Regular Session - April 4, 2008
1149
1 NEW YORK STATE SENATE
2
3
4 THE STENOGRAPHIC RECORD
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6
7
8
9 ALBANY, NEW YORK
10 April 4, 2008
11 11:02 a.m.
12
13
14 REGULAR SESSION
15
16
17
18 SENATOR JOSEPH A. GRIFFO, Acting President
19 STEVEN M. BOGGESS, Secretary
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1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
3 Senate will come to order.
4 I ask all to rise and join with me
5 as we recite the Pledge of Allegiance to our
6 Flag.
7 (Whereupon, the assemblage recited
8 the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.)
9 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: In the
10 absence of clergy, I ask that we all bow our
11 heads today in a moment of silence in
12 remembrance for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
13 and his movement and cause, as we reflect on
14 the 40th anniversary of his assassination.
15 (Whereupon, the assemblage
16 respected a moment of silence.)
17 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
18 reading of the Journal.
19 THE SECRETARY: In Senate,
20 Thursday, April 3, the Senate met pursuant to
21 adjournment. The Journal of Wednesday,
22 April 2, was read and approved. On motion,
23 Senate adjourned.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: Without
25 objection, the Journal stands approved as
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1 read.
2 Presentation of petitions.
3 Messages from the Assembly.
4 Messages from the Governor.
5 Reports of standing committees.
6 Reports of select committees.
7 Communications and reports from
8 state officers.
9 Motions and resolutions.
10 Senator Skelos.
11 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
12 are there any substitutions at the desk at
13 this time?
14 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
15 are none, Senator Skelos.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: There will be an
17 immediate meeting of the Finance Committee in
18 the Majority Conference Room.
19 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: There
20 will be an immediate meeting of the Senate
21 Finance Committee in the Majority Conference
22 Room.
23 The Senate stands at ease.
24 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
25 ease at 11:04 a.m.)
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1 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
2 at 11:09 a.m.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
4 Senate will come to order.
5 Senator Skelos.
6 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
7 if we could return to reports of standing
8 committees for the report of the Finance
9 Committee.
10 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
11 Reports of standing committees.
12 The Secretary will read.
13 THE SECRETARY: Senator O.
14 Johnson, from the Committee on Finance,
15 reports the following bills direct to third
16 reading:
17 Senate Print 6805D, Senate Budget
18 Bill, an act making appropriations for the
19 support of government: Transportation,
20 Economic Development and Environmental
21 Conservation Budget;
22 And Senate Print 6809C, an act to
23 authorize funding.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
25 Without objection, the bills are reported to
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1 the Third Reading Calendar.
2 Senator Skelos.
3 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
4 if we could take up Calendar Number 714,
5 Senate 6805D.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
7 Secretary will read.
8 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
9 714, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6805D,
10 an act making appropriations for the support
11 of government: Transportation, Economic
12 Development and Environmental Conservation
13 Budget.
14 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
15 Senator Skelos.
16 SENATOR SKELOS: Is there a
17 message of necessity at the desk?
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
19 is a message of necessity.
20 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept.
21 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: All in
22 favor of accepting the message of necessity
23 signify by saying aye.
24 (Response of "Aye.")
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
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1 Opposed, nay.
2 (No response.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
4 message is accepted.
5 Senator Skelos.
6 SENATOR SKELOS: If we could take
7 up the bill at this time.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Read
9 the last section.
10 THE SECRETARY: Section 5. This
11 act shall take effect immediately.
12 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
13 the roll.
14 (The Secretary called the roll.)
15 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 45.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
17 bill is passed.
18 Senator Skelos.
19 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
20 if we could take up Calendar Number 715,
21 Senate 6809C.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
23 Secretary will read.
24 THE SECRETARY: Calendar Number
25 715, Senate Budget Bill, Senate Print 6809C,
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1 an act to authorize funding for the
2 Consolidated Local Street and Highway
3 Improvement Program and to amend the State
4 Finance Law and others.
5 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
6 Senator Skelos.
7 SENATOR SKELOS: Can we have the
8 last section read at this time.
9 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
10 is a message of necessity at the desk,
11 Senator.
12 SENATOR SKELOS: Move to accept.
13 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: All in
14 favor of accepting the message of necessity
15 signify by saying aye.
16 (Response of "Aye.")
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Those
18 opposed, nay.
19 (No response.)
20 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
21 message is accepted.
22 Read the last section.
23 THE SECRETARY: Section 3. This
24 act shall take effect immediately.
25 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Call
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1 the roll.
2 (The Secretary called the roll.)
3 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
4 Announce the results.
5 Oh, I'm sorry. Senator Krueger.
6 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: To explain
7 my vote, Mr. President.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
9 Senator Krueger, to explain her vote.
10 SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER: I'm voting
11 yes on the language bill, as the budget bill.
12 But again, just to go on the
13 record, we are doing a budget in the most
14 ridiculous way this year. We have chapter
15 amendments to bills we've already passed that
16 we passed even though they didn't have the
17 fundamental pieces in them.
18 This bill doesn't have
19 fundamental -- these bills before us today,
20 the TED bills, don't have fundamental sections
21 in them, including capital monies.
22 We will all need a big pair of
23 glasses and perhaps a jigsaw puzzle to help us
24 understand, at the end of the day, what this
25 budget actually was this year.
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1 Clearly, this is hot off the press.
2 Clearly, most of my colleagues have to
3 honestly say they didn't read this.
4 And yet I can't find the distinct
5 poison pills in these bills today. Although
6 they are missing major sections, they do
7 address some of the concerns of the
8 revenue-sharing that we didn't deal with when
9 we passed that bill.
10 So just for the record, this is a
11 nightmare process. The people of New York
12 deserve a better system. But despite that, I
13 can't find enough things wrong in these two
14 bills today to vote no, so I will be voting
15 yes.
16 Thank you, Mr. President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
18 Senator L. Krueger will be recorded in the
19 affirmative.
20 Senator Nozzolio.
21 SENATOR NOZZOLIO: Thank you,
22 Mr. President. I ask the opportunity to
23 explain my vote.
24 Mr. President and my colleagues,
25 this measure, I proudly say, was hammered out
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1 by the Joint Budget Conference Subcommittee on
2 Transportation. And because Senator Libous,
3 who's chairman of the Senate Transportation
4 Committee, could not serve in the subcommittee
5 capacity because he's a participant in the
6 overall budget committee, I was asked to
7 chair, from the Senate's perspective, this
8 measure.
9 And I must tell you, the Senators
10 who were assigned to this committee worked
11 extremely hard to ensure that the local road
12 and bridge program, a program essential to the
13 formation and continuation and support of an
14 infrastructure that extends in such a grand
15 way in this state -- if you put all the local
16 roads that are eligible for CHIPS funding end
17 to end, they would circumnavigate the globe
18 four times. It's a huge amount of mileage,
19 it's a huge amount of infrastructure. And
20 this house has consistently supported the
21 Consolidated Highway Improvement Program.
22 This measure continues that support
23 and establishes a record increase in CHIPS
24 funding, $51 million over last year. That
25 means that the local property taxpayers will
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1 not have to bear the burden, by themselves, of
2 funding local roads and bridges.
3 I want to thank Senator Libous for
4 his guidance. I want to thank the members of
5 the subcommittee, who worked very hard to
6 support this CHIPS program.
7 I also want to thank the dozens and
8 dozens of town and county highway
9 superintendents who traveled to Albany to
10 spend time to demonstrate the importance of
11 this program. It's essential to the support
12 of the upstate economy, it's essential to our
13 entire state. And I thank our Senators for
14 making this increased amount of money for
15 CHIPS possible.
16 Thank you, Mr. President.
17 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank
18 you. Senator Nozzolio will be recorded in the
19 affirmative.
20 Senator Libous.
21 SENATOR LIBOUS: Thank you,
22 Mr. President. I too want to explain my vote.
23 I'm going to vote for this with
24 some reluctance, and I'm going to explain my
25 vote here.
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1 First of all, Senator Nozzolio,
2 thank you for your leadership on the committee
3 and to the members of the committee.
4 He mentioned a couple of areas --
5 CHIPS funding, which is extremely important to
6 our highway superintendents at the local level
7 in helping to keep local property taxes down,
8 because the money there would come out of
9 local government and ultimately raise property
10 taxes. And the additional $60 million is long
11 overdue, and the committee did an outstanding
12 job.
13 Where I'm frustrated, and I'm going
14 to just share this with my colleagues, is that
15 I have been trying for the last three years to
16 clean up the Dedicated Highway Trust Fund.
17 And this house voted unanimously to do that.
18 Unfortunately, the Assembly and the
19 second floor failed to be a partner here.
20 Every year $750 million comes from
21 this fund, out of the fund, goes to snow and
22 ice removal, and $200 million of it then goes
23 to fund the Department of Motor Vehicles.
24 That's money that can go into road and bridge
25 repair.
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1 In this budget, the former governor
2 gave us a proposal, and that proposal
3 basically was to put a $15 surcharge on every
4 insurance policy, every car that you own in
5 New York State. Well, we rejected that
6 because they wanted to create a bridge fund.
7 They don't have to create a bridge
8 fund; we already have one. They have to stop
9 raiding the existing bridge fund.
10 But unfortunately, as this house
11 tried to move that forward, the second
12 floor -- and the new second floor,
13 unfortunately -- the Division of Budget
14 doesn't quite understand it, but instead what
15 they did is they transferred $134 million from
16 the General Fund to the dedicated fund to
17 cover the offset. Now does that make any
18 sense to any of us here? Absolutely not.
19 I want to say thank you to my
20 colleagues in this house because last year we
21 voted unanimously to clean up the fund. It
22 has to get done.
23 We are going to embark on a capital
24 plan very soon, as soon as next week, a
25 capital plan for highways, roads and bridges
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1 throughout our state, and a capital plan for
2 the MTA.
3 The plans that were provided to us
4 have huge deficits. There's no money to fund
5 those plans. Had we cleaned up the Dedicated
6 Highway Fund, we would have had a significant
7 amount of money to go out and help fund those
8 plans.
9 So I will vote for this because I
10 think it's important to move government
11 forward, Mr. President. But I have to tell
12 you, it makes no sense to take $134 million
13 out of the General Fund, transfer it to the
14 Dedicated Highway Trust Fund, and at the same
15 time continue to raid that fund for snow and
16 ice removal when it should be coming out of
17 the DOT budget, and continue to raid that fund
18 for the operation of the Department of Motor
19 Vehicles when we have bridges and roads in
20 this state that need repair.
21 I will vote aye, but very
22 reluctantly.
23 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
24 Senator Libous will be recorded in the
25 affirmative.
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1 Senator Marcellino, to explain his
2 vote.
3 SENATOR MARCELLINO: Thank you,
4 Mr. President. I wish to explain my vote on
5 this bill.
6 You know, doing the budget is, to
7 use the old joke, like making sausage. The
8 process is not very nice, but the end product
9 is something you really want.
10 The end product of this
11 environmental bill is a positive one. We have
12 increased the EPF by $50 million, by law.
13 That's the first time in history that's been
14 done. The EPF, the Environmental Protection
15 Fund, is guaranteed no less than $250 million;
16 in fact, this year it's $255 million. The
17 fund will go up to $300 million next year.
18 Again, guaranteed by law. A first; we can all
19 be very proud of that.
20 There are many good projects that
21 are done in here. I have only one problem and
22 only one concern. In order to balance our
23 budget, we were forced to accept a
24 $125 million sweep out of the EPF program.
25 This was proposed by Governor Spitzer and
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1 accepted by both houses out of necessity,
2 because we frankly need the money to do what
3 we have to do.
4 I am concerned that the Division of
5 Budget would not entertain language that would
6 start the process for repaying past sweeps
7 from the EPF. I believe we're going to have
8 to do that. We're pushing huge amounts of
9 money in this situation, and the potential for
10 disaster is there.
11 I am urging and I'm going to be
12 working the rest of this session and the
13 coming year to make sure that we have a policy
14 and we have a procedure to repay the money
15 that has been taken out of the EPF so we can
16 make sure that it is whole and stays to be one
17 of the more viable funding sources for the
18 environment in this great state.
19 So I will vote aye, Mr. President,
20 with those caveats that I just mentioned.
21 Thank you.
22 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
23 Senator Marcellino will be recorded in the
24 affirmative.
25 Any other Senators wishing to
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1 explain their vote?
2 If not, the clerk will announce the
3 results.
4 THE SECRETARY: Ayes, 56. Nays,
5 o.
6 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: The
7 bill is passed.
8 Senator Malcolm Smith.
9 SENATOR SMITH: Thank you very
10 much, Mr. President.
11 I want to first thank the Majority
12 Leader and my colleagues for the moment of
13 silence that we offered today on behalf of
14 Dr. Martin Luther King.
15 We all know 40 years ago today in
16 Memphis, the Lorraine Motel, there were two
17 shots that rang out that at that moment, when
18 the firefighters and the police department ran
19 along that street to figure out where those
20 shots came from, and Jesse Jackson and Andrew
21 Young and a number of individuals stood on
22 that balcony and pointed to where those shots
23 came from, little did we know that those shots
24 would be shots that were heard around the
25 world.
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1 We all know that Martin Luther King
2 famous speech "I Have a Dream." And there are
3 many who would tell you that dreams are free,
4 and dreams cost you nothing, so therefore you
5 should dream forever. I must say that it is
6 obvious that for Martin, that particular dream
7 cost him his life.
8 But it was a dream that 40 years
9 ago today we should be able to enjoy some of
10 the accomplishments of the dream that he
11 sought.
12 When I look around this chamber and
13 I see a Hispanic, Efrain Gonzalez, sitting
14 next to a Jewish woman by the name of Liz
15 Krueger, that was part of a dream. When I see
16 a Jewish person by the name of Jeff Klein
17 sitting next to an African-American named
18 Malcolm Smith, that was a dream. When I see a
19 Catholic sitting next to a Protestant, that
20 was also part of a dream.
21 When I look around this chamber and
22 see an African-American who is quote, unquote,
23 a leader that sits across from another
24 individual who is also a leader, I would say
25 that 40 years ago what Martin dreamed about
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1 has begun to come true.
2 What many of us have forgotten
3 while we dream is there is something that
4 happens after you dream. You've been there;
5 I've been there. When you dream, there comes
6 a time when you wake up. And if you reflect
7 on your dream, you think of one of two things.
8 Either it alters that immediate day that you
9 are going to proceed with, or it alters your
10 long-term plan.
11 And very few of us have never had a
12 nightmare. I believe if Martin was here
13 today, there is one part of his dream that
14 still holds a little bit of nightmarishness
15 for himself. Part of that is the fact that we
16 voted on a budget yesterday that is leaving
17 prisons open.
18 Part of it is a nightmare that says
19 when you have a number of children in this
20 state that cannot compete with other children
21 around this country and around this world,
22 there is still a nightmare that exists.
23 Part of is a dream that says when I
24 go up to Watertown or I go to Syracuse or
25 Buffalo, I can walk down the street and see
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1 abandoned buildings, boarded-up buildings,
2 just like what it looked like in Memphis, just
3 like what happened when Martin was trying to
4 save and help those particular sanitation
5 workers.
6 I think Martin would say there is
7 still a part of his dream that holds a
8 nightmare corner in a chapter that needs to be
9 dealt with.
10 I am hopeful that as we continue to
11 do our work here, that as we continue to
12 finish this budget -- and I guess it's by no
13 accident that on this 40th day we are now at
14 the sunset, if you will, of our budgetary
15 process -- but I would hope that each and
16 every one of us would take a moment and
17 reflect on all that Martin Luther King stood
18 for.
19 Think about what it would mean if
20 all of our children could be adequately
21 educated so that they don't have to go into
22 special ed, so that they don't have to use
23 special ed as the door to going into a prison
24 criminal justice system, so that they would be
25 able to be contributors to the society, just
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1 like each and every one of you are.
2 All of you had that opportunity to
3 be educated and receive that promise of
4 New York that we all talk about. There are
5 many of us right now who are not giving that
6 promise to other children around this state.
7 It is up to us to take a look inside and find
8 that Martin in you that allows this state to
9 be moved to that next frontier.
10 And so on this 40th anniversary of
11 a day that will live in infamy, a day in which
12 a gentleman that we all know as Martin Luther
13 King, Jr., is now no longer dreaming but is
14 now hoping that we remember the dream that he
15 had, which many people say cost nothing but I
16 say cost his life.
17 Thank you very much, Mr. President.
18 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank
19 you very much, Senator Smith.
20 Senator Skelos.
21 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
22 there will be an immediate conference of the
23 Majority in the Majority Conference Room.
24 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: There
25 will be an immediate conference of the
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1 Majority in the Majority Conference Room.
2 SENATOR SKELOS: And the Senate
3 will stand at ease.
4 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ:
5 Senator Dilan, I'm sorry.
6 SENATOR DILAN: Thank you,
7 Mr. President.
8 First of all, I would like to thank
9 all my colleagues and staff for their kind
10 words, thoughts, and prayers upon the passing
11 of my mother. I just want to say thank you
12 very much for all your kind deeds.
13 And secondly, there will be an
14 immediate meeting of the Minority in Room 315.
15 Thank you.
16 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank
17 you. There will be an immediate meeting of
18 the Minority in Room 315.
19 The Senate stands at ease.
20 (Whereupon, the Senate stood at
21 ease at 11:28 a.m.)
22 (Whereupon, the Senate reconvened
23 at 1:05 p.m.)
24 ACTING PRESIDENT GRIFFO: The
25 Senate will come to order.
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1 Senator Skelos.
2 SENATOR SKELOS: Mr. President,
3 the Senate will adjourn subject to the call of
4 the Majority Leader. Let me just check that.
5 Mr. President, the Senate will
6 stand adjourned subject to the call of the
7 Majority Leader.
8 ACTING PRESIDENT MAZIARZ: Thank
9 you, Senator Skelos.
10 On motion, the Senate stands
11 adjourned at the call of the Majority Leader.
12 (Whereupon, at 1:07 p.m., the
13 Senate adjourned.)
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