Regular Session - March 2, 2004
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NEW YORK STATE SENATE
THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
ALBANY, NEW YORK
March 2, 2004
3:10 p.m.
REGULAR SESSION
SENATOR PATRICIA K. McGEE, Acting President
STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
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P R O C E E D I N G S
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: 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.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: In the
absence of clergy, may we bow our heads,
please, in a moment of silence.
(Whereupon, the assemblage
respected a moment of silence.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Reading
of the Journal.
THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
Monday, March 1, the Senate met pursuant to
adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
February 28, was read and approved. On
motion, Senate adjourned.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Without
objection, the Journal stands approved as
read.
Presentation of petitions.
Messages from the Assembly.
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Messages from the Governor.
Reports of standing committees.
The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator
Fuschillo, from the Committee on Consumer
Protection, reports:
Senate Print 2099, by Senator
Marcellino, an act to amend the General
Business Law;
4497, by Senator Alesi, an act to
amend the General Business Law;
5088, by Senator Fuschillo, an act
to amend the General Business Law;
5745A, by Senator Golden, an act to
amend the General Business Law;
And Senate Print 5954, by Senator
Nozzolio, an act to amend the General Business
Law.
Senator Velella, from the Committee
on Labor, reports:
Senate Print 4379A, by Senator
Velella, an act to amend the Labor Law.
Senator Golden, from the Committee
on Aging, reports:
Senate Print 1348, by Senator
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Morahan, an act to amend the Real Property
Law;
2965, by Senator Spano, an act to
amend the Executive Law;
And Senate Print 6047, by Senator
Golden, an act representing to constituting
Chapter 35A.
Senator Volker, from the Committee
on Codes, reports:
Senate Print 851, by Senator
Balboni, an act to amend the Penal Law;
1055, by Senator Skelos, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
1433A, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
2360, by Senator Leibell, an act to
amend the Criminal Procedure Law;
2810, by Senator Flanagan, an act
to amend the Penal Law;
4170, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
4171, by Senator Volker, an act to
repeal;
4529, by Senator Saland, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
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4844, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
4999A, by Senator Bruno, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
5321, by Senator Golden, an act to
amend the Criminal Procedure Law;
5396, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
5407, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Criminal Procedure Law;
5951, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Criminal Procedure Law;
6043A, by Senator Skelos, an act to
amend the Penal Law;
6111, by Senator DeFrancisco, an
act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law;
6117, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Criminal Procedure Law;
And Senate Print 6118, by Senator
Volker, an act to amend the Penal Law.
Senator Wright, from the Committee
on Energy and Telecommunications, reports:
Senate Print 3801A, by Senator
Wright, an act to amend the Public Authorities
Law;
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4890B, by Senator Wright, an act to
amend the Public Service Law;
5119, by Senator Alesi, an act to
amend the Executive Law;
And Senate Print 6120, by Senator
Padavan, an act to amend the Executive Law.
Senator Little, from the Committee
on Local Government, reports:
Senate Print 520, by Senator
Balboni, an act to amend the General Municipal
Law;
722, by Senator LaValle, an act
authorizing the Town of East Hampton;
1066, by Senator Wright, an act to
amend the Real Property Tax Law;
2230, by Senator Meier, an act to
amend the General Municipal Law;
2898, by Senator Bonacic, an act to
amend the General Municipal Law;
5082, by Senator Larkin, an act to
authorize;
5801A, by Senator Volker, an act to
amend the Local Finance Law;
5888, by Senator DeFrancisco, an
act to amend the Town Law;
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6032, by Senator Little, an act to
amend the Town Law;
And Senate Print 6066, by Senator
Little, an act to authorize.
All bills ordered direct to third
reading.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: All
bills reported direct to third reading.
Reports of select committees.
Communications and reports from
state officers.
Motions and resolutions.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
if we could adopt the Resolution Calendar at
this time.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: All in
favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar
signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Opposed,
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Resolution Calendar is adopted.
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Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
there's a privileged resolution at the desk by
Senator Padavan. Could we have the title read
and move for its immediate adoption.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: By Senator
Padavan, Legislative Resolution Number 3720,
paying tribute to Alan J. Friedman, Ph.D.,
upon the occasion of the celebration of his
20th Anniversary as Director of the New York
Hall of Science on March 18, 2004.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
question is on the resolution. All in favor
will signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Opposed,
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
resolution is adopted.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
I believe there are two substitutions at the
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desk. If we could make them at this time.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: On page 23,
Senator Spano moves to discharge, from the
Committee on Investigations and Government
Operations, Assembly Bill Number 8135A and
substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
Number 4812A, Third Reading Calendar 316.
And on page 26, Senator Marcellino
moves to discharge, from the Committee on
Civil Service and Pensions, Assembly Bill
Number 6927 and substitute it for the
identical Senate Bill Number 2101, Third
Reading Calendar 354.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Substitutions ordered.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
if we could go to the noncontroversial reading
of the calendar.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
144, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5554, an
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act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in
relation to eliminating.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This
act --
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Lay it
aside.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is laid aside.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
182, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 145A, an
act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
relation to providing for distinctive license
plates.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
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THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
185, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 935, an
act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
relation to dealers and dealer registration.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect on the 90th day.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
193, by Senator Little, Senate Print 4358A, an
act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
relation to establishing distinctive license
plates.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
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(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 46.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
212, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 4516, an
act to amend Chapter 453 of the Laws of 2000,
amending the Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 47.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
217, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 561, an
act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
killing or injuring a police animal.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Flanagan.
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SENATOR FLANAGAN: Madam
President, to explain my vote.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: We need
to read the last section first.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Flanagan.
SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,
Madam President.
I just want to explain very briefly
my vote on this bill. Senator Maziarz is
obviously the sponsor. I think this is a
great bill. I'll just use one story.
In Suffolk County, there's a police
officer named John Mallia, and he has a dog
named Boomer, a 9-year-old German shepherd.
They basically are like family, they've worked
together for a number of years. And there was
a recent incident which underscores the need
for legislation like this.
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Officer Mallia basically had his
life saved because the dog, his German
shepherd, Boomer, protected him from an
assailant. He was stabbed six times, the dog
was, as was the police officer. Fortunately,
the dog survived, as did the officer.
But during the dog's surgery, the
officer was wounded and stayed there for the
whole time because this person -- this
companion or this animal, I should say, saved
his life.
And when you think about it, this
is a police animal who's acting in the course
of duty just like a police officer. He was
there to protect this person. And here we are
enhancing penalties in a very positive way,
and addressing a situation that I think needs
to be rectified.
Assemblyman Tonko is working on
this bill in the Assembly; I've had
discussions with him. And hopefully this will
be the year when this bill can get passed in
both houses in chapters.
But it's a good piece of
legislation, and there are real-life stories
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to underscore that.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Thank
you, Senator Flanagan.
Announce the results.
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
222, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 763,
an act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
including the theft of dogs and cats.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect on the first of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
233, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 6038, an
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act to amend the Civil Service Law, in
relation to the resolution of disputes.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect one year after it shall
have become a law.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
298, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 5147, an
act to amend the Not-for-Profit Corporation
Law, in relation to corporations for the
prevention of cruelty to animals in Orange
County.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
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(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
299, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 5452B, an
act to amend Chapter 824 of the Laws of 1933,
relating to creating the Buffalo and Fort Erie
Public Bridge Authority.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
act shall take effect on the 120th day.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
357, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 4023A --
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
aside.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is laid aside.
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THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
358, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5325, an
act to amend the Education Law, in relation to
involuntary transfer of violent or disruptive
pupils.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Lay it aside
temporarily, please.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is laid aside temporarily.
Senator Marcellino, that completes
the noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Senator
McGee, may we just stand at ease temporarily,
please.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Senate will stand at ease temporarily.
(Whereupon, the Senate stood at
ease at 3:21 p.m.)
(Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
at 3:24 p.m.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
can we at this time return to motions and
resolutions.
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And I believe I have a privileged
resolution at the desk. I would ask that it
be read in its entirety and move for its
immediate adoption.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno,
Legislative Resolution Number 3664, commending
John Sawchuk and Michael Bennett for their
heroic action at Columbia High School on
February 9, 2004.
"WHEREAS, It is the sense of this
Legislative Body to recognize and commend the
concerned and heroic acts of distinguished
citizens who voluntarily take immediate and
appropriate action to protect the health and
safety of others; and
"WHEREAS, Few individuals are ever
confronted by that moment of truth when, in a
hazardous situation, a single act may
determine the course of life of others; and
"WHEREAS, John Sawchuk and Michael
Bennett were confronted with such a moment on
Monday, February 9, 2004, at Columbia High
School in East Greenbush, New York, just
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across the Hudson River from the New York
State capital, and responded immediately and
valiantly, risking their lives without thought
of their own personal safety to protect the
lives of others; and
"WHEREAS, On that fateful day, John
Sawchuk, Assistant Principal, and Michael
Bennett, Special Education Teacher and Coach
of the Girls Basketball Team, responded to the
actions of a 16-year-old-student who had
sneaked a pump-action shotgun into the school
and had fired some shots; and
"WHEREAS, John Sawchuk was
observing a class when he heard what he
thought might have been an explosion coming
from a technology classroom. Then he heard
what he believed to be a shot. He and Michael
Bennett ran into the hallway, as school
personnel so often do whenever they hear a
noise or a commotion in the halls; and
"WHEREAS, As John Sawchuk moved
down the third floor hallway toward the sound,
he met Michael Bennett and asked him to get
the students in the hallway into classrooms
and come with him. As the two men turned the
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corner, they saw a young man with a gun; and
"WHEREAS, The young man had loaded
the gun in a restroom and had fired twice in
the main hallway of the school's south tower;
fortunately, missing two students. As John
Sawchuk and Michael Bennett came around the
corner, the student's back was to them, but
John Sawchuk could see the smoking gun; and
"WHEREAS, John Sawchuk jumped the
man from behind, wrestling him to the floor,
disarming him and holding him down until the
police arrived. Unfortunately, in the
scuffle, the gun went off again, hitting
Michael Bennett in the lower leg as he moved
forward to help the assistant principal.
Thankfully, Michael Bennett was not seriously
wounded and is recovering; and
"WHEREAS, The courageous and heroic
act of John Sawchuk and Michael Bennett to
confront and subdue the student prevented
further injuries and perhaps an even greater
tragedy on that day. By quickly recognizing
the dangerous situation, they protected
students and teachers alike from harm; and
"WHEREAS, John Sawchuk and Michael
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Bennett credit the precautions, drills, and
contingency measures put into place in 2001 as
part of New York State's SAVE (Schools Against
Violence in Education) regulations, and the
other teachers and staff for also following
other aspects of their training and these
regulations, for helping to safely end this
tragic incident. But it is John Sawchuk and
Michael Bennett who have justly earned the
gratitude and appreciation of students, staff,
parents, and community; and
"WHEREAS, The efforts of John
Sawchuk and Michael Bennett, who unselfishly
risked their own lives to protect others and
defuse a situation no one should ever have to
face, are worthy of the full praise and
recognition of this Legislative Body and the
people of the State of New York; now,
therefore, be it
"RESOLVED, That this Legislative
Body pause in its deliberations to pay
grateful tribute to John Sawchuk and Michael
Bennett in recognition of their heroic actions
at Columbia High School, East Greenbush,
New York, on February 9, 2004; and be it
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further
"RESOLVED, That copies of this
resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
to John Sawchuk and Michael Bennett with the
appreciation of this Legislative Body."
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Madam
President and colleagues.
We've just heard a chronicle of two
educators who acted in an extremely heroic way
and affected the lives of an awful lot of
people -- students, parents, teachers, the
community.
And when you hear what was just
read as part of this resolution, it almost
sounds like a movie that might have been
rehearsed. But these men, faced with a
situation, had to act within a fraction of a
second.
And by their heroic actions, John,
moving to disarm that young individual -- who
was there to hurt people or to kill people.
And Michael, seeing what was going on, teamed
with him. And when the shotgun went off, by
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the grace of God, it just grazed his leg.
Inches in any direction, and we might have
talked about a tragedy instead of just
relating to these heroic acts.
So I'm here really on behalf of our
constituency, all of our colleagues. The
Governor was on the phone, knowing what we
were doing, as I was coming into the chamber,
to extend his congratulations to John, to
Michael, to your families.
Terry Brewer, the superintendent,
is here, who helped after this situation, and
during, to just create a situation that was as
comfortable for the students and the parents
as it could be under those very, very
difficult and trying circumstances.
So John and Michael really are role
models for all of us -- not just for teachers,
educators, but for all of us -- on how we
should relate in selfless ways, as they did,
to protect others without regard to their own
safety. So we thank you for your heroism.
And they're very humble and were
almost reluctant to be here with us. And you
can understand that as you visit with them
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somewhat. But let me just share that
recognizing what goes on really helps deliver
a message to a larger community about what
life ought to be like.
So we're indebted to you, and we
thank you. And we congratulate you and your
families that I know are as proud of you as we
are.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Paterson.
SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you,
Madam President.
I want to join Senator Bruno in
commending these two men, John Sawchuk and
Michael Bennett, for what was really
superhuman service at the time that they
probably protected people in that school from
loss of life.
It's hard to say that in a way they
set an example, because in those types of
situations human beings react in a number of
different ways, and none of the ways are wrong
in a time of crisis. But there are some of us
who have it in them, almost innately and
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naturally, that they go beyond where others
would have gone, and selflessly, as Senator
Bruno, described, make a great statement for
humanity by saving the lives of others and
preventing tragedy that would have been
remembered for the rest of everyone's life.
As it is, they will remember for
the rest of their lives and those who are
around them will always remember them in a
positive way. And even though it started out
to be a malignant tragedy, it was spared by
their herculean effort on that day, February
9th of this year.
We can't thank them enough. Our
hearts go out to them. I speak for this side
of the aisle, but there are no aisles when it
comes to human tragedy, just our heartfelt
desire that now that they have performed
beyond what would be the capability of most
people, that we as a Senate, as part of this
government, will do all we can to ensure
school safety and to try to keep guns out of
the hands of young people.
It is a tremendous day, not only
for these two men who we honor, but for our
764
society, that we can produce people of such
valor and such courage. And it's also an
inspiration to us, in a different environment,
to try to outperform perhaps our predecessors
and bring peace and safety to our state and to
our country.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Marcellino.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
Madam President.
As a former schoolteacher myself,
of twenty years, I wanted to just say thank
you to these two gentlemen. Because when they
acted the way they did, they demonstrated the
fact that they cared more for their students
and their students' safety than they did for
their own personal safety.
And I'm sure they didn't concern
themselves with notoriety or anything like
that. They were doing a job that they were
trained to do, and demonstrated the caring and
respect that they had for their students and
for their fellow teachers.
That's a great thing, and that's
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something that every parent that has a child
in that school and in that school system
should be proud of. They can feel safe that
the children that are in these men's charge
are going to be safe as long as they're on the
job.
And as I said before, as a former
teacher, I just wanted to say thank you very
much. You are, in fact, a role model for the
people who I know put themselves on the line
every single day when they go to the schools
to teach and to educate our kids. It's not an
ease job, it never has been. But you guys
have taken one great step and improved and
impressed all of your colleagues.
You have our respect, and I know
you have the respect and feelings of the
parents and gratefulness of the parents of the
children in the school in which you are
charged with their education and safety.
So thanks a lot, gentlemen.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Malcolm Smith.
SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank you
very much, Madam President. I also rise to
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support my colleague Senator Bruno, and also
Senator Paterson, in thanking both John and
Michael.
And I just want to bring them a
little personal experience to it. My nephew,
Michael, who lives in East Greenbush, attends
that school. And I will tell you that not a
day that when I go home after session or after
we have a full day here, that they're not
talking to me about what occurred.
You should know, as much as it was
publicized in the press, the impact that you
had on those children. And each night he is
at some point talking to me about the
experience, talking to me about what you did
and what it meant to him and what it means to
his thinking in terms of how he moves forward
in life.
So from one who has a personal
experience, not so much being there but has a
family member who actually goes to the school,
and I see him every day, I wanted to tell you
how thankful I am to each and every one of
you.
And if there's any point in time in
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life that my path crosses yours again and that
we need to be working together, you can be
sure that I will be there for you as you were
there for those children.
Thank you very much, and may God
continue to bless you.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: Madam
President, just quick.
I think that the other thing that
this incident shows is something we all take
for granted.
This school district trained, they
worked together as professionals to prepare
for an emergency. When this happened,
everything went the right way. Not because of
luck, not because of chance, but because they
took the time to make safety and emergency
preparedness a priority. That's a message for
all of us.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
question is on the resolution. All in favor
signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
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ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Opposed,
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
resolution is adopted.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
I would offer up this resolution to all of my
colleagues that would care to go on this
resolution as sponsors. Anyone wishing not
to, would you just privately address the front
desk.
And thank you, John Sawchuk and
Michael Bennett. I would ask my colleagues to
please recognize them.
(Standing ovation.)
SENATOR BRUNO: There's Terry
Brewer, who has joined us. Terry, would you
stand up and be recognized as well.
(Applause.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Anyone
not wishing to be on the resolution will
please notify the desk.
The resolution is passed.
Senator Bruno.
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SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
I believe Calendar Number 377 has previously
been reported from the Codes Committee. I
would ask that we take it up at this time.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
377, by Senator Bruno, Senate Print 4999A, an
act to amend the Penal Law and the Highway
Law, in relation to violence committed on
school grounds.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
Explanation.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Bruno, an explanation has been requested.
SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Madam
President, colleagues.
Six years ago exactly today, a
constituent of mine, adjacent to Senator
Farley, disappeared getting off a bus, it's
believed, at the SUNY campus. Suzanne Lyall,
six years ago at age 19, disappeared, hasn't
been heard from.
Her parents, Doug and Mary, are
here with us. They have for six years
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supported legislation which increases the
penalties and defines "school grounds" in an
expanded way. So that any crime that is
committed on a school ground -- and that would
include athletic fields, nurseries, daycare
centers, elementary, higher ed, spans the
definition of school grounds -- would be more
severely punished.
We have passed this bill six years
in a row. It has not passed the Assembly.
And we're hopeful that with our support here,
and Mary and Doug, who are here, who haven't
given up hope -- and we keep them in our
thoughts and in our prayers, because every day
and every week they live with the expectation,
positive expectation that something good will
happen in their life.
So that's what the bill does. We
have passed it, I believe, with bipartisan
support for I believe the last five years.
This will be the sixth year.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Farley.
SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam
771
President.
I rise to speak to this
legislation, because this is not a unique
situation. There's been another girl from the
same campus right here in our area, SUNY
Albany -- where I taught for a number of
years -- the Wilton girl, who's never been
heard from.
And Doug and Mary, this tragedy
that you've lived with for many years, just a
few hundred feet from my district, and who I
know the family -- this is a stalking place.
University grounds, school grounds are a
stalking place for these people to take
advantage of young women. And this
legislation is really needed to send a message
that they've got to stay off those grounds.
Senator Breslin, you remember that
tragedies have happened right in our campus
and right near this Capitol.
And Doug and Mary Lyall have been
relentless in trying to get this legislation
passed in the name of their daughter, who has
been lost and gone in the tragedy that you
live with day by day.
772
And there's no reason why the
Assembly won't pass this. As they said at the
press conference, they get somewhat of -- they
didn't say it in that way, lip service -- but
sympathy from the Assembly, but no action.
It's time for action on this
legislation, because it's needed to protect, I
think, young women or anybody that's the
subject of a predator on these school
campuses.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam
President. I don't have in front of me my
past voting record on this, but I may or may
not have voted no on it in the past. But I'm
going to vote no today, and I want to explain
my vote.
I certainly am very concerned about
the environment within schools, especially
high schools and middle schools, what happens
to students, the degree of violence that we
apparently are experiencing throughout the
country, but also in my own district to some
degree.
773
But I'm just going to -- in my vote
today, I'm going to represent the interests of
the young people that I represent in Brooklyn,
in Bedford-Stuyvesant, in Red Hook, in Crown
Heights, in Fort Greene, in housing projects.
Many of them have come to their schools with
varying degrees of stress and in crisis. Many
of them have to travel through gangs, through
drugs, through police shootings. We had one
recently, where the police shot a young
person. There's been two of those incidents
in my district in the past several months.
And when they get to school, there
is no one in that school to address any of the
issues that those young people bring to them.
And I'm talking especially about a group of
people that I call, I refer to as the do-rag
people. And one of them is my son.
So I'm especially sensitive to
legislation which targets young people in
schools, to increase the penalties and to put
them on track to incarceration at a very early
point in their lives, at the site of their
schools.
Now, obviously, if anyone commits a
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serious crime -- certainly as in the case of
what happened in Columbia High School. And,
Senator, I was here that day, I saw that, and
I certainly join you in expressing my pride in
the staff there, and the students. But that
young man goes through the criminal justice
system, and I'm happy about that. It was
immediate that that situation was addressed.
But now we're talking about
increasing the penalty just because it's at a
high school. And unfortunately, the criminal
justice system always ends up being much more
harshly enforced and much more often impacting
young people that I represent, especially
young men who are black and brown.
So I'm going to vote against this,
only because I think we have -- we certainly
do have plenty of different levels of charges
and penalties that we can use already. And I
feel very uncomfortable when we target -- we
already have, in New York City, very poorly
trained safety personnel, but they are part of
the Police Department. We have the Police
Department, we have the safety codes, we have
already laws that we have passed to increase
775
penalties.
And now to go one step further and
create this whole new series of penalties just
because it's at a school, I am going to
certainly have to vote no on this bill because
of my own conscience and because of what I
experience with young people in my district
very, very often. And it's become a national
movement that we're closing in on our young
people.
And I have talked about
school-based health clinics that would have
comprehensive health and mental health
services for young people. I think that is
critical. I have talked about the need for
guidance in our schools, the need for support
systems for young people in their communities.
That's what I support. I don't see that
happening.
So I have to take exception to
looking to the criminal justice system as the
answer for every issue that our young people
bring to us. We're adults; we should be able
to do better. And I hope that we can begin to
turn our focus around to addressing the needs
776
of young people rather than simply addressing
their behaviors, which very often is an
indication of their needs not being met.
So, Madam President, I am voting no
on this legislation.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Diaz.
SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam
President. On the bill.
I represent a section of the city
called the South Bronx. Our children, the
dropout rate is about 40 percent. Mothers and
fathers are afraid to send their children to
school because of the bullies, the crimes, the
violence.
So I'm asking all the time -- when
we get together, we politicians, when we get
together, we say that we have to stop the
school violence, that we have to start
protecting our children, and the 1.1 million
students in the City of New York should be
protected.
And when I hear that we should -- I
don't know if I am not understanding, but when
I hear that because children come with
777
problems and frustrations that they could come
to school and we should allow them to violate
the law and commit crimes -- to me, anybody
that commits a crime is a criminal. To me,
anyone that violates the law is a criminal.
So if someone commits a crime in
school, it prevents, prevents the great
majority of the students from getting a proper
and nice and decent education. And some of
our children are being -- are leaving the
school because they're afraid to go to school
because of the bullies and the crimes and the
criminals in school.
So I am here to tell Senator Bruno
that I'm supporting your bill. I'm supporting
your bill, and I think that we should be --
that you should be stronger to students in our
school. See, sometimes, if the mayor want to
put police protection in schools, then we say
no, we can't do that. We got to put laws to
protect the rest of the children? We say no,
we can't do that.
Ladies and gentlemen, what is it
we're going to do here? When is it that we
are going to really take a look at the rest,
778
the great majority of children that have been
prevented from getting a proper education?
I'm here for those students that
have been prevented from getting an education.
If you come to school to violate the school
and to bring violence to school, you do not
belong in that school. Let all the children
that wants to get educated be educated.
So I'm for that bill, and I
encourage you to keep putting bills like that,
so my children in my district will be
protected. Thank you very much.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Fuschillo.
SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam
President, thank you very much.
And Senator Bruno, my compliments
to you and the family that lost their innocent
daughter. My heart bleeds with you, as a
parent of three children.
I have a different philosophical
belief than some of my colleagues. And I
represent a district of kids who were away
this summer at a football camp at a
school-sanctioned trip that bullied entire
779
participants, bullied 60 kids, terrorized
three kids, sodomized them with broomsticks,
brutally raped them, beat them, tied them up
with duct tape.
And in Pennsylvania, where it took
place, they were charged as juveniles, and the
judge said, They're kids.
Baloney. You don't commit acts of
crime like that and be treated like children.
Because you're not a kid when you step out of
that line.
So we can't do enough to protect
the kids that you ensure, that we as parents
ask you to protect every day of our lives.
And we go home, and the kids have gone home,
and the administrators have gone home, and the
public thinks we've gone on with our lives.
Well, I got three kids that are
neighbors of mine that emotionally are scarred
for their life. One kid's been in and out of
a hospital since August, trying to correct
rectal bleeding. And people think they've
gone on with their lives.
So we can't do enough. And I
commend you for your action, and Senator
780
Saland and Senator Balboni, and the other
bills that we're introducing today. Because
they're not kids anymore when they perform
these acts. And if we can't teach people at a
young and early part of their life, then we've
lost them altogether.
Madam President, I'll be voting aye
on these bills. Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Any
other Senator wishing to speak on the bill?
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect on the first of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
2. Senators Montgomery and Parker recorded in
the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Parker, to explain his vote.
SENATOR PARKER: Madam President,
to explain my vote.
I voted no on this bill, not
781
because I don't care about young people and I
don't want to see them protected. I agree
with everything that's been said in support of
this bill in terms of protecting young people.
I have one of the largest underserved
populations of young people in the entire City
of New York, where we have a gang problem that
rivals south central L.A.
However, I'm clear that more
penalties do not prevent crimes -- in the same
way that we in this state are now arguing and
discussing reforming the Rockefeller Drug
Laws, because after 30 years of these
horrendous laws, the drug addiction and the
problems with drug abuse haven't gone down
because of higher penalties. So in fact, just
creating higher penalties within themselves is
not going to do it.
If we want to protect young people
and we want to protect the folks in our
communities and in our schools, we need to be
interacting with our young people in a very,
very different way. We need to be on the
ground figuring out how do we create dollars
out of this budget to make sure that we
782
increase after-school programs, increasing
things in terms of young people understand
where they are in life. We need to be
interacting with them and not just saying if
you do this, you're going to pay the penalty.
Because people who are in fact
committing some of these horrific crimes are
not thinking about the penalties. And they're
not going to start thinking about them just
because it's something horrific.
You know, unfortunately, just a
couple of weeks ago, right here -- you know,
we oftentimes categorize this stuff as a
New York City problem, but just over in East
Greenbush, we had a young man come in and
shoot a teacher. That young man wasn't
thinking about, you know, the crime and what's
happening. He had a problem that really
should have been addressed by the community.
And we need to do a better job at that.
And so I'm voting no on this bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Marcellino, to explain his vote.
SENATOR MARCELLINO: Madam
President, just to explain my vote briefly.
783
In my district, a young child was
beaten on a bus by other children on the bus.
The parents, who were poor, very poor, feared
putting the kid on the bus, but actually
put -- they put the kid in a cab. They could
hardly afford to put the child in a cab, but
were fearful of putting her on the bus because
she was being attacked routinely.
The district could not deal with
it, did not deal with it adequately. The
child was beaten into a coma.
Now, that's tragic. We need -- and
I thank my colleagues, Senator Bruno, Senator
Balboni, Senator Saland, for bringing up these
bills and doing this kind of legislation,
because we must get a handle on violence in
our schools.
As a parent, when I send my child
to a school, any parent sends their child to a
school, they have a reasonable expectation
that that child will be cared for and safe,
with the emphasis on safe.
And as I said before, as a teacher
of twenty years, I learned a long time ago
that the numbers of kids involved in this kind
784
of activity is small. It's 1 percent of the
student body that causes 99 percent of the
problems. Ninety-nine percent of the kids,
they're there for the best reasons, to get an
education. Do they get in scrapes? Yeah,
sure, now and again. But it's not the serious
stuff.
The kids who engage in this kind of
behavior deserve to be punished and dealt with
by the system. Dealt with. Not patted on the
wrist, not slapped on the hand, but dealt with
in a serious way. Otherwise, we will have
more districts with problems like in Senator
Fuschillo's district, more problems like in my
district, more problems like in their
district. We cannot have this.
Safety must be our concern, and the
protection of the children. These bills will
do that.
Thank you. I'll be voting aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
can I ask for an immediate meeting of the
785
Rules Committee in the Majority Conference
Room.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in
the Majority Conference Room.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
can we at this time take up Calendar Number
357.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
357, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 4023A --
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
Explanation.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, an explanation has been requested.
SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Madam
President.
Madam President, this bill is the
"Schools as Safe Harbors Act." And what this
bill proposes to do is to underscore the very
theme we've heard discussed time and again
here during the course of this afternoon.
Schools should be houses of learning and not
786
houses of fear, not houses of anxiety, not
houses of intimidation.
What this bill does is really
several things, with one basic and simple end.
The basic and simple end is to create an
environment in which students will be more
secure, free from the menace of bullying, and
in which school employees and teachers, very
similarly, will not have to fear being
harassed or the subject of acts of physical
violence that previously may have been treated
as a violation and, under this bill, would be
proposed to be treated as a B misdemeanor.
You may recall that just a few
short years ago we passed the SAVE
legislation. And the SAVE legislation
required, among other things, that schools
establish codes of conduct. It also required
that schools provide instruction in civility,
citizenship, and character education.
Well, what we're proposing to do in
this legislation is to expand that component,
which was required of the Regents to provide
to our schools, to also address methods of
discouraging acts of bullying by one student
787
against another.
We provide a mechanism that
requires that those school employees who
become aware of the fact that there are acts
of bullying that have occurred and are
occurring will be required to report them so
long as there's a reasonable suspicion to
believe that in fact they constitute an act of
bullying.
We define an act of bullying, and
we say that no student shall be subject to
bullying by any other student. And what we
say is that the means by which we shall deal
with those who shall bully will be by means of
the disciplinary action in accordance with the
school's course of conduct.
We also require of our schools that
they provide a plain-language, age-appropriate
description of the policies dealing with
bullying, and they distribute it to not only
employees and students, but parents as well.
The last component of the bill, as
I mentioned in my opening remarks, is one that
creates a crime of aggravated harassment of
teachers and school personnel. Basically, the
788
effort there is to deal with these instances
in which teachers are subject to some act of
physical violence that at times actually
require them being seen in an emergency room,
where the nature of the crime -- or the nature
of the act is not deemed to rise to the level
necessary to equate with the standard for a
misdemeanor.
We say in this legislation that it
shall be a B misdemeanor, where in those
circumstances a school employee is struck,
shoved, kicked. And as a result of those
actions, the person who engages in that
activity will be subject to the potential of a
criminal law instead of a mere violation.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
Senator Sabini.
SENATOR SABINI: Madam President,
I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
would waive its reading and ask to be heard on
it.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
reading is waived, and you may speak on the
789
amendment.
SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam
President.
I have submitted an amendment to
this bill substituting the language in Senate
1925, Senator Duane's bill, and its companion,
Assemblyman Saunders' bill, which is the
Dignity for All Students Act. I believe that
our Education chair has put in a good piece of
legislation; I just seek to make it better.
There's no reason, in my mind, why
we can't fully address the problem that S4023
tries to address and does a good job of
getting sort of halfway there. I'd like to go
the whole way now, rather than wait.
And when I say "the whole way," the
Dignity for All Students Act goes more toward
prevention and education, so we don't have to
always worry about the penalties, but rather
to intervene in these situations before they
occur. And it prohibits harassment by any
school staff or anyone on school grounds other
than the student, which addresses a broader
range of people.
You know, I've experienced, in my
790
time in public office, situations that were
brought to the attention of groups for study.
One study in New York City showed that
teachers and school administrators really
didn't recognize these situations as they
developed, that in fact they thought, when
students came to them talking about doing an
act of violence or harassment, that in some
ways it was something to be ignored, something
to be chuckled about, something to view as
part of growing up. And it's not. And we
shouldn't allow it to be.
What the language in the amendment
does is to train teachers and school personnel
to recognize potential violent situations
before they occur, to inform teachers and
school personnel that it's not all right for
children to harass other children or even
other citizens outside the school grounds
because of their affectional preference,
because of their religion, because of where
they've come from.
We're now faced -- and some of my
colleagues in our conference have talked about
some of the video games that our young people
791
are playing, where they're encouraged to shoot
people because they're of a specific ethnic
group or a specific religion. And so it's
becoming almost an ingrained thing for our
young people to think that it's okay to do
these things, to treat people differently
because of who they are.
And while I think that Chairman
Saland's bill does go some of the way, I'd
like to go further. And I'd like to set a
tone for the personnel in our schools to
understand that they can prevent these things
from happening and that they should set a tone
of tolerance within the schools.
I think the amendment goes much
further than the bill does that's before us to
do that, and I urge my colleagues to support
the amendment and hopefully prevent young
people from being harassed or even, in some
cases, having their lives threatened because
of who they are. That's a society we've
chosen to develop a framework of in this state
and all over America, but unfortunately it
often gets lost on our young people.
Thank you, Madam President.
792
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
Madam President. Briefly on the amendment.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman, on the amendment.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I think
what we're dealing with here today, quite
simply, is the question of whether this
Legislature is going to address the issues
that have been raised -- articulately, in some
cases; emotionally, by some of my colleagues
here today -- or whether we're going to
continue this pattern of passing one-house
bills that pass each other like ships in the
night.
This is an extraordinarily serious
issue. And I would note that a lot of the
organizations that have spoken in support of
Senator Saland's bill are also in support of
the Dignity for All Students Act, and in fact
are urging us to get the two houses of the
Legislature together so we can actually deal
with this issue. And that includes the
New York State United Teachers, and the 170
793
members of the Dignity for All Students
coalition.
Among the problems with the bill
that has been presented to us today that
Senator Sabini is seeking to address are the
fact that the bill before us in the Senate
omits teacher training on how to prevent and
respond to bias bullying. It has no
prohibition on harassment by school staff or
other people besides students, which is a
serious problem in many schools.
It has a very relatively narrow
definition of verbal bullying, and bars
private causes of action as an enforcement
mechanism with noncompliant school districts.
It provides no specific definition of gender,
to include gender identity and expression, and
it doesn't have any specific protections
relating to discrimination in a broader
context than student-on-student bullying.
So this bill is an effort to
address a problem. The amendment would make
it a much stronger bill. But I urge that even
if this amendment were to fail, it's time to
move beyond this pattern of year in, year out,
794
having the Dignity for All Students Act pass
overwhelmingly in the Assembly and never see
the light of day in this house.
Let's get this issue on the table.
Let's not hide behind one-house bills and tell
our constituents we're really trying to deal
with it. Let's do a conference committee if
we need to.
I support the amendment. I hope
everyone will vote for it. But it is time to
finally address this issue, and I hope this
year will be the year we do it.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: All
those Senators in favor of the amendment
please signify by raising your hand.
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
agreement are Senators Breslin, Dilán, Duane,
Gonzalez, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger,
Lachman, Montgomery, Onorato, Parker,
Paterson, Sabini, Schneiderman, A. Smith, and
Stavisky.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
amendment is lost.
Read the last section.
795
Senator Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam
President, just briefly on the legislation.
I am going to vote no again. I
believe that I have voted no on this
legislation in the past. However, if I have
not, I'm changing my vote.
And one of the responses that I
have to the issue of bullying, especially as
it relates to persons of a different sexual
orientation or a different ethnicity, I look
at the example that we have set for young
people in our discussions, both politically
and otherwise.
There are so many people in our
country who ascribe to English only, because
they say this is America and everyone should
speak English and English should be the only
language that we teach in schools. And
people, young people, are forced to learn
English.
There is a raging debate about
prayer in the schools, and my question is
whose prayer are we talking about. But it's
prayer in the schools. They're not talking
796
about teaching young people about world
religions and the understanding and the
respect for other religions in the world. I
don't think that's what the message is.
And it's abstinence versus an
opportunity to have sex education in schools,
and AIDS education. And the idea that we
would keep young people from having access to
health care that includes reproductive health
services to young people, as well as mental
health.
What we are doing to the Haitians
who put their bodies in a boat and come across
because they're refugees from a horrible
situation, and we just send them back. No
other group of refugees in the world are
treated that way by us.
And we don't talk about conflict
resolution. And do we suppose that young
people don't understand and don't see that and
don't respond to it?
So the idea of bullying starts from
the top. I've heard some very interesting
comments made by the President of the U.S.
Talk about bullying.
797
So I know it's a problem. But I
think that we have a problem in our country as
it relates to how much respect and tolerance
and understanding and acceptance of a
multinational, multiethnic, multi-sex
orientation world that we live in.
I don't think there's any other
nation that would call themselves a modernized
country where young people grow up speaking
only one language. Every other country, young
people speak many different languages.
So we have a lot to do as adults.
So I'm going to vote no on this, because I
think that the idea that we want to address
bullying has very little to do with this
legislation. It has to do with setting up
codes of punishment.
And I want to remind my colleagues
that it says from elementary, secondary,
kindergarten, prekindergarten. So when you
come into school at three and a half, four
years old, you're already set into a system
that has very rigid guidelines. And if you go
outside of that, if you behave like a child,
if you behave like a 4-year-old, if you
798
behavior like a 5-year-old, you're going to
be -- there's punishment for you. And there's
very little else that we're going to offer
you.
And the issue of aggravated
harassment of teachers, I think I've spoken on
that before. And I said specifically that I
would not like to see -- I would not like to
be put in a position personally, if I go to
school and I'm upset with a teacher or a
principal or a guidance counselor and I start
yelling at them and they accuse me of
harassment, and I'm going to be charged with a
crime.
So personally I have to object to
that, because the way that I speak on this
floor, very often, I could be charged with a
crime. Because people could assume that I'm
harassing them when I yell at them across the
floor, across the aisle.
So I'm going to vote no for that
reason, personally, and also for the reason
that I think we're not really talking about
addressing bullying, we're talking about
establishing penalties for children behaving
799
as children do.
Thank you. My vote is no.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, if I might
just interrupt for a moment, Madam President,
there will be an immediate meeting of the
Social Services Committee in the Majority
Conference Room.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Immediate meeting of the Social Services
Committee in the Majority Conference Room.
Senator Lachman.
SENATOR LACHMAN: Yes, I first of
all want to commend my colleagues in offering
up the amendment that failed. I think that
would have been an improvement, and it would
have created one bill.
But we are discussing a very
important issue today, and that's the issue of
bullying on school property. And whether we
realize it or not, there are teenagers who not
only bully but strike out, hurt, and hit other
students when these students want to learn.
Now, I'm particularly concerned
800
about one high school, which is slightly out
of my district, where I began my teaching
career at the age of 21. I'm concerned about
it because the newest minorities, the newest
immigrants in this country, from China, and
Muslims from Bangladesh and Pakistan, are
being beaten up by people born in this country
of different ethnic and racial groups, to the
point where the police department had to get
into the act when the principal was beaten up
by one of these students and knocked to the
floor unconscious.
This is not a minor act of
bullying. I was in the hospital with one
student, who was beaten to a pulp and almost
died because he was a Pakistani Muslim
student. And this occurred before 9/11. And
it's occurring today. And we're closing our
eyes if we don't realize that.
A young lady who's a
Chinese-American at the school turned around
to her colleagues and said, "The teacher is
trying to teach. Why don't you let her
teach?" And she was beaten up in class and
followed home, bleeding, because of this.
801
Now, many of the suggestions that
my dear colleagues have offered are excellent
for the future. What we have in front of us
today is a bill. Is it perfect? No. Does it
raise the issue? Yes. Does it try to be a
first step to resolve the issue? Yes.
I hope there will be a compromise
with the New York State Assembly. But in the
world of reality, we have to deal with what
exists today to make our schools not prisons,
but not to make our schools streets where
children can be beaten to pulp because of
their ethnic and racial backgrounds.
I vote yes. In case you don't
realize.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Sabini.
SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam
President. On the bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Sabini, on the bill.
SENATOR SABINI: I believe in all
our work here that the perfect and the good
aren't enemies. And therefore, while I
offered an amendment to the bill, I intend to
802
vote for this bill, because I think something
should be done.
But I would also echo the words of
Senator Schneiderman, in that if we're really
serious about this, we should have a
conference committee with the Assembly and
stop the game of we have two different bills
that are shades of gray in difference, really,
and actually move a law to the Governor's desk
that can protect our young people -- and
frankly, in some cases, protect people who
aren't on school grounds if our young people
are made to understand that acts of violence
against people for who they are are not
acceptable.
I vote aye.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Stavisky.
SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
Madam President.
Very briefly, I support the bill
also, also as a former high school teacher.
However, there are parts of it --
the part that deals with aggravated harassment
of teachers and school personnel, I expressed
803
my misgivings yesterday in committee,
particularly to the phrase that includes "to
annoy or alarm a person." To me, that does
not qualify as aggravated harassment.
It's in the bill. I think it's an
overly broad inclusion. I think it's a
mistake.
But I think, in balance, the entire
measure is so important that we have to hope
that the people administering this bill, the
school personnel, don't just file charges
because a child ignores the warning that you
can't annoy a teacher.
I'm not unhappy that kindergarten
is included, because it seems to me that
children at a very young age have to learn
that you don't become a bully, that you learn
respect. And I think it's a lot easier if the
children learn it at the age of 5 than at the
age of 15.
I will vote yes.
ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
Senator Sampson.
SENATOR SAMPSON: On the bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO:
804
Senator Sampson, on the bill.
SENATOR SAMPSON: Mr. President,
I salute the sponsor for this legislation.
But as I hear the legislation that we're
passing here today, we're just concentrating
on the penalty and the punishment instead of
getting to the root cause of why have these
children reached to that point.
Our main concern should be looking
at the root cause. Because once we punish or
administer such penalties, once these
individuals, when they come out of
incarceration, they can't find jobs, what do
you think they're going to do?
You know, the whole issue is if you
don't prepare someone for the future, they're
going to revert back to the ways of the past.
Our main concentration is on the penalties,
but we should look at the root cause of why
these children reach to this point, ladies and
gentlemen.
Until we understand the root cause,
we will continuously increase the penalties
but, at the same time, forget how they reached
to that point. And once again, it's just
805
going to be a cycle going around and around
and around and around. One day we have to
wake up and realize that we have to do
something to prevent them from reaching this
point.
Thank you very much.
ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: Any
other Senator wish to be heard on the bill?
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
act shall take effect on the first of
September.
ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: Call
the roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 357 are
Senator Andrews, Duane, Parker, and
Montgomery. Ayes, 57. Nays, 4.
ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: The
bill is passed.
Senator Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: Mr. President,
I'd like to ask that Calendar Number 358 be
called up for consideration by the body.
806
ACTING PRESIDENT FUSCHILLO: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
358, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 5325, an
act to amend the Education Law.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
Explanation.
SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Mr.
President.
Mr. President, this bill -- which I
believe we've considered in a prior session,
favorably -- this bill basically creates a
mechanism for the involuntary transfer of a
disruptive student.
Under the existing law, a student
can be suspended for being disruptive.
There's virtually no limit to the number of
suspensions. The fact of the matter is that
the disruptive student does little to advance
his or her education, and in the course of
being disruptive actually impedes the
education of those who might be his or her
classmates.
This bill provides a mechanism for
a transfer to an alternative school within the
807
same school district. The bill provides --
although the bill language is not in this
text, but in the Education Law which is being
amended -- this mechanism would be a mechanism
that would require the ability for a hearing
and would also, again, ensure that the child
being transferred would remain in his or her
district.
And my understanding is that the
Big Five basically have this mechanism on
board already, have the alternative schools
that provide for these children -- generally
in smaller class settings, which are
advantageous to the furtherance of the
education of the child or the student who has
been transferred. And, again, enhances the
opportunity for those remaining in the
classroom where this disruptive student has
departed to have the opportunity to advance
their education as well.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Lachman.
SENATOR LACHMAN: Through you,
Madam President, will the sponsor yield for a
question?
808
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, will you yield?
SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Madam
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Senator yields.
SENATOR LACHMAN: I share your
concern, Senator Saland, that suspending
children again and again and again does not
resolve this issue, even though we have built
into these suspension laws measures that
protect the civil liberties of these children,
such as their having the right to bring
outsiders with them so they're not taken
advantage of.
What I would like to know, what
guarantee is there that when these children
are not suspended, and they're sent to
alternative schools -- I assume alternative
high schools, but perhaps junior high
schools -- that there will be facilities and
the availability of means to work with these
children so the antisocial behavior comes to
an end?
SENATOR SALAND: Obviously,
809
Senator Lachman, the intention here is to
benefit both the student being transferred and
those remaining behind.
In the absence of a school district
establishing an alternative school to which
this child could be transferred, there would
not be the ability to accomplish that.
And experience indicates -- and I
know one of the districts in my Senate
district has such a school. The effort there
is basically, again, smaller class size and
more intensive interaction to try and assist
the student not only educationally but
behaviorally as well.
SENATOR LACHMAN: On the bill,
Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Lachman, on the bill.
SENATOR LACHMAN: On the bill.
The bill is a first step. And
Senator Saland knows I have misgivings about
this, because we discussed it before. It's a
first step because getting children out of a
violent situation or an antisocial situation
and putting them into high schools, or
810
alternative high schools, does not resolve the
problem completely unless those schools have
the facilities to deal with these children.
However, because I think it is
worse that these children receive no education
whatsoever when they're suspended and
suspended and suspended, at least here we can,
in a sense, negotiate and develop a process by
which, in the other schools, these children
will be able to learn.
So I will be voting for this
measure -- reluctantly, but voting for it as a
first step. And I do hope that this bill is
not considered a means by which children who
are antisocial are just thrown into another
high school, and then thrown five months later
into another high school, and ten months later
into another high school.
I will vote yes on this bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect on the first of
September.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
811
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays,
4. Senators Andrews, Duane, Montgomery, and
Parker recorded in the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, Madam
President, would you please call up Calendar
Number 368.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
368, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 851, an
act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
criminal street-gang activity on school
grounds.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Brief
explanation.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman has requested a brief
explanation, Senator Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: Madam
President, the discussion this afternoon has
812
centered upon the strategies by which we could
reduce the amount of violence in our schools.
And for anyone in law enforcement who deals
with gangs, the one thing that has become a
virtual certainty is that schools are playing
a greater and greater role in the ability to
continue to grow the ranks of violent street
gangs.
This bill would create a crime --
way overdue in the State of New York -- of a
felony penalty for anyone who would attempt to
recruit gang members on school grounds.
If you talk with the members of the
Nassau and Suffolk County police departments,
they will tell you that gang recruitment in
grammar school is now a reality. And the
threats and intimidations towards young
children, the most vulnerable, continue at
almost a daily pace. It is outrageous that we
do not have a penalty to stop this type of
behavior and to try to provide these
protections.
The bill would basically create
three crimes. The first would be gang
recruitment on school grounds in the second
813
degree. That would be a Class E felony. Gang
recruitment on school grounds, first degree,
that would be a Class D felony, and in repeat
offenses would be a Class C felony.
I am frustrated, as I stand here
today, that we have passed this bill many
times in this house, with very little
discussion or objection, and yet it has fallen
on deaf ears in the Assembly. It is beyond my
comprehension as to how this type of a measure
to protect the most vulnerable in our school
systems has not passed.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam
President, I believe there's an amendment at
the desk. I would waive its reading and ask
that I be heard on the amendment.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
reading is waived, and you may speak on the
amendment.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I
sympathize with Senator Balboni's frustration
when bills pass overwhelmingly in one house
814
and fall on deaf ears in the other house. The
amendment that I'm seeking to add to his
legislation today would add a bill that has
passed for 11 years in the Assembly and has
never made it onto the floor in this house.
And in view of the fact that we had
today with us some courageous teachers and a
principal who dealt with a student with a gun
that he should not have properly had, I think
it's appropriate that we address this issue.
I'm trying to add a safe storage
bill, called the Gun-Free Kids bill, to this
package that supposedly deals with school
safety. And I find it absolutely astonishing
that we've brought these courageous teachers
in here and that we're supposedly dealing with
school safety without dealing with one of the
most fundamental problems, which is preventing
children from having access to guns.
Furthermore, we're dealing with a
fundamental problem that has a solution that
has been enacted in many states and that has a
demonstrable effect on the problem. There is
no question that a law requiring the safe
storage of guns, requiring that guns be in a
815
safe or otherwise safely stored, has a
tremendous impact.
In fact, ten other states,
including California, Florida, and New Jersey,
have passed comparable laws. And a study by
the National Center for Injury Prevention and
Control indicates that those states have
reduced unintentional deaths of children by
firearms by an average of 23 percent.
How can we purport to care about
school safety here, and the safety of our
children, enhancing crimes with the purpose of
saying, you know, schools are special places,
children are there, it should be a more
serious crime if you do it in the school --
and not deal with something that has been
proven to save children's lives.
In the State of New York, in the
last year for which I have detailed
statistics, 1999 -- the number has apparently
gone up since then -- we had over 1650
hospitalizations due to gun injuries, 965
deaths due to gun injuries. And of those, a
significant number were children.
The problem of children getting
816
guns is a problem all over the country. There
are two groups of states, the states that have
addressed it and the states like New York that
have not addressed it.
I do not see how we can honestly
say that we care about the safety of our
children and we are trying to deal with school
safety, that we care about what happened to
those teachers, and we're not enacting this
simple bill that has passed the Assembly for
11 years and that would have kept the gun out
of the hands of that student and prevented the
situation from the outset.
I urge everyone here to vote for
this amendment. And I would urge my
colleagues that if we are serious about moving
things forward, let's get this bill on the
floor this year, let's break up the gridlock
between the two houses, and let's ensure that
some of our children whose lives we know would
be saved if we pass this bill are not put at
risk due to the failure of this house to act
on this simple, proven piece of legislation.
I urge everyone to vote yes on the
amendment.
817
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: All
those Senators in favor of the amendment
please signify by raising your hand.
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
Duane, Hassell-Thompson, Montgomery, Onorato,
Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson,
Schneiderman, and Stavisky.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
amendment is lost.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 6. That
act shall take effect on the first of
November.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 368 are
Senators Andrews, Duane, Montgomery, and
Parker. Ayes, 57. Nays, 4.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Balboni.
SENATOR BALBONI: That's good
818
news, Madam President. Thank you.
Could we please call up Calendar
375.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
375, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 4529, an
act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
harassment of teachers and school personnel.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
Explanation.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, an explanation has been requested.
SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Madam
President.
Madam President, this bill is a
bill which would create the B misdemeanor
crime of aggravated harassment of teachers and
school personnel. In fact, it is a
freestanding version of the very same
provision that was in the Schools as Safe
Harbors Act that we entertained earlier and
passed overwhelmingly earlier today.
It basically creates a mechanism
whereby those who would, with intent to
819
harass, annoy, or alarm a teacher or a school
employee, engage in some type of physical
activity, such as striking, shoving, or
kicking such teacher or school employee, would
run the risk of being charged with a Class B
misdemeanor for which there could be a
sentence of up to 90 days.
The rationale behind this obviously
is an intention to create some kind of
mechanism beyond the existing law, which in
effect, in many of these instances, treats it
as a violation -- which is not a crime, by
definition -- with a penalty of up to 15 days.
Hopefully, it will serve as a means
by which this type of misconduct and abuse of
school personnel would be deterred.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam
President. Would the sponsor, Senator Saland,
answer a question?
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, will you yield?
SENATOR SALAND: Certainly. Yes,
Madam President.
820
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Senator yields.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Senator
Saland, I was just trying to figure out, what
is the difference in your Bill 4529 and the
Bill 4023A?
SENATOR SALAND: 4023A, I believe
I made reference to earlier, is the Schools as
Safe Harbors Act.
That had two components. The first
component was one which dealt with bullying,
adding several provisions to the previously
passed SAVE legislation several years ago.
At the very conclusion of that act,
there was a provision identical to this that
was part and parcel of that bill, which
provided also for aggravated harassment of
teachers and school personnel, under the same
definition, with the same penalty.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Okay, great.
Thank you for that clarification. I thought
maybe you had changed the language.
SENATOR SALAND: No, no. It's
the same.
In fact, the amendment to the
821
preceding bill was to make sure that this
language was identical to that language.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Okay. Thank
you.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
act shall take effect on the first of
September.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 375 are
Senators Duane and Montgomery. Ayes, 59.
Nays, 2.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
would you please call up Calendar Number 44.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
144, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 5554, an
822
act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in
relation to eliminating the statute of
limitations.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Explanation.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Skelos, an explanation has been requested.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
this legislation eliminates the current
five-year statute of limitations for a Class B
violent felony offense and also expands the
list of offenders required to submit a DNA
sample.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you,
Madam President. Just a couple of comments on
the bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Montgomery, on the bill.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes. I have
a memo from the NYCLU, and I think there are a
couple of issues that they point out that make
a lot of sense, certainly, to me and have
convinced me to oppose this legislation.
The first point that I would like
823
to point out is the issue of creating an
additional felony based on essentially a
technical violation, which could essentially
be a technical violation.
Now, during budget hearings, the
Director of Criminal Justice Services for the
State, when I asked how many people were
returned to prison, reincarcerated for
technical violations, he informed me that
there were some 8,000 people returned just on
technical violations every year.
So if that is the case, then this
bill only adds to the number of people who
essentially -- maybe they moved around, maybe
they can't be found, maybe they didn't get
their mail, whatever. But if they don't
answer, I think this legislation, Senator
Skelos gives them 30 days to answer.
And if they don't answer, they
could -- their probation or parole would be
revoked. And essentially, rather than just
even having a technical violation, they now
have committed another crime, they have an
additional felony. Which, we passed
legislation in the past, will give them an
824
additional length of time to serve.
The other issue that is a concern
of mine with this legislation is that when we
say that you -- the bill now, if you are --
you will no longer be able to essentially have
your records, if you have that category of
offense -- I believe it's a B misdemeanor.
I'm sorry, I can't -- I need a minute to find
it.
There is no longer a time limit on
an action on a Class B felony. It removes the
current five-year statute of limitations
applicable to Class B felony offenses.
Now, the one thing that some states
have done -- and I would hope that we could
begin to consider that in our own state, and
that is the idea of a second chance. Because
one of the issues that is very, very prevalent
for people who serve their time, even though
they've served their time or they're out on
parole and they return to their communities,
because of the long list of restrictions on
the kind of work that they can do, the
requirement for fingerprinting in most jobs
and the inability to move beyond the immediate
825
offense makes it pretty much impossible for
people to ever move on and become productive
citizens and begin to repay, in a very
meaningful sense, their debt to society
outside of prison. So this legislation brings
us a step backward.
So those were two points that I
wanted to make for Senator Skelos to consider
with this bill. Even though I'm definitely in
favor of DNA testing. I don't have a problem
with that, because I think it's a positive
thing and we should have that for all felony
offenders.
But I do think that we have to be
careful that we don't put ourselves in a
position where we create more problems than we
already have by extending a person's length of
incarceration or making it much more likely
that they will be reincarcerated based on what
would otherwise be considered a technical
violation, which we are trying to address as
we speak.
So, Madam President, I'm just going
to vote no on this because I do have some
concerns. And hopefully Senator Skelos and
826
our colleagues can begin to look at this issue
much more closely as it impacts in the future,
on a long-term basis, on the explosion -- or
creating an explosion in our prison
population.
Thank you very much.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays,
2. Senators Duane and Montgomery recorded in
the negative.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
if we could return to reports of standing
committees, I believe there's a report of the
Rules Committee at the desk. I ask that it be
read.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
827
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno,
from the Committee on Rules, reports the
following bills:
Senate Print 5724A, by the Senate
Committee on Rules, an act to amend the Tax
Law;
And Senate Print 6224, by Senator
Hoffmann, an act to amend the Tax Law.
Both bills ordered direct to third
reading.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept
the report of the Rules Committee.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: All in
favor of accepting the report please signify
by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Opposed,
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
report is accepted, Senator Skelos.
Senator Skelos.
828
SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam
President. If we could take up Calendar
Number 390.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Without
objection, the Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
390, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
Print 5724A, an act to amend the Tax Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: There's
a local fiscal impact note at the desk.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
if we could take up Calendar Number 391.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
829
391, by Senator Hoffmann, Senate Print 6224,
an act to amend the Tax Law.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam
President. Is there any housekeeping at the
desk?
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: There is
no housekeeping at the desk.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
there being no further business to come before
the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until
Wednesday, March 3rd, at 11:00 a.m.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: On
motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
Wednesday, March 3rd, at 11:00 a.m.
830
(Whereupon, at 4:50 p.m., the
Senate adjourned.)