Regular Session - June 12, 2000
4722
NEW YORK STATE SENATE
THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
ALBANY, NEW YORK
June 12, 2000
3:15 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION
LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President
STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
4723
P R O C E E D I N G S
THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will
come to order.
I ask everyone present to please
rise and repeat with me the Pledge of
Allegiance.
(Whereupon, the assemblage recited
the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
THE PRESIDENT: With us today to
give an invocation is Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman,
from Lubavitch Youth Organization, in
Brooklyn, New York.
Rabbi.
RABBI BUTMAN: Let us pray
together.
It is the custom that every year we
open the New York State Senate in honor of the
Rebbe's birthday, the birthday of the
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M.
Schneerson.
The Rebbe has always emphasized
that education means not just teaching
knowledge, but above all guidance for all, for
adults and especially youth, to become better
human beings, even more ethical and more
4724
caring. Education, says the Rebbe, should be
a lifelong process of self-improvement, of
advancing in those ethical principles upon
which our great state and our great nation
were founded.
Now, on the Rebbe's 98th birthday,
we start singing Psalm 99. And there the
psalmist talks about the utopian era, which,
as the Rebbe says, is upon us. And there King
David says, and I quote: "God will be great
and exalted over all the nations. They will
acknowledge Your great and awesome Name.
Mighty is the king who loves justice."
The Rebbe also tells us that we
live in a special generation, the last
generation of exile, the first generation of
Redemption. But we must prepare for that
great day by doing more goodness and kindness.
And our Sages teach us an Eye that
sees, an Ear that hears, and all our deeds are
recorded. For only when ethical principles
are determined by criteria which is higher
than that of our subjective minds can we be
sure that we will have eternal truth.
I must tell you, friends, that it
4725
is indeed a pleasure being here, listening how
you paid Allegiance to the Flag, one nation
under God. The Rebbe always taught us
something. And the first time I came here, I
went to see the Rebbe. And he said, "When you
are there in front of everyone, I want you to
do something special. I want you to take out
a dollar bill and offer that as -- in a
tzedakah box."
And he pointed out that in the
chart on the dollar bill it says "In God we
trust." Which is means this is what our
society is based upon, in God we trust. We
pay allegiance to the Flag, under one God. In
God we trust.
And therefore he said, "We should
put in a dollar in the charity box. That
proves that we have an obligation not only to
ourselves, we have an obligation to all human
beings and to all society."
You were chosen by Almighty God to
be the representatives, the custodians of
peace and justice in the great State of New
York. You are the envy of the entire world.
The entire world looks up at the United States
4726
of America for the prosperity that we have to
offer. You are the custodians of the peace
and justice in the great State of New York
and, by extension, to the entire world.
And I want you to know that when we
go to shul every Saturday, we say a special
prayer for you. We say it in Hebrew, and in
Hebrew we say: [speaking in Hebrew].
I'm not going to ask the chairman
to repeat that. She had enough trouble with
my name.
However, it means that we offer a
special prayer for all those who devote their
lives for public service. You devote your
lives for public service.
And we ask -- every Saturday in our
synagogues we ask for you for good health, for
prosperity, not only in your communal affairs,
but also in your private lives, that you
should have health and good luck in everything
that you need. With long life, you should
have a chance to serve the people as you have
until now.
And let us all say amen. Thank
you.
4727
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Rabbi.
Reading of the Journal.
THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
Sunday, June 11, the Senate met pursuant to
adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
June 10, was read and approved. On motion,
Senate adjourned.
THE PRESIDENT: Without
objection, the Journal stands approved as
read.
Presentation of petitions.
Messages from the Assembly.
Messages from the Governor.
Reports of standing committees.
Reports of select committees.
Communications and reports from
state officers.
Motions and resolutions.
Senator Marcellino.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: I would be
happy to yield to Senator McGee.
THE PRESIDENT: Senator McGee.
SENATOR McGEE: Thank you,
Senator Marcellino.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, Senator
4728
Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
there will be an immediate meeting of the
Finance Committee in the Majority Conference
Room.
THE PRESIDENT: There will be an
immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in
the Majority Conference Room.
Senator McGee, you have the floor.
SENATOR McGEE: Thank you, Madam
President.
I wish to call up my bill, Print
Number 4322, recalled from the Assembly, which
is now at the desk.
THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
872, by Senator McGee, Senate Print 4322, an
act to amend the New York State Urban
Development Corporation Act.
SENATOR McGEE: Madam President,
I now move to reconsider the vote by which
this bill was passed.
THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
will call the roll on reconsideration.
4729
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42.
SENATOR McGEE: Madam President,
I now offer the following amendments.
THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
are received.
SENATOR McGEE: Thank you, Madam
President.
On behalf of Senator Bonacic,
please remove the sponsor star from Calendar
Number 995.
THE PRESIDENT: So ordered.
SENATOR McGEE: On behalf of
Senator Skelos, please place a sponsor star on
Calendar Number 811.
THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
starred.
SENATOR McGEE: Thank you, Madam
President.
THE PRESIDENT: Senator
Marcellino.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
Madam President.
On behalf of Senator Goodman, I
wish to call up his bill, Print Number 7909,
4730
recalled from Assembly, which is now at the
desk.
THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1213, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 7909,
an act to amend the Tax Law.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Madam
President, I now move to reconsider the vote
by which this bill was passed.
THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
will call the roll upon reconsideration.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: I now move
to recommit the bill to the Committee on
Rules.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: So
ordered.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Mr. President, on behalf of Senator
Marchi I wish to call up his bill, Print
Number 4457, recalled from the Assembly, which
is now at the desk.
4731
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
987, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 4457, an
act to amend the Not-For-Profit Corporation
Law.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr.
President, I now move to reconsider the vote
by which this bill was passed.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will call the roll on
reconsideration.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr.
President, I now offer the following
amendments.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Amendments received.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
On behalf of Senator Volker, I wish
to call up his bill, Print Number 3508,
recalled from the Assembly, which is now at
the desk.
4732
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
419, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 3508, an
act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules,
in relation to requiring.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr.
President, I now move to reconsider the vote
by which this bill was passed.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll on reconsideration.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr.
President, I now offer the following
amendments.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Amendments received.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
On behalf of Senator Farley, I wish
to call up his bill, Print Number 7025,
recalled from the Assembly, which is now at
the desk.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
4733
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
609, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7025, an
act to amend the Public Authorities Law.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr.
President, I now move to reconsider the vote
by which this bill was passed.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will call the roll on
reconsideration.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr.
President, I now offer the following
amendments.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
amendments are received.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
Mr. President.
Amendments are offered for the
following Third Reading Calendar bills:
On behalf of Senator Alesi, page
4734
number 11, Calendar Number 390, Senate Print
Number 6232A;
On behalf of Senator Volker, page
number 11, Calendar Number 396, Senate Print
Number 6590A;
On behalf of Senator Maziarz, page
number 33, Calendar Number 1032, Senate Print
Number 2280C;
On behalf of Senator Volker, page
number 37, Calendar Number 1114, Senate Print
Number 4719D;
On behalf of Senator Velella, page
number 42, Calendar Number 1190, Senate Print
Number 2353;
On behalf of Senator Padavan, page
number 42, Calendar Number 1212, Senate Print
Number 7893;
On behalf of Senator Skelos, page
number 43, Calendar Number 1232, Senate Print
Number 5504;
On behalf of Senator Johnson, page
number 43, Calendar Number 1296, Senate Print
Number 6742A;
On behalf of Senator Volker, page
number 46, Calendar Number 218, Senate Print
4735
Number 1992B;
And on behalf of Senator Volker,
page number 15, Calendar Number 592, Senate
Print Number 5653.
I now move that these bills retain
their place on the order of Third Reading
Calendar.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you, Senator Fuschillo. Those amendments are
received, and those bills will retain their
place on the Third Reading Calendar.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
are there any substitutions at the desk?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes,
there are.
SENATOR SKELOS: Would you please
make them at this time.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read the substitutions.
THE SECRETARY: On page 44,
Senator Padavan moves to discharge, from the
Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 5372A
and substitute it for the identical Senate
Bill Number 1182A, Third Reading Calendar
4736
1318.
On page 44, Senator Larkin moves to
discharge, from the Committee on Insurance,
Assembly Bill Number 6834A and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 1580A,
Third Reading Calendar 1320.
On page 44, Senator Oppenheimer
moves to discharge, from the Committee on
Rules, Assembly Bill Number 9642 and
substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
Number 6696, Third Reading Calendar 1325.
And on page 45, Senator Libous
moves to discharge, from the Committee on
Rules, Assembly Bill Number 10242 and
substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
Number 7865, Third Reading Calendar 1335.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Substitutions ordered.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
if we could take up the noncontroversial
calendar, please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4737
150, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print
5878A, an act to amend the Environmental
Conservation Law, in relation to authorizing.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays,
1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
185, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 6272B, an
act in relation to adjusting certain state aid
payments.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A
local fiscal impact note is at the desk.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
4738
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
250, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 12B, an
act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
failure to report a sexual assault of a child.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
280, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 1253B, an
act -
SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
the day, please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Lay
4739
the bill aside for the day.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
466, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 902F, an
act to amend the General Business Law and the
Town Law, in relation to dealers.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
January.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
471, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 1105B,
an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law,
in relation to requiring motor vehicle repair
shops.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
4740
January.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
559, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4659C, an
act to authorize the Commissioner of General
Services to transfer and convey.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
617, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7131A, an
act in relation to adjusting certain state aid
payments.
4741
SENATOR PATERSON: Lay that
aside.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Lay it
aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
624, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 6972, an
act to amend the Social Services Law, in
relation to the Learnfare program.
SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
652, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 3419, an
act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in
relation to issuance of a warrant.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
4742
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
678, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print
6929A, an act in relation to authorizing the
town boards of the Towns of Oyster Bay and
North Hempstead.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
715, by Member of the Assembly Gottfried,
Assembly Print Number 3573A, an act to amend
the Public Health Law and the Insurance Law,
in relation to physical therapy.
SENATOR PATERSON: Lay that
aside.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
4743
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
722, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
Assembly Print Number 10893, an act to amend
Chapter 314 of the Laws of 1984 amending the
Public Health Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
723, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 965B, an
act to amend the Domestic Relations Law, in
relation to disinterested persons.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
4744
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
there will be an immediate meeting of the
Rules Committee in the Majority Conference
Room.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: There
will be an immediate meeting of the Rules
Committee in the Majority Conference Room.
The Secretary will continue to read
the noncontroversial calendar.
Ladies and gentlemen, could we
please keep the noise down a little. We're
trying to hear the calendar. Thank you.
Please continue.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
733, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
4239A, an act to amend Chapter 679 of the Laws
of 1992 authorizing the Commissioner of
General Services.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
4745
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
736, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 7181B, an
act to amend Chapter 719 of the Laws of 1982
relating to authorizing the Commissioner of
General Services.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4746
742, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 6866A,
an act to amend the General Municipal Law and
the Retirement and Social Security Law, in
relation to increasing.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect July 1.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
745, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7538, an
act to amend the Retirement and Social
Security Law, in relation to the Northern
Westchester Joint Water Works.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
4747
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
749, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7082A, an
act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation to
the licensing of insurance agents.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
840, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 7156A,
an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in
relation to deputy sheriff.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4748
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
946, by Senator Oppenheimer, Senate Print
5256C, an act to authorize the County of
Westchester to transfer an easement.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A home
rule message is at the desk.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
948, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6351A, an
4749
act to amend the Real Property Tax Law, in
relation to providing.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
January.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
961, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 7188A, an
act to authorize the transfer of certain
escrow funds to the Buffalo Raceway horsemen's
purse account.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
THE SECRETARY: Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
4750
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
977, by Member of the Assembly John, Assembly
Print Number 10428, an act to amend the New
York City Civil Court Act and others, in
relation to perfecting appeals.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
992, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 6981A, an
act to amend Chapter 393 of the Laws of 1994
amending the New York State Urban Development
Corporation Act.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
4751
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
994, by the Assembly Committee on Rules,
Assembly Print Number 10950, an act to amend
the Business Corporation Law, in relation to
permitting.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1005, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 6153A,
4752
an act to amend the Civil Rights Law and
others, in relation to a change of name.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
SENATOR DUANE: Lay the bill
aside, please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: That
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1011, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 7380A,
an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
recruitment.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section, please.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4753
1012, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7382A,
an -
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Paterson, why do you rise?
SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President,
I was going to lay that bill aside. But upon
further review, I not only support this bill
but I'd ask that my 56 other colleagues
present here adopt it and adopt it
unanimously.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator, that's really terrific, but which
bill are talking about? Oh, my bill? You are
a fine gentleman. Thank you very much.
But, hey, I think we need to call
the bill first, if you don't mind. We're
going to do that right now, Senator, if that's
okay. If you want to say it again, you can.
Please read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar 1012, by
Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7382A, an act to
amend the Penal Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section, please.
SENATOR LIBOUS: Lay the bill
4754
aside, please.
(Laughter.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: You
want to reconsider that, Senator?
SENATOR LIBOUS: Mr. President, I
misspoke.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Okay,
fine. Thank you.
Call the roll, please. You did
that already? Last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Now
call the roll, please.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed. Thank you.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1013, by Senator Velella, Senate Print 7397B,
an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
increasing.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
4755
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1024, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5434B,
an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law,
in relation to the appointment.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the 30th day.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4756
1048, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 7251B,
an act to amend the Parks, Recreation and
Historic Preservation Law, in relation to the
state-designated heritage area.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1050, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
7474A, an act to amend the Navigation Law, in
relation to United States Coast Guard-approved
personal flotation devices.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect in 180 days.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
4757
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed, please.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1072, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 7118,
an act to amend the Public Lands Law, in
relation to the sale and conveyance of
unappropriated state lands.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1074, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 7431,
an act to amend the Public Lands Law, in
relation to the sale of unappropriated state
lands.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
4758
the last section.
SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1083, by Member of the Assembly Destito,
Assembly Print Number 4209B, an act to amend
the Executive Law, in relation to creating a
state area.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1084, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
5138A, an act to amend the State Finance Law
and the Public Authorities Law, in relation to
discriminatory jurisdictions.
4759
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1138, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 7523A,
an act to amend the Public Health Law, in
relation to granting coverage.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect in 30 days.
THE SECRETARY: Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1155, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7748A,
4760
an act to amend the Banking Law, in relation
to the appointment of appraisers.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1156, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7281B,
an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law,
in relation to the ownership or operation of a
motor vehicle.
SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: That
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1163, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2046C,
an act to amend the Education -
SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
the day.
4761
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Lay it
aside for the day.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1165, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 3024B,
an act to amend the Education Law and others,
relating to the State University health care
facilities.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section, please.
THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1166, by Member of the Assembly Hoyt, Assembly
Print Number 7233, an act to amend the
Education Law, in relation to the role of the
universities.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
4762
act shall take effect on the first day of
January.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1169, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6728B,
an act to authorize the trustees of the State
University of New York.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 10. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1176, by Senator Lack, Senate Print 7648A, an
act in relation to authorizing the State
4763
University at Stony Brook to lease certain
lands.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 12. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1188, by -
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Skelos, why do you rise?
SENATOR SKELOS: There will be an
immediate meeting of the Transportation
Committee in the Majority Conference Room.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: There
will be an immediate meeting of the Senate
Transportation Committee in the Majority
Conference Room.
Thank you, Senator Skelos.
Please continue to read.
4764
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1188, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 1880C,
an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
Law, in relation to hospital or medical
environmental disinfectants.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Ladies
and gentlemen, could we please have a little
quiet. Thank you.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1206, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7576A,
an act to amend the Insurance Law, in relation
to permitting.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
4765
act shall take effect in 90 days.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1218, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 2861A,
an act to amend the Education Law and the
Criminal Procedure Law, in relation to
appointment.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1224, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4000A,
4766
an act to amend the General Obligations Law,
in relation to the authority of caregivers.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect in 90 days.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1317, by Senator Kruger, Senate Print 273, an
act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
increasing the penalties.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
4767
1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1318, substituted earlier today by Member of
the Assembly Abbate, Assembly Print Number
5372A, an act to amend the New York City
Charter in relation to service.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A home
rule message is at the desk.
Please read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1320, substituted earlier today by Member of
the Assembly Perry, Assembly Print Number
6834A, an act to amend the Insurance Law in
relation to reimbursement.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
4768
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
September.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1321, by Senator Kuhl, Senate Print 2311, an
act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
relation to authorizing.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
January.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
4769
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1322, by Senator Paterson, Senate Print 3475,
an act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to
exclusion of certain earnings from gross
income.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first day of
January.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1323, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 4125, an
act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to
relieving persons not entitled.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
THE SECRETARY: Call the roll.
4770
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1325, substituted earlier today by Member of
the Assembly Hochberg, Assembly Print Number
9642, an act to amend Chapter 17 of the Laws
of 1930 entitled "An Act to Incorporate the
Scarsdale Foundation."
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1326, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6851,
an act authorizing the reopening of the
20-year retirement plan.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A home
4771
rule message is at the desk.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1327, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7231A,
an act to authorize the Village of Medina to
discontinue the use of certain lands.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A home
rule message is at the desk.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
4772
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1328, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7351,
an act to amend the Retirement and Social
Security Law, in relation to additional
pension benefits.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1329, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7352,
an act to amend the Retirement and Social
Security Law, in relation to contributions.
THE SECRETARY: Read the last
section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
4773
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1331, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7566A,
an act to amend the General Municipal Law, in
relation to bingo admission fees.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Lay it aside,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1332, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 7816, an
act to amend the General Municipal Law, in
relation to prize awards for certain games of
chance.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
SENATOR PATERSON: Lay it aside,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: I'm
sorry, Senator. Lay that bill aside.
4774
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1333, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7823, an
act to amend Chapter 607 of the Laws of 1999
amending the County Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1334, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7834A,
an act to amend the Highway Law, in relation
to designating a portion of the state highway
system.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
4775
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1335, substituted earlier today by Member of
the Assembly Dinowitz, Assembly Print Number
10242, an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law,
in relation to the definition of "director of
community services."
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1336, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 7902, an
act to amend the General Business Law, in
relation to providing.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
4776
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect January 1, 2001.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Skelos, that completes the
reading of the noncontroversial calendar.
Senator Breslin, why do you rise?
SENATOR BRESLIN: Mr. President,
I would request unanimous consent to be
recorded in the negative on Calendar Number
466.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: So
ordered.
SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you very
much.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Would you please
recognize Senator Marchi.
4777
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: It
would be a privilege.
Senator Marchi.
SENATOR MARCHI: You recognize
me, sir.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes, I
am.
SENATOR MARCHI: We have -
earlier in the conduct of this session we had
a resolution presented for the anniversary
celebration of the Rabbi Menachem Schneerson,
introduced earlier by Rabbi Butman, who is
with us today.
I think it would be appropriate if
we recognize what this group means throughout
the world. As the resolution states, from
Holland to Argentina, from Moscow to
Jerusalem, all around the world they have led
an enlightened activity in behalf of education
and added immeasurably to the knowledge that
we have today of philosophy and the
celebration of the rendition of the Mishnah
Torah in written form by Maimonides over 1300
years ago. This is an historic development.
I had the pleasure of knowing Rebbe
4778
Schneerson some years ago before he passed
away. And he was a most enlightened
individual who had about five or six degrees
in almost every discipline from leading
universities in Europe, and managed with
infinite care and the greatest grace and
display of civility the fortunes here in New
York. And those of us who had the pleasure of
meeting him rejoice in that fact.
It was a monumental contribution
that was made, and indeed the revived interest
that we had for Aristotelian philosophy and
the rendering of the Torah in written form in
permanent language is attributable to the
group that he represents and that are
throughout the world.
So I believe that this is a
wonderful occasion to welcome the rabbi here
and to reflect our sentiments, a very warm,
supportive feeling that we have to the work
that you are doing, sir.
And I'm very privileged to have
Senator Lachman, who -- I will yield to him
for additional comment. But I'm sure that we
all treasure the feeling that we hold for the
4779
Rebbe and his colleagues throughout the world.
And there are 1300 centers, I believe, around
the world.
SENATOR LACHMAN: I thank the
distinguished Senator from Staten Island for
yielding.
I'd like to just say a few words
about the Lubavitcher movement and stress some
things that Senator Marchi did not emphasize
in his eloquent remarks.
The Lubavitch movement is over 200
years old. It arose in Europe as a reaction
against the despondency and despair that the
Jewish community in certain European countries
had because of the extreme anti-Semitism of
the populations where they lived.
It was transported and transplanted
to America in 1950 by the Alter Rebbe, the
father-in-law of Rebbe Menachem Schneerson of
blessed memory, and it took hold and grew in a
land of opportunity where very few people had
dreamt that the Lubavitch movement would grow.
New York is now the international
headquarters of this religious movement that
emphasizes joy and outreach to individuals who
4780
are in need of spiritual reawakening. It has
created major impacts at university campuses
with young people around the nation and around
the world. It has established kosher
kitchens. It has established minyanim, which
means prayer groups, Jewish prayer groups, at
these universities. And it has made a major
impact on American Jewish life.
But I would like to add as an
addendum that it also has made a major impact
since the fall of Communism in the former
USSR, especially in Russia, where a
Lubavitcher rabbi is now being considered for
the position of chief rabbi of Russia.
This all came about through the
leadership and guidance of Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson of blessed memory, who
served from approximately 1950 to 1994 as a
spiritual leader and sage of the Lubavitcher
movement.
And we hope and pray that for many
more years this movement will flourish in the
freedom of America and in other countries
throughout the world.
Thank you.
4781
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you very much, Senator Lachman.
Senator Marchi, as you know, the
resolution was adopted previously. But I had
spoken with the rabbi just recently and
remarked at how when I arrived at the Assembly
back in 1990, I remember the rabbi being the
most inspirational speaker that we would hear
during the year.
And again, congratulations on
returning year after year and contributing so
much positively to this chamber. Thank you,
Rabbi.
(Applause.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Skelos, what be your pleasure?
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
if we could return to reports of standing
committees. I believe there's a report of the
Rules Committee and the Finance Committee at
the desk. I ask that they be read.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will please read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno,
from the Committee on Rules, reports the
4782
following bills:
Senate Print 3201A, by Senator
Paterson, an act authorizing the City of New
York;
5629A, by Senator Santiago, an act
authorizing the City of New York;
6688B, by Senator Hoffmann, an act
to amend the Family Court Act and others;
7440A, by Senator LaValle, an act
to amend the Environmental Conservation Law;
7982, by Senator McGee, an act to
amend the Executive Law;
8008, by Senator Goodman, an act to
amend Chapter 83 of the Laws of 1995;
8101, by Senator Morahan, an act to
amend the Retirement and Social Security Law;
And 8142, by Senator Marcellino, an
act to amend the Retirement and Social
Security Law.
All bills ordered direct to third
reading.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept
the report of the Rules Committee.
4783
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: All
those in favor of accepting the report of the
Rules Committee signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Opposed, nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
report is accepted.
Senator Skelos. No, sorry.
Excuse me, the Secretary will read
the Finance report.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Stafford,
from the Committee on Finance, reports the
following bills:
Senate Print 7952, by Senator
Leibell, an act implementing agreements;
7962, by Senator Leibell, an act to
amend the Judiciary Law;
7963, by Senator Leibell, an act to
amend a chapter of the Laws of 2000;
And 7964, by Senator Leibell, an
act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2000.
All bills ordered direct to third
reading.
4784
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Without objection, all bills will be ordered
directly to third reading.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
can we take up Senate Supplemental Calendar
55A.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read Supplemental Calendar 55A.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1338, by Senator Paterson, Senate Print 3201A,
an act authorizing the City of New York to
reconvey its interest.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A home
rule message is at the desk.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4785
1339, by Senator Santiago, Senate Print 5629A,
an act authorizing the City of New York to
reconvey its interest in certain real
property.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A home
rule message is at the desk.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1341, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 7440A,
an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
Law, in relation to the adoption of certain
regulations.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Lay it aside,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4786
1342, by Senator McGee, Senate Print 7982 -
SENATOR PATERSON: Lay that
aside, please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1343, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 8008,
an act to amend Chapter 83 of the Laws of 1995
amending the State Finance Law.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Lay it aside,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1344, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 8101,
an act to amend the Retirement and Social
Security Law, in relation to providing credit.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
4787
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1345, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print
8142, an act to amend the Retirement and
Social Security Law, in relation to providing
benefit enhancements.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Is there a
message at the desk?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes,
there is.
SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
motion is to accept the message of necessity.
All those in favor say aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: All
those opposed, nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
message is accepted.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
4788
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1347, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7952,
an act implementing agreements between the
State and the employee organization.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 20. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1348, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7962,
an act to amend the Judiciary Law, in relation
to terms and conditions.
4789
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 15. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1349, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7963,
an act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2000
entitled "An Act to Amend the Judiciary Law."
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect on the same date and in
the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of
2000.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
4790
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1350, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 7964,
an act to amend a chapter of the Laws of 2000
entitled "An Act to Amend the Judiciary Law."
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect on the same date and in
the same manner as a chapter of the Laws of
2000.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Skelos, that completes the
reading of the supplemental calendar.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Larkin, why do you rise?
SENATOR LARKIN: On Calendar
Number 1344, I'd like to abstain.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
4791
Without objection, so ordered.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
on the Supplemental Calendar 55A, if we could
go to the controversial part of it.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1341, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 7440A,
an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
Law, in relation to the adoption.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: A brief
explanation, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: A
brief explanation has been requested, Senator
LaValle.
SENATOR LAVALLE: Senator, this
is a bill that has strong support from the
Lung Association and the environmental
community.
What it would do is -- under the
present law personal watercraft, or jet skis,
are presently regulated by the EPA under the
Clean Air Act. What this would do is under
the Clean Air Act, it allows states to opt in
4792
for higher standards under the California
standards.
This would allow the commissioner
of the DEC to promulgate regulations
consistent with the California standards which
would hopefully contribute to better air
quality and less particles from the -- that
the jet skis emit that land on the water.
So it really is two. It's
primarily an air quality control legislation,
but secondly I think the particles that come
from the engines also land on the water, so it
also is a water quality issue.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Dollinger.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr.
President, just briefly on the bill.
I commend Senator LaValle for
bringing this bill forward, and I hope that it
becomes law and that the Assembly will join in
this effort.
The issue that we've spoken about
before -- and it was partly addressed with
Senator Marcellino's bill with respect to
restrictions on MTBEs, which are a form of
4793
water-borne pollution that is largely
generated as a result of two-stroke engines,
two-cycle engines. These engines which power
most personal watercraft -- jet skis, as
they're commonly called in our neck of the
woods -- these craft have a disproportional
polluting effect, not only on our reservoirs
and drinking resources but I think, as Senator
LaValle properly points out, they cause
significant and disproportionate air pollution
as well because of the inefficiencies in the
combustion of these engines.
I also think this is the right
thing to do from a federal perspective.
Because, as I understand this bill, what we're
saying is that California has got the right
idea. They've got a standard that's tougher
than the federal standard. And what we're
going to do is join the California standard,
ideally to try to begin a nationwide trend in
the purchase and sale of these personal
watercraft.
So that we'll use our buying power
in New York State to drive all of these
manufacturers to a far more efficient
4794
two-cycle engine or what I believe is the
better solution, which is to come up with a
small four-cycle engine for personal
watercraft so both air pollution and water
pollution, especially in our lakes -- the
Finger Lakes that we use as reservoirs for
drinking water -- that the standards for
pollution will be higher, they'll be more
rigorous, and we'll have less both air- and
water-borne pollution.
Again, I commend Senator LaValle.
This is clearly the right thing to do. I
think it's the right approach. It's
consistent with our principles of federalism
and will make cleaner air and water in New
York. And I hope it becomes law.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you, Senator Dollinger.
Please read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
4795
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Bonacic, why do you rise?
SENATOR BONACIC: Mr. President,
we'd like to have an immediate meeting of the
Housing Committee in the Senate Majority Room,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: There
will be an immediate meeting of the Senate
Housing Committee in the Majority Conference
Room.
Thank you, Senator Bonacic.
SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read, please.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1342, by Senator McGee, Senate Print 7982, an
act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to
the DNA identification index.
SENATOR DUANE: Explanation,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator McGee, an explanation has been
requested.
4796
SENATOR McGEE: Yes. Hold on
just one moment.
This bill -- we've now come to
notice the importance of the DNA testing and
identification bank. And this extends the -
expands the scope of the DNA identification
index to include all the misdemeanor
convictions and felonies.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane.
Senator Paterson, you were up
first. I apologize.
SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President,
if the sponsor would yield for a question.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator McGee, do you yield for a question?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Paterson, she yields.
SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President,
I do not dispute the tremendous value of
having DNA testing done in certain cases,
especially because it can help us locate the
perpetrators of crimes who were heretofore
unknown. But in addition, in some cases it's
4797
actually been used to exonerate people who
were convicted of crimes and were later
established that they could not have been
involved.
Right now in New York, 65 percent
of our felony convictions are covered by the
DNA evidence that -- or covered by the
opportunity to use DNA testing. But to expand
it to the point where we're going to cover
every felony and then every misdemeanor -- I
would certainly feel that in the cases of
felonies, my colleagues and myself would not
object to that. But when we got down to
misdemeanor convictions, some of these
convictions are really not, in my opinion,
within the framework of what we'd really be
looking for to conduct DNA testing.
And so my question, if the sponsor
is yielding, is what is the value of using DNA
testing to those cases that are really
misdemeanors where the DNA evidence would
really be not used as much for the actual
crime that just occurred but for future
events?
SENATOR McGEE: It's a form of
4798
identification, Senator Paterson. And I think
it's a good idea to expand that bank of
identification.
SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President,
if Senator McGee would continue to yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator McGee, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: She
does.
SENATOR PATERSON: Senator McGee,
the question I think I really want to ask is
why would we not, just for purposes of
identification, if we wanted to have national
identification, just take a sample of
everyone's fingerprints or their DNA?
And that way we would have, for the
purpose of crimefighting, we would have a
record of every single citizen in the United
States that we could go through every time a
crime is committed.
And if we're not going to do that,
then the question is where do we draw the
line. And would we draw the line at the
felony level, which I think is perfectly
4799
acceptable, or would the next step be to draw
the line at criminal violations such as
trespass?
SENATOR McGEE: Thank you,
Senator Paterson. I certainly think the idea
of doing it for everyone is an excellent idea,
and I would suggest you may wish to submit
that particular bill.
That is not this bill. This bill
calls for covering DNA identification to
include all misdemeanor convictions and
felonies.
SENATOR PATERSON: Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes,
Senator Paterson.
SENATOR PATERSON: On the bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: On the
bill.
SENATOR PATERSON: I think I'm
going to sit down and vote against the bill
before I give anybody any new ideas.
(Laughter.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you, Senator Paterson.
Senator Duane, why do you rise?
4800
SENATOR DUANE: If the sponsor
would yield for some intelligent questioning.
SENATOR McGEE: Semi-intelligent
questioning, Senator?
SENATOR DUANE: I didn't say
"semi."
SENATOR McGEE: Oh, I'm sorry.
Yes, of course.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Before
we engage in some intelligent questioning, if
we could just have a little bit of order in
the chamber.
Senator McGee, you've been asked to
yield to a couple of questions. Is that okay
with you?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
Certainly.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you.
Senator Duane, go ahead.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you. I'm
wondering why this was not included last year
when we voted on DNA. We had a whole debate
and discussion and lots of discussions about
DNA, and I'm wondering why it is that we
4801
didn't include this in that bill.
SENATOR McGEE: I really can't -
Senator Duane, I can't explain that or answer
that for you.
This was submitted this year, and
that's why it's here now.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Ladies
and gentlemen, particularly members who are
coming into the chamber, if you could please
be cognizant of the fact that there's a debate
proceeding.
As we go into the last couple of
days of session, if we could please be mindful
of the level of noise in the chamber, it would
be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, if the sponsor would continue to
yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator McGee, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
SENATOR DUANE: I'm wondering if
the sponsor has any idea about what would be
next for this DNA if -- last year we did it
4802
for many felonies; this year there's a bill
for all misdemeanors. The sponsor has
mentioned the idea of getting everyone's DNA.
I'm wondering what legislation might be coming
up next.
SENATOR McGEE: I beg to differ
with you, Senator Duane. I believe it was
Senator Paterson who suggested DNA samples
from everyone. Mine merely covers those who
have all misdemeanor convictions and felonies.
It was Senator Paterson, I believe, who
suggested that.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, my apologies. I thought that the
sponsor said that that was a good idea.
SENATOR McGEE: A good idea, but
it was Senator Paterson's idea. And I would
never want to steal a senator's idea.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President -- though I think it would be okay
with him.
Is there any provision in the
legislation for the DNA to be destroyed when a
defendant is deemed not guilty?
SENATOR McGEE: This only applies
4803
to convicted felonies and misdemeanors.
SENATOR DUANE: And through you,
Mr. President, if the sponsor would continue
to yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
SENATOR DUANE: And is there any
point at which the DNA would be destroyed
after, for instance, the person that served
their time?
SENATOR McGEE: Only -- I would
assume, Senator Duane, it would only be
pursuant to a court order.
SENATOR DUANE: I'm sorry, could
you say it again?
SENATOR McGEE: That it would be
pursuant to a court order.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, if the sponsor would continue to
yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator McGee?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
4804
Senator yields.
SENATOR DUANE: At what point is
the DNA sample taken, at what point after
conviction?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: One
moment, please.
SENATOR McGEE: If you will look
at the bill on page 2, lines 6 through, well,
17, actually it says the designated offender
"required to provide a sample appropriate for
DNA testing pursuant to the provisions of this
article who knowingly fails to provide such
sample within 30 days of being notified by a
court, state, or local corrections officer or
employee, probation officer, parole officer or
other law enforcement official of his or her
obligation to provide such a sample shall be
guilty of a Class E felony. Any such knowing
failure to provide a sample appropriate for
DNA testing shall also be deemed to violate
the conditions of probation or parole and
shall be a basis for the revocation of
probation or parole in accordance with Article
410 of the Criminal Procedure Act, Article 3
of the Family Court Act, or Section 259I of
4805
this chapter."
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, if the sponsor would continue to
yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator McGee, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
Absolutely.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane, please proceed.
SENATOR DUANE: What would cause
this notification by a correction officer,
employee, et cetera, et cetera?
SENATOR McGEE: I'm sorry, I
can't hear you.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President. What would cause this notification
to occur on the part of a correction official
or employee, probation, parole, et cetera, et
cetera, et cetera? What is it that makes
whoever that is notify the -
SENATOR McGEE: What would cause
them to do this, Senator?
SENATOR DUANE: To notify the
person that's been convicted of a misdemeanor
4806
that they have to give up a DNA sample. I
understand it's 30 days from notification, but
what starts the notification? Why is
notification given?
SENATOR McGEE: I don't think
there's -- I don't think we can give a date on
it.
It's a normal process. It's a
normal procedure that once the notification
goes to the DCJS, that it's a procedure that
just begins to take place.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, if the sponsor would continue to
yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Volker, why do you rise?
SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President,
can I just interject for just a second to
answer that question, if I might?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane, would you accept Senator
Volker's stepping in for just a second?
SENATOR DUANE: (Nodding.)
SENATOR VOLKER: I think what
occurred -- and I don't think Senator McGee
4807
quite understood it -- I think what you're
saying is why would there be notification
because if you were convicted of a felony or a
misdemeanor, you would automatically have to
give up your DNA.
The answer is if you are in jail at
the time -- in other words, if your sentence
is still being carried out, if you're in jail
for a misdemeanor or a felony, in that case
the person who is in jail for a misdemeanor or
a felony would then be notified. Because that
person would not have been -- obviously prior
would not have given up a DNA sample.
So that provision relates to the
fact that you have a person who is still under
the jurisdiction of the criminal justice
system, who has been convicted of a felony or
a misdemeanor, and that person would then have
30 days in effect to give a DNA sample.
Once you get through this whole
thing and everybody has given up their DNA
sample, then from there on you would only have
people that were convicted who would then
presumably give up their DNA samples right
after they're convicted. I think that's what
4808
that's about, because that's the people who
are prior, are in jail, for instance, now.
Because what this section would do,
as I understand it, is even if you are
presently in jail on a felony or a
misdemeanor, you would be required to give up
a DNA sample.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, if the -
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane, was that clarification helpful?
SENATOR DUANE: It was helpful,
Mr. President, but I'm actually going to
pursue a different avenue.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Volker, thank you for that
clarification.
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you. If
the sponsor would continue to yield for this
new avenue.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator McGee, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Duane.
4809
SENATOR DUANE: My question goes
to if a person has been convicted of a
misdemeanor and then they appeal their
sentence, does the notification that they have
to give up their DNA, is that held pending
their appeal? Or -- because there is no
mention of that in the legislation, so I'm
wondering what that impact would be.
SENATOR McGEE: An appeal would
stay the proceedings, Senator.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President. Could the sponsor tell me where in
the bill, though, it says that?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane is asking for a specific point
in the -
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
I don't think it appears in this
bill, Senator. It's in the appeals law. It
doesn't appear in this particular piece of
legislation, Senator. That appears in the
appeals law.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: In the
common law, she means, Senator.
SENATOR McGEE: Common law, I'm
4810
sorry.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Nonstatutory law.
SENATOR McGEE: The appeals
section of the Criminal Procedure Law. That's
my understanding.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, I would be surprised to hear that
there's anything about DNA sampling in the
appeals CPLR or whatever the appeals thing is.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: I'm
sorry that you are surprised by that. Do you
have a question?
SENATOR DUANE: Yes. Is the
sponsor quite sure that this appears, this DNA
being held pending -- when a person is
convicted of a misdemeanor and they go up for
appeal, is she quite certain that the appeals
case law says that they don't have to give up
their DNA? Since there isn't much case law
about that, as far as I know, since we only
passed it last year, any DNA law.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: If you
would give the Senator a moment.
SENATOR DUANE: Absolutely.
4811
SENATOR McGEE: Just one moment,
Senator.
My learned counsel tells me that
the defense can seek an order limiting the
processing of the evidence pending the appeal.
I'm not an attorney. My learned
counsel is telling me that.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, if the sponsor would continue to
yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane -- Senator McGee.
SENATOR McGEE: Certainly.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Just
one more question.
SENATOR DUANE: One of the
reasons that I'm going to vote against this is
I don't think that a defendant could
necessarily get it together within 30 days to
launch their appeal.
And so my final question, then, has
to do with if the person does win their
appeal, what is in place then to destroy their
DNA, or is their DNA not destroyed?
If it turns out that they are
4812
actually innocent, their DNA has already been
collected, how is it that their -- will their
DNA automatically be destroyed because they
are deemed innocent, or will they still have
to get a court order?
SENATOR McGEE: My understanding
is that it's part of the court order. Once
the court order -- if the appeal is confirmed
or okayed, then it's a part of the court order
to destroy the DNA. Just like fingerprints.
SENATOR DUANE: Just a final
clarification, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Is that in law?
Is that in a statute?
SENATOR McGEE: I understand it
is.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
motion to expunge. This is a suggestion.
Senator Duane, thank you very much.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect November 1, 2000.
4813
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane, to explain his vote.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
President.
I'm going to vote no on this. I
believe that we dealt with DNA last year. And
while I disagreed with what we did, I don't
think that we should be amending our laws
about DNA without even seeing how the original
DNA legislation worked out.
This is a very expensive process we
would be undertaking, and one that's fraught
with problems in terms of civil rights and
civil liberties.
I also renew my objections from
last year's bill to this bill, because I don't
see a clear way for those who may be
wrongfully incarcerated to be able to clear
their name by getting access to the DNA
database.
I also believe that we have
embarked on a slippery slope. I'm concerned
4814
about what's next after this, and I think that
we're embarking on a very problematic road in
terms of criminal justice and its impact on
everybody that lives in New York State.
So I'll be voting no on this, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane will be recorded in the
negative.
Senator Volker, to explain his
vote.
SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President,
to explain my vote.
Let me just say Senator McGee's
bill is a Governor's program bill. It's -
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Please
allow the Senator to explain his vote. Thank
you.
Please continue.
SENATOR VOLKER: It's an
expansion, obviously to everyone, of the DNA
process that we have slowly been expanding
over the last three or four years. I think
back in 1989 I did the statute that created
the DNA data bank.
4815
There's interesting arguments on
both sides, Senator Duane, about expanding the
data bank, by defense attorneys as well as
prosecutors.
Some people believe that by
expanding the data bank, you'll actually
create a data bank that will exonerate
additional people as well as very possibly
convict them. Because by establishing the
bank, obviously if you have somebody that may
be involved or at least allegedly involved in
another crime and you compare the DNA and find
out that the DNA left at the scene is not that
person, that person can be exonerated.
And the one thing about that is the
prosecutor can have that information
potentially before he ever or she ever moves
ahead to convict that person.
So the argument, I guess, is that
the more complete data bank actually could act
in terms of both sides.
The other proposal that Senator
Paterson suggested is actually suggested by
the City of New York. The City of New York,
Mayor Giuliani's people, had sent us up a bill
4816
earlier this year that proposed, as I
remember, that all people arrested for
felonies and for, I think, all A misdemeanors,
I think -- I don't think it was all
misdemeanors, but I think for all of the major
misdemeanors -- would also be part of the data
bank.
So that wasn't something that
Senator Paterson thought of just by himself,
although he could easily have done it, there's
no question about it.
But this bill is an expansion, is a
Governor's program bill, and it's another
progression, I think, in our modern era of
DNA.
I vote yes.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Volker will be recorded in the
affirmative.
Will the Secretary please announce
the results.
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 1342 are
Senators Duane, Montgomery, Paterson and
Sampson. Ayes, 54. Nays, 4.
4817
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1343, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 8008,
an act to amend Chapter 83 of the Laws of 1995
amending the State Finance Law.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Explanation,
Mr. President.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Goodman,
an explanation has been requested.
SENATOR GOODMAN: Yes, Mr.
President. This provides a five-year
extension for the basic ground rules which
regulate procurement in the State of New York.
One of the urgent reasons why this
should be passed would, for example, relate to
the fact that there are certain groups that
provide services to the blind and other
eleemosynary purposes which are permitted to
buy goods on the basis of a discounted price
structure.
Should we fail to renew this
timely, we'd be in a position where these
organizations would not have that advantage.
Generally speaking, the procurement
4818
act that this extends is one which regulates
the entire state procurement structure with
respect to special pricing due to quantity
discounts and the like. And therefore, as you
can see, it's a fundamentally basically
important bill.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Thank you,
Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Dollinger.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: On the bill,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: On the
bill.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Mr.
President, I'm going to vote against this bill
because this is an opportunity missed. This
is an opportunity to use the buying power of
the State of New York to accomplish goals and
objectives that I think the Majority in the
this house would support.
What about a bill that would
eliminate the procurement of anything from
what we define as a sweatshop? I know there
are many legislators in this house who have
4819
carried bills that would outlaw sweatshops in
New York.
Well, let's make this clear to
everybody across the nation and around the
world that New York would not be buying any
goods under its procurement policies using our
tax dollars to buy goods from a sweatshop.
What about companies that provide
living wages? Shouldn't we also include in
our procurement policies a provision that says
we would only buy goods that are manufactured
with living wages?
What about a provision that says we
would only buy goods that are manufactured by
companies or produced by companies that
provide adequate health insurance for their
employees?
We're spending billions of the
taxpayer dollars every single year when we buy
goods, and yet we don't seem to come forward
and say we only ought to buy goods from
companies that provide adequate health
insurance for their employees.
What about prevailing wages? Maybe
we should require that there be some form -
4820
instead of minimum wage, that there be a
prevailing wage paid to every company that
provides goods and services that are bought by
New York State.
And lastly, I'd close with one
other thing that we're missing a chance to do,
something that this house has already done.
And that is, Senator Saland carries a bill
which should be a part of our procurement
policies.
That bill says -- it's sponsored by
22 Republican Senators in this house, and it
says that the rules for procurement should
include a provision that anyone who lobbies
for procurement ought to be covered by the
disclosure requirements and the rules of the
New York State Lobbying Commission.
I would suggest that this house has
already extended those rules, or at least
voted in favor of those rules last December
when we debated the Lobbying Commission
extension and we agreed, this house agreed,
that the bill ought to include restrictions on
lobbying the government on procurement
contracts -- that we should know who's
4821
lobbying the executive, that we should have
disclosure of what they spend, and that we
should know what other contributions they may
give.
This house voted unanimously for
that concept. Yet here we are, we get to the
procurement bill, the bill that extends the
authority of the State to buy products in the
marketplace, and we're backing away from our
earlier commitment that the Lobbying
Commission would apply to procurement policies
of this state.
I would suggest, Mr. President, and
I would recommend that we vote against this
bill. We are losing an enormous opportunity
to use the buying power of the State of New
York to stand up for the principles that we've
articulated in this house.
This is an opportunity to do it.
Send the bill back to committee, have them
consider discussing, if not approving,
amendments that will eliminate purchases from
sweatshops, only buy from companies that are
environmentally safe and secure, for companies
that are providing small business protection,
4822
and that included within the lobbying law.
It's that simple, Mr. President.
This is an opportunity we've missed
completely.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you very much, Senator Dollinger.
Please read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
THE SECRETARY: Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
2. Senators Dollinger and Onorato recorded in
the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Skelos -- whoops. No,
that's Senator Fuschillo.
Senator Fuschillo, we are done with
the reading of the supplemental calendar.
What would be your pleasure?
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: First an
apology, Senator Balboni.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: I'm
terribly sorry. Senator Skelos is much better
4823
looking, for the record.
Object. Go ahead, I dare you.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: They're
challenging the ruling of the chair.
(Laughter.)
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Withdrawn.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: It's
withdrawn.
Can you please return to the
original reading of the controversial
calendar, starting by taking up Calendar
Number 617.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read Calendar Number 617.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
617, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 7131A, an
act in relation to adjusting certain state aid
payments.
SENATOR HEVESI: Explanation,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: An
explanation has been requested, Senator
Seward.
SENATOR SEWARD: Certainly, Mr.
President.
4824
Now, this legislation before us
deals with the Cobleskill-Richmondville
Central School District. It simply says that
the repayment by the school district of
overpayments of state aid that were made to
the school district in the years 1994-'95 and
as recent as '97-'98, that the repayment of
this state aid will be done in installments
over a six-year period instead of a one-time
lump sum, which would cause difficulty for the
district's ability to meet its annual
budgetary requirements.
And also I might add, Mr.
President, that in addition to that, the
reporting requirements included in this bill
should provide a greater accountability in the
filing of claims and assist the
Cobleskill-Richmondville School District in
improving its business practices.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you, Senator.
Senator Hevesi, why do you rise?
SENATOR HEVESI: Mr. President,
if the sponsor would yield to a few questions,
please.
4825
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Seward, do you yield?
SENATOR SEWARD: Certainly.
SENATOR HEVESI: Thank you.
Senator, can you tell us the
payment schedule over the next five years -
which I believe the aggregate amount is
$189,522 -- does that include any interest
payments in consideration for the state having
expended that money several years ago?
SENATOR SEWARD: No. The
repayments will be in equal installments of
one-sixth of the amount due the state.
SENATOR HEVESI: Thank you, Mr.
President. Would the sponsor continue to
yield?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Seward, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR SEWARD: Certainly.
Certainly.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Senator yields.
SENATOR HEVESI: Thank you.
Senator, the sponsor's memo
provides as a justification that the
4826
Cobleskill-Richmondville School District
received overpayments. That's a very passive
term. I was wondering if you could clarify
for us whether or not the receipt of that
money came as the fault of some mismanagement
or accounting problem with the school district
or with the State Education Department.
Which entity was it that was
responsible for the overpayment?
SENATOR SEWARD: Well, Mr.
President, it's my understanding that the -
there were errors in the filing of paperwork
to the state on the part of the school
district which resulted in the overpayments.
SENATOR HEVESI: Mr. President,
if the sponsor would continue to yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Seward, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR SEWARD: Yes.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes,
he does, Senator Hevesi.
SENATOR HEVESI: A final question
for you. If you could tell us how this
mistake ultimately was caught so that we can
remedy it here today. How was the problem
4827
recognized?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Seward, do you yield?
SENATOR SEWARD: Certainly.
I would respond, Mr. President, by
saying that in a combination of obviously the
State Education Department reviewing the
accounts with the school district and also
with a subsequent business manager at the
school district, the error was determined by
both the State Ed Department and the local
school district.
And obviously there's no question
that this money is owed to the state. This
legislation simply deals with making that
repayment to the state in a manner which the
local school districts can do without causing
budgetary problems for the school district.
And I might add that, by repeating
what I had already said, to prevent this from
happening in the future we are requiring the
school district to work with the State Ed
Department in developing business practices
which will prevent this from happening again.
That, I think, is a significant piece in this
4828
legislation.
SENATOR HEVESI: Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you, Senator Seward.
SENATOR HEVESI: On the bill, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Hevesi, on the bill.
SENATOR HEVESI: This is one of
several similar pieces of legislation that
have come before us this legislative session
and I believe last legislative session.
I'm going to vote yes for the bill,
because in fact the school district does need
a protracted time frame within which to repay
this money. Which, and that being true, leads
us to believe that the school district made a
mistake in that they expended the $188,000 and
didn't catch the problem in the first place.
So there are several problems here.
And it doesn't just lie with this particular
school district, it lies with many different
school districts and how we address it, and it
lies with the State Education Department. And
I believe the first thing that we need to do
4829
in remedying these -- and I'm addressing the
larger issue here, because we keep seeing
these bills to remedy a situation that I
believe are perfectly avoidable in the first
place.
The first issue here is that the
state is owed interest on this money which was
overpaid to a school district several fiscal
years ago and which the state will not recoup
until ultimately the last one-sixth, until the
year 2005. That's an injustice to every one
of the taxpayers in the State of New York,
because we're forfeiting that money.
The second problem with this
remedy -- and although I appreciate Senator
Seward's inclusion in this legislation, unlike
some of the other bills that we've seen, a
provision which requires the
Cobleskill-Richmondville School District to
form a program which will require tighter
fiscal controls. Terrific idea -- there
should be a more global solution requiring
other school districts, since this is not an
isolated case, requiring other school
districts or every school district throughout
4830
New York State to provide the same kind of
fiscal integrity through this type of a
program.
And lastly, the State Education
Department has repeatedly made these
overpayments. And I'm not sure whether their
accounting practices and their bookkeeping is
on the money if they simply acquiesce to any
request by a local school district for a
particular amount of aid. There should be, on
the front end, some checking to make sure that
we don't make these overpayments.
And I'm willing to suspect that
right now there are many other overpayments
which have been made to school districts, the
interest on which the taxpayers of New York
State are not going to recoup and are never
going to coup if we continue to remedy this
problem with a piecemeal approach.
So it's a well-intended piece of
legislation. I don't want to compromise the
ability of this particular school district to
repay the money by requiring them to repay it
all in one shot, so I'm going to vote for this
legislation.
4831
But I would request the sponsor and
the chair of the Senate Education Committee to
really take a look at the larger problem here
so that we don't have to keep approaching this
on a piecemeal basis and we can come up with a
solution that's appropriate for every school
district in New York State, for the SED, and
that doesn't in any way disenfranchise either
schoolchildren or the taxpayers of New York
State.
I vote aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you, Senator Hevesi.
There is a local fiscal impact note
at the desk.
Please read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4832
624, by Senator Meier, Senate Print 6972, an
act to amend the Social Services Law, in
relation to the Learnfare program.
SENATOR DUANE: Explanation,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier, an explanation has been
requested by Senator Duane.
SENATOR MEIER: Thank you, Mr.
President.
Mr. President, this amends the
existing Learnfare law. Presently the law
pertains to the school-age children of
individuals who are receiving benefits under
either the safety net or the Family Assistance
Program.
Under the existing law, which would
continue under this bill, an accumulation of
three unexcused school absences in an academic
quarter without good cause results in the
child being referred for counseling.
If there are more than four
unexcused absences in an academic quarter, the
family grant is reduced on a pro rata basis
for a period of three months. That would be
4833
$60 for a period of three months. If in the
following quarter the child has no unexcused
absences, the amount is returned. In other
words, the family is made whole.
This bill amends that and makes
really two basic changes. One is it adds the
parent or other head of household to the
counseling session. The present law involves
only the child. So now we add the parent to
the counseling session.
The second change is it extends the
termination of the program from July 31st of
this year to July 31st of the year 2005.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you.
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
President. Would the sponsor yield, please?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier, do you yield to a question?
SENATOR MEIER: Gladly.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
President.
4834
I'm wondering if there's any
evidence that children in New York whose
families receive TANIFF funding attend school
at a lower rate than non-TANIFF students.
SENATOR MEIER: Well, Mr.
President, there is plenty of evidence that
one of the greatest single predictors of a
life of poverty and therefore of a life of
dependency on welfare is a failure to graduate
from school.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, if the sponsor would continue to
yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier.
SENATOR MEIER: Yes, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Please
proceed.
SENATOR DUANE: While I very much
appreciate the answer given to the question
that I didn't ask, I was wondering if the
sponsor knows of any evidence that the rate of
4835
attendance lower for a TANIFF -- children who
receive TANIFF assistance than otherwise. If
such documentation doesn't exist, I can accept
that answer as well.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: If you
know.
SENATOR MEIER: Thank you, Mr.
President.
I believe there's a direct
correlation between the failure to attend
school and therefore the failure to graduate,
and I thought I did answer the question.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President. I think I'll just leave my
question hanging, then, and go on to another
question.
Has there been any -- let's see,
what word shall I use -- evaluation by a
nongovernment agency, by an academic group, on
the effectiveness of Learnfare in pilot
districts, in the pilot districts?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier.
4836
SENATOR MEIER: Well, there have
been a number of commentaries on Learnfare
both in New York State and around the United
States, and they arrive at different
conclusions.
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes,
Senator Duane.
SENATOR DUANE: Could any of
those evaluations -- could any of those be
deemed to be a scientific evaluation or
documentation?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier.
SENATOR MEIER: Well, Mr.
President, I'm not sure what Senator Duane
means by "scientific." But let me give you
some statistics.
For the most recent figures that we
have, which would be the second quarter of the
'99-2000 academic year, 3216 referrals to
counseling were made. There have been only
236 grants reduced, and 16 grants have been
reinstated.
4837
For the preceding quarter, there
have been 1,057 references to counseling, 82
grants were reduced, 8 grants were reinstated
from the previous quarter.
So if you look at the numbers, one
of the significant things that seems to happen
here is that the counseling does seem to
encourage school attendance. And we have very
few -- we've got about a 93 percent success
rate when we look at the cohort of those who
go into counseling and those who have grant
reductions.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Duane, was that specific enough? Good
answer?
SENATOR DUANE: Through you, Mr.
President, it was specific but it didn't
really answer the part of my question having
to do with an independent group doing an
evaluation.
But we'll move along anyway, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Terrific. Terrific.
SENATOR DUANE: If we can agree
4838
that Learnfare guidelines are different in
each school or they can vary in each school
district, I'm wondering whether this bill
might -- perhaps it needed the flexibility to
include the different guidelines in each
school district for Learnfare.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier.
SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President, I
really -- let me put it this way. There is
only differences from school district to
school district to the extent that each school
district determines what an unexcused absence
is.
And I don't think any of us, if
we're going to have Learnfare, would have it
any other way. We're not going to set up a
giant attendance monitor here in Albany for
the entire state.
But although each school district
can determine what an unexcused absence is, I
think you would find general uniformity among
school districts around the state. Illnesses
are an appropriate excuse. A death in the
family is an appropriate excuse. Some kind of
4839
long-planned family activity is normally an
appropriate excuse.
SENATOR DUANE: And finally, Mr.
President, I should probably know the answer
to this, but I don't, so I was wondering if
the sponsor could answer this.
I'm wondering if in the budget
which we recently enacted if money was put
aside for the attendance improvement and
dropout prevention program as part of our
trying make it so that young people go to
school on a more regular basis.
SENATOR MEIER: $4 million in
TANIFF appropriations, Mr. President.
SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you very much, Senator Duane.
Senator Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank
you, Mr. President. I would like to ask a
couple of questions of the sponsor.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier, you're popular today. Would
you like to answer another couple of
4840
questions?
SENATOR MEIER: Sure, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Terrific. Please.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank
you, Mr. President.
Senator Meier, I think, has
indicated that we have some statistics but we
don't have others. And the ones that I'm
wondering about is, it was my understanding
that when we initially passed this legislation
the purpose was -- as Senator Meier has
stated, I believe -- if it's correct, that we
were attempting to improve the attendance rate
of children on welfare. And we were trying to
force the parents by using this as a
punishment for them not in fact getting the
children to school.
Was that your recollection, Senator
Meier? Am I correct -
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: -- that was
the basis of our passing this Learnfare?
4841
SENATOR MEIER: Well, Mr.
President, I would characterize it
differently, but Senator Montgomery is free to
characterize it the way she would.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Okay. If
that's the case, then, Senator Meier, I just
would wonder if we have up to this point been
able to make any kind of analysis based on
this legislation and its impact on improving
attendance rates.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier.
SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President, of
the statistics that we have from the school
districts that have implemented and reported,
we get, of the cohort that go to counseling,
93 percent of those students have attendance
in the next quarter which includes no
unexcused absences.
So what I would suggest that this
data demonstrates is that the counseling
process works, the intent of this bill in part
is to expand that counseling process to make
mandatory that the parent or other responsible
adult in that child's life be included in that
4842
counseling process.
I would characterize this
differently. I don't think this is intended
to be punitive.
And quite frankly, the way I view
it, if I can be permitted to take a couple of
seconds to explain it from a philosophical
point of view, is that this views a public
assistance program as a social contract, which
is really what it is.
Our end of the contract
representing the people of this state is that
we believe that we need to have programs in
place so that there is some level below which
materially people ought not to have to live,
that we as a society believe that and we are
willing to do that.
I think what Learnfare attempts to
implement is that contracts are two-sided
arrangements, and that part of the arrangement
that we have a right to expect from people who
are temporarily receiving that kind of
assistance, among other things, is that they
will see to it, to the extent that they can,
that their children attend school. We're just
4843
people to do something as their end of the
social contract. And I don't view it as
punitive as well.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Fuschillo, why do you rise?
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
Mr. President. There will be an immediate
meeting of the Rules Committee in the Majority
Conference Room.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Immediate meeting of the Senate Rules
Committee in the Majority Conference Room.
Sorry for the interruption.
Senator Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank
you, Mr. President. If I may be allowed to
ask the Senator another question.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier, do you yield?
SENATOR MEIER: Yes, I do, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Go
ahead, Senator.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Senator
Meier, in my district one of the -- most of
4844
the school districts, the local school
districts have -- are those school districts
where there are large numbers of children
whose families are in shelters or other kinds
of unstable temporary arrangements for living.
There is a high turnover rate.
These are very dysfunctional situations for
children and their parents. They may be in
one school for a month and suddenly, because
for circumstances way beyond their own
control, they may be in another school and
several other schools during the year.
So I'm just wondering what do we do
for those families who find themselves in
these kinds of situations where they may not
be really able to call the school and say
"I've just been displaced from my present
location. I now have to go to the Bronx,
where I -- where I've been living in Brooklyn
for the last month."
SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President,
the legislation provides that if the absence
is with good cause, then the school may not
use that as the basis -- or when they report
an unexcused absence, that the school can
4845
factor that in.
And I think certainly if someone is
in a situation where they have an unstable
home environment or no home environment, if
there's homelessness involved, if someone is
displaced because of an act of violence, if
there is some personal emergency, the school,
remember, is going to make this determination
initially.
If something like that were to fall
through the cracks, there is an additional
safety mechanism for the family in that before
benefits can be stopped there must be at least
a ten-day notice and the opportunity for a
fair hearing.
And, Senator, as you know, in the
City of New York there are some nice folks in
Legal Aid who are quite successful with those.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: One last
question, Mr. President, for Senator Meier.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes,
Senator Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: I'm reading
here from the Bar Association where they say
that failure to -- there is a mandatory -
4846
it's mandated that anyone receiving assistance
must sign a release waiving their right to
privacy, so that any record of their child can
be divulged by the education -- the Board of
Ed.
Failure to sign this release
results in the entire public assistance case
being closed, despite the language of the
statute that states that as a condition of
eligibility of assistance for any child, the
parent of any such child shall consent to the
release of any school attendance report
records.
So in fact, it appears that the
local department is moving to close the case
of the entire family as opposed to just that
case of the child.
Now, I know that your legislation
targets the particular child, but it seems -
it sounds like we have a problem with the
interpretation between the intent of your bill
and its interpretation by the department. Is
there any way that we can address that
vis-a-vis your legislation, Senator Meier?
SENATOR MEIER: Well, Mr.
4847
President, first of all, it is the attendance
record. It's not any record of the child, it
is just the attendance record that's necessary
to implement this.
Since the program has been in
effect, we've had 157 case closings in the
entire State of New York for failure to sign
the waiver.
Now, remember, someone can have
their case closed for any number of reasons,
most of which are associated with a failure to
cooperate with a number of elements of welfare
reform. One of them might be a willful
failure to show up for a work assignment, a
willful failure to show up for a scheduled
appointment with a caseworker.
And again, this is not intended to
be a punitive measure. And I think what you
see here is that that has not been a
significant number in the larger universe.
The data that I don't have, and I can't tell
you what it is, those 157 refusals relating in
case closures, I don't know how many of them
were reopened upon the individual later
deciding to comply, or perhaps winning a fair
4848
hearing if there wasn't a willful refusal.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Just
briefly, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Montgomery, are you on the bill.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: One other
point that I would like to raise with Senator
Meier, not necessarily as a question but just
as a point, that there is a level of
discrimination, Senator Meier, I think you
would agree, that if one of our children
was -- had three or more unexcused absences, I
don't think -- I don't want to make any
suggestions that may be taken up later -- but
I don't think at the present time our salaries
would be reduced based on that child -- our
own child being absent without us giving what
the Board of Ed would consider to be valid.
But we would do that with poor
families, with very, very vulnerable and
at-risk families.
So I think we should consider that
in the least, it's discriminatory, as it works
itself out in fact in reality.
SENATOR MEIER: Mr. President, I
4849
assume that was a question.
And I don't view it as
discriminatory at all. We are dealing with a
group of people, many of whom -- most of whom,
through no fault of their own, find themselves
within the welfare system. We know
historically there is a direct correlation
between the failure to complete school and an
almost cyclical and generational entrapment
within that system.
This goes right to a problem where
we know there's a direct correlation. It is
an attempt to address it in a humane way,
using counseling, which proves to be effective
in 93 percent of the cases that go to
counseling. There are due process measures so
that folks who have emergency situations and
other extenuating circumstances are not hurt.
I think this is not discriminatory,
it is based on getting at that direct
correlation between the failure or the
inability to complete school and a lifetime of
dependency poverty. It's meant to address the
problem of poverty -- not to beat up poor
people, not to stigmatize them, but to address
4850
one of the things that we know is true.
The other difference here, of
course, is once again this is part of the
contract. We have an obligation as a society
to assist people along who, for whatever
reason, cannot at some point in their lives
help themselves.
I don't think it's asking too much,
I don't think it's unfair, I don't think it's
onerous to say there are certain obligations
in terms of behavior and work and other things
that we should expect in return so long as
it's done humanely and so long as people are
not punished without due processes or without
good reason.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you,
Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Schneiderman, why do you rise?
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Mr.
President, if the sponsor would yield for a
question.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier.
SENATOR MEIER: Certainly.
4851
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
Through you, Mr. President.
I was very interested to hear the
social contract argument that you presented
before, that, you know, the state conveys
benefits and the state also conveys
obligations.
Would you be receptive -- because
we all benefit from the state, not just those
who receive public assistance, but get tax
deductions that the state authorizes. Would
you favor a program to either raise the taxes
or eliminate deductions or impose some other
penalty to expand the state contract to
parents who aren't on public assistance?
SENATOR MEIER: Well, Senator
Schneiderman, it's an imperfect -- nice try,
but it's an imperfect comparison.
What we are talking about is people
who are in a circumstance -- and again, many
of whom, most of whom through no fault of
their own are in a circumstance of complete
dependency upon the state and the local
municipality for their subsistence.
And under those circumstances -
4852
and again, there's a direct correlation there
between that group in our population, the
failure to complete school and staying in a
life of poverty and therefore dependency on
welfare.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through
you, Mr. President.
I am unaware of the basis for some
of the statistics you cited. But I'm
wondering, are you familiar with the study
done on Wisconsin's program, similar to the
Learnfare program, by the University of
Wisconsin in Milwaukee?
SENATOR MEIER: I have not read
the study. I have seen some secondhand
accounts of that study.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: All right,
thank you. Through you, Mr. President, on the
bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: On the
bill.
Thank you, Senator Meier.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: We have a
lot going on today, so I'm not going to
stretch this out. I appreciate the sponsor's
4853
responsiveness to questions.
Unfortunately, I feel very strongly
that this is a bad program. The University of
Wisconsin at Milwaukee study on Wisconsin's
program found that after one year, sanctioned
students had the highest dropout rate of any
group of students and that after two years,
there was no significant increase in overall
attendance.
I think what we're looking at here
is obviously a very serious problem of
children who grow up in poverty not attending
school. And I think there is some sincerity
in this effort. But I think we are looking at
a situation where there's no demonstrable,
positive impact and, in fact, what we're
looking at is something that does discriminate
against poor people.
I get lots of benefits from the
state. I'm not on public assistance. My
whole life I've gotten the benefits of tax
assistance, of all kinds of rebates for my
coops. The state conveys benefits, more
benefits on rich people that it conveys on
poor people.
4854
And I assure you, if you look at
the array of people sitting in the lobby
outside here today, they're not all out here
trying to get us to do things for poor people
before the end of the session.
So I would suggest that if we're
going to impose any sort of social contract -
which I like. I like rights and
responsibilities. I go -- you know, I'm with
it. But let's make it something that is
equitable. Let's not penalize the people who
are the least capable of making sure that
their kids get into school. Let's do
something that really has some sense of
equity.
And I think this program, as it's
presently structured, penalizes the least
stable and does nothing to help the students.
So I urge a no vote.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Please
read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
4855
Senator Meier, to explain his vote.
SENATOR MEIER: Yes. I'm still
going to vote yes, the interesting report from
the State of Wisconsin notwithstanding.
Two points. The Wisconsin study
deals with a program where you're dealing with
children junior high school through high
school. New York's program is grades one
through six. And these figures show that
93 percent of the kids who go into counseling
wind up with no unexcused absences in the
following quarter.
It's too bad Wisconsin, which
normally is quite successful in welfare
reform, failed on this one. We're doing
better than okay.
I vote aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Meier will be recorded in the
affirmative.
Please call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 624 are
Senators Coppola, Duane, Markowitz, Mendez,
4856
Montgomery, Onorato, Paterson, Rosado,
Schneiderman, Seabrook, A. Smith, M. Smith,
and Stavisky. Ayes, 47. Nays, 13.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
President, will you please call up Calendar
Number 1074.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Before
we do that, Senator Seabrook, why do you rise?
SENATOR SEABROOK: Yes, Mr.
President. With unanimous consent, I'd like
to be recorded in the negative on Calendar
1342.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: 1342.
Without objection, so ordered. You will be
recorded as such.
Senator Fuschillo, I'm sorry.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
Mr. President. Will you please call up
Calendar Number 1074, by Senator Goodman.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4857
1074, by Senator Goodman, Senate Print 7431,
an act to amend the Public Lands Law, in
relation to sale of unappropriated state land.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Read
the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
Mr. President. Will you please call up
Calendar Number 1331, by Senator Maziarz.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will please read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1331, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7566A,
an act to amend the General Municipal Law, in
relation to bingo admission fees.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Explanation,
please.
4858
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Maziarz, an explanation has been
requested.
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very
much, Mr. President.
Yes, Mr. President. This bill
would allow licensed bingo establishments the
opportunity to set their own minimum admission
fees. Currently the New York State Racing and
Wagering Board sets these fees. However, this
was viewed by many establishments and
participants to be both a financial and an
administrative burden.
I want to emphasize, Mr. President,
that this allows the organizations to set the
minimum fee. The maximum fee is still set by
the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.
Currently that maximum fee is $5.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Dollinger, is that explanation
satisfactory?
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Will the
sponsor yield to a question, please?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Will
4859
the sponsor please yield?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Absolutely,
Senator.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: He
yields.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through you,
Mr. President, what's the current minimum fee
that's set by the Racing and Wagering Board?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: The current fee
is $2. It was $1, and the Racing and Wagering
Board increased that to generally $2,
depending on the number of face cards, bingo
face cards that are on the board.
But the standard number of face
cards is two. And the admission fee, when the
Racing and Wagering Board changed the
guidelines, went from $1 to $2, which
inconvenienced many people, including many,
many senior citizens, Senator Dollinger. Many
who live in your district, Senator Dollinger.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Well,
potentially, Mr. President. We'll debate that
in a second.
If the sponsor would yield to one
other question, Mr. President.
4860
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Maziarz, would you continue to yield?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Absolutely, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Dollinger, proceed.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Is the fee
that's charged a minimum entry fee for the
person, or is it a minimum purchase fee per
card?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Per card. It's
a per card fee, Senator. There's no entrance
fee to go in. It's per card.
And it was -- the standard
admission in New York State, Senator -- I
don't mean to interrupt you -- the standard
admission was two cards for $1. And the
Racing and Wagering Board changed that at the
request of some of the larger bingo operators
to be $1 per face, so that the competition of
smaller organizations that ran bingo would be
eliminated.
This really is a bill that's going
to favor the smaller bingo organizations.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through you,
4861
Mr. President, if the sponsor will continue to
yield.
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Yes, Mr.
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Senator yields. Thank you.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: I'm intrigued
by your response that this will favor the
small bingo operators. Doesn't this give any
bingo operator the right to set no fee at all
for cards?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Yes. Yes, it
would. Yes, it would.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: So how would
that impact big operators versus smaller
operators? Again through you, Mr. President.
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Well, the big
operators for the most part right now charge
the $2 fee.
They were very happy -- in fact,
they were the ones that lobbied, advocated the
State Racing and Wagering Board to set this
higher fee, we think to the detriment -- and
the smaller organizations think to the
detriment of their -- the number of
4862
participants at their bingos.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Okay. Again
through you, Mr. President.
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Surely, Mr.
President.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Is the effect
of this bill, Senator, that there would be
virtually no fees charged for admission to
bingo then at all?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: No.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Wouldn't
there be a tremendous competition for
everybody to waive their fees?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: It would be -
that would be competitive. You know, the
organizations would be -- I mean, if they
wanted to raise their fee -- but there's no
fee admission. I mean, it's a fee for the
number of bingo boards that you would get.
I mean, they couldn't let you play
bingo for nothing, or they wouldn't be able to
give anything away, Senator.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Right.
That's the final question I have, Mr.
President, just so I make sure I understand
4863
this.
How are the prides awarded, how is
the money raised for prizes at a bingo event?
Is it simply through the purchase of a card,
or do you pay to play every game?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Senator, I have
to tell you I do not know the answer to your
question. I assume that it's from the price
of admission. But I have never been to bingo
in my life, Senator, so I really don't have
any idea.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: Through you,
Mr. President, just on the bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: On the
bill, Senator Dollinger.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: I've never
been to a bingo game either. But it seems to
me that one of the things we're doing is we're
taking away a power of the Racing and Wagering
Board that we gave it to establish certain
minimum fees for participation in a bingo
game. It's part of our regulation of
gambling.
And I think rather than give it up
to the private enterprise to allow some kind
4864
of competition to the bottom with this cost,
it seems to me that there was a policy reason
to put it there in the first place. And I
think that the Racing and Wagering Board
should continue to monitor games of bingo,
games of chance, and should continue to have
the right to set a minimum fee.
So I'm going to vote against this
bill, Mr. President.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Volker.
SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President,
not that I'm an experienced bingo player, but
I have been to some bingo games. And let me
tell you that my understanding is that the
Catholic Church thinks this is a very good
idea, because it's what I call a loss leader
kind of thing.
The problem is they're trying to
get people into the bingo places -- some of
which, by the way, have been discouraged to
come in because of some legislation that we
passed here and legislation that's been passed
by local governments having to do with smoking
and a lot of other things has just
4865
devastated -- particularly, for instance, I
know in Erie County and parts of Western New
York where many of the churches have had to
abandon bingo because the fact that they
couldn't have smoking and they couldn't divide
the places up because of the rules that have
been passed have simply devastated them.
What they do is the admission is
only a piece of the money that is raised.
They have what they call specials where you
put in a couple of dollars and you buy an
additional card.
I was there a couple of times in my
law enforcement days, way back when, when
people -- I remember -- I hesitate to tell you
this story -- a woman died during the bingo
game. The difficulty we had is that people
were playing right around her and we couldn't,
you know, take her out immediately. And
people actually literally had cards lying all
over the place. They'd get special cards -
one woman next to her bought ten cards and had
them lined up and was irritated that we were
trying to treat this woman.
If you don't think that this is
4866
serious business, you're wrong.
They also sell food. They sell all
sorts of things at these bingo games. In
reality, the admission is only a very small
part of the bingo revenue. The major revenue,
as I say, comes from specials, from prizes,
from food, from drink and all that other
stuff.
So I think that's what this is
really all about, I believe.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Dollinger, are you raising your
hand -- are you waving at me for some reason?
SENATOR DOLLINGER: No, Mr.
President. I'll yield to Senator Stavisky.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Ah,
Senator Stavisky.
SENATOR STAVISKY: Mr. President,
one question through you for the sponsor, if
he will yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Maziarz, will you yield to a question?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Oh, absolutely,
Mr. President.
SENATOR STAVISKY: Who are the
4867
people, Mr. President, who come to play these
games?
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Primarily
senior citizens.
SENATOR STAVISKY: Exactly.
SENATOR MAZIARZ: Every one of
them have called me from my district to ask me
to do this bill. And from Senator Dollinger's
district too, by the way.
SENATOR STAVISKY: Exactly. And
for that very reason and for the reason that
Senator Volker described, I intend to vote no
on this bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Can't
get you to take a chance on it, huh?
(Laughter.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: What?
Senator Dollinger.
SENATOR DOLLINGER: O-67 was
never so lucky.
I just rise to respond, actually,
to Senator Volker's point. And I understand
the sort of strange allegiance of the Catholic
Church and bingo, and I understand that it's
critical for many parishes now to make up
4868
revenues.
But I still think that what this
bill does is it steps us further away from
regulating games of chance. And while many
churches are involved in it, what's also
happened is we have professional bingo
parlors. We have entrepreneurs who are
starting bingo operations and running them
like straight games of chance.
I would suggest that by taking a
step further away from regulating games of
chance, we're making a mistake. There may
even be a justification for doing this
specific step, but the further away we get
from regulating these games, the worse off our
people will be.
I vote no.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Thank
you, Senator Dollinger.
Read the last section, please.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect in 30 days.
THE SECRETARY: Call the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
4869
the negative on Calendar Number 1331 are
Senators Connor, Dollinger, Duane, Kruger,
Montgomery, Rosado, Seabrook, A. Smith,
Stavisky, and Senator Lachman. Ayes, 50.
Nays, 10.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
bill is passed.
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
President, lay aside for the day the bills
remaining on the controversial calendar.
May we please return to the reports
of standing committees. I believe there's a
report of the Rules Committee at the desk.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno,
from the Committee on Rules, reports the
following bills:
Senate Print 663, by Senator
Goodman, an act to amend the Environmental
Conservation Law;
1731D, by Senator Bonacic, an act
to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law;
2093A, by Senator Libous, an act to
4870
amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law;
2150, by Senator Marchi, an act to
amend Chapter 154 of the Laws of 1921;
2375A, by Senator Stafford, an act
to amend the Lien Law;
2895B, by Senator McGee, an act to
amend the Public Authorities Law and the
Transportation Law;
3057A, by Senator LaValle, an act
to amend the Criminal Procedure Law;
3598, by Senator Velella, an act to
amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law;
5925C, by Senator LaValle, an act
to amend the Education Law and the Economic
Development Law;
6239, by Senator Marchi, an act
authorizing the City of New York;
6353, by Senator Marchi, an act
authorizing the City of New York;
6670, by Senator Marcellino, an act
to amend the Education Law;
6679A, by Senator Seward, an act to
amend the Insurance Law;
6703, by Senator Nozzolio, an act
to amend the Penal Law;
4871
6825, by Senator Morahan, an act to
amend the Public Authorities Law;
6857, by Senator Seabrook, an act
authorizing the City of New York;
6893A, by Senator Hannon, an act to
amend the Lien Law;
6985A, by Senator Alesi, an act in
relation to redistributing;
6995, by Senator Markowitz, an act
authorizing the City of New York;
7091, by Senator Meier, an act to
authorize Kevin Collins;
7256, by Senator Maziarz, an act to
amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law;
7295, by Senator Seward, an act to
amend the Insurance Law;
7327B, by Senator Seward, an act to
amend the Insurance Law and others;
7533B, by Senator Spano, an act to
amend the Social Services Law;
7540A, by Senator Leibell, an act
to amend the Town Law;
7606A, by Senator Spano, an act to
amend the Banking Law;
7618B, by Senator Bonacic, an act
4872
in relation to the alienation;
7854A, by Senator Bonacic, an act
to authorize the Village of Saugerties;
7927A, by Senator Johnson, an act
authorizing the assessor of the Town of
Babylon;
And 7947, by Senator Padavan, an
act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law.
All bills ordered direct to third
reading.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Move to
accept the report of the Rules Committee.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: All in
favor of accepting the report by the Rules
Committee signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Opposed, nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
report is accepted.
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Please
4873
recognize Senator Stachowski.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Senator Stachowski.
SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr.
President, can I have unanimous consent to be
recorded the negative on Calendar Number 1331.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Without objection, you will be recorded no.
And Senator Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr.
President, I would like unanimous consent to
be recorded in the negative on Calendar
Numbers 1011, 1012, 1013, and 1317.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Without objection, you shall be so recorded.
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
President, is there any housekeeping at the
desk?
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: Yes,
there is.
Senator Ray Meier.
SENATOR MEIER: Thank you, Mr.
President.
Amendments are offered to the
4874
following bills:
On page number 23, Calendar Number
788, Assembly Print 2714;
On behalf of Senator LaValle, on
page 12, Calendar Number 460, Senate Print
2709A;
On behalf of Senator LaValle, on
page number 41, Calendar 1163, Senate Print
2046C;
And on behalf of Senator Saland, on
page number 5, Calendar Number 57, Senate
Print 1031E.
And I ask that each of these bills
retain their place on the Third Reading
Calendar.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI:
Amendments are received and adopted, and they
will retain their place on the Third Reading
Calendar.
Senator Fuschillo, there are
substitutions at the desk. Shall we do them?
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Please read.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: On page 9,
4875
Senator McGee moves to discharge, from the
Committee on Rules, Assembly Bill Number 8281B
and substitute it for the identical Senate
Bill Number 4620B, Third Reading Calendar 310.
On page 23, Senator Bonacic moves
to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
Assembly Bill Number 7464B and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 4085B,
Third Reading Calendar 797.
On page 24, Senator LaValle moves
to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
Assembly Bill Number 2820A and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 1619A,
Third Reading Calendar 815.
On page 24, Senator Trunzo moves to
discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
Assembly Bill Number 4042A and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 2548A,
Third Reading Calendar 820.
On page 26, Senator Trunzo moves to
discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
Assembly Bill Number 3564A and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 2072A,
Third Reading Calendar 904.
On page 27, Senator Leibell moves
4876
to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
Assembly Bill Number 5617A and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 3059A,
Third Reading Calendar 907.
And on page 28, Senator Lack moves
to discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
Assembly Bill Number 812A and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 6332A,
Third Reading Calendar 930.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
substitutions are ordered.
Senator Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
President, there being no further business to
come before the Senate, I move we adjourn
until Tuesday, June 13th, at 11:00 a.m.
ACTING PRESIDENT BALBONI: The
Senate is hereby adjourned until tomorrow,
June 13th, at 11:00 a.m.
(Whereupon, at 5:30 p.m., the
Senate adjourned.)