Regular Session - March 30, 2006
1751
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 March 30, 2006
11 11:14 a.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 LT. GOVERNOR MARY O. DONOHUE, President
19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
20
21
22
23
24
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: With us again
10 this morning to give the invocation is the
11 Reverend Peter G. Young, from Blessed
12 Sacrament Church in Bolton Landing, New York.
13 REVEREND YOUNG: Let us pray.
14 As we hear in today's news of 23
15 straight days of rain in San Francisco, we
16 know that You have blessed New York State in
17 Your rewarding spring sunshine.
18 As the Empire State, we are blessed
19 in many ways with heroic leadership that
20 pioneered our country's founding with the
21 victory at Saratoga, and we continue today
22 with our Senators in this battle of the budget
23 to create innovative efforts for New York
24 State's quality of life.
25 May the bright sunshine that we
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1 enjoy be a symbol of what is in the stained
2 glass above this podium as our commitment of
3 dedication, as in the state seal that pictures
4 the rising sun that blesses all those created
5 in Your image. We pray for all of those in
6 New York State, the citizens with its family
7 and love, for the lady of liberty and the lady
8 of justice that are there next to this rising
9 sun.
10 We pray that we will be people of
11 this kind of nation, people of this kind of
12 seal, people of this kind of commitment. We
13 ask You this in Your name.
14 Amen.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the
16 Journal.
17 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
18 Wednesday, March 29, the Senate met pursuant
19 to adjournment. The Journal of Tuesday,
20 March 28, was read and approved. On motion,
21 Senate adjourned.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Without
23 objection, the Journal stands approved as
24 read.
25 Presentation of petitions.
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1 Messages from the Assembly.
2 Messages from the Governor.
3 Reports of standing committees.
4 Reports of select committees.
5 Communications and reports from
6 state officers.
7 Motions and resolutions.
8 Senator Bruno.
9 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
10 I believe there is a resolution at the desk by
11 Senator Leibell. I ask that the title be read
12 and move for its immediate adoption.
13 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
14 will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: By Senators
16 Leibell and Farley, Legislative Resolution
17 Number 4319, memorializing Governor George E.
18 Pataki to proclaim the week of April 2, 2006,
19 as Friends of the Library Week in the State of
20 New York.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: On the
22 resolution, all in favor signify by saying
23 aye.
24 (Response of "Aye.")
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Nay?
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1 (No response.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
3 resolution is adopted.
4 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
6 Senator Bruno.
7 SENATOR BRUNO: Can we at this
8 time take up the noncontroversial reading of
9 the calendar.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
11 Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 166, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 1788, an
14 act to amend the Agriculture and Markets Law,
15 in relation to prohibiting.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
19 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
24 Announce the results.
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 437, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 1417A, an
5 act to amend the Judiciary Law and the
6 Education Law, in relation to creating the
7 13th Judicial District.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
16 Announce the results.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 497, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print --
22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
23 aside.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
25 bill is laid aside.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 501 --
3 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
4 aside.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
6 bill is laid aside.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 541, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 5913,
9 an act authorizing the assessor of the County
10 of Nassau.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
19 Announce the results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48. Nays,
21 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 570, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4023, an
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1 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law and
2 the Family Court Act, in relation to delivery.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
11 Announce the results.
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 571, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 4121, an
17 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules,
18 in relation to admissibility.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
2 Announce the results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 612, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7088, an
8 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to
9 directing.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
18 Announce the results.
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
21 bill is passed.
22 Senator Bruno, that completes the
23 noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
24 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
25 can we at this time take up the controversial
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1 reading of the calendar.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
3 Secretary will read.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 497, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6455C,
6 an act making appropriations for the support
7 of government: Transportation, Economic
8 Development and Environmental Conservation
9 Budget.
10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
11 Explanation.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
13 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been
14 requested.
15 SENATOR JOHNSON: This is the
16 appropriations bill for transportation,
17 economic development, and environment. It
18 appropriates the funds for those agencies.
19 And in addition to the Governor's
20 proposal, it includes $40 million in
21 restorations and additions to agriculture and
22 tourism-related programs; an additional
23 $20 million for highway improvement funds,
24 CHIPS and Marchiselli; $25 million for
25 statewide economic development programs; and a
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1 $400 million increase in transit operating
2 assistance.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
4 Senator Krueger.
5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
6 If the sponsor would please yield to some
7 questions.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
9 Senator Johnson, will you yield for a
10 question?
11 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr.
12 President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
14 Senator yields.
15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
16 Senator Johnson, on page 589 of
17 this bill there's a list -- it starts on
18 page 589 and actually goes through page 614 --
19 there's a series of reappropriations that
20 would go through memorandums of understanding.
21 And when I add them up, they add up to about
22 $2.3 billion, with a billion, of state money
23 that we reappropriated. Some of these go back
24 as far as the year 1999.
25 Why are we continuing to
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1 reappropriate monies for which memorandums of
2 understanding have never been resolved or made
3 public? And if we didn't need that money in
4 '99 or 2000 or 2001 or 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
5 why do we continue to use taxpayers' dollars
6 or appropriate taxpayers' dollars for all of
7 these different memorandums of understanding
8 projects?
9 SENATOR JOHNSON: Are you done
10 with your question?
11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: That was
12 the question, sir.
13 SENATOR JOHNSON: Oh, okay. That
14 was quite a compendious question, yes.
15 In any event, there's a simple
16 answer. We're reappropriating the money that
17 was appropriated previously for the highway
18 and bridge fund. That's the $300 million.
19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr.
20 President, if, through you, the sponsor will
21 continue to yield.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
23 Senator Johnson, will you continue to yield?
24 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr.
25 President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: It's not
4 clear to me that any of this is specific to
5 the highway and bridge fund. I'm not sure
6 that was -- that might be one of the items.
7 But, for example -- sorry, just
8 turning to any specific item -- there's a
9 $75 million reappropriation for economic
10 development purposes through something called
11 the CCC program. That's on page 592. There's
12 $90 million reapproped for regional
13 development programs. That's on the bottom of
14 that page. There's $225 million reapproped
15 through the Strategic Investment Program on
16 page 608. There's $350 million reapproped
17 through CCP from 2004 dollars. That's on
18 page 610. There's $600 million reapproped on
19 page 611 for reappropriation capital projects
20 under Community Assistance Program, rebuilding
21 the Empire State through opportunities in
22 regional economies and something called the
23 Empire Opportunity Fund.
24 I don't see how any of these have
25 anything to do with highways.
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1 SENATOR JOHNSON: That's the end
2 of that question; right?
3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, sir.
4 SENATOR JOHNSON: Okay. Thank
5 you.
6 I'd like to commend you for your
7 zeal and diligence in going through the budget
8 and discovering reappropriations. But that
9 old money must be reappropriated if we're
10 going to continue to spend it for the purposes
11 for which it was intended.
12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr.
13 President, on the bill.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
15 Senator Krueger, on the bill.
16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
17 I respect my colleague's answers,
18 we must reappropriate in order to have the
19 monies available for the purposes for which
20 they were originally appropriated.
21 My problem is we never told anybody
22 what we were appropriating these monies for in
23 the years we first appropriated them. We
24 don't tell anybody what the money is for now.
25 It's not at all apparent that any of these
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1 monies have been ever appropriated for any
2 individual function in the State of New York.
3 Again, the language is such that
4 these will go through memorandums of
5 understanding to be executed by the Governor,
6 the Temporary President of the Senate, the
7 Speaker of the Assembly. Eligible recipients
8 and purposes are very broadly described,
9 including they can be appropriated through any
10 department, agency, or public authority. I
11 don't believe there are memorandums of
12 understanding that have been signed for these
13 dollars -- although it would be nice to know,
14 wouldn't it?
15 But again, if years later we still
16 have monies that we reappropriate that are
17 technically monies of the people of the State
18 of New York that we could and should be using
19 for specific purposes -- and probably all of
20 us in this room have ideas of how we would
21 prioritize those purposes. And we might
22 disagree, but we'd at least know what we were
23 appropriating the people's money for, or in
24 this case to the tune of about $2.3 billion.
25 We are reappropriating MOUs from
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1 previous years. We are talking about
2 borrowing enormous amounts of money in this
3 year's budget. We are talking about giving
4 tax cuts at the same time as borrowing money.
5 No doubt tomorrow we will debate whether or
6 not we have met our obligations to the
7 schoolchildren of the State of New York.
8 I can find no justification at this
9 point in history to reappropriate over
10 $2 billion in unexplained dollars from
11 previous years for MOU purposes. And so I'll
12 be voting against this bill, because I think
13 it is completely unacceptable and
14 unjustifiable and we should not be allowed to
15 continue to operate financially in this
16 manner.
17 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
19 you.
20 Senator Connor.
21 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr.
22 President.
23 Would Senator Johnson yield for a
24 question, please?
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
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1 Senator Johnson, do you yield for a question?
2 SENATOR JOHNSON: Yes, Mr.
3 President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
5 Senator yields.
6 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Mr.
7 President.
8 Senator Krueger has just pointed
9 out, made reference to about $2 billion in
10 reappropriations. My question is, of that
11 $2 billion, how much money is contained in the
12 state fiscal plan and therefore will be spent
13 this year of that $2 billion?
14 SENATOR JOHNSON: We don't have
15 an exact figure. It could be as much as
16 $25 million.
17 SENATOR CONNOR: Twenty-five
18 million. So we're actually talking about
19 $25 million in expenditures in our
20 $112 billion budget; is that correct, Senator?
21 SENATOR JOHNSON: I'm sorry, did
22 you ask a second question?
23 SENATOR CONNOR: I said so we're
24 actually only going to spend $25 million, so
25 that $2 billion really isn't part of the
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1 $112 billion budget we read about in the
2 newspaper?
3 SENATOR JOHNSON: You're right,
4 it all depends upon the progress of the
5 capital projects to which that money is
6 appropriated.
7 SENATOR CONNOR: I understand,
8 Senator. Thank you.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
10 Senator Schneiderman.
11 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
12 Mr. President. On the bill.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
14 Senator Schneiderman, on the bill.
15 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I would
16 urge my colleagues that we are -- the comments
17 made earlier by Senator Krueger and Senator
18 Connor are calling attention to something that
19 we're not going to be able to belabor here
20 today, but we're just scratching the surface
21 in this discussion of the dysfunctional nature
22 of New York State's economic development
23 programs.
24 There are some very good things in
25 this bill, because it also includes
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1 environmental and other matters. But I have
2 to say that since I've been in the Senate, it
3 has been remarkable for me to watch failed
4 economic development programs pass every year,
5 year after year. Essentially, the Governor
6 appropriates twice what is spent, and then we
7 keep reappropriating it.
8 We're operating through memoranda
9 of understanding in a way that lacks
10 transparency and accountability. Our Empire
11 Zone program doesn't provide the tracking so
12 we even know if the money is being spent to
13 produce the jobs that are being promised.
14 And in many cases we know we're
15 pouring money down the drain, that the people
16 in depressed parts of the state, in Central
17 and Western New York and parts of the city,
18 who are counting on our economic development
19 programs to stimulate jobs, are not getting
20 what the money supposed to be spent for.
21 We're not spending the money on enterprises
22 that create jobs, we're spending money in many
23 cases for firms that do not deliver the jobs
24 that are promised, and we continually
25 reappropriate mystery funds that never get to
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1 their target, which is to create jobs for the
2 people of this state.
3 You know, there was a debate not so
4 long along about whether Central and Western
5 New York is -- it was a slur to refer to it
6 and say some parts of it look like Appalachia.
7 Well, if you look at the numbers, Appalachia
8 is doing better than a lot of parts of
9 New York State. And they have growth in a lot
10 of regions and a lot of parts of Appalachia.
11 I would say that we have failed in
12 our efforts to revive the economies of Central
13 and Western New York, we have failed in many
14 parts of downstate New York. And I am
15 constrained to vote against this bill because
16 of the lack of transparency and the lack of
17 effectiveness of our economic development
18 programs.
19 Thank you, Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
21 you, Senator.
22 Any other Senator wish to be heard?
23 Senator Bruno, to close.
24 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President and
25 colleagues, I am absolutely amazed to hear the
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1 observations and comments about economic
2 development and lack of.
3 We had a package in the budget that
4 most of you supported that was $3.5 billion in
5 help for small businesses in this state.
6 Sixty-four percent of all of the people in
7 this state are employed by small businesses.
8 Ninety-two percent of the new jobs are created
9 by small businesses.
10 You know what? We couldn't get it
11 passed in the Assembly. Your colleagues would
12 not step up and pass that package of bills --
13 to do what? To create jobs. To retain jobs.
14 That's what that package was for.
15 Now, you supported that here. And
16 I'm amazed to hear that we would now be
17 talking about the lack of. We didn't have a
18 lack of anything. We did the right things for
19 the people of this state.
20 And, Senator, let me share. You're
21 right. You go across Buffalo, Rochester,
22 Syracuse, there are pockets of poverty. Eliot
23 Spitzer was absolutely right -- not, maybe, in
24 his description in using the adjective
25 "Appalachia." But there's poverty, real
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1 poverty. And how do you get at it? You get
2 at it by jobs, putting people to work,
3 attracting jobs. And how do you do that? By
4 creating incentives. That's what that package
5 was all about.
6 Now, we did a lot. We did a lot.
7 But we should be doing a lot more. And we in
8 this house were willing to do that, as
9 evidenced by the support here, on both sides
10 of the aisle, for our program.
11 So I only get up, Mr. President,
12 because I'm amazed to hear the discussion that
13 we haven't done enough. You're absolutely
14 right, we have not done enough. And you tell
15 me how we get more done in the Assembly. You
16 tell me how, and we're there.
17 Thank you, Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
19 you, Senator Bruno.
20 Ring the bell.
21 Read the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
3 Senator Balboni, to explain his vote.
4 SENATOR BALBONI: Included in
5 here, Mr. President, is a provision that
6 relates to the MTA and their ability to do
7 capital programs. This is absolutely crucial
8 for the thousands and thousands of commuters
9 every day that travel into the City of
10 New York from Long Island and Westchester and
11 the surrounding communities. It's crucial to
12 things like East Side access and all of the
13 different programs that we've been working on.
14 And two things I want to point out.
15 The first is that Senator Dean Skelos has been
16 a tremendous leader on this issue and has been
17 the driving force in the MTA capital program.
18 And secondly, the other thing we've
19 done here is we've finally eliminated that
20 pesky little E-ZPass $1 surcharge. That's
21 gone as a result of passing this bill. So
22 that's a neat little thing.
23 So we can look forward to the
24 capital plan increasing and the security
25 system getting better and the use of the
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1 system increasing. We can also look forward
2 to this little pesky fee being eliminated.
3 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote
4 aye.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
6 you, Senator Balboni.
7 Senator Libous, to explain his
8 vote.
9 SENATOR LIBOUS: I just want to
10 comment on the transportation portion of this
11 budget. And certainly I want to thank Senator
12 Balboni for bringing that to the attention of
13 the committee, because that was a very
14 important issue that he just discussed, and
15 the committee was glad to eliminate that
16 surcharge.
17 But even more than that, what's
18 more effective in this budget is the fact that
19 for the first time in over seven years that
20 the letting levels to do improvement projects
21 has increased to $1.8 billion. We have
22 provided for the first time an additional
23 increase in CHIPS over and above what we did
24 in the bond act last year, an additional
25 $20 million.
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1 Why is that important? Because at
2 a time when our roads and bridges for our
3 local towns and municipalities need so much
4 work, and while property taxes continue to
5 rise at the local level, this is going to help
6 put a lid on that and help to improve the
7 roads and bridges.
8 We certainly are, for the first
9 time, in the dedicated highway trust fund --
10 the operations of the Department of Motor
11 Vehicles are run out of the dedicated highway
12 trust fund to the tune of about $190 million.
13 That's ridiculous. The dedicated highway
14 trust fund is supposed to go into running --
15 providing for roads and bridges, running the
16 MTA and providing for those services. There's
17 absolutely no reason and no excuse that we
18 should be providing services such as running
19 the Department of Motor Vehicles out of this
20 fund.
21 The Senate wanted very badly to
22 move that all out over five years. We can
23 only conclude, because the Assembly rejected
24 it and would only do $20 million -- but it's a
25 first step. It's a first step. And
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1 $20 million will come out of the operation and
2 go into direct road and bridge resurfacing and
3 paving, and that's extremely important.
4 With the inaction of the bond act
5 last year, there's plenty of money to do what
6 we need to do in this year's transportation
7 budget. It is one of the best transportation
8 budgets that we've seen in about seven years.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
10 you, Senator.
11 Senator Marcellino.
12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, Mr.
13 President. I'd like to explain my vote.
14 I'm going to vote aye for this
15 budget bill, because in it is the
16 authorization to raise the level of the EPF
17 another $50 million to bring it up to a
18 $200 million threshold. That is the highest
19 it's ever been in history.
20 I want to acknowledge the fact that
21 working with my colleagues in this house and
22 with our Governor, we have increased the EPF a
23 record of approximately $170 million. That
24 EPF is the engine that drives the
25 environmental cleanup of our land, our water,
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1 the preservation of open space, and just about
2 everything else that we do in the
3 environmental area.
4 It is monumentally important, and
5 this is a great achievement. And this bill
6 contains that authorization. I vote aye.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
8 you, Senator Marcellino.
9 Senator Parker.
10 SENATOR PARKER: To explain my
11 vote, Mr. Chairman.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
13 Senator Parker, to explain his vote.
14 SENATOR PARKER: Mr. Chairman,
15 unfortunately I have to vote no on this bill,
16 as I have yesterday on the two previous bills,
17 on the same grounds.
18 I think we've done a lot of good
19 things, and I again want to congratulate all
20 the hard work that I know that went into this
21 developing this bill. I'm really torn. I
22 mean, you know, we're providing more money for
23 transportation and for economic development
24 and for some great things as relates to the
25 renewable portfolio standard. And there's
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1 certainly some great provisions that are going
2 to be looking at issues regarding minority
3 contracting in the state, and women- and
4 minority-owned businesses, that we certainly
5 ought to be doing.
6 However, this entire budget is in
7 defiance of a court order. And it's an issue
8 that we've been dealing with for a long time.
9 The issue of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity
10 has not been resolved in this bill. I know
11 that there are some plans to do some things
12 around capital.
13 But I cannot in good conscience
14 vote for a budget bill that in fact does not
15 provide for the educational needs of my
16 students.
17 There are 1.1 million
18 schoolchildren today -- today -- in the City
19 of New York who don't have enough resources,
20 they don't have become books in their
21 libraries, they don't have enough certified
22 teachers, they don't have English language
23 learning programs, they don't have enough
24 technology, they don't have after-school
25 programs, they don't have all of the things --
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1 you know, music, art, and dance -- as regular
2 parts of the curriculum so they can develop a
3 well-rounded education. They don't have all
4 the things that young people need in order to
5 become productive citizens, valuable members
6 of the labor force, or whole people.
7 And so because of that, I am not
8 voting for this. I'm voting no. I think that
9 we're really missing the boat. Those who will
10 make the argument that we're doing a lot for
11 capital, that the base of the lawsuit was in
12 fact that we continue to use the traditional
13 formula for funding education across the
14 state.
15 And actually that is the heart, in
16 fact, of the disagreement, is that in fact the
17 formula itself is an unjust, unequal, and
18 unequitable formula. We need to change that
19 formula. And unfortunately, if we change that
20 formula, it in fact throws off the entire
21 budget.
22 So I'm in the position where I have
23 to vote against the entire budget so that we
24 can go back, renegotiate the budget in a way
25 that continues to do the good things that
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1 we're doing but that also accounts for the
2 real level of funding -- not that I think that
3 we should have for New York City schools, not
4 that members of the Legislature think, but in
5 fact what the courts, what independent
6 nonprofit organizations have said and what
7 we've been demanded to do by the courts.
8 And I think that we can't go
9 further unless we do that. I vote no.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
11 Senator Parker will be recorded in the
12 negative.
13 Senator Skelos.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr.
15 President.
16 I rise in support of this
17 legislation. And I think one of the most
18 critical components of it, in terms of a new
19 initiative -- and I'm delighted that many of
20 my young constituents from Valley Stream South
21 High School are here -- is a grant to the
22 Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
23 Senator Bruno indicated the
24 importance of maintaining our small businesses
25 throughout the state. And certainly the
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1 fastest-growing component of small businesses
2 is within the Hispanic community.
3 And this new initiative, this new
4 investment with the Long Island Chamber of
5 Commerce -- and I know the nine Senators from
6 Long Island are all supportive of this -- will
7 help the small-business owners navigate
8 through the bureaucracies that may exist and
9 help establish business models so that their
10 small businesses can grow and someday be a
11 larger business and create jobs.
12 So I'm delighted to support this
13 economic development package, Mr. President.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
15 Senator Skelos will be recorded in the
16 affirmative.
17 Senator Ada Smith.
18 SENATOR ADA SMITH: Thank you,
19 Mr. President.
20 I attempt to separate apples from
21 oranges in voting on this budget. I agree
22 completely with my colleague Senator Parker
23 that we have not done enough to fulfill our
24 obligations under the CFE case. But this
25 piece of the budget is not dealing with
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1 education.
2 And I want to acknowledge that
3 there are a lot of things here that many of us
4 have been fighting for over the years,
5 especially for small businesses and for
6 minority and women businesses, which has been
7 an emphasis in my platform.
8 Therefore, I will be voting for
9 this budget, in the hopes that we will come
10 back even after the budget and make the
11 necessary changes that we need to ensure that
12 we fulfill our obligations under the law.
13 Therefore, I will be voting aye.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
15 Senator Flanagan, to explain his vote.
16 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 A number of the members are
19 highlighting different sections of this bill.
20 The point I want to raise in the context of
21 this legislation is with regard to elections.
22 We had worked last year and part of
23 this year on HAVA and HAVA implementation, but
24 part of what got lost in the debate was
25 poll-site accessibility. We had a lot of
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1 discussions about having
2 handicapped-accessible machines, but now for
3 the first time we have $5 million in the
4 budget for municipalities to help make sure
5 that you're not just able to look at the
6 machine from the outside, but you're actually
7 going to be able to get in the building. For
8 ramps, for doorways, for true accessibility.
9 And frankly, it's a shame that we
10 have to even deal with this subject. It
11 should have been something that happened a
12 long time ago. But a lot of people aren't
13 aware there's litigation all across the state
14 in different counties for failure to properly
15 comply with handicapped accessibility.
16 The Assembly did not want to do
17 this. They did ultimately come around. This
18 was the Senate position from the beginning, to
19 provide real money and real relief to
20 municipalities to make sure that everybody can
21 access the voting booth and the polling place
22 on Election Day. This is a very positive step
23 forward.
24 Thank you, Mr. President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
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1 you, Senator Flanagan.
2 Senator Nozzolio, to explain his
3 vote.
4 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
5 Mr. President, on the bill. I ask permission
6 to explain my vote.
7 Mr. President and my colleagues,
8 since the beginning of our state's history,
9 transportation has always meant job
10 development. That we became the Empire State
11 because we have the greatest transportation
12 infrastructure than any of our competitor
13 states.
14 That what this budget does,
15 particularly in the areas of transportation, I
16 think is noteworthy, and especially in those
17 areas like the central and western and
18 northern parts of the state that have so many
19 local roads. That what the expenditures in
20 this measure do is ensure that our local roads
21 and bridges are going to be taken care of,
22 maintained appropriately, and done so not at
23 the expense of our already overburdened
24 property taxpayers.
25 This expenditure of state funds
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1 will help ensure that local governments --
2 towns and counties -- can particularly hold
3 the line on property tax increases. Our
4 conference, this Senate, has been committed to
5 holding the line on property tax increases.
6 And this measure goes a long way in doing
7 that.
8 The road mileage at the local level
9 expands over 25,000 miles across our state.
10 We could extend those local roads and bridges
11 and that, in effect, spending those funds for
12 local roads and bridges means so much. This
13 conference stood for that increase of over
14 $20 million in ensuring the property taxpayer
15 will be the beneficiary.
16 Mr. President, I support this
17 measure. I congratulate all those on the
18 conference committee that supported the CHIPS
19 program in particular and fought hard for
20 local roads and bridges.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
22 you. Senator Nozzolio will be recorded in the
23 affirmative.
24 Senator Stavisky.
25 SENATOR STAVISKY: Thank you,
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1 Mr. President.
2 The parts of this bill that deal
3 with economic development I think are
4 extremely important. And one of the areas of
5 economic development that I'm interested in is
6 the area of tourism, because I think this is a
7 tremendously underutilized area of our
8 economy. We have some beautiful areas in
9 New York State, and I think we ought to be
10 doing everything we can to encourage
11 development.
12 And I'm unhappy with the fact that
13 more of the "I Love New York" tourism dollar
14 is not being spent outside of New York State
15 to encourage people to come, whether the
16 advertising campaign takes place in Canada or
17 in the Midwest or in Asia and Europe. And
18 while I wish more of the "I Love New York"
19 campaign did exist outside of New York State,
20 I must tell you I get very offended when I'm
21 watching television at home in New York City
22 and I see a campaign for "I Love New York,"
23 encouraging me to come visit.
24 So, Mr. President, I hope that in
25 the future this inequity will be resolved.
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1 But I will vote for this bill. Thank you.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
3 Senator Stavisky will be recorded in the
4 affirmative.
5 Senator Alesi, to explain his vote.
6 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you,
7 Mr. President. I know we have a lot of work
8 to do, so I will be brief.
9 But as chairman of the Committee on
10 Economic Development, I feel compelled to
11 congratulate the efforts of all those who were
12 involved in improving the lot of all of those
13 people that are looking to work and relieve
14 the burden that have been so much a part of
15 our life here.
16 We have expanded the Empire Zones.
17 We have listened to those that said we need
18 better roads and bridges, those from local
19 government and our citizens as well. And
20 everything that you see, even the forgiveness
21 of loans, UDC loans, with our colleges and
22 universities and requesting them to make those
23 payments into something else, that translates
24 into economic development.
25 This is all about job creation.
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1 It's all about improving the quality of life
2 in New York State. And it is money wisely
3 spent as we improve the lives of every
4 overburdened taxpayer in New York State.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
6 Senator Alesi will be recorded in the
7 affirmative.
8 Senator Montgomery.
9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, thank
10 you, Mr. President.
11 I just would like to -- first of
12 all, I concur with my colleagues on the large
13 issues around what they view as important in
14 the budget. But I just wanted to point out a
15 couple of things that I want to especially
16 compliment and thank the leaders for looking
17 out for, and one of them is the Empire Zone
18 administration.
19 Certainly I have a couple of Empire
20 Zones in my district, and they are extremely
21 important, especially as it relates to job
22 development and also being there to support
23 the revitalization of our economy in the city,
24 hopefully. And it's been very, very
25 disappointing to see that the Governor has not
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1 decided that this is important, but certainly
2 the legislative leaders have, and I appreciate
3 that.
4 I also appreciate your attention to
5 a small but very important item in this
6 budget, the New York Industrial Retention
7 Network. It's extremely important, I think,
8 probably to other parts of the district.
9 And I also want to especially thank
10 you for your investment in the community
11 housing development organizations throughout
12 the state, the Neighborhood Preservation
13 Program and the Rural Preservation Program. I
14 listened to people from across the state talk
15 about how they were struggling in communities
16 across the state to help people maintain their
17 homes, to help rebuild communities. And
18 certainly in New York City, and my district in
19 particular, it's been an extremely important
20 source of revitalization and development of
21 affordable housing for people in our state.
22 And lastly, I want to say that I
23 met some young people from the Future Farmers
24 of America. And I'm not sure if this is the
25 only -- this is the only place that I see an
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1 allocation for them. But I have been very
2 impressed by those young people. They come
3 from farms across the state, they come here
4 and they are able to articulate and share
5 their experiences. They're very excited about
6 the opportunities that they have to develop
7 their skills as farmers. And I suppose that
8 some of them will become actually the future
9 farmers of our state.
10 And so I'm appreciative that we've
11 supported them. I have a feeling that we
12 should probably be doing a lot more, because
13 those young people deserve a lot of attention.
14 That's a very important aspect of our state,
15 the agricultural and farming aspect of our
16 economy.
17 So overall, Mr. President, I'm
18 going to vote for this budget because it does
19 have some very important and significant areas
20 that I think we should be supporting. And
21 hopefully those areas that we need to have a
22 lot more discussion about, we will in the
23 future.
24 Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
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1 you. Senator Montgomery will be recorded in
2 the affirmative.
3 Senator LaValle.
4 SENATOR LaVALLE: Thank you, Mr.
5 President.
6 For each of us, there's always
7 something in this budget that is important to
8 our districts. But I would first like to
9 congratulate Senator Marcellino on the
10 environmental package. He did an outstanding
11 job, and I think for the environmental budget
12 this is probably one of the best. Having
13 $200 million for the Environmental Protection
14 Fund I think is very historic and very, very
15 important.
16 There's an item here of $50 million
17 for land acquisition, and certainly that is
18 statewide. But for my district, it is -- we
19 are at a very, very important juncture,
20 because what will be preserved or what will be
21 built on is an eight-year period of time.
22 When we look in eight years out, we will have
23 either built on everything that we're going to
24 build on or preserved what we need to
25 preserve.
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1 So the money here for open space
2 acquisition, along with monies from the towns
3 and the county, will help us a great deal in
4 our mission in the First Senatorial District,
5 Eastern Long Island, to continue our
6 preservation efforts so that we can maintain
7 the quality of life for our citizens, not only
8 in the East End but in the County of Suffolk.
9 I'm going to be voting aye. Thank
10 you, Mr. President.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
12 you. Senator LaValle will be recorded in the
13 affirmative.
14 Announce the results.
15 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
16 the negative on Calendar Number 497 are
17 Senators L. Krueger, Parker, and Schneiderman.
18 Ayes, 56. Nays, 3.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 501, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6459C,
23 an act to amend the Environmental Conservation
24 Law.
25 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:
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1 Explanation.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
3 Senator Johnson, an explanation has been
4 requested.
5 SENATOR JOHNSON: Mr. President,
6 this bill implements the appropriations which
7 were included in the previous bill, 6455C, in
8 accordance with Article VII of the
9 Constitution.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
11 Senator Krueger.
12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
13 Mr. President. On the bill.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
15 Senator Krueger, on the bill.
16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you
17 so much. Just to clarify a number of the
18 comments that people were making in explaining
19 their previous vote.
20 Many of the things people were
21 saying were good about the last bill are
22 actually in this bill, so that they weren't
23 relating to the previous bill which I voted
24 against.
25 And that some of the things that
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1 were already mentioned on the floor here today
2 are important and good things, and one can
3 make the argument, as I do, that I can vote
4 for the language bill because of the sections
5 therein that address some of the key concerns
6 that my colleagues on the other side of the
7 floor were just making in their explanation of
8 their votes, but doesn't change the fact that
9 the previous bill actually is what I would
10 call the pork bill for New York State's budget
11 and is not justified.
12 But in this bill, it is true that
13 we are establishing language for the
14 Environmental Protection Fund, although it
15 will still require dealing with in a later
16 bill because of the way that the language of
17 the Governor was written into the budget bill.
18 And it does provide some of the
19 language for the MTA to expand its bond
20 authority, to accomplish its capital plan for
21 megaprojects that were discussed as being so
22 important to my colleagues in Long Island and
23 to my colleagues here in New York City. And
24 the language bill does ensure that there's
25 money put back in specifically for affordable
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1 housing programs.
2 So again, I think that when I hear
3 my colleagues talk about "the budget" as any
4 given bill, as if you either support the
5 entire budget as proposed or individual
6 sections of the budget, I think it's key to
7 recognize that there's a reason that we take
8 the state budget and we divide it up into a
9 series of different pieces of legislation,
10 both appropriations bills and language bills.
11 Because the state budget is a
12 policy document. It determines the direction
13 we go and how we spend our money, how we do in
14 fact spend those dollars or not, and how we
15 collect those monies.
16 So even in response to an earlier
17 comment by Senator Bruno when he talked about
18 $3.5 billion in tax cuts that this house had
19 supported, well, some of us didn't support
20 that. I distinctly remember voting against
21 that bill. So the devil is in the details.
22 And this language bill, S6459C,
23 that we are currently voting on has some
24 important things in it that I do support and,
25 in fact, my colleagues have already explained
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1 they support. But just for the record, two
2 different bills, two different sets of
3 questions before us. And people should
4 double-check, perhaps, which bill they're
5 addressing.
6 But I will be supporting this bill,
7 Mr. President. Thank you very much.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
9 you, Senator Krueger. You will be recorded in
10 the affirmative.
11 Any other Senator wish to be heard?
12 Debate is closed. Ring the bells.
13 Read the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
20 Senator Parker, to explain his vote.
21 SENATOR PARKER: Yes,
22 Mr. Chairman, thank you.
23 Again, you know, I think that
24 there's some great things in this budget. I
25 am really torn about the decision.
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1 But, you know, the priority, I
2 think, of this Legislature is to protect our
3 future. And there's nothing more important in
4 our future than our young people. And just on
5 behalf of the 1.1 million schoolchildren who
6 are now going to inadequate schools without
7 enough resources, I'm voting no on this budget
8 because it doesn't properly provide for them.
9 Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
11 you, Senator Parker. You will be recorded in
12 the negative.
13 Announce the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
15 1. Senator Parker recorded in the negative.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
17 bill is passed.
18 Senator Skelos.
19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
20 is there any further business at the desk?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: No,
22 there is not.
23 SENATOR SKELOS: Would you please
24 recognize Senator Duane for a petition, a bill
25 out of committee.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
2 Senator Duane.
3 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
4 President. I have a motion at the desk.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
6 Secretary will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: Senate Print
8 6503, by Senator Duane, an act to amend the
9 Public Health Law.
10 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you. This
11 is for my bill, S6503, Manny's Law.
12 This bill would require hospitals
13 to provide patients with written information
14 in the patient's primary language on the
15 following. Whether the hospital offers
16 charity care or financial assistance, whether
17 the hospital receives from New York State for
18 the reimbursement of charity care provided by
19 the hospital, a pamphlet with information on
20 public health insurance programs, how patients
21 can apply for such programs, and the standards
22 for assessing eligibility for public insurance
23 programs.
24 And the bill also provides for a
25 strong civil cause of action for patients who
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1 are not notified by hospitals of these
2 programs.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: A
4 little respect. Could we take the
5 conversations out of the chamber, please.
6 Senator Duane.
7 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Mr.
8 President.
9 I'm about to speak about the late
10 Manny Lanza.
11 Manny Lanza died of a ruptured
12 blood vessel because a New York hospital was
13 more concerned with how it was going to get
14 paid than how it was going to provide proper
15 treatment for him. And that's an outrage.
16 But Mr. Lanza's case is far from
17 the only one. The situation happens in
18 New York hospitals on a daily basis. While
19 the results often don't end in a death, there
20 is an incredible amount of undue stress placed
21 on patients who cannot afford to pay hospital
22 medical bills. The hospitals put pressure on
23 indigent patients to pay up. And if that
24 doesn't work, the hospitals send in debt
25 collectors to harass them.
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1 To make matters worse, uninsured
2 patients are charged far more for hospital
3 services than those who are insured.
4 Insurance companies simply won't pay the
5 exorbitant prices that these indigent patients
6 are then forced to pay.
7 And there's no justifiable reason
8 for it. The State of New York already pays
9 hospitals over $847 million through its Bad
10 Debt and Charity Care funds. Twenty-two
11 New York City hospitals receive roughly
12 40 percent of this amount. These funds are
13 designed to provide hospitals with the ability
14 to pay for the medical care of the medically
15 indigent and write off any debt incurred by
16 patients who can't pay.
17 So in theory, the Bad Debt and
18 Charity Care funds sound wonderful. But there
19 is a problem. Almost every hospital fails to
20 notify patients about the availability of
21 these funds. If you walked into a hospital
22 today and asked about how to apply for these
23 funds, odds are nobody would be able to tell
24 you.
25 So this begs the question, what
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1 exactly are the hospitals doing with all this
2 money? Why are poor patients being hounded by
3 collection agencies or, worse yet, just flatly
4 being denied medical treatment? Why did Manny
5 Lanza have to die?
6 It's tragic that we even need to do
7 this legislation. But the death of Manny
8 Lanza and the thousands of others who are
9 denied medical care proves that we do need it.
10 Hospitals have shown that they can't really be
11 trusted to do the right thing. I'll be
12 working hard in the legislative session to
13 make this law a reality, and it's my hope that
14 we will never again have someone die in
15 New York simply because they don't have enough
16 money to pay a medical bill.
17 But I have to say I'm pleased that
18 the Legislature listened to me, or in large
19 part listened to me. And I'm thrilled that my
20 bill has made such a strong impact that many
21 of my Manny's Law provisions are in the health
22 and mental hygiene bill that we will take up
23 tomorrow.
24 You know, one of the first things I
25 learned around here by being a member of the
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1 Senate Minority is that you can get anything
2 done if you work hard enough -- hate crimes,
3 SONDA, clinic access, gun control legislation,
4 women's health and wellness, and now Manny's
5 Law -- as long as you're willing not to get
6 credit for it, apparently.
7 So I'm honored that my bill's
8 primary purpose made it into the state budget.
9 It will help countless New Yorkers whose only
10 crime is that they can't afford to pay a
11 medical bill. But if it helps just one person
12 to get the medical help that they deserve, if
13 it helps one family to not be hounded by
14 collection agencies, then I'm happy not to get
15 credit for this.
16 You know, since all of you in the
17 Senate -- and, frankly, in the other house as
18 well -- heard my message, I'm going to
19 withdraw my motion.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
22 you, Senator Duane.
23 The motion is withdrawn.
24 Senator Skelos.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Mr.
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1 President. There being no further business to
2 come before the Senate, I move we stand
3 adjourned until Friday, March 31st, at
4 10:30 a.m.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: On
6 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
7 Friday, March 31st, 10:30 a.m.
8 (Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the
9 Senate adjourned.)
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