conservation
4 Officer.
5 My own father, who is an artillery
6 Vietnam Marine Corps veteran, he did a career as
7 a Forest Ranger in DEC. So I'm very familiar
8 with DEC and the work that the ECOs and the
9 Forest Rangers do.
10 New York State would be fortunate to
11 have you, Cadet, if that's the path that you
12 choose. And certainly if you do choose that
13 path, I think I might be able to help you with a
14 letter of recommendation.
15 But, Madam President, to the
16 leadership staff that's here, to all the cadets
17 that made the trip today, thank you for your
18 service, thank you for your sacrifice. I won't
19 take the bait and say the line because I'll say
20 it the opposite way, and we were doing so well.
21 (Laughter.)
22 SENATOR STEC: But I'll just say
23 thank you all, from all of our veterans. And I'm
24 privileged and honored to be among six in this
25 chamber that served the country. And I respect
1622
1 and I admire your service and your future
2 service.
3 So thank you, Madam President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
5 Senator Stec.
6 Senator Tedisco on the resolution.
7 SENATOR TEDISCO: Thank you,
8 Madam President.
9 And I too want to thank all of my
10 colleagues for making this important day
11 possible. And I especially want to thank my
12 colleagues here who have served in the military
13 and now have come here to serve in the Senate in
14 New York State. And, by extension, you serve the
15 nation when you serve our state.
16 I think all of us realize when we
17 introduce and welcome and thank our own cadet
18 from our Senate district, we're thanking all of
19 you, as our cadets, for your service and for your
20 accomplishments.
21 And by extension, today also we
22 think about and we show our respects and thanks
23 to the men and women, past, the present,
24 future -- best described as the best, most
25 courageous and compassionate force for good in
1623
1 the United States of America, the men and women
2 of our military, the armed forces.
3 We appreciate you. We appreciate
4 them protecting this great nation and protecting
5 our freedom and our liberty.
6 I'd like to say a few words, if I
7 could, about my cadet, Thomas Villano III, if he
8 would stand up.
9 He's from the great town of Galway,
10 in Saratoga County, 44th Senatorial District.
11 His company is C4. His branch is intended as
12 field artillery. His major is applied
13 psychology. Club/sports: Rabble Rousers manager
14 and company athletics. Military training: Air
15 Assault.
16 Born and raised in the Capital
17 Region, just 30 minutes from Saratoga Springs,
18 played basketball -- I can relate to that a
19 little bit, I did when I was tall --
20 (Laughter.)
21 SENATOR TEDISCO: -- and he was a
22 thrower in track and field, went to state
23 qualifiers for track. And he comes from a
24 non-military background. So maybe we can change
25 that trend now, Thomas, possibly.
1624
1 He went to state qualifiers for
2 track, as I mentioned. Currently serving as an
3 ACT representative for the battalion. And his
4 future plans relate to the branch of field
5 artillery. And he intends school and going into
6 the medical field in some fashion from
7 grad school. Also hopes to attend other
8 broadening schools while in the Army.
9 We appreciate your service, and we
10 thank you so much for being involved in this
11 great organization. And I know you're going to
12 go on to fantastic achievements.
13 Thank you, Thomas, for being here,
14 and thank all of our cadets.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
16 Senator Tedisco.
17 Senator Weik on the resolution.
18 SENATOR WEIK: Thank you,
19 Madam President.
20 First I'd like to say welcome and
21 thank you for your service to our great
22 leadership from West Point. And welcome to all
23 the cadets who are here today.
24 I feel like my district churns out
25 great Americans, because once again I'm so very
1625
1 proud to have yet another cadet that I get to
2 honor here in this chamber.
3 You've chosen such a brave,
4 honorable path, and I thank you very much for
5 choosing that path.
6 Today I have the great honor of
7 being able to recognize Christopher Sanchez.
8 Would you rise and let us recognize you? Thank
9 you.
10 Cadet Sanchez comes from the
11 beautiful hamlet of Bay Shore, New York. He
12 serves in the -- his intended military branch is
13 Military Intelligence, BD infantry. His major is
14 applied psychology, and his military training
15 includes Air Assault School.
16 He comes from a dual military family
17 and has been part of the Army culture, which
18 means he had a very strict household when he grew
19 up.
20 He performed the role of battalion
21 command sergeant major, overseeing 365 cadets,
22 and has graduated from Air Assault School, and
23 presently aspires in his future to attend the
24 Interservice Physician Assistant Program, or the
25 USU School of Medicine, in the pursuit of
1626
1 practicing medicine both during and after his
2 time in service.
3 Which is a tremendous undertaking,
4 and I thank you so much for making yourself such
5 an incredible, valuable part of not just our
6 community but our nation.
7 Thank you so much for your bravery
8 and your commitment to our nation. God bless all
9 of you. Thank you.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: Thank you,
11 Senator Weik.
12 To our guests, our distinguished
13 cadets, our wonderful leadership at West Point,
14 and all the administrative staff that made this
15 happen, we as a body are truly privileged to
16 welcome you on behalf of the Senate. We extend
17 to you the privileges and courtesies of our
18 house.
19 Please rise and be recognized.
20 (Extended standing ovation.)
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
22 resolution was adopted on March 17th.
23 Senator Gianaris.
24 SENATOR GIANARIS: Madam President,
25 Senator Skoufis would like to open this
1627
1 resolution for cosponsorship.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
3 resolution is open for cosponsorship. Should you
4 choose not to be a cosponsor, please notify the
5 desk.
6 Senator Gianaris.
7 SENATOR GIANARIS: Please take up
8 the reading of the calendar.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAYER: The
10 Secretary will read.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 392, Senate Print 3207A, by Senator Kavanagh, an
13 act to amend the Public Health Law.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
15 last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
17 act shall take effect one year after it shall
18 have become a law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
20 roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Announce
23 the results.
24 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
25 Calendar 392, voting in the negative:
1628
1 Senator Borrello.
2 Ayes, 58. Nays, 1.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
4 is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 430, Senate Print 936A, by Senator Gonzalez, an
7 act directing a state agency telework report.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Announce
16 the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 430, voting in the negative are
19 Senators Griffo, O'Mara, Ortt and Walczyk.
20 Ayes, 55. Nays, 4.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
22 is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 441, Senate Print 2437A, by Senator Krueger, an
25 act to amend the Election Law.
1629
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
2 last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect on the 90th day after it
5 shall have become a law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
12 Calendar 441, voting in the negative:
13 Senators Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick and Weik.
14 Ayes, 57. Nays, 2.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
16 is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 457, Senate Print 919A, by Senator May, an act to
19 amend the Executive Law.
20 SENATOR LANZA: Lay it aside.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Lay it
22 aside.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 461, Senate Print 2587, by Senator Mayer, an act
25 to amend the Executive Law.
1630
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
2 last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
6 roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
9 Mayer to explain her vote.
10 SENATOR MAYER: Thank you,
11 Mr. President. I rise to vote aye on this
12 legislation.
13 By establishing January 30th as
14 "Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the
15 Constitution," we are affirming New York's
16 commitment to learning and teaching about the
17 difficult history of the United States' shameful
18 treatment of Japanese and Japanese-Americans
19 during World War II and their forced relocation
20 to internment camps.
21 We recognize Fred Korematsu's
22 contributions to helping us reckon with our
23 history and recommit to the ongoing fight for
24 civil and constitutional rights for all.
25 Mr. Korematsu, a 22-year-old
1631
1 shipyard welder and American citizen, was fired
2 from his job due to his Japanese ancestry, but he
3 refused to go when his family was ordered to
4 relocate to an internment camp. He was arrested,
5 convicted in federal court, and sent to an
6 internment camp.
7 He appealed his conviction, but the
8 United States Supreme Court ultimately affirmed
9 it.
10 Much later, the Supreme Court
11 recognized that the prior decision was wrong, and
12 Chief Justice John Roberts said: "Korematsu was
13 gravely wrong the day it was decided, has been
14 overruled in the court of history, and -- to be
15 clear -- 'has no place in law under the
16 Constitution.'"
17 He was awarded the Presidential
18 Medal of Freedom: Fred Korematsu, who wanted
19 nothing more than to live an ordinary life but
20 was instead forcibly detained due to his
21 ancestry.
22 There are some today being ripped
23 from their families as ordinary people living
24 ordinary lives and contributing to their
25 communities. Let us not fall again so readily
1632
1 into the trap of seeing the other as the enemy.
2 Today we reaffirm the principles
3 that Fred Korematsu stood for, and we stand
4 together to make this day a day of reckoning on
5 behalf of Fred Korematsu and others like him.
6 I vote aye.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
8 Mayer to be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Announce the results.
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
12 is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 462, Senate Print 3204, by Senator Krueger, an
15 act to amend the Penal Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
17 last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
19 act shall take effect on the first of November.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
21 roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Announce
24 the results.
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
1633
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
2 is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 490, Senate Print 3180, by Senator Sanders, an
5 act to amend the Elder Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
7 last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect on the 120th day after it
10 shall have become a law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
12 roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Announce
15 the results.
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
18 is passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 491, Senate Print 4805, by Senator Ryan, an act
21 to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
23 last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
1634
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
2 roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
5 Ryan to explain his vote.
6 SENATOR RYAN: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 Today I want to rise and support
9 this piece of legislation because it's going to
10 be a real tangible difference in the lives of our
11 senior citizens across New York State. For too
12 long, older -- senior New Yorkers who qualify for
13 the citizen property tax exemption have been
14 forced to navigate a burdensome and often
15 confusing application process.
16 In order to receive the benefit they
17 are entitled to, they must gather financial
18 documents, make in-person visits to a local
19 assessor's office, sometimes year and year. And
20 for me, quite simply, that doesn't make a whole
21 lot of sense.
22 So what this bill will do, it
23 streamlines the process by allowing the state to
24 take on the responsibility of verifying income
25 eligibility, just as we already do with the
1635
1 enhanced STAR program. So instead of placing the
2 burden on seniors, we are leveraging the tools
3 and data already available at the state level to
4 make government work more efficiently for our
5 senior citizens, many of which have mobility
6 challenges and limited transportation.
7 So I hope you'll support me.
8 And I'll say this. Sometimes on the
9 floor we use the word "unfunded mandate,"
10 sometimes we hear that. But this is -- I'm
11 bringing a new word up, saying it's a refunded
12 mandate, because the state's going to help our
13 local towns, which we should be doing.
14 So I vote aye.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
16 Ryan to be recorded in the affirmative.
17 Announce the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
20 is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 499, Senate Print 2084, by Senator Kavanagh, an
23 act to amend the General Municipal Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
25 last section.
1636
1 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
2 act shall take effect immediately.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
4 roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
7 Helming to explain her vote.
8 SENATOR HELMING: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 I think it's a great practice for
11 municipalities, for local governments to create
12 and periodically update a comprehensive plan, and
13 to make sure that it addresses issues such as
14 housing. That's a practice that I followed as a
15 town supervisor.
16 However, the bill before us is a
17 requirement. It's a mandate, an unfunded mandate
18 on our local governments. And all too often that
19 translates into increased property taxes for
20 people.
21 And the other issue I have with this
22 bill at this time is that it's forcing
23 municipalities of every single size to address a
24 problem they can't fix.
25 Residential construction, as I've
1637
1 said on this floor time and time again, in our
2 Housing Committee meetings and in every meeting I
3 have an opportunity to talk about it, has been
4 delayed or has come to an ultimate stop because
5 of the All-Electric Building mandates. And it's
6 impossible to build when the electric capacity
7 doesn't exist.
8 So for those reasons, Mr. President,
9 I am a no on this bill. I hope we address the
10 All-Electric mandates that are stopping
11 residential building from occurring within our
12 districts.
13 Thank you.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
15 Helming to be recorded in the negative.
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
18 Calendar 499, voting in the negative are
19 Senators Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, Griffo, Helming,
20 O'Mara, Ortt, Rhoads, Walczyk, Weber and Weik.
21 Ayes, 51. Nays, 9.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
23 is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 507, Senate Print 2556, by Senator Comrie, an act
1638
1 to amend the Public Authorities Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Read the
3 last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
7 roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Announce
10 the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
13 is passed.
14 Senator Gianaris, that completes the
15 reading of today's calendar.
16 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's go,
17 Mr. President! It's March Madness in the
18 Senate chamber today: The Walczyk-May rematch
19 we've been waiting for.
20 (Laughter.)
21 SENATOR GIANARIS: Let's take up
22 the controversial calendar, please.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
24 Secretary will ring the bell.
25 And may the brackets begin.
1639
1 (Laughter.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
3 Secretary will read.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 457, Senate Print 919A, by Senator May, an act to
6 amend the Executive Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
8 Walczyk, why do you rise?
9 SENATOR WALCZYK: Well, I grew up
10 watching 'Cuse hoops. I don't think I'll be
11 representing that team or that area today,
12 Mr. President. I hope the sponsor will yield for
13 some questions.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: A
15 representative of Syracuse, a proud
16 representative of Syracuse, Senator May, do you
17 yield? You've got your Syracuse orange on today.
18 SENATOR MAY: Right, I am dressed
19 for the part.
20 Yes, I yield, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
22 Senator yields.
23 SENATOR WALCZYK: Thank you.
24 Through you, Mr. President.
25 So the Community Development Block
1640
1 Grants provide annual federal grants for low- and
2 moderate-income areas. The goal is to combat
3 blight and improve quality of life in low-income
4 areas.
5 Your bill would cut CDBG funds by
6 50 percent for communities who don't comply with
7 the new law that you're proposing here today.
8 How does that 50 percent cut to poor
9 areas help them improve low- and moderate-income
10 areas in the state?
11 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
12 Mr. President.
13 First of all, thank you for the
14 question. Thank you for paying attention to this
15 bill.
16 And this bill exists -- the purpose
17 of this bill is to make sure that communities are
18 collecting and reporting basic information about
19 housing stock and housing plans, housing
20 construction in their communities. Which is
21 critical information that will guide how the
22 state spends billions of dollars in promoting
23 housing construction, housing renovation, and
24 helping people, renters and homeowners, stay in
25 their homes.
1641
1 So the idea here is there is a
2 penalty attached to not doing this. And the idea
3 of that penalty is that it will focus the minds
4 of the communities on actually doing this.
5 It's not a huge thing we're asking
6 them to do. Most communities already collect
7 much of this information. Some of it already has
8 to be reported to the Secretary of State, but not
9 all of it. And a lot of it is not transparent.
10 And so this is just to -- our hope
11 is that nobody will incur the penalty, but that
12 the -- it will help incentivize them to do this
13 job.
14 SENATOR WALCZYK: And through you,
15 Mr. President, would the sponsor continue to
16 yield?
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
18 sponsor yield?
19 SENATOR MAY: I will.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
21 sponsor yields.
22 SENATOR WALCZYK: Your memo says
23 fiscal-impact implications are none, so I assume
24 that any fiscal impact in meeting the compliance
25 here would be borne by the local municipalities.
1642
1 Would we consider this an
2 unfunded mandate, or are there funds somewhere
3 else the state has set aside to help them comply
4 with the new reporting requirements you're
5 proposing here today?
6 SENATOR MAY: So there would be
7 none in the first year.
8 But my expectation is that if there
9 was a need, because there is a pretty long
10 on-ramp for -- I'm sorry, through you,
11 Mr. President -- for implementing this. If
12 municipalities did need that funding, we could
13 get that in the budget the relevant year.
14 SENATOR WALCZYK: Would the sponsor
15 continue to yield.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
17 sponsor yield?
18 SENATOR MAY: I will.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
20 sponsor yields.
21 SENATOR WALCZYK: And through you,
22 Mr. President. So this bill requires towns,
23 villages, cities to submit a zoning map annually
24 to the Department of Homes and Community Renewal.
25 It also requires towns, villages and cities to
1643
1 submit to HCR an annual report on new
2 construction, alteration, demolition and
3 consolidation of housing. I think you'd outlined
4 some of those things in your remarks.
5 What is the definition of
6 "alteration," for purposes of this legislation?
7 (Pause.)
8 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
9 Mr. President. That is one of the pieces of this
10 that would be determined by HCR generally, with
11 public comment, along with a number of other
12 aspects of how the reporting would be done, for
13 example.
14 We want to make sure that it's easy
15 for municipalities to report their information so
16 that they could use pathways they've already been
17 using to report other information.
18 SENATOR WALCZYK: Would the sponsor
19 continue to yield?
20 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
21 sponsor yield?
22 SENATOR MAY: I do.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
24 sponsor yields.
25 SENATOR WALCZYK: Through you,
1644
1 Mr. President. So are you trying to capture
2 every permit that is pulled at a town, village,
3 and city? Would that -- any permit at all that
4 is pulled from the codes department or however
5 they do their works for any alterations or
6 demolition on a property, those would all get
7 sent up to the state? Is that how I understand
8 this?
9 (Pause.)
10 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
11 Mr. President. What we're targeting is anything
12 that is relevant to the increase or decrease of
13 the housing stock in that community.
14 And I also want to make sure to
15 point out that in the A print, we have exempted
16 communities of less than 5,000. That was a
17 request that we received. And streamlines this
18 process. We're talking about communities of a
19 substantial size.
20 SENATOR WALCZYK: Would the sponsor
21 continue to yield?
22 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
23 sponsor yield?
24 SENATOR MAY: Yes.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
1645
1 sponsor yields.
2 SENATOR WALCZYK: So just so I
3 understand properly on alterations, so the --
4 when you reference alterations in this
5 legislation, because it wasn't spelled out,
6 you're only talking about alterations to a
7 building that would increase the housing capacity
8 of that building?
9 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
10 Mr. President, we are talking -- either increase
11 or decrease the amount of housing stock in that
12 area.
13 SENATOR WALCZYK: And would the
14 sponsor continue to yield?
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
16 sponsor yield?
17 SENATOR MAY: I will.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR WALCZYK: Through you,
21 Mr. President. So as you just pointed out,
22 you've exempted towns with a population of less
23 than 5,000. The line -- specifically, Line 21 of
24 your bill says "shall not apply to any local
25 board of a town with a population of less than
1646
1 5,000 people."
2 What about a city with a population
3 of less than 5,000? I represent the City of
4 Little Falls; it has a population of 4,600.
5 Would they have to comply?
6 (Pause.)
7 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
8 Mr. President. If the city is the permitting
9 authority, then it would apply to the city.
10 We're aware that there are different
11 levels of government that handle those kinds of
12 permitting issues.
13 SENATOR WALCZYK: Would the sponsor
14 continue to yield?
15 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
16 sponsor yield?
17 SENATOR MAY: Yes.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR WALCZYK: Through you,
21 Mr. President. So what about villages with a
22 population of less than 5,000? I represent
23 45 villages.
24 SENATOR MAY: Mr. President, my
25 understanding is if they are coterminous with a
1647
1 town, then it would apply to them. If they are
2 not, then that would be a different matter.
3 But this is also something that
4 would be open -- if my colleague wants to
5 recommend a different wording for that, I am
6 certainly open to making amendments here.
7 SENATOR WALCZYK: Mr. President,
8 would the sponsor continue to yield?
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Would the
10 sponsor yield?
11 SENATOR MAY: I would.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
13 sponsor yields.
14 SENATOR WALCZYK: And through you,
15 Mr. President. So villages like the Village of
16 Cato that is located both in Ira and in the
17 Town of Cato, they would have to comply, even
18 though they have a population of a little over
19 500 people?
20 (Pause.)
21 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
22 Mr. President. The answer is yes, if they are
23 the permitting authority. Frequently
24 villages are not.
25 SENATOR WALCZYK: Would the sponsor
1648
1 continue to yield?
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Will the
3 sponsor yield?
4 SENATOR MAY: I will.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
6 sponsor yields.
7 SENATOR WALCZYK: We have a
8 Rural Resources Commission here in the New York
9 State Senate. We also have the ability to reach
10 out to multiple different associations that
11 represent towns, villages and cities across the
12 State of New York.
13 Have you heard back from the
14 Association of Towns? Do they support the
15 legislation you're proposing here?
16 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
17 Mr. President. We have not received opposition
18 from those organizations to this legislation.
19 And I would just say one of the
20 things that prompted this legislation was the
21 Fair Housing organization in Onondaga County
22 tried to assemble information about zoning
23 regulations in all the different municipalities
24 within the county, and it took years to get that
25 information. Some of the information was just
1649
1 jotted in pencil on a piece of paper that they
2 found in a file folder somewhere.
3 But these are decisions that have a
4 real impact on homeowners, on developers, on the
5 shapes of these communities. And so this is
6 information that no matter how small your
7 community is, I think the residents of the
8 community deserve to have that information.
9 SENATOR WALCZYK: Will the sponsor
10 continue to yield?
11 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
12 sponsor yield?
13 SENATOR MAY: I will.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR WALCZYK: If you haven't
17 received -- through you, Mr. President, if you
18 haven't received support from the Association of
19 Towns, how about the New York Conference of
20 Mayors or NYCOM?
21 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
22 Mr. President. We haven't received opposition or
23 support from any of those local organizations.
24 SENATOR WALCZYK: Would the sponsor
25 continue to yield?
1650
1 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Does the
2 sponsor yield?
3 SENATOR MAY: I do.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The
5 sponsor yields.
6 SENATOR WALCZYK: Through you,
7 Mr. President. This bill also requires
8 municipalities' information sent to Homes and
9 Community Renewal be posted publicly by the
10 Department of State.
11 Why should a homeowner's demolition,
12 expansion, or alteration of their property be
13 posted publicly for everyone in New York State to
14 see, including their address and whatever permit
15 that they pulled at their local municipal office
16 in order to do that demolition or that alteration
17 of their property?
18 SENATOR MAY: Through you,
19 Mr. President. We believe there is a compelling
20 public value, given the amount of money that the
21 taxpayers of New York State are investing in
22 building housing, in renovating housing, in
23 expanding the housing stock, in keeping renters
24 and homeowners in their homes, we believe there's
25 a compelling public value to having this kind of
1651
1 information be public so that decisions both at
2 the local and at the state level can be made
3 wisely.
4 SENATOR WALCZYK: Thank you.
5 Mr. President, on the bill.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
7 Walczyk on the bill.
8 SENATOR WALCZYK: Requiring our
9 poorest communities to do more reporting even if
10 they are a tiny village -- and as the sponsor
11 pointed out, you know, may have a few hundred
12 residents and may be handling things on paper in
13 a filing cabinet? That may sound funny here in
14 Albany, but it is the reality on the ground for a
15 number of municipalities that often share code
16 enforcement across a number of different
17 municipalities.
18 They have a hard time even filling a
19 zoning board because of the number of residents
20 that they have.
21 But that doesn't mean they don't get
22 the job done to preserve the community that they
23 want. And bringing another unfunded mandate on
24 top of them, requiring them to send all of those
25 permits up to Albany, is just going to be another
1652
1 unfunded mandate.
2 But eventually they get funded,
3 right? By who? By the local taxpayers, is who
4 gets to pay for this.
5 And threatening to cut federal
6 funding from CDBG funds that are designed to go
7 to those poorest areas of New York State -- that
8 really need some additional assistance -- is not
9 a helpful incentive for those that are doing
10 their best out there right now.
11 If you want to make housing more
12 inexpensive, you could use the national standard
13 for the Building Code. You could repeal the
14 All-Electric Buildings Act. You could implement
15 incentives for first-time homebuyers. You could
16 invest in infrastructure. You could reduce costs
17 of construction materials here in the State of
18 New York.
19 But instead, this bill says we're
20 going to penalize local municipalities if they
21 don't do two different annual reports on their
22 zoning and everybody that is pulling permits to
23 improve their homes now.
24 The problem in New York is not that
25 local governments aren't reporting enough. Talk
1653
1 to the New York Conference of Mayors. Talk to
2 the Association of Towns. They'll tell you, We
3 report plenty to the State of New York.
4 This bill will only bring new
5 problems and no solutions to lower the cost of
6 housing in New York State. I'll be voting no and
7 encourage my colleagues to do the same.
8 Thank you.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Thank
10 you, Senator Walczyk.
11 Are there any other Senators wishing
12 to be heard?
13 Senator Martins, why do you rise?
14 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you,
15 Mr. President. On the bill.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
17 Martins on the bill.
18 SENATOR MARTINS: I have two towns
19 and 43 villages in my district. I guarantee you,
20 Mr. President, that the residents of each one of
21 those villages is acutely aware of any buildings
22 that are going up in the village. It's where
23 they live. There's a new construction going on?
24 They're aware of it.
25 The idea that anyone's going to
1654
1 suggest that this is an open government bill,
2 this is somehow a means for local residents and
3 taxpayers to somehow be availed of certain
4 information that they otherwise would not have,
5 is nonsense. Absolute nonsense.
6 Those local communities know full
7 well, as does everyone in this room who has any
8 villages in their communities, the idea that they
9 have to send that information and assemble that
10 information and send it to Albany as a way of
11 opening up access to their local communities so
12 that they know what's being built in their
13 community, is just not true. And frankly, it
14 doesn't make sense.
15 Here's what happened. A local
16 housing group in Onondaga County decided that
17 they couldn't get information fast enough from
18 their communities because they're FOILing it.
19 And you know what, Mr. President? When you have
20 a FOIL, when these communities get FOILs, they're
21 able to hand over papers that they assemble. But
22 what they're asking for, I guarantee you, this
23 housing group, was for the community to assemble
24 the information for them. And when they didn't
25 move fast enough, we get this bill.
1655
1 And all this bill does is put
2 obligations on our local communities. So instead
3 of attending to their local community, to the
4 property owners, maybe to fixing roads in the
5 local community, we're going to siphon resources
6 so that some special-interest group in
7 Onondaga County that didn't get information fast
8 enough is going to force villages in the
9 7th Senate District and in Nassau County to spend
10 time, effort, and money, resources, with their
11 personnel, assembling information.
12 To what end? Section, block, and
13 lot. The kind of alteration. Information
14 specific to that community that has no bearing on
15 housing on a statewide level. And yet we're
16 supposed to pass a law because someone wants to
17 check a box and say "I'm doing something for
18 housing." This does absolutely nothing for
19 housing other than to increase costs for our
20 communities, put additional burdens on our
21 villages, towns.
22 And frankly, Mr. President, I'll
23 have no part of it. I'll be voting no.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Thank
25 you, Senator Martins.
1656
1 Are there any other Senators wishing
2 to be heard?
3 Seeing and hearing none, debate is
4 now closed.
5 Senator Serrano.
6 SENATOR SERRANO: Upon consent,
7 we've agreed to restore this bill to the
8 noncontroversial calendar.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: On
10 consent, the bill has been restored.
11 Read the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect on the first of January.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Call the
15 roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
18 May to explain her vote.
19 SENATOR MAY: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 And I will point out that the
22 CDBG funds are under threat by the president of
23 the United States and may be gone by the time
24 this bill takes effect, so there might need to be
25 a different kind of incentive put in place.
1657
1 But I do want to come back to
2 Onondaga County, where we have a situation where
3 the county wants to see considerably more housing
4 built -- we're seeing this all over the state,
5 that people's children can't move back into their
6 communities because there are no affordable
7 houses to be bought or apartments to find.
8 People, seniors who want to downsize but stay in
9 the communities they've lived in for decades
10 don't have places to go because we aren't
11 building enough housing.
12 And so there is a very strong
13 interest in figuring out how we solve that
14 problem. And especially in Onondaga County,
15 where we're expecting a lot of new people to move
16 in because of Micron, this is a very urgent
17 issue.
18 So CNY Fair Housing decided to just
19 compile a map, essentially, that showed where it
20 was possible to build more housing. And after
21 laborious efforts and really kind of shocking
22 discoveries about how little information local
23 communities kept or made public about their
24 zoning laws, what they found is that outside of
25 the City of Syracuse, only 1 percent of the
1658
1 buildable land was zoned for multifamily housing,
2 so that it was going to require a huge effort not
3 just of filing zoning variances and that kind of
4 thing, but of local governments really rethinking
5 how they do land use, before the county could
6 even imagine having enough housing to address the
7 problems we're facing right now, let alone the
8 problems we expect to face five, 10, 15 years
9 into the future.
10 So it isn't just a shortage of
11 housing that we have, but a shortage of
12 information about where it's possible to build
13 housing, what kinds of housing projects are being
14 allowed and welcomed in communities and what are
15 not, and what kinds of policy changes might be
16 needed either at the local level or at the state
17 level to try to address that.
18 And so I believe that before we
19 spend billions of dollars on some of these
20 efforts, we should know the landscape that we're
21 dealing with. And this is about having the data,
22 having the information, making sure that
23 everybody understands where we are and where we
24 can go and where we need to go in this housing
25 crisis.
1659
1 I vote aye.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
3 May to be recorded in the affirmative.
4 Senator Martins to explain his vote.
5 SENATOR MARTINS: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 Before coming to the Senate I had
8 the privilege of serving as mayor of the Village
9 of Mineola where we redid our master plan to
10 allow for housing in our downtown.
11 And I'm happy to say, Mr. President,
12 I probably have done more to build housing in
13 downtown communities than anyone else perhaps
14 probably in this chamber, as mayor of Mineola in
15 those changes. The Village of Mineola has built
16 or approved over 2,000 housing units in the last
17 10 years alone.
18 So I understand perfectly well not
19 only how you do it, Mr. President, but how you
20 get to the result and actually get a shovel in
21 the ground and get things built.
22 What you don't do is undermine local
23 communities and their ability to make those
24 decisions for yourself. And what you do do is
25 you actually put money in the hands of those
1660
1 local communities to pay for the resources that
2 they need to commit to building housing.
3 So this bill interferes with local
4 communities and provides absolutely no support.
5 That's why I'm voting no.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: Senator
7 Martins to be recorded in the negative.
8 Announce the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
10 Calendar 457, voting in the negative are
11 Senators Ashby, Borrello, Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick,
12 Chan, Gallivan, Griffo, Helming, Lanza, Martins,
13 Mattera, Murray, Oberacker, O'Mara, Ortt,
14 Palumbo, Rhoads, Rolison, Stec, Tedisco, Walczyk,
15 Weber and Weik. Also Senator Ryan.
16 Ayes, 37. Nays, 23.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: The bill
18 is passed.
19 Senator Serrano, that completes the
20 reading of today's calendar.
21 SENATOR SERRANO: Is there any
22 further business at the desk?
23 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: There is
24 no further business at the desk.
25 SENATOR SERRANO: I move to adjourn
1661
1 until Monday, March 23rd, at 3:00 p.m., with
2 intervening days being legislative days.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT BAILEY: On
4 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until Monday,
5 March 23rd, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days being
6 legislative.
7 (Whereupon, at 12:43 p.m., the
8 Senate adjourned.)
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