Regular Session - June 6, 2006
3426
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 June 6, 2006
11 3:02 p.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 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
3 Senate will 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 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
10 invocation today will be given by the Reverend
11 Donald Dixon, pastor of the First Baptist
12 Church of Little Falls.
13 REVEREND DIXON: Let us pray.
14 Heavenly Father, I thank You for
15 our country, our state and those who have been
16 elected to lead and serve us. May these
17 members of the [Senate] look to You for
18 guidance in directing the affairs of our
19 state.
20 Give them wisdom as they go about
21 their activities. May they always have as
22 their goals the best interests of the people
23 who they serve. May our leaders understand
24 and follow the principles put forth in Your
25 word.
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1 I pray that they may be men and
2 women who hold to high moral and ethical
3 standards, realizing that ultimately they are
4 responsible to You for how they conduct
5 themselves as leaders.
6 I pray this as a Christian minister
7 of the Gospel in the name that is above every
8 name, the Lord Jesus.
9 Amen.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
11 you, Pastor Dixon.
12 Reading of the Journal.
13 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
14 Monday, June 5, the Senate met pursuant to
15 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, June 4,
16 was read and approved. On motion, Senate
17 adjourned.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Without
19 objection, the Journal stands approved as
20 read.
21 Presentation of petitions.
22 Messages from the Assembly.
23 Messages from the Governor.
24 Reports of standing committees.
25 Reports of select committees.
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1 Communications and reports from
2 state officers.
3 Motions and resolutions.
4 Senator Fuschillo.
5 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Thank you,
6 Madam President.
7 Amendments are offered to the
8 following Third Reading Calendar bills:
9 Sponsored by Senator Volker, page
10 number 11, Calendar Number 114, Senate Print
11 Number 1617A;
12 By Senator Golden, page number 18,
13 Calendar Number 323, Senate Print Number 3078;
14 By Senator LaValle, page number 60,
15 Calendar Number 1167, Senate Print Number
16 1633A;
17 By Senator LaValle, page number 71,
18 Calendar Number 1298, Senate Print Number
19 6804A;
20 By Senator Flanagan, page number
21 82, Calendar Number 1413, Senate Print Number
22 7154;
23 By Senator Padavan, page number 29,
24 Calendar Number 628, Senate Print Number
25 2164A.
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1 I now move that these bills retain
2 their place on Third Reading Calendar.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
4 amendments are received, and the bills will
5 retain their place on Third Reading Calendar.
6 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam
7 President, on behalf of Senator Volker, I wish
8 to call up Senate Print Number 6334A, having
9 passed both houses and not delivered to the
10 Governor.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
12 Secretary will read.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 339, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 6334A, an
15 act to amend Chapter 185 of the Laws of 2005.
16 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to
17 reconsider the vote by which the bill was
18 passed, and ask that said bill be restored to
19 the order of third reading.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
21 the roll on reconsideration.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41.
24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer
25 up the following amendments.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
2 amendments are received. And that bill was
3 passed.
4 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of
5 Senator LaValle, I wish to call up Senate
6 Print Number 1626, recalled from the Assembly,
7 which is now at the desk.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
9 Secretary will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 451, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 1626, an
12 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law.
13 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to
14 reconsider the vote by which the bill was
15 passed.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
17 the roll on reconsideration.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41.
20 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer
21 the following amendments.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
23 amendments are received.
24 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: On behalf of
25 Senator Balboni, I wish to call up Senate
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1 Print Number 6783, recalled from the Assembly,
2 which is now at the desk.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
4 Secretary will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 678, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6783, an
7 act authorizing the assessor of the County of
8 Nassau.
9 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to
10 reconsider the vote by which the bill was
11 passed.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
13 Secretary will call the roll on
14 reconsideration.
15 (The Secretary called the roll.)
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41.
17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer
18 the following amendments.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
20 amendments are received.
21 Senator Skelos.
22 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
23 I believe there are substitutions at the desk,
24 if we could make them at this time.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
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1 Secretary will read.
2 THE SECRETARY: On page 35,
3 Senator Connor moves to discharge, from the
4 Committee on Local Government, Assembly Bill
5 Number 9193 and substitute it for the
6 identical Senate Bill Number 6023, Third
7 Reading Calendar 785.
8 On page 62, Senator Fuschillo moves
9 to discharge, from the Committee on Consumer
10 Protection, Assembly Bill Number 11141 and
11 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
12 Number 7887, Third Reading Calendar 1202.
13 On page 65, Senator Farley moves to
14 discharge, from the Committee on Veterans,
15 Homeland Security and Military Affairs,
16 Assembly Bill Number 974 and substitute it for
17 the identical Senate Bill Number 7384, Third
18 Reading Calendar 1240.
19 On page 69, Senator Spano moves to
20 discharge, from the Committee on Local
21 Government, Assembly Bill Number 10070 and
22 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
23 Number 6701, Third Reading Calendar 1277.
24 On page 69, Senator Little moves to
25 discharge, from the Committee on Local
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1 Government, Assembly Bill Number 8974A and
2 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
3 Number 7273, Third Reading Calendar 1282.
4 On page 71, Senator LaValle moves
5 to discharge, from the Committee on Higher
6 Education, Assembly Bill Number 10878 and
7 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
8 Number 7400, Third Reading Calendar 1299.
9 And on page 84, Senator Robach
10 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
11 Veterans, Homeland Security and Military
12 Affairs, Assembly Bill Number 10038 and
13 substitute it for the identical Senate Bill
14 Number 6908, Third Reading Calendar 1431.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
16 substitutions are so ordered.
17 Senator Skelos.
18 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
19 there's a resolution at the desk, 5652, by
20 Senator Robach. If we could have it read in
21 its entirety and move for its immediate
22 adoption.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
24 you.
25 The Secretary will read.
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1 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
2 Robach, Legislative Resolution Number 5652,
3 congratulating student-athlete Jason McElwain
4 and the Greece Athena High School Boys
5 Basketball Team for their outstanding
6 accomplishments and overall team record.
7 "WHEREAS, Excellence and success in
8 competitive sports can be achieved only
9 through strenuous practice, team play and team
10 spirit, nurtured by dedicated coaching and
11 strategic planning; and
12 "WHEREAS, Athletic competition
13 enhances the moral and physical development of
14 the young people of this state, preparing them
15 for the future by instilling in them the value
16 of teamwork, encouraging a standard of healthy
17 living, imparting a desire for success, and
18 developing a sense of fair play and
19 competition; and
20 "WHEREAS, Jason McElwain, a
21 17-year-old senior at Greece Athena High
22 School near Rochester, New York, has done
23 everything he was asked to do for the varsity
24 boys basketball team -- keep the stats,
25 operate the clock, and hand out water bottles.
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1 That all changed for the team manager on
2 Wednesday, February 15, 2006, in the final
3 home game of the season; and
4 "WHEREAS, Team Manager Jason
5 McElwain put on a uniform with four minutes
6 left and entered the game with his team way
7 ahead in the lead. He proceed to hit six
8 3-point shots, finished with 20 points, and
9 was carried off the court on his teammates'
10 shoulders, with deafening cheers from the
11 crowd after his team's 79-43 victory over
12 Spencerport; and
13 "WHEREAS, Jason McElwain served as
14 team manager to both varsity and junior
15 varsity teams, doing anything to stay near the
16 sport he loves. His coach, Jim Johnson, was
17 so impressed with his dedication that he
18 decided to suit Jason up for the final home
19 game; and
20 "WHEREAS, After the stellar home
21 finale, the Greece Athena Trojans High School
22 Boys Basketball Team advanced to the
23 postseason to become the Section V Class AA
24 champions; and
25 "WHEREAS, In front of at least
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1 8,000 fans, family, and friends at Blue Cross
2 Arena at the War Memorial, senior guard Steve
3 Kerr scored a game-high 19 points and the
4 tournament MVP Rickey Wallace added 16 points
5 to lead the Trojans to a 54-51 comeback
6 victory over Irondequoit High School; and
7 "WHEREAS, The athletic talent
8 displayed by this team is due in great part to
9 the efforts of Coach Jim Johnson, a skilled
10 and inspirational tutor, respected for his
11 ability to develop potential into excellence;
12 and
13 "WHEREAS, Coach Jim Johnson has
14 done a superb job in guiding, molding and
15 inspiring the team members toward their goals;
16 and
17 "WHEREAS, Sports competition
18 instills the values of teamwork, pride and
19 accomplishment, and Coach Jim Johnson and the
20 outstanding athletes on the Greece Athena High
21 School Boys Basketball Team have clearly made
22 a contribution to the spirit of excellence
23 which is a tradition of their school; now,
24 therefore, be it
25 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
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1 Body pause in its deliberations to
2 congratulate the Greece Athena High School
3 Boys Basketball Team, its members -- Brian
4 Benson, Kyle Boline, Matthew Davies, Devin De
5 Point, Kourtney Goff, Levar Goff, R.J. Kalb,
6 Stephen Kerr, Richard Kirton, Michael Long,
7 Terrance McCutchen, Matthew Sheehan, John
8 Swartz, Robert Tixa, Rickey Wallace and Robert
9 Zappia -- the inspirational Team Manager Jason
10 McElwain, and Coach Jim Johnson on their
11 outstanding season and overall team record;
12 and be it further
13 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
14 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
15 to the Greece Athena High School Boys
16 Basketball Team and to Coach Jim Johnson."
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Robach.
18 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam
19 President.
20 I am just honored and delighted to
21 have these great young men, their coaches,
22 some of the parents here today -- not only to
23 acknowledge their great athletic achievement,
24 but they're also very nice young men, good
25 student athletes, and a pleasure to be around.
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1 And above and beyond the great
2 accomplishments the team had this year and
3 moving through the playoffs and the
4 sectionals, no matter where you were, whether
5 you're a sports fan or not a sports fan,
6 certainly the teamwork and what JMac
7 accomplished this year really brought a tear
8 to everyone's eye, in the spirit of can-do
9 attitude, always being prepared, working for
10 that day when you get your chance. And he
11 made the most of it. I think the word that
12 comes to mind is inspirational.
13 And while this happened right in
14 our backyard, in Greece, New York, this was a
15 message for people across the state, across
16 the nation and across this country that no
17 matter what you have to deal with, if you
18 persevere, you're surrounded by the right
19 environment, the right encouragement, you too
20 can hit your peak and prosper.
21 And it was something that
22 certainly, whether you saw it on regular
23 television, ESPN, the news or whatever, I'll
24 remember for my whole life.
25 And I want to thank not only JMac
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1 but Coach Johnson, the parents, the whole team
2 for their contribution in providing us with
3 something that not only makes me proud, being
4 from the same town, but also proud as a human
5 being, really showing people what it's like
6 and how people can flourish.
7 So, boys, great job. We're happy
8 you're here. We hope you enjoy the day. And
9 they're all there -- I'm not going to read
10 everybody's name, but if you want to stand up,
11 thanks for your great accomplishment and we
12 wish you all the best in the future.
13 (Applause.)
14 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Nozzolio.
15 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
16 Madam President.
17 Madam President, I rise to support
18 Senator Robach's excellent resolution on
19 behalf of this fine group of young athletes
20 from, and I'd like to emphasize, Section V.
21 Although I don't represent Greece, I represent
22 a wide swath of Section V. And I want to say
23 that the athletes from Greece Athena, although
24 not from my district, certainly we were very
25 proud of all your accomplishments as
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1 representative of not just your school but the
2 entire region of Section V, a multicounty
3 region that has produced great state champions
4 in the past.
5 I must say this team in particular
6 did us special pride. They are champions.
7 And, Madam President, it was an honor to have
8 these fine young men from Section V represent
9 us in athletic endeavor.
10 Thank you very much.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Alesi.
12 SENATOR ALESI: Thank you, Madam
13 President.
14 As someone who also represents
15 Monroe County, it would be hard for me not to
16 stand and speak and congratulate the entire
17 team -- JMac especially -- but also to note
18 how important it is for a team working
19 together and a coach taking a shot on a young
20 man and the young man performing in the most
21 remarkable fashion that he did and the way
22 that his teammates have embraced that, and how
23 they've all gone on together to be ambassadors
24 and to show us that when we're looking for
25 inspiration on a daily basis, we might find it
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1 in the most unusual places. And here we see
2 it in this group of fine people in our gallery
3 today.
4 I'm proud to be a representative of
5 the area, proud to join my colleagues,
6 especially Senator Robach, who represents
7 Greece Athena, and proud of the efforts and
8 the accomplishments of the entire team.
9 And, JMac, good luck to you too as
10 well.
11 THE PRESIDENT: The question now
12 is on the resolution. All in favor please
13 signify by saying aye.
14 (Response of "Aye.")
15 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
16 (No response.)
17 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
18 adopted.
19 Congratulations. And we're
20 confident you're going to have similar success
21 down the road. Best wishes to you.
22 Senator Skelos.
23 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
24 Resolution 4197, by Senator Bonacic, was
25 adopted on March 28th. If we could have it
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1 read in its entirety at this time and then
2 recognize Senator Bonacic.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
4 will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
6 Bonacic, Legislative Resolution Number 4197,
7 congratulating the South Kortright High School
8 Girls Basketball Team and Coach Harry Nissen
9 upon the occasion of capturing the 2006
10 New York State Class D Championship.
11 "WHEREAS, Excellence and success in
12 competitive sports can be achieved only
13 through strenuous practice, team play and team
14 spirit, nurtured by dedicated coaching and
15 strategic planning; and
16 "WHEREAS, Athletic competition
17 enhances the moral and physical development of
18 the young people of this state, preparing them
19 for the future by instilling in them the value
20 of family work, encouraging a standard of
21 healthy living, imparting a desire for
22 success, and developing a sense of fair play
23 and competition; and
24 "WHEREAS, The South Kortright High
25 School Girls Basketball Team are the 2006
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1 New York State Class D Champions; and
2 "WHEREAS, The South Kortright High
3 School Girls Basketball Team defeated Chapel
4 Field High School 72-50 at Hudson Valley
5 Community College to win the state title; and
6 "WHEREAS, The athletic talent
7 displayed by this team is due in great part to
8 the efforts of Coach Harry Nissen, a skilled
9 and inspirational tutor, respected for his
10 ability to develop potential into excellence;
11 and
12 "WHEREAS, The team's overall record
13 is outstanding, and the team members were
14 loyally and enthusiastically supported by
15 family, fans, friends and the community at
16 large; and
17 "WHEREAS, The hallmarks of the
18 South Kortright High School Girls Basketball
19 Team, from the opening game of the season to
20 participation in the championship, were a
21 sisterhood of athletic ability, of good
22 sportsmanship, of honor and of scholarship,
23 demonstrating that these team players are
24 second to none; and
25 "WHEREAS, Athletically and
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1 academically, the team members have proven
2 themselves to be an unbeatable combination of
3 talents, reflecting favorably on their school;
4 and
5 "WHEREAS, Coach Harry Nissen has
6 done a superb job in guiding, molding and
7 inspiring the team members toward their goals;
8 and
9 "WHEREAS, Sports competition
10 instills the values of teamwork, pride and
11 accomplishment, and Coach Harry Nissen and the
12 outstanding athletes on the South Kortright
13 High School Girls Basketball Team have clearly
14 made a contribution to the spirit of
15 excellence which is a tradition of their
16 school; now, therefore, be it
17 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
18 Body pause in its deliberations to
19 congratulate the South Kortright High School
20 Girls Basketball Team and Coach Harry Nissen
21 on their outstanding season and overall team
22 record; and be it further
23 "RESOLVED, That copies of this
24 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
25 to the South Kortright High School Girls
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1 Basketball Team and to Coach Harry Nissen."
2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Bonacic.
3 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you,
4 Madam President. Looks like today is
5 "basketball recognition day."
6 And as you know, yesterday when you
7 spoke to our val/sal gathering, we had three
8 students from South Kortright in Delaware
9 County. They had such a wonderful time that
10 we invited 10 female students from South
11 Kortright today.
12 And I want to congratulate these 10
13 talented women who won the state division
14 basketball championship, Division D. They're
15 accompanied by their coach, Harry Nissen, and
16 the assistant coach, Patti McGrail.
17 And we have spent some time with
18 these ladies. They're not only good athletes,
19 they're talented human beings. And in some of
20 the discussions, what I tried to point out to
21 them -- and which they've agreed -- when you
22 play a sport, you learn several
23 characteristics that prepare you for life.
24 You learn to play as a team to depend and
25 trust each other. You learn how to always
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1 work hard in order to excel. You also learn
2 that you have to overcome adversity to
3 prevail. And having these characteristics I
4 think prepares you for life.
5 I enjoyed very much our meeting. I
6 wish you the best as you continue your high
7 school career and college career. And out of
8 the 10 ladies that are here today, three are
9 going on to college and the other seven are
10 coming back. So this is their first
11 championship ever in South Kortright, and we
12 hope many more we'll see in the future. We
13 enjoy having you.
14 Thank you very much, Madam
15 President.
16 (Applause.)
17 THE PRESIDENT: On the
18 resolution, all in favor please signify by
19 saying aye.
20 (Response of "Aye.")
21 THE PRESIDENT: And it's now been
22 adopted again. So this is definitely
23 appropriate recognition of your talents. Best
24 wishes for continued success.
25 Why don't you stand. We want to
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1 acknowledge you like the other team.
2 Congratulations.
3 (Applause.)
4 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
5 if we could have the title read on Senator
6 Malcolm Smith's resolution, Number 5659, and
7 move for its immediate adoption.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
9 will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
11 Malcolm Smith, Legislative Resolution Number
12 5659, commending Ana Michele Douyon upon the
13 occasion of receiving Honorable Mention in the
14 2006 Art Contest of the Disabilities Awareness
15 Program, sponsored by the New York State
16 Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for
17 Persons with Disabilities.
18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Malcolm
19 Smith.
20 SENATOR MALCOLM SMITH: Thank you
21 very much, Madam President.
22 And while this is not related to
23 basketball, it does relate to one of our young
24 people, one of our shining stars in our
25 community. And I think it's always a good
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1 thing when you can stand up on the floor of
2 the Senate, especially the floor of the New
3 York State Senate, and be proud about a young
4 person in your community who has done
5 something and done something very well.
6 Ana Michele Douyon, who entered
7 into the 2006 Arts Contest for the
8 Disabilities Awareness Program, when she did
9 the artwork she had no idea that she was going
10 to get a call one day from the State of
11 New York, from the Governor's office, that
12 says: Ana, your project actually was
13 successful, it was great art, and that it
14 actually won an honorable mention and would
15 actually be given an award where she would
16 have to come to the Executive Mansion.
17 Ana Michele was honored to receive
18 that phone call. Her teacher was honored to
19 know that it happened. And I will tell you,
20 when she visited me today in my office,
21 everything was going well until she mentioned
22 she went to Sacred Heart. Well, I went to
23 St. Catherine's, which was a rival to my
24 elementary school. And so we're having a
25 great meeting till we got to the point Sacred
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1 Heart came up. But thereafter, things went
2 back upward.
3 So I'm happy today that she is
4 joined by her mother, Florence, her father,
5 Anthony. She's joined by her brother, Ammon.
6 She's joined by her grandmother, Gisele --
7 Gisele is here -- and her teacher,
8 Mrs. Brereton, and her teacher's husband. So
9 if they would just stand.
10 And I would just ask the members of
11 the Senate to honor Ana Michele. She's a
12 second-grade young lady from the school of
13 Sacred Heart.
14 (Applause.)
15 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of
16 the resolution please signify by saying aye.
17 (Response of "Aye.")
18 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
19 (No response.)
20 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
21 adopted.
22 Congratulations to you, and best
23 wishes. Thank you for joining us.
24 Senator Johnson.
25 SENATOR JOHNSON: Madam
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1 President, it's wonderful to see all these
2 youngsters being honored today for their
3 activities in sports.
4 We have a group from my district,
5 I'm very honored to be here, called my
6 "Senator for a Day" members. And they come up
7 here every two years, and they visit with us.
8 And right up here, the 28 members from my
9 school district, they're all honor students,
10 they're all motivated. They might end up in
11 this chamber representing the people one of
12 these days. But for the moment, they're
13 finishing up their education.
14 They took a tour around the
15 Capitol, they're going to the museum, they've
16 been up in the tower, they learned a little
17 bit about their government, and they're here
18 to observe us perform. And I'm very honored
19 that they came to join us and hope they have a
20 wonderful day. And they'll be here for a few
21 more hours, then heading back for home.
22 And it's nice to have you with us.
23 Have a great day.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
25 Senator Skelos.
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1 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
2 if we could adopt the balance of the
3 Resolution Calendar in its entirety.
4 THE PRESIDENT: All in favor of
5 the remainder of the Resolution Calendar
6 please signify by saying aye.
7 (Response of "Aye.")
8 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
9 (No response.)
10 THE PRESIDENT: The remainder of
11 the Resolution Calender is so adopted.
12 Senator Skelos.
13 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could go
14 to the noncontroversial reading of the
15 calendar.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
17 will read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 171, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 980A, an
20 act to amend the Public Health Law.
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, 51.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
4 passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 225, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 1372, an
7 act to amend the Insurance Law.
8 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
9 section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51.
15 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
16 passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 241, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 5755B, an
19 act to amend the Tax Law.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
21 section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
23 act shall take effect March 1, 2006.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 49. Nays,
2 2. Senators Balboni and Duane recorded in the
3 negative.
4 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
5 passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 367, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 3266, an
8 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
10 section.
11 THE SECRETARY: Section 6. This
12 act shall take effect immediately.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 51.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
17 passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 546, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6762A, an
20 act to authorize the Town of Wappinger, County
21 of Dutchess.
22 THE PRESIDENT: There is a
23 home-rule message at the desk.
24 Read the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. 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, 51.
5 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
6 passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 607, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 6432A, an
9 act to amend Chapter 698 of the Laws of 1991
10 amending the Public Authorities Law.
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, 52.
18 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
19 passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 695, by Senator LaValle, Senate --
22 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
23 the day.
24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is laid
25 aside for the day.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 726, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 6952B,
3 an act to authorize the City of Port Jervis.
4 THE PRESIDENT: There is a
5 home-rule message at the desk.
6 Read the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
10 (The Secretary called the roll.)
11 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
13 passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 729, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7171B, an
16 act to authorize.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
18 section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
24 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
25 passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 752, by Senator Spano, Senate Print 7318A, an
3 act to amend the Labor Law.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Read the last
5 section.
6 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
7 act shall take effect immediately.
8 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays,
11 1. Senator Rath recorded in the negative.
12 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
13 passed.
14 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
15 753, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 7321B,
16 an act to amend the Labor Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: 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 LITTLE: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 774, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 7134, an
5 act to amend the Correction Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 785, substituted earlier today by Member of
18 the Assembly Millman, Assembly Print Number
19 9193, an act to authorize the Cobble Hill
20 Playgroup, Inc.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays,
4 1. Senator Larkin recorded in the negative.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 815, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print --
9 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
10 the day.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
12 bill is laid aside for the day.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 822, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 1906, an
15 act to amend the Real Property Actions and
16 Proceedings Law.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays,
25 2. Senators Meier and Winner recorded in the
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1 negative.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 958, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 7283,
6 an act to amend the Education Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This
10 act shall take effect on the first of July.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
16 bill is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 1053, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 676,
19 an act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
3 Krueger, to explain her vote.
4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you
5 very much, Madam President.
6 We debated this bill extensively
7 last year. And the concern was that the
8 definitions of who would be eligible for
9 handicapped parking in the City of New York
10 who lived outside of the City of New York and
11 the limitations, the very serious limitations
12 on street availability for more cars, led
13 several of us to vote against that bill.
14 And I will continue to vote against
15 the bill, not as a vote against recognizing
16 the added problems of people with serious
17 handicaps and their necessity of being able to
18 move around our city but, rather, the
19 recognition that simply saying that large
20 numbers of people would suddenly have access
21 to parking in no-parking zones in the City of
22 New York would be an enormous problem,
23 particularly in my district of Midtown and the
24 East Side of Manhattan, where literally you
25 cannot cross the street in some intersections
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1 because of the sheer volume of vehicles.
2 So I will continue to vote no for
3 this bill.
4 Thank you, Madam President.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
6 you.
7 Senator Krueger will be recorded in
8 the negative.
9 Senator Padavan, to explain his
10 vote.
11 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes, Madam
12 President.
13 This bill I think makes sense. If
14 someone is disabled and has received an
15 appropriate permit, no matter where the
16 jurisdiction is, we are one state. That fact
17 of disability should be acknowledged and
18 honored by any other jurisdiction in the
19 state. And so I will be voting for this bill.
20 However, I do feel that there is
21 one issue -- in talking to Senator Marcellino,
22 he intends to deal with that problem -- is
23 that residents of New York City who have
24 handicapped parking permits are not
25 acknowledged in certain jurisdictions outside
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1 the City of New York.
2 And I have had specific instances
3 of seniors, handicapped, going into Nassau
4 County, which is on the border of my district,
5 parking in a handicapped zone and getting a
6 ticket because their tag was New York City.
7 And so I think we should address
8 that as well. There should be total
9 reciprocity. If you're handicapped and you
10 have a permit, no matter where you are in this
11 great state, you should be given the
12 opportunity of parking in a handicapped space.
13 I vote aye.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
15 you.
16 Senator Padavan will be recorded in
17 the affirmative.
18 Senator Marcellino, to explain his
19 vote.
20 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes, Madam
21 President. I rise to explain my vote.
22 It is a concept, as Senator Padavan
23 just talked about, of fairness. And I will
24 address the concerns that the good Senator
25 raised by amending the bill next time around.
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1 This concept that mass numbers of
2 people would charge into the city to park in
3 handicapped spaces, it's just plain silly.
4 That simply isn't going to happen.
5 There are needs, however, of people
6 on Long Island and other areas of the state
7 who have to travel into the city for medical
8 purposes, for other reasons, and a handicapped
9 spot would be useful. And I think that is a
10 matter of plain fairness.
11 The concept of this mass migration
12 business is plain silly, as I said before. So
13 I'll be voting aye. And hopefully this bill
14 will be amended and it will pass unanimously
15 next time.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
17 you.
18 Senator Marcellino will be recorded
19 in the affirmative.
20 Senator Schneiderman, to explain
21 his vote.
22 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
23 Madam President, very briefly.
24 I hope that we can move forward on
25 this issue. I think Senator Marcellino has
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1 called our attention to something that is --
2 that really, I think, resonates with everyone
3 in this room, that there's a fundamental
4 injustice if people are -- some folks are
5 allowed to park because they have a permit for
6 disability parking and others are not.
7 The problem that has been raised is
8 that the parking systems are very different in
9 different parts of the state. New York City,
10 again, does not have disabled parking slots
11 specifically, so the permits enable people to
12 park pretty much anywhere. And second of all,
13 there's no uniformity, there are no standards
14 to determine exactly who gets these permits
15 and what they can be used for.
16 So I would suggest that an approach
17 that's more likely to result in a law to help
18 us move forward and actually address this
19 problem would be to provide for some sort of
20 uniformity, some sort of coherence to the
21 system that would ensure the City of New York,
22 which is obviously concerned about this, that
23 there aren't permits being issued with lesser
24 standards and there aren't permits being
25 issued that can be taken off and moved from
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1 car to car.
2 That sort of approach I think would
3 get the support of everyone in this house and
4 would enable us to move forward in the other
5 house as well.
6 In the absence of something
7 providing for some uniformity of both what the
8 permits mean and how they are issued, I'm
9 going to be voting no again, Madam President.
10 Thank you.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
12 you.
13 Senator Schneiderman will be
14 recorded in the negative.
15 Senator Hassell-Thompson, to
16 explain her vote.
17 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Yes.
18 It's very rarely that I am not in agreement
19 with most of what goes on in New York City.
20 But somehow I think I'm having a problem here
21 trying to understand how someone who has been
22 issued a handicapped sticker and is
23 handicapped in a particular borough and they
24 suddenly don't have a handicapping condition
25 anywhere else.
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1 You know -- and I think that what
2 we need to be doing, as was already stated, we
3 need to be addressing this issue universally
4 in terms of how do you ensure that people who
5 have who a handicapping condition receive
6 reciprocity. And that's -- you know, I guess
7 that's where my issue lies.
8 And I'm not sure that I'm
9 comfortable that we have addressed this in
10 this bill or in the way in which we proceed
11 that we go forward.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
13 you, Senator.
14 Senator Hassell-Thompson, how do
15 you vote?
16 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON:
17 Somehow I didn't vote no on it before, but I
18 think I will be voting no on it today.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: You
20 will be recorded in the negative.
21 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote.
22 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam
23 President.
24 I'm also in support of this bill.
25 I think that if you are handicapped, you are
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1 handicapped anywhere, everywhere, and all the
2 time. I don't think that people should be
3 handicapped in the City of New York and not be
4 handicapped in Yonkers or not be handicapped
5 in Albany.
6 If you are a handicapped person,
7 you are handicapped in New York City, in
8 Albany, whatever. And if Albany or the City
9 of New York issue a permit, a handicapped
10 permit, that should be valid all over the
11 state.
12 So I'm in support of this bill, and
13 I think that handicapped people deserve our
14 support. And I support the sponsor of the
15 bill.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
17 you.
18 Senator Diaz will be recorded in
19 the affirmative.
20 The Secretary will announce the
21 results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
23 the negative on Calendar Number 1053 are
24 Senators Dilan, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger,
25 Montgomery, Parker, Sabini, Savino,
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1 Schneiderman and Stavisky.
2 Ayes, 50. Nays, 9.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 1075, by Senator Marchi, Senate Print 7433, an
7 act to amend the Retirement and Social
8 Security Law.
9 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside for
10 the day.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
12 bill is laid aside for the day.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 1116, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 7542A,
15 an act in relation to authorizing the Town of
16 Brookhaven.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
25 1. Senator Bonacic recorded in the negative.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1117, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 4542,
5 an act to amend the Mental Hygiene Law.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
9 act shall take effect on the first of January.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 1120, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 419C,
18 an act to amend the Education Law.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
22 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57. Nays,
2 2. Senators Connor and Padavan recorded in
3 the negative.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
5 bill is passed.
6 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
7 1134, by Senator Bruno, Senate Print --
8 SENATOR SKELOS: Lay it aside
9 temporarily.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
11 bill is laid aside temporarily.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1163, by Senator Little, Senate Print 720A, an
14 act to amend the Tax Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect June 1, 2006.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
23 Krueger, to explain your vote.
24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
25 Madam President.
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1 While I do understand the issue of
2 needing to produce snow for ski areas, again,
3 just for the record, we have an energy crisis,
4 we should be discouraging use of fossil fuels
5 and gasoline.
6 And I hope that there is a model
7 where ski areas could use clean-energy models
8 and alternative energy to produce their snow.
9 And maybe is answer is there are or that they
10 would be motivated to do so.
11 But just continuing on my record
12 that I vote against tax reductions for the use
13 of fossil fuels and energy, I'll be voting no
14 on this. But hoping that, like every other
15 industry in the State of New York, our ski
16 areas figure out to how to produce snow
17 without using environmentally harmful or short
18 resources and, rather, move to
19 alternative-energy models.
20 So thank you very much; I'll be
21 voting no.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
23 you.
24 Senator Krueger will be recorded in
25 the negative.
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1 The Secretary will announce the
2 results.
3 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 58. Nays,
4 2. Senators Duane and L. Krueger recorded in
5 the negative.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
7 bill is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 1177, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 6825A,
10 an act to amend the Executive Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
14 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1202, substituted earlier today by Member of
23 the Assembly Pheffer, Assembly Print Number
24 11141, an act to amend the General Business
25 Law.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
2 the last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect immediately.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 1206, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 930, an
13 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
14 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
15 aside.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
17 bill is laid aside.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 1210, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 2393, an
20 act to amend the Penal Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
24 act shall take effect on the first of
25 November.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 the negative on Calendar Number 1210 are
6 Senators Duane, Maziarz, Montgomery, Nozzolio
7 and Young.
8 Ayes, 55. Nays, 5.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
10 bill is passed.
11 SENATOR BRUNO: Madam President,
12 can we at this time return to Calendar 1134.
13 I believe I have a bill I'd like to bring
14 before the floor.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
16 Secretary will read Calendar Number 1134.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 1134, by Senator Bruno, Senate Print 1370,
19 Concurrent Resolution of the Senate and
20 Assembly proposing amendments to the
21 Constitution.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
23 Bruno.
24 SENATOR BRUNO: Yes, Madam
25 President, to explain my vote.
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1 This resolution really gives first
2 passage to initiative and referendum, which
3 brings subjects -- as you all know, because we
4 have passed this in this house before --
5 before the people. Important issues, when
6 they follow certain procedures, can be voted
7 on directly by the public in a referendum.
8 And these are issues that may not come before
9 the Legislature in any other way.
10 We would encourage passage here
11 again. And we're encouraging the Assembly to
12 join us for first passage. Second passage
13 would be next year in the legislative session
14 and then go before the people of this state
15 for, hopefully, ratification.
16 Critically important. Life,
17 liberty, pursuit of happiness -- that's what
18 life is all about here in New York. And this
19 chamber has been extremely supportive.
20 Thank you, Madam President. Thank
21 you, colleagues. I vote in favor.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
23 you.
24 The Secretary will call the roll on
25 the resolution.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
3 Bonacic, to explain his vote.
4 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you,
5 Madam President.
6 First of all, I'd like to
7 congratulate Senator Bruno for bringing this
8 bill to the floor. This is a piece of
9 legislation that's the most powerful weapon
10 and tool we can give to the people of the
11 State of New York to make judgments on their
12 government.
13 And anyone who -- I'm shocked that
14 people would vote against this bill, because,
15 to me, anyone who votes against this bill is
16 afraid of the influence of the people's vote
17 to participate in democracy and change
18 government for the issues that they are not
19 satisfied with.
20 So I wholeheartedly support this
21 constitutional amendment, and I would urge my
22 colleagues to support it also.
23 Thank you very much, Madam
24 President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
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1 you.
2 Senator Bonacic will be recorded in
3 the affirmative.
4 Senator Diaz, to explain his vote.
5 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam
6 President. I'm also in support of this bill.
7 I think that some people might say
8 that we don't need this bill because the
9 people sent us here to represent them;
10 therefore, we are representing the people, so
11 the people doesn't have to get involved in the
12 issues.
13 Well, ladies and gentlemen, yes,
14 it's a good bill. And I congratulate Senator
15 Bruno. Senator Bruno, I congratulate you on
16 this bill. It's a good bill. And I think
17 that -- I want to tell you the reason why I
18 think that it is a good bill.
19 There are certain things that
20 people should decide to be able to be put into
21 referendum -- gay marriage, abortion. People
22 should put that in a referendum and let the
23 people decide. And let the whole state, the
24 whole nation decide.
25 That's why I'm supporting President
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1 Bush's amendment to the Constitution, because
2 people should decide. Let the people put the
3 referendum and let the people decide what has
4 to be done.
5 So yes, I'm in support of this
6 legislation. I'm also in support of President
7 Bush's amendment to the Constitution of the
8 United States of America. God bless America.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
10 you.
11 Senator Diaz will be recorded in
12 the affirmative.
13 Senator Robach, to explain his
14 vote.
15 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam
16 President. I too rise to happily cast my vote
17 in the affirmative.
18 This is an issue that we've been
19 working on for a long time. And I think if
20 you look at what's gone on a little bit -- and
21 I'm not sure why. We all know in this room
22 that government is very important. But we see
23 the number of people that are eligible to get
24 registered to vote, registering in the first
25 place. We see even less people turning out to
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1 vote.
2 I think this absolutely would be a
3 tool that hopefully will send a message to
4 everyone, give them even a louder voice at the
5 ballot box, besides what man or woman will
6 represent them -- direct access to certain
7 important issues. And hopefully this will be
8 something that will be good for all of
9 democracy as well.
10 This truly is, as the cliche saying
11 goes, power to the people. I think it's a
12 step in the right direction, and hopefully
13 something that will get the average man and
14 woman voter a little bit more engaged in the
15 right direction.
16 I happily cast my vote in the
17 affirmative.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
19 you.
20 Senator Robach will be recorded in
21 the affirmative.
22 Senator Stavisky, to explain her
23 vote.
24 SENATOR STAVISKY: To explain my
25 vote, Madam President.
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1 For all of the reasons that my
2 colleagues have explained, I see -- I see what
3 has happened in California, and for that
4 reason I vote no.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
6 you.
7 Senator Stavisky will be recorded
8 in the negative.
9 Senator Krueger, to explain her
10 vote.
11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
12 Madam President.
13 Well, I'm in support of this bill,
14 and yet I disagree with some of my colleagues
15 who are also supporting the bill. And I feel
16 that I should explain to some of my colleagues
17 who are opposed to the bill, well, I think
18 that there's the right way to do I&R and the
19 wrong way, and that this bill expresses some
20 of the concerns of my colleagues who are
21 voting against it.
22 It doesn't do everything it should.
23 And I would argue that we also need clean
24 election/campaign finance reform before this
25 ever became the law of the State of New York.
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1 Because where I&R has sometimes done harm
2 instead of good in other states is when people
3 with the most money could buy the elections
4 because they could do huge outreach on one
5 side of an issue.
6 But if people look at this bill --
7 and it's the reason why I can support this
8 bill, while I wouldn't support many other I&R
9 proposals. It's because it does require that
10 at least 5 percent of the number of votes cast
11 in a gubernatorial election would have to come
12 from at least 3/5 of the state's congressional
13 districts. So you couldn't have one section
14 of the state taking over for another for
15 geographical disagreements.
16 I also think it's important to
17 recognize that this wouldn't be allowed to
18 apply to elections of officers for
19 appropriation of monies, which has been a huge
20 problem in some other states, or in mandating
21 certain activities on corporations.
22 It also would require that any I&R
23 adopted would have to be voted by twice in two
24 consecutive election cycles of the voters
25 before it moved into law.
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1 So again, there's a -- I think a
2 carefulness and a thoughtfulness built into
3 this model of I&R that we have not seen in
4 several other states.
5 So I share some of my colleagues'
6 concerns that when you open up an initiative
7 and referendum process for the voters, you may
8 risk someone, not the voters and democracy
9 taking control, but, rather, some special
10 interest. Or you may end up in a situation
11 where one section of the state is fighting out
12 over another section of the state
13 geographically. And we certainly know of that
14 experience all too well here in New York.
15 That an I&R model that actually
16 ensures that every district of the state has
17 to go out there and sell it to the voters,
18 that it has to go through multiple steps, that
19 there is a formal process by which certain
20 issues could be considered through a
21 referendum of the voters and other issues
22 would be left to the mandate and the
23 responsibility of legislators -- because,
24 after all, why do people elect us? They elect
25 to us make hopefully good decisions on their
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1 behalf.
2 That there is a check and balance
3 in a good I&R model, and I think this is a
4 good one. So again, I don't think it's a
5 universal panacea for anyone out there who is
6 voting for it. But I also think that this
7 bill actually doesn't open up some of the
8 concerns that have been raised by my
9 colleagues in observing things that have
10 happened in other states that I would agree
11 were not in the best interests of the people.
12 So I vote yes, but with recognition
13 that these are complicated issues that we
14 should be thinking through carefully.
15 Thank you, Madam President.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
17 you.
18 Senator Krueger will be recorded in
19 the affirmative.
20 Senator Nozzolio, to explain his
21 vote.
22 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
23 Madam President.
24 Madam President and my colleagues,
25 I rise to explain my vote in support of
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1 initiative and referendum.
2 First, I wish to congratulate
3 Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno for moving
4 this measure to the floor.
5 That I have been a sponsor of
6 initiative and referendum for a number of
7 years. That I believe very strongly in the
8 concept that citizens should have a direct
9 participatory role in their democracy. That
10 we have nothing to fear by supporting this
11 measure other than the wrath of the
12 electorate, who will have now, because of this
13 measure, a direct voice in specific measures
14 of legislation.
15 My favorite quotation from the
16 United States Supreme Court was written by
17 Justice Brandeis, that said very simply that
18 in the United States the highest public office
19 is that of private citizen.
20 I take that responsibility and that
21 guideline very seriously. That we do not have
22 a couch potato democracy or we cannot succeed
23 with a couch potato mentality in terms of our
24 democracy.
25 We clearly need citizen
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1 participation. And that this measure, which
2 is a measure that over 25 states -- not just
3 California, as some of my colleagues have
4 alluded to, but 25 states at the very minimum
5 have established initiative and referendum.
6 It's those states that have a direct
7 participation by their citizens. We should
8 not fear that participation.
9 Senator Bonacic mentioned this is
10 the ultimate reform. Those of you who have
11 claimed to be reformers must support this
12 measure because, frankly, this is the ultimate
13 reform. And what this Legislature may do or
14 not do with initiative and referendum on the
15 books would serve, at the very minimum, as a
16 Damocles sword over those who are intransigent
17 to move this legislation forward.
18 Initiative and referendum has many
19 elements that we should be proud of. I'm
20 proud that this Senate Republican conference
21 moved this measure to the floor.
22 Thank you, Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
24 you.
25 Senator Nozzolio will be recorded
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1 in the affirmative.
2 Senator Balboni, to explain his
3 vote.
4 SENATOR BALBONI: Madam
5 President, I rise to support this bill but
6 note that it looks like the air of reform and
7 change doesn't reach this far. It seems that
8 we've had this whole big discussion about how
9 we should change things and how we should
10 empower individuals, and yet we're going to
11 stop the train here because we are concerned
12 that we might let people in and actually
13 participate in government.
14 Well, I'm here to tell you that I
15 think it's a good thing for New York. I think
16 this would be one of the things that we should
17 take a look at. And we should continue this
18 reform bandwagon as it goes towards this
19 issue.
20 I vote aye. Thank you.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
22 you.
23 Senator Balboni will be recorded in
24 the affirmative.
25 Senator Connor, to explain your
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1 vote.
2 SENATOR CONNOR: Thank you, Madam
3 President.
4 I'm voting no on this bill. And
5 I've always thought if initiative and
6 referendum were adopted and they had to get
7 petitions and all, it might make life
8 interesting or more remunerative for those who
9 practice election law.
10 (Laughter.)
11 SENATOR CONNOR: But the fact is
12 a number of years ago Governor Cuomo proposed
13 what was called a limited initiative. And I
14 was the Senate sponsor of that at the time.
15 And that was geared toward a situation which I
16 liked where the voters could force the
17 Legislature to consider a legislative
18 proposal.
19 And his particular, I think,
20 concern then was the anti-bias crime bill that
21 had been languishing for a number of years,
22 and that gave him the idea. And I thought
23 that was a good idea because it combined the
24 legislative, the deliberative nature of the
25 legislature with the people's ability to
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1 initiate some action here. And to the extent
2 people talk about there's sometimes a logjam
3 in Albany, I thought that proposal was well
4 considered and kind of gave us a bit of both
5 worlds.
6 Out-and-out initiative and
7 referendum I think would be a wonderful idea
8 except for the economic factors. And I know
9 Senator Krueger said, well, we need campaign
10 finance reform. The problem in this area is
11 if you look at the jurisprudence, the Supreme
12 Court has said in the California case -- and
13 California had a law basically saying
14 corporations can't contribute money to
15 campaigns and so on. And they tried to extend
16 that to corporations couldn't spend money on a
17 campaign.
18 We have a similar pretty strict
19 limitation on what corporations can do
20 politically. They can only give $5,000 in the
21 aggregate to campaigns in a year.
22 But the Supreme Court case said
23 that when the business and economic interests
24 of the corporation are involved, they can
25 spend unlimited money, corporate money. That
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1 case involved an attempt to regulate utility
2 rates. And the large California utility
3 companies -- and they won at the Supreme
4 Court -- were permitted to spend untold
5 millions of dollars of corporate funds on
6 media, television, mail, et cetera, to beat
7 back the referendum.
8 And, frankly, the citizens who had
9 taken all the time and trouble to circulate
10 and get whatever they required -- 50,000,
11 100,000 signatures -- didn't have a chance
12 against that type of economic power.
13 So in theory, initiative and
14 referendum looks wonderful. And sometimes the
15 public succeeds in bringing something forth.
16 But if you take on the powerful monied
17 interests in initiative and referendum, you're
18 going to get slapped down.
19 And if the monied interests decide
20 they want to push something by initiative and
21 referendum, they're likely to prevail in a way
22 that they've never -- and you can talk and the
23 press can talk about special-interest
24 influence on the Legislature. But, frankly,
25 initiative and referendum gets right to it.
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1 Their money gets right to the voter and wins
2 them over, their hearts and minds.
3 And the Legislature, I don't
4 think -- I think we're immune to a lot of
5 that. And the kind of reforms that have been
6 are evolving make us even more and more immune
7 certainly to the perception that somehow
8 special interests hold sway here.
9 So initiative and referendum is the
10 special interests' dream. It's their dream.
11 It puts their money to work. It puts their
12 money back in play. And we can do all the
13 campaign finance reform we want to try and
14 change the influence of money. But this
15 measure would give carte blanche to big money.
16 So that's why I'm voting no, Madam
17 President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
19 you.
20 Senator Connor will be recorded in
21 the negative.
22 Senator Oppenheimer, to explain her
23 vote.
24 SENATOR OPPENHEIMER: Thank you
25 very much, Madam President.
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1 What Senator Connor just said made
2 me reflect on something that happened about 28
3 years ago in Westchester, and some of you may
4 recall that.
5 We wanted to go to a Westchester
6 Power Authority, and we had most of the
7 citizens very revved up and interested in this
8 new proposal because we were quite angry at
9 some things that Con Ed had done at that time.
10 Well, exactly what Senator Connor
11 mentioned happened: Con Ed threw so much
12 money into that campaign that even though we
13 had the citizenry originally interested in it,
14 it completely squelched that interest. So we
15 were unfortunately bought out of something
16 that we had thought was going to be a
17 wonderful, wonderful project for our county.
18 But I think in terms of reform, in
19 terms of getting back citizen interest and
20 participation, I think there would be nothing
21 better than to put in place a bipartisan
22 commission to draw our district lines. They
23 think our district lines are all rigged, and
24 they might well be right. And I also think
25 that there's nothing like campaign finance
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1 reform that has real teeth in it to make the
2 citizenry realize that we are genuinely
3 interested in reform.
4 I'll be voting no.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
6 you.
7 Senator Oppenheimer will be
8 recorded in the negative.
9 The Secretary will announce the
10 results.
11 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
12 the negative on Calendar Number 1134 are
13 Senators Connor, Duane, Hassell-Thompson,
14 Montgomery, Oppenheimer, Parker, Savino,
15 Schneiderman and Stavisky. Also Senator A.
16 Smith.
17 Ayes, 50. Nays, 10.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
19 resolution is adopted.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1219, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7208B,
22 an act to amend the Penal Law and the Criminal
23 Procedure Law.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
25 the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
2 act shall take effect on the first of
3 November.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
8 Montgomery, to explain your vote.
9 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes, Madam
10 President, thank you.
11 I'm voting no on this legislation.
12 And the primary reason that I'm voting no is
13 because the definition that is used, the
14 language that is used in this legislation that
15 defines what is a gang could very well define
16 any number of organizations that I'm familiar
17 with.
18 Those organizations have a
19 particular code, a handshake and other things
20 that they use as part of their membership
21 participation. Some of those are professional
22 organizations, sororities and fraternities.
23 Many friends of mine are members. And while I
24 understand that this is not referring to them,
25 it certainly describes who they are and what
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1 their membership in the organizations consists
2 of.
3 And also I want to just say to you,
4 Madam President, and to my colleagues that
5 this is a bill which captures any two young
6 people who happen to be standing on a corner
7 together and wearing similar clothing, which
8 many of them do. In my district, every
9 teenager has a white T-shirt and big jeans.
10 And so any of them could at any point be
11 defined as a gang, based on this legislation.
12 I think it's very broad. It's not
13 specific enough. And it requires a
14 determinate sentence that is added onto any
15 other sentence for criminal activity that
16 already is in law.
17 So I think we need to think about
18 this much more carefully. There are other
19 ways of dealing with gangs. Other
20 jurisdictions have done it very successfully.
21 And rather than immediately rushing to just
22 add a few more years of incarceration and
23 defining gang activity much more broadly, we
24 need to be thinking through what we are doing
25 in order to avoid young people having to
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1 engage in activities which we consider to be
2 gang activity.
3 So I'm voting no, Madam President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
5 you.
6 Senator Montgomery will be recorded
7 in the negative.
8 Senator Balboni, to explain his
9 vote.
10 SENATOR BALBONI: Madam
11 President, this bill addresses something
12 which, if you talk to law enforcement
13 officials, is really becoming an epidemic.
14 The amount of gangs that are preying upon the
15 streets of U.S. cities is increasing,
16 particularly here in the state of New York.
17 In fact, on March 15, 2006, there was an
18 article that 18 Manhattan drug gang members
19 were indicted.
20 This is a constant story. When you
21 talk to prosecutors, they talk about the
22 inability to go after the collective actions
23 of the groups. That is what this legislation
24 attempts to do.
25 It attempts to define criminal
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1 street gang activity, because that really is
2 the nexus for the criminal activity. And a
3 whole host of associate problems come out of
4 it, whether it's recruiting schoolchildren on
5 school grounds to become a member of a gang,
6 whether it is trying to work out a drug cartel
7 on the streets of our cities. This is a
8 major, major problem.
9 This is something that law
10 enforcement likes. This is something that has
11 been drafted with their consent and
12 involvement. And this is a step that we need
13 to take, not only as a state but as a nation,
14 to address this rising problem.
15 I vote aye.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
17 you.
18 Senator Balboni will be recorded in
19 the affirmative.
20 Senator Parker, to explain his
21 vote.
22 SENATOR PARKER: Thank you, Madam
23 President.
24 I'm actually rising to vote no on
25 this bill. And once again, I guess I'm
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1 disappointed in that we've taken the easy way
2 out at kind of attacking a problem once it's
3 already become a problem.
4 The problems of gangs and -- the
5 rising problem of gangs in our community is
6 very, very serious and very significant. And
7 so I applaud the members of this chamber for
8 taking up this important matter. But I think
9 that we've gone about it in the wrong way.
10 We really ought to be trying to,
11 Madam President, deal with this before it
12 becomes a problem. I mean, the reality is
13 that gangs are something that essentially
14 we've created, we've created because we have
15 allowed our young people to be unsupervised
16 and not to deal with the problems that we have
17 in our own communities before they become
18 problems.
19 So we go back and we look at the
20 history of New York City -- even if you go
21 back to the early '90s, when we were having a
22 significant crisis in terms of funding and
23 money in the city, and there was a serious
24 crime problem, we didn't have a gang problem.
25 We didn't have one in the early '90s. We
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1 didn't start getting a gang problem in the
2 City of New York, at least, until well into
3 the mid-'90s and the beginning of 2000.
4 And the reality of the gang problem
5 was that during the time that Mayor Giuliani
6 was there, he redefined the way that we did
7 crime. And I know that's something that --
8 you know, "America's Mayor," and everybody's
9 all happy with Giuliani. But the reality is
10 we have to look at what happened.
11 He redefined crime so that we were
12 only looking at the seven major categories
13 that the FBI focuses on. Which means
14 everything else that doesn't fit into those
15 seven major categories essentially got
16 ignored. And so we put money into those
17 things. And so the murders or rapes or
18 batteries, we paid attention to it and we
19 dealt with it.
20 Under the Dinkins administration,
21 there was a policy called cops and kids where
22 we went and put money into both police
23 officers and making sure that we went to a
24 model under Commissioner Brown where there was
25 some community policing and police officers
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1 were in the street knowing what was happening
2 in the communities.
3 But then also there was money for
4 youth programming. And so at the time the
5 state had a State Division for Youth, which we
6 no longer have anymore in the state. And the
7 State Division for Youth -- and I know this so
8 well because I actually worked for the State
9 Division for Youth and implemented some of
10 these programs in communities where money was
11 given to community-based organizations to
12 engage young people in leadership, to make
13 sure that young people were being engaged in
14 after-school programs.
15 And at that time in our public
16 schools we had music, art, dance and athletics
17 as regular parts of the curriculum and things
18 that young people were engaged in every day.
19 So that after school a young person might be
20 engaged in baseball or football or basketball
21 or lacrosse. There were programs, if they
22 weren't involved there in youth programs,
23 where they might have been either getting
24 tutors or they might have been learning dance
25 or they might have been learning martial arts
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1 or something that was engaging them.
2 All of those -- the dollars for
3 those programs have been eliminated. On the
4 city level, the Department of Youth Services
5 got merged with the Department of Community
6 Development, so now it's the Department of
7 Community Development and Youth Services.
8 So what have we done to our young
9 people? We've abandoned them. We've gone to
10 an educational system that now simply teaches
11 to the test. There's no more music, art,
12 dance and athletics as regular parts of the
13 curriculum. We are no longer providing, you
14 know, any type of after-school programs. And
15 now when they get involved in gangs, we're now
16 saying you're criminals.
17 The reality is that we're the
18 criminals because we have abandoned the young
19 people of the city and of the state. And as
20 this bill is no way to address that reality,
21 I'll vote no.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
23 you.
24 Senator Parker will be recorded in
25 the negative.
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1 Before we continue, may I remind
2 everyone that you actually have two minutes to
3 explain your vote. We've been flexible today,
4 but we would like to stick to the two minutes
5 for the rest of the day. Thank you.
6 Senator Sabini, to explain his vote
7 in two minutes.
8 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam
9 President.
10 While I agree with my colleagues
11 Senators Montgomery and Parker that we need a
12 holistic approach to the problem of our youth,
13 I do think that part of that holistic approach
14 is penalty.
15 Gangs are a very serious problem.
16 I have a package of legislation introduced in
17 this house to deal with gangs. And while I
18 think my bill happens to be better than
19 Senator Balboni's bill, I don't think the good
20 should be the enemy of the perfect, and I
21 intend to support this bill.
22 Just last week, Madam President, in
23 P.S. 89 in Elmhurst we had a meeting sponsored
24 by Assemblyman Peralta -- who sponsors a
25 number of my bills on gang activity -- and
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1 District Attorney Brown where about four dozen
2 parents, mostly from immigrant families, came
3 with genuine fear that their children were
4 being recruited into these gangs, and that
5 they didn't know all the signs, all the
6 colors, all the codes they should know to know
7 whether or not their children were being
8 recruited or attacked by gangs.
9 So I congratulate Senator Balboni
10 on his legislation, and Assemblyman Rivera.
11 Hope we continue to do more. Hope we do go to
12 a holistic approach and do some more
13 prevention as well. But I don't think we can
14 just do one or the other.
15 This does at least some of it, and
16 I'll be voting aye. Thank you.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
18 you.
19 Senator Sabini will be recorded in
20 the affirmative.
21 The Secretary will announce the
22 results.
23 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
24 the negative on Calendar Number 1219 are
25 Senators Duane, Montgomery and Parker.
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1 Ayes, 58. Nays, 3.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 1220, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 7225A,
6 an act to amend the Penal Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
8 the last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect on the first of
11 November.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
17 bill is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 1240, substituted earlier today by Member of
20 the Assembly McEneny, Assembly Print Number
21 974, an act to amend the Real Property Tax
22 Law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
24 the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
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1 act shall take effect on the 30th day.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
3 the roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
7 bill is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 1243, by Senator Young, Senate Print 6235, an
10 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
12 the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
14 act shall take effect on the 30th day.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
16 the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
19 Young, to explain her vote.
20 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you, Madam
21 President, to explain my vote.
22 Under current law, unsafe drivers
23 who have been sniffing glues or aerosols
24 cannot be charged with driving while
25 ability-impaired by drugs.
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1 And the Vehicle and Traffic Law now
2 defines a drug as those listed under Public
3 Health Law Section 3306, which includes
4 illegal and prescription drugs but not glues
5 and aerosol inhalants.
6 This bill amends the Vehicle and
7 Traffic Law by expanding the definition of
8 "drug" to include those inhalants and certain
9 glues.
10 Glue sniffing, aerosol inhalation
11 or inhalation of any toxic vapor affects one's
12 ability to drive safely and should be included
13 as grounds for drug-impaired driving. And
14 those who have been inhaling dangerous
15 substances should not be allowed to drive and
16 place the lives of other New Yorkers in
17 danger, because they present as much of a
18 threat on the road as drunken drivers in many
19 cases.
20 We have a responsibility to protect
21 motorists against dangerous drivers. And I
22 want to thank my colleagues for supporting
23 this very important bill.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
25 you.
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1 Senator Young will be recorded in
2 the affirmative.
3 Senator Duane, to explain his vote.
4 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you, Madam
5 President.
6 I'm going to vote against this
7 bill, which expands the definition of "drug"
8 in the Vehicle and Traffic Law to include
9 inhalants and certain glues.
10 And I really think that this bill
11 needs some kind of a hearing to determine not
12 just the impact, obviously, which sniffing
13 glue or inhalants has on a person, but, more
14 specifically, how is law enforcement going to
15 test whether someone's been sniffing glue or
16 not. I don't think such a thing exists. If
17 it does, I'd love to hear about it and we can
18 hear about it in a hearing.
19 But the other thing is obviously
20 someone that's sniffing glue has a substance
21 abuse problem, and obviously they would need
22 treatment for substance abuse. And yet
23 because we don't have Timothy's Law passed
24 here in New York State, many New Yorkers, if
25 they needed that kind of treatment, would be
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1 unable to afford it.
2 Now, the week is almost over and we
3 have yet to move on Timothy's Law. What are
4 we waiting for? There's only two more weeks
5 after this. We need to pass a Timothy's Law
6 this session. New Yorkers are calling for it.
7 People who care about mental health are
8 calling for it. We cannot afford to wait any
9 longer. We need to get Timothy's Law on the
10 floor of this house and get it into law.
11 Thank you, Madam President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
13 you.
14 Senator Duane will be recorded in
15 the negative.
16 The Secretary will announce the
17 results.
18 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
19 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 1244, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 6558, an
24 act to amend the Vehicle and Traffic Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect nine months after it
4 shall have become a law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
6 the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
9 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1249, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 7119A,
14 an act to amend the Retirement and Social
15 Security Law.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
17 the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 1251, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 7589, an
3 act to amend the Retirement and Social
4 Security Law.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 1260, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 7667,
17 an act to allow Triborough Bridge and Tunnel
18 members of the New York City Employees'
19 Retirement System to elect.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 1267, by Senator Saland, Senate Print 7419A,
7 an act to amend the Social Services Law.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect on the first of June.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
17 bill is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 1272, by Senator Nozzolio, Senate Print 1946,
20 an act to amend the General Municipal Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: There
22 is a home-rule message at the desk.
23 Read the last section.
24 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
25 act shall take effect immediately.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 1273, by Senator Little, Senate Print 3846, an
9 act to amend the General Municipal Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
18 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
20 bill is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1275, by Senator Hannon, Senate Print 4799, an
23 act to authorize the assessor of the County of
24 Nassau.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
8 1. Senator Larkin recorded in the negative.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
10 bill is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 1277, substituted earlier today by Member of
13 the Assembly Pretlow, Assembly Print Number
14 10070, an act to amend the Local Finance Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: There
16 is a home-rule message at the desk.
17 Read the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
19 act shall take effect immediately.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
21 the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 1279, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 7047,
3 an act to amend Chapter 457 of the Laws of
4 2001 relating to authorizing the town board of
5 the Town of North Hempstead.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
9 act shall take effect immediately.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
11 the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 1281, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 7246, an
18 act to authorize the conveyance of certain
19 real property.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
4 bill is passed.
5 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
6 1282, substituted earlier today by the
7 Assembly Committee on Rules, Assembly Print
8 Number 8974A, an act to amend the General
9 Municipal Law.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
11 the last section.
12 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
13 act shall take effect immediately.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
15 the roll.
16 (The Secretary called the roll.)
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
19 bill is passed.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 1289, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 7523, an
22 act to amend the Banking Law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
24 the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
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1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
3 the roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
6 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
8 bill is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1295, by Senator LaValle, Senate Print 2863B,
11 an act to amend the Education Law.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 1299, substituted earlier today by Member of
24 the Assembly Canestrari, Assembly Print Number
25 10878, an act to amend Chapter 534 of the Laws
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1 of 1993 amending the Education Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 1302, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 211A,
14 an act to amend the Real Property Law.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
16 the last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
18 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
20 the roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
24 bill is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 1303, by Senator Winner, Senate Print 7031, an
2 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
6 act shall take effect on the first of January.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 1304, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7670A,
15 an act to authorize the Rockville Centre
16 Housing Authority.
17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
18 aside.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
20 bill is laid aside.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 1313, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 3597,
23 an act to amend the Labor Law and the Civil
24 Service Law.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
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1 the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3 act shall take effect immediately.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
5 the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
9 bill is passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 1317, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print
12 3012C, an act to amend the Insurance Law and
13 the Civil Practice Laws and Rules.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
17 act shall take effect immediately.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 1319, by Senator Seward, Senate Print 4321, an
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1 act to amend the Insurance Law.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
3 the last section.
4 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
5 act shall take effect immediately.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
7 the roll.
8 (The Secretary called the roll.)
9 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60. Nays,
10 1. Senator LaValle recorded in the negative.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 1364, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 7934,
15 an act to amend Chapter 50 of the Laws of
16 2006, enacting the Public Protection and
17 General Government Budget.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
19 the last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect immediately.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
23 the roll.
24 (The Secretary called the roll.)
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1365, by Senator Flanagan --
5 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Lay it
6 aside.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
8 bill is laid aside.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1431, substituted earlier today by Member of
11 the Assembly Morelle, Assembly Print Number
12 10038, an act to amend the Civil Service Law.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Read
14 the last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
18 the roll.
19 (The Secretary called the roll.)
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 61.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
22 bill is passed.
23 Senator Skelos, that completes the
24 noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam
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1 President. If we could go to the
2 controversial reading at this time.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
4 you.
5 The Secretary will read.
6 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
7 before we go to the controversial reading,
8 there will be an immediate meeting of the
9 Finance Committee in the Majority Conference
10 Room.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
12 you.
13 There is an immediate meeting of
14 the Finance Committee in the Majority
15 Conference Room.
16 The Secretary will ring the bell.
17 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
18 we'll stand at ease pending the report of the
19 Finance Committee.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
21 you.
22 The Senate will stand at ease.
23 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
24 ease at 4:31 p.m.)
25 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
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1 at 4:44 p.m.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
3 Skelos.
4 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
5 if we could return to reports of standing
6 committees, I believe there's a report of the
7 Finance Committee at the desk. I ask that it
8 be read.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Reports
10 of standing committees.
11 The Secretary will read.
12 THE SECRETARY: Senator Johnson,
13 from the Committee on Finance, reports the
14 following bills:
15 Senate Print 8076, by Senator
16 Bruno, an act to amend the Public Health Law;
17 And Senate Print 8077, by Senator
18 Bruno, an act to amend the Public Health Law.
19 Both bills ordered direct to third
20 reading.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Without
22 objection, both bills will be reported direct
23 to third reading.
24 Senator Skelos.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
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1 if we could go to the controversial reading of
2 the calendar.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
4 you.
5 The Secretary will read. And we
6 will ring the bell.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 1206, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 930, an
9 act to amend the Civil Practice Law and Rules.
10 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Brief
11 explanation.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
13 you.
14 Senator Balboni, for an
15 explanation.
16 SENATOR BALBONI: Madam
17 President, this is the -- I think it's the
18 eighth year --
19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: It's the
20 ninth.
21 SENATOR BALBONI: Is it? But I
22 haven't been here for nine years.
23 I think it's the eighth year that
24 we're doing this bill. And this is the bill
25 that would prohibit somebody who commits a
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1 felony and gets injured during the commission
2 of that felony and then sues.
3 So I'd like to just kind of go
4 through and give you a preview of what you
5 could expect in any other year.
6 I would normally start off with a
7 discussion of Bernard McCummings and that case
8 and how a man got mugged and then his mugger
9 sued for $4 million and won.
10 And then Senator Schneiderman would
11 rise, and he'd say that this bill is
12 incomprehensibly drafted, overbroad, and the
13 issue should be settled by the courts.
14 Then I would respond by talking to
15 you of the case of the drug dealer who went to
16 the hospital with condom-wrapped heroin in his
17 stomach, got a scar, and sued the hospital.
18 And then Senator Schneiderman would
19 rise and he'd ask me a whole host of
20 imponderable hypotheticals, and I could not be
21 able to really explain them because they
22 didn't apply.
23 And then Senator DeFrancisco would
24 rise and ask me if I went to high school.
25 (Laughter.)
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1 SENATOR BALBONI: And then after
2 that, we would talk about how the victim and
3 the defendant in the Bernard McCummings case
4 were both abused, but how the case really
5 doesn't apply.
6 And we'd both talk about how -- we
7 would lament how we'd love to solve this and
8 get the Assembly engaged, but they're not
9 going to engage, so we'll agree to meet back
10 here next year.
11 Thank you very much, Madam
12 President.
13 (Laughter.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
15 you.
16 Senator Schneiderman.
17 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
18 Madam President. On the bill.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On the
20 bill.
21 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: I would
22 stipulate to everything that has been put into
23 the record so far on this issue.
24 And I would like to commend Senator
25 Balboni for that special 12-step program he's
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1 taking about verbosity; it seems to be working
2 very well. The summary is much appreciated.
3 This is a bill that -- this is the
4 ninth year of this bill or a similar bill that
5 would have the same effect. And I think that
6 after nine years -- I mean, you know, my
7 daughter was in kindergarten, she's now a
8 raging adolescent; it's a long time -- that we
9 can come up with something better.
10 We are going to have a new
11 opportunity next year. We are going to have a
12 new governor. Things will change. I very
13 sincerely hope that we can redraft this bill
14 to deal with some of the problems in drafting.
15 It is absolutely clear to me that this bill,
16 contrary to the last few years' assertions by
17 the distinguished sponsor, does not codify the
18 rule of Barker v. Kallash.
19 We need to have something that
20 allows judges and juries to settle hard cases.
21 These are not easy cases. This bill would
22 protect violent vigilantes, third parties.
23 And Senator Connor -- he left -- he
24 pointed this out last year, that this doesn't
25 just apply to victims. This means someone
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1 could have just committed a white-collar crime
2 and be leaving his brokerage firm with a
3 cashier's check in his pocket, and if some
4 third party shoots him on the street, he's
5 barred from suing that person.
6 So this is something that in some
7 cases I think even the distinguished sponsor
8 will concede probably should go to a judge and
9 jury.
10 I do think that with some editing
11 we can come up with a better bill. I hope we
12 will do that. We do have a new day dawning
13 with a new governor this coming year. And the
14 governor is -- the governor-to-be, I believe,
15 is someone who is a fine lawyer who would love
16 to work on this issue with us. So let's try
17 and do that.
18 I appreciate the brevity. I
19 appreciate the explanation. I think
20 everything is correct. I'm not sure Senator
21 DeFrancisco got -- I think he was researching
22 whether the answer he got to the question
23 about law school was in fact the case. I'm
24 not sure if he's come over any new
25 information.
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1 But subject to that, I am going to
2 vote no, as many of my colleagues have voted
3 no on this for the last nine years. Looking
4 back on the bill, I find that it's really sort
5 of an honor roll of progressive legislators.
6 When this bill was first introduced, Senators
7 Dollinger, Gold, Lachman, Leichter, Markowitz,
8 Santiago, Stavisky, Walden -- a lot of folks
9 who have moved on were voting against it.
10 I'm proud to be in that tradition
11 and vote no for a bad bill that would take
12 hard cases away from juries. I believe in
13 juries. I believe in the jury system. And I
14 think the notion that it is an unalloyed good
15 to take cases away from juries and make it
16 easier to dismiss them before a full and fair
17 hearing is a bad thing and is contrary to the
18 intention of the founders of the republic.
19 I vote no, and I look forward with
20 all sincerity to trying to do something
21 between now and next year. Let's actually
22 edit this and come up with something better to
23 greet the new governor when he arrives.
24 Thank you, Madam President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
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1 you.
2 Is there any other Senator wishing
3 to be heard?
4 The debate is closed.
5 The Secretary will ring the bell.
6 Read the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
13 Diaz, to explain his vote.
14 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you, Madam
15 President.
16 I am in support of this bill, for
17 the reason that when we are campaigning in the
18 street, we tell the people that we are to
19 protect them and to stop crime and that we
20 will give a better life to the residents of
21 our district.
22 Now when we come here, I'm
23 surprised at seeing people voting to defend
24 the criminals and not the victims. This bill
25 simply authorizes anybody who, in the act of
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1 committing a crime, gets hurt so that person
2 could sue the people that hurt him.
3 That means that if somebody comes
4 to my house when I am sleeping and that person
5 gets hurt, that person will be able to sue me.
6 That is the most ridiculous thing that I have
7 seen in my life.
8 And I'm surprised to see that every
9 year this bill comes to the floor, and it's a
10 one-house bill, and always the Republicans are
11 pushing for the bill, to stop this, and my
12 colleagues on this side of the aisle are
13 always opposing this bill.
14 You know, when we go out there, we
15 go out there telling people that we're going
16 to protect the victims, not the criminals. By
17 opposing this bill, we are sending a message
18 that we are protecting criminals and nothing
19 for the victims.
20 So I am in support of this bill
21 because this is a good bill and criminals have
22 to know that if they get hurt committing a
23 crime, that that's their problem. They should
24 not sue anybody if they're committing a crime.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
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1 you.
2 Senator Diaz will be recorded in
3 the affirmative.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 the negative on Calendar Number 1206 are
6 Senators Andrews, Connor, Coppola,
7 DeFrancisco, Dilan, Duane, Gonzalez,
8 Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger, Montgomery,
9 Parker, Paterson, Schneiderman, A. Smith and
10 Stavisky.
11 Absent from voting: Senator C.
12 Kruger.
13 Ayes, 44. Nays, 15.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 1304, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 7670A,
18 an act to authorize.
19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER:
20 Explanation, please.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
22 Skelos, for an explanation.
23 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam
24 President.
25 This legislation authorizes the
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1 sale or lease of all or part of the project
2 commonly known as the Rockville Centre
3 Apartments by the Rockville Centre Housing
4 Authority. It will allow the infusion of
5 private capital to ensure the long-term
6 viability of the project. It was requested by
7 the Rockville Centre Housing Authority.
8 It's important to note that under
9 this legislation existing tenants will not be
10 replaced and the rent will be -- remain the
11 same.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
13 you.
14 Senator Krueger.
15 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
16 Madam President. If the sponsor would please
17 yield.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
19 you.
20 Senator Skelos, will you yield?
21 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
23 Senator yields.
24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
25 How many units are in this project
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1 that we're talking about?
2 SENATOR SKELOS: I believe it's
3 about 150.
4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
5 Madam President, through you, if
6 the sponsor would continue to yield.
7 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes, I will.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
9 sponsor will continue to yield.
10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
11 Where will the tenants go during
12 the renovation period?
13 SENATOR SKELOS: There were 30
14 units built, new units, in which they will
15 be -- have priority. And then when the
16 renovation is completed in their old unit,
17 they will go back into that unit.
18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
19 Madam President, if the sponsor
20 would continue to yield.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
22 you.
23 Senator Skelos, do you continue to
24 yield?
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
2 Senator yields.
3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
4 Under the bill it talks about that
5 some of these units might be sold rather than
6 continue to be rented. How many of these
7 units would come off of the rental rolls, so
8 to speak, and move into being privately owned
9 units?
10 SENATOR SKELOS: I don't believe
11 any.
12 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: You don't
13 believe any. So perhaps I'm -- I'm sorry,
14 through you, Madam President.
15 Where in the bill it talks about
16 either -- excuse me, I'll look for the
17 section. Excuse me -- that "The commissioner
18 of housing and community renewal shall not
19 grant such approval until he or she makes a
20 finding that such sale or lease will enable
21 the project to be redeveloped."
22 So perhaps in that sentence we're
23 talking about the sale of the project, not the
24 individual units?
25 SENATOR SKELOS: That's the sale
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1 of the project.
2 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
3 Thank you for the clarification.
4 Madam President, through you, if
5 the sponsor would continue to yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
7 you.
8 Senator Skelos, do you continue to
9 yield?
10 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
12 Senator yields.
13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: There's a
14 formula in the bill about how many units must
15 be offered to different categories of
16 income-eligible people. And then there's a
17 Section D, it's lines 38 through 42 -- excuse
18 me, line 43 on page 2, and it clarifies that
19 "All tenants who resided in the housing
20 project prior to the sale or lease shall be
21 offered their current apartment or comparable
22 accommodation at the project at their current
23 rent for a period of one year, with yearly
24 increases thereafter not to exceed the
25 regional Consumer Price Index."
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1 Is it your expectation that people
2 would actually only have year-to-year leases
3 as opposed to the protections they currently
4 have as a public housing complex?
5 SENATOR SKELOS: The protections,
6 the way I understand it, will continue exactly
7 the way they are now.
8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
9 Madam President, if the sponsor
10 would continue to yield.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
12 you.
13 Senator Skelos, do you continue to
14 yield?
15 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
17 Senator yields.
18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
19 So again, just to reiterate my
20 concerns from what I thought was written in a
21 certain way in this bill, it is your belief
22 that in this bill no tenants will be evicted,
23 they will be offered alternative housing
24 during renovation and they will all be
25 eligible to come back into their apartments
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1 with continuing rights and protections under
2 public housing law?
3 SENATOR SKELOS: Yes.
4 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes?
5 Excuse me. I've heard the Senator say yes,
6 and so he has resolved my concerns about this
7 bill.
8 Thank you very much.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
10 you.
11 Is there any other Senator wishing
12 to be heard?
13 The debate is closed.
14 The Secretary will ring the bell.
15 Read the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
17 act shall take effect immediately.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
22 Calendar Number 1304, those Senators absent
23 from voting: Senators Farley, C. Kruger, and
24 Parker.
25 Ayes, 57.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
2 bill is passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 1365, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 7935,
5 an act making an appropriation for services
6 and expenses.
7 SENATOR SABINI: Explanation.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
9 you.
10 Senator Flanagan, for an
11 explanation.
12 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,
13 Madam President.
14 This bill is a continuation of some
15 of the issues affecting HAVA. It's a
16 $10 million appropriation to help our
17 localities pay for interim compliance with
18 litigation that was brought by the Justice
19 Department against the State of New York.
20 And I would respectfully offer that
21 this bill goes well beyond what was ultimately
22 decided by the court and what plans were
23 submitted by the State Board of Elections and
24 our participating counties.
25 What we've done here is recognize
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1 the problem, we've provided funds so that our
2 municipalities don't suffer any adverse
3 effects. And frankly, what we've done is by
4 giving them more money than they asked for,
5 we've given them an opportunity to make a bad
6 plan that was approved by the court a lot
7 better to make sure that people who are
8 disabled have access just like everybody else.
9 It's not perfect, but it's a far
10 cry and a tremendous improvement from what was
11 originally submitted by the state board and
12 what was accepted by the Justice Department
13 and the Supreme Court.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
15 you.
16 Senator Sabini.
17 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you, Madam
18 President. If the sponsor would yield for a
19 question.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
21 you.
22 Senator Flanagan, do you yield?
23 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Yes.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
25 sponsor yields.
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1 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you. I
2 wanted to ask the chairman, is there an
3 Assembly sponsor for this bill?
4 SENATOR FLANAGAN: No. The day
5 this bill was introduced, I sent a lengthy
6 letter to Assemblyman Wright explaining to him
7 what the issues were and asking him to
8 introduce the bill in the Assembly, and he has
9 not done so.
10 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President,
11 if the sponsor would continue to yield.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
13 you.
14 Senator Flanagan, do you continue
15 to yield?
16 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Yes.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
18 Senator yields.
19 SENATOR SABINI: It occurs to me
20 that with the primary 3 1/2 months away and
21 none of this hardware has been ordered yet,
22 does the sponsor think it's reasonable to
23 think that we would be able to spend this
24 money this year?
25 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Absolutely.
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1 There's no reason in the world that we can't
2 do this, there's no reason in the world that
3 we shouldn't do this. And the fact that
4 there's been delay is no excuse for us trying
5 to do what we should have done a long time
6 ago.
7 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President,
8 if the sponsor would continue to yield.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
10 you.
11 Senator Flanagan, do you continue
12 to yield?
13 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Yes.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
15 Senator yields.
16 SENATOR SABINI: The money that's
17 going to be used for this comes out of state
18 money, and there's an interim plan that's
19 going to put into action other ballot markers.
20 That's my understanding. It is also my
21 concern that whatever we purchase with this
22 $10 million will not be the hardware approved
23 by the interim court plan.
24 What would we do with the equipment
25 we buy with this $10 million if it's not part
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1 of the interim court plan?
2 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Well, the
3 machines that are being purchased, they have
4 been approved by the court and the Justice
5 Department. And that includes 111 Avanti
6 machines, 19 ES&Ses, and 14 Populex machines.
7 So these have been approved for interim
8 compliance for this fall's elections.
9 This money is being offered
10 recognizing that there have been problems for
11 our counties in their potential compliance
12 with HAVA. Whether it's New York City or
13 Suffolk County or any county across the state,
14 they've all come and said, When we have to do
15 interim compliance or full compliance, we're
16 concerned that there may not be enough money.
17 This is a recognition that there
18 has some delay, that there have been problems,
19 and the state should step in and do something.
20 Us doing nothing I think is far worse than
21 trying to provide some appropriations.
22 And since you raise this, there are
23 two other issues which I think are separate
24 but related. We just passed a bill before
25 about a state match for $7.7 million. And in
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1 this year's budget, we had an additional
2 $5 million for handicap accessibility for poll
3 sites.
4 The Assembly didn't want to do
5 that. The Assembly didn't want to do the
6 $7.7 million match. They haven't done
7 anything on this.
8 So if we're going to look at who's
9 being proactive, who's being responsive, and
10 who's trying to meet the needs of voters
11 across the state, not only on an interim but a
12 full compliance basis, it's the Senate. This
13 is what we should be doing, and perhaps we
14 should even be doing more.
15 SENATOR SABINI: Madam President,
16 on the bill.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
18 you.
19 Senator Sabini, on the bill.
20 SENATOR SABINI: It is my
21 contention that the commissioners of elections
22 around the state are at this point much more
23 concerned about training and getting their
24 poll workers up to speed and getting more
25 funds freed up for that.
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1 But I will make an amazing
2 statement: I am going to wait and not say how
3 I'm voting on this bill until others have had
4 a chance to speak. Because I think the
5 chairman has made a sincere attempt here to do
6 something better. I'm not just sure that in
7 trying to do something better, this in the
8 long run will not be a waste of the taxpayers'
9 money.
10 So I'll reserve judgment on the
11 bill, and I think others have questions.
12 Thank you, Madam President.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
14 you.
15 Is there any other Senator wishing
16 to be heard?
17 Senator Dilan.
18 SENATOR DILAN: Yes, Madam
19 President, on the bill.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
21 you.
22 Senator Dilan, on the bill.
23 SENATOR DILAN: I will be voting
24 yes on this bill. As has been indicated, this
25 is a bill that will provide $10 million in
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1 addition to what has been agreed upon by the
2 Board of Elections and the Justice Department.
3 However, I'm a little concerned as
4 to the timing of the introduction of this
5 bill. Here we are, 3 1/2 months prior to the
6 upcoming primaries, and I'm concerned that the
7 Office of General Services will not have
8 sufficient time to prepare the necessary
9 contracts, we will not have sufficient time
10 for the manufacturers to deliver these
11 machines. And I think, as has been indicated
12 by Senator Sabini, I don't believe that the
13 Board of Elections will have sufficient time
14 to train its staff to manage these machines.
15 Also, it's a one-house bill. I've
16 been in touch with the Assembly, and they
17 indicate that they will not be taking this
18 bill up in this session at all.
19 So therefore, I believe that this
20 bill at this time, late time in the session,
21 will not do anything to help any handicapped
22 voters at the polls either in the primary or
23 general election.
24 Thank you, Madam President.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
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1 you.
2 Senator Krueger.
3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
4 Madam President. If the sponsor would yield.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
6 you.
7 Senator Flanagan, do you yield?
8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Yes.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
10 Senator yields.
11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
12 Senator Flanagan, you chair the
13 Committee on Elections and worked very hard
14 with the conference committee on HAVA. Do you
15 think if we had gone with a statewide standard
16 a year and a half or two years ago we would be
17 in this situation today where we realize that
18 people with disabilities may have trouble
19 getting to the polls this fall?
20 SENATOR FLANAGAN: We have a
21 statewide standard.
22 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Madam
23 President, if I might correct my question.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
25 you. Go ahead, Senator Krueger.
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1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
2 To clarify.
3 If we had one statewide system and
4 that the state had decided to go with one
5 voting machine system for the state a year and
6 a half, two years ago, would we be in this
7 dilemma today?
8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I don't think
9 it makes a difference either way.
10 In fact, just looking -- by virtue
11 of what we did in legislation last year and
12 what's been now brought into this interim
13 compliance plan, this shows there is not
14 unanimity not only outside of New York State
15 but inside of New York State.
16 We've provided options. Now,
17 granted, there are a lot more counties who are
18 looking to use the Avanti machine. But
19 there's ES&S and there's the Populex machine.
20 So what we did was delegate that
21 authority and responsibility to the state
22 board and allow our counties who wanted the
23 responsibility, who were clamoring for that
24 authority, to make those decisions. That's
25 what's been done right here.
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1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
2 Madam President. On the bill.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
4 you.
5 Senator Krueger, on the bill.
6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
7 I don't agree with my colleague on
8 this issue. I don't think they were clamoring
9 to have the ability to make their own
10 decisions on this. I think the counties were
11 looking to the state to make a rational
12 decision of a statewide system for all of the
13 counties and all the people of New York State.
14 I think they were looking to us to
15 make that decision much earlier than we passed
16 HAVA legislation in the State of New York.
17 And in fact, while I don't disagree
18 with the sponsor that there are real problems
19 still facing us for ensuring that handicapped
20 voters have full access to the right to vote,
21 as each and every one of us should, this fall,
22 that if we had handled this whole situation
23 differently several years ago, we would not
24 find ourselves in this situation today.
25 I also have to share my colleagues
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1 Senator Sabini and Senator Dilan's concerns
2 that this is not going to translate into any
3 change at the voting booths this fall. So few
4 months away from the primary I don't believe
5 there's any county who could actually go out,
6 order additional machines from manufacturers,
7 get them in, get their workers trained and, in
8 fact, spend the money that the sponsor
9 suggests that we put in today.
10 I don't think I'll vote against the
11 bill because it's at least an attempt to say,
12 Okay, maybe we've made mistakes and we're
13 going to try to fix something. But I do not
14 believe that you will see any county that
15 could actually take advantage of this.
16 And again, I would argue that if we
17 were to go back and look at the history of
18 what didn't happen in the State of New York
19 with implementation of the Help America Vote
20 Act, we would find that we should all share
21 some liability in why we are now, in June of
22 2006, dealing with orders from the federal
23 Department of Justice and having counties,
24 again, not clamoring for the opportunity to
25 make these decisions themselves but desperate
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1 and frustrated over the fact that these issues
2 weren't dealt with, I would say farther than
3 months ago, but years ago.
4 I know certainly that the City of
5 New York's Board of Elections has been on the
6 record multiple times in testimony over the
7 course of the last year, if not year and a
8 half, saying you guys waited too long, you
9 left too many unanswered questions, there is
10 no way that we can implement smart, good
11 changes in our elections for 2006.
12 They are right. They will not.
13 They will flunk the test. But I would argue
14 that our counties and our localities didn't,
15 we did.
16 So while I won't vote against this
17 bill, I would also hazard to guess that even
18 if it was passed in both houses, we wouldn't
19 spend the money because it's too late for
20 anybody to do anything new about it for this
21 election.
22 Thank you, Madam President.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
24 you.
25 Is there any other Senator wishing
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1 to be heard?
2 Senator Flanagan.
3 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,
4 Madam President. On the bill.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
6 Flanagan, on the bill.
7 SENATOR FLANAGAN: I just want to
8 make a couple of basic points.
9 There have been points raised about
10 procedural issues, about administrative
11 issues, about technical issues, about past
12 history.
13 Let's get right to the facts of
14 what this bill is about. It's about money.
15 It's about providing money to localities so
16 that they don't have any excuses that they can
17 offer to anybody.
18 Yes, have there been delays? Yes,
19 there certainly have. Can fingers be pointed
20 in every single direction? Yes, they can.
21 But the counties have said that we need to be
22 protect so that the state doesn't take away
23 some of our HAVA funds to meet the commitment
24 of New York State for $7.7 million.
25 The Senate has acted. The Assembly
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1 hasn't. The Assembly has refused to get into
2 the game, to say that they want to hold
3 counties harmless on that point. That's a
4 basic distinction. They didn't want to
5 provide money for poll sites. We fought and
6 got $5 million.
7 Is it perfect? No. Have we fought
8 for the rights of disabled individuals to have
9 the same access as everybody else? Yes, far
10 better than the Assembly.
11 And finally, this is about just
12 giving the money to municipalities here.
13 We're not -- if we didn't give them anything,
14 some of the issues that you're talking about
15 are still going to be debated.
16 And if we want to talk about delay
17 and we want to go back, Senator Spano was on
18 the conference committee. And I remember at
19 one of our extended meetings a lot of this had
20 to do with issues that had nothing to do with
21 HAVA. The Assembly refused to agree to a
22 number of different issues because of
23 governance at the State Board of Elections.
24 So if we want to talk about delay,
25 we want to bring up past history, we can go on
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1 for a while about that and the politics that
2 was played with issues at the board that were
3 ultimately resolved.
4 This is about providing
5 accessibility for people with disabilities and
6 making sure that somebody can get in. And now
7 we're allowing municipalities to have extra
8 money so if they want to demonstrate a will
9 and prove that there's a way, they can do
10 that.
11 If the Assembly is not going to do
12 it, it doesn't mean that we shouldn't act.
13 This is a good bill, and the counties have
14 supported this bill and the preceding bill.
15 It should be passed.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Thank
17 you.
18 Is there any other Senator wishing
19 to be heard?
20 The debate is closed.
21 The Secretary will ring the bell.
22 Read the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
4 Calendar Number 1365, absent from voting:
5 Senator C. Kruger.
6 Ayes, 59. Nays, 0.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
8 bill is passed.
9 Senator Skelos, that completes the
10 reading of the controversial calendar.
11 SENATOR SKELOS: Thank you, Madam
12 President.
13 Is there any further business at
14 the desk?
15 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Yes,
16 there is, Senator Skelos.
17 Could we have quiet, please. Thank
18 you.
19 There is further business.
20 Senator Nozzolio.
21 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam
22 President, on page 75 I offer the following
23 amendments to Calendar Number 1344, Senate
24 Print Number 2602B, on behalf of Senator
25 Fuschillo, and ask that said bill retain its
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1 place on Third Reading Calendar.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
3 amendments are received, and the bill will
4 retain its place on the Third Reading
5 Calendar.
6 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Madam
7 President, on page 18 I offer the following
8 amendments to Calendar Number 333, Senate
9 Print Number 6538, and ask on behalf of
10 Senator Morahan that said bill retain its
11 place on Third Reading Calendar.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
13 amendments are received, and the bill will
14 retain its place on the Third Reading
15 Calendar.
16 Senator Fuschillo.
17 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: Madam
18 President, on behalf of Senator Balboni, I
19 wish to call up Senate Print Number 6781,
20 recalled from the Assembly, which is now at
21 the desk.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
23 Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 676, by Senator Balboni, Senate Print 6781, an
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1 act authorizing the assessor of the County of
2 Nassau.
3 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now move to
4 reconsider the vote by which the bill was
5 passed.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
7 Secretary will call the roll upon
8 reconsideration.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 60.
11 SENATOR FUSCHILLO: I now offer
12 the following amendments.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: The
14 amendments are received.
15 Senator Skelos.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
17 there being no further business to come before
18 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until
19 Wednesday, June 7th, at 11:00 a.m.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On
21 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
22 Wednesday, June 7 --
23 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President.
24 Madam President, just one minute. If you
25 would recognize Senator Volker.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: Senator
2 Volker.
3 SENATOR VOLKER: I apologize.
4 Just to remind everybody that tomorrow is the
5 memorial service at St. Mary's Church, on -- I
6 think it's Lodge Street, but I think most
7 people know where it is, at 8 o'clock. And
8 the breakfast afterwards is at 9 o'clock.
9 Kay Stafford, Ron Stafford's wife,
10 is coming up for the memorial service. And so
11 I just wanted to tell everybody if you could
12 get there, it would be very appropriate.
13 Thank you.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: Madam President,
15 there being no further business to come before
16 the Senate, I move we stand adjourned until
17 Wednesday, June 7th, at 11:00 a.m.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT LITTLE: On
19 motion, the Senate stands adjourned until
20 Wednesday, June 7th, at 11:00 a.m.
21 (Whereupon, at 5:23 p.m., the
22 Senate adjourned.)
23
24
25
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