Regular Session - January 21, 1997
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7 ALBANY, NEW YORK
8 January 21, 1997
9 3:03 p.m.
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12 REGULAR SESSION
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16 LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR BETSY McCAUGHEY ROSS,
17 President
18 STEPHEN F. SLOAN, Secretary
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate
3 will come to order. I would ask everyone to
4 please rise and join me in the Pledge of
5 Allegiance.
6 (The assemblage repeated the
7 Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
8 THE PRESIDENT: The invocation
9 today will be given by Rabbi Nachman Simon,
10 Chabad of the Lubavitch of the Capital
11 District, Delmar, New York.
12 RABBI NACHMAN SIMON: Soon it
13 will be the 15th day of the Hebrew month of
14 Chabad. It is the celebration of the New
15 Year for trees.
16 There are many lessons for us
17 to learn from a tree. A tree is made up of
18 three parts: Its roots, trunk and branches,
19 and its fruit.
20 Since the Lubavitcher Bible
21 compares human beings to trees, it is
22 reasonable to believe that in certain
23 circumstances, man has the three major, vital
24 parts as part of his character.
25 The roots of a tree are hidden
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1 in the ground. Even though they can't be
2 seen, they play a most important role in the
3 life of a tree. The roots anchor and
4 support, as well as draw nourishing moisture
5 to the entire tree. For us, the roots are
6 faith of the Almighty that we draw upon
7 constantly to carry out our day with the full
8 belief that God has given us the ability to
9 meet all challenges.
10 The trunk is the growth when
11 we see ourselves striving higher and higher
12 to reach our goal, even to the very skies;
13 and finally, bearing fruit, so that others
14 can benefit from our good deeds.
15 As the ethics of our Father
16 teach us, if I'm not for myself, who will be
17 for me; and if I'm only for myself, what am
18 I? And if not now, when?
19 May it be the will of the
20 Almighty that He give us the strength to
21 truly symbolize the tree, to draw upon and
22 nourish from our roots upon which the state
23 of New York has been founded and to continue
24 to grow and add new opportunities for
25 everyone and, finally, to help others so that
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1 they can be prospering trees and the entire
2 world can reach perfection with the
3 revelation of our righteous redeemer, the
4 Meshia, and let us all say, Amen.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
6 Rabbi Simon.
7 The reading of the Journal.
8 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
9 Sunday, January 19. The Senate met pursuant
10 to adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
11 January 18, was read and approved. On
12 motion, the Senate adjourned.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Without
14 objection, the Journal stands approved as
15 read.
16 Presentation of petitions.
17 Messages from the Assembly.
18 Messages from the Governor.
19 Reports of standing
20 committees.
21 Reports of select committees.
22 Communications and reports
23 from state officers.
24 Motions and resolutions.
25 Senator Farley.
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1 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,
2 Madam President.
3 On page 4, I offer up the
4 following amendments to Calendar Number 6,
5 Senate Print 169, and I ask that that bill
6 retain its place on the Third Reading
7 Calendar. This is on behalf of Senator
8 Maltese.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Amendments
10 received.
11 Senator Skelos?
12 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam
13 President, on behalf of Senator Bruno, in
14 consultation with the Minority Leader
15 THE PRESIDENT: Is your
16 microphone on?
17 Go ahead.
18 SENATOR SKELOS: In
19 consultation with the Minority Leader, on
20 behalf of Senator Bruno, I hand up the
21 following committee changes and ask that they
22 be filed in the Journal.
23 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered.
24 Notice will be filed in the Journal.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: There will
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1 be an immediate meeting of the Rules
2 Committee in Room 332 of the Capitol.
3 THE PRESIDENT: There is an
4 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in
5 Room 332.
6 Senator Skelos, are you ready
7 for the calendar?
8 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, if you
9 could take up the non-controversial calendar.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
11 will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
13 Number 2, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print
14 364A, an act to amend Chapter 452 of the Laws
15 of 1993, amending the Executive Law.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the
17 last section, please.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2
19 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it
20 aside.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside,
22 please.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
24 Number 5, by Senator Velella, Senate Print
25 92, an act to amend the Penal Law, in
134
1 relation to arson in the second degree.
2 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it
3 aside.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside,
5 please.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
7 Number 7, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print
8 178, an act to amend the Civil Practice Law
9 and Rules, in relation to causes of action.
10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
11 section, please.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
13 This act shall take effect on the first day
14 of October.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the
17 roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 35.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
20 passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
22 Number 8, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 185,
23 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
24 sexual performance by a child under the age
25 of 18 years.
135
1 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it
2 aside.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside,
4 please.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar 9, by
6 Senator Tully, Senate Print 186, an act to
7 amend the Penal Law, in relation to
8 consecutive sentences in the calculation of
9 sentences.
10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Lay it
11 aside.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside,
13 please.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
15 Number 10, by Senator Volker, Senate Print
16 222, an act to amend the Penal Law and the
17 Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to term
18 of imprisonment for certain offenders.
19 SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it
20 aside.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside,
22 please.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
24 Number 19, by Senator Levy, Senate Print 358,
25 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law,
136
1 in relation to authorizing the proration of
2 registration fees.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
4 section, please.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
6 This act shall take on the first day of
7 September.
8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the
10 roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 39.
12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
13 passed. That completes the non-controver
14 sial calendar.
15 Senator Holland.
16 SENATOR HOLLAND: Can we stand
17 at ease for a minute, Ma'am, awaiting the
18 report of the Rules Committee?
19 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate
20 will stand at ease.
21 (Whereupon, the Senate stood
22 at ease from 3:10 p.m. To 3:14 p.m.)
23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
24 Holland.
25 SENATOR HOLLAND: Madam
137
1 President, may we return to reports of
2 standing committees, and I believe there is a
3 report of the Rules Committee at the desk.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Reports of
5 standing committees, the Secretary will read.
6 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno,
7 from the Committee on Rules, reports the
8 following bills: Senate Print 593, by
9 Senator Spano, an act to amend the Public
10 Authorities Law, in relation to the creation
11 of the Westchester County Health Care
12 Corporation System;
13 1117, by the Senate Committee
14 on Rules, an act to amend the Public
15 Authorities Law, in relation to the creation
16 of the Nassau Health Care Corporation;
17 And Senate Print 1118, by the
18 Senate Committee on Rules, an act to amend
19 the Public Authorities Law, in relation to
20 the reservation of the state's right to
21 adjust Medicaid rates.
22 All bills ordered directly for
23 third reading.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
25 Holland.
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1 SENATOR HOLLAND: Madam
2 President, I move to accept the report of the
3 Rules Committee.
4 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor
5 of accepting the report of the Rules
6 Committee, please signify by saying aye.
7 (Response of "Aye".)
8 Opposed, nay.
9 (There was no response.)
10 The report is accepted.
11 Senator Holland.
12 SENATOR HOLLAND: Madam
13 President, may we please take up the third
14 reading of the Rules report at this time?
15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
16 will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
18 Number 21, by Senator Spano, Senate Print
19 593, an act to amend the Public Authorities
20 Law.
21 THE PRESIDENT: There are two
22 home rule messages at the desk.
23 Read the last section, please.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
25 This act shall take effect immediately.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the
3 roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 42.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
6 Leichter.
7 SENATOR LEICHTER: Madam
8 President, we debated this bill for some time
9 during the special session. The only reason
10 I'm going to vote against it is because of
11 the manner in which the board of directors is
12 chosen by this corporation, unlike the way
13 the board of directors is chosen for the
14 Nassau corporation, which there, as I
15 recollect -- and I'm going on my
16 recollection, but there, I believe, in the
17 Nassau, it's -- the local authorities are the
18 ones that appoint the directors.
19 That, as I recollect and
20 unless the bill has been changed, I didn't
21 want to start a debate on this, but as I
22 recollect, here the Governor has the right to
23 choose the board of directors and it just
24 seems to me that that's something that ought
25 to be done locally, it should be done by the
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1 county, and for that reason, I will vote in
2 the negative on this bill, but I will not
3 oppose the Nassau bill.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
5 Senator Leichter.
6 The Secretary will announce
7 the results.
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 52, nays
9 1, Senator Leichter recorded in the negative.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
11 passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
13 Number 22, by the Senate Committee on Rules,
14 Senate Print 1117, an act to amend the Public
15 Authorities Law.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
17 section -- oh, there's a home rule message at
18 the desk.
19 Read the last section, please.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
21 This act shall take effect immediately.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the
24 roll.)
25 SENATOR HANNON: To explain my
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1 vote.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
3 Hannon.
4 SENATOR HANNON: I think there
5 are some details that I'm not so sure Senator
6 Leichter is correct on, and I'll be giving
7 him a memo on the bill later on, so he can be
8 clear on that. Thank you.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
11 passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
13 Number 23, by the Senate Committee on Rules,
14 Senate Print 1118, an act to amend the Public
15 Authorities Law.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
17 section, please.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
19 This act shall take effect immediately.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the
22 roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53.
24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
25 passed.
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1 Senator Holland.
2 SENATOR HOLLAND: Can we
3 return to the regular calendar and do the
4 controversial, please?
5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
6 will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
8 Number 2, by Senator Stafford, Senate Print
9 364A, an act to amend Chapter 452 of the Laws
10 of 1993, amending the Executive Law.
11 SENATOR PATERSON:
12 Explanation.
13 THE PRESIDENT: An explanation
14 is requested.
15 SENATOR STAFFORD: Madam.
16 President.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
18 Stafford.
19 SENATOR STAFFORD: Madam
20 President, very often in the Secretary of
21 State's work, operation, domain
22 SENATOR PATERSON:
23 Explanation satisfactory.
24 SENATOR STAFFORD: Thank you.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
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1 section, please.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
3 This act shall take effect immediately.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the
6 roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 53.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
9 passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
11 Number 5, by Senator Velella, Senate Print
12 92, an act to amend the Penal Law, in
13 relation to arson in the first degree.
14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Explanation
15 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, an
16 explanation is requested, Senator Velella.
17 SENATOR HOLLAND: One second,
18 please.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
20 Velella, an explanation is requested.
21 SENATOR VELELLA: Yes, Madam
22 President. This bill would change the
23 definition of "incendiary device" for the
24 purposes of prosecuting arson in the first
25 degree.
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1 As a result of a recent court
2 case, a car was loaded with gasoline and
3 driven into a building and the court
4 dismissed the prosecution for arson in the
5 first degree on the basis that a car loaded
6 with gasoline and ignited did not represent
7 an incendiary device as defined under the
8 law. This bill would change that so that any
9 type of flammable fluid that is ignited could
10 be used for the purposes of prosecuting arson
11 in the first degree.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
13 Leichter?
14 SENATOR LEICHTER: Yes, Madam
15 President. I remember this bill was before
16 us last year and I voted for it.
17 I laid this bill aside and two
18 other bills, both of which were reported out
19 of the Rules Committee, really for only one
20 reason, because I think we're getting in the
21 very bad habit of calling committees off the
22 floor. Now, if we do it at the end of the
23 session and there's an understandable rush, I
24 think some of us can understand that,
25 although even at that time it's a practice to
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1 be deplored.
2 But, at the beginning of the
3 session, to call a committee such as the
4 Codes Committee off the floor, I think was
5 totally erroneous, bad procedure, and it
6 really denies members of the committee a
7 chance to review the bill in committee and it
8 denies the members of the Senate to know that
9 the bill has been adequately and fully
10 considered in committee.
11 I think that's particularly
12 true of penal bills. They're complex bills,
13 they're difficult bills.
14 And also, if I may say so, and
15 I've been on the Codes Committee for many
16 years under the chairmanship of Senator
17 Volker, it's an excellent committee and
18 there's really very good, thorough
19 discussions of the bills, and there is very
20 fair discussion. Senator Volker gives
21 everybody a chance to contribute.
22 When you have a committee
23 called off the floor, you don't have that
24 opportunity, and I think that it's a bad
25 habit that we should make sure -- or it's a
146
1 bad practice that we ought to make sure
2 really doesn't become a habit; and if it
3 does, I, for one, and I think there will be
4 other members, that will just lay aside these
5 bills and we're going to discuss them then,
6 at some length, to make sure that all of the
7 work that should have been done in committee
8 and could not have been done in committee
9 because it was called off the floor and you
10 didn't have time to do it, is then done on
11 the floor. I don't think any of us want
12 that.
13 So, I'm just pointing that
14 out, that's why I laid these bills aside,
15 Senator. I'm not going to ask you any
16 questions on it. But, if this continues,
17 certainly committees that I'm on, I feel I
18 have the obligation, then, to see that we
19 have a full discussion on the floor. I would
20 hope we could avoid that. I hope we will not
21 have committees called off the floor as
22 occurred last week and that the committees
23 can perform their functions, their
24 responsibility to all the members of
25 considering the bills.
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1 SENATOR VELELLA: Madam
2 President, on the bill.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Senator
4 Velella.
5 SENATOR VELELLA: Madam
6 President, I think it's deplorable when we
7 see members of this Senate stand up with
8 technical objections to procedures and
9 attempt to threaten that good, meaningful
10 legislation will be stopped because they
11 happen to be offended by the procedure.
12 Now, we know this is the
13 beginning of the session and we see that we
14 have a rather light calendar. It would be
15 more beneficial to the people of this state
16 if we can move these bills out, get them
17 started, get the Senate doing its business,
18 rather than to meet here, look at each other
19 and leave because there's nothing on the
20 calendar.
21 I compliment Senator Volker
22 for moving good bills that are basically non
23 controversial. As Senator Leichter has said,
24 he has no objection to this bill, he objects
25 to the procedure, because we're moving a
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1 little bit too fast. Well, Senator, keep up
2 with the pace. You can keep up with us. If
3 you try hard, you'll follow our lead. We
4 want to get some work done, we want the
5 Senate to hit the ground rolling. Maybe the
6 Assembly will come along; but certainly I
7 have confidence that you'll be able to keep
8 up with the rest of us.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
10 Volker.
11 SENATOR VOLKER: Madam
12 President, if I can just point out, Senator
13 Leichter, I tend to agree with you. We do
14 not intend to be calling committee meetings
15 off the floor. The only reason that it
16 happened -- and by the way, every bill that
17 was reported out were bills that passed this
18 house last year and they already had been
19 considered in our committee previous to this,
20 in other words, during last year's session,
21 some of which have been considered, by the
22 way, for years, and years, and years. You
23 know we have some bills that aren't reported
24 for many, many years. But, I also wanted to
25 say that the reason we did the committee
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1 meeting off the floor was because the leader
2 did want to get some bills on the agenda to
3 move. As you know, we could not do them on
4 Tuesday because on Tuesday we were going to
5 do the Court of Appeals judgeship for Judge
6 Wesley and it would have been physically
7 impossible to have the meeting at our normal
8 time at noon on Tuesday as we are going to
9 have tomorrow, well, Tuesday being a
10 Wednesday tomorrow.
11 But, we do not intend to have
12 committee meetings called off the floor,
13 unless there is some very, very unusual
14 situation, and this was one of them.
15 There was one bill on the
16 agenda, by the way, that was a new bill and
17 when any kind of objection was raised to it,
18 we just passed it aside. So, I just want to
19 tell you that.
20 So, we understand your
21 questions, but I think this -- we had debated
22 all this legislation previous to this,
23 anyway.
24 SENATOR LEICHTER: Madam
25 President.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
2 Leichter?
3 SENATOR LEICHTER: I didn't
4 want to prolong this, but I thought that
5 Senator Velella's statement needed a little
6 clarification because I didn't want the
7 record
8 SENATOR VELELLA: Could you
9 please repeat that? I was distracted.
10 SENATOR LEICHTER: Senator,
11 you're usually distracted, so I'm glad that
12 you're listening.
13 But let me just say, Senator,
14 I wanted to correct the statement because as
15 you know, you and I, we share a community, we
16 work together very well and I don't want the
17 word to go out from here that Senator Velella
18 got up and said, "Procedures don't matter.
19 Don't pay attention to technicalities. Don't
20 look at the bill, just let's get things
21 passed," because I know that's not your view.
22 Your view is that procedures do count,
23 rules count. It is important that we do
24 things in an orderly fashion. And I want the
25 people of the community that you and I share,
151
1 I want to assure them that your view is,
2 because you've expressed it to me at other
3 times, is that you do want to be careful
4 before you pass legislation, that you don't
5 want to rush it through; that what you pass
6 here, you want to be able to go to people and
7 say, "this has had careful, deliberate
8 consideration." And it's in that sense,
9 Senator, that I urge that we don't call
10 committees off the floor; and even there's
11 bills as excellent as your bills, and I'm
12 sure you must agree, you want it to go
13 through the regular procedure. And it's to
14 protect you and me and every other member of
15 this body that I urge that we follow the
16 rules and we don't have committees called off
17 the floor.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is
19 there any other Senator wishing to speak on
20 the bill?
21 Senator Velella.
22 SENATOR VELELLA: I would just
23 like to respond briefly to Senator Leichter.
24 Perhaps the pace is a little
25 too fast, so I'll slow it down for you. The
152
1 point is, Senator, the time to object
2 procedurally is when the meeting is called,
3 when your ranking minority member is
4 requested permission to consent to a meeting
5 off the floor, which we do, which is a
6 courtesy.
7 We ought not to be using the
8 procedural steps to try and prevent or delay
9 good legislation from going into force. You
10 are always the one who screams and yells
11 about rushing to judgment, as you're trying
12 to do here, about the case -- about the load
13 that we have toward the end of session.
14 We're trying to get things moving quicker
15 here at a quicker pace.
16 This is hardly a controversial
17 bill. You certainly have said it's
18 meritorious, it's a good bill, you voted for
19 it in the past; it never got passed on in
20 the other house. We want to get the work
21 load moved out so we can devote more time to
22 controversial matters, matters that you might
23 want to contribute your experience and your
24 expertise on in the course of debate.
25 However, trying to object just
153
1 on technical reasons to a bill that's a good
2 bill I think is counterproductive here. The
3 time to object to procedural events are when
4 the committee meeting is held, when the
5 ranking minority member, who you are part of
6 and who is represented by -- represents you
7 with the chairman gives his consent to call
8 the meeting off the floor. Those are the
9 times, those are the in-house workings.
10 The ultimate goal here is to
11 do the best for the people of the state of
12 New York. This is a good bill. We ought not
13 be having this political bickering on the
14 floor at so early a stage. We ought to get
15 the bills out that are non-controversial,
16 pass them; those that you agree with, fine;
17 those that you don't agree with, debate
18 against them. But, let's not try to bog down
19 the place and be counterproductive, that's
20 all I'm trying to say to you. And I think
21 that is what is the essence of what you were
22 saying, "I will hold these bills up and
23 debate them all to death, unless we follow
24 the procedures I think is right."
25 There is no negative procedure
154
1 here, there is no violation of the rules, the
2 rules were followed. This is a procedure to
3 expedite the matters, to get it before the
4 Senate, to give it the opportunity to have a
5 full debate.
6 You have the opportunity now
7 to ask any question that you want. You're
8 familiar with the bill, you knew you voted
9 against it last year, and you're just
10 nitpicking now to try and make some kind of
11 political point. Let's try and put that
12 aside and let's work on getting the good
13 bills that are non-controversial moved out of
14 this house and over to the Assembly so they
15 can work on them. They take a little longer
16 to understand things than we do. We can move
17 things quickly.
18 Thank you.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
20 Secretary will read the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
22 This act shall take effect on the 30th day.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the
155
1 roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
6 Number 8, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 185,
7 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
8 sexual performance by a child under the age
9 of 18 years.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
11 Secretary will read the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2.
13 This act shall take effect on the first day
14 of November.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the
18 roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
23 Number 9, by Senator Tully, Senate Print 186,
24 an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
25 consecutive sentences and the calculation of
156
1 sentences.
2 SENATOR PATERSON:
3 Explanation.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
5 Senator Tully, an explanation of Calendar
6 Number 9, Senate Print 186, has been asked
7 for by the Acting Minority Leader, Senator
8 Paterson.
9 Senator Paterson.
10 SENATOR PATERSON: On second
11 thought, to expedite the process
12 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
13 Secretary will read the last section. Not
14 that quick.
15 SENATOR PATERSON: With the
16 distinct advantage of hearing what Senator
17 Velella suggested, I think this bill is fine.
18 We can read the last section.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
20 Secretary will read the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 3.
22 This act shall take effect on the first day
23 of November.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call
25 the roll.
157
1 (The Secretary called the
2 roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
7 Number 10, by Senator Volker, Senate Print
8 222, an act to amend the Penal Law and the
9 Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to term
10 of imprisonment for certain offenders.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
12 Senator Volker, an explanation has been asked
13 for by two Senators, Senator Montgomery and
14 also Senator Paterson.
15 SENATOR VOLKER: Assuming my
16 voice holds out; I have a little cold today.
17 Apparently both my wife and Senator Leichter
18 think I probably shouldn't have been here
19 today; I think she was probably more right
20 than you, Franz.
21 But, at any rate, this bill is
22 a bill that passed previously, I think
23 several times. It's what I call -- and it's
24 an in-the-middle bill between the proposal
25 for second -- "two times and you're out."
158
1 Some people term it a "three times and you're
2 out" bill which says that if a person is
3 convicted of a violent felony offense and has
4 previously been convicted of two or more
5 violent felony offenses, then that person
6 would be subject to a minimum mandatory
7 sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
9 Senator Volker, excuse me just a minute.
10 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I see
12 a lot of conversations and I hear a lot of
13 noise. I'm having an extremely difficult
14 time hearing you. We might just as well
15 start the year out in the right way. If the
16 members would take their conversations out of
17 the chamber if you're going to have them.
18 Thank you, Senator Volker, for
19 the interruption.
20 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator, this
21 is a bill, as I said, that provides that if a
22 person is convicted of a violent felony
23 offense for, in effect, a third time, that
24 person is then subject to 25 years to life,
25 and there are limitations on plea bargaining
159
1 also in these violent felony offenses.
2 This is what I consider to be
3 a middle ground in the area of violent felony
4 offenses as I know the Governor, I believe,
5 and some other people have come up with
6 legislation that would provide for what they
7 call two times and you're out, as far as
8 violent felony offenses are concerned.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
10 Senator Paterson?
11 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr.
12 President, with sensitivity to Senator
13 Volker's capacity to answer the questions
14 today, I think he qualifies for the
15 consolidated question alternative, so I'm
16 going to take the three questions I would
17 have had and try to put them together in a
18 way that maybe he can just answer this at one
19 point.
20 Senator Volker, if you would
21 yield for a question.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
23 Senator Volker, do you yield to Senator
24 Paterson?
25 SENATOR VOLKER: Certainly.
160
1 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR PATERSON: I'm
4 concerned about the effect on the impact of
5 crime that this legislation would provide in
6 the short term, in the long term, and also
7 its cost to the taxpayers.
8 I turn your attention to the
9 sentencing project from 1994 where it
10 indicates that 66 percent of crimes are
11 committed by people under 30 and that the
12 largest group of individuals who commit
13 crimes are males age 15 to 24; and so,
14 therefore, it would suggest a couple of
15 conclusions that this -- the passage of this
16 bill would produce, number one, that already
17 we passed legislation in 1995 which would
18 provide for 85 percent of the sentences that
19 have been served by second and persistently
20 violent offenders so that they would be
21 serving 85 percent of their sentence term in
22 the first place.
23 Secondly, we would have a
24 situation now whereby the time -- the
25 additional time that these individuals are
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1 serving are the times that just,
2 demographically, people of this age are not
3 committing crimes anyway, even people who've
4 already been released from prison; that what
5 we would be, in a sense, doing is setting up
6 a geriatric ward in our correctional
7 facilities with people who are low risk to
8 society and not really addressing the crime
9 issue by passing this bill as much as we
10 would be housing inmates and spending up
11 valuable taxpayer dollars with which we could
12 fight crime, just by keeping people for the
13 crimes they already committed.
14 Finally, what I would like you
15 to respond to is just the cost effect of
16 passing this legislation when, as I said
17 before, we're just housing individuals for a
18 long period of time.
19 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator,
20 first of all, let me just say that I think
21 the thing that you have to put in mind is
22 and when you're talking about long-term
23 effects, you're absolutely correct, it's
24 really long term, because if we didn't pass
25 this legislation, someone who previously was
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1 convicted of two serious, violent felony
2 offenses, I would assume had already spent at
3 least some time in prison and would be
4 subject to a long prison term, even though
5 it's now indeterminate anyway.
6 And the thing about it, I
7 think, is that what we're really talking
8 about is a society, by the way, that has
9 been, to a certain extent, ignoring some of
10 these violent felony offenses. We have not
11 been sending people away, in many cases, for
12 two violent felony offenses. In fact, that's
13 part of the problem. In some cases, we
14 haven't been sending them away for violent
15 felony offenses for the third or fourth or
16 fifth time and sixth time.
17 One of things that's
18 interesting when we talk about the drugs
19 laws, one of the things we forget is in New
20 York City, you have to be arrested about
21 fifteen times before anybody pays a lot of
22 attention to you in many cases. Some of the
23 people who went to prison under the
24 Rockefeller drug laws were arrested 100 times
25 for various crimes, some of them for
163
1 violence, by the way; and I said one time to
2 somebody, why would anybody possibly plead to
3 a Rockefeller drug offense? Think about it.
4 There is only one real reason why they would
5 do it and that is because they face something
6 much more severe, a violent felony offense
7 they face.
8 Now, what we're saying here
9 is, we're taking people who have previously
10 been convicted of violent felony offenses,
11 and these are pretty serious convictions, and
12 we're saying if you commit another such
13 offense, you are going to be subject to 25
14 years to life, which is one of the most
15 obviously one of the most serious penalties
16 we can give.
17 Now, the impact, obviously, is
18 not going to be felt immediately because
19 these people would have presumably gone to
20 jail for some period of time anyway. Our
21 hope is that by these severe penalties, we
22 will continue to develop a rational criminal
23 justice process that brings the crime rate
24 down because one thing I think just about
25 everyone is convinced about in the criminal
164
1 justice system, it just depends on whether
2 you want to admit how much it is, the fact
3 that we are putting people in jail for long
4 periods of time is clearly and unequivocally
5 having an impact on the crime rate. This
6 business of somebody saying again now, all of
7 a sudden, that the age of criminals today has
8 suddenly -- their perception of the age of
9 criminals has now said, "Well, that's why the
10 crime rate is coming down," is baloney
11 because just two years ago when the crime
12 rate was still going up, they were saying the
13 reverse.
14 So my answer, I guess, to you
15 is this: In the short term, the impact is
16 comparatively limited because these people
17 presumably would have gone to jail anyway.
18 But we hope that, particularly for the long
19 term, that what this will do is have a major
20 impact on the amount of violent felons who
21 are able to walk on our streets, and many of
22 us feel that this is one of the ways that we
23 can deal with some of the most predatory
24 criminals in our system.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
165
1 Senator Paterson?
2 SENATOR PATERSON: Mr.
3 President, I want to thank Senator Volker.
4 On the bill, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
6 Senator Paterson, on the bill.
7 SENATOR PATERSON: We are all
8 opposed to these persistent violent felony
9 offenses and we all want to see justice meted
10 out in these particular cases.
11 We just want to make sure that
12 the awareness of time is not impinging upon
13 the concept of justice, that we are not
14 reacting to what is always popular, which is
15 to tell the public that we need to increase
16 sentences for persistent violent felony
17 offenders, when, in fact, many of these
18 offenders may have actually aged out.
19 If Senator Volker says that we
20 have not gone far enough, I have to respect
21 his judgment and also his expertise in this
22 particular area.
23 However, what is of great
24 caution to all of us in this chamber is the
25 fact that we do have a significant crime
166
1 problem, even if it is decreasing, and that
2 we need to be spending resources in the way
3 that will best impact on the crime situation.
4 We feel that in these
5 particular situations, that we are
6 over-invested in people who've been in prison
7 often into their 40s and 50s and 60s and
8 perhaps that the resources might be more
9 effective if they were directed in another
10 area.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
12 Senator Montgomery, did you have a question
13 or a comment?
14 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr.
15 President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair
17 recognizes Senator Montgomery.
18 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I don't
19 have a question for my colleague, but I just
20 want to comment briefly on this bill.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
22 Senator Montgomery, on the bill.
23 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I know
24 there is similar legislation that has been
25 passed and implemented in some other states,
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1 namely California has, I believe, what is a
2 similar policy at this point in time, and
3 they have found that it is not as successful
4 in terms of addressing the issue of crime as
5 they had anticipated, number one.
6 And number two, it seems to be
7 a net that catches specifically African
8 Americans more than any other group, and it
9 also somehow pulls in people who have not, in
10 fact, committed the kind of felony crimes. I
11 don't know if your bill will be -- if you've
12 corrected that in this legislation; it seems
13 that you have. But the California bill is a
14 problem in that respect.
15 I cannot vote for this
16 legislation, even though it is intended to
17 address the issue of predicate felons,
18 because one of the most successful programs
19 that I'm aware of is -- has a piece in my
20 district which is a program that houses and
21 works with former inmates and most of them
22 have been incarcerated for crimes related to
23 their drug use or to drugs in general, they
24 are back out and they are being
25 rehabilitated, some of them are being
168
1 habilitated, and it is a program with a very
2 high rate of success in terms of reducing
3 recidivism, as well as producing quality
4 citizens back into society.
5 And since many of the people
6 in the state prison system in New York are
7 going to come back to Brooklyn and Manhattan
8 and the Bronx, I have a particular interest
9 in those programs that work. And those are
10 not the programs that we are now increasing
11 funding for in the state budget. We are, in
12 fact, cutting all of those programs, programs
13 for alternatives to incarceration, we don't
14 have money in the budget for community
15 mediation centers, we're not looking at
16 building -- building recreational centers in
17 communities like mine for young people.
18 There is no investment in keeping people from
19 becoming violent felons to begin with.
20 So I cannot, in all good
21 conscience, support continuing to invest on
22 the back end, which is more expensive and
23 which waits until people become essentially
24 destructive to themselves and society before
25 we're willing to invest anything. So I'm
169
1 going to vote no on this legislation, Mr.
2 President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Chair
4 recognizes Senator Waldon.
5 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you
6 very much, Mr. President. I would like to
7 ask Senator Volker a question or two, if he
8 would yield; but before that, I would like to
9 share a thought with him before I ask the
10 question. May I do that, Mr. President?
11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
12 Absolutely. The floor is yours, Senator
13 Waldon.
14 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 Senator Volker, a couple of
17 years ago, we went to one of the prisons
18 downstate to look at the geriatric prisoners
19 there, some colleagues and I, I don't
20 remember if you were there, I think not, but
21 I saw people who were up in age beyond the
22 number that I would have imagined before
23 entering the facility, in their 80s, many of
24 them frail and elderly.
25 I'm one of the founders of the
170
1 Jamaica Service Program for Older Adults in
2 Queens which services thousands and thousands
3 of senior citizens and so I've had a chance
4 over the last 20 years or so to see what it
5 is to be in a geriatric setting -- I'm
6 rapidly approaching it myself -- but I saw
7 people in a prison setting with their legs
8 amputated, having been amputated in prison.
9 I saw people who had to travel with the stand
10 holding the drip solution, whatever it was
11 that they were being fed intravenously. I
12 saw people who had to have a guard and/or a
13 nurse get them up, clean them up, escort them
14 around during their day in the prison, and
15 then put them to bed at night.
16 And so I ask in this situation
17 with this bill that we may pass and which may
18 become law, has anyone considered the true
19 fiscal impact in terms of the medical costs
20 for these people who will obviously age out
21 and die in prison?
22 SENATOR VOLKER: Senator,
23 you're making an assumption that I think I
24 have a difficulty in making. By the way, we
25 passed legislation here some years ago called
171
1 medical parole; it's been pointed out, we
2 haven't used it very much.
3 There are some very good
4 reasons why we haven't used it very much.
5 For one thing, we're having difficulty with
6 some of our inmates who don't want to apply
7 for it. We don't have a lot of people who
8 are very old, but we have some. Some of
9 those people do not want to apply for medical
10 parole because the only life that they've
11 really known is the prison life. But you
12 should understand that most of these people
13 have very, very severe records.
14 There is no -- by the way, in
15 thinking about it, if you get a person here
16 who is a persistent violent felon that is
17 arrested and convicted today, they presumably
18 would be in their 30s because most of the
19 people who are convicted as violent felony
20 offenders, even if they've already been in
21 jail for a while, are still in their late 20s
22 and 30s because of the way the system works.
23 So, they're sentenced to 25 years to life;
24 admittedly, they will be in their 50s. I
25 don't exactly think that's quite geriatric.
172
1 You have to look at the
2 system, Senator, it seems to me, for where it
3 is. And I agree with you that I think we
4 have to be careful. These are not ordinary
5 offenders, these are violent felony
6 offenders. These are people that have
7 committed very serious crimes, not only in
8 the past, but now, as to why they are going
9 to be sentenced to these severe charges.
10 And Senator, you and I know
11 that we're talking about the mandatory
12 minimum sentences. To get there, they have
13 to get by a DA who thinks it's severe enough
14 to charge them with these kind of sentences.
15 Most DAs, unless they think it's a pretty
16 serious charge, are not going to be bothered
17 with it.
18 So, I think the thing is that
19 it's not as if the system is written in stone
20 because we pass legislation that says
21 somebody is charged, we're saying that once
22 they're convicted. But history shows that
23 the DA, unless it's a pretty severe penalty
24 involvement or a person that they are very
25 worried about, are not likely to move ahead
173
1 and prosecute these cases, anyway, whether
2 they're black or white or whoever they are,
3 whether its upstate or downstate or wherever
4 it is.
5 In fact, they are much more
6 likely to be prosecuted in upstate New York,
7 in all honesty, than they are in downstate
8 New York because of the fact that the
9 prosecutors in upstate New York, tend to be
10 -- admittedly, they don't have quite as much
11 to prosecute, but they tend to prosecute
12 people on a much more -- on a much different
13 basis.
14 So, I guess my answer is I
15 really don't see where this is going to
16 likely create an enormous amount more
17 geriatric inmates unless, of course, they are
18 inmates that, as part of their persistent
19 violent felony offender, kill somebody, then
20 that's a different story.
21 And I would venture to say
22 that most of the people you saw -- because
23 the people I know of who are in those
24 positions, probably committed some sort of
25 form of homicide, most likely, because they
174
1 are most of the people that are still around
2 in prison at the advanced ages.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
4 Senator Waldon?
5 SENATOR WALDON: Mr.
6 President, I would like to ask the gentleman
7 to yield again, because obviously
8 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
9 Senator Volker, do you continue to yield?
10 SENATOR VOLKER: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
12 Senator continues to yield.
13 SENATOR WALDON: I apologize,
14 Senator Volker. I was not clear in my
15 question because had I been clear, I would
16 have elicited an answer somewhat different
17 from the one you gave me. I respect your
18 answer.
19 I was trying to find out, has
20 anyone done a cost analysis in regard to the
21 explosion of prisoners which will occur,
22 which would, I'm sure -- and you're aware of
23 what happened in California, which I'm sure
24 would replicate somewhat what has happened in
25 Texas, and in that regard, on the back end,
175
1 there would be a big change in terms of the
2 medical costs.
3 SENATOR VOLKER: The studies
4 that have been done, by the way, and we've
5 debated this, Senator, a number of times and
6 ironically there probably won't be a really
7 good study done until we pass this and, you
8 know, that's the way life is, I guess. But
9 remember that the system as it is would still
10 be sending these people to jail for a
11 considerable period of time, we assume that
12 they would be. Although, because we're
13 making it mandatory, we know and they know
14 and they will know, by the way, that if they
15 get themselves involved in another violent
16 felony offense, they will know there's no
17 question that they're going to jail, or at
18 least assuming all things being equal, for 25
19 years to life. And that's one of the
20 arguments we're making as to why inmates
21 today and why criminals today are looking at
22 the system differently.
23 The answer is that the studies
24 that have been done so far indicate that for
25 a number of years, there will not be any
176
1 enormous change; but down the line, it's
2 true, assuming that the rate of violence in
3 our state doesn't decline, and although right
4 now it's declining, but assuming that that
5 were not to continue, somewhere down the
6 line, we would have a bubble, there's no
7 question about it. It would be somewhere in
8 the area of about 14 years to 25, but in the
9 immediate future, it should not have any
10 major impact.
11 But you are right, somewhere
12 down the line, this could have a rather
13 decided impact. Of course, in the meantime,
14 we're going to be looking at what's happening
15 with the whole criminal justice system and
16 we'll have time to decide whether we need
17 more prisons at that point.
18 SENATOR WALDON: Mr.
19 President, if I may continue, would the
20 gentleman continue to yield?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
22 Senator Volker, do you continue to yield?
23 SENATOR VOLKER: Sure.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
25 Senator continues to yield.
177
1 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you
2 very much, Mr. President. Thank you, Senator
3 Volker.
4 Senator, I realize from the
5 Governor's budget address and from my review
6 of his budget proposals that last year he
7 said, let's build 8,800 prison cells, at the
8 cost of 486 million, and I found that
9 something that I thought not wise.
10 This budget has said let's
11 build 7,700, or thereabouts, prison cells but
12 at a cost of $660-plus million. The reason
13 I raise that now in the context of what we're
14 talking about is because that cost down the
15 road will be really $1.8 billion with the
16 mortgage, at least as I understand what
17 happens with these things.
18 And correct me if I'm wrong
19 but, too, when you couple that cost -- and
20 I'm told that the reason for that cost is
21 that these prison cells will be different
22 than what we've done in New York State
23 before, we're going to build the
24 state-of-the-art prison cells, perhaps
25 similar to what our former leader, Ralph
178
1 Marino, and I saw when we went with Mel
2 Miller to California, Contra Costa and other
3 places, to view prison cells on behalf of
4 Governor Cuomo.
5 But my concern is the 660-plus
6 million, along with the cost of these people
7 who will obviously become, in my opinion,
8 obviously become geriatric patients who will
9 require massive medical costs. Is that a
10 burden that we as a state should look towards
11 without absolute, impeccable, line-by-line,
12 itemized analysis to know where we're going?
13 Do we know where we're going with this move?
14 SENATOR VOLKER: I think we
15 know with about as much certainty, frankly,
16 as we can possibly have, although I would be
17 the first to admit to you that I think we
18 probably do need another study of the prison
19 situation. But, keep in mind, if you had
20 started a study two years ago before the
21 tremendous drop in the crime rate, you would
22 have had an entirely different -- in fact,
23 that's one of the things, when we passed the
24 legislation here, this is two years ago, I
25 believe, the historic "Truth in Sentencing"
179
1 legislation, the situation then actually was
2 dramatically different. Since then, there's
3 been a dramatic decline in the violent crime
4 rate in this state and particularly in your
5 city, in the city of New York, and everyone
6 in the world has taken credit for it, which I
7 understand, that's fine.
8 I think the answer is we know
9 at this time, given the way the system has
10 developed, that is the prison system, that we
11 need new cells if we are going to continue to
12 embark on making sure that violent felons are
13 incarcerated for long periods of time.
14 And you are right there. The
15 geriatric side of the situation, I think we
16 should look at it to a greater extent, but it
17 seems to me that we don't have as many
18 geriatric prisoners today as we did years
19 ago, and I don't believe we do, and it's one
20 of the reasons we did medical parole and some
21 other things to give us the ability, if we
22 have to, to get these people out if they are
23 too elderly, and so forth, and not be a
24 danger to society. I think we have some
25 relief valves there, and I think we should
180
1 continue to do that just in case.
2 But I think, Senator, that
3 right now the Governor believes, I believe,
4 and I think many of us believe that if we are
5 to continue to maintain our movement toward
6 curtailing the crime rate and making sure
7 that violent felons are incarcerated for
8 extensive periods of times, then we need to
9 build additional prisons and that we need to
10 maintain the momentum that we have already
11 started.
12 So what this legislation,
13 however, does is once again, to just back up
14 what we've already done and deal with people
15 who are violent felony offenders, not
16 ordinary offenders, these are violent felony
17 offenders, and put them away in a certain and
18 discernible way for a long period of time.
19 SENATOR WALDON: Thank you
20 very much, Senator Volker.
21 If I may, Mr. President.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
23 Senator Waldon, on the bill.
24 SENATOR WALDON: One, I thank
25 you, Senator Volker, for your patience in
181
1 walking me through this, I appreciate it very
2 much.
3 I have some concerns, though,
4 which will force me not to be able to support
5 you on this issue.
6 As of the moment, we are able
7 to put away violent felony offenders for a
8 long time without in any way invading the
9 discretion of the judges in their courts.
10 Historically, I think that's the right way to
11 go. On a personal basis, in terms of my
12 philosophy, I know absolutely we should not
13 interfere with judicial discretion as much as
14 we do in this state, and I find that, for me,
15 something unacceptable.
16 I absolutely support putting
17 violent felony offenders away. It has
18 worked in this state, it has worked in South
19 Carolina which first gave the idea that,
20 Waldon, you're making a mistake. You need to
21 see what works and allow that to happen here.
22 Some of us get caught up, in the minority
23 community, with a very defensive posture in
24 regard to police tactics and incarceration
25 tactics, but it is the minority community
182
1 which is under siege by many of these people
2 who are acting as predators, and this works.
3 My feeling, though, is that
4 how much punishment is truly adequate
5 punishment. I think this is too
6 far-reaching.
7 Also, if you recall, last year
8 I spoke of the field of dreams. I said then
9 that if we build them, they will come and my
10 fear is that this is a preemptive strike in
11 ensuring that the line of marching persons to
12 fill these prisons and to justify their
13 construction will happen with this bill.
14 But more so on a moral basis
15 than my monetary concern, I feel that we are
16 interfering with judicial discretion far too
17 much and, therefore, for all of that -- I
18 mean, for all of those other reasons I've
19 said, but most importantly for that, I cannot
20 support you on this issue, Senator Volker.
21 Thank you very much.
22 Thank you, Mr. President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is
24 there any other Senator wishing to speak on
25 the bill?
183
1 (There was no response.)
2 Hearing none, the Secretary
3 will read the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 5.
5 This act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
7 Secretary will call the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the
9 roll.)
10 Announce the results when
11 tabulated.
12 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded
13 in the negative on Calendar Number 10 are
14 Senators Connor, Leichter, Montgomery,
15 Paterson, Sampson, Smith and Waldon. Ayes
16 49, nays 7.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
18 bill is passed.
19 Senator Holland, that
20 completes the controversial calendar.
21 SENATOR HOLLAND: Mr.
22 President, can we stand at ease while we
23 await a message from the Assembly, please?
24 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
25 Senate will stand at ease awaiting a message
184
1 from the Assembly.
2 (Whereupon, from 4:03 p.m. to
3 4:50 p.m., the Senate stood at ease.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
5 Senate will come to order. Ask the members
6 to find their chairs.
7 SENATOR SKELOS: At this time,
8 could we return to messages from the
9 Assembly.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We'll
11 return to the order of messages from the
12 Assembly. The Chair hands down a message
13 from the Assembly.
14 Ask the Secretary to read.
15 THE SECRETARY: On motion of
16 Senator Bruno, the rules were suspended and
17 said bill ordered to third reading: Assembly
18 Print 1817, by the Assembly Committee on
19 Rules, an act to amend the Legislative Law,
20 in relation to allowances for members of the
21 Assembly.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
23 Without objection, the bill is ordered
24 directly to third reading.
25 The Secretary will read the
185
1 last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar
3 Number 24, by the Assembly Committee on
4 Rules, Assembly Print 1817, an act to amend
5 the Legislative Law, in relation to
6 allowances for members of the Assembly.
7 Section 2. This act shall
8 take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
10 Secretary will call the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the
12 roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes 56.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
15 bill is passed.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr.
17 President, is there any housekeeping at the
18 desk?
19 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
20 Senator Skelos.
21 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there any
22 housekeeping at the desk?
23 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There
24 is none at the desk, Senator Skelos.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: There being
186
1 no further business, I move we adjourn until
2 Wednesday, January 22nd, at 3:00 p.m. sharp.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL:
4 Without objection, the Senate stands
5 adjourned until tomorrow, January 22nd, at
6 3:00 p.m.
7 (Whereupon, at 4:53 p.m., the
8 Senate adjourned.)
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