Regular Session - February 26, 2007
649
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 February 26, 2007
11 3:32 p.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 LT. GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON, President
19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
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21
22
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25
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate will
3 come to order.
4 I would ask all those assembled to
5 please rise and recite with me the Pledge of
6 Allegiance.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 THE PRESIDENT: In the absence of
10 clergy, I would ask that we bow our heads in a
11 moment of silence.
12 (Whereupon, the assemblage
13 respected a moment of silence.)
14 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the
15 Journal.
16 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
17 Sunday, February 25, the Senate met pursuant
18 to adjournment. The Journal of Saturday,
19 February 24, was read and approved. On
20 motion, Senate adjourned.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Without
22 objection, the Journal stands approved.
23 Presentation of petitions.
24 Messages from the Assembly.
25 Messages from the Governor.
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1 Reports of standing committees.
2 Reports of select committees.
3 Communications and reports from
4 state officers.
5 Motions and resolutions.
6 Senator Farley.
7 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,
8 Mr. President.
9 On behalf of Senator LaValle, I
10 move that the following bill be discharged
11 from its respective committee and be
12 recommitted with instructions to strike the
13 enacting clause: Senate Print 2860.
14 THE PRESIDENT: So ordered.
15 SENATOR FARLEY: Mr. President,
16 on behalf of Senator Maziarz, on page 11 I
17 offer the following amendments to Calendar
18 Number 63, Senate Print 947, and I ask that
19 that bill retain its place on the Third
20 Reading Calendar.
21 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
22 are received and adopted, and the bill will
23 retain its place on the Third Reading
24 Calendar.
25 Senator Skelos.
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1 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
2 there's a Resolution 574 at the desk, by
3 Senator Bruno. I ask that the title be read
4 and move for its immediate adoption.
5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
6 will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: By Senators Bruno
8 and Little, Legislative Resolution Number 574,
9 congratulating Fred Abbott upon the occasion
10 of celebrating his 100th birthday on
11 February 25, 2007.
12 THE PRESIDENT: On the
13 resolution, all those in favor please indicate
14 by saying aye.
15 (Response of "Aye.")
16 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
17 (No response.)
18 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
19 adopted.
20 Senator Skelos.
21 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
22 if we could go to the noncontroversial reading
23 of the calendar.
24 THE PRESIDENT: We will now have
25 the noncontroversial reading of the calendar.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 21, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 78A, an
3 act to amend the Penal Law and others in --
4 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
5 please.
6 THE PRESIDENT: Lay the bill
7 aside.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 49, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 1270,
10 an act to amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts
11 Law, in relation to disqualification.
12 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
13 will read the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect on the first of January.
16 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
17 will call the roll, please.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE PRESIDENT: Results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
22 passed.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 50, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 1271,
25 an act to amend the Estates, Powers and Trusts
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1 Law, in relation to the right of election.
2 THE PRESIDENT: Last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect on the first of January.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
9 passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 58, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 680 --
12 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
13 please.
14 THE PRESIDENT: Lay it aside.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 60, by Senator Volker, Senate Print 856, an
17 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
18 burglary.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Last section.
20 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
21 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE PRESIDENT: Results.
25 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
2 passed.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 64, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 951, an
5 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
6 creating definitions.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
9 act shall take effect on the first of
10 November.
11 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
14 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
15 passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 65, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 952, an
18 act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in
19 relation to permitting a social worker.
20 THE PRESIDENT: Last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect on the first of
23 November.
24 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Duane, to
2 explain his vote.
3 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you,
4 Mr. President, to explain my vote.
5 I commend the purpose of this bill,
6 to allow those facing the traumatic experience
7 of testifying before a grand jury the ability
8 to have a social worker or a rape crisis
9 counselor or a psychologist present with them
10 at the grand jury to provide emotional
11 support. And again, I think it's a great idea
12 and something we should provide in fact to
13 everyone who's testifying before a grand jury.
14 I don't think it's appropriate to
15 imply that older people as a class need more
16 emotional support than anyone else. And
17 because we're excluding those who are not
18 older from getting the emotional support, I'm
19 going to vote no on this bill in the hope that
20 the service of a professional to be with
21 someone in a grand jury is available to
22 everyone.
23 I'll be voting in the negative.
24 Thank you, Mr. President.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
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1 Senator Duane.
2 Senator Duane will be recorded in
3 the negative.
4 The Secretary will announce the
5 results.
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52. Nays,
7 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
9 passed.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 90, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 189, an
12 act to amend the Education Law, in relation to
13 suspending.
14 THE PRESIDENT: Last section.
15 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
16 act shall take effect immediately.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE PRESIDENT: Results.
20 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
21 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
22 passed.
23 That completes the reading of the
24 noncontroversial calendar, Senator Skelos.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
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1 if we could go to the controversial reading of
2 the calendar.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
4 will ring the bell.
5 We'll have a moment to allow some
6 of the members to get into the chamber, and
7 then we will have the controversial reading of
8 the calendar.
9 The Secretary will read.
10 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
11 21, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 78A, an
12 act to amend the Penal Law and others.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini.
14 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President,
15 would the sponsor yield for a question.
16 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Padavan
18 yields.
19 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President,
20 since this bill or similar attempts have been
21 made in this house before, I'm just wondering
22 what the difference is between this bill and
23 the prior years' version.
24 SENATOR PADAVAN: Yes. We
25 increased the penalties, based on input from
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1 many of the advocate organizations who felt
2 the penalties were not severe enough. We went
3 right down the line in every category
4 contained within this bill and increased those
5 penalties substantially.
6 It also expands to some degree the
7 procedures where individuals who are victims
8 can reach out for aid and assistance from both
9 local and state authorities to get an
10 opportunity to not only deal with their
11 immediate problems but also to have an
12 opportunity to deal with the trafficking.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini.
14 SENATOR SABINI: Mr. President, I
15 believe there's an amendment at the desk. And
16 I'd ask that the reading be waived and I be
17 heard on the amendment.
18 THE PRESIDENT: Reading of the
19 amendment is waived.
20 Senator Sabini, on the amendment.
21 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you,
22 Mr. President.
23 My amendment would substitute my
24 bill, S1650, for the bill on the agenda today.
25 Senator Padavan's bill is good, and I don't
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1 think that the perfect should be the enemy of
2 the good. That's not my goal. That's often
3 the goal of a lot of people in legislative
4 life, but not here, not in Albany, not in
5 2007.
6 I think what my bill does is more
7 likely to get a law passed, because this topic
8 has been floating around this Capitol for a
9 long time. And it's been the subject of many
10 commentaries in the media and by advocates of
11 the damage that Albany gridlock does in the
12 streets of New York State.
13 Human trafficking is a very tragic
14 crime. People are taken, mostly from other
15 countries, plopped down into areas of our
16 state -- not just New York City; there was a
17 situation in Rockland County a year ago -- and
18 forced in some sort of servitude, slavery,
19 forced labor, prostitution.
20 And while the bill that Senator
21 Padavan has produced is a good one, the
22 Assembly version has some benefits that are
23 not in this legislation that's before us
24 today. And what my bill seeks to do is what
25 we should be doing all the time in this body,
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1 which is having a conference committee. So I
2 took it upon myself to try and take the best
3 of both the bills.
4 How is mine different than Senator
5 Padavan's? My bill does a number of very
6 tough enforcement measures, just like Senator
7 Padavan's does. But perhaps most importantly,
8 it creates a whole section of law on the
9 victims.
10 Because unlike trafficking in
11 narcotics or stolen goods, cars, these are
12 people. They have needs. Once the curtain is
13 pulled away from the horrors of human
14 trafficking, what's left is a bunch of human
15 beings, mostly who don't have identities
16 because their identities have been stripped
17 from them, they don't have immigration status
18 because they were brought here illegally, they
19 don't have healthcare, they don't have job
20 skills, they don't have dental care, they
21 don't have any social services whatsoever.
22 And so what my bill seeks to do is
23 set up a process by which people would be
24 afforded those opportunities by the social
25 service and healthcare and job providers that
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1 are in government now.
2 Now, last year Senator Padavan and
3 I had a colloquy on this and he said that he
4 thought that, you know, the government
5 structure through law enforcement was
6 adequate. I submit to you I don't think it
7 is. And I would also submit to you that it's
8 not going to pass the Assembly in that
9 version.
10 I want to see something done. So I
11 want to advance this amendment in the hope
12 that we can come to an agreement with the
13 other house and that the Governor will see fit
14 to make this a priority and to try to change
15 what is a bad situation and show that New York
16 cares about this issue.
17 Other states have passed laws that
18 don't have problems anywhere near ours. Just
19 in my district alone, we had a situation about
20 10 years ago of the deaf Mexicans, 40
21 hearing-impaired Mexicans who were living in a
22 one-family house, forced to beg on the subway
23 by their captors, and no one knew they were
24 there for like three years.
25 And once they were there and the
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1 people were brought to justice, the question
2 then became, what do you do with them? And
3 thankfully the City of New York opened its
4 arms and tried to effect some positive things
5 for them. But there's nothing in the law that
6 says you have to do that.
7 And frankly, hearing-impaired folks
8 may get a little more sympathy and publicity
9 living 40 to a house than a prostitution ring
10 where the girls are now forced to figure out
11 what to do with the rest of their lives and
12 their identities and their healthcare and
13 their job prospects.
14 In January of 2004, federal
15 authorities raided a home in Corona run by the
16 Carreto brothers, who lured women from all
17 over Central and South America, individually
18 promising them the dreams of America, in some
19 cases promising them marriage if they came to
20 the United States with them. And what they
21 wound up doing was the lowest form of street
22 prostitution that we can imagine. And those
23 men were arrested and brought to justice, but
24 the women who remained were left without a
25 net.
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1 And I'm happy Senator Padavan's
2 promoting this bill again. I'm happy we're
3 doing this early enough in the year where
4 perhaps we could get a conference committee.
5 But I'd like to see the process moved along.
6 That's why I offer this amendment
7 to substitute my bill, because I believe my
8 bill would pass the Assembly and become the
9 law and allow this to be an example of what we
10 hear about in campaigns all the time, that we
11 want to have the logjam broken and that
12 problems get addressed. I would like to see
13 that logjam broken now, early enough in
14 session, and address this issue.
15 And I urge my colleagues to support
16 the amendment. Thank you.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
18 Schneiderman, on the amendment.
19 SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 Very briefly, I want to speak in
22 support of Senator Sabini's amendment and urge
23 my colleagues that this is an excellent use of
24 our procedures in this house to try and come
25 up with a compromise bill that can pass both
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1 houses.
2 I think that it's important to
3 recognize that we are very far from going
4 anywhere in this critical area of criminal
5 justice legislation because we keep passing
6 bills that bear little resemblance to the
7 Assembly's bill.
8 The Assembly has serious problems
9 about doing anything about trafficking, and I
10 think we should acknowledge that. Senator
11 Volker held hearings on the issue. I do
12 believe that the Senate Majority is willing to
13 go to a conference committee, as Senator
14 Sabini is urging them to do. But it's no
15 longer acceptable for us to go year after year
16 after year passing two one-house bills that
17 don't change the law when there are thousands
18 and thousands of people suffering under a
19 tremendously brutal system that, quite
20 honestly, is just another aspect of the law of
21 supply and demand.
22 There is a demand for the work of
23 these people, and it's really a tragedy that
24 we can't take stronger action to prevent human
25 trafficking in this day and age.
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1 So I would urge everyone to support
2 this amendment, and I also am going to vote
3 for Senator Padavan's bill. But we have to do
4 something this year. And that means we have
5 to move as far as we can -- and I know we've
6 moved already towards the position of some of
7 the advocates with Senator Padavan's bill and
8 with other proposals, but we have to get the
9 Assembly to the table.
10 So let's not finish this year
11 without a conference committee. I think
12 Senator Sabini is showing us the way with a
13 bill that would probably be significantly more
14 likely to pass the Assembly than the current
15 bill offered today.
16 I support the amendment. I hope
17 that we will move forward together to get
18 something done in this area of the law this
19 year.
20 Thank you, Mr. President.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Padavan,
22 on the amendment.
23 SENATOR PADAVAN: Mr. President,
24 I'd just like to draw attention to the simple
25 fact that the amendment substitutes a bill
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1 that would reduce the penalties that are
2 before you, contrary to what the advocates
3 have said to me, have said before a Senate
4 committee that we held in Manhattan.
5 I think you were there, were you
6 not, Senator Duane? You were there to see
7 them, hear them, listen to them. We even had
8 a victim there tell us her horrible
9 experience. And we have tried to include all
10 of that in this legislation.
11 Now, we passed this in 2005 and
12 2006. This body unanimously voted for it.
13 Last year, in the last week of the session,
14 the Assembly passed a bill. I don't fault
15 Assemblyman Dinowitz, because I believe, as I
16 and most of you, he is genuinely interested in
17 passing a bill and having it become law. What
18 his problems are with his leadership, I don't
19 know.
20 I have already gone on record
21 asking for a conference committee. And I'm
22 prepared to deal with that in any way that I
23 can. But they've got to pass a bill. We're
24 doing it early. I want them to do it early.
25 And then we'll sit down and try and iron out
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1 any problems that we may have.
2 But this bill is about as
3 comprehensive a proposal as you could have
4 anywhere. It covers not only all of the
5 categories of criminality, from servitude to
6 sexual tourism, where individuals go on these
7 sex trips from this country and have sexual
8 activity with children. Children. Our bill
9 deals with that in a very significant way in
10 terms of the penalty.
11 We mandate that local law
12 enforcement agencies work with a victim to
13 provide an opportunity and the avenues of
14 approach with immigration authorities so that
15 they can get legal status. We provide an
16 opportunity for the victim to get financial
17 redress from the trafficker. Everything is in
18 this bill.
19 Now, you know, you can do as much
20 as there is to do and ask for your support, as
21 I'm doing, and then we have to try and
22 convince the other house. And so I would
23 suggest to the last two speakers that you help
24 me with the Assembly to get them moving on
25 this issue.
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1 It is a form of modern-day slavery,
2 no doubt about it. The federal government
3 tells us annually we have about 20,000
4 individuals trafficked into this country, the
5 majority of them women and children, put into
6 all kinds of horrible situations and
7 circumstances. Internationally, it's a
8 billion-dollar industry.
9 But we can do something here in
10 New York, and this is what that bill is all
11 about.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger,
13 on the amendment.
14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
15 I appreciate Senator Padavan's
16 comments. But I also stand up to argue let's
17 pass the hostile amendment as a replacement
18 for your bill, or in addition to your bill.
19 Because while I respect the points
20 you just made about the criminal penalties --
21 and the fact is I have met with the advocates,
22 I have spoken on panels around this issue, and
23 your description is absolutely correct. This
24 is modern-day slavery. It is modern-day
25 slavery here in this country. It is
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1 exploitation of the most vulnerable women and
2 men -- although, by and large, women and
3 children -- in this country.
4 It also, while no one has mentioned
5 it, we're talking about the crime of
6 exploitation through tourism and basically
7 companies in the U.S. advertising travel tours
8 to foreign destinations where women can be
9 victimized in their home countries.
10 But I have to agree with my
11 colleague Senator Sabini that if you ask the
12 question why won't Assembly pass the bill,
13 it's because my understanding, in talking to
14 many, is that while the Assembly has some
15 concerns with the extreme increases in the
16 criminal penalties in this bill -- but I would
17 back you on those, Senator Padavan -- the
18 Assembly is very concerned that a bill never
19 comes out of the Senate that provides for
20 social services and healthcare for the victims
21 of human trafficking, and that they don't
22 necessarily trust us to do that separately.
23 So I think what Senator Sabini is
24 attempting in good faith to do with this
25 amendment is saying let's take the good work
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1 of Senator Padavan and his proposals, which we
2 all agree are not yet moving in both houses,
3 let's recognize the human side of the reality
4 of the victims in these crimes, who often have
5 been so desperately harmed and damaged that
6 the truth is they can't even go back to their
7 country if that was available to them because
8 they would be so shunned and in some countries
9 perhaps even killed for the activities they
10 participated in, even though as victims, in
11 our own country.
12 And that if we are serious about
13 trying to move a bill through both houses for
14 the Governor to sign to finally implement
15 stronger criminal penalties for the abusers
16 and stronger protections for the victims, that
17 we need to try to come to some merging of the
18 minds.
19 And I think that what Senator
20 Sabini is doing here is simply trying to get
21 us started on this. So however we get there,
22 to the point of a conference committee, to the
23 point of sitting down and saying what is
24 stopping each of us in each house from moving
25 forward with one bill, that let's take today
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1 as an opportunity, perhaps even after session
2 today, to talk about the differences between
3 your own bill and Senator Sabini's amendments,
4 and let's see if we can walk over to the
5 Assembly and move this legislation.
6 So I do thank you for your work and
7 appreciate that we are doing this relatively
8 early in the session and that that gives us
9 some time to try to move it through both
10 houses. But I believe that what Senator
11 Sabini has offered us is a road plan to get us
12 from this chamber to a bill that will pass
13 both houses and be signed by the Governor.
14 So I want to thank you both. I'll
15 be voting for the amendment and Senator
16 Padavan's bill.
17 Thank you, Mr. President.
18 THE PRESIDENT: There is an
19 amendment before the house that we'll take up
20 right after we hear from the Acting Minority
21 Leader, Senator Duane.
22 SENATOR DUANE: Thank you,
23 Mr. President.
24 I want to first say that the
25 hearing that the Senate held on this issue was
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1 really a wonderful experience. Incredibly
2 painful, but extraordinarily helpful in
3 gathering information and I think helping us
4 work towards the best possible legislation we
5 could put forward.
6 I want to particularly -- I believe
7 it was Senator Volker's committee that held
8 the hearing. It was really -- though painful
9 and tragic and sad -- outstanding. Everyone
10 got their say, and I think everyone was
11 incredibly moved.
12 Senator Padavan has been passionate
13 on this issue, and I commend him for that.
14 It's great to see and to hear him. And
15 Assemblymember Dinowitz has championed this in
16 the other house.
17 But it is absolutely true that
18 Senator Sabini's bill moves us much closer to,
19 I believe, a place where we'll have a bill
20 that the Governor could sign into law.
21 Compromise is a good thing. Blame
22 is a bad thing. Already Senator Padavan
23 changed some language in his bill that many
24 were concerned about. And just one example,
25 that someone that might be patronizing someone
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1 who was forced into sexual slavery in order to
2 get the higher punishment would have to
3 knowingly engage in sexual activity with that
4 person that was trapped into sexual slavery.
5 The "knowingly" wasn't in there before. Now
6 it is.
7 There are other instances where
8 changes have been made to satisfy the concerns
9 that were raised before, during and since the
10 hearing.
11 Many of us have spoken to people in
12 the other house, many of us have spoken to
13 people on the other side in a very collegial
14 way on how can we make this legislation move
15 forward.
16 Again, the willingness to
17 compromise, that's a good thing. Blaming is a
18 bad thing. I don't think we can change what
19 the Assembly is doing, just like we can't
20 change what the sponsor of this legislation is
21 doing. I don't believe any of the Minority
22 members are on the bill and in a position to
23 make the changes. If we could, we would.
24 So the next best thing is to be
25 supportive of Senator Sabini's legislation,
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1 which actually looks like something that would
2 happen at the end of the day if we had a
3 conference committee where compromise would
4 take place. Not blame, which is a bad thing,
5 but compromise, which is a good thing.
6 Now, just to show how far we've
7 come, a few years ago this issue would not
8 even have been on the floor here. How far
9 we've come that we're even willing to talk
10 about this incredibly painful, painful,
11 horrible, inhuman issue. It wasn't even
12 discussed before. It is now. We've taken
13 that giant step. Just a few more steps and we
14 would actually be able to have legislation
15 that we could all be proud to support and that
16 the Governor would be happy to sign.
17 So let's move forward on
18 compromise. Let's not do blaming. That's the
19 old way of how things are done in this
20 Legislature. The new way is to try to work
21 together, both parties, both houses. Let's
22 get a bill signed into law. I commend Senator
23 Sabini because I think he's given us a path to
24 have a bill that will become law in our state.
25 Thank you.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Are there any
2 other Senators wishing to speak on the
3 amendment?
4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes,
5 Mr. President.
6 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
7 Marcellino.
8 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes,
9 Mr. President. Senator Sabini's amendment to
10 bring up a bill, that in effect is a
11 negotiating employ and a negotiating position.
12 I take Senator Duane's comments
13 seriously. I think he's right. But the
14 negotiations ought to be done in the
15 conference committees. And should conference
16 committees be set up on this legislation, and
17 I hope they will be, then perhaps Senator
18 Sabini's position could be brought up there
19 and then, because I think that's the place.
20 Why should we negotiate with
21 ourselves? Let's negotiate with the other
22 house in a serious way. I suggest we defeat
23 the amendment and move the bill to the
24 Assembly and get them to pass a bill. Instead
25 of the last day of session or the last week of
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1 session they did last year, let's pass it now
2 and get committees set up so we can get this
3 thing moving.
4 This bill is, in my mind, a serious
5 issue and should be dealt with immediately.
6 And we should not be negotiating here. So I
7 suggest, Senator, it might be a wise idea if
8 you would withdraw the amendment and let's
9 move this bill, seriously move it, and ask
10 that conference committees be started
11 immediately.
12 Thank you, Senator.
13 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz.
14 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you,
15 Mr. President.
16 Would Senator Sabini stand for a
17 question?
18 SENATOR SABINI: Yes.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini
20 yields for a question, Senator Diaz.
21 SENATOR DIAZ: Senator Sabini,
22 it's clear that your bill and your amendment,
23 as Senator Padavan's bill -- when we talk
24 about negotiation, we're talking about your
25 amendment includes two parts, human services
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1 and crime punishment. Right?
2 SENATOR SABINI: Right.
3 SENATOR DIAZ: What is the
4 difference between -- dealing with the crime
5 punishment part, what is the difference
6 between your amendment and Senator Padavan's
7 bill? Who has the highest grade in
8 punishment?
9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini.
10 SENATOR SABINI: There's not an
11 easy answer to that question, because there's
12 different degrees of punishment depending on
13 if you are the person who is the perpetrator
14 of human trafficking, the person who
15 patronizes someone who is a victim of human
16 trafficking.
17 A lot of what my bill does is
18 create new categories of felony, as does
19 Senator Padavan's. I believe that my bill
20 more closely reflects the Assembly version on
21 penalties, which is a notch less, I believe.
22 But on the other side of the
23 ledger, what my bill does is specifically
24 outline what we have to do to get people
25 immigration status. It creates a T status, a
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1 T nonimmigrant status or U nonimmigrant
2 status, and propels our social service people
3 to ask the immigration service for that.
4 It asks for short-term and
5 long-term housing from DHCR. It dictates that
6 agencies go into motion to help these people.
7 The difference in that as opposed
8 to Senator Padavan's bill, Senator Padavan's
9 bill says: Law enforcement who cracks the
10 case, you make the provisions. I don't think
11 those are the best people to make those
12 provisions.
13 SENATOR DIAZ: So, Mr. President,
14 through you.
15 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz.
16 SENATOR DIAZ: Would Senator
17 Sabini allow some other question?
18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini,
19 do you yield for a question from Senator Diaz?
20 SENATOR SABINI: Yes.
21 THE PRESIDENT: He yields.
22 SENATOR DIAZ: So are you saying,
23 Senator Sabini, that your amendment -- let me
24 be clear again -- your amendment and Senator
25 Padavan's bill, when it deals regarding the
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1 crime punishment parts, you have equally, or
2 more, or who has less?
3 SENATOR SABINI: Mine is just, as
4 I said earlier, a notch lower on the criminal
5 aspect in an effort to more mirror the
6 Assembly version.
7 SENATOR DIAZ: I'm talking about
8 crimes and punishment.
9 SENATOR SABINI: Right. That's
10 what I said. In an effort to more closely
11 mirror the Assembly version, as an attempt to
12 have a compromise.
13 SENATOR DIAZ: So that means --
14 Mr. President, through you, would Senator
15 Sabini continue yielding?
16 SENATOR SABINI: Yes.
17 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini
18 continues to yield, Senator Diaz.
19 SENATOR DIAZ: So, Senator
20 Sabini, are you saying that the Assembly
21 bill's -- that the crime punishment part is
22 less than Senator Padavan's?
23 SENATOR SABINI: First of all,
24 both bills create special categories of crimes
25 that aren't in the law today. So to say it's
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1 less is sort of telling half the story.
2 No, it's not -- what my bill does
3 is more closely reflect the Assembly's
4 version. It's a new category of crime. The
5 penalties are a notch less under felony law
6 but more closely resembles the Assembly
7 version.
8 Look, what we're trying to do
9 here -- and I heard an earlier comment that we
10 should just, you know, try to negotiate this.
11 And I'm all for that. But, you know, they say
12 that the definition of insanity is doing the
13 same thing over and over and expecting a
14 different result. So what I'm saying is maybe
15 we should try something different to try and
16 get a compromise.
17 But I think both bills are very
18 good bills. All three bills are very good
19 bills.
20 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President,
21 through you, will Senator Sabini continue
22 yielding?
23 SENATOR SABINI: Yes.
24 THE PRESIDENT: The Senator
25 continues to yield, Senator Diaz.
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1 SENATOR DIAZ: So to negotiate,
2 the negotiation part means -- there are two
3 parts, the social services part and the crime
4 punishment part. Right?
5 SENATOR SABINI: Mm-hmm.
6 SENATOR DIAZ: So your amendment
7 regarding the part of social services, your
8 amendment includes or has more social services
9 for the victims than Senator Padavan's bill?
10 SENATOR SABINI: Basically the
11 same answer I'll give you on the crime end.
12 It's not more, it's more closely defined as to
13 what we want to see happen in terms of food
14 stamps, in terms of job training, in terms of
15 housing, in terms of dental, in terms of
16 counseling and who should do it. That's the
17 difference in the two bills, in my opinion.
18 Senator Padavan wants to provide
19 the same things but says it will be taken care
20 of, I guess -- in fact, last year we talked
21 about that, and he said through law
22 enforcement. Mine says we have law
23 enforcement doing the enforcement piece, let's
24 have social services people do the social
25 services piece.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz.
2 SENATOR DIAZ: Mr. President,
3 through you, will Senator Sabini --
4 THE PRESIDENT: The Senator
5 continues to yield.
6 SENATOR DIAZ: So the bottom
7 line, if I understand you right, is that
8 Senator Padavan's bill isn't clear on who
9 would be responsible for what?
10 SENATOR SABINI: It leaves it
11 more up to the interpretation of the people
12 enforcing the law.
13 We had a colloquy, as I said
14 earlier, Senator, last year with Senator
15 Padavan where he said that he thought that the
16 Division of Criminal Justice and the Attorney
17 General and the Police Department and federal
18 agencies -- I assume he means like the INS,
19 who cooperate under this statute -- would be
20 sufficient to do the job if we give them the
21 law and the tools to do it with.
22 I don't want to leave that up to
23 the INS, the Police Department, and the
24 Attorney General's office. I think we have a
25 responsibility to the victims to spell out
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1 under the law that they need to get all these
2 things done for them and specifically do it so
3 we're not -- if we're going to pass something,
4 do something that we can be assured that the
5 victims, the human beings, get the necessary
6 services they require.
7 In fact, in Senator Padavan's bill
8 it specifically says every police agency in
9 the state, as defined in Subsection 835 of the
10 Executive Law, shall provide these services.
11 I'm just not convinced that the Assembly will
12 pass a law that outlines it that way.
13 Let's hope they do. If my
14 amendment fails, let's hope they do. But the
15 point is, let's get something done.
16 SENATOR DIAZ: Thank you
17 Mr. President. On the amendment.
18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Diaz, on
19 the amendment.
20 SENATOR DIAZ: I believe that
21 the -- listening to Senator Sabini's
22 explanation, it is clear to me that by
23 supporting Senator Sabini's amendment we will
24 be more clear and more precise in what is it
25 that we're going to do for the -- not only for
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1 the victim, but also for the perpetrators.
2 So the punishment is clear, who's
3 going to take care of the punishment. And the
4 services for the victim are also clear, and
5 how -- the extent of the services.
6 So I asked the question to Senator
7 Sabini so in order for us to be clear that by
8 supporting Senator Sabini, even though Senator
9 Padavan's bill is a good bill that we should
10 all support in case that the amendment
11 don't -- doesn't go through, but I'm clear now
12 to support Senator Sabini's amendment.
13 Because now I understand clearer that this
14 would be better not only for the victim but
15 also will be stronger, solid in the penalty
16 for the perpetrator.
17 So thank you, Mr. President. And
18 thank you, Senator Sabini. And thank you,
19 Senator Padavan. And thank you, all of you,
20 because you Senators are wonderful. God bless
21 you all.
22 THE PRESIDENT: Are there any
23 other Senators wishing to speak on the
24 amendment?
25 The amendment stands before the
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1 house. All those in agreement with the
2 amendment should indicate so by raising their
3 hands.
4 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
5 agreement are Senators Breslin, Diaz, Dilan,
6 Duane, Gonzalez, Hassell-Thompson, C. Johnson,
7 Klein, L. Krueger, Montgomery, Oppenheimer,
8 Parker, Perkins, Sabini, Sampson, Savino,
9 Schneiderman, Serrano, Smith, Stachowski,
10 Stavisky, Stewart-Cousins, Thompson and
11 Valesky.
12 THE PRESIDENT: The amendment is
13 not agreed to.
14 On the bill, Senator Padavan.
15 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 There is in New York State an
18 antitrafficking coalition -- I'll tell you
19 what they're made up of. Coalition Against
20 Trafficking in Women, that's one group.
21 Equality Now. GEMS. My Sisters' Place.
22 National Organization for Women-New York
23 State. National Organization for
24 Women-New York City. And, finally, an
25 organization known as Sanctuary for Families.
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1 We've had a lot of dialogue with
2 this organization over a period of years.
3 Most recently, they asked for some changes to
4 the bill we had last year. One of them was
5 the definition of trafficking. They said our
6 definition was too narrow. They made a
7 suggestion; we incorporated it in the bill
8 before us that you voted for.
9 However, in voting for the
10 amendment, you didn't vote for that. You
11 voted for something different. You voted for
12 what they call the narrow definition.
13 They asked for an increase in
14 penalties, and I'll read it to you: "The bill
15 makes sex trafficking a C felony and labor
16 trafficking a D felony. We believe that both
17 crimes should be C violent felonies. Human
18 trafficking should not be a probation-eligible
19 offense."
20 We took that recommendation and we
21 put it in the bill. The amendment you voted
22 for did not, in addition to lesser penalties
23 right down the lines. And we did a number of
24 other things in the bill that's now before us
25 to make it better.
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1 Now, I have no problem, as I said
2 earlier, in having dialogue. As a matter of
3 fact, Assemblyman Dinowitz and I have talked
4 on more than one occasion, and I applaud his
5 sincerity. And I hope that he prevails in
6 getting something moving over there.
7 I would urge you all to vote for
8 this bill unanimously, to send a clear message
9 that we're serious about this issue and we
10 want the Assembly to move and move now, so
11 that before the spring comes we'll have a bill
12 on the books and one that the Governor can
13 sign into law.
14 THE PRESIDENT: Is there any
15 other Senator wishing to be heard on the bill?
16 The debate is closed.
17 The Secretary will ring the bell
18 for the members that have stepped out for a
19 moment.
20 The Secretary will read the last
21 section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 7. This
23 act shall take effect on the first of
24 November.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
3 Marcellino.
4 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yeah,
5 Mr. President, I'd like to explain my vote.
6 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
7 Senator Marcellino, to explain his vote.
8 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Yes,
9 Mr. President. You know, I appreciate the
10 work that Senator Padavan has done on this
11 very important piece of legislation.
12 And again, I urge my colleagues to
13 vote for this bill. Because as I said
14 earlier, the place for negotiation is not
15 necessarily on the floor of the chamber. It
16 should be in the conference committees that we
17 hope will be set up as a result of passage of
18 this particular piece of legislation.
19 So I will vote aye on this
20 particular bill in the hopes that the Assembly
21 will pass a version acceptable to them and
22 that the members of the respective conference
23 committees can get together, sit down and in
24 good faith negotiate to bring together a bill
25 that will do service to the people of the
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1 State of New York.
2 Mr. President, I vote aye and urge
3 all my colleagues to do the same. Thank you.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
5 Marcellino will be recorded in the affirmative
6 on the bill.
7 The Secretary will announce the
8 results we've all been waiting for.
9 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
10 Calendar Number 21: Ayes, 55.
11 Absent from voting: Senators
12 Alesi, Connor, and C. Kruger.
13 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
14 passed.
15 The Secretary will read.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 58, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 680, an
18 act to amend the Penal Law.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
20 will read the last section.
21 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Mr.
22 President.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
24 Montgomery.
25 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you.
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1 I would -- in the interests of time, I did
2 have a question for the sponsor, but I'm just
3 going to speak on this legislation, because
4 it's --
5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
6 Montgomery, on the bill.
7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Thank you.
8 It really is pretty
9 straightforward, as I read it. It is a bill
10 which intends to protect children in child
11 abuse cases. So initially, when the bill was
12 passed, it was to cover children up to the age
13 of 11. I believe this bill extends that up to
14 age 14.
15 And, Mr. President, of course we
16 certainly want to protect children as well as
17 young teens. But I just -- I feel very, very
18 much conflicted about this, because it also,
19 in addition, to raising the age of the young
20 person that it covers, it extends the statute
21 of limitations, so to speak, so that once one
22 is convicted under this legislation, for the
23 next 10 years they carry the burden of having
24 been convicted under this.
25 In addition, it raises the charge
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1 from a misdemeanor to a felony. Which means
2 now we're not talking 10 years anymore, we're
3 talking life, because a felony is a lifetime
4 charge. And we do not close -- we do not
5 expunge, we do not have a means of expunging
6 felonies at this point in time.
7 And, Mr. President, when we talk
8 about 50 percent of the African-American men
9 who are unemployed, we all must understand
10 that a large percent of that 50 percent is
11 based on felony convictions.
12 So I'm very, very cautious about
13 this process. Every time that an opportunity
14 seems to me that someone in this Legislature
15 finds a need to increase the charge. If it's
16 a misdemeanor, we always want to go up to a
17 felony. If it's a felony E, we want to go to
18 felony D. And so forth and so on. And we
19 also are increasing the time that a person is
20 charged.
21 Now, I understand, based on the
22 memo from the sponsor, that in fact there have
23 been a number of prosecutions under this law
24 as it stands, but there have been no
25 convictions. So that in and of itself, to me,
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1 is a signal that we need to rethink this --
2 whatever the problem as we see it that causes
3 us to want to change this legislation.
4 So for those reasons, I am going to
5 continue to oppose this bill. And I know that
6 people will try to say, Oh, soft on crime.
7 I'm not soft on crime. I don't like criminals
8 any more than anybody else. But in this
9 Legislature, we have begun to criminalize
10 everything. And eventually, everybody will be
11 a criminal in one way or another.
12 So I think we need to rethink this
13 process. And I'm not sure this is necessary.
14 And certainly, even if we want to cover up to
15 14, I think we need to think about why we
16 should make it -- suddenly change it from a
17 misdemeanor to a felony. Which is a lifetime
18 charge, Mr. President.
19 So I'm going to vote no on this
20 bill. Thank you.
21 THE PRESIDENT: Is any other
22 Senator wishing to speak on this bill?
23 The debate is closed.
24 The Secretary will ring the bell.
25 Read the last section.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
2 act shall take effect on the first of
3 November.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Call the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE PRESIDENT: Announce the
7 results.
8 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Mr. President.
9 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Flanagan
10 wishes to explain his vote.
11 SENATOR FLANAGAN: Thank you,
12 Mr. President. To explain my vote. I just
13 want to clarify two points that were raised in
14 the comments by Senator Montgomery.
15 This bill is about expanding
16 protections for kids who are 12, 13, and 14
17 years old. We're not talking about, you know,
18 simple crimes. We're talking about aggravated
19 assault in the first, second and third degree.
20 And what we're doing is we're
21 extending the time period. We're not
22 extending the statute of limitations, we're
23 basically saying if you're convicted of a
24 previous offense, we're now going to extend
25 the look-back period from three to ten years.
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1 So I kind of look at this as common
2 sense, saying I don't mind going from three to
3 10 years. And if you are someone who has
4 abused a child and been convicted of that
5 crime twice, we're going to raise the penalty.
6 And we're going to raise it to at least an
7 E felony.
8 It's not a lifetime conviction. It
9 can go to at least an E felony, which is one
10 to three years. And for someone who's
11 committed that type of crime twice within
12 10 years, I think one to three years is not
13 much to pay at all. In fact, maybe we should
14 be contemplating making it more severe.
15 This is about protecting children.
16 It has nothing to do with race. It has
17 everything to do with justice for victims of
18 sexual assault and abuse.
19 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Flanagan
20 will be recorded in the affirmative.
21 The Secretary will announce the
22 results.
23 THE SECRETARY: In relation to
24 Calendar Number 58: Ayes, 55. Nays, 1.
25 Senator Montgomery recorded in the negative.
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1 Absent from voting: Senators Alesi
2 and Connor.
3 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
4 passed.
5 Senator Marcellino.
6 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Mr.
7 President, is there any further business at
8 the desk?
9 THE PRESIDENT: We have completed
10 the controversial reading of the calendar.
11 We do have a motion at the desk.
12 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Can we have
13 the motion, please.
14 THE PRESIDENT: The chair
15 recognizes Senator Robach.
16 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes,
17 Mr. President. On page 15 I offer the
18 following amendments to Calendar Number 114,
19 Senate Print Number 2084, and ask that the
20 said bill retain its place on Third Reading
21 Calendar, please.
22 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
23 are received and adopted, and the bill will
24 retain its place on the Third Reading
25 Calendar.
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1 That completes the order of
2 business, Senator Marcellino.
3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
4 Mr. President.
5 There being no further business, I
6 move we adjourn until Tuesday, February 27th,
7 at 3:00 p.m.
8 THE PRESIDENT: The Senate is
9 adjourned until Tuesday, February 27th, at
10 3:00 p.m., intervening hours being
11 legislative.
12 (Whereupon, at 4:28 p.m., the
13 Senate adjourned.)
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