Regular Session - February 28, 2007

                                                            759



         1                 NEW YORK STATE SENATE

         2

         3

         4                THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD

         5

         6

         7

         8

         9                   ALBANY, NEW YORK

        10                   February 28, 2007

        11                      11:05 a.m.

        12

        13

        14                    REGULAR SESSION

        15

        16

        17

        18  LT. GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON, President

        19  STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary

        20

        21

        22

        23

        24

        25


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         1                 P R O C E E D I N G S

         2                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Senate will

         3       come to order.

         4                  I would ask everyone to please rise

         5       and recite with me the Pledge of Allegiance to

         6       our Flag.

         7                  (Whereupon, the assemblage recited

         8       the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)

         9                  THE PRESIDENT:    In the absence of

        10       clergy, we will observe a moment of silence.

        11                  (Whereupon, the assemblage

        12       respected a moment of silence.)

        13                  THE PRESIDENT:    The reading of

        14       the Journal.

        15                  THE SECRETARY:    In Senate,

        16       Tuesday, February 27, the Senate met pursuant

        17       to adjournment.  The Journal of Monday,

        18       February 26, was read and approved.  On

        19       motion, Senate adjourned.

        20                  THE PRESIDENT:    Without

        21       objection, the Journal stands approved.

        22                  Presentation of petitions.

        23                  Messages from the Assembly.

        24                  Messages from the Governor.

        25                  Reports of standing committees.


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         1                  Reports of select committees.

         2                  Communications and reports from

         3       state officers.

         4                  Motions and resolutions.

         5                  Senator Bruno.

         6                  SENATOR BRUNO:    Mr. President, I

         7       have a resolution at the desk.  I would ask

         8       that it be read in its entirety and move for

         9       its immediate adoption.

        10                  THE PRESIDENT:    Most certainly.

        11       The Secretary will read.

        12                  THE SECRETARY:    By Senator Bruno,

        13       Legislative Resolution Number 635,

        14       memorializing Governor Eliot Spitzer to

        15       proclaim February 25 through March 3, 2007, as

        16       Eating Disorders Awareness Week in the State

        17       of New York.

        18                  "WHEREAS, Eating disorders, such as

        19       anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge

        20       eating disorder, can have life-threatening

        21       consequences for both males and females; and

        22                  "WHEREAS, In the United States

        23       there are reported cases of anorexia nervosa

        24       and bulimia nervosa that affect nearly

        25       10 million women and 1 million men, primarily


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         1       teens and young adults; and

         2                  "WHEREAS, The vast majority -- more

         3       than 90 percent -- of those afflicted with

         4       eating disorders are adolescent and young

         5       women, with a peak onset among girls ages

         6       14-18.  Approximately 5 percent of adolescent

         7       and adult women have an eating disorder, with

         8       as many as 1 in 10 college women suffering

         9       from a clinical or nearly clinical eating

        10       disorder, and 15 percent of young women have

        11       substantially disordered eating attitudes and

        12       behaviors; and

        13                  "WHEREAS, Those suffering from

        14       anorexia nervosa refuse to maintain a healthy

        15       body weight for height, body type, age and

        16       activity level, and there is usually an

        17       intense fear of weight gain and extreme

        18       concern with body weight and shape; and

        19                  "WHEREAS, Anorexia nervosa has a

        20       fatality rate 12 times higher than the annual

        21       death rate due to all causes of death among

        22       females ages 15-24 and is often associated

        23       with other serious health consequences,

        24       including heart and kidney failure and

        25       osteoporosis; and


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         1                  "WHEREAS, Bulimia nervosa is an

         2       eating disorder characterized by excessive

         3       food consumption followed by inappropriate

         4       compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced

         5       vomiting, misuse of laxatives, fasting or

         6       excessive exercise; and

         7                  "WHEREAS, Bulimia nervosa is often

         8       associated with cardiac, gastrointestinal and

         9       dental problems, including irregular

        10       heartbeat, gastric rupture, peptic ulcer, and

        11       tooth decay; and

        12                  "WHEREAS, Binge eating disorder is

        13       characterized primarily by periods of

        14       uncontrolled, impulsive or continuous eating

        15       beyond the point of feeling comfortably full.

        16       While there is no purging, there may be

        17       sporadic fasts or repetitive diets and often

        18       shame following a binge which can lead to

        19       binge eating again, creating a cycle of binge

        20       eating; and

        21                  "WHEREAS, Binge eating disorder is

        22       often associated with obesity, heart disease,

        23       gallbladder disease and diabetes; and

        24                  "WHEREAS, There are other eating

        25       disorders which may include some combination


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         1       of the signs and symptoms of anorexia nervosa,

         2       bulimia nervosa, and binge eating which may be

         3       physically and psychologically dangerous; and

         4                  "WHEREAS, Eating disorders usually

         5       appear in adolescence and are associated with

         6       substantial psychological problems, including

         7       depression, substance abuse, and suicide; and

         8                  "WHEREAS, Eating disorders can have

         9       a negative impact on all aspects of life, and

        10       educational efforts to prevent eating

        11       disorders are of primary importance, and

        12                  "WHEREAS, With the support of a

        13       number of groups in New York State, along with

        14       the National Eating Disorders Association and

        15       the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa

        16       and Related Disorders, raising awareness and

        17       offering care and treatment to individuals

        18       suffering from eating disorders and their

        19       families, a landmark program is now being

        20       implemented to provide for Northeastern,

        21       Western New York and Metropolitan

        22       Comprehensive Care Centers for Eating

        23       Disorders to provide for individualized and

        24       coordinated care, information and referral,

        25       community outreach and education, prevention


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         1       and research activities; and

         2                  "WHEREAS, Now in its 20th year,

         3       National Eating Disorders Awareness Week will

         4       highlight the fact that body size and shape

         5       are strongly influenced by biological factors

         6       such as genetics, while also calling attention

         7       to some of the new discoveries surrounding the

         8       role of genetics in the development of eating

         9       disorders; and

        10                  "WHEREAS, Further outreach, support

        11       and awareness are necessary for citizens

        12       throughout the state; now, therefore, be it

        13                  "RESOLVED, That this Legislative

        14       Body pause in its deliberations to memorialize

        15       Governor Eliot Spitzer to proclaim February 25

        16       through March 3, 2007, as Eating Disorders

        17       Awareness Week in the State of New York; and

        18       be it further

        19                  "RESOLVED, That copies of this

        20       resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted

        21       to The Honorable Eliot Spitzer, Governor of

        22       the State of New York, the National Eating

        23       Disorders Association and Northeastern,

        24       Metropolitan and Western New York

        25       Comprehensive Care Centers for Eating


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         1       Disorders."

         2                  THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Bruno, on

         3       the resolution.

         4                  SENATOR BRUNO:    Thank you,

         5       Mr. President and colleagues.

         6                  You heard a resolution that talks

         7       about a very serious problem here throughout

         8       this country.  And this week is Eating

         9       Disorder Awareness -- hopefully leading to

        10       prevention -- Week.

        11                  And I just rise because I think

        12       almost everybody here will have been touched

        13       in some way, have been or will be, by people

        14       who are seriously afflicted with an eating

        15       disorder.  There are about 10 million people

        16       in this country with anorexia or bulimia,

        17       about a third of them in a very serious,

        18       life-threatening way.  It's mental, it is

        19       physical, it is both.  It disrupts families,

        20       it destroys families, it destroys people.

        21                  And I have seen professional after

        22       professional who is afflicted.  About

        23       10 percent are men, and the age groups are

        24       really up to 18 or 20, primarily.  And then

        25       there are 25 million who are having problems


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         1       with binging, which creates all kinds of

         2       health issues and catastrophes also in

         3       people's lives.

         4                  So we want to help make people

         5       aware.  There is help out there.  We did, with

         6       your help, some legislation two years ago

         7       creating three pilots in this state where

         8       people with anorexia, bulimia, can go through

         9       a complete treatment.

        10                  Up until now -- and these are not

        11       fully operative, because it's very

        12       complicated.  Up till now, people have to go

        13       to Oklahoma, Arizona, New Jersey,

        14       Philadelphia, Boston, Naples, Florida, just to

        15       mention a few where I have had personal

        16       experience with a family member having to be

        17       treated in those facilities.

        18                  So I thank you for your support.

        19       We have resources here in this state.  Through

        20       awareness, through prevention, we will save

        21       lives.

        22                  Karen Carpenter is probably one of

        23       the most notable.  You think about a gifted

        24       woman in her early thirties who dies from

        25       anorexia and bulimia.  Think about that, a


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         1       person with everything in the whole world to

         2       live for.  Now, why did she die?  Because she

         3       couldn't help herself.  And no one else could

         4       help her, because it is what it is.

         5                  And about a third of the people

         6       that are afflicted, and that's several

         7       million, have that kind of potential serious

         8       malady, to die.

         9                  So thank you, Mr. President.  And

        10       thank you to my colleagues.  And this is an

        11       important resolution to people's lives in this

        12       state and throughout the country, really.

        13                  And anyone that would like to join

        14       on this resolution, I would appreciate it.

        15       And I know all of the people that relate in

        16       some way to this would also appreciate it.

        17                  Thank you, Mr. President.

        18                  THE PRESIDENT:    Thank you very

        19       much, Senator Bruno.

        20                  Senator Rath.

        21                  SENATOR RATH:    Yes, Mr. President

        22       and my colleagues.

        23                  I'd like to first of all thank the

        24       Governor for calling attention to the

        25       critical, critical issue in front of us by


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         1       designation of this particular week as Eating

         2       Disorders Week, and thank Senator Bruno for

         3       his leadership, particularly on the anorexia

         4       side of this issue, which is as critical as

         5       the obesity issue, though not as widespread, I

         6       don't believe, as the obesity issue.

         7                  But I rise to draw attention to

         8       some of the items that have been in the news

         9       this week.  You all saw the little boy who was

        10       so grossly overweight, you saw the concerns

        11       that the child might be taken away from his

        12       parents because of child abuse.  You see the

        13       airlines talking about charging people two

        14       tickets if they are overweight, for two seats.

        15                  We have an emerging crisis in this

        16       country.  And one of the things that I think

        17       through the work that I've done -- and for

        18       those of you who don't know me well, my basic

        19       background was as a home ec teacher.  So I've

        20       been watching this issue for all of my life --

        21       and I think it's the opportunity for all of us

        22       to share in the goodwill of our lifetimes and

        23       our lifestyles with wonderful foods.  It's

        24       part of our ethnic traditions, all of our

        25       ethnic traditions.  And it's just gotten away


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         1       from us, and it's gotten away from the rest of

         2       the country.

         3                  That part of it as well as the fast

         4       food part of it and the trans fats issue,

         5       they're all there and they're all kind of

         6       boiling, if you'll let me use that phrase.

         7                  So I stand to suggest to all of you

         8       that we keep this on the top of our thoughts

         9       one way or another, looking for ways out of

        10       this dilemma that is -- it's there, and it's

        11       going to catch up with us.  And we're going to

        12       have to take some dramatic and strategic moves

        13       if we don't take care of it in the early

        14       stages.

        15                  And I am again grateful to the

        16       Governor and grateful to Senator Bruno and the

        17       eating disorders centers that are there.  So

        18       let us -- again, I urge you to keep this in

        19       your thoughts and help all of us help

        20       ourselves.

        21                  Thank you.

        22                  THE PRESIDENT:    Senator

        23       Hassell-Thompson.

        24                  SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON:    Thank

        25       you, Mr. President.


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         1                  I rise in support of this

         2       resolution and also to commend the Governor

         3       and Senator Bruno for the leadership that they

         4       have taken.

         5                  Senator Rath began to talk about

         6       the concerns that I also had, and that is that

         7       we have created an image in this country of

         8       what people should in fact look like.  And in

         9       an effort to meet that standard, we have given

        10       our children too much latitude and we've given

        11       advertisers a lot of latitude in terms of how

        12       they project.

        13                  We cannot legislate every action of

        14       people, but certainly we have a monitoring

        15       responsibility to ensure that companies are

        16       reporting properly the food intake contents

        17       and that we're doing a better job in educating

        18       our parents in terms of how to help children

        19       eat balanced diets and not allow them to

        20       believe that because their incomes are small,

        21       that this should affect the way in which

        22       children eat.

        23                  We have a tremendous responsibility

        24       to our kids, because we're looking at

        25       outstanding numbers of children who are


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         1       developing juvenile diabetes and early stages

         2       of cancer because of overweight, overeating.

         3       So eating has become something that we do not

         4       out of necessity, but it is a substitute for

         5       those things that we are missing in our

         6       society.

         7                  Here in this chamber we look at

         8       things, we look at things politically.  But we

         9       need to begin to look at things more from a

        10       perspective of humanity and what we're doing

        11       to our next generation of children.

        12                  So I commend both our Governor and

        13       Senator Bruno for their leadership, and I hope

        14       that this is just a first step in the things

        15       that we do together to ensure that we pay more

        16       attention to what is happening to the

        17       generation behind us.

        18                  THE PRESIDENT:    Senator

        19       DeFrancisco, on the resolution.

        20                  SENATOR DeFRANCISCO:    Yes, I rise

        21       in support of the resolution and want to take

        22       this opportunity to commend Mary Ellen Clausen

        23       and all the fine people of Ophelia's Place in

        24       Syracuse, New York, who organized and continue

        25       to run a facility that they actually created


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         1       themselves as a result of personal involvement

         2       with family members with these diseases.

         3                  And it's extremely successful and

         4       extremely helpful to people to obtain

         5       information and also to obtain how to get the

         6       services that these young people truly need.

         7                  It is a very important resolution.

         8       And the efforts beyond the resolution to

         9       provide the centers and information centers,

        10       such as what Mary Ellen Clausen does at

        11       Ophelia's Place, is so important because so

        12       few people truly understand the nature of the

        13       disease and what has to be done to help people

        14       who have that disease.

        15                  THE PRESIDENT:    Senator C.

        16       Johnson.

        17                  SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON:    Thank

        18       you, Mr. President.

        19                  I rise today to also not only

        20       commend our Governor and Senator Bruno, but to

        21       thank Senator Bruno for his leadership on this

        22       issue.

        23                  As a father of two young children,

        24       our friends, who also have young children, and

        25       primarily daughters, are starting to see their


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         1       daughters as young as 6, 7, 8 already talking

         2       about dieting, because they're conscious of

         3       their body image.  They see the

         4       advertisements, even in the young miss and all

         5       those young magazines that are focusing on the

         6       children, and the women -- the models are all

         7       stick-thin.  And they are already wanting to

         8       talk about dieting and losing weight.  Six, 7,

         9       8 years old.  This is what we're talking about

        10       in Port Washington and Roslyn around the

        11       dinner table, and our concern for our

        12       children.

        13                  And it is about education.  The

        14       other day I was watching the TV news and there

        15       was a discussion about in the elementary

        16       schools they had a group of children sitting

        17       around a table and they picked up a picture,

        18       one a stick figure with a very thin girl, and

        19       one with a more full-figured young girl.  And

        20       they said:  "Who do you want to be friends

        21       with?"  And uniformly the girls picked the

        22       thin girl.  They didn't want to be friends

        23       with the fat girl.

        24                  And so we're seeing it's not just

        25       about the health issues that we talk about and


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         1       the fast food, but we're talking about it

         2       expands.  We're talking about bullying issues.

         3       And it's all these things that focus upon,

         4       that bring about the eating disorders, the

         5       mental problems and the physical problems.

         6                  So it's about moving just on

         7       prevention and education, but really working

         8       with the advertisers in New York State to get

         9       them to stop at such a young age having our

        10       children focus on a thin figure, and to work

        11       with our food and our service industries to

        12       make sure we provide healthy foods -- not just

        13       to buy in the fast food, but in the schools.

        14                  Because if you look at the food

        15       quality that is given in a number of our

        16       schools, it is such poor quality that they're

        17       going to gain weight, and of course the cycle

        18       begins.

        19                  So I thank you, Senator Bruno, for

        20       this resolution.  I strongly support it.  And

        21       I hope we can move forward and really address

        22       these issues going forward.

        23                  Thank you.

        24                  THE PRESIDENT:    Is there any

        25       other member that would like to speak on the


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         1       resolution?

         2                  Hearing none, the question is on

         3       the resolution.  All those in favor please

         4       indicate so by saying aye.

         5                  (Response of "Aye.")

         6                  THE PRESIDENT:    Opposed, nay.

         7                  (No response.)

         8                  THE PRESIDENT:    The resolution is

         9       adopted.

        10                  And the chair notes Senator

        11       Johnson, Senator DeFrancisco, Senator Rath,

        12       Senator Hassell-Thompson, and the wonderful

        13       remarks by Senator Bruno.  The resolution is

        14       adopted.

        15                  Senator Bruno did indicate

        16       previously that we would open the resolution

        17       to all members.  Any who would not like to be

        18       on the resolution may indicate so at the desk.

        19                  Thank you, Senator Bruno.

        20                  SENATOR BRUNO:    Mr. President, I

        21       believe there's a resolution at the desk by

        22       Senator Robach.  I would ask that the title be

        23       read and move for its immediate adoption.

        24                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

        25       will read.


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         1                  THE SECRETARY:    By Senator

         2       Robach, Legislative Resolution Number 649,

         3       commemorating the 75th anniversary of the

         4       Aquinas Institute Mission Bouts.

         5                  THE PRESIDENT:    On the

         6       resolution, all those in favor.

         7                  (Response of "Aye.")

         8                  THE PRESIDENT:    Opposed.

         9                  (No response.)

        10                  THE PRESIDENT:    The resolution is

        11       adopted.

        12                  Senator Bruno.

        13                  SENATOR BRUNO:    I believe,

        14       Mr. President, that there is another

        15       resolution at the desk, by Senator Leibell.  I

        16       would ask that the title be read and move for

        17       its immediate adoption.

        18                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

        19       will read.

        20                  THE SECRETARY:    By Senator

        21       Leibell, Legislative Resolution Number 650,

        22       commending Hudson River HealthCare and the

        23       Park Street African Methodist Episcopal Zion

        24       Church as they honor the legacy of Harriet

        25       Tubman on March 2, 2007.


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         1                  THE PRESIDENT:    All those in

         2       favor please indicate by saying aye.

         3                  (Response of "Aye.")

         4                  THE PRESIDENT:    Opposed, nay.

         5                  (No response.)

         6                  THE PRESIDENT:    The resolution is

         7       adopted.

         8                  Senator Bruno.

         9                  SENATOR BRUNO:    Mr. President,

        10       can we at this time have the noncontroversial

        11       reading of the calendar.

        12                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

        13       will begin the noncontroversial reading of the

        14       calendar.

        15                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

        16       103, by Senator Morahan, Senate Print 249, an

        17       act to amend the General Business Law, in

        18       relation to requiring.

        19                  THE PRESIDENT:    Last section.

        20                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

        21       act shall take effect immediately.

        22                  THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

        23                  (The Secretary called the roll.)

        24                  THE PRESIDENT:    Results.

        25                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 50.  Nays,


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         1       1.  Senator DeFrancisco recorded in the

         2       negative.

         3                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

         4       passed.

         5                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

         6       107, by Senator Flanagan, Senate Print 695, an

         7       act to amend the General Business Law, in

         8       relation to prohibiting the sale.

         9                  THE PRESIDENT:    Last section.

        10                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

        11       act shall take effect on the 60th day.

        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       109, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 1547,

        19       an act to amend the General Business Law, in

        20       relation to increasing the civil penalty.

        21                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

        22       will please read the last 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 PRESIDENT:    Senator

         3       Schneiderman.

         4                  SENATOR SCHNEIDERMAN:    Thank you,

         5       Mr. President.  To explain my vote.

         6                  I think Senator Fuschillo's bill is

         7       a first step towards addressing an issue that

         8       requires a lot more attention from this house,

         9       from the Legislature and the Governor in

        10       general.

        11                  The issue of price gouging has come

        12       up repeatedly in the context particularly of

        13       energy prices.  And it's an area in which our

        14       law is really not up to the challenge.  This

        15       piece of legislation is a good step, but the

        16       Attorney General needs more power, needs

        17       clarification of their authority in the

        18       absence of a gubernatorial declaration of an

        19       emergency.  And, frankly, we need to get more

        20       people involved.

        21                  So I have a proposal, and there's

        22       others who have proposals to involve local

        23       district attorneys.  We don't have an

        24       effective mechanism in this state for ensuring

        25       that price gouging doesn't take place.  I hope


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         1       that energy prices go down, but I don't

         2       believe they will in the long term.  And I

         3       think that this is an issue that will come up

         4       again and again and again.

         5                  And so I commend Senator Fuschillo

         6       for trying to keep the issue on the table, but

         7       this is something where we do need to take

         8       further action before the next crisis occurs.

         9                  I will be voting yes,

        10       Mr. President.

        11                  THE PRESIDENT:    Senator

        12       Schneiderman will be recorded in the

        13       affirmative.

        14                  The Secretary will announce the

        15       results.

        16                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 51.

        17                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

        18       passed.

        19                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

        20       117, by Senator Little, Senate Print 1099, an

        21       act in relation to directing the Law Revision

        22       Commission.

        23                  THE PRESIDENT:    Last section.

        24                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 4.  This

        25       act shall take effect on the 30th day.


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         1                  THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

         2                  (The Secretary called the roll.)

         3                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 51.

         4                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

         5       passed.

         6                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

         7       124, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 2377, an

         8       act directing the Commissioner of Labor to

         9       issue a report.

        10                  THE PRESIDENT:    Last section.

        11                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

        12       act shall take effect immediately.

        13                  THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

        14                  (The Secretary called the roll.)

        15                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 51.

        16                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

        17       passed.

        18                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

        19       134, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 1918, an

        20       act to amend the General Business Law and

        21       others, in relation to peddling New York

        22       agricultural products on the streets.

        23                  THE PRESIDENT:    Last section.

        24                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 5.  This

        25       act shall take effect on the 180th day.


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         1                  THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

         2                  (The Secretary called the roll.)

         3                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 51.

         4                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

         5       passed.

         6                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

         7       135, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 2041, an

         8       act to amend the General Business Law, in

         9       relation to the sale of laser pointing

        10       devices.

        11                  THE PRESIDENT:    Last section.

        12                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 5.  This

        13       act shall take effect on the first of

        14       September.

        15                  THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

        16                  (The Secretary called the roll.)

        17                  THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Craig

        18       Johnson.

        19                  SENATOR CRAIG JOHNSON:    Thank

        20       you.  I wish to take this opportunity to

        21       explain my vote.

        22                  I commend Senator Skelos on this

        23       law, and I support this law.  I just do think

        24       that in the process, if the Assembly puts

        25       something together and puts it through, they


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         1       should maybe put a couple of things in there

         2       that we can address.

         3                  In reviewing the law, one concern I

         4       have is that there's no exception in the terms

         5       of school for educational purposes.  You know,

         6       I've recently -- or compared to the members of

         7       this body, I'm probably one of the more recent

         8       graduates of high school.  And laser pointers

         9       are used for educational purposes in terms of

        10       slide presentations, Power Points.

        11                  Under this law, in theory merely

        12       walking into a school they can be confiscated

        13       if a principal wants to, you know, assert a

        14       violation against them.  So there's no

        15       educational exception for the purpose of the

        16       schools.

        17                  The second thing, in reading the

        18       justification, and those instances are

        19       horrible in terms of the police.  And when you

        20       put these out there and the potential lives

        21       that could be lost in terms of them, the

        22       justification when looking at the law doesn't

        23       really go to what the purpose of the law is.

        24                  I think we should ban them entirely

        25       in the possession of 18-year-olds.  We have a


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         1       number of laws in local counties which

         2       prohibit -- it's not just the sale, but let's

         3       stop the possession.  Because if you look at

         4       the justification, when these instances were

         5       used, it was outside of the school grounds.

         6       It was in people's homes, it was on a school

         7       bus, which technically actually I don't think

         8       would be covered under this bill, because a

         9       school bus is not a school building.

        10                  But I think we need to go a little

        11       bit further.  And hopefully Senator Skelos

        12       will put something forward or we can work

        13       together to put something forward that would

        14       actually prohibit children under the age of 18

        15       to possessing these things outside of a

        16       school, because there's no purpose for them to

        17       have them outside of the school.

        18                  So I commend Senator Skelos, I

        19       support the bill, and I look forward to its

        20       enactment by the Assembly.

        21                  Thank you.

        22                  THE PRESIDENT:    Senator Craig

        23       Johnson will be recorded in the affirmative.

        24                  Results.

        25                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 53.


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         1                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

         2       passed.

         3                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

         4       147, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 603,

         5       an act to amend the Criminal Procedure Law, in

         6       relation to evidence.

         7                  THE PRESIDENT:    Last section.

         8                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 2.  This

         9       act shall take effect on the 30th day.

        10                  THE PRESIDENT:    Call the roll.

        11                  (The Secretary called the roll.)

        12                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 53.

        13                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

        14       passed.

        15                  THE SECRETARY:    Calendar Number

        16       153, by Senator Trunzo, Senate Print 884, an

        17       act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to

        18       prohibiting stalking.

        19                  THE PRESIDENT:    Read the last

        20       section.

        21                  THE SECRETARY:    Section 4.  This

        22       act shall take effect on the first of

        23       November.

        24                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

        25       will call the roll.


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         1                  (The Secretary called the roll.)

         2                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Secretary

         3       will announce the results.

         4                  THE SECRETARY:    Ayes, 53.

         5                  THE PRESIDENT:    The bill is

         6       passed.

         7                  Senator Bruno, that completes the

         8       noncontroversial reading of the calendar.

         9                  SENATOR BRUNO:    Mr. President, is

        10       there any further business to be done by this

        11       body at this time?

        12                  THE PRESIDENT:    There is no

        13       further business to be attended to, Senator.

        14                  SENATOR BRUNO:    Then we are going

        15       to ask the Majority members to have an

        16       immediate conference on the break of session,

        17       which is imminent.  And it will be short and

        18       direct.  And productive.  And something that

        19       you don't want to miss.

        20                  THE PRESIDENT:    There will be an

        21       immediate meeting of the Senate Majority in

        22       the Majority Conference Room, Room 332.  It

        23       will be short, direct, and productive, right

        24       after session.

        25                  SENATOR BRUNO:    And,


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         1       Mr. President, there being no further business

         2       to come before the Senate, I would move that

         3       we stand adjourned until Monday, March 5th, at

         4       3:00 p.m., intervening days to be legislative

         5       days.

         6                  Thank you.

         7                  THE PRESIDENT:    The Senate is

         8       adjourned and will reconvene on Monday,

         9       March 5th, at 3:00 p.m., intervening days

        10       being legislative.

        11                  Senate is adjourned.

        12                  (Whereupon, at 11:31 a.m., the

        13       Senate adjourned.)

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