Regular Session - May 17, 1999
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NEW YORK STATE SENATE
THE
STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
ALBANY, NEW YORK
May 17, 1999
3:08 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION
SENATOR JOHN R. KUHL, JR, Acting President
STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
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P R O C E E D I N G S
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Senate will come to order. I ask the members
to take their chairs, staff to find their
places. I would ask everybody in the chamber
to rise and join with me in saying the Pledge
of Allegiance to the Flag.
(Whereupon, the assemblage recited
the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: If you
will please remain standing, we are very
pleased to have with us Dr. Lee Miller, a
bishop of Up-State New York Synod, Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, which is
headquartered in Syracuse, New York.
Bishop Miller.
BISHOP MILLER: Let us pray.
Gracious God, we give thanks to You for this
day, for the day itself and for the gift of
life, for the opportunity that we have to be
of service to the people of this State.
We pray, O Lord, Your blessing upon
those who will be making decisions, for each
who has worked hard leading up to this session
and all of the work that will follow it.
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We pray, O Lord, for those who are
visiting, and we pray, O Lord, for the
families of each of us that in the midst of
our work on behalf of others that we know it
involves time away from our families. And so,
O Lord, we pray for our families and for all
of the people of this State that what we do
may be of help to them, lifting them up,
encouraging them, being of service and
strengthening each of us in our own ways to be
of service to one another.
Gracious God, as we give thanks we
ask Your blessing.
Amen.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Reading
of the Journal.
THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
Sunday, May 16th, the Senate met pursuant to
adjournment.
The Journal of Saturday, May 15th
was read and approved.
On motion, Senate adjourned.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing
no objection, the Journal stands approved as
read.
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Presentation of petitions. Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
could we at this time ask for an immediate
meeting of the Finance Committee in Room 332.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There
will be an immediate meeting of the Finance
Committee, an immediate meeting of the Senate
Finance Committee in the Majority Conference
Room, Room 332.
Messages from the Assembly.
Messages from the Governor.
Reports of standing committees.
Secretary are will read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack,
from the Committee on Judiciary, reports the
following nominations; as a Justice of the
Supreme Court of the Fifth Judicial District,
John V. Centra of Fayetteville.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator Lack.
SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr.
President.
I stand to move the nomination of
John V. Centra of Fayetteville, New York, as a
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justice of the Fifth Judicial District of the
Supreme Court. We received the nomination
from the Governor. The Governor has made a
very fine choice in choosing John Centra. He
has served as a town justice for the town of
DeWitt from 1989 to the present. He is very
well known within his community. His
credentials have been examined by the staff of
Senate Judiciary Committee. He appeared
before the committee earlier this afternoon
together with members of his family. He was
warmly welcomed by the committee and was
unanimously endorsed by the committee for
consideration at this time on the floor of the
Senate and it is great pleasure that I yield,
for purposes of a second, to Senator
DeFrancisco.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator DeFrancisco, on the
nomination.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
It is with great pleasure that I
rise to second the nomination of John Centra
for Supreme Court judge. I have known John
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for many years now and there is no person that
I can think of that has the qualities that
John has that is suitable for the Supreme
Court. No one better than John's
qualifications. Not only has he been a
practicing lawyer, which is important in my
mind. Every judge should have practiced law
before they go to the bench, but also he has
been a judge as a town justice in the Town of
DeWitt.
He is a practical individual. To
be a judge you don't have to be the most
expert person in the law. You don't have to
be the most proficient trial lawyer, but you
have to be someone who has a basic
understanding of the law and a basic
understanding of fairness. And that is how he
handles people in his court presently in the
Town of DeWitt. And his elevation to the
Supreme Court, where he will hear all major
trials in the civil arena is perfectly suited
for him.
The other thing I mention at the
committee that also is extremely important is
you judge an individual by a lot in my mind by
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the person's family. There is no better
respected family, and many of them here with
him, than the Centra family in Onondaga
County. And they have done incredible
charitable work, and they have always been
there when people need them.
So it is with great pleasure that I
second the nomination of John Centra and I
wish him the best of luck in his new position
as a Supreme Court justice.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator Hoffmann on the nomination.
SENATOR HOFFMANN: Thank you. I
am very pleased and honored to be able to
second the nomination of Judge Centra for the
very distinguished position of Supreme Court
judge. We are familiar with the Centra family
in central New York because of their long
civic involvement. This is a second
generation of involvement from my own personal
experience. I knew John's parents years ago
as very hard working members of the east side
community, people who always were willing to
go that extra distance to help youth
organizations they were involved in with fund
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raising activities. They were willing to try
to promote the Westcott neighborhood when
other people were fleeing it. They wanted to
stay as proud merchants in that area and they
stand today as an example of what kind of long
term courageous decision making and civic
involvement can actually lead to because not
only have they helped stabilize a community,
they have raised a fine son who now believes
in providing leadership on a much larger scale
that will be regarded well beyond his
immediate neighborhood and indeed, well beyond
the Syracuse community.
I think better illustrations of
that are the civic involvements of John Centra
himself as a member of the board of directors
for youth court, as a member of the Onondaga
County Alcohol and Drug Commission, as a
member of the board of directors of the
Landmark Theatre. He has shown this kind of
family commitment that Senator DeFrancisco and
I know and respect very well.
So I too am very pleased and proud
today of my constituent, John Centra and I
know that he will perform with distinction as
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a member of the bench on the Supreme Court.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there
any other Senator wishing to speak on the
nomination?
Hearing none, the question is on
the nomination of John V. Centra of
Fayetteville, New York, to become a justice of
the Supreme Court of the Fifth Judicial
District. All those in favor of the
nomination, signify by saying aye.
(Response of Aye.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Opposed,
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
nominee is unanimously confirmed. We are very
pleased to have Judge Centra in the gallery to
your left, along with his wife, Mindy, their
children, Nicky, Stephanie, John and Jake and
his parents, Rita and Dino Centra with us.
Judge, congratulations. Goods work
to you.
(Applause.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read.
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THE SECRETARY: As a Justice of
the Supreme Court for the Ninth Judicial
District, Joseph K. West of Yonkers.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator Lack.
SENATOR LACK: Thank you, Mr.
President.
Again, it is with pleasure that I
rise to move the nomination of Joseph K. West
of Yonkers as a Justice of the Supreme Court
from the Ninth Judicial District and another
very fine appointment by the Governor.
Judge West's credentials have been
examined by the committee and found to be more
than in order as a long serving judge in
Yonkers. Probably the second best known
person there after Chippy Flynn and Senator
Spano. But indeed has been warmly received by
members of the committee. Earlier today he was
unanimously moved to the floor for
consideration this afternoon. It is with
great pleasure that I yield to my newly sick
but still functioning seat mate to the left,
Senator Spano.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
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recognizes Senator Spano on the nomination.
SENATOR SPANO: Thank you, Mr.
President.
It is my pleasure to stand to
second the nomination of Judge West. I have
known Judge West for a couple of decades in
the City of Yonkers, have served with him as a
colleague, run for office with him. He is
currently and continues to be a neighbor of
mine for a long time.
He has served, starting out in the
city court of Yonkers, elected to the county
court, served with distinction as a
supervising judge of the criminal courts of
Westchester County, is currently an acting
Supreme Court justice and will make us proud
as a member of the Supreme Court.
Judge West's appointment from the
Governor is another appointment that we can
all be proud of because he is someone who has
got deep roots in our community in Westchester
County and has got the experience, having been
for over 20 years an attorney. And certainly
has the experience, having served in
supervisory roles in the county courts and now
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as acting Supreme Court judge.
It is my pleasure to second the
nomination of Joe West for the Supreme Court
and to say thank you to Joe West for his
dedication to our community and to the
judiciary. He makes us all proud.
Congratulations, Joe.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator Leibell on the nominations.
SENATOR LEIBELL: Mr. President,
it is truly a pleasure for me to also rise to
second this nomination. I have known Joe West
for I think it is close to 25 years now,
coming in as a young assistant district
attorney in Westchester County we were all so
blessed to come into that office and to know
Joe. He was truly the greatest trial lawyer
in that office and one of the great trial
lawyers in Westchester County. And more
importantly than that, he did not hesitate to
share his knowledge and his great trial
technique with those of us who came along
after him.
He is a great gentlemen. He has
been a great, great judge over the course of
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so many years now. This is another great
nomination that has been sent to us by
Governor Pataki, and I know on our State
Supreme Court Joe West will continue to do the
great and fine job that this gentleman has
always done.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Is there
any other Senator wishing to speak on the
nomination? Hearing none, the question is on
the nomination of Joseph K. West of Yonkers,
New York to become a Justice of the Supreme
Court for the Ninth Judicial District. All
those in favor of the nomination, signify by
saying aye.
(Response of Aye.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Opposed
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
nominee is unanimously confirmed.
We are very, very pleased to have
the nominee with us today, together with his
wife Shirley and their children Rebecca and
Chris Ogese and Joe and Pat West.
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Judge, congratulations and good
luck.
(Applause.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will continue to read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Stafford
from the Committee on Finance reports the
following nominations:
Members of the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority, J.
L. Gottlieb, of New York City, and Elizabeth
W. Thorndike, of Pittford.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
question is on the nominations. All those in
favor signify by saying aye.
(Response of Aye.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Opposed
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
nominees are confirmed.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Can we ask for an
immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in
Room 332.
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ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There
will be an immediate meeting of the Senate
Rules Committee, an immediate meeting of the
Senate Rules Committee in Room 332, the
Majority Conference Room.
The Secretary will continue to
read.
THE SECRETARY: Also as a Member
of the Board of Visitors of the New York State
Home for Veterans and Their Dependents at
Oxford, Charles E. Dolson, of North Syracuse.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
question is on the nomination. All those in
favor signify by saying aye.
(Response of Aye.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Opposed
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
nominee is confirmed.
Reports of select committees.
Communications and reports of state
officers.
Motions and resolutions.
The Chair recognizes Senator
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Farley.
SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Mr.
President.
On behalf of a number of Senators
here we would like to amend these following
bills:
For Senator Rath, page 18, 489,
Senate Print 2949.
Senator Trunzo, page 27, Calendar
640, Senate Print 4202.
Senator DeFrancisco, page 29,
Calendar 662, Senate Print 3868.
For Senator Farley on page 44,
Calendar Print 857, Senate Print 4650.
For Senator Rath on page 50,
Calendar 920, Senate Print 5114.
For Senator Rath, on page 50,
Calendar 919, Senate Print 4947.
And also again for Senator Rath, on
page 49, Calendar 907, Senate Print 4206.
For Senator Leibell, on page 24,
Calendar 600, Senate Print 4545.
And I ask that these bills retain
their places on the Third Reading Calendar.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
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amendment is received and adopted and the
bills will retain their place on the Third
Reading Calendar.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President, I
believe that there is a privileged resolution
at the desk by Senator Kruger. I would ask
that it be read in its entirety and move for
its immediate adoption.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the privileged resolution
by Senator Kruger, which is at the desk, in
its entirety.
THE SECRETARY: By Senator
Kruger, Legislative Resolution Number 1359,
honoring the memory and celebrating the life
and accomplishments of Assemblyman Anthony J.
Genovesi.
Whereas, this assembled body is
moved to recognize and pay tribute to the life
and accomplishments of Assemblyman Anthony J.
Genovesi, an individual of distinguished
purpose and enduring commitment, a man who
dedicated his life and career to public
service and the law, and
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Whereas, it is with great sorrow
and deep regret that this assembled body
records the passing of Assemblyman Anthony J.
Genovesi on August 11, 1998, at age 61, noting
the significance of his purposeful life and
many accomplishments. Throughout Brooklyn and
all of New York City, in Albany an across the
State, Anthony Genovesi, Tony as he was known
as a dedicated public servant with a sharp
mind and ready sense of humor. A man of
boisterous spirit and down to earth manner,
always full of passion, compassion and
vitality, and
Whereas, the son of Sicilian
immigrants, Anthony Joseph Genovesi was born,
raised and lived his entire life in his
beloved Brooklyn, he attended St. Francis
Xavier High School and earned a degree in
economics at St. Peter's College. He
graduated from the Fordham University School
of Law in 1961 and was admitted to the New
York State Bar later that year. Assemblyman
Genovesi had a long and varied career in law.
He was activated in the United States Army in
1962 as a member of the Judge Advocate
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General's Corp. He resigned from the United
States Army Reserve in 1971 as a major.
Assemblyman Genovesi was law
assistant to the deputy administrative judge
of the New York City Civil Court, opinion
clerk for the Civil Court of New York County
and law secretary of the New York City
Criminal Court. He was also an adjunct
lecturer in law at Baruch College of the City
University of New York, and
Whereas, throughout his tenure in
the New York State Assembly, Assemblyman
Genovesi maintained his private law practice
on Flatlands Avenue in Canarsi with several
partners, including his son, Anthony, and
recently welcomed his daughter Laura to the
practice. Exemplifying the man he was, he
often took on the cases of neighborhood
residents, frequently at no charge. An astute
devotee of the body politic, Tony Genovesi
soon became a well known and legendary figure
in local Brooklyn political and community
affairs. The many ways he served his
community included his services as president
of the Bergen Beach Civic Association and
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member of the Mayor's Council on Intergroup
Relations, Community Planning Board 18, the
Jamaica Bay Citizens Committee, and the
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. The
Canarsi Mental Health Clinic, Knights of
Columbus, Rambam Canarsi Lodge and the B'nai
B'rith, also benefitted enormously from his
involvement and expertise.
Assemblyman Genovesi began his long
relationship with the New York State
Legislature as counsel to Senate Minority
Leader Joseph Zaretzki. He also served as
counsel to the Assembly majority Program and
Counsel Staff and as the Executive Director of
the New York State Legislative Commission on
Economy and Efficiency in Government and its
succeeding commission on Public Management
Systems from 1979 to 1986, and
Whereas, Anthony J. Genovesi was
elected to the New York State Assembly in
1986, representing the 39th Assembly District,
part of Kings County, he took office on
January 1, 1987, succeeding his dear friend
and partner in government, Speaker Stanley
Fink.
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As a member of the Assembly he was
widely admired for his powerful and moving
speeches on the floor of the Assembly and for
his determined representation of the people
and interest of his district and all of
Brooklyn and King's County.
Assemblyman Genovesi served as
Chairman of the Assembly Oversight, Analysis
and Investigation Committee, the Subcommittee
on Corporate Law and the Subcommittee on
Property Rights. He was also a member of the
Steering Corporations Authorities and
Commissions, Education, Judiciary and Tourism,
Arts and Sports Development Committees, and
Whereas, Anthony Genovesi had an
enormous heart and a genuine compassion for
people, he wanted government to do what our
founding fathers intended, most especially to
help those who could not help themselves. He
followed his beliefs, served as a mentor to
many and could be counted on to serve in the
best interest of the people. Assemblyman
Genovesi will always be remembered as a man of
principal, a man of his word, genuineness,
humor and loyalty, a legacy which will long
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endure the passage of time, and
Whereas, remembered by his
followers, foes and friends as a sincere and
thoughtful leader of true purpose and
conviction, Assemblyman Anthony J. Genovesi is
survived by his wife Joyce, five children;
Joseph, Mark, Anthony, Elana Ciroda and Laura,
two sisters and several grandchildren, now,
therefore be it
Resolved, that this legislative
body pause in its deliberations to honor the
memory of Assemblyman Anthony J. Genovesi and
pay tribute to his life and accomplishments,
recognizing the significance of his exemplary
record of public service and selfless
dedication to the people of his community and
the citizens of the State of New York, and be
it further
Resolved, that a copy of this
resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
to the family of Assemblyman Anthony J.
Genovesi with the deepest condolences of this
legislative body.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator Kruger on the resolution.
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SENATOR KRUGER: Mr. President,
on the resolution. This afternoon we are
joined by the Genovesi family, his wife Joyce,
his children Joseph and his wife Maria, and
their sons Matthew and Anthony, Dr. Mark
Genovesi, his wife Shawnee, Anthony Genovesi,
Jr., his wife Carolyn and their children
Marielle and Bennett, Elena Sirota, her
husband Jonathan and their daughter, Emily
Ann, Lara Genovesi, and her friend John
Travaglia.
His sisters Grace Pergolizzi and
her sons Daniel and Christopher, Francesca
Bliss, her husband David and their son Mark.
Today is a difficult day for so
many of us. It is a day where we have an
opportunity to reflect and to think back.
Most importantly we have to recognize that
this is not an opportunity to memorialize, but
rather it is an opportunity to celebrate, to
celebrate the accomplishments and the life of
an individual who has touched the hearts of so
many people by his actions and by his deeds.
Tony truly exemplified what a caring
individual is.
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Today the concept of commitment and
dedication and loyalty seems to become fuzzy
and faded and we seem to lose what it really
means. Tony was an individual who was able to
put a spotlight on those very, very
principles. He was able to engender the best
in people. He was able to be the standard
bearer for people who could not speak for
themselves. His fight to protect public
education, his support of womens rights, his
dedicated zeal and commitment toward
developing programs for the developmentally
disabled, catapulted Tony's position not only
here in the Legislature but across this State
as truly a spokesman for the downtrodden and
those that needed him.
A political mentor and a friend,
Tony exemplified the highest positions of not
only what this party stood for, but what the
very quality of the human character should be.
So many of us are products of
Tony's life and of his political world. I am
joined today with so many of my political
family from Brooklyn, particularly and most
notably my political mentor, Bernard Catcher,
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the president of the Thomas Jefferson Club,
and Lucy Schwartz, and so many, many other
people that have left an indelible mark and
impression not only in the life of our
community but basically for what Tony stood
for.
His untimely death I think stood as
a monument. It is a testament that we have to
all reflect and realize how fragile our very
existence may be. But at the same time Tony
left a legacy, a legacy that he proved that
somebody who cares can truly make a
difference.
Tony leaves a legacy of work that
will continue, of fights that will go on. But
most importantly to each and every one of us
as we move on in our lives and in our career,
the fact that we were able to share for a
brief moment the opportunity to be a friend of
Tony Genovesi will be the legacy that will
live on in our hearts and in our minds and he
will be an inspiration, I know, for
generations that we will never know that
government and caring and commitment and
dedication and principle are concepts that
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have not died, but will live on in the hearts
and minds of the people that are reflected in
the life of Tony Genovesi.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Balboni on the resolution.
SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. President,
I wish to remark on my relationship with
Anthony Genovesi because it is one of the
small unknown stories that shape your life.
Tony Genovesi was the first man to
hand me a round defeat on the floor of the
State Assembly. He did it often times. He
was a terrific debater. But through the years
we grew in friendship and we actually ended up
trying a case together as co-counsels in
Brooklyn, and though Tony was probably one of
the most partisan people in terms of his
fervor and love of the Democratic Party, he
had a heart the size of Montana. He took me
under his wing, but he never truly took me
under his wing until he went to Ireland with
my parents and my sister. And they had a
wonderful, wonderful trip and it was a memory
that my family will always cherish, and from
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that time on, little known, Tony would never
debate me again, even though I was up all the
time. And he always said, I promised your mom
I would take care of you.
I never made it to Tony's funeral
and it is something I deeply regret, but on
the day of Tony's funeral I was to meet
Assemblyman John Flanagan. He was coming to
my house. And by some divine providence he
arrived an hour earlier. Fifteen minutes
after he arrived my daughter went into grand
mal seizure. It was the first time it
happened. It was a terrifying moment. And my
wife and I grabbed the child and ran out and
got to the hospital. And if it had not been
for John Flanagan being there because we were
both going to the funeral we don't know what
we would have done. And when I got there and
after things calmed down, I thought about us
sitting in the emergency room. Tony Genovesi
always said one thing to me. No matter what
happens here, no matter how much you think it
matters, public service is important, but
there is nothing as important as your family.
It was a great lesson taught by a great
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teacher.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Marchi, on the resolution.
SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President, I
was deeply saddened, even though this is a
celebratory resolution, and I compliment you
Senator because you really said it completely.
This is a splendid, wonderful human
being. I have been here over 40 years, and if
I had a short list of people that have really
-- this became a great institutional loss. It
wasn't the passing of a member, this is a
great loss to the entire legislative
institution. And the short list, I believe
anybody who had the opportunity and the joy of
knowing this individual will attest to the
fact that he is among the greats. And I know
he is up there and looking down on us and I
hope we live up to his expectations because
his were very high and he lived up to his.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Maltese on the resolution.
SENATOR MALTESE: Mr. President,
many of my colleagues have already covered the
2985
gamut about Tony Genovesi, and Senator Marchi,
as usual, has hit the nail right on the head
with his expression of a short list of
distinguished people who were good friends and
who distinguished the body that they sat in.
Tony and I were classmates at
Fordham Law over 30 years ago and he took a
path to the Legislature and to government that
was somewhat idealogically different than
mine. He and I used to joke about it and I
felt always that he was one of the only ones
who gave liberalism a good name and he forgave
me my transgressions so to speak, and did not
take the issues out of the Legislative
chamber. But there was no tougher person in a
fight, nobody who you would rather have on
your side than Tony Genovesi.
As president of the Italian
American Legislators I leaned on him very,
very heavily and despite grousing, which was
his mode and sometimes complaints, he was
always there at that time that was at some
expense to his personal live, his family life
and his district and yet he was there for us
and I guess that is what I would like to
2986
remember Tony as a close, good friend who was
always there.
I am proud to second the
resolution.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Markowitz, on the resolution.
SENATOR MARKOWITZ: When I think
of Tony I think of Brooklyn 100 percent. Tony
exemplified the best that Brooklyn has ever
produced. When he loved you no one could love
you more. When you were on his wrong side,
and I could speak to that, believe me, get out
of the way because he was passionate in love
as he was passionate when he wasn't in love
with you. But one thing you knew about Tony,
what he believed in he did. No job was too
small for him, no job. I remember vividly in
an effort of ours together which may have not
succeeded, maybe that's why I am still in this
chamber, but he carried those printing
machines, printed everything by himself, lent
a hand and stuck those letters in those
envelopes and carried them to the post office.
Whatever he had to do he got done. He asked
no one to do anything that he wasn't willing
2987
to do. And all I can think about is that Tony
was Brooklyn. Brooklyn 100 percent. And for
that and for all he meant to all of us as a
shining example of what politics, service in
government, we will miss him for the rest of
our lives.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Lachman on the resolution.
SENATOR LACHMAN: Tony Genovesi
represented the best and noblest tradition of
the progressive wing of the Democratic Party
for over a half a century. From Roosevelt to
Truman to Kennedy, he exemplified what was
best. He was a man of great integrity, great
intelligence, great feeling for others.
Whether one differed or agreed with him in
instances, one had to respect his integrity
and his commitment at all times.
When I think of Tony Genovesi I
also think of what the late great
vice-president Hubert Humphrey once said, that
America's great political leaders have to set
their principals and their compasses toward
those in the dawn of life, those in the shadow
of life and those in the twilight of life. By
2988
dawn of life Hubert Humphrey meant the youth
of our nation. Shadow of life, Hubert
Humphrey meant those who were with
disabilities. And the twilight of life,
Hubert Humphrey meant senior citizens.
Tony Genovesi dedicated his life to
help those in need; children, seniors and
those who needed because of a disability the
aid, willing and giving aid of government. We
will all miss him, but his spirit remains here
in this Legislature, not only in the Assembly
that he served with grace, but in the Senate
where he frequently appeared.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Stachowski on the resolution.
SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr.
President, I would just like to rise to add my
voice to those that have paid tribute to Tony
Genovesi today. I had to laugh when Serf said
he gave Liberals a good name. I can remember
Tony having a good name for Republicans and
Conservatives too, but I am not going to use
those words.
Tony obviously was bright, but Tony
and I had one special relationship that nobody
2989
else here had with him. That is, every day
when I would be coming out of the gym I would
run into Tony and so I could tell him that I
worked twice as long so he could eat whatever
he wanted that night at dinner. And I know
nobody else had that relationship. And for
those kinds of little gestures and little
conversations I will miss him dearly and I am
glad I had a chance to add my voice to his
tribute.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Saland, on the resolution.
SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Mr.
President.
Mr. President, I came to know Tony
in a capacity as being a target in a special
election when he, with his boundless energy
and great capacity was charged with making
sure I didn't make it. In later years he
would tell me that I was the first of his many
races that he ran on behalf of the Assembly
Campaign Committee and they learned a little
bit, whatever it may be because I think they
did a lot better there after. But I must tell
you, he was capable of being both profane and
2990
most profound. An extraordinary talent and
extraordinary family man, very much loved
deeply, not only his wife, his children and
their extended family. Linda and I came to
know Tony, my wife and I came to know Tony and
Joyce and their family over the course of a
number of years. Our relationship was a very
warm, friendly one. But I can very well
recall one evening in particular when a member
of my family was in a critical care unit with
some questions about how he was going to
progress if he was going to progress at all
and who showed up at this hospital in
Poughkeepsie but Tony and Joyce. They were
there because Linda and I were their friends
and they were our friends and they wanted to
be there for us and share with us.
An extraordinary man who would
excel at anything that he set his mind to.
Truly one of the most talented people that I
have had the opportunity to serve with, and
more importantly, truly an extraordinary
friend.
May he rest in peace and may his
family know that his honor and good name lives
2991
on.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Hoffmann on the resolution.
SENATOR HOFFMANN: Assemblyman
Genovesi had that rare quality that is
sometimes missing in elected officials. He
did not take himself too seriously. This was
even more remarkable for somebody who had such
an inordinate amount of power, both in the
elected and in the party arena. He was a
giant among the men and women of this
Legislature. And yet when he would visit with
us in conversation he was more inclined to
talk about family activities and the day to
day things that we do outside of government.
He was never inclined to want to impress
people with what he could achieve or what he
might do if people disagreed with him. It was
unspoken because it was not necessary. He
preferred instead to build those kinds of
personal relationships, and that is what makes
leaders great people.
When I first met Tony we talked
often about agriculture because he was
interested. He wanted to learn. He knew I
2992
represented a farm district and he was
curious. It was that insatiable curiosity
about life that gave him that frame of
reference to make him an equal
conversationalist with any person that he
encountered along life's path. And I enjoyed
my conversations with him because we could
escape from the tedium or the frustrations
about the Legislature and there were times
where we would be on the same train going into
New York or meet someplace around the Capitol
and it was always a pleasant time out, because
after the initial comment about whatever
frustration we all experienced he could
instantly change the subject and sequel into
something that would give you a sense of
personal satisfaction.
It usually involved something to do
with home repairs. He liked the fact that he
was able to fix things. He liked the fact
that he understood the elementary aspects of
plumbing, electrical wiring and sheetrocking.
And it was a nice exchange to be able to talk
with a colleague in this beautiful chamber of
the other beautiful chamber or any place else
2993
in the Capitol about something that involved
using our hands. And in talking with Tony you
always knew that you would have respect for
other people who worked with their hands and
that somehow made us feel like we were doing a
little bit more for the taxpayers of this
state.
It was that link to ordinary
people. It was that ability to never take
himself too seriously that made him one of the
greatest people in this Legislature. For that
he will be sorely missed.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
LaValle on the resolution.
SENATOR LAVALLE: Thank you, Mr.
President. I must say that I was very
touched, as I am sure the family was by
Senator Kruger's remarks and Senator Balboni's
remarks, and those of others.
Tony Genovesi was a very, very
special person not only as a legislator but
just as an individual who touched so many
people in so many ways, whether it was his
intelligent discussions on politics or on a
piece of legislation, but there are two things
2994
that seems to me that he contributed a great
deal to and that is the Italian American
Legislators Group. There were times when
things were not always going great but Tony
made sure that the group stayed together and
prospered.
He and I carried for many, many
years a bill on Cooley's Anemia that would
give information to people who got married,
whether the trait, whether there was a
positive trait or not.
The other thing, and often times we
as legislators maybe don't say it enough to
our own families, but it is something that
Tony and I think other people talking about
Tony on the floor today mentioned his deep
commitment and this feelings about family, and
how proud he was of his family. And so I am
so happy that so many people have risen here
today to talk about a very, very unique and
dear colleague who will be remembered for the
many, many things that he did for his humanity
and caring and for the legislation that he
passed that made New Yorkers and New York a
better place.
2995
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Duane on the resolution.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
President.
I wanted to acknowledge and express
my gratitude for the kindnesses and generosity
that Tony Genovesi provided to me and to my
family and particularly to my brother John.
In fact he provided in even larger ways than I
was able to grasp at the time that he was
providing them. And I also came to know him
as someone who really believed that government
could help people, could make lives for people
easier, and I think that his loss in
government was a great loss for the State of
New York.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Gentile to close.
SENATOR GENTILE: Thank you, Mr.
President.
As one of Brooklyn's most recent
elected officials I didn't have the
opportunity to serve at any great length with
Tony Genovesi, but I must say that my
2996
connection with Assemblyman Genovesi actually
began at the district level as a newly, as a
new graduate of Cornell University in 1981,
going back to Brooklyn. One of, I think the
first political club that I attended was the
Thomas Jefferson Club with Tony Genovesi. And
it struck me as a new graduate interested in
local events and local politics to watch Tony
Genovesi operate at the grassroots level. And
that taught me a great deal about how
effective someone can be in making government
work at the grassroots level. So I learned a
great deal. In fact my very first trip to
Albany was with the Young Democrats of the
Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club and Tony
Genovesi. So that is something that I will
never ever forget and I believe part of the
reason I am here today, Mr. President, is
because of the impression that Tony Genovesi
left on me and that the fact that at the grass
roots level we could get something done and to
help people, and that's what Tony Genovesi was
all about.
Fortunately, while in the times
that I did speak to him up here through the
2997
Italian American Legislators he gave me great
insight into the political process.
Unfortunately I won't have that
benefit in the future, but I do have those
memories, and so to the family and to everyone
who had an association with him I extend my
condolences and I still have those memories.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Kruger.
SENATOR KRUGER: Mr. President,
we are joined by the Genovesi family this
afternoon. I would ask that they be
recognized and that we extend the privileges
of the house.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
question is on the resolution. I would ask
all the members who support the resolution to
stand for a moment of silence in recognition
of Anthony J. Genovesie's life.
(A moment of silence was observed.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
resolution is adopted.
Senator Bruno.
2998
SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
there is a another privileged resolution at
the desk by Senator Skelos. I would ask that
the title be read and move for its immediate
adoption.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: By Senator
Skelos, Legislative Resolution Number 1417,
memorializing Governor George E. Pataki to
proclaim May 17th through 21, 1999, as Bone
Marrow Donor Awareness week in New York State.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
question is on the resolution. All those in
favor signify by saying aye.
(Response of Aye.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Opposed
nay.
(The resolution is adopted.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
can we return to reports of standing
committees, and I believe there is a report at
the desk by the Rules Committee. I ask it be
2999
read at this time.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We will
return to the reports of standing committees.
The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno,
report from the Committee on Rules, Senate
Bill 5594-B, by Senator Skelos, an act amend
the Tax Law and the General City Law.
The bill is ordered direct to third
reading.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Move to accept
the report of the Rules Committee.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
motion is to accept the report of the Rules
Committee. All in favor say aye.
(Response of Aye.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Opposed
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
report is accepted and ordered direct to third
reading.
Senator Bruno.
3000
SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
can we at this time take up Calendar Number
1080.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1080, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5594-B,
an act to amend the Tax Law and the General
City Law, in relation to the definition of
non-resident.
SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
before that, can we ask that the last section
be read for the purpose of allowing Senator
Stafford to cast his vote.
THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator Stafford for the purpose of
casting his vote.
SENATOR STAFFORD: Aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The Chair
recognizes Senator Lack for the purpose of
3001
casting his vote.
SENATOR LACK: Aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Both
members recorded in the affirmative. Roll
call withdrawn.
FROM THE FLOOR: Explanation.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Skelos, an explanation has been requested.
SENATOR SKELOS: As my colleagues
know, in 1966, the Legislature passed what is
today known as the Commuter Tax, which was one
quarter of one percent to persons who commuted
into the City of New York but did not reside
there.
In 1971 during one of New York
City's many fiscal crisis there was a
temporary surcharge or additional commuter tax
of one fifth of one percent that has been
extended every two years for the past 28
years.
This legislation would repeal the
Commuter Tax in its entirety for the New York
City fiscal year commencing July 1st, 1999.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Does any
Senator wish to be the recognized?
3002
SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, I do.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We have a
list going, Senator.
Senator Goodman.
SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President,
on the bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Goodman, on the bill.
SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President,
in recent days we have sadly witnessed a
situation in the war in the Balkans in which a
United States -- can we have some order,
please, Mr. President.
In which the NATO forces released a
bomber which accidentally hit a target by
mistake killing a number of innocent
bystanders. And I respectfully submit to you,
Mr. President, that with perhaps good
intentions this piece of legislation is
parallel to what occurred in that instance.
This maybe well intended but it is
inadvertently hitting a number of innocent
bystanders in such fashion as to cause serious
damage to the City of New York.
Mr. President, I happen to have
3003
been one of the authors of the original tax to
which this bill refers. As the city's finance
commissioner serving in the administration of
Mayor John Lindsay in 1966, we introduced a
tax package which consisted of a tax on
residents of the city and then there was quite
a bit of internal discussion as to what else
should be done in that year and it was very
broadly felt that I think substantial logic
that since significant services were being
delivered to commuters that those commuters
should have an opportunity to pay a fair share
albeit a very considerably lesser share than
was being paid by the residents of the city.
When a commuter comes into New York
City and steps off a commuter train they are
immediately seen -- they are immediately
examined for their safety or there is
oversight for their safety by the New York
City police department. If they are mugged
there is a cop around hopefully to arrest the
mugger, but more importantly there is great
deterrents from crime around the railroad
stations and the other areas of the business
community to which commuters must go.
3004
If there is a fire in one of their
office buildings where they earn their daily
bread, the city fire department is called and
it puts out the fire hopefully preventing it
through a whole series of measures which the
fire department uses to prevent the outbreak
of fire.
In going to work to and from, many
people use the subways and the buses and I
submit to you that that involves a
considerable amount of subsidization which is
provided by the city for those services as
well.
So whether it be police, whether it
be fire, whether it be transit or any
innumerable other services which a city
provides to the people who come in and out of
it on any given day, it is perfectly clear
that there is a tax appropriate to
proportionally deal with the cost of these
services and to eliminate that tax, with at
best, the unjust and very unfair and
disproportionate approach.
Now, believe me, when we decided to
impose the tax we knew that it wouldn't be
3005
popular because obviously no one wants any
kind of a tax to be imposed upon their income.
But the amount of the tax is indeed modest and
in all of the 28 years since it was imposed it
has never been raised. Whereas the city's
personal income tax has been increased by a
full 10 percent during that period.
So I think we have tried very hard
to keep this at the lowest level we could and
to keep its dent in the pocketbooks of the
commuters at a very modest level.
Lets be specific. First of all,
remember whatever the amount of the tax it is
deductible against the federal income tax. It
is therefore only a fraction of the hit that
would otherwise be if it were not a deductible
expense.
Now, the City of New York has a tax
rate on commuters of .45 percent. That is
less than one half of one percent. Lets
compare this to other commuter taxes imposed
by other major cities in the United States.
Los Angeles has a .8 percent tax, almost
double that of New York.
Newark has a 1.0 percent tax, more
3006
than double that of New York.
San Francisco has a one and a half
percent tax, which is almost four times that
of New York.
Cleveland has a two percent tax,
almost five times that of New York.
Philadelphia has a 4.3 percent tax,
which is obviously almost more than ten times
greater.
And Yonkers, another city in the
State of New York, actually has a .5 percent
tax.
Each of these commuter taxes is
larger than the tax levied by the City of New
York against its commuters so I submit to you
that these are very modest amounts that are
being asked to be paid. Indeed, you should
also note that the average income of the
nonresident is significantly greater than the
average income of the resident. We have
statistics which prove that. They show that
the average income of a New Yorker is roughly
one third of that of a commuter.
So I say to you that the effort to
remove this tax is one which is stemmed from a
3007
situation which is wholly irrelevant to the
question of tax policy, rather it relates to a
situation that occurs in one of our counties
where there is impelling logic and reason for
a Republican to be elected. That is the last
thing I will say about that particular part as
an observation. You may or may not agree with
that.
Having said that, I would
respectfully submit that to use such a tax as
a lever from either side, and by the way, if
you will note, the New York Times editorial
this morning it did properly affix the blame
for the origin of this idea upon the members
of the other party. It stated, and I read you
its first paragraph, "The idea" -- it says,
"Idle Hands In Albany". "The idea was it
would be a good political ploy to rally
support for their candidates for State Senate
seat north of New York City, several Democrats
endorsed what has long been little more than a
suburban whim. They announced that they
wanted the State Legislature to end the
Commuter Tax for suburbanites who work in New
York City."
3008
Now, Mr. President, let me simply
say to you that by every reasonably measure
that one can possibly conceive of this tax
does not make sense. There is also a question
relating to its constitutionality by imposing
the tax upon solely the people in the -- the
commuters who are New York State residents
where you run afoul of the federal
constitution. And furthermore there is a very
serious and pressing question with regard to
the need for a home rule message on this tax.
Let me remind this body that when
the tax was adopted it was adopted only after
the passage of a home rule message. I take
you back to the year 1996 and I remind you
that Chapter 774 of the laws of 1966, I
misspoke a moment ago, 1966, was passed on a
home rule request pursuant to Article 9,
Section 2(b)(ii) of the State Constitution.
The fact that the legislation authorizing the
city to impose the nonresident earnings tax
was passed under home rule message clearly
manifests the need for a home rule request
prior to any action at this time. And there
is no home rule request.
3009
So whether you look at this in
terms of the sheer equity and fairness of the
need to impose a tax in order to cover the
cost of services, whether you look at it from
a standpoint of comparisons with other cities
in the United States, in fact, taxes on
commuters are vastly greater than that in New
York. And you look at the one other
jurisdiction within New York State, namely
Yonkers, which has imposed a tax that is even
higher by five tenths, if you take a look at
the questions of its constitutionality in
being before us there are serious questions
both in terms of the U.S. Constitution by
virtue of the fact that this relates only to
the citizens of New York State and not to
those of Connecticut and New Jersey for
example. And finally there is no home rule
message which is clearly required.
Hence, Mr. President, I
respectfully submit to you this is not
properly before us, and even if it were it
merits a negative vote strictly on the sense
of fairness which says that when people obtain
services they should be paid for and those
3010
services certainly would not be paid for if
this tax is repealed.
As the author of the tax I think it
is my baby. I'm not of the baby. It was an
ugly, crying, mewling, puking infant, as
Shakespeare said, from its very inception, but
one that was necessary for the health of the
city. We have to nourish it. We have to give
it adequate milk and other nutrients to keep
it going. I can only say to you that the
attempt to kill this little baby which was
born in 1966 would be a sad miscarriage of
justice and it would be a misguided missile of
the worst sort. So I urge you, please, my
colleagues, vote in the negative on this
matter.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Padavan.
SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you, Mr.
President.
I will not attempt to expand upon
the prose that we just heard from Senator
Goodman, but I do know that when gauntlets are
thrown down and the people that pick them up,
3011
what happens thereafter is usually most
unsatisfactory, destructive to both sides.
Things happen that people would not want to
happen if they were acting perhaps with a
little more forethought.
I think that is the situations we
have here. Senator Goodman pointed out the
rate of .45 percent. If someone earned from
outside the City of New York, $50,000, the
average commuter tax, income tax, would be
$225.
We all know many people, those of
us in the City of New York, friends, relatives
who live outside of the City of New York who
work in the city and have businesses in the
city and frankly if you spoke to any one of
them, one on one, and said, you know, your
business, your employment, your safety, all
the things that you require when you get off
the Long Island Railroad or arrive by car in
the city, are they worth $225? The answer
would be yes.
New York City is an open city,
meaning our parks, our libraries, our museums,
the zoos that we have, everything that we
3012
have, all of which cost money, is available to
everyone in the City of New York, both
resident and nonresident. That is not true
when you leave the City of New York and go
elsewhere you can not get into a local park
without a town permit. You can not use the
local library unless you are a resident of
that particular jurisdiction.
We would not want it any other way
as far as the City of New York is concerned.
But the 800,000 people, more or less, who come
into the city and earn their livelihoods,
support their families, are really being asked
to share a very, very small burden.
As my colleague pointed out, this
tax was first adopted in 1966, with a home
rule message. Why one is not required at this
juncture logic of that also escapes me. Both
in this house and in the Assembly, which
historical has also always asked for a home
rule message. For some reason, from what I
read, and maybe I will be proven to be wrong,
that is not any longer the case. So there a
certain hypocrisy that permeates the Capitol
on this issue.
3013
Now, the bill before us relates
only to repealing that tax for New York State
residents who are commuters. However, based
on recent decisions and certain challenges
that have taken place by people outside the
State of New York, specifically New Jersey,
there is no doubt that the out of state
commuter tax will also evaporate. And the
total hit will be $360 million, which the
Mayor has placed in his budget, in his fiscal
plan, earmarked for many, many things that are
of value not only to city residents, but also
those from outside the city.
So I suggest to you that by
eliminating this tax you not only hurt the
people in the City of New York, but all those
who come to the City of New York, because it
has to be taken out of somewhere. And how
they will refashion that is yet to be
determined.
There is also a question as to
whether or not, based on the 1996 Court of
Appeals decision, as to whether or not action
on this legislation without a home rule
message will stand constitutional muster.
3014
That remains to be seen. My reading as a non
attorney indicates that it will not.
However, irrespective of that, it
will be months before that judicial
determination takes place and in the interim
we'll have many, many problems.
I think, you know, as a person who
at one time represented part of Nassau County,
for ten years represented the communities of
Great Neck and a number of other communities
in that area, Kings Point and so on, I can
well understand an attitude that some might
perceive relevant to coming to another
jurisdiction and being taxed. But at the same
time I repeat what I said earlier. Most of
those constituents of mine at that time
understood quite clearly that the burden they
were being asked to share was very, very small
and the rewards for going into New York City
and conducting their business or being in the
places of employment or going to all of the
cultural facilities that we have to offer in
the City of New York, all of which are
subsidized to some degree or other within our
city budget. That that small tax was worth
3015
it.
So I suggested to the proponents of
this legislation today that it is ill advised.
It is unfair. It maybe unconstitutional. It
certainly should not be done without a home
rule message from the City of New York. And I
would urge everyone to vote in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
if we could, at this time have the last
section read for the purposes of Senator
Saland voting.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Saland, how do you vote?
SENATOR SALAND: I vote in the
affirmative, Mr. President.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
3016
if I could just make a couple of comments or
observations concerning the arguments made by
Senator Goodman and Senator Padavan.
Number one, when the Commuter Tax
was authorized by the state Legislature in
1966, the Journal Clerk's transcripts and
records indicate that there was no home rule
message required by the Senate. In fact our
records indicate that when the temporary
portion of the Commuter Tax was extended in
1997, there was no home rule message either in
the Senate or the Assembly.
Putting that aside, there are
numerous case decisions that have indicated
that the Legislature has the inherent power to
prescribe and the method of collection of
taxes. That includes local taxes. The
Commuter Tax is paid and collected by the
State of New York and then distributed to the
City of New York. And what numerous cases
decisions have held, what the Legislature
giveth, the Legislature can taketh away.
Now, a few thing I would like to
point out in terms of out of state, in state
residents, the bill is carefully drafted to
3017
state, number one, that the repeal of the
Commuter Tax shall apply to non New York City
residents who reside within the State of New
York. We then state that should a court find
the legislation to require it to cover all
residents, whether New York State residents or
not, then the Commuter Tax would be repealed
in its entirety.
We feel though that under the
substantial reason rule, and there have been
numerous cases in this area, that the courts
will find that the legislation is
constitutional and that it can apply to the -
solely to New York State residents who do not
live in the City of New York.
Now, there have been comments made
about how we who live in the suburbs take
advantage of all of the niceties of New York
City. And let me say, I thoroughly enjoy
going into New York City. Thousands of my
commuters that reside in my district in Nassau
and Suffolk Counties commute into the city.
But there are 115,000, these are statistics I
have from the LIA, the Long Island
Association, New York City residents who
3018
commute to Long Island and work. And they are
not being asked to pay a commuter tax to use
our roads, to use our police services, and
neither are the residents of New York City
asked to pay for the use of our roads if there
going out to the Hamptons for the weekend.
They are not asked to pay for police services.
They are not asked to pay for fire services.
They are not asked to pay for any services
whatsoever other than what others would maybe
be asked to pay for.
When New York City residents go up
to the Adirondacks or the Catskills, and take
pleasure in using all that tax exempt property
the taxpayers and residents of those upstate
communities, they don't ask for a commuter tax
or anything like that to subsidize the tax
exempt use of those beautiful parks in the
Adirondacks and in the Catskills.
Many press accounts indicate how
minimal the elimination of the Commuter Tax
can be for those who reside in the suburbs. I
know that in my district, and many others on
Long Island and I am sure Westchester and
Rockland, the amount of that commuter tax can
3019
add up to perhaps six months of commuting free
into the city to pay for the Commuter Tax for
the privilege of working in the city.
You know, there are so many good
things that we have done in Senate Majority,
that the Governor has done, in cutting taxes
throughout the State of New York. And when
you look at them, you know, they all may not
be a lot of money but it all starts adding up.
You know, whether it is the sales tax on
exemption on clothing that may only be 90 to
$100, whether it is the STAR program that may
be 700 to $800 hundred, whether it is the
elimination of the PIT, which only may be a
few hundred dollars, they all slowly add up
and become real money.
The City of New York right now has
a $2.1 billion surplus and Mayor Giuliani is
to be congratulated. He has turned that city
around. The crime rate is down. Just today
reading in the papers and hearing in the news,
the lowest crime rate of all cities over one
million. New York City, Mayor Giuliani. And
he is to be congratulated.
He is also to be congratulated for
3020
in the fiscal year 2000 there will be $2
billion in tax cuts. That is either new ones
that have been proposed in his present budget,
or other ones that are being phased in. Two
billion dollars in tax cuts, $2.1 billion
surplus. Mayor Giuliani should be
congratulated, but suburban commuters should
not have to subsidize those tax cuts.
We go through the list of tax cuts
that the city has enacted, you know a lot of
them, and again, the argument was made, what
is $50 here, what's $80 here. Taxes,
commercial rent reduction, $21 million.
Extension of the co-op condo property tax of
relief, $166 million. The elimination I
believe it was last year of the surcharge on
the New York City PIT, amounted to five or six
hundred million dollars in tax relief to New
York City residents.
Again I congratulate the Mayor. It
is the right way to go. He is doing the right
thing for the residents of the City of New
York, and now we're saying for, 33 years, 33
years, suburbanites, suburban legislators who
passed this legislation in the passed, many of
3021
them Republican, because the city was in
crisis at numerous times did the right thing
then, passed it, but now the right thing to do
is to repeal the Commuter Tax in its entirety.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Marcellino.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
I had prepared some remarks but
Senator Skelos in his eloquence has basically
stated everything I was going to say and then
some. I would just like to say I agree with
the Senator. I congratulate him for this
piece of legislation. I congratulate the
Mayor and the Governor of this State for
turning around both the State and the City of
New York and making us able and capable of
passing this kind of legislation.
It is long overdue and I look
forward to voting aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Hevesi.
SENATOR HEVESI: Thank you, Mr.
President.
On the bill. Mr. President I rise
3022
to commend my Republican colleagues for their
opposition to this piece of legislation. I
agree with Senator Goodman and Senator
Padavan.
This legislation is
unconstitutional. It should not be before us
because there is no home rule message as is
required. It is being done for political
reasons, not economic reasons, not policy
reasons. And I will not reiterate but there
are a whole series of arguments, some of which
we have heard today, where you can justify
this very small tax, less than one-half of one
percent, on individuals who prosper in their
employment in the City of New York and as a
consequence of that employment utilize a whole
series of city services that I really don't
need to articulate here.
Having said that, having said that,
at least when we enacted the STAR Program
there was compensation by the State for all
the municipalities that forfeited revenue as a
consequence of that very good program. Here
there is absolutely no regard for the fiscal
impact that this legislation will have on the
3023
City of New York.
And I think it is very important
that I correct come misperception that somehow
has been able to circulate out there because,
yes, it is true, the City of New York now has
a $2.1 billion surplus. Any one who suggests
that this is a condition that is permanent is
just kidding themselves. So let me, if I may,
show you what is going to happen in the City
of New York over the next few years.
Next year projections are that the
current $2.1 billion budget surplus will be
reduced in excess of $1 billion. That is
fiscal 2000, the fiscal year that will be
first impacted by this legislation. In fiscal
year 2001 the city, in the best case scenario,
best case meaning all the risks that are
inherent in the budgets that we are going to
see, if those risks don't materialize the City
of New York will have a $1.8 billion deficit,
deficit, best case scenario. In the year
2001, fiscal year, the worst case scenario the
city will run a $2.7 billion deficit, deficit.
In 2002, the best case scenario,
the city will run a $2 billion deficit, again,
3024
deficit. The best case scenario -- I'm sorry,
the worst case scenario in 2002, the city will
run a $3.3 billion deficit, and not to be
repetitive here, in fiscal year 2003, the
worst case scenario, the city's deficit that
year will balloon to $3.5 billion.
I will remind everybody that if
this legislation is enacted the $360 million
hit would not just be $360 million every year
as a permanent loss to the city. That number
that the city will realize, the .45 percent
will increase, as it has increased for the
increased revenue for the City of New York for
the past 10 or 15 years. So it is an
additional loss of revenue that we will never
see again as the structural deficit in the
City of New York increases and expands.
Senator Skelos outlined for us some
of the tax cuts that the City of New York has
implemented and I just would like to thank him
for doing that and to suggest that the tax
cuts that the City of New York has proposed
for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins on
July 1st of this year are targeted tax cuts
that will stimulate the economy of the City of
3025
New York that will drive the revenue stream
both in the city and the State. And some of
the -- if I may be allowed, some of the taxes
that the city proposed to implement that total
$400 million, ironically or not, closely
approximating the amount of loss that we will
see if this legislation is enacted, there are
$57 million in business tax cuts that the City
of New York intends to implement, $57 million.
There is a $21 million reduction to the
commercial rent tax, a tax that has long been
decried as something that is absolutely
blockage of economic development in the city.
Absolutely antibusiness. We are trying to
bring that down. This flies in the face of it
and will prevent the City of New York from
moving ahead with its economic package that
has stimulated the economy and has resulted in
our wonderful economic condition today, which
it will not be in successive years. And I
just would like in conclusion to remind
everybody here that this is not only bad
economic policy, it is penny wise and pound
foolish. Because although the City of New
York has a $2.1 billion surplus this year, the
3026
State ironically has a $2 billion surplus this
year. I will remind everyone that that $2
billion state surplus, state surplus, almost
in its entirety is a direct consequence of the
fire sector in New York City, particularly
Wall Street. So if we do this here today and
we damage the City of New York, hinder its
ability to implement targeted tax reductions
that will stimulate economic progress and
development of the city we will be cutting off
our nose to spite our face and state revenue
will come down as a consequence.
I have great sympathy for the
individuals from the surrounding communities
in the City of New York, for the neighboring
counties. I absolutely do. This is not a
Democrat, Republican issue, as evidenced by
Republican colleagues rising in opposition to
it. And this is not an issue that should be
looked at upon as a city not city issue. This
is something that is important for the
regional economy and the State economy of New
York. For that reason and the 19 others that
have been outlined today on both sides of the
aisle I rise in opposition to this and I urge
3027
all of my colleagues to vote no on this
legislation.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Marchi.
SENATOR MARCHI: Mr. President, I
was present and took the initiative on the
enactment of the very legislation that we put
in place in 1966. And some of the remarks
that have been made here, today and I can
understand Senator Skelos' arguments where the
task of going to this constituency and saying,
well you are paying a tax to another
jurisdiction for giving of your labors, so he
made some very persuasive arguments.
On the other hand you also made
some very valuable considerations that we can
not predicate at this point an eternal
euphoria and that we have several billion
dollars as they contend at the other end of
this floor, therefore we can spend a lot more
here in the state based on that euphoria and
that it will continue.
Plainly the situation does call for
prudence on a widespread basis. And I submit
that I am opposed to spreading that euphoria
3028
into next year until we are on very solid
footing. If we escalate, as is the
expectation on the other end of this floor
down the hall, another billion dollars or
more, we may find ourselves in a very
precarious condition next year. And for the
same reason, having participated in the
enactment of this legislation, having lived
through the crisis that we survived and city
has honored its limitations without deviation
through Democratic and Republican mayors, the
city has lived within that limitation since
then.
I would submit that submitting a
$330 million hole at this point makes it very
difficult for those of us who live in the City
of New York and may have to respond to the
question if the euphoria indeed is not
eternal. What are we going to do about
certain urgent needs that confront the people
of the City of New York.
There may be another time when it
would be urgent that we act on broadening that
base of deduction. I don't feel that we have
it available to us at this time. So that I
3029
can in all candor find it impossible to
support this legislation, as much as I respect
the feeling that prompted the reaction which
is wholly consistent with the relationship he
has with his own people. I can not find it
within myself an act of responsibility to
support it at this time. So I will urge a no
vote.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Goodman.
SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President,
it is difficult for me to debate against one
of the class acts of this house, Senator
Skelos, for whom I have inordinate regard, but
I am afraid in this case I must respectfully
disagree with him for the following reasons.
First of all, let me point out that
there is quite an array of people on a
bipartisan basis who oppose this tax. They
include the Mayor of the city, speaker of the
city counsel Mr. Valone, the comptroller of
the State of New York Carl McCall, comptroller
of the City of New York Alan Hevesi, and a
formidable array of business leaders known as
the partnership.
3030
In a memo, a cogent memo, submitted
by George Lence, the acting senior vice
president for government affairs of the
partnership, some of you may remember George,
he was my counsel until earlier this year and
so therefore is a well trained intellect
without question, they point out a couple of
interesting things that I think we should keep
in mind. First of all they make it clear that
in 1996 nonresidents earned 40 percent of New
York City's wages and paid only what percent
would you guess of the taxes? You are right,
eight percent.
Ninety-two percent of the wages are
earned by residents and they pay only 60
percent of the -- excuse me, let me restate
that in correct sequence. Residents earn 60
percent of the city's wages and pay 92 percent
of the city's tax revenues. Nonresidents, 40
percent of the city's wages and pay eight
percent. Residents, 60 percent pay 92
percent. You can see where the burden falls.
The burden falls directly on the people of the
City of New York.
Now, Senator Skelos, I would be
3031
willing to enter into a bargain with you right
now by swap. If we could take all of the
areas from which New York City derives benefit
when its people leave the city, such as the
Adirondacks and Jones Beach and you name it,
and if we could let the city dwellers pay a
tax that is equivalent to the services they
derive if in turn you permit us to let the
commuters pay for the services they derive in
the city I assure you that the percentages of
the tax that the commuters pay and the
proportions they pay would be exponentially
greater than what they pay right now.
The fact of the matter is that this
tax structure short changes the city beyond
question. I would like further to point out
to you that the Commuter Tax is a permanent
tax. It has been around for 28 years and if
we rationally keep it on the books it will be
on for a number of additional years into the
future. But the city surplus is a one shot.
It is very unlikely it will recur. We know,
my good friends, that trees do not grow to the
sky. The Dow Jones average teetering
precipitously at 11,000 is not likely to go
3032
much beyond this, although it is conceivable
that it could carry for a while, but I commend
to you a book by John Kenneth Galbraith, a
professor of economics at a little junior
college in Cambridge called Harvard who wrote
a book about the crash of 1929. The great
crash depicts the enthusiasm and the optimism
with which everybody assured one another the
greatest experts, including Mr. J.P. Morgan
and the Whitneys and all the rest that there
would be a perpetual prosperity generated by
the stock market. And when the stock market
came crashing down at a congressional hearing
the people were so upset at what had happened
put a midget on Mr. Whitney's knee while he
was testifying before the Congress to indicate
the pygmy proportions of his intellect which
dared to predict that the prosperity would go
on indefinitely.
So I point out to you that this
prosperity can't go on indefinitely but the
Commuter Tax is something which is reliable.
Now, keep in mind something else
that I think is extremely significant. That
is that the Mayor and the speaker of the
3033
counsel have carefully crafted what you could
regard as a tax program best designed to
stimulate the job economy of the city. And in
the recently enunciated budget of the Mayor
there were several taxes that he expects to
cut. Among these are the following; the
mayor's plan would cut the four percent sales
tax on books which would save book buyers an
estimated $25 million a year. The Mayor has
an earned income tax credit for lower income
families, savings are estimated at $80 for an
average household but could go even higher in
the city council amendments.
There is a cut in the mortgage
recording tax for first time home buyers on
mortgages under $250,000, estimated average
saving $900 per home buyer. Notice the say
the Mayor is focused on helping the little
people overcome their economic burden.
Furthermore, the auto use tax paid as part of
our car registration would involve a two year
savings of $30 for each car owner.
The one near and dear to my heart
and that of anybody with any co-op apartments
in their district is a measure in the Mayor's
3034
tax reduction package, tax relief for co-op
and condo owners, total annual savings of $160
million.
These will all be crowded out by
this nonjudicious attempt to eliminate a tax
which should remain on the books. The
partnership memo says that eliminating the
nonresident earnings tax would put a $360
million recurring annual hole in the city's
budget. It goes on to point out that under
the leadership of the Mayor and the president
of the city council the partnership feels very
strongly that the job economy of the city
would be stimulated.
Now, the partnership is no mean
group. It consists of every major builder,
banker, entrepreneur in the City of New York
and I can only tell you this is a real blue
book and it is their collective judgment to
repeal this tax would be a dreadful mistake.
My friends, we have all heard of
the nattering nabobs of negativism and I
submit to you that what is going on here is a
product that can only be associated with the
shall I put it bluntly, the false fatuous
3035
fiscal fumbling of a group of well intended
people but this false fatuous fiscal fumbling
must be blocked and blocked on this floor.
Lets rise to the occasion with good
common sense and not allow something like this
to hurt our city as it surely will do.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
President.
On the bill, I just want to point
out of course that there really haven't been
any hearings on this proposal, let alone any
substantive hearings, no impact statements
have been put forward about the impact which
of this legislation. No discussions about the
shared destiny of the City of New York with
its suburbs and with the State of New York.
I don't understand, what's the
rush? What's the rush? We have not even done
a budget. This is more important than getting
a budget done? I fail to see why we are
looking at this piece of legislation which has
such a major impact for the City of New York
and the suburbs and the State of New York
3036
short term and long term without those kinds
of discussions and before we have even looked
at how this year's state budget could make up
for the loss of revenue for the City of New
York.
You know, it is a terrible thing
when we go out and start usurping local
control and that is exactly what is happening
here. We are usurping local control and we
are not having a discussion about what the
impact of that usurpation will be. No
hearings on that, no impact statement, no
discussion of the link and the common destiny
designee between the City of New York, its
suburbs and the State of New York and what
that means for the State's revenue as well,
long term.
There is no doubt but that services
will continue to be provided in the City of
New York and that when commuters come in they
will be safe, that police and fire protection
will be there, the subways, which are also
heavily subsidized will continue to run, that
people will continue to be able to walk on
sidewalks without breaking their ankles
3037
because the sidewalks are being repaired. All
of these things will remain in place. But you
can bet what will be cut are programs which
serve those New Yorkers who are most in need.
The millions of dollars we are
talking about you know will go toward cutting
services to New York City's working people and
its poor people because the City of New York
will continue to provide all of the services
which will insure the quality of life for
those people who live in New York City and
those people who work in New York City.
Again, what is the rush? Why are
we doing this now? We don't have what exactly
the impact will be and we have not had the
discussion of the link and the destiny of New
York City, its suburbs and the State of New
York.
I urge my colleagues to vote no.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Since 1987 this legislation has
been before the Senate. Twelve years, 12
3038
years. Maybe it should have been taken a
little more seriously. But it is a tax. It
is not a fee. It is a tax. And one thing
this body has done so well in the last four
and a half years is reduce taxes.
Senator Skelos said it best.
115,000 people travel everyday to Nassau and
Suffolk Counties. As a Nassau County resident
I pay taxes. I pay for my portion of the
police, of the roads. We don't charge
individuals who come into our county or our
island to enjoy our parks, to enjoy traveling
throughout the island.
This is a tax. It is an old tax.
Senator Skelos, let me commend you. This is
one tax that we should retire today.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Bonacic.
SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, Mr.
President.
Lets face it, there was a political
event coming up that caused us to concentrate
on this legislation and moving it. And you
know the thing that disturbs me, I have heard
arguments against this legislation that it is
3039
bipartisan, that we have Republicans and
Democrats in New York City opposing this
commuter tax.
Let me tell you what I have
observed quickly in the last ten years here.
It is not Republican or Democrat any more. I
hear all these arguments of upstate versus
downstate. And that is the politics that
drives the budget and that's the politics that
drives much of the legislation that we put
forth.
I have heard it said that New York
City wants to reduce taxes on the little
people. Well, let me tell you about the
little people from Sullivan County, Ulster
County, Orange County.
Sullivan County, their sales tax
was $24 million 10 years ago. They are at
twelve and a half. Their wealth has been
diminished in half. Their unemployment is
above the state average and above the national
average. Commuters that come to New York City
are the little people. So this is an
opportunity, now that the city is a little
flush, $2 billion a year, to give something
3040
back to the little commuter that comes to New
York City.
You impose now an MTA tax on those
commuters. Every day we spend a quarter of
one percent that we give for your buses and
your subways. So I think on the merits this
is the right thing to do even though we all
know it was prompted by a political event that
is scheduled to happen.
Now, if the City falls on tough
times you come back to this Legislature and
we'll look to help New York City people.
Aren't we the same? What is the difference
of a New Yorker from New York City or a New
Yorker in Buffalo or the Hudson Valley? We
are a New York family and when we talk about
upstate and downstate, you know what, it
diminishes our state. So this is a judgment
call and I happen to be representing those
commuters that will benefit this time around.
But I have voted for New York City legislation
in the Assembly that helped the little people
when on the merits it was right.
So I believe that on the merits for
the little commuter that comes in from
3041
Sullivan and Ulster and I haven't told you the
bad number in Ulster County where when IBM
pulled out we lost 7,000 jobs. We have only
recouped 2,000. We are still struggling. We
are in rural New York that goes to New York
City.
I support the legislation on the
merit. It should have been done. I don't say
it should have been done back in '87 because
New York City wasn't doing that well. But
they are doing well now, and from everything
that we can see, Wall Street aside, Wall
Street aside, because your real estate market
is booming, your tourism is booming, your
hotel industry is booming, your job creation
in Bronx and Brooklyn is booming.
And I sat with the Mayor in
Delaware County Saturday night. He was there
as the main speaker, and he said, we are a
family. And when New York City benefits the
State of New York benefits. So I say to the
Mayor, yes we are benefitting by passing this
commuter tax and I applaud all of those
members that vote in favor and I thank Senator
Skelos for bringing it forward and sticking
3042
with it.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Larkin.
SENATOR LARKIN: Thank you, Mr.
President.
I want to join with my other
colleagues in the support of this legislation.
12,000 people out of my district commute to
New York City every day for their livelihood.
They make a living in New York City, but many
of them say to me, hey, we are paying the
Commuter Tax, we are paying the MTA tax. When
is it our turn. We hear the city saying they
are flushed with money. Maybe what we ought
to think about is the time that the New
Yorkers, city people, residents, come up to
our areas and they expect our fire departments
to be available, they expect our ambulance
service. They expect a lot of services from
our rural areas who go to New York and pay for
services.
They buy services. They buy goods.
This is the right time to do something for
those people who a lot of people call the
3043
little people. These are the people that are
not making a hundred thousand. These are
individuals who take a train in my area at
5:13 in the morning and get home at 8:30 and
9:00 o'clock at night.
What we are doing is something that
we imposed upon them many years ago when times
were tough. Times are flush now in the city,
and what we are saying is it is time to take
care of those people who we went to and said
we need your dollars for the city. It is time
we turned around and said to them, Now we are
going to take care of you. I wholeheartedly
support this legislation.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: When I arrived
in this chamber in 1990, tax cuts were mere
political slogans. We were not doing them.
As a matter of fact, in 1986, the famous tax
act that Governor Mario Cuomo kept putting off
and putting off and putting off. We didn't do
the tax cuts. And so tax cuts became a part
of the political rhetoric that floated around
this legislature like a sick joke.
3044
Things have changed. They have
changed in large part because of Governor
George Pataki. But they have also changed
because now, as part of our philosophy,
particularly in this chamber, tax cuts have
become a reality.
Senator Duane asked, why don't we
slow this bill down, why rush to judgment.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have been waiting for
this bill on Long Island for over a decade.
Thanks to Dean Skelos and his perseverance to
keep this issue alive, and when you call it
political, look when Senator Skelos introduced
this bill. Look back when he did it. There
were no races going on. There was nothing.
It was Senator Skelos's believe that this is a
bad tax and we all joined him in that effort.
But when you take a look at other
issues like economic development, we will
always talk about the needs to have an
effective, educated work force. And we should
do nothing to dissuade them from coming to our
places of business to join in economically.
Apparently not so for New York City because it
is okay to do a commuter tax, which penalizes
3045
individuals, individuals who are the work
force for the businesses in the City of New
York, very important. But it also is a
divisive tax. It once again draws that great
line across Queens and says, now we really are
different because we are going to tax you for
coming in here. But yet the reality of it is
today's economics say we are a region. We are
not a city versus the suburbs. We are an
economic region. If you do well we do well.
Lastly, another one of those sick
jokes around Albany, except for a couple of
years ago when something was called a
temporary tax and everybody laughed and said,
Yeah, yeah, right temporary tax. Well today
lets puts the word temporary in its proper
context. That is something that should be
reexamined from time to time, and when the
economic circumstances permit, lets repeal it.
Ladies and gentlemen, the economic
circumstances not only permit, but in fairness
an equity demand this repeal.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Leibell.
3046
SENATOR LEIBELL: Yes, Mr.
President.
Just briefly, to echo what so many
of my colleagues have said, for those of us
who represent many of the suburban areas
outside of New York City, we recognize that
New York State has a very different economy
than it had a few years ago. And New York
City has also a very different economy.
It is a strong city. It is a
strong economy. It is providing and
recommending numerous tax cuts and breaks for
its own citizens, and that's a good thing to
do. But for those of us who commute into New
York City, for those of my constituents who
commute in there this is a tax whose time has
come to end.
I want to point out for my
colleagues from the city, both parties, that
we provide many services to New York City.
Not only do New York City residents spend a
great deal of time in my district, but I might
add that my district is probably the heart of
the watershed. And we provide an awful lot of
our land at a pretty good reduced price to
3047
keep New York City's water supply clean and
available.
On another note I would like to
also point out that despite this dramatically
reduced crime rate we have in New York City,
you still have a few bad people there. And
when you incarcerate them you send them
frequently to my district and that is where we
provide housing for them. So there are many
services that come out of a district like mine
and my colleagues in the suburbs that go to
New York City residents and I might add that
we have no intention of asking for any sort of
a tax for New York City residents who wish to
venture into Westchester, Putnam or Dutchess
Counties.
Thank you, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Oppenheimer.
SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Senator
Leibell took some of the words that I was
going to use.
I have for the last 14 years, 15
years, said either we ought to have no
commuter tax or a commuter tax that was
3048
equitable that also permitted the counties
outside of New York City to tax those
residents who were coming from the city into
the suburban areas. As it turns out, right
now I believe our incommutation is equal to
our out-commutation in Westchester County,
which is something that has come about just in
recent years. But because we have so many of
corporate America's headquarters in our county
we see a lot of people coming from New York
City up to our county and to the surrounding
counties.
I wanted to mention also that we
are the watershed for New York City water. We
have a great deal of land that is not on our
tax rolls because we are the watershed of New
York City.
And I wanted to point out actually
those prisons are in my district. We have
several prisons. You have Bedford. But I
have several prisons in my district including
in Ossining, Sing Sing. So it is an
unfortunate thing, but we do provide housing
at those prisons and we certainly have those
lands off of the tax rolls.
3049
So I feel that on another point I
wanted to make is that we are now looking at
development that we are calling sustainable
development that is to be considered on a
regional basis. This is something that has
come to the forefront in the last year and I
certainly hope we will pass our sound economic
development program this year in this house.
But the fact is we are regional
economies now. We're no longer isolated. We
no longer look just to our boundaries and say
that is where the benefits or the damages
occur.
So I feel that since I have had a
bill for so long that said we should either be
taxing both ways or not taxing I am going to
be very happy to vote in favor.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Skelos to close.
SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr.
President. I thank my colleagues for -
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: We have
one more speaker, Senator Skelos, before we
close.
Senator Schneiderman.
3050
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Senator Skelos, I am struck by the
fact that we are clearly dealing with an issue
that is not a partisan that has -- where there
are strong advocates for repealing this tax
from the city, Democrats and Republicans, for
opposing the repeal from Democrats and
Republicans from the city. Strong advocates
such as Senator Oppenheimer and Senator Skelos
who support repealing the tax from both
parties. Not a Majority, Minority issue.
I appreciate the arguments about
equity where you have a tax that is one way it
can not help but look inequitable to those who
pay but feel that their jurisdictions do not
receive.
I think though that if we look at
the overall situation of equity regarding the
City of New York, which is the engine of
economic life for much of the State of New
York we have to take an overview, and I hope
that my Republican colleagues from the city
will join me in taking on far more damaging
and discriminatory acts of this house toward
3051
the City of New York and I am speaking about
the inadequate funding of our transit system
by the State where suburban transit systems
are far more heavily subsidized. The
inadequate funding of our public schools by
the state. These are things I look forward to
working on a bipartisan basis with vigorous
advocates from the city in both parties and
redressing. And I think that while I can not
support the repeal of the tax under these
circumstances I do understand the arguments
and I think it is very, very important though
to understand that this is a debate that we
are having on a regional basis and on a basis
of values and I have been very impressed with
the arguments of some of the strong advocates
from the suburbs in the Democratic party on
this issue and in the Republican party and I
hope that we will be able to take the same
sort of a bipartisan approach to assessing
other issues that deal with the equity of our
regional economy, because we do all work
together or fail together as an economic
engine in New York. And I will be voting no,
but I am respectful of the fact that many
3052
Democrats in Nassau and Westchester and active
Democrats speaking up for repeal of this tax
in Rockland County disagree with me on this
issue.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Skelos to close.
SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr.
President. And I thank my colleagues for what
has been a great debate.
I first introduced a bill to repeal
the Commuter Tax in 1987. I have voted
consistently as have so many of my colleagues
in the Majority from the suburban areas not to
extend the temporary part of the Commuter Tax
as it has come up every two years as it would
again this year.
On April 23rd I put out a press
release basically saying that we should
consider not extending the temporary part of
the Commuter Tax and I had discussions
concerning the entire concept of the Commuter
Tax. Voices did come from other areas of the
state, Republicans who were interested in
Rockland County in repealing the entire thing.
But as I have learned in life, everything
3053
sometimes is timing when things happen. And
the bottom line is you can have many offers of
a great idea. But this Legislature today is
doing the right thing in repealing the
Commuter Tax. This is not an issue of
interfering with home rule. It is an issue of
taxation without representation. Because if
the city wishes to tax its residents or not
tax their residents they have that option to
do it through the Legislature. But when you
are taxing people who do not reside within
your community with an income tax or a
commuter tax, that is not an issue of home
rule, that is an issue of taxation without
representation.
It is an issue of fairness. As was
said, $2.1 billion surplus and tax cuts of
almost $2 billion and those tax cuts continue
to grow, $2,000 and one of $2,000 and if there
is a structural deficit in the city maybe that
is what should be reviewed.
The power to create the tax carries
with it the inherent power to repeal the tax.
That's the right that we have as a
Legislature. It is not an issue of home rule,
3054
it is an issue of the inherent right resides
in the Legislature and that's why I am hopeful
today the Senate will join me in voting to
repeal the Commuter Tax and that Speaker
Silver and the Assembly Majority will follow
suit as they have pledged and vote to repeal
the Commuter Tax in their house.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
Senator Goodman, why do you rise?
SENATOR GOODMAN: Is it possible
to close for the opposition, Mr. President?
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Goodman, you have already had the opportunity
to speak twice and as often remind people on
both sides of the aisle, you are only allowed
to speak twice on the -
SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President,
may I remind you that Senator Skelos also
spoke twice preceding his closing.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: That is
not true, Senator Goodman. You are out of
order. If you want to explain your vote and
address the body at that time you are
certainly allowed two minute under the rules
3055
of the house.
SENATOR GOODMAN: Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
SENATOR SMITH: Slow roll call.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: I knew
we'd get to that.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Slow roll
call is requested. Five members standing.
The Secretary will call the roll slowly.
The bells are illuminated.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Alesi.
(No response.)
THE SECRETARY: Senator Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Bonacic.
SENATOR BONACIC: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Breslin.
(No response.)
3056
THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno.
(No response.)
THE SECRETARY: Senator Connor.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Connor to explain your vote.
SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr.
President.
This indeed has been an interesting
debate. It has certainly been an interesting
development with respect to this legislation
over the last week and a half or so.
Mr. President we are one state.
The suburbs, the city, upstate, we are
interdependent in many, many ways. And I have
listened to both sides of the argument and
certainly as the Democratic Minority leader of
the Senate didn't wish to take a narrow view.
I thank Senator Goodman for his many points,
particularly for pointing out to this entire
body whose idea this was, that is was the
Democratic Majority leader of the Rockland
County legislature that first proposed this
and I thank Senator Goodman for that because
these things are often hard to credit. But
now we have a credible source for confirming
3057
what we all know. And in view of all that,
Mr. President, and communications I have had
with people in Rockland County, I vote aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Connor will be recorded in the affirmative.
Continue with the slow roll call.
THE SECRETARY: Senator
DeFrancisco.
SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator
Dollinger.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: To explain my
vote, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Dollinger to explain his vote.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: I am glad and
I concur with Senator Connor. I am glad the
Democratic ideas about tax cuts are catching
on. I note that Senator Goodman pointed out
the mortgage income tax deduction for first
time home buyers in New York City. Great idea
that the Mayor has caught onto that idea,
proposed by Senator Connor.
Cuts in the earned income tax
credit. Another great idea proposed by
3058
Senator Connor and gathered in by a Republican
mayor in New York City and low and behold, now
we are doing the commuter tax. Another good
Democratic idea.
I would add, Mr. President, that
there is another reason to vote in favor of
repealing this tax. And it has to do with a
point that Senator Skelos made and one that I
agree with. And that is it really an instance
in which the payer of the tax is delinked from
the political process that puts the tax in
place and benefits from it. Whenever you
disenfranchise the payer of the tax and the
power to repeal it or the ability to change it
you really uncouple what I think is the most
important part of American government, and
that is people's free choice to tax themselves
for the public good. That is what happens here
when commuters pay a tax that ends up
benefitting the City of New York.
There are policy reasons and I
understand those reasons articulated by
Senator Goodman, but the bottom line is I
think the way to restore that representation
component, the way to get a good public policy
3059
is to link the taxpayer with the benefits of
the tax or in this case to repeal the tax that
is payed by people who do not have the
political power inside the City of New York to
advocate for its repeal.
So I think this is the right public
policy. I am glad this idea is catching on.
I have voted for billions of dollars in tax
cuts before. I willingly vote for this one,
Mr. President. I am voting aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Dollinger, you will be recorded as voting in
the affirmative.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Farley.
SENATOR FARLEY: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator
Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Gentile.
SENATOR GENTILE: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senate Gonzalez.
(No response.)
THE SECRETARY: Senator Goodman.
3060
SENATOR GOODMAN: To explain my
vote.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Goodman to explain his vote.
SENATOR GOODMAN: Mr. President,
this is a bill which is a product of the gang
that couldn't shoot straight. The gang is a
bipartisan group of well intended people eager
to win an election, but in the process have
managed to come up with a tax which is so -
with the repeal of a tax, an idea which is so
inherently senseless, so destructive and so
completely deconstructing of a careful fiscal
plan for the City of New York that I assure
this will go down in the annals of this house
as one of the most foolish pieces of fiscal
folly ever perpetrated on the public if it
should pass.
We still have time to beat this
thing. Lets pull up our socks, put on our
careful thinking caps and recognize that since
every major political figure involved in the
rational analysis of the future of the City of
New York apart from those of us in this
chamber which have somehow been
3061
anesthesthitized by virtue of something I
can't really understand that we should clearly
defeat this tax and allow it to go back into
the recesses of the great minds that produced
it and allow them to come up with something a
little more productive in their next round of
imaginative produce here in the legislature.
This is a bad tax repeal. It is a
tax that deserves to remain so we can repeal
the taxes that really have an impact on jobs
and the economy. Folly, folly, folly, and we
all ought to realize this and act accordingly
because it is not quite too late yet.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: How do
you vote Senator Goodman?
SENATOR GOODMAN: In the
negative, with enthusiasm.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Goodman will be recorded in the negative.
Continue the slow roll call.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Hannon.
SENATOR HANNON: To explain my
vote, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
3062
Hannon to explain his vote.
SENATOR HANNON: Mr. President, I
wasn't going to speak, but I think it is
incumbent to point out that this is a tax that
was born of a period totally different in
economic perspective than now.
When I was very young and a staffer
I was in this chamber when people were saying,
those of you in the affluent suburbs don't
abandon the city. Well, I think the history
of this state, the history of this body is
that we did not abandon the city. We looked
to be in partnership with them when they were
in need. And in fact, in terms of the
enactments we have made since then in regard
to transportation and other services that we
have been there and looked upon the suburbs
and the city as a region. But it is also
appropriate when economic circumstances have
changed totally that those things that arose
then are repelled now so I would vote yes and
urge that we retire this tax and give it a
gold watch and send it out to pasture.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Hannon will be recorded in the affirmative.
3063
Continue the roll.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Hevesi.
SENATOR HEVESI: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Hoffmann.
SENATOR HOFFMANN: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senate Johnson.
(No response.)
THE SECRETARY: Senator Kruger.
SENATOR KRUGER: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Kuhl.
(No response.)
THE SECRETARY: Senator Lachman.
SENATOR LACHMAN: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Lack,
voting in the affirmative earlier today.
Senator Larkin.
SENATOR LARKIN: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator LaValle.
SENATOR LaVALLE: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Leibell.
SENATOR LEIBELL: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Libous.
(No response.)
THE SECRETARY: Senator Maltese.
SENATOR MALTESE: No.
3064
THE SECRETARY: Senator
Marcellino.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: To explain
my vote.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Marcellino, to explain his vote.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Earlier we
heard discussions and numbers tossed about.
The impact of this tax on Nassau County
residents, $88 million out of the county.
The impact on Suffolk County
residents, $38 million out of the county.
Was it necessary to help New York
City at one time? Yes, I believe it was. I
was working in New York City at the time
living on Long Island. I was a school
teacher, and if I may say so, heavily under
paid. And to pay an additional tax is not a
pleasure. I did it because I understood it
was necessary to help the city which I was
born in. I want to make sure it was helped.
But lets put a name, lets put a face to some
of the people who pay that tax. They are
police officers. They are school teachers.
They are fire people. They are accountants.
3065
They are nurses. They are sales people.
There are a whole host. Are there some CEOs?
Absolutely. But the real people are the
people who are providing those very services
for New York City residents that you are
charging the outsiders for, they are the
providers of them. So not only are they
providing it, they are paying their own
salaries.
Fairness demands that this tax, in
times of good and time of high economic income
for all levels of government that we repeal
this tax and work with the city and help it to
keep it on a sound fiscal footing, but we
should also pass along those tax cuts, those
targeted tax cuts to the residents of the
boroughs and the suburbs that help support it.
I vote aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Marcellino, you are recorded as voting aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Marchi.
SENATOR MARCHI: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator
Markowitz.
SENATOR MARKOWITZ: No.
3066
THE SECRETARY: Senator Maziarz.
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator McGee.
SENATOR McGEE: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Meier.
SENATOR MEIER: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Mendez,
excused.
Senator Montgomery excused.
Senator Nanula.
SENATOR NANULA: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Nozzolio.
SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Onorato.
SENATOR ONORATO: To explain my
vote.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Onorato to explain his vote.
SENATOR ONORATO: Mr. Chairman, I
would be most happy to support this
legislation. I love to reduce taxes. But
under the current way the bill is drafted I
think it would be very, very detrimental to
the City of New York, without justifiably
compensating them for the loss of that
3067
revenue.
The City of New York has been
providing a great deal of services based upon
the income derived from that particular tax.
Now if the state were to enacting a harmless
clause like we did years ago with the
education system when the outer boroughs and
the outer counties of upstate and all around
the area were losing student population we
maintained the same affordable assistance for
their public education systems. The City of
New York student population is exploding, our
buildings are falling down and last year we
vetoed, the Governor vetoed $700 million worth
of benefits, $500 million worth of school
construction that would have benefited the
entire state.
So if you are going to start
cutting taxes from the City of New York lets
do it equitably across the entire state and
make sure that New York City is not the only
one bearing the harm.
I vote no.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Onorato will be recorded in the negative.
3068
Continue the roll call.
THE SECRETARY: Senate
Oppenheimer.
SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Padavan.
SENATOR PADAVAN: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Paterson.
SENATOR PATERSON: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Rath.
SENATOR RATH: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Rosato,
excused.
Senator Saland voting in the
affirmative earlier today.
Senator Sampson excused. Senator
Santiago.
SENATOR SANTIAGO: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Seabrook,
excused.
Senator Seward.
SENATOR SEWARD: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Skelos.
3069
SENATOR SKELOS: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Smith.
SENATOR SMITH: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Spano.
SENATOR SPANO: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator
Stachowski.
SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Stafford,
voting in the affirmative earlier today.
Senator Stavisky.
SENATOR STAVISKY: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Trunzo.
SENATOR TRUNZO: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Velella.
(No response.)
THE SECRETARY: Senator Volker.
SENATOR VOLKER: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Waldon.
SENATOR WALDON: No.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Wright.
SENATOR WRIGHT: Aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will call the absentees.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Alesi.
3070
SENATOR ALESI: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Breslin.
SENATOR BRESLIN: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Gonzalez.
SENATOR GONZALEZ: Yes.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson.
SENATOR JOHNSON: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Libous.
SENATOR LIBOUS: Aye.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Velella.
(No responses.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will announce the results.
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 39, nays 16.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
if we could take up the non-controversial
calendar.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary read the non-controversial calendar.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
299, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 1724-A, an
act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law
3071
in permitting raffles.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
312, by Senator McGee, Senate Print 3016-A,
an act providing for the deduction by the
State Farm future aid payments.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll:
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senator
Dollinger to explain his vote.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: No, excuse
3072
me, Mr. President, I apologize, Calendar
Number 299, if you are on the roll call I'll
sit down, if I could be recognized after the
roll call.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Announce
the results.
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
Senator Dollinger, why do you rise
now?
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr.
President, did Calendar Number 299 pass the
house?
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Yes, it
did, Senator.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: If I could
have unanimous consent to be recorded in the
negative on that bill, Mr. President?
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without
objection.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing
no objection, Senator Dollinger is recorded in
the negative on calendar Number 299.
3073
SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Senate
Padavan, why do you rise?
SENATOR PADAVAN: On Calendar
Number 299, I would like to also be recorded
in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without
objection, Senator Padavan will be recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 299.
The Secretary will continue to read
the non-controversial calendar.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
315, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 2963-A,
an act to amend the Executive Law, in relation
to conforming.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
3074
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
488, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4139, an
act to amend the Public Housing Law, in
relation to the sale or lease of a housing
project.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll:
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 54, nays 1.
Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
614, by Member of the Assembly Weisenberg,
Assembly Print Number 7126, an act to amend
the Mental Hygiene Law, in relation to
establishing.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
3075
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
648, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 4271, an
act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to
increasing income eligibility levels.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
680, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 1640-A,
an act to amend the Limited Liability Company
Law and the Partnership Law, in relation to
publication.
3076
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 18.
This act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
702, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4455, an
act to amend the Real Property Law, in
relation to the time period.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3077
774, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 4486, an
act to amend the Transportation Law, in
relation to the provision.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Sections 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
859, by Senator Johnson, Senate Print 5351-A,
an act in relation legalizing and ratifying
actions.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is
a local fiscal impact note at the desk.
The Secretary will read the last
section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
3078
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
887, by Senator Lachman, Senate Print 2699, an
act to amend the Public Authorities Law in
relation to prescribing.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
906, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
4020, an act in relation to authorizing the
transfer of funds.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is
a home rule message at the desk. The
Secretary will read the last section.
3079
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
951, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4722, an
act to amend the Public Health Law and the
Social Services Law, in relation to
instituting.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
April.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3080
1014, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 4035,
an act to amend the Alcoholic Beverage Control
Law, in relation to the imposition.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1024, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 4281,
an act to amend the Public Lands Law, in
relation to authorizing.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll:
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
3081
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1032, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 1478, an
act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in
relation to the real property tax exemption.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1036, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 97, an
act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to
prohibiting state agencies.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the 90th day.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
3082
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1058, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 3103, an
act authorizing the State University of New
York to lease and contract for service.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1061, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4280,
an act to amend the Education Law, in relation
to representation.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
3083
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1062, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4767-A,
an act to amend the Education Law, in relation
to the administration.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect September 1.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1070, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 5377,
an act to amend the Education Law, in relation
3084
to indemnification.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1071, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 1930, an
act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law, in
relation to renaming of the Letchworth Village
Developmental Disabilities Services Office.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
Secretary will read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes 55.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The bill
3085
is passed.
Senator Dollinger why do you rise?
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr.
President, again, I apologize. We moved
through it very quickly, but I would ask for
unanimous consent to be recorded in the
negative on Calendar Number 1024, as I believe
I was recorded last year as well.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without
objection.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you,
Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Hearing
no objection, Senator Dollinger will be
recorded in the negative on Calendar Number
1024.
Senator Meier, why do you rise?
SENATOR MEIER: To make a motion,
Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Return to
the order of motions and resolutions, Senator
Fuschillo. That we will do. The Chair
recognizes Senator Meier for the purpose of a
motion.
SENATOR MEIER: Thank you, Mr.
3086
President.
On behalf of Senator Goodman, on
page 22 I offer the following amendments to
Calendar Number 549, Senate Print 2753-A, and
ask that said bill retain its place on the
Third Reading Calendar.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: The
amendment is received and adopted. The bill
will retain its place on the Third Reading
Calendar.
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
President, is there any other housekeeping at
the desk?
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: There is
none.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: There being
no further business I move we adjourn until
Tuesday, May 18 at 3:00 p.m.
ACTING PRESIDENT KUHL: Without
objection. Hearing no objection, the Senate
stands adjourned until tomorrow, Tuesday at
3:00 p.m.
(Whereupon, at 5:26 p.m., the
Senate adjourned.)