Regular Session - March 13, 2006
1262
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 13, 2006
11 3:14 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President
19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
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21
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25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will
3 please come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of
6 Allegiance.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 THE PRESIDENT: In the absence of
10 clergy, may we bow our heads in a moment of
11 silence, please.
12 (Whereupon, the assemblage
13 respected a moment of silence.)
14 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the
15 Journal.
16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
17 Sunday, March 12, the Senate met pursuant to
18 adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
19 March 11, was read and approved. On motion,
20 Senate adjourned.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Without
22 objection, the Journal stands approved as
23 read.
24 Presentation of petitions.
25 Messages from the Assembly.
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1 Senator Schneiderman.
2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Madam
3 President, has the Senate received a
4 resolution from the Assembly advising the
5 members of the Senate that the Senate and
6 Assembly will meet at noon tomorrow in the
7 Assembly chamber in joint session to elect
8 Regents of the University of the State of
9 New York, pursuant to Section 202 of the
10 Education Law?
11 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate does
12 acknowledge receipt of a communication from
13 the Assembly, and it has been filed with the
14 Journal Clerk's office.
15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you
16 Your Honor -- Madam President.
17 THE PRESIDENT: You're welcome.
18 Messages from the Governor.
19 Reports of standing committees.
20 The Secretary will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson,
22 from the Committee on Finance, reports the
23 following bills:
24 Senate Print 6450B, Budget Bill, an
25 act making appropriations for the support of
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1 government: Public Protection and General
2 Government Budget;
3 6451, Budget Bill, an act making
4 appropriations for the support of government:
5 Legislature and Judiciary Budget;
6 6452, Budget Bill, an act making
7 appropriations for the legal requirement of
8 the state debt service;
9 6453B, Budget Bill, an act making
10 appropriations for the support of government:
11 Education, Labor and Family Assistance Budget;
12 6454B, Budget Bill, an act making
13 appropriations for the support of government:
14 Health and Mental Hygiene Budget;
15 6455B, Budget Bill, an act making
16 appropriations for the support of government:
17 Transportation, Economic Development and
18 Environmental Conservation Budget;
19 6456B, Senate Budget Bill, an act
20 to amend the General Municipal Law, the
21 Municipal Home Rule Law, and the Village Law;
22 6457B, Budget Bill, an act to amend
23 the Social Services Law, the Public Health
24 Law, the Penal Law, and the Criminal Procedure
25 Law;
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1 6458B, Budget Bill, an act to amend
2 the Education Law;
3 6459B, Budget Bill, an act to amend
4 the Environmental Conservation Law;
5 6460B, Budget Bill, an act to amend
6 the Real Property Tax Law;
7 6463, Budget Bill, an act to amend
8 Chapter 61 of the Laws of 2005;
9 And Senate Print 6872A, by Senator
10 Skelos, an act to amend the Public Health Law.
11 All bills ordered direct to third
12 reading.
13 THE PRESIDENT: All bills ordered
14 direct to third reading.
15 Reports of select committees.
16 Communications and reports from
17 state officers.
18 Motions and resolutions.
19 Senator Bruno.
20 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
21 I believe there is a resolution at the desk by
22 Senator Alesi. I would ask that it be read it
23 its entirety and move for its immediate
24 adoption.
25 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
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1 will read.
2 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Alesi,
3 Legislative Resolution Number 3896, commending
4 Dr. Manuel Rivera upon the occasion of his
5 designation as the 2006 National
6 Superintendent of the Year by the American
7 Association of School Administrators.
8 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this
9 Legislative Body to recognize and commend
10 those illustrious individuals of distinguished
11 purpose whose lives have been committed to the
12 pursuit of excellence in education of the
13 youth of the Empire State; and
14 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such
15 concern, and in full accord with its
16 long-standing traditions, this Legislative
17 Body is justly proud to commend Dr. Manuel
18 Rivera upon the occasion of his designation as
19 the 2006 National Superintendent of the Year
20 by the American Association of School
21 Administrators at its National Conference on
22 Education held on February 24, 2006; and
23 "WHEREAS, The annual awards
24 program, now in its 19th year, is cosponsored
25 by the American Association of School
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1 Administrators and ARAMARK Education. Each
2 year, it bestows this most prestigious award
3 upon an individual who has demonstrated
4 outstanding all-around leadership; and
5 "WHEREAS, A national blue ribbon
6 panel of educators, business leaders and
7 government officials selected Dr. Manuel
8 Rivera from four national finalists, citing
9 his creativity in meeting student needs,
10 strength in personal and organizational
11 communication, improvement of administrative
12 knowledge and skills, providing professional
13 development opportunities and motivation to
14 others, participation in local community
15 activities, and an understanding of regional,
16 national and international issues; and
17 "WHEREAS, Dr. Manuel Rivera has
18 been the superintendent of the Rochester City
19 School District since 2002. Previously he was
20 executive vice-president of development for
21 Edison Schools, Inc. His desire to work more
22 closely with schools, students and their
23 families drew him back to Rochester, where he
24 had previously served as superintendent from
25 1991 to 1994 and where he began his
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1 illustrious career as a teacher in 1975; and
2 "WHEREAS, Dr. Manuel Rivera
3 exemplifies high-quality leadership in our
4 nation's public schools. He has focused on
5 raising achievement standards and proving that
6 his schools could compete with the best in the
7 nation. He has rallied his school district
8 and community, business, and government
9 leaders to improve instruction and achievement
10 and to build a local social infrastructure to
11 support the learning process; and
12 "WHEREAS, Dr. Manuel Rivera's
13 determination and guidance have been
14 instrumental in the district's steady
15 improvements over the past three years. The
16 number of students passing statewide exams has
17 dramatically increased under his leadership,
18 and last year Newsweek magazine named the
19 Wilson Magnet High School one of the top
20 public schools in the nation; and
21 "WHEREAS, Widely known and highly
22 respected, Dr. Manuel Rivera is committed to
23 the best interest of children. His dedication
24 to the belief that public education gives
25 children access to opportunities that enables
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1 dreams to come true and produces contributing
2 members of our society is unwavering; and
3 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this
4 Legislative Body that when individuals of such
5 noble aims and accomplishments are brought to
6 our attention, it is appropriate to publicly
7 proclaim and commend those individuals for the
8 edification and emulation of others; now,
9 therefore, be it
10 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
11 Body pause in its deliberations to commend
12 Dr. Manuel Rivera upon the occasion of his
13 designation as the 2006 National
14 Superintendent of the Year by the American
15 Association of School Administrators; and be
16 it further
17 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this
18 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
19 to Dr. Manuel Rivera."
20 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Alesi.
21 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you.
22 Madam President, at the outset let
23 me, in commending Dr. Manuel Rivera, also
24 acknowledge that Senator Robach should, and
25 rightfully so, be listed as a prime cosponsor
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1 on this bill, along with Senators Nozzolio and
2 Maziarz, who represent the Rochester area
3 collectively. And so it should be noted that
4 they should be equal sponsors on this bill --
5 the resolution.
6 And in recognizing Manny Rivera, I
7 think that we recognize that the entire
8 nation, when it comes to educators and
9 superintendents, recognized that this fine
10 gentleman and good friend of all of ours has
11 led the way in innovation when it comes to
12 comes to improving the Rochester City School
13 District. He's been recognized by educators,
14 by business leaders and by government
15 officials as well. And he has set a benchmark
16 for schools nationwide to imitate the
17 successes that he has had.
18 And especially having had the
19 opportunity -- again, with my four colleagues
20 that I mentioned, Senator Robach, who
21 represents the majority of the City of
22 Rochester, by the way, and Senators Nozzolio
23 and Senator Maziarz as well, in a meeting with
24 Senator Bruno just last week, the innovative
25 spirit and programs that Dr. Rivera has
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1 brought forth.
2 And especially appealing to me is
3 the Children's Zone. That is a vitally
4 important way of recognizing new ways of
5 educating our children, bringing them up from
6 poverty and taking them out of crime-ridden
7 neighborhoods. And when this is implemented
8 nationwide, as a result of his leadership, we
9 will see not only a higher quality of life for
10 our students, but we will see safer
11 neighborhoods and a better quality of life for
12 all people living in the United States as a
13 result of Dr. Rivera's leadership in the City
14 of Rochester.
15 And again, I want to apologize to
16 my colleagues Senators Robach and Maziarz and
17 Nozzolio. They most assuredly are equal prime
18 sponsors of this resolution.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Robach.
20 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam
21 President, let me too chime in and applaud
22 Superintendent Rivera.
23 I should note again that this is
24 kind of the equivalent of winning the
25 Superbowl, if you will, of school
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1 superintendents. This isn't a statewide
2 award, this is a national award.
3 And it is not surprising to me, in
4 the City School District of Rochester there is
5 no doubt there are a lot of challenges for the
6 students in that district, concentrations of
7 poverty, a host of other issues that, as we
8 work to meet those higher standards and make
9 sure that our children are ready for the next
10 step in employment, it's critically important
11 that we use the many resources we have in a
12 good way.
13 And certainly Superintendent Rivera
14 is someone who has done that with a lot of
15 passion, concern, thinking outside the box,
16 and really creating programs that are working
17 to help the kids, our mutual constituents, in
18 the City of Rochester.
19 And as has been stated before, in
20 the outcomes -- and that's what we need to
21 focus on, improving scores, math, science,
22 English, other things -- the fruit of his
23 labor have worked. And it's nice that he's
24 got this acclamation at a statewide level.
25 And then I'd also say, too, it's
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1 important to note -- and I want to thank him
2 publicly -- that even working oftentimes in a
3 challenging area of higher standards and other
4 things inside the City of Rochester, an urban
5 school district, we have some of the best
6 innovative programs, one of which was
7 mentioned in the resolution, Wilson Magnet,
8 one of the best schools in the whole country,
9 coming right from that school district, all
10 under the leadership of Superintendent Rivera.
11 So I want to applaud you publicly.
12 We are lucky to have you in the Rochester
13 area. Congratulations. Please keep up the
14 great work.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Nozzolio.
16 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
17 Madam President.
18 Madam President and my colleagues,
19 I wish to rise and thank Senators Alesi and
20 Robach for putting forth this very appropriate
21 resolution.
22 This resolution honors an educator
23 in New York State, honors an educator from
24 upstate, honors an educator from Rochester,
25 who it is not surprising he himself would be
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1 selected for this honor. What is surprising
2 are the tremendous challenges the City of
3 Rochester has to overcome in managing its
4 school system.
5 And as Senator Alesi and Senator
6 Robach so well stated, the region depends on
7 the Rochester city schools succeeding, that
8 employment, economic development, job creation
9 all depend on having a sound city school
10 system.
11 Senators Alesi and Robach have
12 worked tremendously hard to partner and ensure
13 resources are brought to the city school
14 system. And I wanted to add my support for
15 their efforts and particularly for their
16 praise of the superintendent, who is working
17 very hard, and it was very nice to see that
18 hard work recognized in this very worthwhile
19 and deserved award.
20 Madam President, thank you.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Maziarz.
22 SENATOR MAZIARZ: Thank you very
23 much, Madam President. I too want to join and
24 rise with my colleagues and congratulate
25 Superintendent Rivera for the great job that
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1 he has done with the Rochester City School
2 District.
3 I represent only a very small
4 portion of the City of Rochester; Senator
5 Robach and Senator Alesi have the majority of
6 the city. But, you know, when I visit the
7 Rochester city schools I see the challenges
8 that they faced just a few short years ago,
9 under a prior administration, and the
10 improvements that have been made under
11 Superintendent Rivera's leadership.
12 So I rise too. This is a very well
13 deserved honor. And I offer my
14 congratulations.
15 Thank you.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bruno, to
17 close.
18 SENATOR BRUNO: Thank you, Madam
19 President and colleagues.
20 I just want to add my
21 congratulations to the superintendent,
22 Dr. Rivera. I had the pleasure of meeting and
23 visiting with him.
24 This is quite a testimony to
25 Dr. Rivera, to all of the people that you work
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1 with. And the beneficiaries are not just the
2 students there in your community, but all over
3 the state and all over the country.
4 And to get the recognition by your
5 peers throughout the whole United States takes
6 some doing. And the criteria that they were
7 using was extremely competitive.
8 So congratulations to you, and
9 thank you for your dedication, your
10 commitment, your good work. And hopefully
11 people all over this state and all over the
12 country follow what you're doing there on
13 behalf of the young people and all of the
14 people. And you represent truly a role model.
15 So congratulations to you and to
16 your colleagues, and that's for everybody here
17 in the Senate. And I'm sure the sponsors
18 would like to open the resolution up to
19 everybody in the chamber, unless you would
20 prefer not to be there.
21 Thank you, Madam President.
22 THE PRESIDENT: The question now
23 is on the resolution.
24 All in favor please signify by
25 saying aye.
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1 (Response of "Aye.")
2 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
3 (No response.)
4 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
5 adopted.
6 As a former educator myself, I want
7 to congratulate you. Very few jobs are more
8 challenging or rewarding or worthwhile as your
9 job. It's a great achievement. Best wishes
10 for continued success.
11 (Applause.)
12 THE PRESIDENT: Any member who
13 does not wish to cosponsor the last resolution
14 please notify the desk.
15 Motions and resolutions.
16 Senator Farley.
17 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you, Madam
18 President.
19 I wish to offer amendments to the
20 following bills that are on the Third Reading
21 Calendar:
22 For Senator Wright, on page 11,
23 Calendar 57, Senate Print 5532A;
24 Senator Saland, on page 16,
25 Calendar 189, Senate Print 471;
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1 Senator Morahan, on page 29,
2 Calendar 395, Senate Print 6763;
3 And on behalf of Senator Maziarz,
4 on page 31, Calendar 418, Senate Print 6689.
5 Madam President, I move that these
6 bills retain their place on the Third Reading
7 Calendar.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
9 are received, and the bills will retain their
10 place on the Third Reading Calendar.
11 Senator Bruno.
12 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
13 can we have the noncontroversial reading of
14 the calendar.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
16 will read.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 43, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 4097A, an
19 act to amend the Real Property Law, in
20 relation to reverse mortgage loans.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
22 section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
4 passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 80, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 5463A, an
7 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to the
8 special task force for the apparel industry.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
10 section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 8. This
12 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
17 passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 120, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 506, an
20 act to amend the Public Housing Law, in
21 relation to the members of the Geneva Housing
22 Authority.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
24 section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
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1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
6 passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 123, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4344, an
9 act to amend the General Business Law, in
10 relation to real estate syndication offerings.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
12 section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
18 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
20 passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 143, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6280, an
23 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
24 establishing the crimes of possession.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
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1 section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect on the first of
4 November.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
9 passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 144, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6281, an
12 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to the
13 definition of the term "retail value."
14 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
15 section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
17 act shall take effect on the first of
18 November.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
22 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
24 passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 145, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 6282, an
2 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
3 trademark counterfeiting.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
5 section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect on the first of
8 November.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
13 passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 205, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 4326, an
16 act to amend the Public Authorities Law, in
17 relation to the power of the State of New York
18 Mortgage Agency.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
20 section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
2 passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 277, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 2856, an
5 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to
6 unauthorized entities.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
8 section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
10 act shall take effect on the 30th day.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
15 passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 278, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 2860, an
18 act to amend the Banking Law, in relation to
19 the enforcement of provisions.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
21 section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
3 passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 339, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6334A, an
6 act to amend Chapter 185 of the Laws of 2005,
7 relating to authorizing.
8 THE PRESIDENT: There is a local
9 fiscal impact note at the desk.
10 Read the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
17 passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 342, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 6448A, an
20 act to amend Chapter 365 of the Laws of 2005,
21 amending the Tax Law.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
23 section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
5 passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 343, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6508, an
8 act to amend the Tax Law, in relation to
9 conforming provisions.
10 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
11 section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
13 act shall take effect March 1, 2006.
14 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
18 passed.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 352, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 2453A, an
21 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to
22 certain contracts.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
24 section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
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1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
6 passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 384, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 2563, an
9 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law, in
10 relation to persons authorized.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
12 section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
18 Montgomery, to explain your vote.
19 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam
20 President, I just rise to commend Senator
21 Hannon on this legislation. It's very
22 important. Every single time we include the
23 nurse practitioner as being a meaningful
24 important part of the health delivery system
25 in any way I think strengthens our system.
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1 And I want to thank you, Senator,
2 for looking to always include the nurse
3 practitioner along with the physician
4 assistant and the physician.
5 So I'm certainly voting yes on this
6 bill.
7 Thank you.
8 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so
9 recorded, Senator, as voting in the
10 affirmative.
11 The Secretary will announce the
12 results.
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
14 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
16 passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 398, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 6806A, an
19 act to amend the Retirement and Social
20 Security Law, in relation to investments.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
22 section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
4 passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 433, by Senator Little, Senate Print 6828B, an
7 act to amend the Navigation Law and the
8 Insurance Law, in relation to requiring.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
10 section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
12 act shall take effect on the 60th day.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Little,
16 to explain your vote.
17 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you, Madam
18 President.
19 I'd first like to express my thanks
20 for all of those who had an interest and
21 concern in regard to the tragic boating
22 accident that occurred in my district on
23 October 2nd of this year. Twenty lives were
24 lost on a tour boat on Lake George.
25 What we have discovered since then
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1 is that many of the Navigation Laws in
2 New York State need to be addressed and
3 changed. The Governor has changed many of
4 those through administrative ways. But one of
5 the ones that we found needed to be done is to
6 require that all of these commercial boats who
7 carry passengers, paying passengers, that they
8 be required to carry maritime liability
9 insurance.
10 Most of the tour boat operators in
11 New York State have maritime liability
12 insurance; however, it is not required. This
13 bill requires that they carry that insurance
14 with a minimum of $1 million, and that they
15 buy their insurance from an insurance agent
16 who is certified in New York State to sell
17 insurance, and that excess insurance brokers
18 be able to provide additional insurance over
19 the $1 million.
20 Many of these boats have more
21 insurance than this, but this provides a good
22 minimum liability insurance. And it is
23 supported by the tour boat operators of
24 New York. The bill was done in consultation
25 with Senator Seward, the chairman of the
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1 Insurance Committee.
2 And we feel that this would provide
3 an adequate way of making the passengers on
4 these boats confident that they have insurance
5 should something tragic, as happened on Lake
6 George, happen to them.
7 So I vote in the affirmative, and I
8 thank all of those who join me in voting for
9 this bill.
10 Thank you.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
12 Senator Little. You will be so recorded as
13 voting in the affirmative on this bill.
14 The Secretary will announce the
15 results.
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
18 passed.
19 Senator Bruno, that completes the
20 reading of the regular noncontroversial
21 calendar.
22 Senator Bruno.
23 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
24 and colleagues, as you all know, we're about
25 to take up the supplemental calendar, which
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1 will be the beginning of the Senate version of
2 the budget bills that we hope to get passed
3 today at some reasonable hour, and then go
4 into conference committees -- with the
5 Assembly doing their budget today and
6 finishing it tomorrow -- and hopefully be on
7 with the process that we had described that
8 will get us, with all the members
9 participating, as they have since we got the
10 Governor's budget, with the process so far.
11 And with the open public discussion
12 of whatever differences we have with the
13 Assembly, we hope to get those differences
14 resolved so that we can start passing bills
15 together by March 27th.
16 So this starts the process towards
17 getting a budget done on time on behalf of the
18 people of this state. The bills that are
19 submitted will describe what we have before
20 us, and the resolution will take place after
21 the conference committees in terms of the
22 togetherness that we can create.
23 So thank you for your input, thank
24 you for the discussion, thank you for the
25 contemplated comments, which will always be
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1 creative, imaginative, and positive on behalf
2 of the people of this state.
3 Thank you, Madam President.
4 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
5 will read.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 492, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6450B,
8 an act making appropriations --
9 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
10 aside.
11 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
12 aside.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 493, Senate Budget Bill --
15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
16 aside.
17 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
18 aside.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 494, Senate Budget Bill --
21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
22 aside.
23 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
24 aside.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 495, Senate Budget Bill --
2 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
3 aside, please.
4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
5 aside.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 496 --
8 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
9 aside.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
11 aside.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 497 --
14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
15 aside, please.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
17 aside.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 498 --
20 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
21 aside.
22 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
23 aside.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 499 --
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1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
2 aside.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
4 aside.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 500 --
7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
8 aside.
9 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
10 aside.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 501 --
13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
14 aside, s'il vous plait.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
16 aside.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 502 --
19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
20 aside.
21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
22 aside.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 503 --
25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
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1 aside.
2 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
3 aside.
4 Senator Skelos, that does complete
5 the reading of the noncontroversial calendar
6 completely, regular and supplemental.
7 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
8 if we could now take up the Supplemental
9 Calendar 20A, controversial.
10 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
11 will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 492, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6450B,
14 an act making appropriations for the support
15 of government: Public Protection and General
16 Government Budget.
17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
18 Explanation.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson,
20 an explanation has been requested.
21 SENATOR JOHNSON: This budget
22 bill pertains to Public Protection and General
23 Government Budget.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini.
25 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President.
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1 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
2 ask that the reading of the amendment be
3 waived, and I'd like to be heard on the
4 amendment.
5 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed
6 on the amendment, Senator Sabini.
7 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam
8 President.
9 I have an amendment at the desk
10 which would provide additional money to our
11 schools for school violence prevention. Gangs
12 are a problem that are now running through our
13 state -- upstate, the suburbs, New York City.
14 Every year, thousands of our young people in
15 the United States fall victim to crime in
16 schools. Many of those instances involve gang
17 violence. Some are minor assaults, some end
18 in tragedy.
19 Just a few months ago, in Newtown
20 High School in my district, 30 students got
21 involved on a mistaken identity over the
22 wearing of gang colors. Three came home from
23 school that day stabbed. Not the way we would
24 hope that people would send their children to
25 school, to come home the victim of violence
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1 within the school.
2 These tragedies require educators,
3 students, and all Americans to address the
4 causes of school violence and search for
5 solutions. Recent information tells us today
6 that school violence may be decreasing, but
7 school violence, like societal violence, runs
8 in cycles. Gang violence is up around our
9 schools.
10 The threat of attacks in schools
11 creates fear and disorder amongst students and
12 teachers alike and leads to a disruptive
13 environment in our classrooms. And no matter
14 how much money we spend on education, if
15 parents don't feel their children are safe in
16 schools and children don't have an atmosphere
17 of learning, we'll be nowhere.
18 As legislators, it's our duty to
19 assist every school district in the state to
20 prevent and reduce school violence and to
21 restore order and a learning environment in
22 the classrooms. The grants in my budget
23 amendment, which total $6 million, will go to
24 schools that have partnered with law
25 enforcement agencies to target specific
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1 problems related to crime and violence in and
2 around our schools. These are grants that
3 will be used to create special programs for
4 disruptive students, conflict resolution,
5 increased security equipment, personnel, and
6 to help police identify and educators identify
7 what is going on within the schools with
8 regard to gangs.
9 Anecdotally, we have a very sad
10 situation in the district I represent. When
11 the police were telling us that gang violence
12 was not on the rise, we had a situation at
13 Elmhurst Hospital, which is our municipal
14 hospital provider within the neighborhood.
15 The emergency room at Elmhurst Hospital is
16 requiring now that emergency room personnel
17 understand the markings involving tattoos and
18 knife wounds involving gangs, so that the
19 medical staff can understand what it is
20 they're seeing as someone moves through the
21 emergency room process.
22 Schools are a place for learning,
23 not a place for violence. We can't turn our
24 heads to this anymore. And so I offer an
25 amendment which would increase $6 million to
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1 address gang violence in our schools and to
2 create an atmosphere of learning within those
3 schools.
4 Thank you, Madam President.
5 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment,
6 those Senators in agreement please signify by
7 raising your hands.
8 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
9 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
10 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
11 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
12 Onorato, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson,
13 Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith,
14 Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is
16 not agreed to.
17 THE SECRETARY: Also, excuse me,
18 Senator Oppenheimer.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is
20 still not agreed to.
21 (Laughter.)
22 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Klein.
23 SENATOR KLEIN: Madam President,
24 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
25 ask the reading of the amendment be waived and
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1 I have the opportunity to be heard on the said
2 amendment.
3 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed
4 on the amendment, Senator Klein.
5 SENATOR KLEIN: My amendment
6 would create a grant program to local law
7 enforcement agencies for the purchase and
8 expenses related to global positioning
9 systems, GPS electronic monitoring devices,
10 and public notification of sex offenders, for
11 a cost of $17 million.
12 I've gotten up over the last couple
13 of months and probably even last year to speak
14 about our lack of doing something concrete in
15 the State of New York to protect our
16 communities, to protect our families and loved
17 ones from this threat of violent sexual
18 predators.
19 I know we've passed the bills that
20 I have supported in this house, but still,
21 most of this legislation hasn't had any type
22 of meaningful action in the State Assembly.
23 We still don't have a law on the books in
24 New York State dealing with the very important
25 issue of civil confinement. We still do not
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1 have mandatory notification for our
2 communities under Megan's Law. And we still
3 don't have any type of email notification to
4 make sure that our communities know when a
5 dangerous sexual predator is living in our
6 community.
7 So I think it's very, very
8 important at least that we have a GPS system
9 to at least track very dangerous sexual
10 predators in our communities. I understand
11 what's in the budget today would put in
12 $500,000 for a pilot program. I think that's
13 great, but I think the time is now to do a
14 full-blown system across the state of
15 New York.
16 I've said this before, I think
17 anything else we do but civil commitment or
18 civil confinement is merely a Band-Aid
19 approach. But I do think that if we do
20 something, we should be at least do a GPS
21 monitoring system, which would be statewide.
22 I know I represent portions of
23 Westchester County; they adopted their own
24 program last year, and it's been very, very
25 successful in being able to determine the
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1 whereabouts of dangerous sexual predators in
2 Westchester County.
3 So this program, while it sounds
4 like a lot of money, I think when it comes to
5 protecting family members to make sure we at
6 least do know where dangerous sexual predators
7 are -- ticking time bombs -- at least we do
8 know they're in our community and we can
9 effectively let local law enforcement track
10 their whereabouts.
11 Thank you, Madam President.
12 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment.
13 Senator Skelos, first.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
15 if I could just comment.
16 Once again, Senator Klein, you have
17 forgotten that this house has passed
18 legislation -- Senator Bonacic's omnibus bill,
19 individual bills, GPS tracking, email
20 notification, mandatory community notification
21 all on the Internet, on and on and on.
22 And my suggestion to you, once
23 again, go back to the house that you served in
24 in the majority, convince Speaker Silver, a
25 member of your party, the Democrat Party, to
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1 pass this legislation.
2 Symbolic, what you're doing today,
3 congratulations. But the issue is that we
4 need the Assembly to partner with us. Very
5 simple. The bills are there, have them vote
6 for it, we'll pass it, and we do not any
7 longer need the charade that you're putting
8 this house through.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Volker.
10 SENATOR VOLKER: Very quickly.
11 These are good ideas. In fact, the past --
12 the gang violence and -- and this is good
13 ideas.
14 And I suggest that you discuss with
15 the members of the Assembly and with the
16 members of our conference committee these
17 issues, because they're issues could well be
18 part of the debate when we start the
19 conference committees.
20 So I just want to tell you that.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Connor.
22 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam
23 President.
24 As long as it's debatable, I just
25 rise in support of -- I want somebody to make
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1 a point of order, but nobody is. It's my
2 understanding that these motions aren't
3 debatable. But as long as we're being really
4 loose here -- amendment. Oh, amendments are.
5 Okay.
6 I want to compliment Senator Klein
7 for his amendment. I think it is appropriate
8 in having an open budget process to have
9 members bring their ideas to the floor when
10 they're not contained in the bill. And I
11 would take exceptions to characterize that
12 it's a charade. Members care very, very much
13 about these issues that they're raising. Our
14 constituents care about them. They're
15 important issues. And we just take the
16 moments that it requires to have a little
17 airing of these issues as we go forward in
18 this budget process.
19 Because as Senator Bruno said, and
20 I applaud him for it, it is now a much more
21 open process where we are going to have these
22 discussions in the light of day, in front of
23 the press and public, and talk about the
24 issues that are of concern to the citizens of
25 New York.
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1 Thank you.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
3 Schneiderman.
4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
5 Madam President.
6 We do have a lot of material to
7 cover here, and I -- there are people who
8 think that, you know, going through passing
9 one-house budget bills with massive tax-cut
10 proposals that will never come to law, that
11 that could be construed as a charade.
12 Senator Bruno started us off on a
13 positive note today, said the suggestions that
14 he anticipated hearing would be positive.
15 There is certainly no argument that Senator
16 Klein has very strong feelings and a
17 demonstrated record on the issues he raises
18 today.
19 So I hope my colleagues on the
20 other side of the aisle will accept that we --
21 not having been included in the process that
22 produced the draft and which we'll vote on
23 today, this is our opportunity to have input.
24 It may take a little bit of time, but that's
25 what the legislative process is supposed to be
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1 about, as Senator Connor just noted.
2 I hope we're not intending to have
3 lengthy debates on these amendments, but we do
4 want to make our points, we do want to make
5 them respectfully and have them received
6 respectfully and then proceed hopefully in the
7 atmosphere that I believe we started out with
8 today when we began this process.
9 We have a long way to go before we
10 finally produce a budget, but I don't think
11 there's any basis for any assertion that the
12 points being made by the amendments today are
13 any less sincerely felt that the points that
14 are being made by the budget bills and
15 resolution offered by the other side of the
16 aisle.
17 I also support Senator Klein's
18 amendment. Thank you, Madam President.
19 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment,
20 those Senators in agreement please signify by
21 raising your hands.
22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
23 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
24 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
25 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
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1 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
2 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
3 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
4 Valesky.
5 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is
6 not agreed to.
7 The Secretary will ring the bell.
8 Read the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
14 Montgomery, to explain your vote.
15 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Could we please
17 have order. If the members would take their
18 seats.
19 Senator Montgomery.
20 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam
21 President. I'm voting no on this particular
22 budget appropriations bill because it contains
23 a provision which I opposed last year, and I
24 have the same opposition this year.
25 And that is that we propose to
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1 raise several thousand dollars from each
2 person who is on probation, for a number of
3 fees. And I see that we have now, rather than
4 bringing it to the floor as a freestanding
5 bill, we've slipped it into the budget
6 language. And it establishes a number of
7 different fees which will be charged to people
8 who are on probation. And we also are now
9 requiring people to pay a fee for their DNA
10 sample, a fee for their registration as a sex
11 offender, and additional fees for
12 administration and probation fee.
13 So while we're giving a tax break
14 to people who can afford, we are actually
15 creating a very onerous tax on people who can
16 least afford. It certainly does not help with
17 the whole issue of giving a second chance.
18 And certainly we're not establishing an
19 alternative to incarceration that we as a
20 state support; we're trying to make
21 probationers pay for this themselves.
22 So I'm voting no on this, because I
23 think that's an onerous tax on a very, very
24 poor and vulnerable group of people in our
25 state.
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1 Thank you.
2 THE PRESIDENT: You will be so
3 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator.
4 The Secretary will announce the
5 results.
6 Senator Krueger.
7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
8 To explain my vote, Madam President.
9 I also will be voting no on the
10 bill, but I thought I would highlight two
11 issues that I think should concern us in this
12 bill.
13 One is that in the Senate bill, as
14 opposed to the Executive's proposal, they have
15 done away with the opportunity to increase
16 traffic-law enforcement cameras in work zones,
17 dangerous stretches of highway, and
18 traffic-light intersections, imposing
19 hundred-dollar penalties on registered owners
20 of vehicle that exceed the posted speeds.
21 Speaking as a legislator from
22 New York City, we have a very serious problem
23 throughout Manhattan Island -- and I believe
24 all the boroughs -- with vehicles not
25 following the traffic laws. We don't possibly
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1 have enough enforcement agents to catch
2 everyone speeding through red lights. We've
3 had any number of incidents of pedestrians
4 being hit while crossing the streets or, in
5 fact, being killed because people are crossing
6 through red lights.
7 It's been my experience that
8 red-light cameras have been an effective
9 deterrent to slow people down from speeding
10 through dangerous intersections, certainly in
11 the city of New York and I suspect in other
12 parts of the state. So I am disappointed that
13 we have removed that section of the Governor's
14 proposed budget from the Article VII language
15 bills under criminal justice.
16 I'm also, I suppose, a little
17 surprised that we've done away, through
18 Article VII legislation language in this bill,
19 on the Lobbying Act Enforcement Fund that
20 deletes current statutory language which
21 stipulates the monies recovered by the
22 Attorney General or received by the commission
23 from the assessment of civil penalties
24 pursuant to the Lobbying Act enforcement will
25 no longer be available for lobbying
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1 enforcement.
2 When we pass laws, we have to
3 ensure that our agencies and our commissions
4 have the revenue to follow through and do
5 their job. And so I am disturbed that in this
6 bill we remove a current statutory mandate
7 that the monies collected remain with the
8 Lobbying Commission.
9 I'll be voting no. Thank you,
10 Madam President.
11 THE PRESIDENT: You will be
12 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator.
13 Senator Parker.
14 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, Madam
15 President, to explain my vote.
16 I'm voting no on this budget bill,
17 in part because I just can't understand how we
18 are willing to do as much as we've done around
19 public protection but we're not at all
20 interested in protecting people or communities
21 or particularly children before they get
22 involved with the criminal justice system.
23 So while we are, you know, happy to
24 increase dollars for probation and parole and
25 for jails, to continue to fund the prison
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1 industrial complex, we still have not decided
2 to do what the court has mandated for us to do
3 around the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit.
4 So I'm voting no on this.
5 And then on top of that, we then
6 add insult to injury, as Senator Montgomery
7 has indicated, by back-dooring taxes on people
8 who have been convicted. And we shouldn't
9 be -- you know, people who have committed
10 crimes, they should pay. But if we're going
11 to have fines, let's fine them up front and
12 let's vote on a fine for people if we're going
13 to fine them.
14 But to create these back-door taxes
15 and cost-shifting to people who have the least
16 ability to pay doesn't -- you know, at the
17 same time, if we were taking those dollars and
18 using them for some kind of rehabilitation or
19 some kind of remediation for people who have
20 committed crimes, then you'd have my vote in a
21 minute.
22 But just to take that back-door
23 taxes and at the same time that we're talking
24 about cutting, you know, $8 billion worth of
25 taxes, to shift those taxes here just doesn't
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1 make any sense, from either a budgetary
2 perspective or from a public policy
3 perspective.
4 I vote no.
5 THE PRESIDENT: You will be
6 recorded as voting in the negative.
7 The Secretary will announce the
8 results.
9 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
10 the negative on Calendar Number 492 are
11 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Diaz,
12 Dilan, Duane, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Parker,
13 Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman, and A. Smith.
14 Ayes, 46. Nays, 13.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
16 passed.
17 The Secretary will continue to
18 read.
19 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
20 493, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6451, an
21 act making appropriations for the support of
22 government: Legislature and Judiciary Budget.
23 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
24 Explanation.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson,
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1 an explanation has been requested.
2 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is a bill
3 for the support of government dealing with the
4 Legislature and Judiciary Budget.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
6 Schneiderman.
7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, if
8 the sponsor would yield for a brief question.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson,
10 do you yield for a question?
11 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Madam
12 President.
13 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed,
14 Senator Schneiderman.
15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: In this
16 budget that covers the judiciary, the
17 judiciary has not received any pay increase
18 since 1999. Does this legislation include any
19 provision for a pay increase for the
20 judiciary?
21 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, there's
22 no legislation enacting a pay increase, but
23 there is money in this budget available,
24 $69.5 million, subject to a chapter which we
25 have yet to enact.
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1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Through
2 you, Madam President. So the money is there,
3 but there is no provision that it should be
4 used for a pay increase?
5 SENATOR JOHNSON: Did you ask me
6 a question?
7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson,
8 did you yield for that question?
9 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes.
10 Yes, you are correct.
11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
12 Thank the sponsor.
13 I will be voting against this
14 because I find that, you know, the politics
15 here are superseding public policy. And I
16 would urge that it is time to revisit the
17 issues of the salaries last raised in 1999. I
18 think it's shameful that we aren't dealing
19 with that.
20 Given the absence of specific
21 provisions on that front, I will be voting
22 against this bill.
23 Thank you, Madam President.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Does any other
25 member wish to be heard?
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1 Then the debate is closed.
2 Senator DeFrancisco, first.
3 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Just to
4 make a point.
5 I think as an advocate for the
6 judicial pay increases, I think it's extremely
7 important that the money has been set aside
8 for that to happen if there's an agreement
9 between the houses and the Governor's office
10 as to how it would be structured and any other
11 parts of the bill -- because the other parts
12 of the proposal dealt with a commission being
13 appointed to study other potential reviews of
14 other elected officials and appointed
15 officials and the like.
16 So I think the fact that the money
17 is in here is, I think, a good first step.
18 And hopefully during the conference committees
19 and the process that goes on from this point
20 forward, we can resolve this issue to the
21 satisfaction of everyone.
22 THE PRESIDENT: The debate is
23 closed.
24 The Secretary will ring the bell.
25 Read the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
2 act shall take effect immediately.
3 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Connor,
6 to explain your vote.
7 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam
8 President.
9 I'm voting yes because I agree with
10 Senator Schneiderman that it's absolutely
11 atrocious that we haven't done a judicial pay
12 raise in all this time. But I'm an optimist,
13 and I'll take things step-by-step. And since
14 the money is in this bill for the judicial pay
15 raise, I want to vote for this bill because I
16 want to make sure that money is in there.
17 So hopefully, in my optimistic
18 foresight, we will get around to doing an
19 authorization as well setting judicial
20 salaries higher.
21 Thank you, Madam President.
22 THE PRESIDENT: You will be
23 recorded as voting in the affirmative,
24 Senator.
25 Senator Malcolm Smith.
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1 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank
2 you, Madam President.
3 I will be voting no for this
4 particular bill only because, like my
5 colleague Senator Schneiderman, clearly having
6 the money set aside for the judicial pay
7 raises is only a possibility. And we know
8 from history, we've had money set aside for a
9 particular cause and it has gone there for
10 several years, reappropriated year after year.
11 And I just think if we have
12 language in the bill that makes it clear as to
13 the judges who deserve this raise -- it's an
14 embarrassment that you have first-year law
15 associates making more money than our judges.
16 I think we should do them the justice by, even
17 this particular first bill, making sure the
18 raise is very clear in addition to the
19 establishment of the commission.
20 So I'll be voting no.
21 THE PRESIDENT: You will be
22 recorded as voting in the negative, Senator.
23 Senator Krueger.
24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
25 To explain my vote, Madam President.
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1 I've also voted no on this bill,
2 but I think it's important to raise one more
3 issue that no one else did, the fact that this
4 state underfunds legal-service representation
5 for indigent New Yorkers.
6 And year after year we hear people
7 come to us to talk about the fact that poor
8 people, usually in civil court proceedings,
9 cannot get attorneys, they end up having to
10 represent themselves pro se. It is not an
11 even playing field in our courts.
12 And I agree with my colleagues when
13 they talk about the importance of ensuring
14 that our judges continue on our bench because
15 they are getting fair pay for the work they
16 do, but I also think it's important for
17 someone in this house to rise and say we have
18 been underfunding legal representation for the
19 poor, both particularly in civil matters,
20 where there isn't the mandate that there is in
21 criminal matters.
22 And I hope when we move forward to
23 two-house bills sometime in the next few weeks
24 that we will take under consideration the
25 desperate need for legal representation of the
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1 poor.
2 Thank you, Madam President.
3 THE PRESIDENT: You will be
4 recorded in the negative on the bill.
5 The Secretary will announce the
6 results.
7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
8 the negative on Calendar Number 493 are
9 Senators Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane,
10 Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Parker,
11 Paterson, Sabini, Savino, Schneiderman,
12 A. Smith, M. Smith, and Stavisky. Also
13 Senator Andrews.
14 Ayes, 43. Nays, 16.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
16 passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 494, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6452, an
19 act making appropriations for the legal
20 requirements of the state debt service.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
22 section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
4 passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 495, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6453B,
7 an act making appropriations for the support
8 of government: Education, Labor and Family
9 Assistance Budget.
10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
11 Explanation.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Johnson,
13 an explanation has been requested.
14 SENATOR JOHNSON: This budget
15 bill makes appropriations for education,
16 labor, and TANF family assistance. That's it.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Savino.
18 SENATOR SAVINO: Madam President,
19 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
20 ask the reading of the amendment be waived,
21 and I ask to be heard on the amendment.
22 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed
23 on the amendment.
24 SENATOR SAVINO: Thank you, Madam
25 President.
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1 I have an amendment at the desk
2 that would increase funding for subsidized
3 child daycare slots. In New York State, more
4 than 650,000 children qualify for subsidized
5 daycare, yet there are only 183,400 subsidized
6 slots available.
7 The capacity within the daycare
8 system actually exists, but funds for
9 subsidies are insufficient to meet the need.
10 In fact, in the past year many counties have
11 lowered their income eligibility levels and
12 have increased parent copayments because of
13 the lack of funding.
14 This appropriation of $100 million
15 would make more than 20,000 subsidized slots
16 accessible for working New Yorkers.
17 It should be further noted that
18 changes in federal work requirements will
19 further increase the need for subsidized child
20 daycare slots.
21 And finally, I would like to
22 mention that March, while it's Irish Heritage
23 Month, in some places it's known as Social
24 Work Month, it is also Women's History Month.
25 And all month long many of us going to be
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1 attending events and handing out proclamations
2 and granting resolutions, you know,
3 commemorating the progress of women over the
4 past hundred years.
5 The sad fact is women have not kept
6 pace with men. We still earn 70 cents on
7 dollar to men. And we are still hampered by
8 our ability to progress in the workplace, and
9 the single greatest reason why is because of
10 the lack of affordable daycare.
11 It falls upon women 90 percent of
12 the time to arrange for daycare for their
13 children, to provide it, to for it. And the
14 least we can do is really give women a leg up
15 and assist them and provide more subsidized
16 daycare slots.
17 So I would ask all of my colleagues
18 that as we celebrate Women's History Month,
19 let's actually do something for women today.
20 Thank you.
21 THE PRESIDENT: On the amendment,
22 those Senators in agreement please signify by
23 raising your hands.
24 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
25 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
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1 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
2 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
3 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
4 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
5 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
6 Valesky.
7 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is
8 not agreed to.
9 Senator Stavisky.
10 SENATOR STAVISKY: Madam
11 President, I believe there's an amendment at
12 the desk. I ask that the reading be waived
13 and that I be heard on the amendment.
14 I gather that's a yes.
15 THE PRESIDENT: You may proceed
16 on the amendment, Senator.
17 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you.
18 This amendment would provide an
19 additional $20 million for CUNY and
20 $15 million for SUNY, in addition to the
21 appropriation already in this Majority
22 version. It would provide 300 new additional
23 new full-time faculty at SUNY and 150
24 full-time faculty at CUNY.
25 The three words we hear when we
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1 talk about SUNY and CUNY and the public
2 colleges are affordability, accessibility, and
3 quality. And unfortunately, the quality is
4 there, but the accessibility and the
5 affordability are declining.
6 For one thing, adjuncts work hard
7 but often do not have office hours, they don't
8 participate in campus activities, in
9 department activities, and they don't have the
10 opportunity to interact with the student body
11 because they have to go on and teach someplace
12 else.
13 Secondly, a college degree today is
14 extremely important. Over the course of a
15 lifetime, a college graduate will earn
16 anywhere between 65 and 75 percent more than
17 the graduate with a high school diploma. In
18 order to compete in the global marketplace, it
19 becomes increasingly important that they
20 obtain a college degree, particularly -- as
21 we've had hearings in the past -- in the area
22 of science, engineering, and mathematics.
23 And to be able to compete and to be
24 able to earn their degrees, the courses have
25 to be there for the students so that the
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1 students can enroll in these courses.
2 In New York State, we are
3 underproducing baccalaureate degrees by 11,000
4 degrees a year. Chancellor Ryan, at the
5 budget hearings, indicated that there are 7500
6 students who would normally be admitted to the
7 four-year institutions at SUNY but they have
8 to be turned away because there's nobody to
9 teach those classes. The number,
10 incidentally, is the same for the City
11 University of New York.
12 Lastly, the students' graduations
13 are often deferred because the courses that
14 they need to complete the degree are not
15 offered. And this would increase the
16 percentage of full-time faculty. Back in
17 1994, 72 percent at SUNY were full-time
18 faculty. Today the number is 58.2 percent.
19 We've had a dramatic decline in the full-time
20 faculty over the last 12 years.
21 And for that reason, if you support
22 the concept of full-time faculty, increasing
23 the numbers of full-time faculty, then you
24 will support this amendment.
25 Thank you.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
2 amendment, those Senators in agreement please
3 signify by raising your hands.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
6 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
7 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
8 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
9 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
10 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
11 Valesky.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
13 amendment is not agreed to.
14 Senator Oppenheimer.
15 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: I think
16 there's an amendment at the desk, and I'd like
17 to ask that the reading be waived but that I
18 be heard on it.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
20 reading is waived, and you're recognized to
21 explain the amendment.
22 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Okay. This
23 concerns universal prekindergarten.
24 I think we all know that a strong
25 statewide pre-K program is the key to
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1 establishing a sound foundation for closing
2 the academic achievement gap that we've been
3 hearing so much about. Strong prekindergarten
4 programs provide the advantage for preschool
5 students with disabilities and with cultural
6 disadvantages to get the services that are
7 needed.
8 Establishing prekindergarten as a
9 child's first year of public education is
10 needed to ensure that all children attain the
11 skills necessary for a successful academic
12 experience. In New York State there is an
13 actual need for a statewide pre-K program, and
14 this is evident from the following facts.
15 Currently only 73,000, a little
16 more -- approximately 30 percent of our
17 quarter of a million children who are 4 years
18 old -- are in state-funded pre-K programs,
19 though 80 percent of all 8-year-olds are in
20 placement outside of their homes. And I think
21 some of those placements are of lesser quality
22 than we would like. And we all know why that
23 is, because both parents, usually, in a family
24 are now working, even when the children are
25 very young.
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1 Several statewide studies have
2 shown the effectiveness of prekindergarten
3 programs and their cost-effectiveness.
4 Effects of universal prekindergarten include
5 the reduction of grade repetition, which we
6 estimate would fall between maybe 10 and
7 13 percent, and yield savings of maybe
8 $25 million over the course of that
9 prekindergartener's school career.
10 Special ed spending would drop
11 between maybe 8.5 and 12 percent, and there
12 the savings would be sizable, maybe
13 $240 million to $300 million.
14 We also forecast an improvement in
15 learning productivity that will create cost
16 savings, a 1, 1.5 percent cost savings
17 systemwide, achieved by lowering teacher
18 turnover, reducing classroom disruptions and
19 school vandalism, and improving the use of
20 curriculum materials.
21 We have been waiting quite a while,
22 haven't we, since we first said we were going
23 to move on this issue. Maybe it's five years,
24 maybe it's six; I'm not exactly sure. It was
25 part of what we all agreed to in the LADDER
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1 program. And we have not been moving forward
2 on it, and we are missing an opportunity to
3 educate and keep these children in school.
4 They are missing out because we are not
5 providing for them.
6 And the gap between the
7 disadvantaged student and the advantaged
8 student is growing wider and wider, and we are
9 perhaps the state with the largest gap.
10 I feel passionately about this.
11 All the information that has come out of
12 Washington, D.C., on the studies -- and there
13 have been numerous -- have shown the advantage
14 of taking full advantage of those years from
15 birth to age 5. We really have to do it, not
16 just for these children who are missing out,
17 but for all of us and for the economy of the
18 future, which we hope will be sound because
19 these children will have the proper education.
20 Thank you.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
22 amendment, those Senators in agreement please
23 signify by raising your hands.
24 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
25 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
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1 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
2 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
3 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
4 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
5 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
6 Valesky.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
8 amendment is not agreed to.
9 Senator Valesky.
10 SENATOR VALESKY: Mr. President,
11 I believe there's an amendment at the desk. I
12 ask that the reading of the amendment be
13 waived and that I have the opportunity to
14 explain the amendment.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Reading
16 is waived, and you're recognized for the
17 purpose of explaining the amendment.
18 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, Mr.
19 President.
20 The amendment that is before us
21 today is language that is similar to an
22 amendment that we have seen before in this
23 house, based on Senate Bill 5995. We are all
24 undoubtedly aware of the pressures that school
25 districts have been facing in this academic
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1 year in regard to higher-than-anticipated
2 energy costs, both natural gas and heating oil
3 costs as well as diesel fuel. And those
4 increased costs are having a negative impact
5 on academic programs, transportation for
6 various field trips, and other opportunities.
7 School districts are left with very
8 little choice in regard to what they can do.
9 And I am concerned that as we go to school
10 budgets in a couple of months, we may be
11 seeing higher school property taxes as a
12 result of the pressure in energy costs.
13 So this amendment would authorize
14 the Commissioner of Education to provide
15 school districts with grants. The total grant
16 allocation or statewide pool would be in the
17 amount of $50 million. Factors that would be
18 considered upon making grants would be a
19 district's ability to cover the increased
20 costs in energy, as well as the impact that
21 energy prices have had on academic programs
22 and a potential impact, of course, on property
23 taxpayers, and also would look at efforts that
24 have been undertaken by the school district to
25 reduce costs through energy conservation
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1 measures.
2 Mr. President, I urge a yes vote on
3 this amendment. Thank you.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
5 amendment, those Senators in agreement please
6 signify by raising your hands.
7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
8 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
9 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
10 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
11 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
12 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
13 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
14 Valesky.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
16 amendment is not agreed to.
17 Senator Schneiderman.
18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 There's an amendment at the desk.
21 I would request that its reading be waived and
22 I be heard on the amendment.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
24 reading is waived, and you're recognized to
25 speak on the amendment.
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1 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
2 This is another amendment to this
3 legislation relating to education in the State
4 of New York. This amendment would do two
5 things that are critical. It would add funds
6 for operating aid for the high-needs school
7 districts in this state and, more centrally,
8 it would change the funding formula to deal
9 with the overall problem of the distribution
10 of education funds within the state.
11 Now, the budget bill as proposed
12 does make some small adjustments in the
13 funding formula and it does provide some
14 additional funds, but it still falls far short
15 of the funding that we know we need for all
16 high-needs districts.
17 And I would suggest that there are
18 three central reasons to support this
19 amendment to fix our funding formula, and
20 they're the same reasons I would argue require
21 a "no" vote on this particular budget bill.
22 This is a serious problem. This is
23 a statewide problem. And unfortunately, my
24 colleagues, I believe that in this particular
25 area this is specifically a Senate problem.
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1 This is a serious problem, as we
2 know from the findings of fact in the Campaign
3 for Fiscal Equity case. There is no better
4 record before this house on any issue than
5 there is about the failures of our public
6 schools. And anyone who cares about the
7 future of our state and anyone who cares about
8 the children of our state -- that, you know,
9 the most hard-hearted venture capitalist in
10 New York should be for more investment in
11 public schools, because that is our future.
12 But on a moral basis, the fact that
13 hundreds of thousands of children have had
14 their dreams destroyed while we sit here
15 watching them getting an education in classes
16 where routinely people get to the 12th grade
17 only reading at an 8th-grade level, where
18 routinely teachers who are not certified or
19 are not certified in the areas in which they
20 are teaching are concentrated in the
21 high-needs districts -- they are not getting
22 their fair share. The schools are failing.
23 We have a constitutional
24 responsibility. We tried the defenses, the
25 state shamefully tried the defenses in the CFE
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1 case that, oh, it's not our fault, it's the
2 fault of the local government. That was
3 rejected. The State Constitution doesn't say
4 the mayor is responsible for a system of
5 common schools. It doesn't say the Department
6 of Education is. It says the Legislature is.
7 So this is a serious problem, a fundamental
8 failure of government here.
9 Second of all, it's a statewide
10 problem. This amendment and the proposal that
11 was made today in the Assembly would redress
12 this problem on a statewide basis. The court
13 in the CFE case only has jurisdiction to award
14 funds to the City of New York, and we know
15 there's resistance to even that. But we must
16 enact legislation that deals with this on a
17 statewide basis.
18 This is a problem in Buffalo in
19 high-needs areas, in Syracuse, in Yonkers, in
20 rural areas throughout the state of New York.
21 So this is a statewide problem that will not
22 be addressed by the court. We have to deal
23 with the statewide solution here.
24 And finally, my colleagues, this is
25 a Senate problem. Because right now the
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1 education advocates pretty much understand
2 what we have to do to fix the funding formula
3 and to fund the schools. The Assembly today
4 has taken a major step forward to that end.
5 The Republican mayor of the City of New York
6 has stood up and said: We are not getting our
7 fair share.
8 The barrier is in this house. And
9 we've heard encouraging words from my
10 colleagues on the other side of the aisle that
11 sometimes we should go to the Assembly and try
12 and convince people to do the right thing.
13 Well, today we're here trying to convince our
14 colleagues on the other side of the aisle to
15 do the right thing.
16 Since the CFE decision first was
17 issued, the Majority in this house has been in
18 opposition to it. The first report that came
19 out right after the trial court's decision,
20 "Staff Analysis 2001-2002," by my colleagues
21 on the other side of the aisle, attacked the
22 CFE decision. The arguments made there were
23 rejected by the appellate courts; they've been
24 rejected repeatedly.
25 This case will not go away. This
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1 issue will not go away. We must stop being
2 the barrier to fair funding for high-needs
3 districts. We must stop being the barrier to
4 the realization of dreams for millions of
5 children in the State of New York who deserve
6 a fair shot in life. We're not guaranteeing
7 success. But everyone deserves a fair shot.
8 That's what this amendment would
9 provide for, and I would urge everyone to vote
10 for it. And in the absence of the amendment,
11 I would urge a "no" vote on this piece of
12 budget legislation.
13 Thank you.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
15 amendment, those Senators in agreement please
16 signify -- I'm sorry.
17 Senator Saland.
18 SENATOR SALAND: Mr. President,
19 first, I would like to point out that this
20 Senate and certainly this Senate Majority has
21 been keenly interested in a statewide
22 resolution of this issue since virtually the
23 onset.
24 Unfortunately, what we have found
25 ourselves with is a situation in which the
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1 decisions of the referee and the trial court
2 have created a floor, a floor in terms of a
3 dollar amount through which the Assembly
4 cannot negotiate. We believe that to be an
5 unrealistic, an unattainable ceiling.
6 There are issues, there are issues
7 between the Governor's Zarb Commission, long
8 since forgotten, and the CFE decision as
9 written by the trial court. And incidentally,
10 what's interesting about the court decision is
11 the court didn't absolve the City of New York
12 in that particular case. The court said, if
13 you remember correctly, the city has an
14 obligation to put up money.
15 The court also said even if the
16 city has been remiss in failing to provide
17 money, the city is a subdivision of the state
18 and the state should therefore make the city
19 pay more money if the city thinks that it
20 should. A very nice way of dealing with a
21 very controversial issue, but really a means
22 by which the court offered no remedy to deal
23 with that issue.
24 I would respectfully submit that
25 the record in the CFE case certainly tells us
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1 the Court of Appeals has said "fix it." The
2 Court of Appeals said "fix it" in June of
3 2003. They said that the state had failed to
4 abide by its constitutional obligation to
5 provide a sound, basic education in the City
6 of New York. That provided the ability, I
7 believe, to deal with this as a statewide
8 issue if in fact we could get people to the
9 table.
10 Given the change of direction, if
11 we go back and take a look -- we arrived at
12 that number, or the advocates arrived at that
13 number based on a professional-judgment model.
14 The court, through the referees, adopted a
15 successful-schools model. But unlike the
16 Regents, they failed to use a so-called
17 efficiency filter, which the Regents have
18 always used when they've done their foundation
19 formula.
20 So effectively, as the commissioner
21 testified, there are reasons for using an
22 efficiency formula. The court chose not to
23 use the efficiency -- the efficiency filter,
24 excuse me, for whatever reasons known only to
25 them.
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1 This matter is on appeal. I
2 personally believe that any governor would be
3 derelict in letting a decision of this
4 magnitude -- for that matter, any decision
5 involving appropriation of funds -- to a trial
6 court. I wouldn't care if that court was in
7 Manhattan, I wouldn't care if that court was
8 in Buffalo, I wouldn't care if that court was
9 in Plattsburgh, I wouldn't care if that court
10 was in Poughkeepsie.
11 There is, believe it or not, a
12 separation of powers doctrine that has served
13 this institution and served this state and has
14 served the federal government as well. And
15 absent the willingness of the Assembly to come
16 to the table, they're resting on the
17 $5.6 billion number without the issue of
18 capital that they've been provided by the
19 decision of the referees and the trial court.
20 There's little or no likelihood
21 that they're going to come to the table.
22 We've been ready, willing and able for the
23 longest period of time to get there. That's
24 the only way we're going to deal with the
25 high-needs solution to this issue.
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1 So I understand the rhetoric. It
2 is certainly popular in any number of circles.
3 It's however, in my opinion, grossly divorced
4 from reality, and it remains to be seen
5 whether we will ever get to the table. I
6 would certainly hope so. I can speak for
7 myself as the chairman of the Senate Education
8 Committee and say I'm most eager to get to
9 that table, but it's awfully lonely being
10 there by yourself.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
12 amendment, those Senators in agreement please
13 signify by raising your hands.
14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
15 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
16 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
17 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
18 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
19 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
20 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
21 Valesky.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
23 amendment is not agreed to.
24 Senator Krueger.
25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
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1 I'd like to ask the sponsor to yield, please.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
3 Johnson, will you yield for a question from
4 Senator Krueger?
5 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes,
6 Mr. Chairman.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
8 sponsor yields.
9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
10 Through you, Mr. President.
11 We just heard Senator Saland make
12 an eloquent argument about whether or not the
13 Assembly is coming to the table in CFE and how
14 much money they realistically would or
15 wouldn't put on.
16 And regardless of the role of the
17 courts, Senator Johnson, how much money is the
18 State Senate putting on the table as an
19 increase to school aid in this bill?
20 SENATOR JOHNSON: This year,
21 $1.1 billion.
22 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: $1.1
23 billion.
24 Mr. President, if, through you, the
25 sponsor would continue to yield.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
2 Johnson, do you continue to yield?
3 The sponsor yields.
4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
5 And does that include the money for
6 construction or just the operating aid?
7 SENATOR JOHNSON: No, that's
8 operating aid. Construction is a separate
9 item.
10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
11 Mr. President, on the bill.
12 Thank you, Mr. Sponsor.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
14 Liz Krueger, on the bill.
15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Well, one
16 can debate whether the court should have had a
17 role in deciding education aid or not. I
18 would argue if we had done what we were
19 supposed to do in this Legislature for 30
20 years, nobody would have taken us to court,
21 nobody would have needed to.
22 I would also argue that whether one
23 wants to debate $6 billion operating,
24 $9 billion capital, some numbers otherwise,
25 that in the year 2006 this Senate, in a
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1 one-house budget bill, could certainly do
2 better than what is before us today. Which,
3 as I've just learned, is $1.1 billion
4 statewide. And I believe when you adjust for
5 inflation, that dollar value actually
6 decreases dramatically.
7 It's also my reading of the bill
8 for construction that it would be $240 million
9 in debt service costs, with a one-year
10 commitment to help pay off the costs on the
11 debt service, leaving perhaps the City of
12 New York and the other large school districts
13 to have to pay off these bonds for new
14 construction for decades to come, with or
15 without the help of the State Legislature and
16 the next Governor.
17 And I would argue that we have to
18 do better than this package, even if one
19 disagrees or agrees with the role of the
20 courts or the other house.
21 So I'll be voting no on this bill,
22 for a variety of reasons. One is it is
23 completely inadequate in its commitment to
24 K-12 education funding.
25 Second, it is completely inadequate
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1 in its response to the need for higher
2 education funding in the State of New York.
3 We hear over and over again -- the Governor's
4 State of the State speech, other speeches that
5 have been made in this house, on both sides
6 and in the Assembly, on both sides -- that the
7 State of New York is failing in our
8 responsibility to ensure that our young people
9 are graduating our universities with the
10 educations that they need to be competitive in
11 a 21st century labor market. I've heard
12 endless speeches about Tom Friedman's book
13 about the flat earth and how we are not
14 competitive with every other state in the
15 nation and many countries.
16 And yet what we do here is we offer
17 to our universities that they should increase
18 their tuition for their students who are
19 already working to try to make the payments
20 for their tuition. We are proud of ourselves,
21 I suppose, for cutting back on the Governor's
22 proposal to cut TAP, but we are not doing
23 anything to truly expand our commitment to our
24 universities, which we desperately need for
25 our 21st century workforce.
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1 We yet again make tax cuts in this
2 bill, through the STAR Plus and the enhanced
3 STAR program and the small business STAR, all
4 of which end up cutting funds for education at
5 a time when we know we need more, none of
6 which are based on an equity model of
7 progressive taxation and all of which,
8 frankly, end up being unfair to people who
9 live in our big cities in comparison to people
10 who own homes in the rest of the state.
11 Finally, this bill also, very
12 disturbingly, does not challenge the
13 Governor's proposal to go forward with full
14 family sanctions for households receiving
15 public assistance, for decreasing the earned
16 income disregard for people who are both
17 working and on public assistance.
18 It does not challenge the
19 Governor's assumptions about sanctions for
20 counties where they cannot reach a 50 percent
21 combined work participation rate for families,
22 despite the fact that the disproportionately
23 large number of families left on public
24 assistance in the year 2006 either have
25 disabled adult household members or disabled
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1 children in their households.
2 This bill also does not reverse the
3 Governor's proposal to change the formula for
4 calculation of SSI benefits for disabled
5 adults within households also receiving public
6 assistance.
7 We could have done so much better
8 in this bill, even as a one-house bill, to
9 challenge both our colleagues in the Assembly
10 to do better, to do more, and to challenge the
11 Governor. I urge my colleagues to vote no on
12 this bill.
13 Thank you, Mr. President.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
15 Parker first, then Senator Diaz.
16 Senator Parker.
17 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President,
18 on the bill.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
20 Parker, on the bill.
21 SENATOR PARKER: I'm voting no on
22 this bill because we have once again, for the
23 entire time that I've had the honor to
24 represent the people of Flatbush, East
25 Flatbush, Midwood, Ditmas Park, Kensington and
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1 Borough Park in this austere body, rejected
2 the notion that there ought to be a fair and
3 equal opportunity for young people in New York
4 City to have the same kind of education that
5 young people around the state, you know, have
6 an opportunity to get.
7 And it really troubles me that as
8 we talk about rhetoric that it seems that, you
9 know, the rhetoric here is that, you know, we
10 should look at other places and blame other
11 people. One of the things that I find is kind
12 of interesting here and I've learned in
13 politics is that when we don't have the answer
14 to a problem, we talk about the complexities
15 of the issue. And we get lots of discussion
16 here about the complexities of the issue.
17 The reality is is that we can do
18 anything in this body we decide that we want
19 to put our minds to. Anything. And right
20 now, when we talk about a $110.7 billion
21 budget, for us to talk about putting a
22 significant down payment on the Campaign for
23 Fiscal Equity lawsuit that would level the
24 playing field for children in New York City,
25 it just doesn't seem like it's, you know, that
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1 complex.
2 Put the money in the budget. A
3 priority, by definition, means it's something
4 that you do first. Right? It means making
5 sure -- you know, the main thing is to make
6 sure that the main thing is the main thing.
7 And we're saying that education of our
8 children is the most important thing.
9 If I'm being told by my colleagues
10 across the aisle that they care about the
11 children in my district getting an education
12 and the children in the city that I live in
13 and the borough that I live in -- if you say
14 you care about those children getting an
15 education just like you care about the
16 children in your district getting an
17 education, then you in fact would make a
18 larger contribution in the budget this year
19 that in fact would satisfy CFE. It is simply
20 a matter of doing it.
21 We can't on one hand say we're
22 going to get rid of $8 billion worth of taxes
23 and forgo $8 billion worth of revenue and then
24 at the same time say, Sorry, children of the
25 city of New York, we don't have, you know,
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1 $2 billion to get you that the court said you
2 ought to have. And oh, yeah, and we're sorry
3 also, Brookhaven and we're sorry, Yonkers.
4 We're sorry, Mount Vernon; we're sorry,
5 Albany. Oh, Syracuse, we're sorry.
6 Rochester, we're sorry. Buffalo, oh, sorry.
7 We're sorry. Oh, don't forget Binghamton,
8 sorry. We don't have the money because we
9 gave all the money back.
10 In a year where there's, you know,
11 arguably a $3 billion surplus to say simply
12 there are no funds and it's not reasonable to
13 find, you know, 3 plus 8 which is now
14 $11 billion, you know, worth of money that
15 we're either giving back or, you know, wasting
16 away in some other way -- and then to continue
17 to come here and say that education is the
18 most important issue and the protecting of
19 children is the most important issue, you
20 know, there's a significant contradiction
21 there that I am not willing to stand here and
22 to continue to accept in this body, in myself,
23 or in this Legislature.
24 We began the year talking about a
25 lot of sex crimes. And particularly one of
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1 the arguments that was made very strongly by
2 my colleagues was the fact that we in fact
3 needed to protect our communities,
4 particularly our children, from sex predators.
5 And we want to, you know -- we create, we put
6 $130 million in a new facility. You know, we
7 want to monitor people, we're going to create
8 civil confinement, we want to do all these
9 things to protect our communities. But what
10 are we doing from protecting them from the
11 dangers of unemployment, of underemployment,
12 of the reality that when you start looking at
13 where crime comes from, it's from places where
14 you in fact have no job opportunity.
15 We're in fact talking about cutting
16 taxes because we want to attract companies to
17 our state. And that's a very, very, very
18 admirable goal. I want to attract companies
19 to this state. But the reality is that when
20 you look at where companies decide to move,
21 it's not based on tax cuts. And I don't care
22 what studies you look at. Go to Wharton, go
23 to Harvard, I don't care, get the studies out.
24 Tax cuts are not what attracts businesses.
25 Having a qualified and educated workforce is
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1 number one.
2 And will you in fact move your
3 business -- in fact, when we start talking
4 about the issue of, you know, outsourcing and
5 we look at why are all of our, you know,
6 businesses are moving to India and China, not
7 only is it lower fees but also an educated
8 workforce. We have to invest in our own
9 communities, in our own children. This is our
10 future.
11 And as much as, you know, many of
12 my colleagues don't live in New York City and
13 feel like it's not their problem, but the
14 reality is, you know, if your children are
15 going to continue to live in this state,
16 they're going to be living next door to the
17 children, in the same state with the children
18 who are getting undereducated in my community
19 because we did not make the right decision
20 now.
21 No longer is it acceptable for us
22 to continue to talk about what we're going to
23 do in the future. We have to do this now. We
24 have to put in a significant amount of money
25 to pay for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity
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1 lawsuit so that we can start creating some
2 educational justice in this state. The
3 playing field must be balanced. It's $2,000
4 less per child in New York City versus every
5 other child in the state.
6 And so we need to do that. And at
7 the same time, we need to take care of every
8 other school district in this state that needs
9 more money. Why? Because not just it's the
10 right thing to do, it's the thing that we must
11 do if we're going to say that we are
12 legislating to take care of the future of the
13 city of New York and the state.
14 I implore you, ladies and
15 gentlemen, to really make the right decision
16 here, to really go back and look at these
17 numbers, to in fact put the money on the table
18 that needs to be put on the table so that we
19 can in fact move forward -- and not just, you
20 know, build buildings, but so that we can
21 raise the salaries of teachers.
22 We need to attract more people and
23 better people to the profession of teaching.
24 We need more materials. We need money for
25 English language learners in our communities.
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1 We need money for after-schools. We need
2 money for all of the things that we in fact
3 know create good citizens and good adults in
4 our community. But we can't wait until they
5 become adults and put that money into criminal
6 justice, we have to start now and put the
7 money into education.
8 Because we know, as public policy
9 people, that in fact education creates the
10 greatest externalities, positive externalities
11 from -- one dollar gives you more, better
12 results as that dollar is moved to the
13 education system than any other program that
14 we in fact can invest dollars in. And so for
15 us not to make the right decision here is
16 absolutely criminal.
17 I vote no, and I ask us to relook
18 at this issue.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
20 Diaz.
21 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you,
22 Mr. Chairman. On the bill.
23 The problem of education in
24 New York City is not new. The problem of lack
25 of money to the system in the city is not new.
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1 We used to have a system where we had what we
2 called community planning boards. And we used
3 to have the centralized school board, we used
4 to have a chancellor and a mayor.
5 Then Mayor Bloomberg came, Mayor
6 Michael Bloomberg came, and I was a member of
7 the City Council and Mayor Michael Bloomberg
8 came and told us: "I want to end the abuses,
9 and I would like to end the problem with
10 education. I would like to be called the
11 educational mayor. Give me control of the
12 school system, and I promise you that I will
13 solve the problem of the educational system in
14 the City of New York."
15 And I believed that. And I fought
16 and I pushed and I voted to give the mayor of
17 the City of New York control of the school
18 system. The same lack of money that we have
19 now, we had it then. But the mayor said:
20 "Give me control, and stop passing the hot
21 potatoes."
22 Because the problem was that we
23 used to say, the school committee -- the local
24 committee school board used to say: Oh, it's
25 not my problem, it's the problem of the
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1 central board. The central board used to say:
2 It's not my problem, it's a problem of the
3 chancellor. The chancellor used to say: It's
4 not my problem, it's a problem of the mayor.
5 So we used to have something called passing
6 the hot potato from one to another. And our
7 children always, always had the worst
8 education.
9 But Mayor Bloomberg said: Give me
10 control of the school board, and I will solve
11 the problem. I will not ask anybody to shoot
12 to accuse anybody, I will ask, shoot at me. I
13 am responsible.
14 And I was a City Council member,
15 and I voted and pushed for mayoral control.
16 Guess what? Now the Mayor of the City of New
17 York is saying: "Oh, I cannot do anything,
18 because I need money." We knew that before,
19 when he said "shoot at me." We cannot do
20 anything, we need more money. To the point
21 that he is closing, in the district that I
22 represent, two schools, and he's stopping
23 construction on all schools.
24 So the schools -- the children in
25 the school that I represent are being
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1 affected. They always have been affected.
2 They are now being affected. And I'm afraid,
3 I am afraid that I will continue being
4 affected. Because every year we send money to
5 the City of New York. Last year we sent close
6 to $100 million. And the money never gets to
7 the black and Hispanic community. The money
8 always goes to areas that are not needy. The
9 children in the district that I represent, the
10 children in the black and Hispanic community
11 are always left behind no matter how much
12 money we get in the city. We always, we
13 always get behind.
14 And now we have the CFE. And I
15 bless, God bless Judge DeGrasse. God bless
16 him wherever he is. Because yes, we need that
17 money. And yes, we have to support to get the
18 money. We all need the money. However, my
19 concern is that when we get the money, that
20 everyone is salivating. Everybody's
21 salivating about the money.
22 My concern is that when we give the
23 money to the City of New York, I am afraid,
24 Mr. Chairman and members of this body, I am
25 afraid that the children in the black and
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1 Hispanic community will continue being left
2 behind, that the children in the black and
3 Hispanic community will continue to have
4 overcrowded schools, poor teaching, no money
5 for extracurricular activities, no money for
6 materials. Because that's what always
7 happens, somebody else gets the money. The
8 money goes to other places.
9 And I was saying this morning in
10 the conference that my daughter, my daughter,
11 she's a sergeant in New York City, she lives
12 in Milltown, New York. And when I go visit my
13 daughter, I go to those schools. I will say
14 that in those schools, the best private school
15 in my district is worse than the worst school
16 in that district. And those schools in that
17 district, the children have ski training,
18 volleyball, baseball, swimming, opera,
19 dancing. They have everything.
20 It breaks my heart to see what they
21 have in the public education in those cities
22 in those area and in the area that I
23 represent. And the area in our city, in the
24 black and Hispanic community, we don't have
25 none of that. We have the worst -- bathrooms,
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1 classes that look like pigs.
2 And ladies and gentlemen, if we're
3 going to get the money -- and I'm going to
4 repeat myself again, God bless Judge DeGrasse.
5 But I'm afraid that when we get that money, we
6 will be left behind again. So there should be
7 something done that that money should go,
8 earmarked, straight to needy areas. Not to
9 New York City as one school district, while
10 the chancellor and the mayor decide where to
11 go. I know where they're going to put the
12 money -- in the same place that they always
13 have been putting the money.
14 Not in my district, not in the
15 black and Hispanic community -- what you say,
16 madam? -- in Staten Island, the best part of
17 Queens, some parts of Brooklyn and Riverdale
18 in the Bronx. But in my district, in the
19 black and Hispanic, we never get anything.
20 So yes, let's salivate for that
21 money. Let's get the money. But let's be
22 sure that that money goes where it's needed,
23 not wherever the chancellor and the mayor want
24 to put it.
25 Ladies and gentlemen, thank you
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1 very much. I appreciate you listening to me.
2 But I have to vent, because the frustration to
3 see what some of the kids in poor education
4 gets in the state of New York, and what we
5 cannot get, is heartbreaking. It's -- it's --
6 it's painful.
7 So, Mr. Chairman, thank you for
8 this opportunity, and thank you for listening
9 to this black guy from the Bronx. Thank you.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any
11 other Senator wish to be heard?
12 Debate is closed, then.
13 The Secretary will ring the bell.
14 Read the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
18 roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
21 Saland, to explain his vote.
22 SENATOR SALAND: Thank you, Mr.
23 President.
24 I heard a lot during the course of
25 the debate about what this bill wasn't. And
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1 perhaps nobody took the time to mention,
2 and --
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Order in
4 the chamber, please.
5 SENATOR SALAND: -- I will do it
6 very briefly, what this education portion of
7 the budget actually does.
8 It increases, by $1.1 billion,
9 school aid in this coming school year. It's
10 the largest increase in the history of our aid
11 to education. It represents a 6.7 percent
12 increase, certainly well above the rate of
13 inflation. It adopts our LEARN package, which
14 includes, in effect, the first-year funding
15 for that package. It also provides the second
16 year of SBE funding, 375 million on top of the
17 $325 million provided last year.
18 And I think it's important to note,
19 for those who have heard from school boards,
20 teachers, parents, that there's some
21 $668 million in unrestricted aid that's been
22 added. We have backfilled the Governor's
23 BOCES cuts, we have backfilled his private
24 excess cost cuts. And we effectively have
25 expanded real property tax relief through the
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1 mechanism of STAR Plus in a fashion not
2 provided for by the Governor, no bounties on
3 school budgets.
4 Thank you, Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
6 Stavisky, to explain her vote.
7 SENATOR STAVISKY: I thank
8 Senator Saland for the description of what it
9 includes. But I didn't hear a description of
10 some resolution of the operating aid for the
11 Campaign for Fiscal Equity.
12 I vote no for that reason.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
14 Stavisky will be recorded in the negative.
15 Senator Parker, to explain his
16 vote.
17 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, Mr.
18 President.
19 I also vote no. And where I did
20 note Senator Saland's -- all the aid that was
21 in this bill, certainly, unfortunately,
22 despite the fact that it raises more money
23 than we've ever put in, actually, we ought to
24 be ashamed of ourselves that we've never put
25 more money into education, particularly given
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1 that we, 20 years ago, made people vote for
2 and accept the lottery because we promised
3 them the lottery money would go there. That's
4 another conversation.
5 But the reality is that this bill
6 does not designate how the money gets laid
7 out. So you can in fact raise the money and
8 put more money into the budget totally, but
9 that doesn't mean that it in fact addresses
10 the needs of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity,
11 which in fact says there needs to be more
12 money for New York City, which is a high-needs
13 district.
14 And then what we're saying -- you
15 know, what I'm saying and I believe my
16 conference is saying is that what we ought to
17 do, above and beyond what you need to do for
18 New York City, is in fact deal with the issues
19 of other high-needs districts across the state
20 from Buffalo to Brooklyn.
21 And so we in fact, you know -- I'm
22 voting no on this thing, because this bill
23 doesn't nearly go far enough. And I haven't
24 even had the chance to in fact deal with the
25 CUNY part of the budget and, in fact, what are
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1 we doing raising the tuition at CUNY and SUNY
2 schools when in fact we ought to be making
3 four years of college as common as a high
4 school diploma at a very time when we have a
5 Governor and some members of the State
6 Legislature who are saying 8th grade is
7 enough. Unacceptable.
8 I vote no.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
10 Parker will be recorded in the negative.
11 Senator Malcolm Smith, to explain
12 his vote.
13 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank
14 you, Mr. President.
15 I will be voting no on this bill
16 also, just simply because education, as
17 housing, is critical to this entire state.
18 This particular bill is not addressing that
19 CFE decision. It is not addressing the
20 operating aid.
21 And at some point we need to take
22 the right steps toward doing what is right for
23 the people of this state. So I will be voting
24 no.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
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1 Malcolm Smith will be recorded in the
2 negative.
3 The Secretary will announce the
4 results.
5 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
6 the negative on Calendar Number 495 are
7 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Diaz,
8 Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger, C. Kruger,
9 Montgomery, Onorato, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
10 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith,
11 M. Smith, and Stavisky.
12 Ayes, 39. Nays, 20.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
14 is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 496, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6454B,
17 an act making appropriations for the support
18 of government: Health and Mental Hygiene
19 Budget.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
21 Parker.
22 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. President, I
23 believe there's an amendment at the desk.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There
25 is.
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1 SENATOR PARKER: I ask that you
2 waive the reading of the amendment, and I ask
3 to be heard on said amendment.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
5 reading is waived, and you're recognized to
6 speak on the amendment.
7 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you much,
8 Mr. President.
9 This amendment deals with the
10 New York State Supplementary Nutrition
11 Assistance Program, or SNAP. It aims to
12 improve the well-being of seniors who are at
13 high nutritional risk, with particular
14 emphasis on the provisions of service to the
15 low-income, minority, and frail and isolated
16 seniors.
17 This is particularly important, I
18 think, for everyone's district. And I think
19 that in this particular bill we ought to be,
20 in fact, looking at adding more funding. This
21 is personally important because I have two
22 senior parents at home. And I know many
23 people in this body, you know, have parents
24 and grandparents, clearly constituents who are
25 seniors and who are gravely affected by this
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1 bill.
2 Nutrition is at the top of the list
3 of the things that are important for, you
4 know, at-risk populations, particularly
5 seniors. And when we created this program
6 over 30 years ago, this program was meant to
7 address that. And it's really a great, great
8 program that really does what it aims to do,
9 which is to provide quality, hot, nutritious
10 meals for literally millions of people across
11 the state of New York.
12 Unfortunately, this program,
13 despite its success, has not been able to keep
14 up with the numbers of seniors who need it.
15 And so although this program could, under its
16 guidelines, deal with seniors who are 60 and
17 up because the eligibility requirements
18 allowed that, this program currently only
19 targets those who are 75 and up.
20 What this amendment that I'm
21 putting forward today would do is that at an
22 average of $5.82 for a home-delivered meal, an
23 additional appropriation, which this amendment
24 would add, of $2 million would provide almost
25 350,000 additional meals for seniors across
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1 this state. That is something that not only
2 is worthy but something that we ought to do
3 just because of the merits and the immediate
4 impact it would have on the health of seniors
5 across the state.
6 I think that we pay attention to
7 that, you know, in this body because this is a
8 place that I'm looking forward to being. I
9 hope to one day be at least eligible for this
10 program. And so I'd like to know that if I,
11 you know, fall on hard times, there's a
12 program out there that's going to help me out.
13 Especially being that the benefits that we're
14 getting may be cut, Social Security and other
15 things.
16 So I'm asking my colleagues and I'm
17 really challenging my colleagues on the other
18 side of the aisle to vote for this bill that
19 would help their constituents, that would help
20 their parents and their grandparents and their
21 older aunts and uncles have hot meals and
22 create a warmer climate in this entire state.
23 Thank you very much. I'm hoping
24 you vote yes on this amendment.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
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1 Parker, I'm sure one of us would bring you a
2 sandwich, at least.
3 Senator Diaz.
4 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Mr.
5 President.
6 Again, I rise to talk to you about
7 another injustice for the seniors, and this
8 time the seniors in the Bronx. This amendment
9 that Senator Parker is talking about is a nice
10 one. It's a good one. I'm voting for it.
11 However, if you go to the city of New York,
12 every senior citizen in the city of New York
13 receives a daily hot meal, a daily hot meal
14 delivered to their home by a person that not
15 only delivers the food but also serves as a
16 person that watch out for the seniors -- but
17 in every borough they are receiving, I repeat
18 myself again, a daily hot meal except in the
19 borough of the Bronx. Except in the borough
20 of the Bronx.
21 Because our beloved mayor, Michael
22 Bloomberg and the chairman of the Aging
23 committee decided to have a pilot project
24 where they took away the hot meal, the daily
25 hot meal to senior citizens, and instead they
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1 are giving senior citizens in the Bronx -- not
2 in other parts of the city, only in the
3 Bronx -- they are giving the senior citizens
4 frozen meals. Only to the seniors of the
5 Bronx. That's the one of the good ideas from
6 the mayor's administration.
7 So yes, our seniors deserve better.
8 They deserve hot daily meals. They deserve to
9 get the best things that we could give them.
10 And I am calling on you that if we're going to
11 do this, don't allow the rest of the city, the
12 rest of the senior citizen population in the
13 city to get frozen meals. Frozen meals are no
14 good.
15 Besides, the person -- as I said
16 before, the person that delivers the daily
17 meals also looks out for the seniors and make
18 sure that the senior's in good health and that
19 nothing happens to the senior.
20 By giving a frozen meal once a week
21 for seven days, that will do many things. The
22 seniors have to use, some of them, microwaves,
23 or others have to use the oven. That's
24 dangerous. Some of them don't have the
25 microwave, or to use the oven is dangerous.
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1 And another thing, that if a senior
2 eats the frozen meal that they give them for
3 seven days, if they eat it in three, the
4 senior will be without food for four days.
5 And they also will not have the person to look
6 out for them on a daily basis.
7 So the frozen meals given to the
8 seniors of the Bronx is wrong, and we should
9 not allow this program to be expanded to the
10 rest of the city. And we should stop the
11 senior citizens in the Bronx getting frozen
12 meals and we should give back the daily hot
13 meal to those seniors.
14 Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you very
15 much.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
17 Ada Smith.
18 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you,
19 Mr. President. I believe there's an amendment
20 at the desk.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: We have
22 to dispose of this amendment first, Senator.
23 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Oh, sorry.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: That's
25 okay.
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1 On the amendment, those Senators in
2 agreement please signify by raising your
3 hands.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
6 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
7 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
8 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
9 Sampson, Savino, A. Smith, M. Smith,
10 Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky. Also
11 Senator Onorato.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
13 amendment is not agreed to.
14 Senator Ada Smith.
15 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 I believe there's an amendment at
18 the desk. I request that the reading of the
19 amendment be waived and that I be permitted to
20 speak on the amendment.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Sorry,
22 Senator, just a little confusion. We're
23 straightened out now.
24 The amendment is at the desk, the
25 reading is waived, and you're recognized to
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1 explain the amendment.
2 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 This amendment would request
5 $2 million for the Cancer Services Program,
6 which is housed in the Bureau of Chronic
7 Disease Services. And it would expand local
8 screening services and education programs
9 pending the FDA approval of a known cervical
10 cancer vaccine.
11 Almost a year ago, scientists
12 reported the creation of the first vaccine
13 which was able to prevent cervical cancer.
14 This vaccine immunizes against a specific form
15 of a common sexually transmitted virus called
16 human papilloma virus. This particular form
17 of HPV causes half of the known cervical
18 cancers.
19 This conference proposes $2 million
20 to improve access to cancer screening and
21 public education surrounding the future FDA
22 approval of the cervical cancer vaccine.
23 Funds will be distributed by the state's
24 Cancer Services Program and the Bureau of
25 Chronic Disease Services. Community-based
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1 organizations throughout the state will then
2 be able to recruit more women for the most
3 advanced screening services as well as treat
4 younger women to prevent future infections.
5 Worldwide, cervical cancer is the
6 second most common cancer among women. In the
7 United States, there are over 13,000 cases a
8 year and 4,100 deaths. The incidence of new
9 cervical cancer indications in New York is
10 8.8 percent, and the mortality rate is
11 2.7 percent. Both rates are just above the
12 national average.
13 While cervical cancer screening is
14 just below the national average,
15 African-American and Hispanic women are
16 disproportionately affected by cervical
17 cancer. And this weekend, while meeting with
18 the NMA, the National Medical Association, it
19 is one of the primary programs on their
20 agenda.
21 And as one of my colleagues stated
22 earlier, this is Women's History Month. We
23 must begin to do something for the women of
24 the state. And while effective vaccines offer
25 the greatest hope for cervical cancer
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1 elimination, access to the most advanced and
2 appropriate screening continues to play a
3 critical role.
4 Women with limited or no health
5 insurance and women screened in free clinics
6 may not have the same access that many of us
7 do to the most advanced, FDA-approved
8 screening and prevention technologies. This
9 increased funding will ensure further access
10 to these lifesaving treatments and
11 preventative measures.
12 This is a very small investment in
13 the health of your mothers, your wives, your
14 daughters or your sisters. And I'm sure that
15 you each care about the women in your lives.
16 Thank you.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
18 amendment, those Senators in agreement please
19 signify by raising your hands.
20 I'm sorry. Senator Hannon.
21 SENATOR HANNON: Mr. President, I
22 just wanted to go on record and say that what
23 we have done in restoring hundreds of millions
24 of dollars to the healthcare budget that was
25 sent to us is to address a whole range of
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1 programs, including the early detection of
2 cancers that are very much afflicting the
3 population, such as breast cancer, cervical
4 cancer, colorectal cancer.
5 I can't support this amendment,
6 because this is merely a $2 million addition
7 to one part of the program that goes out and
8 does testing -- the Healthy Women
9 Partnership -- throughout the state.
10 It doesn't try to address any of
11 the issues mentioned, legitimately mentioned
12 by the proponent of the amendment, but which
13 need to be listed in the amendment. This is
14 just a one-line item.
15 You have to address this by saying
16 what are you going to do in Medicaid, what are
17 you going to do in Medicare, what are you
18 going to do in community clinics, what are you
19 going to do in diagnostic and treatment
20 centers, what are you going to do in regard to
21 requirements for private insurance.
22 Given all of those lacks, I don't
23 think that this approaches what we need to be
24 doing. I think what we've presented as a
25 budget does approach it in a balanced way for
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1 the health of all parts of the community of
2 New York. And for that reason, I can't
3 support this amendment.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
5 amendment, then, those Senators in agreement
6 signify by raising your hands, please.
7 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
8 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
9 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
10 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
11 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
12 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
13 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
14 Valesky.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
16 amendment is not agreed to.
17 Any other Senator wish to be heard
18 on the bill?
19 Debate is closed, then.
20 The Secretary will ring the bell.
21 Read the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
25 roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
3 Balboni, to explain his vote.
4 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 No, we can talk too, it's okay. We
7 can do this.
8 In this bill for the first time is
9 an appropriation to prepare Long Island for
10 the eventuality of a hurricane. As we all
11 saw, with the Katrina report from the White
12 House and from Congress, the devastation
13 wrought by a natural disaster. And we've
14 received new information that we are entering
15 into a new phase of climate change. And there
16 are experts, meteorologists who say that
17 again, like so many things in this world,
18 unfortunately it's not a matter of if, it's a
19 matter of when.
20 So $5 million, and it's a match
21 program with the counties. It's the first
22 time we've added this kind of money to ensure
23 that we have shelters for the 2.7 million
24 people who live on the island.
25 With that, I'm going to be voting
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1 yes on this bill. Thank you, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
3 Balboni will be recorded in the affirmative.
4 Senator Montgomery, to explain her
5 vote.
6 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Mr.
7 President. I note in this legislation there
8 is no increase in the funding for school-based
9 health clinics.
10 And I think that we all in this
11 room, on both sides of the aisle, agree that
12 school-based health clinics are important to
13 the young people in this state. So why we
14 resist and we continue to overlook the need
15 and our commitment, based on putting
16 additional funds there, really baffles me.
17 I'm not going to vote against this
18 bill, but I certainly hope that the chair of
19 Finance in our house, the ranking member on
20 Finance -- Senator Breslin, on our side -- and
21 Senator Bruno, and the people in the Assembly,
22 I do hope that we had all come away from that
23 table with additional funds for school-based
24 health clinics.
25 Thank you, Mr. President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
2 Montgomery will be recorded in the
3 affirmative.
4 Could we see the negatives on the
5 bill again, please.
6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
7 the negative on Calendar Number 496 are
8 Senators Andrews, Connor, Coppola, Dilan,
9 Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Parker, Paterson,
10 Sabini, Savino, A. Smith, Stachowski, and
11 Stavisky. Also Senator Breslin.
12 Those Senators absent from voting:
13 Senator Wright.
14 Ayes, 43. Nays, 15.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
16 is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 497, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6455B,
19 an act making appropriations for the support
20 of government: Transportation, Economic
21 Development and Environmental Conservation
22 Budget.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
24 Malcolm Smith.
25 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank
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1 you, Mr. President.
2 I believe there is an amendment at
3 the desk. I ask that its reading be waived so
4 I can speak on the amendment.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
6 reading is waived, and you're recognized to
7 speak on the amendment, Senator.
8 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank
9 you, Mr. President.
10 One of my colleagues, Senator Liz
11 Krueger, just acknowledged the book "The World
12 Is Flat," by Thomas Friedman. And, Mr.
13 President, it is my belief, and given the fact
14 if the world is truly flat, obviously the
15 State of New York is flat also.
16 And that being the case, we have an
17 obligation not only to reform our government,
18 but we also have an obligation to reinvent
19 programs and practices that exist currently so
20 that our particular government here in the
21 State of New York can operate more
22 efficiently, more effectively, and be able to
23 produce the kind of services that the
24 individuals of this state deserve.
25 This particular amendment that I am
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1 putting forward is an amendment that deals
2 with a situation that is as critical to the
3 citizens of this state as is the educational
4 funding concern that we have. It deals with a
5 bill or an amendment that requires
6 $750 million, $650 million of which would come
7 out of the surplus and $100 million which
8 would come out of the recording mortgage tax
9 surplus that currently exists.
10 There are two programs that are in
11 this amendment, both of which will deal with
12 two different portions of the housing
13 requirement that we have. The first would be
14 an affordable workforce rental development
15 program. That is affordable workforce rental
16 development program. It would cost us about
17 $250 million.
18 The first year would produce a
19 thousand units of rental housing. That
20 thousand units of rental housing would allow
21 for 800 units to be provided for those who are
22 80 percent of the area median income. The 200
23 remaining units would go to those who are
24 20 percent of the area median income. Fifty
25 million dollars the second year would come out
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1 of the mortgage recording tax surplus. And in
2 10 years we believe, Mr. President, that we
3 will be able to produce 3,250 units of rental
4 housing.
5 It is clear to us, Mr. President,
6 that affordable housing is something that is
7 critical to many people in this house. And
8 this particular program, the affordable
9 workforce rental development program, would
10 yield a thousand units in that first year,
11 3,200 units, roughly, 10 years thereout.
12 The other good part of this
13 program, Mr. President, is that it would be
14 run by a nonprofit agency falling under the
15 auspices of DHCR.
16 But the real critical part of this
17 program, Mr. President, is the rental income
18 we could then turn into a revolving loan that
19 would be pledged for security to finance the
20 future development of rental housing.
21 So essentially, Mr. President,
22 there would be no need to continue funding
23 this program out into the future, because the
24 income from the rent from that first year
25 would be enough to finance the future
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1 development of rental housing.
2 The second program, which is called
3 the below-tax-rate mortgage program, is a very
4 exciting program as well. This particular
5 program, the below-tax-exempt-rate mortgage
6 program, is a program again reinventing
7 government, being creative, trying to make
8 government more efficient. It will provide
9 3,000 new homes, Mr. President, 3,000 new
10 homes that will be able to be available for
11 those individuals who are in need of homes.
12 Now, the beauty of this program,
13 Mr. President, is that it also, given that the
14 State of New York is flat, it deals with
15 homeowners from Western New York to Nassau
16 County, New York City in between. The
17 mortgages that we'd be able to provide under
18 this program range from $150,000 to $350,000.
19 It would be a program where the
20 interest rate for these mortgages would be
21 half of that of a 30-year tax-exempt rate that
22 exists right now. We have about 4.5 now, so
23 you're talking about 2.5. In addition to
24 that, you would have an interest-free mortgage
25 of about $40,000 which would go to the
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1 particular homeowner, or 15 percent of that
2 particular mortgage, whichever is less.
3 It is a program again, Mr.
4 President, that requires no more than
5 $500 million, which would be used for that
6 first year. And again, the proceeds of that
7 mortgage would be used to finance future new
8 homes into the future. And it would just
9 continue in a revolving state such that this
10 particular program would go out into 10 years
11 and produce 15,000 new homes within a 10-year
12 period.
13 We are excited about both of these
14 programs, Mr. President, because, again, one
15 of the things that is important to this state
16 is that we have to utilize our support
17 services as well as our funding in a much more
18 efficient manner. Both of these programs only
19 require the one-shot that we so often do in
20 this particular body, and they will
21 self-finance themselves out into the 10 years.
22 That's 3,000 units, roughly, of rental
23 development, and then also 15,000 new homes
24 10 years thereout.
25 I also would like to bring to your
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1 attention an article that was in The New York
2 Times on Sunday which supports the notion for
3 both of these programs. It was an op-ed in
4 The New York Times that talks about mortgages,
5 mortgaging New York's future. And it simply
6 states: "First, the new governor should amend
7 the state's real estate transfer tax law so
8 that it dedicates equal portions of these tax
9 revenues -- expected to be $930 million in
10 2006 fiscal year, $800 million in 2007, and
11 $750 million annually in the next two fiscal
12 years -- toward affordable housing development
13 and to environmental purposes." Currently,
14 the law only requires that that money be used
15 toward environmental purposes.
16 It is clear, Mr. President, that if
17 we decide to adopt this amendment -- and I'm
18 hoping that all my colleagues understand the
19 value that these particular programs create on
20 out into the future, the 3,200 workforce
21 development rental apartments as well as
22 15,000 new homes -- it is critical that this
23 particular program, these programs will make a
24 serious, significant dent in the housing need
25 that we have.
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1 Mr. President, I am asking all my
2 colleagues to support this amendment. In
3 addition, in closing, I do want to thank my
4 Senate Finance staff, Ahmed Diomande, for
5 their work, Frank Rooney also, for his work,
6 and their very creative thinking in terms of
7 how we use the financial surplus that we have
8 today to not only create a good program, but
9 to leverage itself out into the future such
10 that we do not need any money coming from the
11 state anymore other than to recycle the money
12 that we're asking for this program.
13 I ask that you have my colleagues
14 support us on this, as well as bringing in
15 some of your colleagues as well, because this
16 is one program that is a bipartisan program
17 that needs the support of everybody in this
18 chamber.
19 Thank you, Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
21 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify
22 by raising your hands.
23 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
24 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
25 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
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1 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato,
2 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
3 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith,
4 M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
6 amendment is not agreed to.
7 Senator Breslin.
8 SENATOR BRESLIN: Mr. President,
9 I believe I have an amendment at the desk. I
10 would ask that reading be waived and I be
11 heard on that amendment.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
13 reading is waived, and you're recognized on
14 the amendment, Senator Breslin.
15 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you, Mr.
16 President.
17 This amendment deals with making a
18 tech-space initiative. Now, I'm from Albany,
19 and we have Albany Nanotechnology, which is a
20 kind of nice model to look at, where we look
21 to small businesses, particularly in the
22 upstate sector, where we're really hurting for
23 jobs, to provide a helping hand for those new
24 incubator-type projects, to give them space,
25 to give them advice.
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1 We have the first and third largest
2 universities in this country. Those
3 universities could be actively involved in a
4 synergistic way with these new startup
5 companies.
6 You know, we have so much venture
7 capital from the private sector in New York
8 State that a lot of times we don't get to the
9 use of that private-sector capital because the
10 idea, the concept, the follow-through with
11 that incubator level never reaches the private
12 investor.
13 If we took $19 million and used
14 that across this state to develop that small
15 company, the RPI person who comes up with an
16 idea, who wants to turn it into a project,
17 turn it into a new scientific development that
18 can be marketed which will assist in the
19 upstate economy.
20 So I ask you for $19 million to
21 have this, that will help the economy
22 throughout the State of New York, but in
23 particular to the very, very distressed areas
24 in upstate New York.
25 Thank you, Mr. President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
2 amendment, those Senators in agreement please
3 signify by raising your hand.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
6 Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein,
7 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato,
8 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
9 Sampson, Savino, A. Smith, M. Smith,
10 Stachowski, Stavisky, Valesky, and Senator
11 Connor. Also Senator Schneiderman.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
13 amendment is not agreed to.
14 Senator Liz Krueger.
15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 I believe I also have an amendment
18 at the desk. I would like to waive reading
19 and speak on the amendment.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
21 amendment is waived. You're recognized to
22 speak on the amendment.
23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
24 So part of this bill deals with the
25 question of funding for housing in the state
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1 of New York. And as my colleague Senator
2 Malcolm Smith already very articulately
3 spelled out in his presentation for some of
4 his proposals in his amendments, we are
5 desperate to address the problem of protecting
6 the affordable housing we still have remaining
7 in this state, which shrinks day by day.
8 Between the year 2000 and 2004, the
9 New York State adjusted gross income of
10 lower-middle and low-income persons -- that
11 is, persons earning between 80 percent and 50
12 percent of the New York State median adjusted
13 gross income -- decreased by roughly
14 7.4 percent.
15 Mitchell-Lama housing, one of the
16 most successful models of affordable housing
17 for working people and low-income people in
18 the state of New York, has been suffering from
19 exactly these same scenarios. Since 1999,
20 despite the fact that median income has not
21 kept up with the cost of housing, New York
22 State has made no new appropriations to the
23 Mitchell-Lama Housing Repair Fund Program.
24 These are complexes throughout the state of
25 New York that were built approximately 30 to
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1 40 years ago at this point in time. They
2 desperately need repairs and upkeep to ensure
3 that they continue to be a supply of
4 affordable housing in the city of New York.
5 Many of them are in desperate need of major
6 rehabilitation.
7 We are proposing that we increase
8 the housing project repair fund, which was
9 created in 1980 to provide a mechanism for
10 treating construction-related deficiencies in
11 Mitchell-Lama projects, when many so
12 desperately need this. The repair situation
13 is precarious, and the longer we wait to
14 invest money in the repair of Mitchell-Lama
15 projects through the housing project repair
16 fund, the more increased the costs will be for
17 us down the line, the increase in the number
18 of units that will come out of the supply of
19 affordable housing in the state of New York.
20 I urge my colleagues to support
21 this amendment to provide additional funding
22 for the repair of Mitchell-Lama apartment
23 complexes throughout the state.
24 Thank you, Mr. President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
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1 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify
2 by raising your hands.
3 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
4 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
5 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
6 Klein, L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery,
7 Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson,
8 Sabini, Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman,
9 A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and
10 Valesky.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
12 amendment is not agreed to.
13 Senator Balboni.
14 SENATOR BALBONI: Yes, Mr.
15 President, on the bill itself.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
17 Balboni, on the bill.
18 SENATOR BALBONI: This
19 transportation bill has a Section L in it, and
20 for the last two years in the Governor's
21 budget submission there has been language that
22 indicated the desire of the state to enter
23 into private/public partnerships for the sale
24 or operation of certain assets.
25 One of the assets not specifically
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1 mentioned in the budget proposal but that is
2 out there in terms of a possible asset to be
3 sold is the Tappan Zee Bridge. And for those
4 folks who live in Rockland County -- Senator
5 Morahan, in particular -- and Westchester,
6 this is of great concern.
7 But moreover, if you talk to
8 security experts, they will tell that you the
9 Tappan Zee Bridge is one of the key assets in
10 this state for security.
11 So why do I rise? Because in the
12 language that the Governor submitted, there
13 was a reference to the ability of a foreign
14 country to come in and purchase an asset of
15 the state. Sound familiar? The Dubai Port
16 deal. We have our own little Dubai Port deal.
17 And what this raises is the need
18 that if we're going to scrutinize foreign
19 countries when they come in and try to
20 purchase national assets, we should certainly
21 set up a process by which we will scrutinize
22 countries that want to purchase a state asset,
23 particularly one as important as the Tappan
24 Zee Bridge.
25 So as we go forward in this budget
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1 cycle and we have these negotiations, I'm
2 going to urge all of us to urge that any
3 language that authorizes the creation of a
4 private/public partnership include a security
5 vetting process, so that if a foreign country
6 wishes to come in and take over a major,
7 crucial asset that we have the same type of
8 guarantees that there are no links to
9 terrorism as they would to a federal asset.
10 I've been on the phone for a good
11 part of this afternoon with Commissioner Tom
12 Madison of the Department of Transportation.
13 He agrees with this approach. And frankly, we
14 didn't really consider this as a problem until
15 the Dubai Ports World issue that exploded over
16 the last couple of weeks with the port came to
17 light.
18 So, Mr. President, I intend to
19 support this legislation but urge all of us as
20 we go forward in the negotiations that we urge
21 and demand this language to make sure that we
22 have the security background checks for any
23 country that would want to do business in
24 New York State.
25 Thank you, Mr. President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any
2 other Senator wish to be heard?
3 Senator Liz Krueger.
4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 If the sponsor would please yield
7 for a question or two.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
9 Johnson, do you yield to a question from
10 Senator Krueger?
11 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr.
12 President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
14 sponsor yields.
15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
16 A section of this bill -- I'm
17 sorry, I don't have the numbering -- is on the
18 Empire State Development Corporation. And in
19 the Governor's original proposed budget for
20 capital projects through ESDC he made
21 appropriations totaling $505 million which he
22 broke down into subgroups.
23 And in this bill today, those line
24 items have been removed and replaced instead
25 by three lump-sum appropriations with no
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1 detail provided of how this $505 million is
2 going to be spent beyond a very broad set of
3 categories: $185.5 million for economic
4 development, $141.5 million for university
5 development projects, and $128 million for
6 arts and cultural facility improvement
7 projects.
8 My question is, what is the
9 intention of the use of these funds put in the
10 budget this way? And how would appropriations
11 be decided about these funds under the plan of
12 the Senate?
13 SENATOR JOHNSON: That money will
14 be subject to negotiation between both houses
15 and the Governor.
16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr.
17 President, if the sponsor would continue to
18 yield.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
20 Johnson, do you yield?
21 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
23 sponsor yields.
24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
25 Would these negotiations take place
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1 in the form of a memorandum of understanding
2 between Senator Bruno, Speaker Silver, and
3 Governor Pataki at some point in the future?
4 SENATOR JOHNSON: Not
5 necessarily. It may be -- the items may be
6 all lined out in the final budget.
7 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
8 Mr. President, if, through you, the sponsor
9 would continue to yield.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
11 Johnson, do you continue to yield?
12 The sponsor yields.
13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
14 In this budget bill the Senate also
15 creates an additional $475 million lump-sum
16 appropriation, does not disclose what it is
17 for, only that it shall be for economic
18 development, university development, arts and
19 cultural facility projects, the same language
20 as it is applied to the $505 million.
21 What is the intention of the Senate
22 in proposing a further $475 million lump-sum
23 appropriation for the same undescribed
24 categories?
25 SENATOR JOHNSON: Senator, this
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1 is part of the problem originating from the
2 court decision which essentially said we
3 cannot change any of the Governor's figures or
4 language.
5 So we had to take the item out
6 completely, and we will put it back in the way
7 we believe, as a legislature, it should be.
8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr.
9 President, if, through you, the sponsor would
10 continue to yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
12 Johnson, do you yield?
13 The sponsor yields.
14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: So,
15 Senator, if I understand your last answer,
16 that applies to the $505 million that in your
17 proposal today you are changing the definition
18 of how that $505 million might be spent. But
19 my second question was on a new $475 million.
20 Are you suggesting you took another
21 $475 million somewhere else out of the
22 Governor's budget and replaced it with this?
23 Or is this a new, additional $475 million?
24 SENATOR JOHNSON: Well, we did
25 add some money to the Governor's budget. And
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1 that will also be appropriated in the same
2 manner as the $505 million which you talked
3 about.
4 So you're going to have to play a
5 role in this, Senator. And all your
6 colleagues will play a role in how this money
7 is ultimately apportioned.
8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: If, through
9 you, Mr. President, the sponsor would continue
10 to yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
12 Johnson, do you yield?
13 SENATOR JOHNSON: Oh, yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
15 sponsor yields.
16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
17 How would I play that role, sir?
18 SENATOR JOHNSON: I beg your
19 pardon?
20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: How would I
21 play a role? What role would I play in the
22 ultimate appropriations of approximately a
23 billion dollars of money just lump-summed into
24 the budget? What role would I play?
25 SENATOR JOHNSON: These will be
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1 handled in the committees established between
2 both houses to reconcile the budget items.
3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: If, through
4 you, Mr. President, the sponsor could continue
5 to yield, please.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
7 Johnson, do you continue to yield?
8 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
10 sponsor yields.
11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: So it's my
12 understanding, Senator, that you're proposing
13 then, when we get to budget conference
14 committees, these just short of a billion
15 dollars in funds will be line-itemed out
16 before we move forward with a two-house
17 proposal?
18 SENATOR JOHNSON: I didn't get
19 the last two words of your --
20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm sorry.
21 If I might repeat my question, Mr. President,
22 through you.
23 I was asking the sponsor if you are
24 answering my previous question by saying when
25 we get to budget conference committees between
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1 the two houses and we ultimately get to a
2 point in time where both houses submit same-as
3 budget bills, this approximately billion
4 dollars in Empire State Development
5 Corporation capital money will actually be
6 line-itemed for specific purposes?
7 SENATOR JOHNSON: That's my
8 expectation, yes.
9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: That is
10 your expectation. Thank you.
11 If, through you, Mr. President, the
12 sponsor would yield for an additional
13 question.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
15 Johnson, do you yield?
16 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes. Yes. I
17 was waiting for the question.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
19 sponsor yields.
20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
21 In the same section of the budget
22 bill, you further -- not you, but the Senate
23 further proposes to reduce the renewable
24 energy project appropriation of the Governor
25 that was $30 million. You propose to reduce
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1 it by $15 million and then shift $15 million
2 to an International Nanotechnology
3 Photovoltaic Center.
4 What happens when we reduce our
5 renewable energy project monies by half?
6 SENATOR JOHNSON: The money which
7 we removed from the budget did not address any
8 specific programs, and therefore we removed
9 it.
10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
11 Mr. President, on the bill.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
13 Liz Krueger, on the bill.
14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
15 It's a complex bill. It covers
16 endless numbers of agencies. And I would
17 argue that we have not done justice to it here
18 tonight, despite quite a bit of discussion and
19 several amendments.
20 I am, as I think I have shown in my
21 questioning of the sponsor, very concerned
22 about the continued, in my opinion, abuse of
23 our budget authority by lump-summing hundreds
24 of millions of dollars of the people's money
25 into nondefinable categories that then move
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1 through an off-budget authority, the Empire
2 State Development Corporation, often through
3 memorandums of understanding that the public
4 cannot get access to, rarely having an
5 opportunity to see what those dollars will
6 actually be spent for until years after they
7 are spent.
8 So I have to say that I think that
9 the Senate is going down the completely wrong
10 road by taking some of the Governor's
11 proposals, which I might have had problems
12 with in their own right, lump-summing them
13 rather than line-iteming them, adding almost
14 the equivalent doubling of the money with no
15 explanation.
16 This is absolutely counterintuitive
17 to the concept of a clean, clear, transparent
18 budget process. We should not be taking the
19 people's money and lump-summing it as if it is
20 simply piggy-bank money for someone to divvy
21 up at a later date. We owe it to the people
22 of New York State to explain to them how we
23 collect their tax revenue, how we spend their
24 tax revenue. I think this budget bill is an
25 exceptionally good example of what's wrong
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1 with the budget process and how we conclude
2 our business here in the Legislature.
3 So for the reasons I've raised
4 tonight, in addition to a number of other
5 concerns specifically around the Environmental
6 Conservation Fund section of this budget bill,
7 I will be voting against this bill and urge my
8 colleagues to do so.
9 Thank you, Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Any
11 other Senator wish to be heard on the bill?
12 Debate is closed, then.
13 The Secretary will ring the bell.
14 Read the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
18 roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
21 the negative on Calendar Number 497 are
22 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Coppola,
23 Dilan, Duane, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato,
24 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino,
25 Schneiderman, A. Smith, and Stavisky. Also
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1 Senator Diaz.
2 Those Senators absent from voting:
3 Senator Wright.
4 Ayes, 40. Nays, 18.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
6 is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 498, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6456B,
9 an act to amend the General Municipal Law and
10 others.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
12 last section.
13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
14 Explanation.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
16 Johnson, Senator Schneiderman has requested an
17 explanation.
18 SENATOR JOHNSON: This bill is
19 the language bill for the bill which we just
20 adopted.
21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: For the
22 Public Protection?
23 SENATOR JOHNSON: Public
24 Protection, yes.
25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
2 Johnson.
3 SENATOR JOHNSON: The bill number
4 which this effectuates is 6450B, the first
5 bill, the budget bill for Public Protection
6 and General Government Budget.
7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
9 last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
13 roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
16 the negative on Calendar Number 498 are
17 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Diaz, Dilan, Duane,
18 L. Krueger, Montgomery, Parker, Sabini,
19 Savino, Schneiderman, and A. Smith.
20 Those Senators absent from voting:
21 Senator Wright.
22 Ayes, 46. Nays, 12.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 499, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6457B,
2 an act to amend the Social Services Law and
3 others.
4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
5 Explanation.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
7 Johnson, an explanation has been requested.
8 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is the
9 Article VII bill for public health, the bill
10 number which we already passed, 6454B.
11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
13 last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 15. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
17 roll.
18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
19 the negative on Calendar Number 499 are
20 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Coppola,
21 Diaz, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger,
22 Montgomery, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino,
23 Schneiderman, A. Smith, and Stavisky.
24 Those Senators absent from voting:
25 Senator Wright.
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1 Ayes, 41. Nays, 17.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 500, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6458B,
6 an act to amend the Education Law.
7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
8 Explanation.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
10 Johnson, Senator Schneiderman has requested an
11 explanation.
12 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is the
13 Article VII bill for education, labor and
14 family services. It includes the Board of
15 Trustees of SUNY and so on. The 6453B is the
16 companion bill.
17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
19 last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
23 roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
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1 the negative on Calendar Number 500 are
2 Senators Breslin, Connor, Diaz, Dilan, Duane,
3 Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato,
4 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino,
5 Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith, and
6 Stavisky. Also Senator Andrews.
7 Those Senators absent from voting:
8 Senator Wright.
9 Ayes, 39. Nays, 19.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
11 is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 501, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6459B,
14 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
15 Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
17 Stachowski.
18 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr.
19 President, I believe I have an amendment at
20 the desk. I'd like to waive reading of the
21 amendment and be heard on it.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
23 reading is waived, and you're recognized to
24 speak on the amendment.
25 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Mr.
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1 President, this amendment proposes that the
2 state withhold 15 percent of all benefits, tax
3 benefits provided to eligible businesses under
4 the Empire Development Zones until this next
5 tax year.
6 The reason for this would be to
7 make sure that that company fulfilled their
8 obligations in the contract they made with the
9 state. The Empire Zone then, if they
10 fulfilled the contract in the following tax
11 year, would deliver the other 15 percent of
12 the benefits.
13 Now, that make seem like a strange
14 proposal to some, but we have examples. Two
15 years ago, when the Comptroller did an audit
16 on Empire Zones, he found that in one case a
17 company created one job for $26,000 and
18 received a tax credit of more than $50,000.
19 In another example in another area, a company
20 added one $10,000-a-year position and received
21 a tax credit of $137,000.
22 So in essence, this is a --
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Excuse
24 me, Senator Stachowski.
25 Can we have some order in the
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1 chamber, please. There's a member who has the
2 next door.
3 Senator Stachowski.
4 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 In essence, this is a good
7 government bill. We only have so many tax
8 credits to give out and so many areas with
9 Empire Zones. And so what we would be doing
10 here is safeguarding our investment to make
11 sure that these companies that take advantage
12 of these tax credits create the jobs that they
13 say they're going to create. It does us no
14 good to give companies huge tax benefits and
15 they in return don't create any new jobs or
16 not enough jobs or not even come close to the
17 commitment that they promised to the State of
18 New York.
19 So because of those reasons, I
20 would hope that all my colleagues would
21 support this amendment.
22 Thank you, Mr. President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
24 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify
25 by raising your hand.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
2 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
3 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein,
4 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato,
5 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
6 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, M. Smith,
7 Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
9 amendment is not agreed to.
10 Read the last section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
14 roll.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
17 Liz Krueger, to explain her vote.
18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 I'll be voting no on this bill,
21 again for a number of reasons. But just to
22 rearticulate and expand on my concerns from
23 the discussion about the Empire State
24 Development Corporation capital funds.
25 A section of this bill, Part W,
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1 allows the State of New York bonding
2 authorization for the $980 million for ESDC
3 off-budget programs that we have no details
4 about. Which translates to me, to my
5 understanding, that the people of the State of
6 New York over time would be paying far more
7 than $980 million, almost a billion dollars
8 for unexplained programs potentially through
9 MOUs that they will never learn how that money
10 is spent.
11 So again, I'll vote no. And I
12 again emphasize we're handling this situation
13 wrong.
14 Thank you, Mr. President.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
16 Liz Krueger will be recorded in the negative.
17 Announce the results.
18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
19 the negative on Calendar Number 501 are
20 Senator Andrews, Breslin, Diaz, Duane,
21 Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Onorato,
22 Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Savino,
23 Schneiderman, A. Smith, and Stavisky.
24 Those Senators absent from voting:
25 Senator Wright.
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1 Ayes, 43. Nays, 15.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
3 is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 502, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6460B,
6 an act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
8 Valesky.
9 SENATOR VALESKY: Mr. President,
10 I believe there is an amendment at the desk.
11 I ask that the reading of the amendment be
12 waived and that I be heard on the amendment.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
14 reading is waived, and you're recognized on
15 the amendment.
16 SENATOR VALESKY: Thank you, Mr.
17 President.
18 The Legislature in 1977 enacted the
19 real property tax credit circuit-breaker to
20 allow for low-income New Yorkers to take a
21 credit against their personal income taxes for
22 property taxes paid.
23 The bill before us actually does a
24 number of positive things to address and
25 provide a greater benefit in terms of property
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1 taxes for low-income New Yorkers. It raises
2 the household income minimum threshold from
3 $18,000 to $36,000. The bill before us raises
4 the value of a house from $85,000 to $100,000,
5 but it does not address the actual tax credit
6 itself.
7 And so the amendment that is before
8 the house at this time would increase the
9 maximum credit amount for senior citizens from
10 the current statute of $375 to a total of
11 $1,125 and would increase the maximum credit
12 amount for all others from $75 to $225.
13 Mr. President, I encourage my
14 colleagues to support this amendment and
15 enhance this legislation in terms of property
16 tax breaks for low-income New Yorkers.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
18 Diaz.
19 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Mr.
20 President.
21 I stand to support and commend
22 Senator Valesky for this amendment. When
23 anyone looks out for the low-income
24 New Yorkers and senior citizens, they earn my
25 admiration. And, Senator Valesky, I commend
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1 you for introducing this amendment.
2 This amendment provides a
3 long-overdue tax cut to senior citizens. This
4 proposal will greatly expand all aspects of
5 this credit by increasing the maximum credit
6 amount for senior citizens from $375 to
7 $1,125. Low-income New Yorkers, particularly
8 senior citizens living on fixed incomes, have
9 borne the fiscal brunt of skyrocketing
10 Medicaid costs over the last 10 years.
11 Double-digit property tax increases, year
12 after year, are incorporated in the rent paid
13 by low-income tenants.
14 The abuses and lack of
15 consideration to our senior citizens have to
16 come to an end. Senior citizens have given
17 too much toward the development of our city,
18 and now it's about time for us not only to
19 respect them but also to do everything
20 possible for them to have good services
21 instead of more burdens in their life.
22 As I said before, not long ago, in
23 order to save $1 million, the New York City
24 administration and the New York City
25 Department for the Aging took away the daily
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1 hot meals that senior citizens used to enjoy
2 in the County of the Bronx and forced them to
3 eat frozen meals. Now the same city
4 administration and the same Department for the
5 Aging of the City of New York, one more time,
6 at this very moment they are proposing to put
7 another burden on senior citizens and the
8 residents of the New York City Housing
9 Authority.
10 It is well known to everyone that
11 senior citizens right now have to decide how
12 to spend their limited incomes between rent,
13 their utility bills, paying for their
14 medicine, or buying something to eat. To add
15 to the burden that our senior citizens are
16 carrying, the mayor of the City of New York
17 and the New York City Department for the Aging
18 now want them, the senior citizens, to pay --
19 among other things, ladies and gentlemen,
20 those residents in the New York City Housing
21 Authority, for a toilet paper holder, for a
22 toilet paper holder, they want senior citizens
23 to pay $13.66. For a toilet seat, they want
24 senior citizens to pay $21.46.
25 For a clothes pole, a pole to hang
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1 the clothes, they want our senior citizens and
2 the residents of the New York City Housing
3 Authority to pay $23.25. For a door cylinder,
4 they are asking our senior citizens and the
5 New York City Housing authority residents,
6 they are asking, for a door cylinder, to pay
7 $47.25.
8 For a key duplicate, if they have
9 to duplicate a key, they want them to pay
10 $14.85. For the door hinges, they want senior
11 citizens to pay $15.51.
12 If a senior citizen or any other
13 New York City resident by accident drops their
14 key into the elevator shaft or the compacter,
15 they will be charged $50 for retrieval of
16 those keys.
17 If a senior citizen or any other
18 New York City Housing Authority resident for
19 any reason is locked out, he or she will be
20 charged $50 if the New York City Housing
21 Authority has to come and open the door for
22 them.
23 If a radiator valve or radiator
24 handle has to be replaced, the senior citizens
25 or the New York City Housing Authority will be
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1 charged $89.26 for the valve and $18.46 for
2 the handle.
3 I am here in support of this
4 amendment and support and commend, as I said
5 before, Senator Valesky. Because our senior
6 citizens are giving, have given too much to
7 our city, to our state. So even though,
8 Senator Valesky, this is an amendment that
9 will help every low-income resident in the
10 State of New York, this is something that is
11 greatly welcome in New York City, especially
12 for the residents and the senior citizens in
13 the district that I represent. So I support
14 you, I commend you, and people should be proud
15 of people like you that support the senior
16 citizens and to do everything possible to
17 protect our senior citizens.
18 So, ladies and gentlemen, I urge
19 all of you to support this amendment. It's a
20 good amendment that will protect our senior
21 citizens and the low-income residents
22 especially in New York City.
23 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
25 amendment, those Senators in agreement signify
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1 by raising your hand.
2 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
3 agreement are Senator Andrews, Breslin,
4 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein,
5 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato,
6 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
7 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith,
8 M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
10 amendment is not agreed to.
11 Senator Parker.
12 SENATOR PARKER: Yes, Mr.
13 President, I believe you have an amendment at
14 the desk.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: There
16 is.
17 SENATOR PARKER: I ask that
18 reading of the amendment be waived and I be
19 heard on said amendment.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
21 reading is waived, and you're recognized to
22 speak on the amendment, Senator.
23 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you very
24 much, Mr. President.
25 Some of you may remember about a
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1 month or so ago we had a very vigorous
2 discussion in this house about the taxes
3 regarding fuel costs. As everyone knows, the
4 prices have spiked, and it's been -- you know,
5 on fuel costs, and it's been particularly hard
6 on people, particularly low-income folks,
7 people with jobs who have to also drive a lot.
8 These folks are put in the position where they
9 have to spend a greater portion of their
10 incomes on fuel and really leave less money
11 for them to spend on the essentials.
12 My amendment goes a little further
13 than Senate Bill 6460B, Part O, which would
14 exempt the price of a gallon of gas in excess
15 of $2 from the state sales and use tax. This
16 amendment, if passed, would really guarantee
17 that all money collected from the exemption be
18 returned to the taxpayer directly.
19 One of the arguments that I made
20 that last time that S6460B came up was in fact
21 we had no mechanism to ensure that the tax
22 savings that we were passing on were going to
23 get passed on further to the consumer, that in
24 fact there's not -- we agreed that there's not
25 enough enforcement, not enough monitoring to
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1 make that happen.
2 This bill in fact adds those
3 components to make sure -- and actually
4 creates a mechanism such that those dollars,
5 Mr. President, go directly to the taxpayers
6 themselves.
7 Additionally, the increased retail
8 price of motor fuel oil and diesel oil has
9 created a windfall. And this windfall of
10 about approximately $200 million, you know, if
11 we're going to give it back, we should make
12 sure it goes directly back to the taxpayers
13 themselves.
14 I'm asking that my colleagues vote
15 for this amendment because this amendment not
16 only continues to do what this house tried to
17 do a while ago, but in fact takes us a step
18 further of really making sure that the
19 taxpayers who are paying the extra money into
20 this windfall get their dollars back and
21 they're not captured by these different oil
22 conglomerates that we can't trust.
23 And so I ask you today to vote for
24 this amendment and make sure that taxpayers
25 get back, you know, get back the money that
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1 they've worked so hard for and help them to
2 ease their financial burdens.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On the
4 amendment, those Senators in agreement raise
5 your hand.
6 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
7 agreement are Senators Breslin, Coppola,
8 Duane, Gonzalez, Klein, L. Krueger,
9 Montgomery, Onorato, Oppenheimer, Parker,
10 Paterson, Sabini, Sampson, Savino,
11 Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith, Stachowski,
12 Stavisky, and Valesky. Also Senator Andrews.
13 Also Senator Connor. Also Senator Diaz.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
15 amendment is not agreed to.
16 Senator Liz Krueger, on the bill.
17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 Well, we've had our amendments, but
20 I'd like to remind everyone that this is a tax
21 and revenue bill. And while everybody says
22 they like to lower taxes, I need everyone to
23 remember that with this bill, if you project
24 out into the full implementation, we're
25 talking about over $8 billion in annualized
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1 tax cuts in this bill.
2 And everybody likes to say let's
3 reduce taxes, but you then have to ask the
4 hard questions: What aren't you spending the
5 money on?
6 So when played out over the years,
7 this bill would reduce taxes that are
8 currently spent to fund public education by
9 the tune of about $2.6 billion. So when we
10 earlier said you can't do better than
11 $1.1 billion, remember, this is the same house
12 that now seems to want to vote to cut taxes
13 that would go currently into education by
14 $2.6 billion.
15 And in this bill it reduces, over
16 time, taxes in personal income taxes by
17 $1.23 billion. And people love to reduce PIT,
18 except you have to ask the question about
19 who's getting their taxes cut.
20 So this interesting education tax
21 credit that people are bouncing around in both
22 houses would translate to about $100 a year
23 for low-income New Yorkers, the New Yorkers we
24 argue need the most help in ensuring that
25 their children get the education they need.
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1 So if your income is under $17,000 a year,
2 you're only going to get about a hundred
3 dollars in this tax credit but the State of
4 New York going to lose $420 million.
5 And we like to cut -- well,
6 actually, we're a little confused on whether
7 we're raising user taxes and fees or reducing
8 them. Usually we do both them in the same
9 budget in the same year. But let's
10 objectively look at who would be getting tax
11 deductions versus tax increases through fees
12 in the actual proposed budget versus this
13 bill.
14 I would argue, if a fair analysis
15 was done about the proposed new fees and
16 increased taxes compared to the proposed
17 reductions in this bill today, you would find
18 that, yes, a select subgroup of New Yorkers --
19 again, not in a progressive model, but in a
20 regressive model of taxation -- would see
21 their taxes cut.
22 We also cut corporate taxes in
23 New York State in this bill. Some would
24 wonder if there are any corporations of
25 certain sizes paying any taxes in New York,
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1 given how much we've reduced the tax rate for
2 corporate New York. So I have to question why
3 we're proposing over $600 million in
4 specialized tax breaks for corporate New York
5 at this point in time.
6 We also are proposing corporate
7 reductions in a number of what we call small
8 business categories. Well, part of the
9 dilemma there is what's a small business and
10 where are you. One of the small business STAR
11 rebate programs would only be for small
12 businesses in locations that pay school taxes.
13 So for the record, if you're a small business
14 in New York City, this isn't going to do
15 anything for you. So don't misunderstand what
16 this bill does when it talks a good game about
17 helping the small businessperson.
18 In addition, this bill, when played
19 out to its final conclusion, would reduce the
20 estate and gift taxes by $850 million by 2010.
21 Those are rich people's taxes, ladies and
22 gentlemen. So let's not confuse the fact that
23 we're talking about reducing the taxes for the
24 wealthiest New Yorkers at a time when we are
25 telling middle-income and working and poor
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1 New Yorkers that the state can't be there for
2 them to help them.
3 I also want to spend just a minute
4 on the fact that within this tax reduction
5 bill is a proposal that we've seen as a
6 separate bill on this house floor before, and
7 that is a proposal to move through "freedom
8 plan" health insurance programs. And there
9 has been a lot of research done on the dangers
10 of "freedom plans." The question is who is
11 freed from what. Apparently New Yorkers are
12 freed from having insurance that covers the
13 illnesses that they may suffer from.
14 So within a tax bill is a proposal
15 to create a "freedom plan" health insurance
16 program in New York State. And I have spoken
17 against this model before, and I will do it
18 again, whether it's a freestanding bill in a
19 healthcare budget or in a tax and revenue
20 bill.
21 Freedom plans, based on national
22 studies released by Harvard University, found
23 that more than half the people filing for
24 personal bankruptcy cited medical debt as the
25 reason for their financial ruin, and the
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1 majority of these people filing bankruptcy for
2 medical debt are people who had health
3 insurance. The problem is the health
4 insurance doesn't cover their illnesses, and
5 freedom plans would eliminate mandated
6 benefits and shift medical costs to
7 individuals, exacerbating this problem.
8 The state's own external review
9 program, which gives consumers denied care by
10 their health plan the ability to appeal the
11 decision to independent medical reviewers --
12 the linchpin of this program -- would be done
13 away with under these so-called freedom plans,
14 which would exempt health insurance companies
15 from the regulations issued by the
16 superintendent with regard to covered
17 healthcare services which must currently be
18 included in the policy.
19 So it's the freedom to say no to
20 you, the beneficiary of the insurance plan,
21 when you are sick and need to have health
22 insurance.
23 The State of New York is proud of
24 the fact that we have had health insurance
25 coverage that covers you when you're sick.
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1 Many people here -- I would argue probably
2 most of us here -- have voted over time to
3 ensure that when there is health insurance in
4 New York State it covers breast cancer, it
5 covers prostate cancer, it covers off-label
6 cancer drugs, it covers women's
7 contraceptives, it covers radiation treatment.
8 Under health savings plans, there
9 is absolutely no guarantee that your health
10 insurance coverage will have to cover you when
11 you are sick.
12 So again, over and over again we
13 are told that these are good for us, and over
14 and over again the research coming out, state
15 by state, at the national level, by hospitals,
16 by healthcare analysts are showing us that
17 these programs are reducing the cost of health
18 insurance at the expense of people not having
19 access to healthcare.
20 So I urge my colleagues, think
21 about tax policy, think about who's paying and
22 who's not when we change our tax rules. Ask
23 the fundamental question, where are we going
24 in this state both with our revenue
25 projections and who is paying the tax burden
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1 for the people of New York. And please stop
2 putting healthcare policy into our tax revenue
3 bills.
4 Vote no on this bill for all the
5 reasons that I have described tonight.
6 Thank you, Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
8 last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
12 roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
15 the negative on Calendar Number 502 are
16 Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor, Diaz,
17 Duane, Gonzalez, L. Krueger, Montgomery,
18 Onorato, Padavan, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
19 Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith, and
20 Stavisky.
21 Those Senators absent from voting:
22 Senator Wright.
23 Ayes, 40. Nays, 18.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
25 is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 503, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6463, an
3 act to amend Chapter 61 of the Laws of 2005
4 relating to authorizing certain payments.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
6 Schneiderman.
7 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
8 Mr. President. On the bill.
9 I don't think we require an
10 explanation. This is just a supplemental
11 appropriation to the sound, basic education
12 aid set aside last year.
13 I will be voting in support of it.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Read the
15 last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
17 act shall take effect immediately.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Call the
19 roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
22 the negative on Calendar Number 503 are
23 Senators Duane and Parker.
24 Absent from voting, Senator Wright.
25 Ayes, 56. Nays, 2.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The bill
2 is passed.
3 Senator Skelos, that completes the
4 supplemental calendar.
5 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr.
6 President.
7 There's a Resolution 3941 at the
8 desk, by Senator Bruno. Could we have the
9 title read and move for its adoption.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
11 Secretary will read the title.
12 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno,
13 Concurrent Resolution Number 3941, adopting a
14 budget resolution proposing amendments to the
15 2006-2007 Executive Budget submission.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
17 Schneiderman.
18 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: On the
19 resolution.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
21 Schneiderman, on the resolution.
22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Mr.
23 President, I will be voting against this
24 resolution because it incorporates, by
25 reference, a report of the Senate Finance
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1 Committee which reflects a lot of the
2 provisions in the bills that were presented
3 earlier today.
4 Any of us who have voted against
5 any of the appropriation bills earlier, I
6 believe are -- I certainly feel that I am
7 constrained to vote against the resolution.
8 I also note that while it purports
9 to be a report of the Senate Finance
10 Committee, in listing the members of the
11 Finance Committee it omits all of the Minority
12 members of the Finance Committee. So I hope
13 that will be corrected.
14 I will be voting no.
15 Thank you, Mr. President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
17 Secretary will call the roll on the
18 resolution.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
21 the negative on Concurrent Resolution Number
22 3941 are Senators Andrews, Breslin, Connor,
23 Coppola, Diaz, Duane, L. Krueger, Montgomery,
24 Onorato, Parker, Paterson, Sabini, Sampson,
25 Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith, M. Smith,
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1 Stachowski, and Stavisky. Also Senator
2 Gonzalez.
3 Absent from voting, Senator Wright.
4 Ayes, 38. Nays, 20.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
6 resolution is adopted.
7 Senator Skelos.
8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
9 is there any further business at the desk?
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Yes, we
11 have a motion, Senator.
12 Senator Fuschillo.
13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Mr.
14 President, on behalf of Senator Skelos, on
15 page number 32 I offer the following
16 amendments to Calendar Number 425, Senate
17 Print Number 6817, and ask that said bill
18 retain its place on Third Reading Calendar.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
20 amendments are received and adopted, and the
21 bill will retain its place on the order of
22 third reading.
23 Senator Skelos.
24 SENATOR SKELOS: I believe
25 there's a motion to petition a bill by Senator
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1 Schneiderman.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: Senator
3 Schneiderman.
4 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Yes, thank
5 you, Mr. President, I have a motion at the
6 desk. I'd like to be heard. Very, very
7 quickly.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
9 Secretary will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print
11 1588, by Senator Schneiderman, Concurrent
12 Resolution of the Senate and Assembly.
13 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you.
14 This is a motion to bring to the
15 floor a bill that was discussed a great deal
16 when reform was in the air and on the voters'
17 minds. It would reform our redistricting
18 process to provide for an apportionment
19 committee independent of politics and require
20 that districts be in as compact a form as
21 possible.
22 This is the number-one issue of
23 good government groups. And I would hate to
24 think that reform was only an issue for us
25 when the voters were outraged about it in
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1 2004.
2 I would urge everyone to vote in
3 support of this petition and support
4 redistricting reform so that we can have
5 compact districts that preserve communities.
6 Thank you, Mr. President.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: All
8 those in favor of the canvass on the petition,
9 raise your hand.
10 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
11 agreement are Senators Andrews, Breslin,
12 Connor, Coppola, Diaz, Duane, Gonzalez, Klein,
13 L. Krueger, C. Kruger, Montgomery, Onorato,
14 Oppenheimer, Parker, Paterson, Sabini,
15 Sampson, Savino, Schneiderman, A. Smith,
16 M. Smith, Stachowski, Stavisky, and Valesky.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: The
18 petition is lost.
19 Senator Skelos.
20 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
21 there being no further business to come before
22 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until
23 Tuesday, March 14th, at 2:00 p.m.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MEIER: On
25 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
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1 Tuesday, March 14th, at 2:00 p.m.
2 (Whereupon, at 7:05 p.m., the
3 Senate adjourned.)
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