Regular Session - August 10, 2004
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NEW YORK STATE SENATE
THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
ALBANY, NEW YORK
August 10, 2004
2:12 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 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, August 9, the Senate met pursuant to
adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, August 8,
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.
Reports of select committees.
Communications and reports from
state officers.
Motions and resolutions.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
there will be an immediate meeting of the
Rules Committee in the Majority Conference
Room.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Immediate meeting of the Rules Committee in
the Majority Conference Room.
SENATOR SKELOS: And then if we
could stand at ease.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Senate will stand at ease.
(Whereupon, the Senate stood at
ease at 2:14 p.m.)
(Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
at 2:20 p.m.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
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at this time I'd like to move that we adopt
the Resolution Calendar in its entirety.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: All in
favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar in
its entirety will signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Opposed,
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Resolution Calendar is adopted.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
there will be an immediate meeting of the
Finance Committee in the Majority Conference
Room.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in
the Majority Conference Room.
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 at this time.
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ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno,
from the Committee on Rules, reports the
following bills:
Senate Print 4289B, by Senator
Robach, an act to amend the Retirement and
Social Security Law;
5927A, by Senator Andrews, an act
authorizing the City of New York;
7710, by Senator Farley, an act to
amend the Banking Law;
And Senate Print 7711, by the
Senate Committee on Rules, an act to amend
Chapter 83 of the Laws of 2002.
All 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 of the Rules
Committee will signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
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ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Opposed,
nay.
(No response.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Rules report is accepted.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
if we could take up Calendar Number 1910 at
this time.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1910, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7710, an
act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to
the cashing of checks.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
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Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
please call up Calendar Number 1913.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1913, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 4289B,
an act to amend the Retirement and Social
Security Law, in relation to eligibility.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Skelos.
SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
please call up Calendar Number 1917.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: In relation to
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Calendar Number 1917, Senator Andrews moves to
discharge, from the Committee on Rules,
Assembly Bill Number 9413A and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 5927A,
Third Reading Calendar 1917.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Substitution ordered.
The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1917, by Member of the Assembly Norman,
Assembly Print Number 9413A, an act
authorizing the City of New York to reconvey
its interest.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: There is
a home-rule message at the desk.
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, 52.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Skelos.
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SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
if we could stand at ease pending the report
of the Finance Committee.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Senate will stand at ease.
(Whereupon, the Senate stood at
ease at 2:23 p.m.)
(Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
at 2:34 p.m.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
can we have some order, please. Would you
bang that gavel.
Thank you very much.
And I would ask that we return to
reports of standing committees.
I believe there is a report from
the Finance Committee at the desk. I would
ask that it be read and accepted at this time.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson,
from the Committee on Finance, reports the
following bills:
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Senate Print 6053B, Senate Budget
Bill, an act making appropriations for the
support of government;
6057B, Senate Budget Bill, an act
to amend the Labor Law and others;
And Senate Print 7719, by Senator
Robach, an act to amend the Civil Service Law.
All bills ordered direct to third
reading.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Without
objection, all bills are ordered direct to
third reading.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
can we at this time take up Calendar Number
1914.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: In relation to
Calendar Number 1914, Senator Johnson moves to
discharge, from the Committee on Finance,
Assembly Bill Number 9553B and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 6053B,
Third Reading Calendar 1914.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
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Substitution ordered.
The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1914, Assembly Budget Bill, Assembly Print
Number 9553B, an act making appropriations for
the support of government.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Paterson.
SENATOR PATERSON: Madam
President, I have read over this bill
extensively during the past couple of days,
and yet there's parts of it I just -- my
comprehension -- maybe because it's August,
it's just not what it usually is.
So I was wondering if, in an
ephemeral way, Senator Johnson might give us
an explanation of this legislation.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Senator Paterson,
I would like to substitute at the moment for
Senator Johnson. He's got blond hair; my hair
is white. That's close enough, I hope.
SENATOR PATERSON: This is an
outstanding substitution.
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SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you.
And I can't, I'm sure, Senator, get
specific. But I would welcome the chair,
Madam President, to recognize Senator Saland
as relates to the appropriation part of what
we're doing.
But while I'm on the floor, if you
would indulge me, Senator, I would just like
to observe that the bill that is before us is
the appropriation bill to help fund education.
And it moves, as we had released the runs
yesterday, about $740 million on a school
year. And with some miscellaneous dollars,
it's $751 million, $555 million on a fiscal
year.
The runs are out. Tax bills go out
for most of the state by August 16th. We
thought it was imperative -- and we're very
pleased that we could agree with all of you
here on the numbers, and with the Assembly and
with the Governor, so that the people of this
state are aware of the record amounts of state
aid that will be flowing to help get the lid
on property taxes, reduce property taxes, and
properly fund education. Because funding
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education has always been a priority in this
house, and it will continue to be a priority.
So, Madam President, I would ask
your support of this legislation. And for the
specifics of any of the lines that are in this
package -- but this is the appropriation bill,
and there's others that will relate to the
entirety of moving education -- I would defer
to Senator Saland, who chairs, in a very
distinguished, outstanding way, the Education
Committee for the entire Senate.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland.
SENATOR SALAND: As one of my
colleagues just intoned, that's a heck of an
introduction.
Ladies and gentlemen, as Senator
Bruno, the Majority Leader, has just indicated
in his remarks, this bill contains additional
funding to the tune of some $751 million on a
school-year basis, $740 million of which goes
pursuant to one or another formula and
$11 million that goes pursuant to certain
categorical aid provisions.
Within that $740 million, a little
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less than $330 million is being used to
backfill some expense-driven aids, aids that
include BOCES, transportation, public excess
cost aid, and building aid. Those are
expenses that were incurred in school
districts throughout this state, in reasonably
good faith on the part of school districts who
anticipated being reimbursed.
The Governor, in providing us with
his budget, either capped or cut certain of
those programs. And in order to make those
districts whole, we're required to provide
some $329 million.
Over and above that, to the tune of
400-plus million dollars, a variety of
formulas have been enhanced. And certainly
the formula that's probably of the greatest
interest to and the one that provides the
greatest amount of discretion to our local
school districts is the operating aid formula,
comprehensive operating aid.
And there is no district in our
state that will receive an increase of less
than 1 3/4 percent, 1.75 percent, under this
bill that's before us.
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Again, as Senator Bruno has pointed
out, it will require us in this fiscal year of
ours to provide an additional $555 million.
We also, as part and parcel of
this, restore a number of programs. We
restore full funding to libraries, we restore
independent living centers. There are a
number of teacher programs, teacher centers,
teacher mentor programs that we also restore
under the terms of this measure.
This brings to $15.2 billion the
total statewide that New York State is
providing. This obviously is the largest
amount that the state has provided in its
history. It represents, over the course of
the past ten years, an additional roughly
$5.3 billion. We have, over the course of
that period of time, increased well above the
rate of inflation. The fact of the matter is
is that we've almost doubled the rate of
inflation.
With that, Madam President, I would
yield to any questions.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman.
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SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
Madam President. Through you, if the sponsor
would yield for a few brief questions.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, will you yield?
SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Madam
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Senator yields.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: As I read
this bill and the numbers that it provides, it
appears to me that in the '03-'04 school year,
New York City received 37.1 percent of the
state's school aid, and in this bill New York
City receives 37.2 percent. Is that correct?
SENATOR SALAND: I thought the
number was more like 38-plus percent, I
believe 38.86. I believe it's a little over
38 percent -- driven, in large part, by the
additional extraordinary aid dollars that are
in here, to the tune of some $265 million, I
believe.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes,
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through you, Madam President, if the sponsor
would continue to yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR SALAND: Yes.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I believe
that the sponsor is referring to the portion
of new money, new money that's going to the
city. But in fact, in terms of all aid, old
plus new money --
SENATOR SALAND: Oh, okay.
Overall aid goes from 37.1 to 37.2.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And
through you, Madam President, then it is -- my
understanding is consistent with the
sponsor's, that the portion of the new money
provided in this bill that goes to New York
City is 38.9 percent. Is that correct?
SENATOR SALAND: I believe that
is close enough for our purposes.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I won't
comment on that.
Through you, Madam President, as
the sources of these funds are not -- do not
appear to be identified, I wonder if the
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sponsor could share with us, is any of this
money dependent on the expansion of VLTs or
other lottery or gambling-related revenue?
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, do you yield?
SENATOR SALAND: It is not
dependent on any expansion of VLTs. It does,
however, sweep the existing VLTs to the tune
of approximately $240 million.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
Through you, Madam President, if the sponsor
would continue to yield.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Saland, do you continue to yield?
SENATOR SALAND: Yes, Madam
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: He
continues to yield.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: In the
litigation that is now pending before Justice
Leland DeGrasse in the Supreme Court of
New York County, the State of New York
submitted, on July 30th, a letter to the court
in opposition to the appointment of special
masters, which was signed by Richard Rifkin,
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the deputy attorney general representing the
state, that advised the court, defendants --
which are us, the Governor and the
Legislature -- defendants have developed and
proposed --
SENATOR SALAND: Excuse me,
Senator Schneiderman.
If we could please have that door
closed. Thank you.
Thank you.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: That's
okay.
What I was saying is there was a
letter submitted to the court -- which we
discussed in our debate last week -- on behalf
of the state in opposition of the court's
appointment of a panel of special masters.
And this letter, which was signed
by Deputy Attorney General Richard Rifkin on
behalf of the state -- really, the Governor --
stated that the defendants -- i.e., the
Legislature and the Governor -- "have
developed and proposed a comprehensive
legislative compliance plan based on the
recommendations of the bipartisan New York
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State Commission on Educational Reform, and
embodied in program legislation proposed by
the Governor, to ensure that the schools in
New York City and throughout the state have
the resources necessary to provide all
students with the opportunity for a sound,
basic education."
Is the bill before us today -- the
two bills, the appropriation and language
bill, are those bills the comprehensive
legislative compliance plan referred to in
this letter?
SENATOR SALAND: No, certainly
not.
To the extent that there's been an
increase in funding for high-needs districts,
there has been a recognition of trying to
drive more dollars to high-needs districts.
It does not, however, attempt to deal with the
CFE decision.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
Through you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: And could
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the sponsor say something about this bill's
provision for higher education programs?
There was a reference to it earlier, but
perhaps in a bit more detail.
SENATOR SALAND: I would yield to
Senator LaValle for that purpose, unless,
Senator Schneiderman, you have more questions
on K-12. Whatever works for you, Senator
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Well,
whatever works for me is --
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Gentlemen.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes.
Either Senator Saland or Senator LaValle, we
would like to hear about the higher education
funding restorations.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
LaValle.
SENATOR LaVALLE: I'll be glad to
do so.
I think as everyone in this chamber
knows, the staffs have been working very
diligently in this house since January, when
the Governor handed us the budget, and we have
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had meeting upon meeting upon meeting. And
all those meetings -- and you've heard me talk
about this on the floor so many times, that
when there was frustration about we didn't
have a budget -- the fact is that people were
working through this long period.
And it has produced restorations
for the Tuition Assistance Program so that
there will be no cuts. The Governor's budget
had a one-third cut in which the students
would have to lay out that money and get it
back upon graduation. And so we have fully
funded the Tuition Assistance Program.
Just so everyone knows, we are
approaching a program that is growing very,
very rapidly, and we are close to $1 billion
in our Tuition Assistance Program. It's about
$970 million that we are funding in that
program.
While we're on the student
financial aid programs, there were cuts to
some of the opportunity programs. And we made
restorations there to HEOP, STEP, C-STEP,
Liberty Partnership, Teacher Opportunity
Corps. And we also made a restoration to the
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Bundy Aid program. That's an institutional
aid program for our private colleges.
We have made -- for both the SUNY
and CUNY community colleges, we have made a
restoration of the base aid cuts that were in
the Governor's budget, and we have -- to both
SUNY and CUNY community colleges.
We have also added, and I will talk
about this, increases to both the CUNY
operating aid budget and to the SUNY operating
aid budget, by finding some -- by being
creative, finding some resources that will --
savings that we retrieved from bond issuances.
And we have -- for CUNY, we have
found, on a one-year basis, some $27,375,000
that will be used for operating needs, with
also some additional money for faculty lines.
For SUNY, we have retrieved some money from
their bonds, $41 million, which they will be
using for operating expenses. For the faculty
lines for SUNY, it is $9 million in additions
to faculty lines and $6 million for CUNY.
We are also -- again, as I've
indicated, we are adding money -- we not only
made restorations for our community colleges,
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but we are adding a $50 increase in base aid
for both City University community colleges
and the State University community colleges.
So I think that for higher
education, with a lot of hard work,
creativity, that we have once again placed
higher education center stage as a priority of
this house. And certainly the Assembly has
been a partner where they have also made it a
priority.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Stavisky.
SENATOR STAVISKY: Madam
President, I believe there's an amendment at
the desk. I waive its reading, and I ask to
be heard on the amendment.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
reading is waived. You may proceed.
SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
Madam President.
This amendment would restore --
would add $700 million to the CFE operating
ingredient and $20 billion to the capital
component, to put us in compliance or closer
to the objective of the CFE court case.
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As you know, Article 11 of the
New York State Constitution requires that the
Legislature -- not three masters or a court
decree, but the Legislature shall provide for
a system of common education wherein all of
the children of the state may be educated.
And this amendment tries to comply with that
decision.
Back in March of this year, the
Senate Minority offered an alternative budget.
And as part of our budget, we increased the
operating aid and the capital construction
aid. This amendment, Madam President, would
be statewide in application. It would apply
to all of the school districts, but especially
for the high-needs school districts.
This would, I think, bring us
further into compliance, particularly in terms
of the construction part. The $20 billion
would be phased in over a five-year period to
reduce class size. In other words, to provide
the buildings where the kids can go to school.
You don't have to be a genius to
know what it takes to provide a good
education. You need a licensed teacher and
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you need small class size and you need a
school facility that's conducive to learning.
So, Madam President, I move this
amendment and urge its adoption.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Those
Senators in agreement with the amendment
please signify by raising your hand.
SENATOR LACHMAN: Madam Chair.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: On the
amendment?
Senator Lachman, on the amendment.
SENATOR LACHMAN: Within 60
seconds, Madam Chair.
I agree with the amendment. I
don't think it goes far enough. I don't think
the CFE part of it is adequately taken care
of.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Those
Senators in agreement with the amendment
please signify by raising your hand.
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
Brown, Diaz, Dilán, Duane, González,
Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Lachman,
Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker,
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Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Schneiderman,
A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, and Stavisky.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
amendment is lost.
Senator Montgomery.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam
President. I believe there's an amendment at
the desk, and I ask that we waive its reading.
And I ask to be heard on the amendment.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
reading is waived, and you may be heard on the
amendment.
SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you.
My amendment is simply being
offered to this house from the members of the
Democratic conference to restore $10 million
to the Summer Youth Employment Program.
In addition, we would implement a
new program to provide youth employment
opportunities during the fall and winter
months. Since we have missed the opportunity
to have young people employed in the Summer
Youth Employment Program, we are proposing
that we restore the funding. And in order for
the city and the young people in the city not
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to lose out on it, because summer is almost
over, we want to expand that into fall and
winter.
And if we don't do this, we are
passing a budget, hundreds of pages and a few
pounds -- this budget will be passing, and we
will be forced to vote on a budget which
essentially tells young people in our state to
go take a hike, we don't care about you,
whether or not you have an opportunity to be
employed.
And I invite anyone in this room to
come to my district and sit down with a group
of teenagers, talk to them and ask them what
is their first and main issue, what do they
need most from us as elected officials, and
they will tell you they need jobs. They need
an opportunity to work.
And in many instances, the Summer
Youth Employment Program introduces them to
careers which they had not thought about. So
not only are they paid, but they are
introduced to a new world of opportunities for
them that they had not thought about.
So I ask my colleagues on the
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Republican side of the aisle to agree with
this amendment. It is a very small amount to
create opportunity for large numbers of young
people. It is the right thing to do.
So, Madam President, I ask that you
call for the vote. And I expect and
anticipate that this may be, historically, the
only and first amendment to pass, because both
sides of the aisle will be voting on this
amendment.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Brown.
SENATOR BROWN: Thank you, Madam
President.
I'm also pleased to rise in support
of this amendment. I think $10 million being
added to money for youth employment is a very
small amount of money for this state
government.
You know, I can tell you that this
summer I encountered so many youth in my own
community that were looking for summer jobs.
And unfortunately, there weren't enough summer
jobs out there for those youth.
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Oftentimes we hear about what youth
aren't doing, and there's a lot of criticism
about our youth. But I can tell you, I was
tremendously impressed this summer that there
were so many young people, particularly in my
community -- Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Grand
Island, the city of Tonawanda -- that were out
looking for employment.
One sad statistic that I came
across is that New York State has the lowest
number of youth employment opportunities of
any state in this nation. And when we look at
the fact that to incarcerate one youth
probably costs the state over $100,000, us
adding $10 million back to this program to
employ youth that we missed employing for the
summer, but employing them over the school
year part-time, on weekends, in the evenings
after they come home from school, I think
makes a lot of sense.
Not only do these youth come from
very low-income households, many of them; they
are able to contribute to those households or
able to contribute to their clothing for
back-to-school. They are also able to
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contribute to the economy of this state.
When we provide opportunities for
youth to work, that money doesn't just go into
the pockets of the youth and stay there, it
funnels back into the state economy and it
helps to grow our economy.
So I am very pleased to join
Senator Montgomery and urge all of my
colleagues to support this amendment to add
$10 million back to the Summer Youth
Employment Program.
Thank you very much.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Diaz.
SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam
President.
I represent one of the poorer
districts in the State of New York, the 32nd
Senatorial District in the Bronx. It is a
pity to see all the youth come to my office
trying to find jobs, trying to find programs,
and that we cannot provide our youth with good
programs, with good money, so they could have
jobs and good programs.
I join -- I'm standing up here
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joining Senator Montgomery, Senator Brown in
asking our Republican colleagues to join us,
to join us in voting for this restoration of
money. Our youth deserve better. Our
communities deserve better. I think that to
ignore our youth and to cut -- not to put this
money back in the budget and force us to vote
for a budget that will kill, practically kill
our youth, it's a shame, it's a pity, and it's
a disgrace.
And I would like -- I'm asking and
urging, again, our Republican colleagues to
join us, the Democratic conference, in
restoring this money so our youth could have
better services and better programs.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Those
Senators in agreement with the amendment
please signify by raising your hand.
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
Brown, Diaz, Dilán, Duane, González,
Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Lachman,
Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker,
Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Schneiderman,
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A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, and Stavisky.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
amendment is lost.
Senator Sabini.
SENATOR SABINI: Madam President,
I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
ask that we waive the reading and that I can
be heard on the amendment.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
reading is waived, and you may be heard on the
amendment.
SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam
President.
I have an amendment which would
increase the childcare block grant by
$100 million to create another 20,000 slots of
subsidized daycare. The fiscal impact on this
is $50 million, but it allows the parents of
those children to confidently go to work,
which is an economic engine.
The childcare block grant program
funding is sustained in the budget proposal at
$929 million, which supports about 186,000
slots, which is a small increase. The total
remains constant, but what this amendment
5685
would do is increase by $100 million.
Federal eligibility guidelines for
childcare subsidies are for families with
incomes of 275 percent of the poverty line or
lower. New York State restricts subsidized
childcare to those with incomes of 200 percent
of the poverty line or lower. And we have
failed to service that population, let alone
those filing under those guidelines.
What's more, in neighborhoods where
housing costs are up, we need to get more
people into the business of providing
childcare for both subsidized and unsubsidized
slots. And I represent a district that has
need for both of those.
And by getting more providers into
the business and by providing for more slots,
I believe it helps our neighborhoods remain
stable, helps people confidently go to work
and not worry as much about childcare
arrangements, and is in general a good thing
for the economy and the population of the
State of New York. And that's why I propose
the amendment.
Thank you, Madam President.
5686
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Hassell-Thompson.
SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank
you, Madam President. On the amendment, just
an additional comment.
As someone who was an infant
childcare director for seven years in the
County of Westchester, and as someone who
continues to work very closely with the
childcare community, one of the things that
this amendment speaks to -- and it's very
critical for all of us to understand --
childcare is not a poverty program.
And I think we need to start with
that premise, that child care is at the base
of household need. It is a necessity; it's
not a privilege.
Also, as someone who worked
extensively through the '70s to get a national
daycare bill, it continues to amaze me with
the numbers of parents, both parents who are
in the workforce, that we have not done, in
the State of New York, a readdressing of the
issues pertaining to the cost of childcare.
Childcare, for instance, has become
5687
so costly that childcare for infants is
anywhere between $175 and $275 a week, and
toddlers are from $125 to $225 a week.
Many of our middle-income families
have lost their jobs in this economy, and the
kinds of jobs they have had to take are
service types of jobs. That does not make
them bad people, but it means that in order to
survive and to serve their families, they have
had a need to take severe cuts in their
income. And in taking that cut, their ability
to continue to afford childcare at this level
is tremendously diminished.
It is therefore incumbent upon us
to do two things. Number one, we have the
opportunity to use more of the TANF monies to
create additional slots, up to an additional
10,000 slots at least.
And, number two, we need to revamp
the way in which the formula -- we talk about
these formulas in this room constantly. But
the formulas for childcare must be changed,
because the copay for a parent could be as
much as 10 to 35 percent of their income in
order to sustain childcare for their children.
5688
We continue to do bills in this
body that talk about the safety of our
children. All of us are very eloquent when we
stand on the floor about how we want to look
at childcare and who takes care of our
children. But if parents cannot afford to put
their children in licensed, monitored daycare
programs, the kind of secondary alternatives
that they have to make cannot guarantee that
their children will be safe.
We have, therefore, an obligation
to look at what it is that we're doing. And
we have an opportunity, because the money is
there. And we have continued to have a
surplus in our TANF which would allow us to
make these adjustments that will benefit
families across the economic spectrum in the
State of New York.
I would ask, then, that this
amendment be given very due consideration and
support by both sides of this house.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Oppenheimer.
SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I'd also
5689
like to speak on this amendment, because
something very interesting happened last week
when I was talking with the executive director
of the Westchester Childcare Council. And
that was she told me that they did have slots
available, which was astounding to me, because
we've always had too few slots.
I said, "Well, that's ridiculous.
We have all this great need. How come we
don't have the slots filled?" And the answer
was -- I don't have to tell you -- "It is too
costly for most parents to afford to pay for
the childcare."
This has a lot of very horrible
ramifications. But let me just say that with
this money available for the additional
subsidized slots, we would see these slots
filled. They are not extremely costly, they
are simply beyond the wherewithal of these
families, who are on rather low-paying wages,
to provide for their children to get proper
childcare.
We know that the federal
eligibility guidelines for childcare subsidy
are for families with incomes up to
5690
275 percent of the poverty level. We in this
state provide only for 200 percent family
income of the -- 200 percent of the poverty
level for subsidized slots.
That is not conscionable. If we
are permitted to provide for more, we must be
providing for more. Over half of our young
children are not in childcare, they are in
some kind of care that is below par, something
we would not want. They may be sitting at the
home of a neighbor watching television all
day. This is not what we want for our
children. They are going to have to at some
point, we hope, get educated and enter our
workforce, and this is not a good beginning.
The copays are simply too high
presently because the subsidy is too low. The
income level is too high. And the need for
more subsidy is an absolute essential.
And I lay this before you as
something that is not just important to us
today, because they are our children, but also
critically important for our future and for
those children who we hope will meet
standardized tests when they get to school.
5691
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Those
Senators in agreement with the amendment
please signify by raising your hand.
THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
Brown, Diaz, Dilán, Duane, González,
Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Lachman,
Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker,
Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Schneiderman,
A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, and Stavisky.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
amendment is lost.
Senator Paterson.
SENATOR PATERSON: I'm sorry,
Madam President. Did you say the amendment
lost?
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
amendment is lost.
SENATOR PATERSON: Oh. Oh.
(Laughter.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Read the
last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
act shall take effect immediately.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
5692
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam
President, briefly on the bill. Briefly.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman, on the bill.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Briefly.
I would thank the full rotation of
responders to our questions about this --
Senator Bruno, Senator Saland, Senator
LaValle.
There are some good things in this
bill. It certainly restores some critical
cuts that the Governor attempted to make, the
area of higher education in particular. There
are some very, very important restorations.
On the central issue that has been
before us all session, however, and that is
before us to this day, I'm afraid this bill
does not accomplish what we need to
accomplish. And I'm constrained, in good
conscience, as I represent people -- including
children -- in the City of New York, to vote
against this bill, because I do not believe
that this bill in any way, shape or form
complies with the Court of Appeals' directive
5693
in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity decision.
And I would like to just urge my
colleagues that since -- this case was filed
in 1993. It went to trial in 1999 and 2000.
The findings of fact are devastating. Again,
I'm not going to rehash our debates of past
months. But this is not something that is a
matter of greed or luxury.
People of the City of New York need
money for decent education for our children.
We subsidize the rest of the state over
$7 billion a year. We need to have a higher
portion of the new state funding for education
go to the city.
This legislation doesn't do that.
In fact, as conceded by the distinguished
chair of the Education Committee, 38.9 percent
of the new money provided in this bill goes to
New York City.
Now, the letter I just cited that
was submitted to the court on July 30th, just
a few weeks ago, by the state represented on
our behalf, on behalf of the Governor and the
Legislature, that we have developed and
proposed a comprehensive legislative
5694
compliance plan based on the recommendations
of the bipartisan New York State Commission on
Education Reform. Well, that's the so-called
Zarb Commission.
Here's the report of the Zarb
Commission. The Zarb Commission recommended
that between 50 and 70 percent of all new
state money go to the City of New York. The
bill before us today has only 38.9 percent of
the new money going to the City of New York.
The Governor's Executive Budget
recommended 49 percent of new state money to
go to the City of New York to help us bring
our schools into compliance.
The Assembly's proposal required
63.8 percent of the new state money to go to
the schools in the City of New York.
And the proposal developed by
Senator Paterson and his staff would have
provided 60 percent of the new state money.
We have schools where to this day
children are being taught in closets, children
are being taught in converted bathrooms. We
have a school system in New York City in which
less than 50 percent of our students graduate
5695
high school in four years. Less than
50 percent. And yet this bill does not in any
way, shape or form address the inequities in
school funding.
Money isn't everything. The state
is not responsible by itself, although under
the constitution it is ultimately responsible.
But this legislation, in my view, does not do
enough for the 1.1 million in New York City
schools. This legislation does not reflect
the statement made to the court that we are
attempting to comply.
And therefore, I'm going to be
voting no. I hope we will be coming back
later this year to attempt again to address
this. If we pass bills like this, though,
we're simply acquiescing in the relinquishment
of our responsibility to the judiciary,
something that I don't think is good for any
of us.
I will be voting no, Madam
President, and urging everyone else to do
likewise.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Volker.
5696
SENATOR VOLKER: Madam President,
very quickly. And I have a little bit
different tack that I wanted to speak on.
As I mentioned in the Finance
Committee, first of all, I think this is a
great victory for the State of New York and
especially for upstate, in that we did what is
the normal spread and gave the city some extra
money. And I'm not going to get into a
discussion of that.
But I am going to get into a
discussion, first of all, of these bills. The
bills are dated January 20, 2004. Now, let me
point out something that the media has paid no
attention to, and that I pay attention to
because -- as one of the oldest people here in
terms of service.
This bill is here and we are here
more because of the Court of Appeals than any
other reason. Years ago, the Bankers decision
was passed, and a number of other decisions
that have debilitated the authority of this
body and our companion body in the Assembly to
deal with budgets.
The reason this bill says
5697
January 20, 2004, is because the Court of
Appeals decided that what we did as the
Legislature, did since about 1923, I think --
Al Smith -- was wrong. In fact, it was
interesting they did it, I believe it was
March 26 or 27th, somewhere right in there,
about four days before, which completely
disrupted our budget process. It took us
almost three years to figure out just how to
do this stuff. And we're not sure we do it
right even now.
There's two bills here, because the
second bill is the so-called language bill,
because they decided that the Governor has the
preeminent power in this state to do budgets.
Well, you know, I'm for that. But I just
think that the elected people of New York
State, which is us -- and I know there's a lot
of people in the media that don't like the
fact that we're elected. This is democracy.
It's not a communist state or anything else.
We're democratically elected people.
It just seems to me that one of the
things personally I feel strongly about is
that we are here, as much as anything, because
5698
the courts have so watered down our powers
that -- and I've told Senator Bruno and I'm
trying to convince him that we should do a
constitutional amendment restoring our powers
as they were before the Bankers decision and
before a number of these decisions that have
followed along with the Executive.
And by the way, those came before
Governor Pataki. I'm not talking about
Governor Pataki, I'm talking about previous
governors also.
And I only mention that because
it's something totally unknown to people, it
seems to me, outside this place.
So I would say to you, when you
talk about the power of the judiciary, the
judiciary doesn't have the power to dictate to
us on anything. The only thing they can do is
do what they did here, and that is make a vote
for either the Legislature or the Governor.
And they made a vote for the Governor.
But it seems to me that we should
do a constitutional amendment that reverses
that process and at least allows us a totally
equal opportunity to pass a budget.
5699
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Liz Krueger.
SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
Madam President. On the bill.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Krueger, on the bill.
SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
Well, my colleagues went into many
of the sections of the bill, and I won't
repeat what they said, certainly. But I do
want to highlight that this bill is not just
an education bill or a daycare bill but is
also the social services or human services
bill for the State of New York this year.
And while it is a better bill than
the Governor proposed, I am very glad -- and I
want to say that on the record -- I'm very
glad that we did do restorations to ensure
that we did not create full family sanctions
in our public assistance program or reduce the
right to have earnings while still receiving
some small supplement of public assistance,
and that we did not actually reduce the basic
grant for people on public assistance.
We did, however, fail to reverse
5700
the Governor's decision to reduce the public
assistance grants for nearly 40,000 households
in this state who receive SSI for some
disabled family member. The Governor decided
to bypass the Legislature, perhaps in a way
different than Senator Volker just discussed
with the courts, but the Governor decided to
bypass the Legislature by implementing a
regulatory change on July 7th that reduced the
grant level for poor families who most
frequently have a disabled child.
And the fact is that the federal
government, and the state up until now, has
recognized there are special needs for
disabled children and that there are
additional costs associated with having a
special-needs child or a disabled adult in a
family with nondisabled children.
And that the Governor went ahead
and reduced those benefits through regulation
an average of 14 percent for those households.
It varies by county and by household size.
But I was hoping that in this
budget and in this budget document we might
revisit the question of the Governor I believe
5701
usurping the authority of the Legislature to
dictate, through regulation, an action that I
don't think he believed he could pass through
both houses of the Legislature, and urge us to
revisit the question of why we allowed the
state to reduce the grants of the most poor
families in the State of New York with
disabled family members, disabled children who
are so disabled that they meet the federal
requirements for SSI income.
These are parents and children who
have cerebral palsy, autism, spina bifida and
the like. They are our poorest families.
They are our most vulnerable families. And
with this bill we do not address the fact that
they have now, as of July, lost as much as
$2,100 per year of their income, which is
15 percent of their household income, at a
time where we know that families living in
poverty cannot meet their needs for their food
and their housing and their health care.
I will also say that while we
protected some of our programs from cuts that
the Governor made, we did nothing to move
forward on models and programs that we know
5702
have been working. We did amendments on
daycare, so I won't reiterate that. But the
fact is we all know how desperate in every one
of our districts our shortage of daycare is
and what a direct correlation there is between
ensuring you have adequate childcare, not only
for pre-school-aged children but in
after-school programs, to ensure that parents
can get jobs and keep jobs. So we did nothing
to move forward on that.
You might notice we never even
discussed our previous year's commitments to
expand universal pre-K. It seems as if we've
dropped that assignment and dropped that
discussion.
We did nothing to move forward on
the improvements that we have seen, through
Title 20, programs to address problems with
abused and neglected children. We've seen
drops in our foster-care caseload over the
last few years, I would argue because we made
a commitment to expanding money for Title 20
programs. The Governor proposed cutting them
by 15 percent. We did not replace that money.
We are not going to continue to make the
5703
progress that we should all feel good about in
our districts because of the monies that we
did invest up till now, but we allowed that
cut to go forward.
There's a long list, but I agreed
to be short today on this.
I do want to reiterate, though,
that I can't vote for this bill for a number
of reasons. And the two distinct ones I'd
like to bring up is, one, the issue my
colleague Eric Schneiderman spoke so
eloquently about. We completely flunked the
test for education and for CFE with this bill.
As we have gone over and over and
over again in these chambers over the last
several months, we did not change the
historical formulas for education aid either
to New York City or the other high-needs
districts of this state.
And, finally, something I'd like to
raise with all of my colleagues. We are
passing a bill today -- because I assume it
will pass, despite the fact that I'm going to
vote against it -- without having done a
revenue bill. We have no idea what the
5704
revenue for the State of New York's budget is.
I do not believe it is a responsible action by
a legislature to vote through the spending of
money before we know what the revenue is.
And while this has been an
interesting year in the sense that we've done
budget extenders that have already approved
$63 billion out of an estimated $100 billion
or $101 billion budget, we still have had no
discussion of revenue or taxation or where the
money is coming from.
So even if I thought this was a
great bill -- and it's not a great bill, there
are major problems, but it is better than
where we were in January -- I could not vote
for this bill, because how do you in good
faith vote for a bill that spends the money of
a budget when you don't know where the revenue
is coming from or how much it is?
So I would argue we have done this
in the wrong order, and that the first budget
bill we should take up in each and every
budget session is the revenue bill. First, to
establish where the money is coming from, then
determine how you're going to spend that
5705
money.
So I'll be voting no. I hope some
of my colleagues will think this through as
well.
Thank you, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Lachman.
SENATOR LACHMAN: I rise, Madam
Chair, also to express many misgivings that I
have regarding this bill. But specifically I
want to relate my comments to an issue that
was raised by one of the very finest men who
sits in the New York State Senate, Senator
Dale Volker -- and I mean that most sincerely,
Senator Volker -- the issue of the courts
getting involved in legislative matters.
We all know that under the federal
system of government, the Legislature has
tremendous power in all areas. But we should
also know, if we remember December 12th in the
year 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court stated
that one man was president and one man was not
president of the United States based upon the
Electoral College and not the number of votes,
that the Supreme Court has the power, as they
5706
did in the early 19th century, in Marbury v.
Madison, to step into situations which they
think are particularly egregious.
Now, people -- you say we should
change the constitution of the state. There
are people who say we should change the
Constitution of the nation and get rid of the
Electoral College. It is unfortunate that the
courts had to become involved. But they
became involved because they deemed that our
involvement was insufficient.
And two other reasons for that.
Senator Schneiderman mentioned CFE. This does
not in any way reach the goals of CFE. It
doesn't reach the goals of the Zarb Commission
appointed by the Governor, which had
recommended 55 to 60 percent of the funds go
to New York City. And only 39 percent are
going to the City of New York.
It doesn't respond to Senator
Krueger's issue that what we're doing is we're
putting the cart before the horse. Before we
know what we have in money, we're voting on
this legislation.
So I would have to oppose this bill
5707
on the grounds that I have mentioned.
And I also would urge my colleagues
to be very careful on the issue of federalism
and the separation of powers between the
judiciary, the executive, and legislative
branches of government.
Thank you.
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: Those recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 1914 are
Senators Andrews, Diaz, Dilán, Duane,
González, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger,
Lachman, Montgomery, Onorato, Parker, Sabini,
Schneiderman, A. Smith and Stavisky. Ayes,
43. Nays, 15.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
5708
can we at this time take up Calendar Number
1915.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: In relation to
Calendar Number 1915, Senator Johnson moves to
discharge, from the Committee on Finance,
Assembly Bill Number 9557B and substitute it
for the identical Senate Bill Number 6057B,
Third Reading Calendar 1915.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE:
Substitution ordered.
The Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1915, Assembly Budget Bill, Assembly Print
Number 9557B, an act to amend the Labor Law
and others.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Schneiderman.
SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
Madam President.
This is the language bill
accompanying the appropriation bill which we
just debated. They are two parts of the same
whole, and I will be voting no for the same
5709
reasons discussed and urge my colleagues to
vote in the negative as well.
Thank you.
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: Those recorded in
the negative on Calendar Number 1915 are
Senators Andrews, Diaz, Dilán, Duane,
González, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger,
Lachman, Montgomery, Onorato, Parker, Sabini,
Schneiderman, A. Smith, and Stavisky. Ayes,
43. Nays, 15.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
can we at this time call up Calendar Number
1912.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
5710
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1912, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
Print Number 7711, an act to amend Chapter 83
of the Laws of 2002, amending the Real
Property Tax Law and others.
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, 58.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
can we at this time take up Calendar Number
1916.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
Secretary will read.
THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
1916, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 7719, an
act to amend the Civil Service Law and others,
amending the Civil Service Law.
5711
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
is there a message of appropriation and
necessity at the desk?
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: There is
a message at the desk.
SENATOR BRUNO: I would move that
we accept that message.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: All
those in favor of accepting the message of
necessity will signify by saying aye.
(Response of "Aye.")
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Opposed,
nay.
(Response of "Nay.")
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The
message is accepted.
Read the last section.
THE SECRETARY: Section 21. This
act shall take effect on the date an agreement
consistent with the provisions of this act
negotiated.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Call the
roll.
5712
(The Secretary called the roll.)
THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: The bill
is passed.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
could we recognize Senator Paterson.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senator
Paterson.
SENATOR PATERSON: Thank you,
Madam President.
There will be a conference of the
Minority tomorrow at 1:30 --
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: There
will be a conference of the Minority,
tomorrow --
SENATOR PATERSON: -- Eastern
Daylight Time --
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: -- at
1:30, Eastern Daylight Time --
SENATOR PATERSON: -- in Room
314, which is actually the numerical
derivative of pi, Madam President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Thank
you very much, sir. I appreciate that.
5713
-- in Room 314.
Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: And, Madam
President, I would like to recommend that the
Majority conference also at 1:00 o'clock.
That's also Eastern -- Eastern
Standard Time? Daylight.
And I can't tell you what the pi
equivalent is, or whatever, but we'll accept
my learned colleague's description.
(Laughter.)
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Senate
Majority conference at 1:00 o'clock tomorrow.
SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Madam
President.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: Thank
you, Senator Bruno.
SENATOR BRUNO: And is there any
further Senate business at the desk that we
must contemplate?
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: There is
no housekeeping at the desk.
SENATOR BRUNO: There being none,
then I would move, our business being finished
for the day, that we stand adjourned until
5714
tomorrow, Wednesday, August 11th, at 2:00 p.m.
Thank you.
ACTING PRESIDENT McGEE: On
motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
Wednesday, August 11th, at 2:00 p.m.
(Whereupon, at 3:35 p.m., the
Senate adjourned.)