Regular Session - March 1, 1999

                                                              558



                           NEW YORK STATE SENATE



                          THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD







                             ALBANY, NEW YORK

                               March 1, 1999

                                 3:04 p.m.



                              REGULAR SESSION





                 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President

                 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary





















                                                          559



                           P R O C E E D I N G S

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The Senate will

                 come to order.

                            I ask everyone present to please

                 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of

                 Allegiance.

                            (Whereupon, the assemblage recited

                 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)

                            THE PRESIDENT:    In the absence of

                 clergy, may we bow our heads in a moment of

                 silence, please.

                            (Whereupon, the assemblage

                 respected a moment of silence.)

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Reading of the

                 Journal.

                            THE SECRETARY:    In Senate,

                 Friday, February 26th.  The Senate met

                 pursuant to adjournment.  The Journal of

                 Thursday, February 25, was read and approved.

                 On motion, Senate adjourned.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Without

                 objection, the Journal stands approved as

                 read.

                            Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,





                                                          560



                 if I could just interrupt.  There will be an

                 immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in

                 the Majority Conference Room.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All right.  There

                 will be an immediate meeting of the Rules

                 Committee in the Majority Conference Room.

                            Presentation of petitions.

                            Messages from the Assembly.

                            Messages from the Governor.

                            Reports of standing committees.

                            Reports of select committees.

                            Communications and reports from

                 State officers.

                            Motions and resolutions.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    I move to commit

                 Senate Print Number 1350, Calendar Number 197

                 on order of third reading to the Committee on

                 Finance.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    So ordered.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 I believe there's a privileged resolution at

                 the desk by Senator Bruno.  I ask that the

                 title be read and moved for its immediate





                                                          561



                 adoption.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

                 will read.

                            THE SECRETARY:    By Senator Bruno,

                 Concurrent Resolution 465 of the Senate and

                 Assembly authorizing the Senate and Assembly

                 of New York State to purchase copies of the

                 New York Red Book for 1999-2000.

                            The Senate sends for concurrence

                 Assembly Resolution Number 187 identical with

                 Concurrent Resolution Number 465.

                            Senator Bruno now moves that the

                 Assembly Concurrent Resolution be substituted

                 for his identical Senate Concurrent

                 Resolution.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Substitution

                 ordered.

                            Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 42.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The resolution is

                 adopted.

                            Senator Meier.

                            SENATOR MEIER:    Madam President,

                 at this time, may we have the reading of the





                                                          562



                 non-controversial calendar.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

                 will read.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 77, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 1016, an

                 act to amend the Penal Law in relation to

                 increasing the penalties for custodial

                 interference.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 4.  This

                 act shall take effect on the 15th day of

                 November.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 41.  Nays 1.

                            Senator Montgomery recorded in the

                 negative.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 110, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 131, an

                 act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control

                 Law in relation to requiring the publication

                 of notice.





                                                          563



                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2. This

                 act shall take effect in 60 days.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 42.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 136, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print

                 1148, an act to amend the Parks, Recreation

                 and Historic Preservation Law in relation to

                 requiring the completion of improved snow

                 mobile safety course.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect on the 1st day of

                 November.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 42.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.





                                                          564



                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 137, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print

                 1153,  an act to amend the Parks, Recreation

                 and Historic Preservation Law in relation to

                 the operation of a snowmobile.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect immediately.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 42.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 164, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 135, an

                 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules

                 and the Court of Claims Act in relation to

                 prisoner litigation reform.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Lay it aside.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 set -- is laid aside.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number





                                                          565



                 166, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 760, an

                 act to amend the Penal Law in relation to

                 aggravated harassment of a court clerk by an

                 inmate.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Lay it aside.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is laid

                 aside.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 167, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 922, an

                 act to amend the Penal Law in relation to

                 permitting a court to impose a sentence.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect on the 1st day of

                 November.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 43.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 169, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 1047, an

                 act to amend the Penal Law in relation to

                 including police officers in the violent





                                                          566



                 felony offense of aggravated assault.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect the 1st day of November.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 43.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 172, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 1109, an

                 act to amend the Penal Law in relation to

                 computer networks.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 3.  This

                 act shall take effect on the 1st day of

                 November.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 43.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number





                                                          567



                 174, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 1223, an

                 act to amend the Penal Law in relation to

                 assault with a noxious material.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect on the 1st day of

                 November.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 47.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            Senator Meier, that completes the

                 non-controversial reading of the calendar.

                            Senator Meier.

                            SENATOR MEIER:    Madam President,

                 I believe Senator DeFrancisco would like to be

                 recognized.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator

                 DeFrancisco.

                            SENATOR DeFRANCISCO:    I just

                 wanted everyone in the chamber to note that,

                 from time to time, we honor special guests who

                 come to visit us in the chambers.  I'd like to





                                                          568



                 recognize Senator Mike Balboni up in the

                 gallery and thank him for showing up at this

                 particular meeting.

                            Thank you.

                            (Laughter and applause.)

                            THE PRESIDENT:    So recognized.

                            Senator Meier.

                            SENATOR MEIER:    Well, now that

                 we've taken care of that, may we now have the

                 controversial calendar, Madam President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

                 will read.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 164, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 135, an

                 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules

                 and the Court of Claims Act in relation to

                 prisoner litigation reform.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Explanation.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Nozzolio,

                 an explanation has been requested.

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Thank you,

                 Madam President.

                            I would be pleased to describe this

                 measure as a good faith attempt to insure that

                 inmates with meritorious claims are not denied





                                                          569



                 the right to bring such action but to provide

                 a mechanism where we can eliminate or at least

                 limit the frivolous cases brought by prison

                 inmates today while at the same time

                 preserving their ability to pursue legitimate

                 claims by requiring inmates exhaust their

                 administrative remedies prior to bringing an

                 action in court establishing a modest filing

                 fee in the Court of Claims to, in effect,

                 filter out those claims which are presented

                 with lack of seriousness by prison inmates.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Question.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Waldon.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Madam President,

                 would the gentleman yield?

                            Has he concluded his statement?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Nozzolio,

                 are you prepared to yield?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Is Senator

                 Waldon asking me to yield, Madam President?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Yes, he has,

                 Senator Nozzolio.

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    I'd be happy

                 to yield.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Thank you very





                                                          570



                 much, Madam President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    You may proceed,

                 Senator Waldon.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Senator

                 Nozzolio, was this action brought for the

                 $660,000 settlement that I read in the paper

                 over the weekend, was it brought in our state

                 court or was it brought in a federal court?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Madam

                 President, I believe the action referred to by

                 Senator Waldon, is an action which took place

                 through the previous half year, which, this

                 last week, awarded the slayer of Police

                 Officer Edward Byrne, the same police officer

                 who is memorialized by the Edward Byrne

                 Anti-Crime Funds.  In his honor monies

                 distributed to police departments throughout

                 this state.  That officer was, unfortunately,

                 the victim of a crime.  He was murdered and

                 the perpetrator of that murder was sent to

                 prison.  That inmate was also given solitary

                 confinement.  Some federal judge, through lack

                 of wisdom and foresight, provided a $660,000

                 award to the slayer of Police Officer Edward

                 Byrne.





                                                          571



                            This bill would do nothing to

                 impede that process of inmates providing

                 themselves an opportunity to sue in court.

                 The measure we passed last week, I might add,

                 unanimously by this Senate, is a measure that

                 I think would impede that type of litigation

                 because it would require, Senator Waldon -- I

                 know you supported the legislation, I think

                 you would like to know -- that the proceeds of

                 that award, unfortunately, under our current

                 law, only go to the inmate who brought the

                 suit, not one cent to the crime victim, not

                 one cent to the crime victim's family.  That,

                 hopefully, you, Senator Waldon, and others on

                 that side of the aisle, will encourage your

                 colleagues in the State Assembly to enact the

                 measure which we enacted unanimously last week

                 that got to the heart of taking those awards

                 that inmates do receive and insuring first

                 that crime victims are protected.

                            But, Senator, to answer your

                 question, that matter which you referred to

                 was brought in federal court.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Madam President,

                 would the gentleman yield again?





                                                          572



                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Nozzolio,

                 do you continue to yield?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    I'd be happy

                 to yield.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead, Senator

                 Waldon.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Thank you very

                 much, Madam President.

                            Senator Nozzolio, Edward Byrne was

                 a police officer in a precinct that's in

                 Southeast Queens.  In fact, where he was

                 killed is in the district of the distinguished

                 Senator, Senator Ada Smith, on this side of

                 the aisle.  We were all troubled and horrified

                 by his assassination.  None of us condoned

                 that kind of behavior.  All of our hearts

                 bleed for the family of Police Officer Byrne

                 and any police officer so assassinated

                 anywhere in this country.

                            But what you're proposing, if I may

                 address it more directly, is to have the

                 inmates pay to have the right to sue and to

                 really hassle their ability to bring the suit

                 whether it is meritorious or not, as I view

                 it.  And the point I was trying to make when





                                                          573



                 asking the question about the federal

                 jurisdiction, which you meandered us through

                 very well and was a nice journey that you took

                 us on, whether or not that was the place where

                 this suit arose.  And, if so, if -- your

                 answer was yes, finally.  But, again, if you

                 would revisit it, if that is the case, then

                 what would this proposal do to preclude an

                 inmate from suing in federal court where the

                 federal judge may feel that he has a right or

                 she has a right to sue?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Senator, Madam

                 President, through you, that Senator Waldon is

                 correct, we do not have jurisdiction to

                 provide filing fees on federal court matters.

                 What this does is provide a filing fee

                 requirement for those inmates who are suing in

                 state courts.  And that we've seen a

                 tremendous backlog in those cases in New York

                 State court, this is a partial filing fee and

                 it's for civil wrongs against the State of New

                 York that we're talking about, those types of

                 actions; property damage, other types of

                 claims.

                            We're saying, simply, that a





                                                          574



                 prisoner needs exhaust his administrative

                 remedies first, go through the inmate

                 grievance procedure.  Now the inmate grievance

                 procedure may not be perfect, however, it is

                 in place and it should be utilized.  We're

                 saying do that first.  After you've done that

                 and still do not have the satisfaction, you

                 have the right then to go to the New York

                 State courts and sue the State of New York, as

                 many inmates do.  We have a 15,000 case

                 backlog in our state courts today.  And what

                 we're saying is that now the, the prisoner,

                 who, growing in litigation, we have at least a

                 third of the cases in New York State courts

                 today are brought by prison inmates.  That is

                 something that is incredible, when you think

                 about it, that 33 percent, over 33 percent of

                 our cases are brought by inmates.

                            We're simply saying they have the

                 right to bring the case, but they need to

                 present at least a partial filing fee to

                 access the court, just as you or I, Senator,

                 or any of your constituents or my constituents

                 would have to present if they sought redress

                 through the state courts.  Again, emphasizing,





                                                          575



                 the filing fee is a partial filing fee.  Let

                 me also state that, if there is indigencies,

                 that there is a place where, a method, where

                 the inmate may seek to waive that fee.  So we

                 have that opportunity as well.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Madam President,

                 if I may, on the bill.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Waldon,

                 on the bill.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Thank you very

                 much, Madam President.

                            Thank you, Senator Nozzolio.

                            I'm troubled when we want to put so

                 many hurdles in the path of someone who, for

                 his or her own sanity, may feel that they have

                 a meritorious cause.  I'm troubled when

                 someone is in a very insular environment, as a

                 prison may be.  I know I visit them on a

                 somewhat frequent basis, and I know the

                 esteemed Senator, because of his chairmanship,

                 probably visits them much more so than I.  But

                 when I visit the prisons, I do not see people

                 always, not that I've never seen them, but

                 always who feel very comfortable in going

                 against those that are there to guard them.  I





                                                          576



                 meet many people inside the prisons who feel

                 that the system is against them and that, if

                 they have the nerve to rail against the

                 system, that the system will come down upon

                 them and be very, very oppressive.  And so I

                 feel that to create such an ominous hurdle, as

                 you must pay the fee and you must exhaust all

                 administrative remedies first, no matter how

                 meritorious you feel your cause is, is too

                 much of an impediment for these people who are

                 in prison to have their rights, if you will.

                            And so I would encourage my

                 colleagues to recognize that there may be one

                 person in prison who has a meritorious cause

                 of action and who is so intimidated by the

                 system that he or she will not file because of

                 an impediment like this if this were to become

                 law.  And that even someone in prison should

                 have hope, even someone in prison should be

                 allowed the luxury of hope.  It doesn't cost

                 anything.  And under our system, we are a

                 nation which has encouraged hope.  So would I

                 hope that my colleagues will hear what I'm

                 saying and will vote down this proposal.  I do

                 not think it is a timely measure at this





                                                          577



                 moment.

                            I thank you very much, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Paterson.

                 Excuse me.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Thank you,

                 Madam President.  Would the Senator yield on a

                 few questions related to the bill before us?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Yes, Madam

                 President, I would be glad to yield.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All right.

                 Senator Paterson, you may proceed.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Thank you.

                 Through you, Madam President.

                            Senator, do you know or would you

                 like to give us any statistics related to the

                 explosion in these cases that are being

                 brought by people who are currently

                 incarcerated in our state prison system?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Yes.  I would

                 be happy to go through some numbers that I





                                                          578



                 have regarding this issue for Senator Paterson

                 and my colleagues.  But before I do, Senator,

                 if I also may, a point Senator Waldon made

                 that I'd also think you'd find interesting

                 relevant to that issue.

                            The inmate grievance procedure may

                 have some inmates intimidated, but the fact of

                 the matter is that it is a procedure which is

                 being kept sacrosanct by the court system that

                 the State of New York was just charged with

                 over a hundred thousand dollars in penalties

                 because in some of the facilities in our state

                 the inmate grievance procedure was not being

                 kept too intact, the way we would like to see

                 it, the way it was designed to be kept intact.

                 In other words, that grievance procedure is

                 being continually oversought, continually

                 reformed.

                            There are approximately 95 percent

                 of all prison inmate litigation is dismissed.

                 There are, in terms of the escalation of

                 inmate litigation, we have seen enormous

                 increases over the past 10 years, that we are

                 providing numbers of suits from -- over the

                 last 20 years, we've seen the number of suits





                                                          579



                 rise from approximately 30 to over 7,000.

                 Those suits in number are increasing.  Of

                 course, during that time, the prison

                 population in this state also increased a

                 great deal.  It almost doubled during that

                 period of time.  But, still, the number of

                 litigations in state court have increased

                 dramatically.

                            As I said earlier, Senator

                 Paterson, all prison litigation accounts for

                 approximately one-third of the defense load in

                 the New York State court system that -

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Would the

                 Senator yield for another question?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator, do you

                 continue to yield?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Yes, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead, Senator

                 Paterson.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Since the

                 prison population has risen in the last 10

                 years from approximately 38,000 to over

                 70,000, it would seem sequential that there'd

                 be an increase in the number of cases.  So,





                                                          580



                 therefore, what might bring us closer to a

                 definition of how severe the increase is,

                 would be if you might be able to provide us as

                 to what the per capita number of suits that's

                 being brought by the inmates might be.

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Well, if -- as

                 I side, the number of suits, it's almost 7,000

                 suits for 70,000 inmates, I guess that's one

                 in 10.  There will be a lawsuit, one lawsuit

                 per every 10 inmates.  That contrasts with a

                 much markedly different role, even though the

                 prison population doubled, the suits, as I

                 said, Senator, went from less than a hundred,

                 closer to 70, closer to 50, rather, all the

                 way up to now 7,000.  So exponentially, the

                 number of suits have gained a great deal.

                            And I think what we need to do,

                 though, is say, not to -- we're not trying to

                 simply cut off litigation.  The United States

                 District Court for the Northern District of

                 New York established a partial filing fee

                 program for inmates a couple of years ago.

                 And as a result, we've seen a 46 percent

                 decrease in meritless prisoner litigation

                 actions.  That we're only saying that, if you





                                                          581



                 want to access the courts, you need to do so

                 at some expense.  If you're indigent, if you

                 have no funds available to you, then the court

                 could waive this filing fee and the filing fee

                 could be taken out of the award offered to a

                 prison inmate if he's successful.

                            What we're saying here is, let's

                 establish a system of equity, one where prison

                 inmates are not treated any differently than

                 citizens are, except in a sense getting a 50

                 percent break on the cost of a filing fee.

                 That's only fair.

                            We're not talking about litigation

                 that gets to the length of incarceration or

                 the type of incarceration.  We're only getting

                 here to grievances against the state for some

                 type of perceived fault that the -- during the

                 incarceration.

                            So I think you need to take a look

                 at the fact that we're not limiting access to

                 the courts.  We're only saying that, if Joe Q.

                 Citizen has to spend X amount of dollars to

                 access the state courts, then why shouldn't a

                 prison inmate have to spend a portion of that

                 filing fee in order to do the same thing.





                                                          582



                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Thank you,

                 Senator.  I understand what you're saying and,

                 certainly, frivolous lawsuits have no place in

                 our judicial system and they really just do

                 nothing more than take a lot of time and waste

                 a lot of resources.  And I can understand

                 that.  But when I look at this particular

                 situation, at least from some research that's

                 been provided to us by the Prisoners Legal

                 Services and the Legal Aide Prisoners -- and

                 by the Legal Aide Society, I'm sorry -

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Paterson,

                 are you on the bill at this point or do you

                 wish to have more time devoted to your

                 question?

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    No, I'm asking

                 another question, if the Senator would yield.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All right.

                 Senator Nozzolio, do you continue to yield?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Yes, Madam

                 President, I'd be glad to yield.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead, Senator

                 Paterson.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    So, therefore,

                 what I'm saying is that there is certainly,





                                                          583



                 there are some other methods in which other

                 institutions have handled this.  In the

                 federal system what they have often done is

                 set up pro se panels by which they review and

                 throw out many of the frivolous cases, and

                 they seem to have a different numerical

                 coefficient of how many frivolous cases there

                 are as opposed to your research.  But my

                 question relates to something we just

                 discussed a minute ago.

                            You said that there were now 7,000

                 cases provided by 70,000 prisoners and that,

                 although the prison population had doubled,

                 you approximated the original number of cases

                 as somewhere between 50 and a hundred.  Now, I

                 was here 10 years ago.

                            Are you sure that there were only

                 50 to 100 cases brought 10 years ago by

                 prisoners in our New York State prison system?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Nozzolio.

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    In response to

                 Senator Paterson, I didn't say 10 years ago.

                 I said 20 years ago, that the number of





                                                          584



                 lawsuits has increased from 25 in 1976, that's

                 23 years ago, to over 7,000 today.  That the

                 prison population in 1986, you're saying,

                 was -- I'm not sure what it was, but if you

                 say it was half, that's -- let's take 1985,

                 '84, there were about 6,000, 6300 suits in

                 each of those years back to 1990 -- 1983, '84

                 years.  So it's gone about 500 suits more a

                 year filed today than there was about 10 years

                 ago.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Madam

                 President, if the Senator would continue to

                 yield?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator, do you

                 continue to yield?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Yes, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead, Senator

                 Paterson.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Well, Senator,

                 if we're going back to 1976, well, in 1976 the

                 state prison system population was a little

                 more than 15,000.  So, in other words, now

                 we're down to one-sixth of -- I'm sorry -

                 one, roughly somewhere between a quarter and





                                                          585



                 one-fifth, about, I'd say, 23 percent of the

                 current prison population.  So that would make

                 the per capita rate much, much higher at that

                 particular time.  So the increase wouldn't be

                 quite as much as we might have first thought.

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Madam

                 President, not to argue with my good friend

                 Senator Paterson about the math, but, David,

                 if we only had 50 cases brought in 1976 with

                 25 percent of the inmates, I'll gladly

                 quadruple the amount of inmates or the amount

                 of inmate litigation based on that 1976

                 average.

                            The way I figured it, if it was

                 four times what the -- commensurate with the

                 inmate population, there would only be 200

                 lawsuits filed by inmates as opposed to 7,000.

                            But the point is, we look at the

                 fact that over 32 percent of the defendant

                 cases in our state system today is brought by

                 inmates.  Now, that's an awful lot of

                 litigation.  And, frankly, what's happening -

                 and, of course, you're going to hear from the

                 prisoners' legal services folks because they

                 want litigation, they're lawyers.  They'd





                                                          586



                 rather sue than go through the litigation

                 process of a grievance procedure.  You don't

                 need lawyers to go through the grievance

                 procedure, often.  That's what it's set for.

                 You can have a lawyer, but you don't have to

                 have a lawyer.  And the fact of the matter is,

                 the grievance procedure is not being utilized

                 to what it should be.  And, if anything, the

                 filing fee would encourage inmates to get

                 justice quicker, less expensively and,

                 certainly, less expensively for the taxpayers

                 through the grievance procedure instead of

                 clogging the courts.

                            So we're saying, let's make the

                 courts a system of last resort, a justice

                 system of last resort, and let's establish a

                 filing fee that's similar to what the federal

                 courts have for prison inmates.

                            Prison inmates still are accessing,

                 David, the federal court system.  There

                 have -- we just -- Senator Waldon mentioned we

                 just had a very large dollar award going to a

                 convicted murderer last week.  That was a

                 federal court action.  A filing fee didn't

                 seem to deter that action.  And, frankly, I





                                                          587



                 think it wouldn't deter all that much here as

                 opposed to simply making it a better system.

                            SENATOR PADAVAN:    Thank you,

                 Madam President.

                            Thank you, Senator Nozzolio.

                            Madam President, on the bill.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    On the bill,

                 Senator.  Go ahead.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    There was a

                 $600,000 award rendered last Friday.  Earlier

                 I had heard that it was by a federal judge.

                 But my understanding is it was by a federal

                 jury.  And that whoever did it, I find the

                 award to be shocking.  It's something that I,

                 honestly, do not understand.  And I certainly

                 hope that the family of Officer Byrne will sue

                 in the civil court for whatever they may have

                 been entitled to had the defendant at that

                 time been in position to provide them with a

                 civil recovery.

                            But we are not here to overturn a

                 jury verdict.  We're here to look at the issue

                 of filing fees.  And the fact is that, as

                 appalling as we might find that particular

                 verdict, we don't know the evidence in that





                                                          588



                 case.  We didn't listen to it.  And I don't

                 know that it's right for us to make

                 presumptions about the judge or the jury, not

                 having been in the position that they were in,

                 which is that we, that they heard the

                 evidence.  What we would be well advised to

                 focus on would be just the issue of whether or

                 not there was actually a case.  In this

                 particular situation, it related more to who

                 the prisoner was as opposed to what the

                 institutional responsibility may have been.

                 And as much as it kind of offends me that this

                 particular prisoner could receive this type of

                 award after committing such a heinous act 10

                 years ago, we are still in this country bound

                 to house even those who we find to have

                 engaged in the most egregious conduct in what

                 would be a professional way, in terms of

                 corrective and incarcerated, incarcerative

                 action.

                            And so, did the actual individual

                 in this case have a case that was valid and

                 should actually be tried?  Apparently, having

                 served 1500 days, in excess, of solitary

                 confinement, I guess perhaps they did, whether





                                                          589



                 or not we agree with the inevitable outcome of

                 the case.

                            The prisoners legal services and

                 the prisoners rights project of Legal Aid

                 Society have taken some measures right here in

                 New York State to try to limit the number of

                 frivolous lawsuits.  There does seem to be

                 some disagreement between them and the work

                 that was conducted by the previous attorney

                 general and the very able Senator who is the

                 sponsor of this bill.  But I think that as we

                 go forward, the thing that we have to be most

                 aware of is the fact that, no matter how much

                 we may disdain the acts of certain people who

                 we've incarcerated, this country's democracy

                 is probably tested at its greatest level by

                 how we treat those who we incarcerate.  And to

                 that end, there are times that these

                 situations, where there are abuses, not in all

                 cases but certainly in some, not in a number

                 of cases where there has been any kind of

                 court finding, but the fact is that there are

                 some abuses in our correctional facilities and

                 we are mandated to react to them.  The best

                 reaction is probably through the judicial





                                                          590



                 process, since there is a limited way in which

                 the message can get out.  There are situations

                 around the country, well documented, where the

                 notion of correction, correctional policy was

                 changed from lawsuits that emanated from those

                 who were actually incarcerated.

                            And while all of us who are in the

                 Legislature have probably gotten a number of

                 letters that are quite long and in many ways

                 quite euphemistic from prisoners who,

                 apparently, have time to write these long

                 documents, and the, certainly, the notion of

                 what they're trying to express is somewhat

                 cloudy and their perception of what

                 constitutes a valid lawsuit may not be that

                 that we all might agree with, the fact is

                 that, even if we would err slightly, we would

                 want to err on the side of having a democratic

                 system.  We do not provide those who are

                 incarcerated with all of the rights of those

                 who live in a democracy, but we do try to

                 assure their physical protection, their

                 acquisition to healthcare and some basic needs

                 that they are entitled to.

                            And so it is the reason that





                                                          591



                 Senator Waldon, I think very properly,

                 expressed, that we've got to be very careful

                 in passing this kind of legislation so that we

                 don't limit the actual ability of those who

                 are incarcerated to, in their limited way,

                 still participate in our form of democracy.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator

                 Montgomery.

                            SENATOR MONTGOMERY:    Thank you,

                 Madam President.  I would like -- if the

                 sponsor would yield for one question.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator, do you

                 yield?

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Certainly,

                 Madam President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead, Senator

                 Montgomery.

                            SENATOR MONTGOMERY:    Thank you.

                            Senator Nozzolio, do you -- are you

                 aware of what is the income of inmates, what

                 we pay them?

                            I see downstairs we have a

                 wonderful display of the products that are

                 made in our prison facilities by inmates.

                            What is their income?





                                                          592



                            Do you -

                            SENATOR NOZZOLIO:    Madam

                 President, I'd like to say that all inmates

                 work in this state.  I would like to pass a

                 bill that would force inmates who are able

                 bodied to work.  But, unfortunately, all

                 inmates don't work, by choice, their choice.

                 This Legislature does not require them to.  I

                 wish it would, but it doesn't.  Now, those

                 that do work, however, do make a small amount

                 of money as a wage, which their work doesn't

                 begin to offset the amount that it costs to

                 incarcerate someone.

                            But, Senator, I'd just like to

                 point out to you, that those inmates that

                 don't have large accounts in the bank, don't

                 have a lot of cash, have the right to apply to

                 the court and ask for a waiver of the fee.

                 This doesn't preclude anyone from bringing

                 litigation because they don't have enough

                 money.  That simply by applying to the court

                 an application to the court, the court has the

                 power under this legislation to waive the fee

                 or postpone the fee.

                            And that, Senator, I know your





                                                          593



                 concerns are sincere and legitimate regarding

                 those who don't have the amount of money

                 available to them to pay this fee, and I think

                 the legislation takes care of it.  It

                 addresses that by providing simply their

                 ability to apply for a waiver, they can obtain

                 the waiver from a court, the court simply can

                 allow them to proceed without paying the fee.

                 But for those inmates that do have accounts,

                 and some do have money, those that are

                 bringing litigation certainly do, that

                 oftentimes they do, that this requires those

                 that do have the funds to pay the fee.

                            SENATOR MONTGOMERY:    All right.

                 Thank you.  Thank you, Senator Nozzolio.

                            Just, Madam President, briefly on

                 the bill.  I see that Senator Nozzolio has

                 been very careful to establish a waiver in the

                 bill.  But, nonetheless, even with the waiver,

                 there is an intent, as so stated in his memo

                 and in the explanation for, for the bill, that

                 the intent is definitely to reduce the number

                 of cases brought by inmates and to establish

                 that this is one way of trying to have inmates

                 not come or discourage them from coming with





                                                          594



                 their various suits.

                            And I just want to remind the

                 Senator that, and my colleagues, that the

                 sentencing, the federal sentencing project,

                 Madam President, when they looked at arrests

                 for one area, and that was use of drugs or

                 crimes related to drugs, there were, I think,

                 13 percent of the arrests we African-American.

                 But then, when it comes to the sentencing,

                 it's 89 percent of those sentenced for

                 drug-related activities were African-American

                 or Latino.  So, clearly, there is something

                 that happens that there is a disparity between

                 arrests, or the number of people who are

                 actually committing the crimes, and this

                 statistic tends to be true for all areas of

                 crime, including murder and on down, that

                 there are more white people, essentially, or

                 at least as many, committing crimes, but the

                 sentencing is very different.  So the system

                 really is not, it's not -- there is not a

                 level, there's not equality, there's not a

                 level playing field, if you will, in terms of

                 what happens in corrections, in the justice

                 system.  And, furthermore, we have examples





                                                          595



                 before us, as recently as -- well, right

                 now -- but as recently as a few weeks ago in

                 one of the local prisons, in Nassau County,

                 where, obviously, a person was  attacked by

                 people in the prison.  And that case, in that

                 case, the person who did the attacking was

                 high enough up that you couldn't possibly

                 expect that the inmate could appeal to the

                 administration, because it's the

                 administration who's doing the excessive force

                 there.  So, we can't always rely on access to

                 the administration as the answer for inmates.

                            We understand that coming into the

                 system and all aspects of it there is an

                 inequality that exists, there is a disparity

                 that exists, there is an attitude about what

                 and how much access to any outside

                 intervention on behalf of inmates that there

                 is.  And we also know -- at least I get

                 letters all the time, from inmates asking me

                 to have them transferred to places where there

                 are programs in place so that they can develop

                 a skill, they can do work.  So those, even

                 those who don't have money or are not working,

                 certainly, would like to, many of them are.





                                                          596



                            And the last point that I would

                 like to make, Madam President, is that, since,

                 in the last few, few years, when we've gotten

                 our budget from the Governor, the Governor has

                 proposed that the Prisoners Legal Services

                 Program be cut.  Now, the information that I

                 have always received from the Prisoners Legal

                 Services, albeit biased because they have a

                 self-interest in it, but they say that the

                 ability for inmates to bring cases and their

                 involvement with those inmates helps to reduce

                 the number of frivolous cases.  Yet, year in

                 and year out, we get a budget from the

                 Governor that cuts the Prisoners Legal

                 Services.  So, there is, there is a disconnect

                 here.  We want to, on one hand, control the

                 number of frivolous cases that come before the

                 courts, but on the other hand we eliminate the

                 one possibility of making, making it possible

                 for us to save because this organization can

                 help to reduce the number of cases, while at

                 the same time not making it appear that we

                 want to discourage inmates to have the right

                 to do that.

                            So, I join my colleagues, Senator





                                                          597



                 Waldon, Senator Paterson, in opposing this

                 legislation because I think that it makes the

                 wrong statement.  It is not necessary for us

                 to do this.  There are other ways more

                 efficient, more effective and fairer to do it,

                 so I'm voting no on this legislation, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All right.  Read

                 the last section.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Explain my vote.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 4.  This

                 act shall take effect on the 1st day of

                 January.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Waldon,

                 to explain your vote.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Thank you very

                 much, Madam President.  The point made by -

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator, if I -

                 Senator -

                            SENATOR WALDON:    -- Senator

                 Montgomery was absolutely brilliant -

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Waldon,

                 before we do that, we should call the roll,

                 sir.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    Okay.





                                                          598



                            THE PRESIDENT:    Excuse me.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    All right.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead.  Call

                 the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Waldon.

                            SENATOR WALDON:    The point made

                 by my esteemed colleague, Senator Montgomery,

                 was absolutely brilliant, when the resources

                 for defending people, not just within the

                 prison system, but across the criminal justice

                 system, are dramatically reduced, there is no

                 buffer to the processes which they find,

                 meaning the prisoners in this instance, find

                 oppressive.

                            When I first came to the

                 Legislature in 1983, there was talk of

                 rehabilitation, but in recent years, across

                 the nation, rehabilitation is no longer in

                 vogue.  It is now punishment, punishment and

                 more punishment.  And if you have an increase

                 in the numbers of those who are in prison,

                 you're going to have, at the very least,

                 perhaps, a proportional or proportionate

                 increase in the number of suits filed.  But if





                                                          599



                 it happens that the system itself has become

                 more oppressive since 1983, then it will not

                 just be an kind increase in the numbers of

                 cases filed, but an even great, an even

                 greater number because the pain and suffering

                 of those who are in prison has increased and

                 intensified.

                            For all of those reasons, I think

                 that we have to disagree with the proposal of

                 Senator Nozzolio and we have to try to create

                 a mindset in the state which recognizes that,

                 despite the fact that people are in prison,

                 they are, too, human beings.  They also are

                 human.  They hurt.  They have needs.  They

                 have loved ones who are concerned about them.

                 And if we take away that thing that is called

                 hope from those who are in prison, we're

                 creating problems not only for the prisoner

                 but for the guards who are mandated to guard

                 them on a daily basis.  So why victimize the

                 guards with foolish proposals, in my opinion,

                 like this?  This is not an attack to Senator

                 Nozzolio, but I just think this is a foolish

                 idea and we should dismiss it as such and vote

                 it down.





                                                          600



                            Thank you very much, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Waldon

                 will be recorded as voting in the negative.

                            Announce the results.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Those recorded in

                 the negative on Calendar Number 164 are

                 Senators Connor, Duane, Montgomery, Paterson,

                 Schneiderman, Seabrook, Smith, Satvisky and

                 Waldon.

                            Ayes 46.  Nays 9.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 166, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 760, an

                 act to amend the Penal Law in relation to

                 aggravated harassment of a court clerk by an

                 inmate.

                            SENATOR PATERSON:    Explanation,

                 please.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Johnson,

                 an explanation has been requested.

                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    Madam

                 President, this merely adds to the category of

                 persons who would be guilty of aggravated





                                                          601



                 harassment of an employee by an inmate, adding

                 to the employees of a mental facility or a

                 correctional facility or probation officer,

                 the court clerks in those jurisdictions.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Duane.

                            SENATOR DUANE:    Madam Chair,

                 Madam President, would the sponsor yield to a

                 question, please, or two?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Johnson,

                 will you yield to a question?

                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    Yes, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead, Senator

                 Duane.

                            SENATOR DUANE:    Thank you, Madam

                 President.

                            This isn't a new question.  I

                 raised this in the committee and I was hoping

                 that maybe I could be provided with an answer.

                            I'm wondering how many

                 circumstances there have been of this throwing

                 of feces or urine at, at these members of the

                 court staff.

                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    Of course, the

                 original bill to which this is an amendment





                                                          602



                 was enacted because of instances of this type

                 taking place in correctional facilities.

                 Subsequently, it was added probation officers.

                 And now this is going to add court officers.

                 And the reason is because court officers

                 actually are those persons to whom custody is

                 given when he's delivered to the court by the

                 correction officers or the police.  The court

                 officers take charge, at that point he would

                 be in a similar position as a correction

                 officer and subject to possibly the same type

                 of activity by the inmate.

                            SENATOR DUANE:    I'm still unsure,

                 Madam President, if anyone has actually ever

                 brought up a number of these kinds of cases

                 and I remain hopeful that someone could do so

                 if such a harassment -- it's, by the way

                 clerks, if this, you know, if such a problem

                 exists, if we could finally have some numbers

                 on how many clerks have actually been impacted

                 by this.

                            Madam President, if the sponsor

                 would yield to another question?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Johnson,

                 do you continue to yield?





                                                          603



                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    Yes, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Go ahead, Senator

                 Duane.

                            SENATOR DUANE:    This is the

                 second time that we have in the session so far

                 this year had these feces and urine, body

                 fluid pieces of legislation.  I'm wondering if

                 it might not be more productive if we had sort

                 of an omnibus or dedicated a day to feces and

                 urine, something like that, rather than doing

                 it in a piecemeal way.  Because, if it's a

                 problem, then it's a problem.  And if it's not

                 such a problem, then I think we should do it

                 sort of in a more encompassing kind of way.

                 But I don't think it's productive to do it in

                 this way, you know, sort of personnel line by

                 personnel line, but it would be better if this

                 is a problem, because as Madam President and

                 the sponsor know, I believe that this is much

                 more of a mental health issue than it is a

                 felonious issue, and I think that we need to

                 have a discussion on it on that basis.

                            And I'm wondering if any thought

                 had been given to sort of putting all of these





                                                          604



                 categories together into one piece of

                 legislation so we could debate it in that way.

                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    Senator, if

                 that's a question, my answer is that this has

                 been requested by the court officers, as it

                 has previously been requested by the probation

                 officers, to be added to the category of

                 protected members in this type of a bill.

                            Now, I don't know of all the

                 possible groups or individuals you could add.

                 Perhaps you could add all their fellow inmates

                 into the category as well.  But, really,

                 Senator, I don't know how far to go, but I

                 would say that this is a good move, it should

                 be done because they stand in a position to be

                 injured in a similar manner or assaulted in a

                 similar manner as the other categories which

                 are already in the law.

                            And if you know of any categories

                 that would be added, Senator, I would say that

                 you should advance that motion on your own,

                 perhaps, not at this time, but, I mean, in the

                 form of a bill or other type of suggestion to

                 other members if you'd like to carry a bill

                 like that.  But this takes care of this





                                                          605



                 particular situation which was brought to our

                 attention at this moment.

                            SENATOR DUANE:    Madam President,

                 on the bill.

                            I do strongly believe that, in the

                 absence of having statistics on how large a

                 problem this is with clerks, with probation

                 officers, with various court and correctional

                 personnel, that we should not continue to vote

                 on these pieces of legislation but look at

                 this and see whether it is, in fact, a

                 problem, if it's a problem of our criminal

                 justice system or if it's, indeed, a problem

                 of the mental health situation that some of

                 our incarcerated people have.  And I intend on

                 voting no on this legislation.

                            Thank you, Madam President.

                            Thank you.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator

                 Dollinger.

                            SENATOR DOLLINGER:    Thank you,

                 Madam President.

                            I'm going to vote in favor of

                 Senator Johnson's bills, but it just strikes

                 me as terribly ironic that, in this instance





                                                          606



                 where we have, I believe, maybe one case in

                 the history of this state, we're going to

                 create a statute that says this is a form of

                 aggravated harassment and, yet, we know for

                 sure there are thousands of cases of women

                 seeking access to healthcare in this state

                 who, every single day, undergo harassment and

                 annoyance in an attempt to discourage them

                 from something that they're constitutionally

                 entitled to do and, yet, this body can't pass

                 a bill to protect them.  We're protecting a

                 hypothetical court clerk somewhere in this

                 state from the possibility that it may some

                 day happen, but when we know that something is

                 happening every single day in this state that

                 effects women's constitutional rights, this

                 body, which two weeks ago had an opportunity

                 to provide the same kind of protection for

                 women seeking healthcare, the protection from

                 annoyance, the protection from harassment,

                 this body turned down the opportunity to do

                 that.

                            Senator Johnson, I think this bill

                 is the right thing to do, but there's a bigger

                 and better right thing to do.  We should have





                                                          607



                 done it two weeks ago.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Smith.

                            SENATOR SMITH:    Thank you, Madam

                 President.

                            Would the sponsor yield for one

                 question?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator, do you

                 yield?  Senator Johnson?

                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    Yes, Madam

                 President.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Okay.  Go ahead,

                 Senator Smith.

                            SENATOR SMITH:    Senator, the

                 court officers and the court clerks both have

                 lobbyists and they usually send out

                 memorandum.  I don't see a memorandum.  Have

                 you received one from either one of these

                 associations?

                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    I don't have

                 one in my folder, Senator, but they have been

                 in touch with us about this.  This bill was

                 advanced a year ago, originally.  It may be a

                 stale memorandum in your file somewhere.

                            SENATOR SMITH:    Well -

                            SENATOR JOHNSON:    But they are in





                                                          608



                 favor of it, yes.

                            SENATOR SMITH:    Madam President,

                 on the bill.

                            For all our records indicate that

                 there is no memorandum.  And if the court

                 officers and the court clerks and their

                 associations were so concerned about this

                 bill, I think they would have taken the time

                 to write a memo.  And, therefore, I don't see

                 any need for this bill if they're not

                 interested.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All right.  Read

                 the last section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect on the 1st day of

                 November.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Those recorded in

                 the negative on Calendar Number 166 are

                 Senators Duane, Montgomery and Smith.

                            Ayes 53.  Nays 3.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            Senator Skelos.





                                                          609



                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 if we could return to reports of standing

                 committees, I believe there's a report of the

                 Rules Committee at the desk.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All right.  Now

                 that, Senator Skelos, we have completed the

                 controversial reading of the calendar, the

                 Secretary will read.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Senator Bruno,

                 from the Committee on Rules, reports the

                 following bills direct to third reading:

                            Senate Print 2833, by the Senate

                 Committee on Rules, an act making an

                 appropriation to pay Elaine Present, widow of

                 the late Jess J. Present, member of the Senate

                 from the 56th Senatorial District; and

                            Senate Print 2770, by the Senate

                 Committee on Rules, an act making an

                 appropriation to pay Joyce Genovesi, widow of

                 the late Anthony J. Genovesi, member of the

                 Assembly from the 39th Assembly District.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 I move to accept the report of the Rules

                 Committee.





                                                          610



                            THE PRESIDENT:    All those in

                 favor of accepting the report of the Rules

                 Committee, signify by saying aye.

                            (Response of "Aye.")

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Opposed, nay.

                            (No response.)

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The report is

                 accepted.

                            Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    If we could take

                 up Calendar Number 199, Senate 2770.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Thank you,

                 Senator Skelos.

                            The Secretary will red.

                            THE SECRETARY:    In relation to

                 Calendar 199, Senator Bruno moves to discharge

                 from the Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill

                 Number 4888 and substitute it for the

                 identical Third Reading Calendar 199.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 is there a message -

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Substitution is

                 ordered.

                            Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Is there a





                                                          611



                 message at the desk?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Yes, Senator

                 Skelos there is.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Move to accept

                 the message of appropriation.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All those in

                 favor of accepting the message of

                 appropriation, signify by saying aye.

                            (Response of "Aye.")

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Opposed, nay.

                            (No response.)

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The message is

                 accepted.

                            Read the last section.

                            The Secretary will read.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 199, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,

                 Assembly Print 4888, an act making an

                 appropriation to pay Joyce Genovesi, widow of

                 the late Anthony J. Genovesi.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect immediately.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.





                                                          612



                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 56.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 could we please take up Calendar Number 200,

                 Senate 2833.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

                 will read.

                            THE SECRETARY:    In relation to

                 Calendar Number 200, Senator Bruno moves to

                 discharge from the Committee on Rules,

                 Assembly Bill Number 5117 and substitute it

                 for the identical Third Reading Calendar 200.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 is there a message of approp -

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Substitution is

                 ordered.

                            Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Is there a

                 message of appropriation at the desk?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Yes, Senator

                 Skelos, there is.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Move to accept





                                                          613



                 the message or appropriation.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All those in

                 favor of accepting the message of

                 appropriation, signify by saying aye.

                            (Response of "Aye.")

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Opposed, nay.

                            (No response.)

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The message is

                 accepted.

                            The Secretary will read.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

                 200, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,

                 Assembly Print 5117, an act making an

                 appropriation to pay Elaine Present, widow of

                 the late Jess J. Present.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

                 section.

                            THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

                 act shall take effect immediately.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

                            (The Secretary called the roll.)

                            THE SECRETARY:    Ayes 56.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

                 passed.

                            Senator Skelos.





                                                          614



                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Would you please

                 recognize Senator Mendez.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Of course.

                            Senator Mendez.

                            SENATOR MENDEZ:    Thank you, Madam

                 President, and thank you, Senator Skelos.

                            I was out of the chamber.  I'm

                 asking for unanimous concent to be recorded in

                 the negative in Calendar Number 164.

                            Also, Madam President, I want to

                 announce that there will be an immediate

                 Minority Conference in Room 7 -- Room 314.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    All right.

                 Without objection, Senator Mendez, you will be

                 recorded as voting in the negative.

                            And there will be an immediate

                 meeting of the Minority Committee in Room 314.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 is there any housekeeping at the desk?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Senator

                 Fuschillo.

                            SENATOR FUSCHILLO:    Madam

                 President, on behalf of Senator Saland, please

                 place a sponsor star on Calendar Number 36.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    So ordered.





                                                          615



                            Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 on behalf of Senator Bruno, I hand up the

                 following committee assignment change and ask

                 that it be filed in the Journal.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    Notice will be

                 filed in the Journal.

                            Senator Skelos.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Is there any

                 other housekeeping?

                            THE PRESIDENT:    No, there is not,

                 Senator.

                            SENATOR SKELOS:    Madam President,

                 there being no further business, I move we

                 adjourn until Tuesday, March 2nd, at 3 p.m.

                            THE PRESIDENT:    On motion, the

                 Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday, March

                 2nd, 3 p.m.

                            (Whereupon, at 4:03 p.m., Senate

                 adjourned.)