Regular Session - May 22, 2007
3224
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
5
6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 May 22, 2007
11 11:02 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 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask that everyone present please
5 rise and repeat with me the Pledge of
6 Allegiance to our Flag.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
10 invocation today will be given by Father
11 Charles J. Beirne, Society of Jesus, president
12 of Le Moyne College in Syracuse.
13 FATHER BEIRNE: From Psalm 15:
14 "Yahweh, who has the right to enter your tent
15 or to live on your holy mountain? The one
16 whose way of life is blameless, who always
17 does what is right, who speaks the truth from
18 his heart, the one who does good for all
19 people and gives credit to the neighbor, and
20 the one who honors those who hold God in awe,
21 and the one who stands by the pledge at any
22 cost. If they do all this, nothing can ever
23 shake them."
24 Let us pray.
25 Loving God, we ask Your blessing on
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1 the New York State Senate, all its staff
2 members, its members and all the constituents,
3 and all those with responsibility for our
4 community.
5 We ask them to take special care of
6 the poor and to help us all to help them.
7 Amen.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: May
9 we have the reading of the Journal, please.
10 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
11 Monday, May 21, the Senate met pursuant to
12 adjournment. The Journal of Sunday, May 20,
13 was read and approved. On motion, Senate
14 adjourned.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
16 Without objection, the Journal stands approved
17 as read.
18 Presentation of petitions.
19 Messages from the Assembly.
20 Messages from the Governor.
21 Reports of standing committees.
22 Reports of select committees.
23 Communications and reports from
24 state officers.
25 Motions and resolutions.
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1 Senator Bonacic.
2 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 On behalf of Senator Larkin, we'd
5 like to amend a bill on the calendar third
6 reading. Page number 36, I offer the
7 following amendments to Calendar Number 605,
8 Print Number 573, and ask that said bill
9 retain its place on the Third Reading
10 Calendar.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
12 amendments are received. The bill will retain
13 its place on the Third Reading Calendar.
14 Senator Bonacic.
15 SENATOR BONACIC: In addition,
16 Mr. President, we'd like to amend a bill
17 recalled from the Assembly. On behalf of
18 Senator Farley, I wish to call up Print Number
19 4799, recalled from the Assembly, which is now
20 at the desk.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
22 Secretary will read.
23 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
24 897, by Senator Farley, Senate Print 4799, an
25 act to amend the Real Property Tax Law.
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1 SENATOR BONACIC: Mr. President,
2 I now move to reconsider the vote by which
3 this bill was passed.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
5 Call the roll on reconsideration.
6 (The Secretary called the roll.)
7 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41.
8 SENATOR BONACIC: Mr. President,
9 I now offer the following amendments.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
11 amendments are accepted.
12 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
14 You're welcome.
15 Senator Skelos.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I
17 believe there are substitutions to be made at
18 the desk.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
20 There are. The Secretary will read.
21 THE SECRETARY: On page 26,
22 Senator Seward moves to discharge, from the
23 Committee on Housing, Construction and
24 Community Development, Assembly Bill Number
25 4367 and substitute it for the identical
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1 Senate Bill Number 3022, Third Reading
2 Calendar 364.
3 And on page 62, Senator Griffo
4 moves to discharge, from the Committee on
5 Investigations and Government Operations,
6 Assembly Bill Number 360A and substitute it
7 for the identical Senate Bill Number 2320,
8 Third Reading Calendar 1015.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
10 substitutions are ordered.
11 Senator Skelos.
12 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
13 if we could adopt the Resolution Calendar,
14 with the exception of Resolutions 1969, 2329,
15 and 2352.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: All
17 in favor of adopting the Resolution Calendar
18 with the exception of Resolutions 1969, 2329,
19 and 2352, signify by saying aye.
20 (Response of "Aye.")
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
22 Opposed, nay.
23 (No response.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
25 Resolution Calendar is adopted.
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1 Senator Skelos.
2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
3 if we could take up Resolution 1969, by
4 Senator Breslin, have it read in its entirety
5 and move for its immediate adoption.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
7 Secretary will read.
8 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
9 Breslin, Legislative Resolution Number 1969,
10 congratulating Constance Walsh Crummey upon
11 the occasion of her designation as Teenager of
12 the Year by the Colonie Elks Lodge.
13 "WHEREAS, It is the sense of this
14 Assembled Body to act, in accord with its
15 long-standing traditions, honoring the youth
16 of today and leaders of tomorrow whose
17 character and achievements best exemplify the
18 ideals and values cherished by this great
19 state and nation; and
20 "WHEREAS, Attendant to such
21 concern, and in full accord with its
22 long-standing traditions, this Assembled Body
23 is justly proud to congratulate Constance
24 Walsh Crummey upon the occasion of her
25 designation as Teenager of the Year by the
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1 Colonie Elks Lodge, to be celebrated on
2 Tuesday, May 22, 2007; and
3 "WHEREAS, Shaker High School senior
4 Constance Crummey, daughter of the Honorable
5 and Mrs. Peter Crummey of Loudonville,
6 New York, has been selected as Shaker High
7 School's Teenager of the Year; and
8 "WHEREAS, Constance Crummey was
9 selected for this special honor because of her
10 strong academic performance, her service to
11 the school, and her commitment to the
12 community; and
13 "WHEREAS, Constance Crummey is a
14 recipient of numerous awards and honors, such
15 as Scholar Athlete Award for Tennis, Indoor
16 Track, Outdoor Track, Fall/Winter/Spring
17 2003-2007; High Honor or Honor Status for
18 academic achievement in all four quarters,
19 2003-2007; finalist for Presidential Classroom
20 Scholarship, Spring 2006; Leadership Award for
21 Student Government and Visions, Spring 2006;
22 and member of Who's Who Among American High
23 School Students, Spring 2005/Spring 2006, to
24 name a few; and
25 "WHEREAS, Constance Crummey has
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1 been nominated for the following: membership
2 in National Society of High School Scholars,
3 Winter 2006; induction into Spring 2006
4 National Honor Roll; Congressional Student
5 Leadership Conference, Winter 2006; People to
6 People Sports Ambassador Program, Winter 2006;
7 and Global Young Leaders Conference in either
8 the U.S. or Europe, Spring 2005; and
9 "WHEREAS, A 2005-2006 Times Union
10 Tennis All-Star, Constance Crummey's sense of
11 civic duty and her commitment to others
12 represents the best development of the
13 potential which is inherent in our most
14 precious resource, our youth; now, therefore,
15 be it
16 "RESOLVED, That this Legislative
17 Body pause in its deliberations to honor
18 Constance Walsh Crummey upon the occasion of
19 her designation as Teenager of the Year by the
20 Colonie Elks Lodge; and be it further
21 "RESOLVED, That a copy of this
22 resolution, suitably engrossed, be transmitted
23 to Constance Walsh Crummey."
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
25 Senator Breslin, on the resolution.
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1 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 It's my honor to rise. Rarely do
4 we have someone that we honor in a resolution
5 that blends leadership, scholarship and
6 athleticism. But with Constance Crummey, we
7 have all three, and exemplified by her
8 all-star status as a tennis player, a
9 participant in both indoor and outdoor track,
10 her academic achievements through all four
11 years, and her exhibited leadership skills.
12 It's just a tremendous accomplishment.
13 And I'd be remiss if I didn't look
14 up and see your grandmother there. And if she
15 didn't tell you, I will, that she was one of
16 the best tennis players in the Capital
17 District for many years, and you should be
18 very proud of that tradition.
19 And if anyone doesn't know, we
20 happen to have, for some reason, the mother of
21 Constance here with us, who would be Karen
22 Crummey. Her father would be here, but he's
23 serving judicial duties, Judge Crummey from
24 Colonie.
25 So I commend you, Constance, I wish
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1 you every success in the future for your
2 wonderful accomplishments to date.
3 Thank you, Mr. President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: All
5 in favor of the resolution please signify by
6 saying aye.
7 (Response of "Aye.")
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
9 Opposed, nay.
10 (No response.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
12 resolution is adopted.
13 (Applause.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
15 Senator Skelos.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
17 Resolution 2329, by Senator Valesky, is at the
18 desk. If we could have the title read and
19 move for its immediate adoption.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
21 Secretary will read.
22 THE SECRETARY: By Senator
23 Valesky, Legislative Resolution Number 2329,
24 paying tribute to Father Charles J. Beirne,
25 S.J., for his distinguished service as
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1 President of Le Moyne College, upon the
2 occasion of the announcement of his new
3 assignment helping to establish the first
4 Jesuit university in Africa.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
6 Senator Valesky, on the resolution.
7 SENATOR VALESKY: Mr. President,
8 thank you very much.
9 We were honored today to have
10 Father Charles Beirne open our Senate session
11 with the beautiful prayer that he offered just
12 10 or 11 minutes ago. And this resolution
13 that is before us today acknowledges the
14 tremendous work that he has done over the
15 course of his lifetime.
16 Most recently, in Syracuse, he has
17 served for the past seven years as the
18 president of Le Moyne College, the
19 second-longest-serving president of Le Moyne
20 College in its history. Throughout that time
21 he has instituted a number of projects and
22 programs on that campus, including developing
23 new mission statements, a 20-year
24 architectural master plan for the campus, and
25 has launched the largest capital campaign in
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1 college history entitled "Achieving New
2 Heights."
3 Under his leadership, both the
4 campaign and the college community of Le Moyne
5 is moving like it never has done before.
6 He has somehow found time over the
7 last seven years to serve as a member of the
8 board of directors of organizations such as
9 Syracuse 20/20, the Syracuse Symphony
10 Orchestra, the Metropolitan Development
11 Association, the Greater Syracuse Chamber of
12 Commerce, and many, many other civic
13 organizations.
14 We found out recently that the
15 Jesuits have asked him to take a sabbatical
16 from Le Moyne and embark upon a new endeavor
17 to help them develop their dream of opening
18 the first Jesuit university on the African
19 continent.
20 And so we send Father Beirne off
21 from this Senate chamber today on that new
22 endeavor, wish him all the best, all of our
23 best wishes in establishing the finest in
24 Jesuit education to the African continent.
25 Father Beirne, thank you for being
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1 here with us today, and thank you for your
2 service.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: All
4 in favor of this resolution please signify by
5 saying aye.
6 (Response of "Aye.")
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
8 Opposed, nay.
9 (No response.)
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
11 resolution is adopted.
12 Congratulations, Father Beirne. We
13 welcome you and wish you well in your
14 endeavors.
15 (Applause.)
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
17 Senator Skelos.
18 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
19 there's a Resolution 2352 at the desk by
20 Senator Smith. If we could have the title
21 read and move for its immediate adoption.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
23 Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Smith,
25 Legislative Resolution Number 2352, honoring
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1 the life and accomplishments of William
2 Hallett Greene, the first black graduate of
3 the City University of New York and member of
4 the United States Signal Corps.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
6 question is on the resolution. All in favor
7 signify by saying aye.
8 (Response of "Aye.")
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
10 Opposed, nay.
11 (No response.)
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
13 resolution is adopted.
14 Senator Skelos.
15 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could go
16 to the noncontroversial reading of the
17 calendar.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
19 Secretary will read the noncontroversial
20 reading of the calendar.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 54, by Senator Skelos, Senate Print 637, an
23 act to amend the Penal Law, in relation to
24 establishing the Class E felony.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
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1 Read the last section.
2 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
3 act shall take effect on the first of
4 November.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
6 Call the roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 40. Nays,
9 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
11 bill is passed.
12 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
13 136, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 2360B,
14 an act to amend the General Business Law, in
15 relation to towing of vehicles.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
17 Read the last section.
18 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
19 act shall take effect on the 90th day.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
21 Call the roll.
22 (The Secretary called the roll.)
23 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 41.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 172, by Senator Maltese, Senate Print 1237A,
3 an act to amend the General Municipal Law, in
4 relation to certain lung disabilities.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
6 Read the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
8 act shall take effect on the first of July
9 next succeeding.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
11 Call the roll.
12 (The Secretary called the roll.)
13 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
15 bill is passed.
16 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
17 173, by Senator Lanza, Senate Print 2174, an
18 act to amend the Retirement and Social
19 Security Law, in relation to the retirement of
20 certain peace officers.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
22 Read the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This
24 act shall take effect on the first of April
25 next succeeding.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
2 Call the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 42.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
6 bill is passed.
7 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
8 362, by Senator Bonacic, Senate Print 466, an
9 act to amend the Private Housing Finance Law,
10 in relation to the farmworker housing.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
12 Read the last section.
13 THE SECRETARY: Section 4. This
14 act shall take effect immediately.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
16 Call the roll.
17 (The Secretary called the roll.)
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
19 Senator Nozzolio, to explain his vote.
20 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
21 Mr. President.
22 Mr. President and my colleagues, I
23 rise on this important legislation because
24 it's particularly involved with the number-one
25 industry of New York State, that number-one
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1 industry being agriculture.
2 That today, in the gallery viewing
3 the proceedings, is a group of young people
4 from the Dana West High School in Port Byron,
5 New York. And Port Byron is located in Cayuga
6 County, one of the largest producers of
7 agricultural products in all of New York State
8 and one of the most productive agricultural
9 counties in all of the United States.
10 Today, this group of the criminal
11 justice class and law class at Dana West is
12 accompanied by their tremendous teacher,
13 Dr. Linda Townsend. Dr. Townsend has
14 continually, through her career, demonstrated
15 real practical applications of education. And
16 that's part of the students' education today
17 in coming to this hallowed chamber to learn
18 about how laws are being made.
19 This particular group of students
20 is deeply involved in the legislative process,
21 in that they have petitioned the state
22 government to designate an official state
23 vegetable.
24 And, Madam President, you as the
25 presiding officer today, but also as a
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1 chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee,
2 I know you are very interested in all
3 endeavors which help promote New York
4 agriculture.
5 I point to Senate Bill 3919,
6 accompanying legislation in the State Assembly
7 also, to designate sweet corn as the official
8 vegetable of the State of New York.
9 Now, whether or not this vegetable
10 becomes the official state vegetable is not as
11 important as the fact that these young people
12 are learning about their government, they're
13 taking their responsibilities as citizens very
14 seriously and are participating in the
15 greatest democracy that the world has ever
16 seen.
17 Madam President, I welcome these
18 fine young individuals from the Port Byron
19 Central School District, right in the heart of
20 most productive agriculture community in the
21 nation. That the Dana West High School street
22 law class, accompanied by Dr. Linda Townsend,
23 are what we are doing in trying to make our
24 government better for their future. And their
25 future hopefully will be in participating in
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1 our great democratic process.
2 I vote aye on Senator Bonacic's
3 bill. And thank you, Madam President, for
4 welcoming this great group to our hallowed
5 chamber.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Thank
7 you, Senator Nozzolio. And you will be
8 recorded in the affirmative.
9 And I want to give my special
10 greetings to this group as chair of the Senate
11 Agriculture Committee. It's great to see so
12 many young people very interested in
13 agriculture. And I hope you have a great day
14 here at the Capitol.
15 Announce the results.
16 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50. Nays,
17 0.
18 (Applause.)
19 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
20 is passed.
21 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
22 364, substituted earlier today by Member of
23 the Assembly Magee --
24 SENATOR DUANE: Lay it aside,
25 please.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
2 is laid aside.
3 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
4 564, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 4291, an
5 act to amend the Retirement and Social
6 Security Law.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the
8 last section.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the
12 roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 50.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
16 is passed.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 608, by Senator Larkin, Senate Print 1581, an
19 act to amend the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering
20 and Breeding Law and the Workers' Compensation
21 Law, in relation to workers' compensation
22 benefits.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the
24 last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 11. This
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1 act shall take effect immediately.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the
3 roll.
4 (The Secretary called the roll.)
5 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
7 is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 629, by Senator Lanza, Senate Print 3584A, an
10 act to amend the General Business Law, in
11 relation to purchase of valuable metal.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the
13 last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
15 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the
17 roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 52.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
21 is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 630, by Senator Little, Senate Print 3814A, an
24 act to amend the General Business Law, in
25 relation to cyber piracy protections.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the
2 last section.
3 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
4 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the
6 roll.
7 (The Secretary called the roll.)
8 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
10 is passed.
11 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
12 694, by Senator Maziarz, Senate Print 4786, an
13 act to amend the Labor Law, in relation to
14 enacting the Jobs and Trade Act.
15 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the
16 last section.
17 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
18 act shall take effect on the 120th day.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the
20 roll.
21 (The Secretary called the roll.)
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
24 is passed.
25 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
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1 780, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 4889, an
2 act to amend the Civil Service Law, in
3 relation to permitting children of
4 firefighters.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the
6 last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
8 act shall take effect immediately.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the
10 roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: The bill
14 is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 781, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 5287A, an
17 act to amend the Retirement and Social
18 Security Law, in relation to investment.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Read the
20 last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
22 act shall take effect immediately.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Call the
24 roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Senator
2 Robach, to explain your vote.
3 SENATOR ROBACH: Yes, Madam
4 President, very quickly.
5 I rise to support this bill. And
6 first, on the topic itself, I think we all
7 agree, through international groups,
8 humanitarian groups, the faith-based community
9 as well as the media, we're all aware of the
10 unfortunate displacement and genocide that's
11 going on inside the Sudan of women, children,
12 men, all across the board.
13 So I'm glad we are taking this step
14 to do all we can to stop this. Similar to
15 earlier attempts that seemed to work, albeit
16 in a very lengthy time period, in what was
17 going only in South Africa. In some regards,
18 I would almost make the argument that this is
19 more dire, due to the amount of violence that
20 these poor people had to endure.
21 And I had an individual who was
22 from the Sudan whose family was living in
23 Rochester, New York -- they moved out here
24 from their own volition -- and saw firsthand
25 some of the videotape that he took of what was
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1 going on there that, had it been found on his
2 person, probably would have resulted in the
3 loss of his life, of the atrocities going on
4 there. So I'm glad as a body we're moving
5 this bill.
6 And, secondly, I just briefly
7 wanted to say I wanted to thank my colleague
8 Senator John Sampson, who is ahead of the
9 curve on this, the legislation; Comptroller
10 Tom DiNapoli, who's been working very closely
11 with us to try and do all we can financially
12 and inside the realm of constitutionality to
13 deter the activity that's going on there
14 economically; and, lastly, my colleague Darryl
15 Towns in the Assembly, who was also an early
16 champion of this bill. I'm happy to stand up
17 that we have it here today and support this
18 important measure.
19 Thank you, Madam President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT YOUNG: Thank
21 you, Senator Robach. You will be recorded in
22 the affirmative.
23 Senator Marcellino, to explain your
24 vote.
25 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
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1 Madam President. I rise to explain my vote on
2 this important issue.
3 I am a proud cosponsor of this
4 particular bill. It is long overdue.
5 Unfortunately, what is going on in the Sudan
6 is not receiving the kind of press and the
7 kind of attention that it should on a
8 worldwide stage. The war in Iraq is
9 overwhelming this in the papers and the press,
10 and the genocide, the murder, the killings,
11 the rape and the torture of innocents is being
12 carried on, and very little if anything,
13 nothing is being actually done to stop it.
14 Some words are spoken, but nothing serious is
15 on the horizon.
16 This is a step that New York State
17 can take. Our Comptroller can pull back
18 funding from any business that does business
19 in the Sudan. We can stop that. We can make
20 a statement very clear that New York State
21 will not support in any way, shape or form
22 this kind of horrific behavior against
23 individuals for any reason.
24 This piece of legislation, as I
25 said, may be considered by some as a small
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1 step but it's a very important step that we
2 make a stand and take a stand on this very
3 important issue. So I proudly vote aye on
4 this bill and urge everyone else to do the
5 same.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
7 Marcellino will be recorded in the
8 affirmative.
9 Senator Sampson.
10 SENATOR SAMPSON: Thank you,
11 Mr. President.
12 I rise in support of this bill.
13 And I want to commend you on your leadership
14 with respect to the passage of this bill. And
15 as Senator Marcellino said, it is very
16 important that we take strides and steps to
17 show the world that through our pension funds
18 we will divest in any companies that are
19 involved in anything involving those militias
20 who are involved in the desecration and
21 massacre of individuals in the Sudan.
22 So I just want to commend the
23 sponsors and the cosponsors. But most of all,
24 I want to commend the Comptroller for pulling
25 back those funds for individuals who are
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1 lending to the death and destruction of those
2 in Darfur.
3 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank
5 you, Senator Sampson.
6 Senator Montgomery.
7 SENATOR MONTGOMERY: Yes,
8 Mr. President. I would like to rise to also
9 thank you for this legislation, you and
10 Senator Sampson, for your leadership on here.
11 And I would just respectfully
12 request that this be a unanimously sponsored
13 legislation, because I think it really speaks
14 for every single member in this house. It
15 probably speaks for every member in the other
16 house. And I would like to request,
17 therefore, that we all are listed as
18 cosponsors on both sides of the aisle.
19 Thank you, Mr. President.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
21 Montgomery will be recorded in the
22 affirmative.
23 Senator Stewart-Cousins, to explain
24 her vote.
25 SENATOR STEWART-COUSINS: Thank
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1 you, Mr. President.
2 I do want to congratulate you on
3 the leadership here, both you and Senator
4 Sampson, and just say yesterday we were proud
5 to have a teacher from the Yonkers Public
6 School, Beth Quinn, who received an award from
7 the State Education Department because of the
8 things that she's been doing with the school,
9 meeting hate with humanity.
10 But what's more important is that
11 there are students who are collecting in high
12 school, under her leadership, for the Sudanese
13 people -- just simple notebooks and pencils
14 and so on and so forth.
15 So I stand to say that I'm proud
16 that we can contribute our part as a state to
17 making sure that the atrocities in the Sudan
18 are recognized. And I certainly will be
19 wanting to be recorded in the affirmative.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank
21 you, Senator Stewart-Cousins.
22 Senator Hassell-Thompson, to
23 explain her vote.
24 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank
25 you, Mr. President.
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1 Very quickly, I just want to
2 congratulate you and to offer my support in
3 terms of this legislation. I think that most
4 of my colleagues have already articulated for
5 me why I think it's important.
6 But I think as we look at behaviors
7 across the world, I want us to always be sure
8 that as we stand for something, that our own
9 behavior too is always tantamount to that
10 which we preach.
11 But certainly I think that this is
12 a tremendous step, sending a message to the
13 world that we do believe in freedom, that we
14 do believe in the rights of all people, and
15 that we try, in our own humanity, to do the
16 right thing and to support the right things.
17 And I thank you for your leadership
18 in this issue.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank
20 you, Senator Hassell-Thompson.
21 Announce the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54. Nays,
23 0.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 Senator Skelos.
2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
3 if we would put all members on the legislation
4 as cosponsors. If anybody wishes not to
5 cosponsor the legislation, they should notify
6 the desk.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: We
8 would be happy to do that, but still, at this
9 point, unlike a resolution, anybody that
10 wishes to be on the bill, if they want to fill
11 out a buck slip, they can do that. We will
12 certainly accommodate them on this important
13 bill.
14 Thank you, Senator Skelos.
15 The clerk will continue to read the
16 noncontroversial calendar.
17 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
18 864, by Senator DeFrancisco, Senate Print 35,
19 an act to amend the General Business Law, in
20 relation to fraudulent sale.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
22 the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect on the first of
25 November.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
2 the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 53. Nays,
5 1. Senator Duane recorded in the negative.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
7 bill is passed.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 876, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 4292A, an
10 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to
11 designating.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
13 the last section.
14 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
15 act shall take effect immediately.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
17 the roll.
18 (The Secretary called the roll.)
19 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 54.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
21 bill is passed.
22 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
23 877, by Senator Griffo, Senate Print 4424, an
24 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to
25 designating a portion of State Route 840.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
2 Skelos.
3 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
4 if we could just pause for one minute while
5 certain individuals come into the chamber.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: We'll
7 just pause momentarily here and resume.
8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
10 Skelos.
11 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could now
12 take up the bill and please reread the title.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 877, by Senator Griffo, Senate Print 4424, an
17 act to amend the Highway Law, in relation to
18 designating a portion of State Route 840 as
19 the Officer Joseph D. Corr Memorial Highway.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
21 the last section.
22 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
23 act shall take effect immediately.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
25 the roll.
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1 (The Secretary called the roll.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
3 Griffo, to explain his vote.
4 SENATOR GRIFFO: Thank you,
5 Mr. President. Thank you, Senator Skelos.
6 Today is a very difficult day
7 because, while this honor is very significant
8 and it's appropriate that we memorialize and
9 remember this very brave and courageous police
10 officer who on a February night in 2006 was
11 murdered in the line of duty, also today we
12 will be going to the wall, the memorial wall
13 in the park just outside, to remember all
14 those who were killed in the line of duty.
15 Today we have with us the family
16 members of Officer Joseph Corr. And this
17 tribute that we pay, and this designation, is
18 something that I feel is appropriate and
19 important because it continues to remind
20 people of this brave and courageous young man
21 who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defending
22 and protecting and serving the public
23 interest.
24 Today we are very honored to have
25 with us in this chamber -- and this is a very
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1 difficult thing for these family members to
2 do. They know that it is essential that they
3 continue to be present and to remember Officer
4 Corr and to remind people of what needs to be
5 done to protect officers in the future. But
6 it's also a family who, despite suffering
7 great pain, has had the opportunity many times
8 to provide solace and comfort to others as
9 they sometimes, as they reflect on the events
10 of that tragic night and remember the great
11 life of this police officer, try to come to
12 grips.
13 So I want to recognize today in
14 this chamber the family of Officer Joseph
15 Corr: His dad and mom, Dave and Kathy; his
16 sisters, Kelly and Sherry; his wife, Tracy;
17 his beautiful daughter, Caitlin; the
18 grandparents and other members of the extended
19 family who are there, as well as New Hartford
20 Police Chief Ray Philo, Lieutenant O'Neil,
21 Officer Colburn, who is also here, Sergeant
22 Colburn from the New Hartford Police
23 Department, because that is also part of the
24 family.
25 And today what we do in our area is
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1 to dedicate and remember this great police
2 officer, to remember and celebrate his life in
3 memory by designating this portion of this
4 highway in his honor forever posthumously.
5 And I want to extend again our condolences to
6 the family, but also our thanks and
7 appreciation for your courage, for your
8 willingness to be involved to ensure that this
9 does not happen to other officers, and to
10 always remember this great person -- because
11 he was not only an excellent police officer,
12 he was an extraordinary human being.
13 And this body again sends its
14 condolences to the family, but also we applaud
15 you and will keep you in your prayers and wish
16 you the best. And today this is one more
17 fitting memory and tribute to a great human
18 being.
19 Thank you to the Corr family.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH:
21 Announce the results.
22 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
23 0.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
25 bill is passed.
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1 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
2 921, by Senator Leibell, Senate Print 3791, an
3 act to amend the Not-for-Profit Corporation
4 Law, in relation to maintenance.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
6 the last section.
7 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
8 act shall take effect on the 60th day.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
10 the roll.
11 (The Secretary called the roll.)
12 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
14 bill is passed.
15 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
16 974, by Senator Golden, Senate Print 1148, an
17 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to
18 designating.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
20 the last section.
21 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
22 act shall take effect on the first of January.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
24 the roll.
25 (The Secretary called the roll.)
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1 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
3 bill is passed.
4 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
5 975, by Senator Robach, Senate Print 1699, an
6 act to amend the Executive Law, in relation to
7 members of the State Police.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
11 act shall take effect on the 180th day.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
17 bill is passed.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 980, by Senator Marcellino, Senate Print 5307,
20 an act to amend the Education Law, the
21 Business Corporation Law, and the Limited
22 Liability Company Law.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
24 the last section.
25 THE SECRETARY: Section 16. This
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1 act shall take effect two years after the date
2 on which it shall have become law.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
4 the roll.
5 (The Secretary called the roll.)
6 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
8 bill is passed.
9 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
10 1015, substituted earlier today by Member of
11 the Assembly Destito, Assembly Print Number
12 360A, an act authorizing the Office of General
13 Services to convey.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
15 the last section.
16 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
17 act shall take effect immediately.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
19 the roll.
20 (The Secretary called the roll.)
21 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
23 bill is passed.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 1017, by Senator Young, Senate Print 3001, an
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1 act to amend the Public Officers Law and the
2 Village Law, in relation to qualifications.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
4 the last section.
5 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
6 act shall take effect immediately.
7 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
8 the roll.
9 (The Secretary called the roll.)
10 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
12 bill is passed.
13 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
14 1028, by the Senate Committee on Rules, Senate
15 Print Number 4204, an act to amend the Tax
16 Law, in relation to extending.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
18 the last section.
19 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
20 act shall take effect immediately.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
22 the roll.
23 (The Secretary called the roll.)
24 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 57.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: The
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1 bill is passed.
2 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
3 1176, by Senator Padavan, Senate Print 5902,
4 an act to amend the Penal Law and others, in
5 relate to human trafficking.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Read
7 the last section.
8 THE SECRETARY: Section 14. This
9 act shall take effect on the first of
10 November.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Call
12 the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Senator
15 Padavan, to explain his vote.
16 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 I'm just going to take a few
19 minutes to talk about this bill because we
20 have discussed it on many other occasions,
21 most recently in February, and the bill before
22 us today is essentially that bill, with some
23 changes to accommodate both the Assembly and
24 based on recommendations made by them and the
25 Governor.
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1 Basically we have two major
2 components in this bill, tough penalties for
3 those who promote, engage in, facilitate,
4 operate human trafficking activities, with
5 sentences, depending on the particular act,
6 ranging from one year to 25 years.
7 We deal with sex tourism, this
8 horrible commercial activity of arranging for
9 individuals to travel to far places and to
10 engage in sex with children.
11 We have a variety of punitive
12 measures in this bill that will hit hard at
13 the traffickers and any other ancillary
14 activity associated with the traffickers.
15 There was a high-profile case
16 recently a week ago of a couple out in
17 Muttontown, of having two Indonesian
18 individuals trafficked into this country, put
19 in bondage, in slavery, over a period of many
20 years. Under this legislation, if it becomes
21 law, those individuals could have sentences up
22 to 25 years for having conducted that type of
23 activity.
24 The other major component of this
25 bill deals with treatment and assistance and
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1 aid to those who are the victims in a whole
2 host of ways, providing not only compensation
3 directly but also housing, healthcare, a whole
4 host of services that social service agencies
5 would be required under these provisions to
6 provide. In addition, facilitating
7 interaction with the federal government that
8 would deal with their status in this country,
9 including green cards and citizenship.
10 So there are many, many things in
11 this bill that are both positive and
12 beneficial not only on the law enforcement
13 side, not only in dealing with the human
14 traffickers, a modern-day form of slavery, but
15 also dealing with the victims themselves.
16 One final point. We create in this
17 legislation an interagency task force on human
18 trafficking. We involve the Office of
19 Temporary and Disability Assistance, which
20 includes housing, healthcare, mental health
21 counseling, drug treatment, language services,
22 and job training. So there's a great deal in
23 here involving help to those who are victims
24 of this terrible, terrible activity.
25 We require that in a year from now
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1 the task force come back to the Legislature,
2 along with the other agencies I mentioned, and
3 give us an update on how this bill, this law
4 is being applied, making recommendations that
5 maybe appropriate for any additions, changes
6 or modifications.
7 That is the essence of the bill,
8 Mr. President. However, before I sit down, I
9 want to take this opportunity to thank the
10 many advocates in the state and elsewhere who
11 played a major role over the period of five or
12 more years that I've been involved, and
13 perhaps even longer than that, in seeing that
14 this legislation becomes law. People like the
15 New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition,
16 Equality Now, the National Organization of
17 Women, Safe Horizons, and of course the
18 New York City Bar Association.
19 And, in addition, my good friend
20 and colleague Senator Dale Volker, chairman of
21 Codes Committee, who was extremely helpful
22 over a long period of time in helping us get
23 to this point.
24 Thank you, Mr. President. I vote
25 aye.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Thank
2 you, Senator Padavan.
3 Senator Sabini, to explain his
4 vote.
5 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you,
6 Mr. President.
7 I want to congratulate Senator
8 Padavan in moving forward with this bill and
9 be willing to compromise, as did the Assembly
10 on a couple of items.
11 I think the sponsor is a hundred
12 percent correct that the bill has got the two
13 components that we really needed in a tough
14 human trafficking bill -- strong penalties for
15 those engage in this heinous crime and human
16 services for those who are the victims of the
17 crime.
18 The victims of this crime are not
19 normal criminal evidence or burglar's tools,
20 they're human beings. And they're human
21 beings who have been robbed of their identity,
22 robbed of their health, robbed of their
23 immigration status. And what this bill will
24 do for them is allow them to become human
25 beings again -- achieve social services,
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1 achieve medical care, dental care, access to
2 education, access to benefits. And the state
3 will allow them to come as close to achieving
4 a T visa as is humanly possible if they choose
5 to stay in this country and avail themselves
6 of the American dream, because up till now
7 their presence in America by and large has
8 been a nightmare.
9 The agreement on this bill came
10 literally a day after the incident that was
11 exposed in Muttontown where two women from
12 Indonesia had been held captive by a family
13 for domestic servitude. This crime of human
14 trafficking takes on many forms --
15 ACTING PRESIDENT ROBACH: Excuse
16 me, Senator Sabini.
17 If we could just get a little bit
18 of quiet in here. This is a very important
19 topic, and I'm sure we all want to hear our
20 colleague.
21 Continue, Senator.
22 SENATOR SABINI: This crime
23 involves many different forms of it, whether
24 it's enslavement for prostitution, as the
25 Carreto brothers did in the Corona section of
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1 my district in bringing women in with promises
2 of the American dream and perhaps marriage,
3 and they wound up being enslaved as
4 prostitutes; the deaf Mexicans of Jackson
5 Heights in my district, who were brought in
6 from Mexico to beg in the subway and then have
7 the alms taken from them every day that they
8 came home -- but again, not being able to run
9 away, because they had no papers. If they
10 went to authorities, they felt they had no
11 identity to be nothing but prosecuted on their
12 own.
13 We have a new situation now that a
14 group of women from the Ukraine who are
15 disabled have been brought into the South
16 Asian parts of my district, dressed up to
17 appear South Asian and beg for alms and then
18 they're picked up every night and their money
19 is taken from them, the money that they've
20 begged for during the day.
21 So that whether it's in the tony
22 suburbs of Muttontown or in the streets of
23 Queens or on Park Avenue, we've seen this
24 crime in various forms.
25 I want to, as Senator Padavan did,
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1 thank the dogged efforts of the folks in the
2 New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition and
3 all their member groups for persisting in this
4 fight.
5 But I especially want to thank the
6 Governor for bringing us together on this,
7 because for the last two years the two bills
8 that passed each house were never seemingly
9 coming together. And with all due respect,
10 this is not an issue that we can afford to
11 ignore anymore. It's not screw-thread
12 regulation, it's not the Bottle Bill. There
13 are human beings involved. And the fact that
14 we were doing sort of the Albany shuffle on
15 this and not making a bill come to law was
16 really a shame.
17 So I want to thank the Governor for
18 his role, as well as Senator Padavan and
19 Assemblyman Dinowitz for making this finally
20 come to fruition.
21 But again, I think that citizen
22 action in this case, the work of the member
23 groups of the New York Anti-Trafficking
24 Coalition, Equality Now, the National
25 Organization of Women, Safe Horizons, the bar
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1 associations, both New York Bar Association
2 and the Asian Bar Association, really should
3 be commended for their work on this.
4 I'll be voting aye. Thank you.
5 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Sabini
6 will be recorded in the affirmative.
7 Senator Marcellino, to explain his
8 vote.
9 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
10 Mr. President. I rise to explain my vote on
11 this important issue.
12 I thank Senator Padavan for
13 bringing it forward. I represent Muttontown,
14 the area where most recently a couple was
15 found to be holding two young women,
16 apparently against their will. Slavery, in
17 this day and age, in Muttontown, Long
18 Island -- something unheard of. Most people
19 would never even perceive it as a possibility.
20 Certainly I didn't.
21 But nonetheless, it's a reality:
22 What has been described as the ability to
23 bring people here and to abuse them, misuse
24 them, to lie to them, lure them to this
25 country with the potential of participating,
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1 as my colleague Senator Sabini said, in the
2 American dream and then treating them in the
3 foulest and most heinous ways.
4 This is something that we must do
5 all in our power to stop. It goes back to
6 what we did before with the bill on Darfur.
7 This kind of thing, this kind of behavior
8 cannot in any way, shape or form be allowed to
9 exist in any civilized country in any place,
10 let alone the United States of America. This
11 is an abomination which we must do all in our
12 power to stamp out with everything we can.
13 So I thank again Senator Padavan
14 and, yes, the Governor for bringing the issue
15 to the forefront, Senator Bruno for moving it
16 in this chamber, and for all my colleagues who
17 I'm sure will support this unanimously. This
18 is an important bill.
19 And again, I stress it shows what
20 we can do when we come together and work
21 together in a cooperative, collegial,
22 respectful manner. I vote aye, and I know
23 every one of my colleagues will do the same.
24 Thank you, Mr. President.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Thank you,
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1 Senator Marcellino.
2 Senator Marcellino will be recorded
3 in the affirmative.
4 Senator Volker, to explain his
5 vote.
6 SENATOR VOLKER: Mr. President,
7 briefly let me just -- I want to commend
8 Senator Padavan also. I also want to commend
9 a number of the people in this chamber on both
10 sides of the aisle.
11 We had a hearing in New York City
12 here last year on this issue, and I have to
13 admit to you, it opened my eyes. Even though
14 I had sent my counsel down there to look into
15 it, I didn't realize the extent until we got
16 there. And we had a very emotional hearing.
17 And frankly, it is kind of interesting, I was
18 watching as the Assembly -- and I'm not
19 knocking the Assembly, except they were the
20 ones that had a terrible problem with this,
21 because there were three or four different
22 views.
23 I want to commend the Governor too.
24 Because we were planning on having joint
25 hearings. Assemblyman Lentol and I, he
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1 admitted to me that he had a problem in his
2 house, so we had decided we were going to have
3 problems in New York City, Albany, and Buffalo
4 as well as Long Island because of the issue.
5 You say, why Buffalo? Well, I found out in
6 talking to police and immigration people that
7 we had a lot of people being brought across
8 from Canada who in effect were indentured
9 slavery, it was really slavery. And in fact,
10 there was a raid, if I'm not mistaken, on a
11 farm in upstate New York where they thought
12 they had illegal aliens, and they found out
13 that they were illegal aliens all right, but
14 they were slaves, is what they were. And I
15 understand they ended up busting a whole bunch
16 of people involved in an international ring,
17 apparently.
18 So this is not just New York City.
19 And I admit to you that when I first looked
20 into it, I thought that that's what we were
21 finding.
22 The good thing about this is that
23 after we were about ready to schedule
24 hearings, I was told: Hold up a little bit,
25 because we may have something happening here.
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1 The next thing I knew, the Governor got
2 involved and all of a sudden the Assembly
3 decided that maybe they could agree.
4 I'm happy about that. I'm very
5 happy. A lot of effort is -- but I will say
6 this one thing. Senator Padavan was always a
7 tiger on this issue. The people that
8 represented the city on both sides of the
9 aisle, I don't think there was ever any real
10 dispute here, just an attempt to come up with
11 a solution.
12 I will say one funny thing, if I
13 might, and that's that one union did kind of
14 surprise me. And the only way I can describe
15 this union is I was -- it was described as the
16 union of night people. I found out that there
17 was an actual union of people who sell their
18 bodies, if you know what I mean. And I
19 thought, now there's one that I never ran into
20 before, a union of prostitutes.
21 And they were afraid that what we
22 would do is make it tough on their trade. I
23 said "Wow." I'm telling you, I learned
24 something when I went down to New York City,
25 I'll tell you that right now.
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1 In any case, this is a very much
2 needed bill. I commend the Governor. I
3 commend everyone that was involved. We need
4 to do this sort of thing.
5 There's going to be more, I think,
6 in the enforcement area, because this is a
7 huge issue. And it's not only a state issue,
8 it's an international issue. And the federal
9 government is going to have to get more
10 involved in this, because a lot of people are
11 being tortured and are being held hostage and
12 so forth and we got to deal with this.
13 So I thank everybody in this
14 chamber, and I congratulate the Governor and
15 Senator Padavan. Thank you. I vote aye.
16 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Volker
17 will be recorded in the affirmative on
18 Calendar Number 1176.
19 Senator Hassell-Thompson, to
20 explain her vote.
21 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Just
22 briefly. Mr. President, thank you.
23 I too rise to support this
24 legislation. And it would be very
25 uncomfortable if I did not. Any form of
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1 slavery is unacceptable. And I just
2 appreciate the fact that New York State is
3 standing up to this issue.
4 Three years ago the women's caucus
5 made an effort to put forward a national --
6 became part of a national movement to begin to
7 look at the issue of human trafficking. And I
8 just appreciate the fact that the Governor and
9 those in this house thought it not robbery to
10 deal with an issue that is of critical
11 importance to people who do come to this
12 country thinking that they have found a haven
13 and, rather, find hell.
14 And so therefore it gives me great
15 pleasure to be part of a body that looks at
16 this 21st century issue of slavery and makes
17 an effort to seriously do something about it.
18 THE PRESIDENT: Senator
19 Hassell-Thompson will be recorded in the
20 affirmative.
21 Senator Young, to explain her vote.
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
23 Mr. President. To explain my vote.
24 First of all, I want to
25 congratulate and sincerely thank Senator
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1 Padavan for his persistence, his dedication.
2 This is an issue that he has put his heart and
3 soul into, and we should thank him very much
4 for that hard work that he's put in on this
5 bill.
6 The Farm Bureau actually strongly
7 supports this legislation. And you may say
8 why, why is that? Because you think of this
9 as more of an issue that may affect urban city
10 areas, heavily populated areas. But actually
11 it's a rural issue also, because there are
12 many migrant farmworkers in this state who
13 have been taken advantage of by unscrupulous
14 people who bring them into farms under false
15 pretenses and victimize them.
16 And that's why this is so
17 important, because this is an issue that
18 affects the entire state, not just certain
19 parts of the state.
20 We as lawmakers and human beings
21 have an obligation to other human beings to
22 make sure that they're not victimized, preyed
23 upon, and made into slaves. And so I commend
24 not only Senator Padavan but all the Senators
25 in this chamber who have worked so hard on
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1 this, and also the Assembly and the Governor
2 for working this out.
3 And I think it proves that when we
4 can get together, we can have results. And
5 this is one of those cases.
6 So, Mr. President, I vote yes.
7 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Young
8 will be recorded in the affirmative.
9 Senator L. Krueger, to explain her
10 vote.
11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
12 Mr. President.
13 I also rise to applaud the people
14 who have worked so hard to get this bill
15 passed. It is one of fundamental human
16 rights.
17 But I want to add one thing to the
18 discussion today in my statement. Some people
19 are confused why we needed a state law. They
20 said we had a federal law against trafficking
21 and therefore it was duplicative for us to
22 have a state law. But I think it's so
23 critical for people to understand this wasn't
24 the kind of issue that the federal law
25 enforcement officials were going after. This
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1 is a question of enforcement.
2 So we have accomplished a goal in
3 passing this bill today and knowing that it's
4 agreed upon and that the Governor will sign
5 it. But the challenge awaiting us is ensuring
6 that this new law gets enforced. Because many
7 of my colleagues have described some of the
8 horrendous things that have been going on
9 throughout the state of New York --
10 exploitation, slavery, forced prostitution,
11 forced drug addiction, murder growing out of
12 this activity.
13 But unless we now take the next
14 step to ensure that our law enforcement
15 officials are trained and educated, follow
16 through and stop this behavior, in the future
17 we'll just be talking about the law we passed.
18 So it is a good day. Everyone who worked so
19 hard on this should be applauded. And now the
20 real work begins for us.
21 So I vote yes. Thank you,
22 Mr. President.
23 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger
24 will be recorded in the affirmative.
25 Senator Adams, to explain his vote.
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1 SENATOR ADAMS: Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 I think this bill and the one that
4 preceded it, the bill on Darfur, I think is as
5 important for us as it is for the individuals
6 who would benefit from the bill.
7 As I stated yesterday and I will
8 continue to state, America has historically
9 set the tone for decency across the globe.
10 And you think of that old commercial when the
11 man walked out of the hospital with his child
12 and he says "What can one man do?"
13 So the question becomes "What can
14 one state legislator do?" There's so many
15 much we can do to clearly not allow ourselves
16 to be consumed by the enormity of the problems
17 that we're facing on a global proportion. We
18 can set a tone across the globe that no matter
19 what happens elsewhere, we're going to ensure
20 that it doesn't happen here.
21 We're not going to allow our
22 dollars to be used to invest in those
23 countries that are abusive and have draconian
24 measures to handle their citizens. We're not
25 going to allow people to kidnap individuals
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1 and bring them to our country and allow them
2 to be exploited, abused and misused.
3 So this bill is important, and I
4 commend all those who put the energy together
5 to make it happen. It's a real issue. It's a
6 real incident. This allows our law
7 enforcement community to do their jobs, to
8 make sure that this country remains the most
9 important land of the free and not a land that
10 would be exploited by anyone.
11 Thank you, Mr. President.
12 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Adams
13 will be recorded in the affirmative.
14 The Secretary will announce the
15 results on Calendar Number 1176, sponsored by
16 Senator Padavan.
17 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59. Nays,
18 0.
19 THE PRESIDENT: The bill is
20 passed.
21 That completes the noncontroversial
22 reading of the calendar.
23 Senator Skelos, we have a bill that
24 has been laid aside here.
25 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
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1 if we could return to motions and resolutions.
2 There's a resolution at the desk by
3 Senator Bruno. If we could have the title
4 read and move for its immediate adoption.
5 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
6 will read.
7 THE SECRETARY: By Senator Bruno,
8 Legislative Resolution Number 2406, honoring
9 Terrance L. Brewer upon the occasion of his
10 retirement as Superintendent of the East
11 Greenbush Central School District, after
12 34 years of dedicated service in education.
13 THE PRESIDENT: The question is
14 on the resolution. All those in favor please
15 indicate so by saying aye.
16 (Response of "Aye.")
17 THE PRESIDENT: Opposed, nay.
18 (No response.)
19 THE PRESIDENT: The resolution is
20 carried for Terrance L. Brewer of the East
21 Greenbush Central School District.
22 Senator Skelos.
23 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President, I
24 believe Senator Farley has a motion to make at
25 this time.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Farley.
2 SENATOR FARLEY: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 On behalf of Senator Skelos, on
5 page 63 I offer the following amendments to
6 Calendar Number 1022, Senate Print 3857, and I
7 ask that this bill retain its place on the
8 Third Reading Calendar.
9 THE PRESIDENT: The amendments
10 are received and adopted, and the bill will
11 retain its place on the Third Reading
12 Calendar.
13 Senator Skelos.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
15 if we could go to the controversial reading of
16 the calendar.
17 THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary
18 will ring the bell and alert the members.
19 The Secretary will read.
20 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
21 364, substituted earlier today by Member of
22 the Assembly Magee, Assembly Print Number
23 4367, an act to amend the Executive Law.
24 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER:
25 Explanation.
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1 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Seward,
2 an explanation has been requested by Senator
3 L. Krueger.
4 SENATOR SEWARD: Certainly,
5 Mr. President.
6 This bill would exempt structures
7 that are used in conjunction with a farm
8 operation from the definition of "building"
9 for the building code compliance purposes.
10 Starting January 1st, the
11 Department of State issued new regulations
12 that require the inspection of all
13 nonresidential buildings for code compliance.
14 But the unique nature of farm buildings was
15 not specifically contemplated or exempted as
16 part of these new regulations. And in many,
17 many cases these new regulations are going to
18 be very costly and burdensome and would
19 provide little if any protection in a
20 farm-operation-style building.
21 So this legislation would provide
22 clarification by specifically exempting
23 working, operating farm buildings from these
24 new property maintenance code provisions.
25 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Krueger.
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1 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
2 Mr. President. If, through you, the sponsor
3 would yield.
4 THE PRESIDENT: Senator Seward,
5 will you yield to a question from Senator
6 Krueger?
7 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes, I will.
8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you
9 so much. Actually, I'll have a few questions.
10 But to start, through you,
11 Mr. President, in your explanation you said
12 that this would be buildings on farms that
13 were not for residential use. But when I read
14 the section of the law your bill is amending
15 of the definition of buildings, on-farm
16 buildings, it doesn't specifically exclude
17 residential buildings.
18 So is it your understanding that
19 farmworker buildings, farmworker housing,
20 wouldn't be excluded under your bill from the
21 fire codes and the building codes?
22 SENATOR SEWARD: Mr. President,
23 this legislation deals with the nonresidential
24 buildings. So we're talking about, you know,
25 the farm buildings themselves. It has nothing
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1 to do with any residential building that may
2 happen to be on a farm property.
3 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Mr.
4 President, if through you the sponsor would
5 continue to yield.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
7 Senator Seward, do you continue to yield?
8 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: He
10 yields, Senator.
11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
12 I may go back to the farmworker question
13 because in fact the definition is "the land
14 and on-farm buildings, equipment and practices
15 which contribute to the production,
16 preparation and marketing of crops and
17 livestock." So I'm not sure I totally agree
18 with that.
19 But my follow-up question is, so
20 any other building on a farm, under this
21 definition, would not be required to follow
22 either building code or fire department
23 inspection requirements? Is that your
24 understanding of the bill?
25 SENATOR SEWARD: Well,
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1 Mr. President, the buildings that we're
2 talking about under this legislation have
3 traditionally been exempt from these codes.
4 The difficulty has arisen with the
5 recently promulgated regulations at the
6 Department of State with the revising of the
7 property maintenance code, which does require
8 these nonresidential buildings to be inspected
9 for code compliance.
10 That's the difficulty, because
11 these newly revised regulations did not
12 specifically exempt these farm buildings. And
13 so we're seeking to provide that
14 clarification, which has traditionally been
15 there through regulation in the past, from
16 these new requirements.
17 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
18 Mr. President. If through you the sponsor
19 would continue to yield.
20 SENATOR SEWARD: Yes.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
22 sponsor yields.
23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
24 So is it your understanding that if
25 your bill were to pass, that farm manure,
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1 liquid manure, storage facilities and other
2 large-capacity chemical storage sites or large
3 chemical storage, fertilizer, pesticide,
4 herbicide combustible material storage in
5 buildings on farms, that all of those
6 buildings would be exempt from the building
7 codes and the fire department reviews?
8 SENATOR SEWARD: Mr. President,
9 as the bill states, if their buildings are
10 involved with a farm operation,
11 nonresidential, then under the provisions of
12 Article 25A(a) of the Agriculture and Markets
13 Law, then they would be exempt.
14 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
15 Mr. President, to speak on the bill.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
17 Senator Krueger, on the bill.
18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
19 I want to thank the sponsor for his answers.
20 And granted, I have no farms in my
21 district. But I am very concerned about
22 safety and the risk of fire and the risk of
23 harm to humans and the growing concerns about
24 hazardous material and hazardous waste
25 storage, whether it's in a rural setting or an
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1 urban setting.
2 And so when I decided to do some
3 homework, as the Democratic ranker on the
4 Housing and Construction Committee after the
5 bill came through committee, I learned that
6 according to the U.S. Department of
7 Agriculture, the Fire Safety Bureau, the Rural
8 Health and Safety Bureau, throughout the
9 country, that actually farms can be dangerous
10 places.
11 They have large quantities of
12 combustible items, items that are needed for
13 good, safe, modern farming, but there's large
14 quantities of things like pesticides,
15 fertilizers, herbicides, what are called
16 combustible materials that are defined under
17 federal law and state law as hazardous
18 materials.
19 And if they're stored incorrectly,
20 without somebody reviewing the situation, they
21 can result in large explosions, both fires
22 that risk the humans and the animals in the
23 immediate area and toxic impact on the
24 environment, both through the air and through
25 the water.
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1 I also started to do some homework
2 about the concern of what happens on farms who
3 have manure storage facilities that may leak.
4 They can be aboveground buildings or tanks or
5 they can be in-ground storage facilities. And
6 we now know that by the nature of the
7 products, they produce gases, including
8 ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, which is
9 highly flammable, hydrogen sulfide, which is
10 extremely poisonous, particularly if it's
11 ignited, that there are very specific
12 recommendations for maintaining adequate
13 ventilation and protections in the way that
14 the storage tanks and facilities are built and
15 maintained. There's --
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
17 Excuse me, Senator.
18 Can we have some order in the
19 house, please. Thank you.
20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
21 Mr. President.
22 There are charts on the human
23 impact and the animal impact from being
24 exposed to these various toxins if they're in
25 fact produced as an outcome of manure storage
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1 or if they are a combustible item, as I
2 mentioned before, that could blow up.
3 I also started to look into what
4 does it mean to have a building that is
5 involved with a farm. Because of course the
6 initial concept is we're talking about a barn.
7 And if it's a barn, why should we really all
8 be that concerned about the individual
9 farmer's barn; obviously, they won't want it
10 to burn down. But no, it turns out in
11 modern-day farming you can have whole
12 processing and manufacturing plants physically
13 on your farm.
14 In fact, there's all kinds of
15 reasons that modern New York farmers are doing
16 that, things that I think we support for
17 expanded agricultural business, agricultural
18 processing. We want modern, successful farms
19 in New York State. But modern, successful
20 farm technology also means they can actually
21 be building physical factories on their
22 property, which I'm not objecting to in any
23 way, shape or form. I want our farm industry
24 to expand and be healthy and prosperous, and I
25 want the City of New York to buy New York
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1 State farm products.
2 But I think it's important to
3 recognize that we're not that 19th century
4 model of farming, we're in a 21st century
5 model of farming, and that the definitions of
6 buildings that would be used for the
7 production, preparation and marketing of
8 crops, livestock and livestock products as
9 commercial enterprise on the land that is a
10 farm or affiliated with a farm can be large,
11 modern and potentially dangerous facilities --
12 not dangerous at the level that no one should
13 be building them or using them, but I think
14 it's more important than ever that we've got a
15 building code and we've got fire inspectors
16 who go and review and make sure these are
17 safe --
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
19 Excuse me, Senator.
20 Senator Young, why do you rise?
21 SENATOR YOUNG: Will the speaker
22 yield for a question?
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
24 Will the speaker yield?
25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I
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1 will. Thank you, Mr. President.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: She
3 yields.
4 SENATOR YOUNG: Senator, I was
5 just curious about the time that you've
6 actually spent on farms. Have you visited
7 farms in the past?
8 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I have
9 visited farms. I even spent the summer
10 working on a farm.
11 SENATOR YOUNG: You did. Where
12 was that at?
13 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: In Israel,
14 on a kibbutz.
15 SENATOR YOUNG: In Israel.
16 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes.
17 SENATOR YOUNG: Have you ever
18 spent any time --
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: Are
20 you asking the Senator to yield, Senator
21 Young?
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Yes. Will the
23 speaker continue to yield?
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
25 Will you continue to yield, Senator?
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1 She yields.
2 SENATOR YOUNG: Senator, have you
3 spent any time on New York State farms
4 upstate?
5 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I have
6 visited New York State farms, absolutely.
7 SENATOR YOUNG: And you've spoken
8 to a lot of farmers about their operations and
9 understand their buildings and so on as far as
10 what their needs are to operate?
11 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: No, I
12 didn't. I read the materials being produced
13 by the government about their recommendations
14 and the realities of modern-day farms.
15 SENATOR YOUNG: Will the Senator
16 continue to yield.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
18 Senator, will you continue to yield?
19 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I
20 will, Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: She
22 yields.
23 SENATOR YOUNG: I guess the
24 question I have is that you're talking, you're
25 comparing a lot of the farm buildings to
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1 commercial buildings. And certainly we're
2 trying to do value-added operations on many of
3 our farms upstate.
4 But there's a distinct difference
5 between commercial buildings and a lot of
6 these farm buildings. And I guess my question
7 is I'm not sure that you understand that and
8 that you can't compare the two, because you're
9 comparing apples to oranges or apples to
10 watermelons. I mean, it's not -- and to have
11 the same standards for commercial buildings
12 that you have for farm buildings I think is a
13 little bit ridiculous.
14 So I guess my question is I'm not
15 sure that you've spent enough time on the
16 farms. And how do you come to this analysis
17 that they're one and the same?
18 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
19 Mr. President. I'm happy to answer the
20 question. Thank you, Senator, for the
21 question.
22 That's true, I don't think these
23 are commercial in the sense of an urban
24 commercial facility. But again, I'm reading
25 reports about rural health and safety and farm
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1 manure storage. I don't think we have farm
2 manure storage anywhere but on farms, so I
3 don't think it's a parallel with any kind of
4 nonfarm commercial.
5 I don't believe when I'm reading on
6 farm fire safety from the Farm Safety
7 Association of America that I'm reading about
8 commercial types of operations that are not
9 farm-based. The research I am reading from,
10 the research I have done, is actually specific
11 to farms.
12 So I do think it is perfectly
13 reasonable, as you are proposing, to say that
14 it's different on farms, yes.
15 I think, though, that it is also
16 perfectly reasonable for us to agree that
17 there are specific hazards and dangers that
18 grow out of any kind of activity, and our job
19 in the government is to help protect people
20 and to ensure that we have standards of
21 safety.
22 And while I would be completely
23 open to broader discussion of should there be
24 different standards for building codes on farm
25 structures or manure storage tanks versus
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1 high-rises, yes. Would I be totally open to
2 the argument that there should be different
3 evaluations of hazardous material and fire
4 department inspections for rural farm
5 facilities versus high-rises? Yes.
6 But my reading of the Senator's
7 bill here before us is not different standards
8 but to exempt them from the standards. That's
9 specifically what this bill would do. And I
10 have to tell you that from a human safety,
11 from an environmental protection and in fact
12 from an animal safety perspective, I would
13 argue that we don't want to exempt any
14 building or structure on a farm from any
15 standards of health and safety through
16 building codes or hazardous material or fire
17 department standards.
18 SENATOR YOUNG: Mr. President,
19 will Senator Krueger continue to yield?
20 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, I
21 would be happy to.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: She
23 yields.
24 SENATOR YOUNG: Senator, I was
25 very interested to hear you talk about
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1 environmental issues. Are you familiar with
2 the fact that those environmental issues are
3 already covered under environmental
4 conservation laws in New York State?
5 And so my question is are you aware
6 of that. And also, if that's the case, then
7 why do you continue to think that this
8 legislation is not necessary?
9 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
10 My understanding of environmental
11 conservation laws is that they have standards
12 for what you can't do or what you can't
13 release into the water table or into the air,
14 but that this is actually a building code and
15 inspection.
16 So if -- there is a correlation,
17 absolutely, Senator. If the law says you
18 can't release toxic chemicals from manure
19 production into the environment, that's, I
20 think we both agree, a good. But if nobody is
21 going out to inspect and say the way you've
22 built your storage tank doesn't meet the
23 standards to protect from the possible either
24 leaking or creation of toxic gases, I think
25 they go hand-in-hand.
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1 And there's a reason we have
2 building codes, there's a reason we have fire
3 department inspections. And there's of course
4 reasons why we have environmental conservation
5 laws. So I think they all merge.
6 And again, I think in a discussion
7 about what would be the right type of
8 standards, if it ought to be different for
9 agricultural sites versus urban or commercial
10 or suburban houses, yes, again, I think that
11 would be very worthy of discussion.
12 Although if I would just also add,
13 my understanding is -- and I believe Senator
14 Seward said this when he was presenting -- the
15 New York State government spent years
16 developing the new building codes and fire
17 department standards and that they only went
18 into effect in January 2007. So it's possible
19 that exactly the type of discussion you're
20 concerned that needs to happen did happen in
21 this context; I just don't know.
22 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
23 Mr. President. Will Senator Krueger continue
24 to yield?
25 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Yes, sir.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: She
2 continues to yield.
3 SENATOR YOUNG: Senator Krueger,
4 first of all, I think you did answer your own
5 question, and DEC does inspect farms for these
6 type of violations already.
7 But as a follow-up question, you
8 talk about hazards and safety and things like
9 that, and maybe structures aren't built
10 correctly or whatever. I guess my question to
11 you is, have you had any particular cases that
12 you can think of where buildings have fallen
13 down on someone or someone has been injured by
14 that?
15 Because I have to tell you, I grew
16 up on a farm, I've lived in upstate my entire
17 life, and I cannot think of one instance where
18 that has happened. So if you have something
19 that you can share with us, I would be very
20 interested in that.
21 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
22 Mr. President. I'm happy to answer that.
23 Yes, I can certainly get you those results.
24 Again, not on buildings falling down on
25 people. I must admit the actual collapse of a
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1 building was not anything I came across.
2 But in fact, through the U.S.
3 Department of Agriculture, the Farm Fire
4 Safety Association, the Rural Health and
5 Safety Association at various cooperative
6 extensions who have done research, they talk
7 about the fact that in fact farm fires are not
8 uncommon, that farmers lose their lives every
9 year in this country from fires and other
10 toxic accidents.
11 Now, I'm certainly not proposing
12 that farms should be conceived of as dangerous
13 places or places people shouldn't live and
14 work and visit. But there are risks involved
15 with anything. You and I both of course know
16 that. And all I'm suggesting is that in a
17 21st-century model of both governance and
18 regulation and, in fact, modern-day farming
19 techniques, that it is a reasonable and
20 practical idea to have both building codes for
21 the buildings and storage facilities that are
22 being built on farms and that it is reasonable
23 to have the fire department do inspections.
24 Again, not to catch anyone, but to
25 say, you know, if you put all of these
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1 chemicals together, you risk having a fire.
2 You don't want one; we don't want you to have
3 one. If you don't build your manure storage
4 facilities correctly to code, you risk having
5 these problems that you don't want to have,
6 that we don't want to have.
7 There's also some research I found
8 about the phenomenon of spontaneous combustion
9 when vegetable and animal oils, fibers, flax,
10 wool, hay under certain conditions, if not
11 stored correctly in the right kind of silos,
12 can actually result in spontaneous combustion
13 and blowing up and fires.
14 No one wants any of these things to
15 happen on their farm. I think our job is to
16 try to make sure some reasonable standards are
17 followed to protect everyone from this
18 happening to them.
19 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
22 Thank you, Senator.
23 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you,
24 Mr. President. Just to complete my statement.
25 Again, I don't think it's in the
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1 best interests of farmers, of the people who
2 work on farms, of the people in the immediate
3 environment of farms to be exempt from any
4 standards of building codes or fire
5 inspection.
6 And so I respectfully will vote
7 against this bill and ask my colleagues to
8 think through whether they want to exempt an
9 entire arena of our state from any kind of
10 building code or fire inspection regulation.
11 Thank you, Mr. President.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
13 Thank you, Senator.
14 Senator Little.
15 SENATOR LITTLE: Thank you,
16 Mr. President.
17 I certainly would like to speak on
18 behalf of this bill and in support of this
19 bill.
20 I represent six counties, three of
21 whom are mostly agriculture counties. And
22 what we're hearing today is a lack of
23 understanding of the agricultural community of
24 rural New York.
25 The buildings that we are talking
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1 about are not a manure storage building or a
2 new building for chemical storage that has
3 taken place. What we're talking about today
4 are the old sheds -- the tool shed, the hay
5 shed -- the buildings that have been there for
6 years that have always been exempt from this
7 building code, in recognition of agriculture
8 and agricultural buildings needed for a farm
9 operation.
10 What will happen if we do not pass
11 this bill is I will tell that you on many of
12 the farms in my district, they will take down
13 all of these old buildings rather than have to
14 be subjected to this new enforcement.
15 I have a letter from the board of
16 supervisors from Washington County. And if I
17 may, I would like to include in the transcript
18 a paragraph that really explains their
19 reasoning for supporting this bill and the
20 need for Senator Seward's bill today.
21 I quote: "For many years an
22 exemption from the building code has
23 recognized the unique nature of farm buildings
24 compared to other nonresidential buildings
25 such as commercial office buildings.
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1 Standards for buildings used for housing dairy
2 cattle are vastly different from standards
3 necessary for public assembly areas.
4 Unfortunately, this recognition was not
5 carried forward to all aspects of the uniform
6 code. This means that, inadvertently,
7 standards that have been established without
8 consideration for agriculture will now be
9 enforced on farms through Department of State
10 regulations."
11 My understanding is that this is a
12 misunderstanding of the need on agricultural
13 buildings and a misappropriation of that code.
14 No one is more concerned about the safety of
15 the buildings on their property than our
16 farmers. And no one is more concerned about
17 needing these buildings for their farm
18 operation.
19 These people are good stewards of
20 the land, they are good stewards of the
21 buildings that they have there. They need
22 this exemption, and they need it now.
23 Hopefully everyone here will vote for this
24 bill in an understanding of our agricultural
25 community in New York State.
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1 Thank you.
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
3 Senator Farley.
4 SENATOR FARLEY: Yes, thank you,
5 Mr. President.
6 I rise to enthusiastically support
7 this bill. This legislation passed
8 unanimously in the Assembly, and for good
9 reason.
10 Senator Little said it all. I
11 don't think that there's -- the farms, and I
12 have a number of them in my district, my
13 four-county district, it's a very marginal
14 business to start with. Many of these people
15 are in this because they're traditional family
16 farms. And particularly the dairy farmers and
17 so forth, it's financially very marginal. And
18 to meet these requirements is absolutely
19 financially ruinous. To put sprinklers in
20 barns and so forth is not practical and it's
21 not responsible.
22 The farm community that I represent
23 has contacted me on this. This is very, very
24 important to the farm community, New York
25 State's largest industry. I don't think that
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1 there's a working family that is more
2 concerned about fire, the property, than
3 farmers. They have grown up with this.
4 Senator Young has grown up on a
5 farm; she knows something about being part of
6 the farm community.
7 This legislation is absolutely
8 essential to exempt them, because they need
9 it. Not only is it impractical financially,
10 it's impractical to bring it about to meet the
11 fire codes on some of these buildings.
12 And as I said, I support it
13 enthusiastically. And I really think that
14 anybody that has visited a farm or knows
15 something about farming should be able to
16 support this legislation.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
18 Senator Bonacic.
19 SENATOR BONACIC: Thank you,
20 Mr. President.
21 What we're trying to do to the
22 agricultural industry is to try to make it
23 continue to survive. I have four counties.
24 All of them, portions of them have agriculture
25 as a main industry.
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1 It's really not a dangerous place
2 to spend time unless you get into the arena
3 with a bull or a frisky horse. Then it might
4 be dangerous. Or if you ride a tractor on a
5 hill and you have turnovers.
6 But I don't know of any farm
7 building in my four counties for the last 35
8 years that had an explosion because of fire
9 regulation omissions.
10 The Farm Bureau, which is the
11 watchdog over the agricultural industry,
12 supports this bill. They watch out for the
13 safety of the workers and the people that live
14 on and own farms.
15 But the sounds that I'm hearing
16 from the other side are disturbing because it
17 shows that there's no appreciation or
18 understanding of the upstate culture. We've
19 seen it on hunting issues, we've seen it on
20 small business issues, now we see it on
21 anti-agricultural issues.
22 The other thing is, there isn't a
23 regulation that you don't like or embrace.
24 And what's the purpose of this regulation? If
25 it's truly for public safety and the
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1 protection of workers and farm owners and
2 children, it's good and healthy. But
3 everything has to be tempered with common
4 sense and a balance of public safety versus
5 overregulation.
6 Now, the farm industry, in energy
7 costs, pays four times higher than other
8 states. Taxes are four times higher than
9 other states. It's the leading economic
10 industry in the State of New York. It would
11 be interesting to see a Democratic Senator get
12 up from upstate that has agriculture within
13 their district and talk the way a particular
14 Senator is talking from New York City, where
15 all there is is concrete. There probably
16 isn't a lawn or a tree or a farm.
17 It shows a lack of appreciation or
18 trust, trust in the Senators that represent
19 the people and the farms upstate, whether
20 they're Republican or Democratic Senators.
21 In the Assembly, the bill has
22 passed unanimously.
23 And I will sum up some of the
24 remarks of my good friend and Democratic
25 colleague. When you talked about the storage
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1 of manure, believe me, there was a lot of
2 manure being thrown around this chamber today.
3 And I think I will say, in
4 conclusion, this will cripple the farm
5 industry, it will aggravate the industry, it
6 will create pit bulls and harassment on the
7 industry, and it will drive it further into
8 the ground. And this is something none of us
9 want, because it's the leading industry in the
10 State of New York.
11 And do you recall that we have just
12 recently, in this budget, gave $30 million,
13 due to the good leadership of Senator Young
14 and others here, to help the dairy industry,
15 who's been depressed for the last three years?
16 And we are losing farms by the hundreds in
17 this state. Now, if you want to lose them by
18 the thousands, keep imposing these expensive
19 mandates that have never been there in farming
20 for the last 200 years.
21 This is about common sense. This
22 is not about the world is coming to an end if
23 we don't exempt these farm buildings and old
24 sheds. I vote aye.
25 Thank you, Mr. President.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
2 Senator Winner.
3 SENATOR WINNER: Thank you,
4 Mr. President.
5 I certainly am kind of surprised at
6 this debate. I'm certainly surprised that the
7 leading opposition to this legislation is from
8 an area that doesn't really have much of an
9 appreciation of agriculture.
10 While it's certainly -- you're free
11 to raise these particular issues -- and
12 actually, I kind of thank you for it, because
13 last week we kind of heard a debate from that
14 side of the aisle that was decidedly
15 anti-business, small business, and today we're
16 hearing a debate that's decidedly
17 anti-agriculture.
18 So to that extent, I want to thank
19 you for at least making it pretty clear what
20 would happen, if you guys were in the
21 majority, to small business and to
22 agriculture.
23 And that certainly this legislation
24 demonstrates that there is a reflection, at
25 least on this side of the aisle, that there
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1 are unreasonable regulations when it comes to
2 the agricultural community.
3 You know, I know it might come as a
4 surprise to you from Manhattan, but -- you
5 know, someday maybe, you know, I'll invite you
6 up to Big Flats and you can meet a cow
7 face-to-face and we can talk about some of
8 those particular issues.
9 But there's a provision in the
10 code, Senator, that says that you can't store
11 dry vegetation because it might pose a hazard.
12 Now, I don't know if you know, but every once
13 in a while, you know, farmers put hay in
14 barns. And I know that comes as a radical
15 type of an idea, but hay is -- the other thing
16 that might come as a surprise to you, you have
17 to dry hay, too, before you put it in the
18 barn. Otherwise, you might cause a fire.
19 But the farmer knows that. And so
20 as a result, these are the kinds of things
21 we're trying to say you ought to be able to
22 do.
23 Now, I don't know -- I mean, if you
24 don't want to have hay in barns, I mean,
25 that's your position. But I kind of think
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1 that those of us that represent areas that
2 have dairy farms and horse breeding operations
3 or horse operations certainly think that hay
4 is an important thing. You may have even seen
5 it on TV or in the movies. You know, they
6 have hay wagons and hay rides and, you know,
7 people fall down in the hay or whatever.
8 But nonetheless, Senator, I just
9 think that -- again, I want to thank you for
10 bringing this opposition to the floor, because
11 it's very helpful in making the State of
12 New York realize what's important on your mind
13 as far as your side of the aisle is concerned.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
15 Senator Young.
16 SENATOR YOUNG: Thank you,
17 Mr. President.
18 I want to commend Senator Seward
19 for putting this very important piece of
20 legislation forward.
21 And I think that the debate today
22 shows that some members of this chamber are
23 out of touch with agriculture. They're out of
24 touch, they have a lack of understanding. And
25 frankly, I think there's a lack of support.
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1 Because I'm thinking back to
2 March 13th, earlier this year, when we passed
3 our budget resolution in this house, and other
4 members on the other side of the aisle voted
5 against the dairy assistance program and every
6 single agriculture program that we provide in
7 this state. And that really, really concerns
8 me.
9 I am in touch. I'm chair of the
10 Senate Agriculture Committee. Recently I was
11 at a forum with the New York State Grange, and
12 they brought to the forefront their concerns
13 about this building code regulation and what
14 it does to farmers in this state. They
15 already are struggling; that's why we did the
16 dairy assistance program this year. But we
17 need to encourage, support, and grow
18 agriculture in this state because it's still
19 our number-one industry.
20 It was interesting to hear Senator
21 Krueger talk about the manure and talk about
22 pesticides. These already, already are
23 heavily regulated by the Department of
24 Environmental Conservation in this state.
25 There's no need to add another layer of
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1 bureaucracy on top of what's already there,
2 because it hurts the farmers.
3 And I can speak personally to
4 fires, because at our farm when I was 14 years
5 old, an arsonist burned down our barns,
6 torched them in the middle of the night. I
7 can assure you that no amount of inspection
8 would ever have averted that incident, because
9 it was a deliberate act against our family and
10 it was a crime. And you could not avoid that
11 type of crime.
12 So yes, this particular regulation
13 that's in place now, as Senator Winner said,
14 would actually prohibit hay from being stored
15 in barns. That's ludicrous. It's absolutely
16 ludicrous.
17 And I think that we need to do the
18 right thing today and have some common sense.
19 You know, Senator Krueger was
20 concerned about people getting hurt in these
21 structures. I have statistics right here,
22 it's from the New York Center for Agricultural
23 Health and Medicine that's located in upstate.
24 And during 1996 to 2000, 171 people were
25 reported killed as a result of
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1 agriculture-related injuries. An average of
2 34 persons died each year. Tractors were the
3 source of 43 percent of the fatalities. And
4 that's why the Senate Majority put into place
5 the tractor rollover program to help with
6 those incidents. Machines were the second
7 leading source, at 18 percent, and motor
8 vehicles were the third leading source. Out
9 of 171 of those deaths over that time period,
10 not one was because a building fell in or one
11 of these farming structures fell down.
12 So I think that the arguments
13 against this legislation are weak at best.
14 And I would encourage and urge all of my
15 colleagues to do the right thing and support
16 agriculture in this state.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
18 Senator Padavan.
19 SENATOR PADAVAN: Thank you very
20 much, Mr. President.
21 Senator Krueger, in the City of
22 New York we have the toughest building code
23 anywhere probably in the country, far tougher
24 than the state building code. And for valid
25 reasons.
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1 But you should know that in the
2 City of New York, contrary to what Senator
3 Bonacic said, we have a farm, a 50-acre farm.
4 So it's not all concrete.
5 Now, on this farm there are a
6 number of buildings. The primary building is
7 a 1772-circa farmhouse. And on the 50 acres
8 there are many other buildings. Now, there's
9 one building, it's about 10 feet by 15 feet,
10 in which reside about 150 chickens, where they
11 lay their eggs every day and they're collected
12 and sold.
13 Now, that building does not have a
14 certificate of occupancy. It does not have an
15 inspection. It's been there as long as I can
16 remember, and no one seems to mind, not the
17 least of which are the chickens. Nor the
18 100,000 people every year who come to visit
19 the farm.
20 There's also another, smaller
21 building in which resides four pigs. That
22 building doesn't have a certificate of
23 occupancy, nor is it subject to the New York
24 City Building Code, by law.
25 And I can take you around that
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1 50-acre farm and talk about different sheds
2 and buildings, all of which fall in that same
3 category.
4 As a matter of fact, right now
5 they're in the process of building a shed to
6 house the tractors, which have been out in the
7 open and they want to get them under cover,
8 for obvious reasons. That shed is not subject
9 to the building code, does not have a building
10 permit and will not have a certificate of
11 occupancy.
12 Now, Senator, therefore, you know,
13 this bill makes a lot of sense. And I am
14 telling you this somewhat tongue-in-cheek so
15 you know that in the City of New York, not
16 just upstate, we have already in place
17 exemptions for these outbuildings on a farm, a
18 working farm, a functioning farm, and it's
19 been fine. The farm's been there for over
20 200 years. And nobody has complained. There
21 have been no problems.
22 You understand that, Senator? You
23 do, because you're laughing.
24 So, Mr. President, I strongly
25 support this bill. And again, I remind my
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1 upstate colleagues that the oldest
2 continuously operating farm in the State of
3 New York is in Queens, in the 11th Senatorial
4 District. And I invite you all down to pay us
5 a visit.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
7 Senator Serrano.
8 SENATOR SERRANO: Thank you,
9 Mr. President.
10 I can't say I'm surprised by the
11 condescending remarks from the other side
12 regarding our desire to see the state's
13 agriculture move forward. We all care about
14 the agricultural industry. We care about
15 farms.
16 But this is not about liking
17 agriculture or disliking it, it's about
18 safety. And when you speak in absolutes in
19 that tone, you sound very similar to our
20 president, who says you're either for us or
21 against us. We are definitely for farms, but
22 we are also for safe work environments.
23 Now, I ask you, who is the main
24 individual on these farms? These are workers,
25 mainly immigrant workers, and it's about
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1 safety in the workplace. Now, there may not
2 be anyone complaining, but we often hear from
3 Senator Maltese every year as he eloquently
4 talks about the unfortunate shirtwaist factory
5 fire in which very unsafe conditions proved to
6 create a very hazardous condition. And these
7 are the same issues that we're talking about
8 here.
9 If there aren't some standards --
10 and I agree with Senator Krueger that maybe
11 there should be a different set of standards,
12 because we're not talking about same type of
13 dwelling as a city building. But there should
14 be some standards in place to ensure that
15 there is at least a minimum code of safety
16 involved so that there isn't problems with
17 carbon monoxide, that there isn't problems
18 with fire or hazardous materials or weak
19 structures.
20 So I think it's very important that
21 we protect the workers so that we can have a
22 thriving agricultural industry here in the
23 State of New York. And let's not treat our
24 immigrant workers as second-class citizens.
25 We all know that they spend a lot of time in
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1 these barns. There's more than just hay
2 there, there's more than just animals there.
3 There's immigrant workers that have to go in
4 and out of these barns all the time. So I
5 think it's very important that we keep that in
6 mind when voting on this bill.
7 Thank you.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
9 Senator Krueger.
10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: Thank you.
11 Thank you, Mr. President.
12 I appreciate Senator Padavan's
13 comments about the farm in Queens. And the
14 image that he drew of that 200-year-old farm
15 in Queens is perhaps the misperception of my
16 concerns about modern-day farming. And that
17 is a working farm and primarily a tourist
18 farm.
19 And so no, my points were never
20 about whether the barn was at risk per se, or
21 the chicken coop, but rather the reality --
22 and I heard several of my colleagues on the
23 other side of the aisle actually agree with
24 me, even though they didn't think they were,
25 because they were saying that perhaps the code
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1 as it's been written -- that only went into
2 effect in January '07, so I'm curious how,
3 perhaps as Senator Bonacic described it, the
4 agricultural industry is in collapse between
5 January and May because of the new building
6 code. I'd be interested to see whether
7 anybody actually has declared that because of
8 this the world has ended.
9 But my recognition that even if
10 there should be different standards for farm
11 buildings, that I don't think the State of
12 New York wants to have no standards. And
13 that's what this bill would do. It would
14 remove from the language of the existing new
15 law, the building code that was actually
16 implemented by Governor Pataki -- this was
17 going on during a Republican plan for the
18 building code for the State of New York, so
19 I'm a little confused why nobody thought to
20 change the rules if they thought there should
21 be different standards for agricultural
22 buildings all during I believe it was a
23 three-year timeline that that process was
24 going forward.
25 But we put that law into effect
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1 pre-the new administration but effective
2 January 2007. I don't know that any of the
3 issues that were raised about the problems of
4 the New York State agricultural industries
5 have anything to do with this code so soon
6 after it was put into effect.
7 But again, the concerns I have are
8 that in fact farms can and should be, should
9 be commercial enterprises for the 21st century
10 that involve production, manufacturing,
11 preparation, marketing, commercialization of
12 larger-scale farms that can compete both in
13 this state and throughout the country.
14 What I'm suggesting is we need to
15 have health and safety standards and a review
16 of those buildings, of those facilities, of
17 those warehouses, of those production and
18 manufacturing sites, whether they're on a farm
19 or on a highway off of the farm. And that
20 this bill doesn't address the need to perhaps
21 have different standards recognizing we're
22 talking different kinds of facilities; it does
23 away with standards completely. And I think
24 that a serious mistake.
25 And it has nothing to do with what
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1 part of the state you live in, whether or not
2 you spend large amounts of time on a farm or
3 not. It is looking at what are the realities
4 in the modern world, what are the types of
5 chemicals used, what are the types of
6 equipment used, what do we know about fire,
7 hazardous material, health and safety
8 standards for the workers on farms, as my
9 colleague just pointed out, and for the
10 overall community.
11 So again, I think it is a worthy
12 discussion to evaluate, now that the new
13 standards are in place as of January 2007,
14 whether or not someone thought them through
15 carefully or not, whether or not they are
16 having the negative impact that some of you
17 believe they are having out there in their
18 first five months of implementation throughout
19 agricultural New York.
20 But I don't accept the argument
21 that we should have no health and safety
22 standards in law because farms are different.
23 They are different, and the people who work
24 there are equally entitled to have protections
25 from the government.
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1 I continue to vote no. Thank you,
2 Mr. President.
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
4 Senator Skelos.
5 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
6 if I could just mention this, not by way of
7 cutting off debate or comments, but the police
8 memorial is at 1 p.m. today. And I know that
9 members of both sides of the aisle would like
10 to attend.
11 This will be the last bill on the
12 controversial calendar. There will be a Rules
13 Committee meeting which will report one bill
14 that I believe is noncontroversial.
15 So if it's possible -- and again,
16 I'm not looking to cut off debate -- to if we
17 could have the roll call taken at this time,
18 members want to explain their vote, that's
19 fine. And that's just a suggestion. If
20 anybody wishes to question, that's fine too.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
22 Senator Nozzolio.
23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
24 Mr. President. On the bill.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
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1 Senator Nozzolio, on the bill.
2 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: I had not
3 intended to speak because of the eloquence of
4 my colleagues on this side of the aisle. I
5 believe they covered the landscape very well.
6 However, when Senator Krueger
7 indicated that she wanted to take us into the
8 modern era, I could not sit by the wayside
9 without suggesting to her and to Senator
10 Serrano that, yes, we are in the modern era.
11 And let's discuss the modern era of
12 agriculture.
13 Agriculture is a high-volume,
14 low-margin business. The competition is not
15 just within New York State, farm to farm, it's
16 not just within New York-produced product to
17 the Northeastern-produced product. The
18 farmers in this great state of New York
19 compete with agriculture all across the world.
20 Your apple juice is likely to be coming from
21 China. Your milk is likely to be coming to
22 the grocery store not from a New York producer
23 but from somebody in Wisconsin.
24 The realities of the modern day are
25 that the world is flat and has been flat with
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1 agriculture for over a generation. And if the
2 other side of the aisle is so concerned about
3 worker safety, as we are -- we just want to
4 have workers to be safe with. Because right
5 now, if we continue to accept the kinds of
6 dialogue that are placed in this chamber, that
7 there will be no agricultural workers to
8 protect. That's the bottom line.
9 Our farmers are at severe stress.
10 They cannot sell their products. They're
11 competing with companies, with processors and
12 producers that use DDT, that have no
13 environmental regulation, have substandard
14 housing, have no wage rates. And yet you
15 persist in adding regulation, adding cost,
16 adding things that, as Senator Padavan even
17 said, wouldn't exist in the City of New York.
18 Mr. President, I will not belabor
19 the point. But I do wish to say that our
20 farmers are competing on a global stage. It's
21 a global marketplace. And next time you go to
22 the grocery store, you make sure that your
23 apple is produced in New York State and you
24 make sure that the milk that you buy or the
25 ice cream you purchase is produced in New York
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1 State. Because I daresay it is likely not to
2 be.
3 It's likely to be produced by
4 farmers that had state legislatures or no
5 legislature that did not produce onerous
6 requirements on them, that did not produce
7 environmental regulations on them, that did
8 not produce additional costs on them.
9 Where is the seriousness about the
10 upstate economy? Frankly, I have heard
11 rhetoric up the yinyang over the last few
12 months about the upstate economy on your side
13 of the aisle, yet no plan. And it seems like
14 the only plan that you have regarding the
15 upstate economy is to put more regulation and
16 more costs on the number-one industry that we
17 still have upstate.
18 Mr. President, Senator Seward's
19 bill is reasonable, it's a good approach, it
20 enhances the upstate economy. And I frankly
21 resent the fact that we had to extend the
22 debate to this length.
23 It's a good bill, Mr. President.
24 Thank you.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
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1 Senator Nozzolio, we'll provide a spelling for
2 the stenographer on "yinyang."
3 (Laughter.)
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: Any
5 other Senator wishing to be heard?
6 Seeing none, debate is closed.
7 The Secretary will ring the bell.
8 Read the last section, please.
9 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
10 act shall take effect immediately.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
12 Call the roll.
13 (The Secretary called the roll.)
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
15 Senator Skelos.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
17 we're in the process of a roll call?
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
19 Yes, we are, Senator.
20 Senator Hassell-Thompson, to
21 explain her vote.
22 SENATOR HASSELL-THOMPSON: Thank
23 you, Mr. President.
24 Just very quickly, I had to be -- I
25 was called off the floor for a moment, but I
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1 did listen extensively to the discussion prior
2 to my leaving, and I think -- I want to try to
3 be a problem-solver here.
4 I understand the concern that each
5 of those who represent farms in their
6 districts are having about being asked to
7 comply with a rule that pertains more to a
8 commercial property than to the actual
9 facilities that are on this land. And I
10 wanted to hope that there was a way in which
11 we could change the ruling so that the
12 specificity is to the kinds of properties that
13 are on farms.
14 My concern is that I believe that
15 every structure should come into compliance.
16 But I also do not believe that the
17 comparisons -- I don't believe that the
18 comparisons that we're making are appropriate.
19 I don't believe that what is necessary for
20 commercial properties are necessary for farms.
21 And I think that structurally that's one of
22 the problems with this problems with this
23 particular bill, that there may not be a way
24 for us to ask farms to come into compliance.
25 But I certainly would not like to
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1 believe that any farmer would not want to have
2 the fire department at least looking over
3 their shoulder to ensure that there is a safe
4 containment for the way in which they're
5 stored.
6 So I'm going to be voting no,
7 because I don't think the bill is -- I don't
8 think that this is properly written. I think
9 that we're comparing apples to oranges, as I
10 heard Senator Young saying. But the bill
11 speaks to the necessity to do away with any
12 kind of compliance that is a safety issue, and
13 I certainly cannot vote to do that.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
15 Senator Hassell-Thompson will be recorded in
16 the negative.
17 Announce the results, please.
18 THE SECRETARY: Those recorded in
19 the negative on Calendar Number 364 are
20 Senators Duane, Hassell-Thompson, L. Krueger,
21 and Serrano.
22 Ayes, 55. Nays, 4.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
24 bill is passed.
25 Senator Skelos.
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1 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
2 there will be an immediate meeting of the
3 Rules Committee in the Majority Conference
4 Room.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
6 There will be an immediate meeting of the
7 Rules Committee in Room 332, the Majority
8 Conference Room.
9 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
11 Senator Skelos.
12 The Senate will come to order,
13 please.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
15 if we could return to reports of standing
16 committees, there's a report of the Rules
17 Committee at the desk. I ask that it be read
18 at this time.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
20 Secretary will read the report of the Rules
21 Committee.
22 THE SECRETARY: Senator Bruno,
23 from the Committee on Rules, restores the
24 following bill to the order of third reading:
25 Senate Print 5050B, by Senator
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1 Fuschillo, an act to amend the General
2 Business Law.
3 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept
4 the report of the Rules Committee.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: All
6 in favor signify by saying aye.
7 (Response of "Aye.")
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
9 Opposed, nay.
10 (No response.)
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
12 report of the Rules Committee is accepted.
13 Senator Skelos.
14 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
15 if we could take up the bill at this time.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
17 Secretary will read.
18 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
19 755, by Senator Fuschillo, Senate Print 5050B,
20 an act to amend the General Business Law.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
22 Read the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 2. This
24 act shall take effect on the first of January
25 next succeeding.
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1 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
2 Call the roll.
3 (The Secretary called the roll.)
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 59.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
6 bill is passed.
7 Senator Skelos.
8 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
9 if we could return to reports of standing
10 committees, I believe there's a report of
11 Finance Committee at the desk. I ask that be
12 taken up at this time.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
14 Secretary will read.
15 THE SECRETARY: Senator O.
16 Johnson, from the Committee on Finance,
17 reports the following nominations.
18 As Commissioner of the Department
19 of Transportation, Astrid C. Glynn, of
20 Guilderland.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
22 Senator O. Johnson.
23 SENATOR JOHNSON: I rise to move
24 the nomination.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
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1 Senator Libous.
2 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you,
3 Mr. President.
4 I want to second the nomination
5 that Senator Johnson moved. And we had a
6 vigorous conversation here about agriculture.
7 And while agriculture is a very important
8 industry, a key component of agriculture is
9 transportation. And I am very pleased to
10 stand before you and speak on the Governor's
11 nominee, Astrid Glynn, to be the next
12 Commissioner of Transportation.
13 The nominee brings with her a very
14 vast and complete experience in the
15 transportation field, coming from the State of
16 Massachusetts, serving as executive officer of
17 transportation there, and including her
18 responsibilities as deputy chief of the
19 department.
20 Astrid Glynn brings a fresh, new
21 approach, Mr. President, to the Department of
22 Transportation, which as you know and as the
23 members in this chamber know, covers a vast
24 and wide part of our overall commerce, whether
25 it be the MTA, whether it be roads and bridges
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1 or reconstruction or our railroads or our
2 airports.
3 It is an extremely important
4 responsibility, and it is critical to many of
5 the issues that we discuss here, as it
6 pertains to the economic viability of our
7 state, whether it be in upstate or in New York
8 City or on Long Island or in the Hudson
9 Valley.
10 One of the things that I've been
11 very impressed with with the nominee is that
12 she has taken an extensive amount of time to
13 meet with a number of the members of the
14 industry, to listen to their concerns, to hear
15 about the needs, some of the problems, some of
16 the successes of the transportation programs
17 that now exist and where we are to go in the
18 future.
19 So, Mr. President, I am very
20 pleased to stand before this body and second
21 the nomination of Astrid Glynn to be our next
22 Commissioner of Transportation.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
24 Senator Breslin, on the nomination.
25 SENATOR BRESLIN: Thank you,
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1 Mr. President.
2 And I concur with everything that
3 my colleague Senator Libous has said about
4 Astrid Glynn.
5 She brings a rich background,
6 starting as a maritime lawyer with extensive
7 experience in that area, and with the
8 Department of Transportation in Massachusetts,
9 from intermodal to multimodal to
10 administrative background. And in addition to
11 that, she's an Albany Law School graduate.
12 But she brings that kind of talent
13 and breadth to the Department of
14 Transportation. She's probably laughing that
15 I referred to Albany Law School.
16 But she's going to make a
17 wonderful, wonderful Commissioner of
18 Transportation, and I applaud the Governor for
19 that nomination.
20 Thank you Mr. President.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
22 Senator Nozzolio.
23 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
24 Mr. President. On the nomination.
25 That I first wish to thank Senator
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1 Libous for conducting an extremely extensive
2 confirmation process where we heard from many
3 who are concerned about transportation issues,
4 and thank him for his leadership on utilizing
5 that process for positive results.
6 On the nomination of Astrid Glynn,
7 that I heard Ms. Glynn both at the
8 Transportation Committee hearing as well as
9 the hearing of Senate Finance. And I can tell
10 you that my focus during those two hearings
11 was a focus of the notion of transportation
12 meaning job development in New York State.
13 Transportation from the beginnings
14 of our history -- the Erie Canal, the New York
15 Central Railroad, the Thruway -- all those
16 elements of making the Empire State the Empire
17 State, first in commerce, was because of our
18 focus on transportation.
19 And I must say that I'm very
20 pleased that the new commissioner is focused
21 on this issue and has demonstrated willingness
22 to work with the Legislature in forging
23 important transportation project developments
24 throughout New York State, and particularly
25 focused on the upstate economy, where we know
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1 transportation is so important and
2 particularly roads are critically important
3 for the development of commerce in the upstate
4 area.
5 With that willingness,
6 Mr. President, I believe that this
7 commissioner will be an outstanding one,
8 focused on that particular mission of the
9 department, to help grow jobs in New York
10 State.
11 I move the nomination and thank you
12 very much for the opportunity to indicate my
13 support.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
15 Thank you, Senator.
16 Senator Sabini.
17 SENATOR SABINI: Thank you,
18 Mr. President.
19 I wanted to rise and second the
20 nomination of Astrid Glynn to be Commissioner
21 of Transportation.
22 Senator Libous's comments are
23 well-taken. Ms. Glynn comes to us with a
24 background in multimodal transportation,
25 management. She understands that we have a
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1 vast network of roads, bridges, tunnels,
2 airports, ports, our canal system, all
3 important things for New Yorkers, for the
4 New York economy, for people to get to work
5 every day, for people to enjoy their lives.
6 Transportation now takes up more
7 and more time in our life in terms of
8 commutation hours. And I know she understands
9 that getting people to and from work, getting
10 products in and out of our state is important
11 to the economy of the state.
12 She returns to the Capital
13 District -- she went to law school at Albany
14 Law at Union College. And we lent her to
15 Massachusetts for a few decades, but she's
16 back. And I think the Governor has made a
17 very smart appointment in bringing someone in
18 who has experience in state government -- not
19 this state government, but in state
20 government -- and a record of success where
21 she was. I think the Governor in this case
22 has gone to get some of the brightest talent
23 in the country.
24 And I am confident that
25 Commissioner Glynn, when we confirm her
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1 appointment, will go on to be one of the
2 outstanding members of the Spitzer cabinet,
3 and I second her nomination.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
5 Senator Thompson.
6 SENATOR THOMPSON: Yes,
7 Mr. President, I rise in strong support of
8 this very important commissioner today.
9 We've heard a lot about the upstate
10 economy. And I think yesterday's newspaper
11 talking about the continuous economic decline
12 of upstate cities is very much of importance
13 and also of interest to myself.
14 A couple of things that in Finance
15 today that I did raise, and I was glad to hear
16 the responses of our new commissioner.
17 Some of these issues that affect
18 upstate cities include bridges and overpasses.
19 There have been a number of reports that talk
20 about the need to get more money to fix our
21 bridges and overpasses. Many of the Western
22 New York media have reported on these. And
23 hopefully we can get some financial assistance
24 and relief to address some of those issues.
25 The other thing that I believe that
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1 really hurts upstate cities is the need for
2 more infrastructure development. Many of our
3 older cities -- I know in parts of Buffalo and
4 parts of Niagara Falls we actually have wooden
5 pipes underground.
6 I believe that over the next couple
7 of years we need to come up with an
8 infrastructure redevelopment fund. Also for
9 road improvements. We actually have some
10 streets in Buffalo that actually have wooden
11 curb. Imagine that in the 21st century. So I
12 think that that's something that we could also
13 look at as well.
14 Lastly, Commissioner, I was glad to
15 hear that you would look into the issue of the
16 Niagara Falls Amtrak train station, in
17 addition to the Niagara Falls Airport. This
18 year we were fortunate to have some of the
19 first planes to land in the city of Niagara
20 Falls in a long time. There was always a lot
21 of contention about having an airport where
22 planes don't land. And fortunately, we've
23 made some progress, but we still have a long
24 way to go as an international city.
25 So I congratulate you on this
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1 appointment. We look forward to working with
2 you. And I agree with my colleagues on both
3 sides of the aisle that the issue of
4 transportation infrastructure is so important
5 to the upstate economy. And my colleague
6 Senator Stachowski stated earlier that upstate
7 we have this thing called winter, so we need
8 to make sure that our projects start earlier
9 so that we can keep people working.
10 Thank you.
11 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
12 Senator Stachowski.
13 SENATOR STACHOWSKI: Yes,
14 Mr. President, I too rise to second the
15 nomination of Astrid Glynn.
16 I believe the Governor has made a
17 fine selection. Her background looks like
18 she'll be fully equipped for this job. The
19 diversity of New York State's transportation
20 system will be easily handled by her due to
21 her background in Massachusetts, I believe.
22 I think that she shows a
23 willingness to work with everybody. In
24 listening to her answers to the various
25 questions in Finance, she seemed to have a
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1 comprehension of the issues and a willingness
2 to address them.
3 And I look forward to working with
4 her in the future, and I congratulate both her
5 on her appointment and the Governor on her
6 selection.
7 Thank you.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: Are
9 there any other Senators wishing to be heard
10 on this nomination?
11 Seeing none, the question is on the
12 nomination of Astrid C. Glynn, of Guilderland,
13 to serve as Commissioner of the Department of
14 Transportation.
15 All in favor signify by saying aye.
16 (Response of "Aye.")
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: All
18 opposed, nay.
19 (No response.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
21 Astrid Glynn is hereby confirmed as
22 Commissioner of the Department of
23 Transportation.
24 We wish you luck in all your
25 endeavors for the people of the State of
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1 New York.
2 (Applause.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
4 Secretary will read.
5 THE SECRETARY: As members of the
6 Industrial Board of Appeals, Anne P. Stevason,
7 of Brooklyn, and J. Christopher Meagher, of
8 New York City.
9 As a member of the Board of
10 Visitors of the Capital District Psychiatric
11 Center, Myrna Sanders, of Albany.
12 As a member of the Board of
13 Visitors of the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center,
14 Barbara G. Roth, of Old Bethpage.
15 And as a member of the Board of
16 Visitors of the Staten Island Psychiatric
17 Center, Linda B. Wilson, of Staten Island.
18 SENATOR SKELOS: Move the
19 nominations.
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
21 question is on the nominations as previously
22 read. All in favor signify by saying.
23 (Response of "Aye.")
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
25 Opposed, nay.
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1 (No response.)
2 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: The
3 nominees are confirmed.
4 Senator Skelos.
5 SENATOR SKELOS: First of all, is
6 there any further business at the desk?
7 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO:
8 There is none.
9 SENATOR SKELOS: Just for the
10 advice of the members, there will be a meeting
11 of the Transportation Committee following
12 session in Room 124.
13 Commerce and Economic Development
14 will meet immediately following session in the
15 Majority Conference Room, and the
16 Investigations Committee will meet at 1:30.
17 There being no further business to
18 come before the Senate, I move we stand
19 adjourned until Tuesday, May 29th, at
20 3:00 p.m., intervening days being legislative
21 days.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MARCELLINO: On
23 motion, there being no further business to
24 come before the Senate, the Senate stands
25 adjourned until Tuesday, May 29th, at
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1 3:00 p.m., intervening days being legislative
2 days.
3 (Whereupon, at 1:18 p.m., the
4 Senate adjourned.)
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