Regular Session - May 10, 2006
2905
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 May 10, 2006
11 11:08 a.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 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask everyone present to please
5 rise and recite with me the Pledge of
6 Allegiance.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: In the
10 absence of clergy, I ask that we bow our heads
11 for a moment of silence.
12 (Whereupon, the assemblage
13 respected a moment of silence.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
15 Reading of the Journal.
16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
17 Tuesday, May 9, the Senate met pursuant to
18 adjournment. The Journal of Monday, May 8,
19 was read and approved. On motion, Senate
20 adjourned.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
22 Without objection, the Journal stands approved
23 as read.
24 Presentation of petitions.
25 Messages from the Assembly.
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1 Messages from the Governor.
2 Reports of standing committees.
3 Reports of select committees.
4 Communications and reports from
5 state officers.
6 Motions and resolutions.
7 Senator Winner.
8 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 On behalf of Senator Alesi, on page
11 number 44 I offer the following amendments to
12 Calendar Number 760, Senate Print Number 7001,
13 and ask that the bill retain its place on the
14 Third Reading Calendar.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
16 amendments are received, and the bill will
17 retain its place on the Third Reading
18 Calendar.
19 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 On behalf of Senator Nozzolio, on
22 page 22 I offer the following amendments to
23 Calendar Number 244, Senate Print Number
24 6471B, and ask that the bill retain its place
25 on the Third Reading Calendar.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
2 amendments are received, and the bill will
3 retain its place on the Third Reading
4 Calendar.
5 Senator Little.
6 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 On behalf of myself, on page number
9 50 I offer the following amendments to
10 Calendar Number 846, Senate Print Number
11 1183A, and ask that said bill retain its place
12 on the Third Reading Calendar.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
14 amendments are received, and the bill will
15 remain in its place on the Third Reading
16 Calendar.
17 Senator Bruno.
18 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
19 are there substitutions at the desk to be
20 made?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Yes,
22 there are, Senator.
23 SENATOR BRUNO: Then may I ask
24 that they be made at this time.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
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1 Secretary will read.
2 THE SECRETARY: On page 55,
3 Senator Balboni moves to discharge, from the
4 Committee on Codes, Assembly Bill Number 9755
5 and substitute it for the identical Senate
6 Bill Number 7212, Third Reading Calendar 910.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
8 substitution is ordered.
9 Senator Bruno.
10 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President and
11 colleagues, with your permission I would just
12 like to acknowledge two schools that are
13 represented here that are really outstanding
14 schools, one of them from Senator Betty
15 Little, our great Senator, from Glens Falls,
16 which is St. Mary's Academy, up on the right.
17 And that happens to be my alma mater, and
18 Betty's alma mater.
19 And there they are, young
20 outstanding citizens.
21 (Applause.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
23 Welcome to our Senate chamber, and we hope
24 that you have a very interesting and
25 productive day and a little fun while you're
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1 at it.
2 Thank you.
3 SENATOR BRUNO: And,
4 Mr. President, next to them is another
5 outstanding school in the Capital Region,
6 Doane Stuart.
7 And they are visiting the Capitol,
8 some of them for the very first time, and we
9 welcome them here to the Senate chamber.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: We
11 welcome you to the Senate chamber. We hope
12 you too have a productive and joyful day and
13 some fun while you visit our Capitol and see
14 your State Legislature in action.
15 (Applause.)
16 SENATOR BRUNO: And Senator
17 Breslin acknowledges and adds his welcome to
18 those of you that are constituents out of
19 Albany County.
20 So we're glad that you're all here
21 and participating in this session. Which,
22 with the efficiency of the Senate, will be a
23 very short session, but very effective.
24 (Laughter.)
25 SENATOR BRUNO: And,
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1 Mr. President, I believe that there is a
2 resolution at the desk by the esteemed Senator
3 Robach that has been previously adopted. I
4 would ask that it now be read and recognize
5 Senator Robach.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
7 Secretary will read.
8 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
9 Robach, Legislative Resolution Number 4199,
10 memorializing Governor George E. Pataki to
11 declare May 2006 as "Hepatitis C Awareness
12 Month" in the State of New York.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
14 Senator Robach.
15 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes,
16 Mr. President. Thank you.
17 I am very happy to promote this
18 resolution, along with the cosponsorship of
19 many of my colleagues. Anything we can do to
20 not only support those people who work in the
21 field, the advocates, but also bring as much
22 attention as we can to this, is very, very
23 important.
24 When you look at the statistics of
25 this growing viral infection, it is a little
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1 bit staggering of what's happening here in
2 New York, already approaching 158,000
3 New Yorkers affected by this. And when you
4 look out into the outyears, by 2010 what could
5 be projected will be pretty scary.
6 We spend a lot of time in this
7 chamber on policies and resources that can
8 make people healthier. I think it's very,
9 very important that we're doing this
10 resolution but also, even more importantly,
11 that we are working with everyone in the field
12 to try and diminish this or make it as
13 tolerable as possible for all of our mutual
14 constituency.
15 And I am very glad today -- I don't
16 know if every one of them are here, but in the
17 gallery, and if you want to stand when I call
18 your name, we have a number of advocates and
19 people that work in the field: Patricia
20 VanReenen, Lillian VanReenen, Monica Rickert,
21 Shari Newman-Foster, Matthew Ricker, Jason
22 Foster, Colleen Cain -- I don't see
23 Dr. Valenti, but if he's here we'll say his
24 name; very active -- Edward Pierce and Martha
25 Auster.
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1 And so for them and all the people
2 who work in the field, advocate on a daily
3 basis, we are happy to join them here in this
4 chamber today and do all we can to combat
5 hepatitis C here in New York State.
6 Thank you for your advocation.
7 Thank you, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: We
9 welcome the advocates here today. Thank you
10 for attending.
11 Resolution 4199 was previously
12 adopted on March 28th. Thank you.
13 (Applause.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
15 Senator Bruno.
16 SENATOR BRUNO: Mr. President,
17 can we at this time have the noncontroversial
18 reading of the calendar.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
20 Secretary will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 62, by Senator Young, Senate Print 5685A, an
23 act to amend the Penal Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
25 the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
2 act shall take effect on the first of
3 November.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
8 Announce the results.
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 595, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6396A, an
14 act to amend the Public Officers Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect immediately.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
23 Announce the results.
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 770, by Senator Alesi, Senate Print 5543B, an
4 act to amend the Correction Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
8 act shall take effect on the 60th day.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
13 Announce the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 780, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 2749, an
19 act to amend the General Municipal Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect on the first of July
24 next succeeding.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
4 Announce the results.
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
7 bill is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 787, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 6739,
10 an act to authorize.
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: Those recorded in
21 the negative on Calendar Number 787 are
22 Senators Bonacic and Larkin.
23 Ayes, 48. Nays, 2.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 789, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 6921, an
3 act to authorize.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
5 the last section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
9 the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
12 Announce the results.
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 48. Nays,
14 2. Senators Bonacic and Larkin recorded in
15 the negative.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
17 bill is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 831, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
20 7012, an act to amend the Real Property Law
21 and others.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
23 the last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 21. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
5 Announce the results.
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
8 bill is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 892, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 2174, an
11 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
13 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 Announce the results.
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 904, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 6715A, an
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1 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
13 bill is passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 907, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 7074, an
16 act to amend the Penal Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect on the first of
21 November.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
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1 Announce the results.
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. Nays,
3 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 910, substituted earlier today by Member of
8 the Assembly Ortiz, Assembly Print Number
9 9755, an act to amend Chapter 266 of the Laws
10 of 1981.
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 Senator Duane.
21 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you,
22 Mr. President. To explain my vote.
23 This is a good bill, and it also
24 raises the issue of extending the statute of
25 limitations.
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1 Recently I had a very successful
2 and compelling hearing on the issue of clergy
3 abuse and abuse by those in positions of
4 power. We had very, very compelling testimony
5 from victims, but we also had testimony from
6 experts, academics and attorneys and
7 professors of law, all of whom agreed that
8 merely by extending or eliminating the statute
9 of limitations would we then be able to
10 pinpoint perpetrators and allow victims of
11 abuse to have their day in court.
12 So I'm pleased that we're doing
13 this bill, which extends the statute of
14 limitations. But we also have a
15 responsibility to extend the statute of
16 limitations so those who have been victimized
17 can have their day in court and we can stop
18 the victimization of any more persons by
19 people in a position of authority.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
22 you, Senator Duane.
23 Announce the results.
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 912, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
4 7233, an act to amend the Penal Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 9. This
8 act shall take effect on the first of
9 November.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
11 Senator DeFrancisco.
12 SENATOR DeFRANCISCO: Thank you,
13 Mr. President.
14 I rise in support of this bill,
15 called the Bill Leaf-Brandi Woods bill. And
16 basically we've had two tragedies in Central
17 New York very recently, where Bill Leaf, a
18 reporter for WSYR, in his twenties, and Brandi
19 Woods, a 15-year-old Girl Scout, delivering
20 Girl Scout cookies -- not much older than the
21 children that are here in the gallery today --
22 were both killed by drunk drivers.
23 In the Brandi Woods situation, the
24 perpetrator received a one-to-three sentence
25 and is about to be released. The other case
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1 is still pending.
2 Two fine people. Bill Leaf was
3 here reporting in Albany a couple of days
4 before his death, a rising reporter, an
5 incredible young man who was going to be
6 national someday, there's no question. Brandi
7 Woods, a young girl doing the right thing with
8 a Girl Scout troop, just a life snuffed out.
9 Well, the penalties for DWIs,
10 especially repeat offenders, were woefully
11 inadequate, as can be seen by the sentence
12 that the first individual got, in the Brandi
13 Woods case. This bill intends to address
14 that.
15 And I would hope that we would have
16 unanimous support for this bill, because it
17 increases penalties for people who have been
18 convicted before of driving while intoxicated
19 or driving while ability-impaired when they
20 either seriously injure someone or kill them.
21 And I think by passing this bill --
22 and the Assembly sponsor is pushing to pass
23 the bill as well -- that we can send a message
24 out that it's not going to be tolerated. And
25 even if you're not a major drinker, if you
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1 happen to do the wrong thing some night and
2 have a very bad result, injuring somebody
3 seriously or killing somebody, you're going to
4 jail. And you're going to jail for a long
5 time.
6 There should be no more Bill Leaf
7 and Brandi Woods stories. And hopefully a
8 bill like this would help that occur.
9 So I vote aye, and I urge all of my
10 colleagues to unanimously support this
11 extremely important piece of legislation.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
13 you, Senator DeFrancisco. You will be
14 recorded in the affirmative.
15 Call the roll.
16 Senator Duane, to explain his vote.
17 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you. To
18 explain my vote, yes, Mr. President.
19 I'll be voting for this bill, which
20 is going to increase the crime for driving
21 while intoxicated. And it is terrible that we
22 even have to pass such a bill and that such an
23 awful tragedy caused us to take action on this
24 issue. And I am incredibly sorry for the loss
25 that the families have endured.
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1 However, I would be remiss if I
2 didn't raise the issue once again that we're
3 dealing with problem drinking -- alcoholism --
4 here and the need for people to get substance
5 abuse treatment when they need it.
6 Many New Yorkers can't afford
7 substance abuse treatment or other help for
8 mental illnesses, and that's why we need
9 Timothy's Law.
10 So we're probably going to leave
11 here this week without enacting Timothy's Law,
12 and that is a horrible shame. We need to pass
13 Timothy's Law. We need to do it right away.
14 We need to get people in this state the mental
15 health services that they need and deserve.
16 So while I'm voting yes on this, I
17 am hopeful that very soon we will be voting
18 yes on Timothy's Law as well.
19 Thank you, Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Thank
21 you, Senator Duane.
22 Announce the results.
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 919, by Senator Wright, Senate Print 2532, an
3 act to amend the New York State Defense
4 Emergency Act.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
13 Announce the results.
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 939, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 5214, an
19 act to amend the Executive Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
21 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 Announce the results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 977, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7179, an
9 act to authorize.
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, 57. Nays,
20 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
22 bill is passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 981, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7245, an
25 act to amend the Nassau County Civil Divisions
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1 Act.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN:
10 Announce the results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
13 bill is passed.
14 Senator Skelos, that completes the
15 noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you,
17 Mr. President. I believe we have completed
18 the entire calendar.
19 Is there any further business at
20 the desk?
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: Yes,
22 we do.
23 Senator Fuschillo.
24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
25 Mr. President.
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1 On behalf of Senator Skelos, on
2 page number 36 I offer the following
3 amendments to Calendar Number 608, Senate
4 Print 6831, and ask that said bill retain its
5 place on Third Reading Calendar.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: The
7 amendments are received, and the bill will
8 retain its place on the Third Reading
9 Calendar.
10 Senator Skelos.
11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
12 there being no further business to come before
13 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until
14 Monday, May 15th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening
15 days being legislative days.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MORAHAN: There
17 being no further business, the Senate stands
18 adjourned until Monday, May 15th, 3:00 p.m.,
19 intervening days to be legislative days.
20 (Whereupon, at 11:29 a.m., the
21 Senate adjourned.)
22
23
24
25
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